Dangerous Authority (11 page)

Chapter 16

E
lisa arrived within a half hour as promised, at the Anderson residence.  Her eyes darted around nervously as Mary Jane let her inside.

Mary Jane's children were all still asleep in an upstairs bedroom and the adults gathered quietly in the living room.

"Mary Jane," her father demanded.  "Explain this.  Who is this?  What is going on?"

Tears welled in Mary Jane's eyes and her emotions threatened to take over.  She hadn't had the best experiences with men, but she'd certainly never foreseen sleeping with a murderer.  Especially one who claimed he'd killed
for her
.  It simply wasn't the sort of thing one ever expected to happen in real life.

She'd thought of Zander obsessively and suddenly it hit her as she peered at each face in the room, they were all in danger. Any one of them could become a victim to Dominique's wrath.

The clock was ticking.

With a deep, jagged breath, she began.  "This is Dominique's ex-wife.  The woman whose children he stole."

Both her parents' attention snapped to Elisa.  "I thought she left the boys," Marsha said brusquely.

Mary Jane shook her head.  "No.  He just made it seem that way.  She wanted out of their marriage because he abused her.  He terrified her…  Just like he does me."

Marsha began to cry again, since she'd basically already heard the tale while they'd packed, and knew what was coming.  Hank looked alarmed and encircled his wife's shoulders with a protective arm.

"Dad," Mary Jane said.  "He killed Zander.  He told me last night."

Hank leapt up, gaping at Mary Jane.  He began pacing the floor.  His face was contorted by anger as he contemplated her bombshell.

Finally, he stopped right in front of his daughter.  "Get the kids up and ready for school.  Make sure the school knows Dominique can't pick them up.  I can get you in to see a lawyer this morning."

***

At nine a.m. Hank ushered Mary Jane and Elisa into the office of attorney Dean Miller.  The two men were longtime friends and he'd been happy to rush Mary Jane in.

She kept glancing anxiously at her watch.  In three hours Dominique would know what was going on.  The ball needed to be set in motion, and she and her children needed to be hidden by then.

The lawyer greeted them cordially with a beaming smile.  However, as soon as she launched into her sordid tale, his smile faded to an angry glower.  Both she and Elisa related their experiences and by the end of it, he was furious.

"I always knew that guy was a prick," the lawyer growled.

"A prick I could deal with," Elisa commented.  "He's so much more than a prick."

"Good point," Dean said.

"Mr. Miller," Elisa asked quietly.  "Is there any chance I'll get my sons back?"

Dean rose out of his chair and leaned heavily forward on his desk, meeting Elisa's eyes.  "If evidence substantiates Mrs. Barnaby's claims, which I have no doubt that it will, yes ma'am.  I'll put this animal behind bars for the rest of his life and he'll never bother you or your sons again."

Elisa and Mary Jane fell into each other's arms, weeping as they embraced tightly.  Dean began flurrying around his office, gathering folders and papers even as he elicited demands.

"I'm going to file the motion right now to exhume Zander.  I'll also find out if his vehicle is still at police impound and if it is I'll see what I can do about having it moved somewhere that Flame and his buddies can't get to it while the investigation is launched."

He returned to his desk and faced Mary Jane.  "I'll act fast, Mary Jane.  And due to the sensitive nature of this, because the good old boy network may try to protect him, I'll work through the state rather than the city.  But, the wheels of the big machine turn slowly.  You need to get your kids and keep them with you.  Is there somewhere safe that you can stay?"

"We'll put them at our lake house," Hank chimed in.  "It's over an hour away, to the south."  He looked at Mary Jane.  "Does Dominique know about it?"

She shook her head.  It'd been so long since she'd been to the lake house; she'd practically forgotten it existed.

"Good," Dean said.  He turned his attention back to Elisa.  "And what about you?  Have you got a safe place to hide?"

"Oh, um…  Dominique has no idea I'm even in the area.  I live a half hour away."

Dean shook his head.  "Doesn't matter.  He can't find out you're around or involved in this, Ms. Monroe.  If he finds out you're around, he could panic. He could hurt your sons.  Until I can get your kids out of his custody, which could be several days at least, you need to disappear."

"She can come with us then," Mary Jane said.  Her father nodded agreement without a second thought.  Mary Jane's heart swelled with love for the kind man.

They rose from their seats as Dean moved to show them the door.  "Go straight to get the children and then get on the road," he said urgently.  "I'll be in touch.

***

In a matter of minutes, Mary Jane had collected her children and they were heading out of Elwood in Elisa's car.  It was ten thirty a.m.  They would already be tucked safely away by the time Dominique learned she wasn't really at the diner. 

They'd decided not to grab any belongings or Mary Jane's vehicle.  Neither of them told a single soul that they were leaving town.  Mary Jane had to plead with her parents to stay behind and pretend they knew nothing of her whereabouts.  She wanted to keep them off Dominique's radar and if he thought they didn't know anything, then maybe he'd leave them alone.  They promised to stay in touch and once the dust settled, they agreed to bring some clothes, toiletries, and toys to the lake house.

The two women made the most of the trip to the lake.  She introduced Elisa to the kids as her friend and said they were taking a vacation.  Her kids had never been to the lake house, and the prospect of an adventure and missing school excited them.  They were happy as they chattered and sang in Elisa's back seat.  Mary Jane turned in her seat to watch them.  It was the happiest she'd seen them in so long and she truly realized how much joy Dominique had stolen from them.

Not to mention, their father.

Her blood boiled and she fought tears.  She vowed to never let another soul hurt her children.

***

The cabin was nestled by a lake, within the hills, and deep in a forest.  Though she'd spent many happy times there as a child, the sight of it roosting dark and empty among the shadowy trees sent a chill through her.  Snow swirled thickly down from what little was visible of the grey sky through the rugged tangle of black tree limbs.  The clouds rolled ominously and Mary Jane could sense a storm in the air.  Her anxiety began to return, just slightly as a softly chiming alarm bell sounding in the depths of the unexplored chambers of her mind.

Elisa brought the car to a stop outside the cabin and the kids cheered gleefully.  Once they were inside, memories from her youth rushed over Mary Jane and she began to feel slightly better. 

The place smelled slightly musty and a layer of dust coated everything.  It was freezing cold, but they soon had a fire roaring in the fire place and turned on the heat.  Mary Jane and Elisa assigned tasks to each of the children, and soon they were all busy tidying up and turning the little cottage into a home.

At twelve o'clock precisely, Mary Jane's phone began to ring.  Her heart rate escalated incredibly quickly.  She and Elisa exchanged a frightened glance.

"Just turn it off," Elisa said softly.  "We'll text your parents and tell them just to call my phone."

Mary Jane nodded and reached for her phone.

Chapter 17

T
hree a.m. found Mary Jane in a troubled sleep, with three children draped over her in bed.  The jingling of a phone had woken her, but simultaneously confused her as she knew her phone was turned off.

"No, no, it's OK!  Shhhh, don't cry!  Hang on, I'll get her."  The sound of Elisa's voice carried on the quiet night from the other room.  Mary Jane sprang fully awake and gently began to shift her children off her.  She bound out of bed and met Elisa in the hallway outside the room.

Elisa held the phone out to her, and the worry on her face nearly broke Mary Jane. 

"Hello?"

She could hear the sound of her mother crying inconsolably.  Her heart pounded and a headache came crashing in from nowhere.  Her head hummed and she grew dizzy.

"Mom?  What is it?  What's wrong?"

"Is…  Is your father there with you?  Please tell me he's there with you?"

Mary Jane gasped and began to cry.  "No, Mom, he's not here!  What's going on?"

She could barely understand her mother but managed to glean that her dad had run to the grocery that evening and never returned.

"Did you call the police?" Mary Jane asked, her voice rising to a squeak.

"I did, of course I did.  They said they couldn't do anything for twenty four hours!"

"OK, Mom, listen, I want you to get in the car and come down here.  You need to get out of there."

"I couldn't possibly drive, Mary Jane, I'm too upset."

"Mom, you have to.  You have to get the hell out of Elwood."

Elisa began motioning frantically to get Mary Jane's attention.  "I'll go get her," she whispered.

Mary Jane nodded.  "Mom, OK, listen.  Pack whatever you need.  Elisa is on the way to pick you up."

Elisa was out the door before Mary Jane was even off the phone.

***

Mary Jane wandered to the kitchen to make coffee, knowing there was no way she'd be able to get back to sleep.  She sat down at the kitchen table and turned her phone back on.  It began to ding as texts and voice mails came through once power was restored to it.  Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped as the dings slowly added up to forty six.

She didn't want to hear or read anything Dominique had to say.  She knew her dad would've called Elisa's phone if he needed anything, but on the off chance he'd forgotten, she felt she had to listen to the voicemails.

She sat there in complete shock as she listened to the voicemails go from loving/desperate, to furious/insane.  By the end of the stream of them, he'd ranted about Zander, fully admitting to his crimes on recording, and he'd doled out threats like a madman.  There was no mention of her father, but that certainly didn't make her feel any better.  After she finished them, she laid her head down on the table and cried.

Mary Jane decided that as soon as Elisa returned, they'd pack up the kids and go straight back to Elwood.  The crazy voicemails were more than enough for an arrest, and they could expedite the process of getting him off the street so they could return to a normal life.  And even though he hadn't mentioned her father specifically, she felt certain the police would take his disappearance seriously once they heard the frightening voicemails.  She felt both terrified and relieved. 

She propped her chin on her hand and her other hand wrapped around the warm coffee cup.  She sat staring out the kitchen window into the snowcapped trees, thinking of the times she'd shared there with her dad.  Mary Jane so desperately wished that her dad was somewhere alive, that it left her breathless; left her heart still.  With tears slipping down her face as she thought of his sweet, handsome face, she nodded off and her head gently drifted down to rest on her arm.

***

A soft click jarred Mary Jane from sleep and her head shot up off the table.

Immediately she thought of getting the kids up and ready to travel.  Daylight streamed in the window, and she hadn't meant to fall asleep.  She jumped up.  When she turned to exit the kitchen, she found Dominique standing in the doorway with a gun trained on her.

She fell back into her seat and the breath rushed out of her.  Her chest hurt as she struggled to refill her lungs without much luck.  She became so dizzy; it was difficult to even remain conscious.

"How stupid are you?" he asked.  "Do you really think it was hard at all to find out your parents owned this property?"

The sound of his voice directly brought about the sound of the children stirring in the other room.  She glanced in the direction of the bedroom.  "Kids, stay in the bedroom!"  Mary Jane called out.  Dominique laughed.  All three children were already bounding down the hall.

They stopped short as soon as they had Dominique in their sights, and looked at their mother with terrified expressions on their faces…  As though they'd somehow always known this would happen.

Dominique gestured with the gun toward the couch.  "Go sit down," he demanded.  He looked at Mary Jane.  "You too.  Get over there on the couch with them."

She rushed past Dominique to her children where she placed her body between them and him.  She guided their trembling forms to the couch and took a seat with them all in her arms.  Dominique pulled a kitchen chair across the floor with an unpleasant raking sound and took a seat opposite her and the front door where he sat staring malevolently into her eyes.

"You'd be proud of your dad; he wouldn't give up your location, no matter what I did to him."

Mary Jane choked out a sob.  "Oh God, Dominique.  What have you done?"

Dominique chuckled.  "I didn't do this, Mary Jane.  You did."

She wanted to scream at him.  She wanted to leap up, charge him, and attack him.  But the warmth of her crying children's bodies pressed against her kept her just shy of the brink of insanity.  "I…  I'm so sorry, Dominique."

He arched an eyebrow.  "Oh yeah?  You're
sorry
?  Well, I gotta tell you, it's way too fucking late for that, darling."

She thought of her father again.  There was probably no chance that he was alive.  She felt like giving up.  In that moment, she wished she was the one who was dead.

"It's not too late, Dominique.  We can start again."

He shook his head slowly.  "No, no we can't.  You cheat on me; we can't go back from that."

"Cheat on you?  Dominique, I haven't cheated on you."

His face darkened as he glared evilly at her.  He stood and jabbed the gun at her.  The children all cried out and burrowed against her.  With her heart racing dangerously fast and her head swimming, she contemplated pushing the children away with her so they wouldn't get hurt if Dominique shot her.  She began to weep, knowing there was no point.  If he shot her, he would shoot them too, she knew it.

"Oh really?  I find that a little hard to believe," he snarled angrily.  "Women just don't destroy their families and overturn their whole lives if there isn't another man involved."

"Dominique, I swear to you, there is no one else.  I…  I love you."  She hated herself for the falter of her voice.  She needed to make him believe her.

He took slow steps forward.  Mary Jane's body shook violently as he approached.  After what seemed like an eternity, he reached her, and pressed the icy steel of the revolver in the center of her forehead.  She closed her eyes.

"I don't believe you."

She did not reply.

"Say something!"  he shouted, shoving the gun so that it thrust her head back into the couch.

Her children sobbed and clung to her.  She could think of nothing else except wishing they weren't there.

"I SAID SAY SOMETHING!" he roared.

Her own crying slowed as she became strangely calm.  "I don't know what to say," she whispered, still keeping her eyes tightly closed.  "You don't believe me."

"You're goddamn right I don't believe you, whore," he growled.

In that moment, time seemed to slow down.  At least, her way of remembering it was slow motion.  She felt the gun abruptly leave her forehead, and two simultaneous gunshots rang out.

Her eyes snapped open instinctively as the noise deafened her.  She yanked her children even tighter against her as she beheld Elisa dropping to the floor just inside the front door, and Dominique with his back turned to Mary Jane, buckling like a ton of bricks to the floor as well.  As soon as he fell, she grabbed her children and leapt off the couch.

"Get outside!" Mary Jane screamed.  "Grandma's out there, get out of the house!"

The children didn't hesitate to dash out into the cold, barefoot in the snow.

Mary Jane rushed to Elisa first, who writhed on the floor, and clasped the bicep of the arm that held a gun.  "Are you OK?"  Mary Jane screeched.  She dropped down to Elisa's side and helped her sit up.

"Yeah, I'm good, it's a graze.  Check that mother fucker!"

Mary Jane rushed back the few steps to where Dominique lay face down in a forming pool of blood.  From her position at the front door, Elisa had caught him squarely in his right temple.  Mary Jane didn't even have to touch him and check for a pulse.  He was clearly dead.  She returned to her friend's side, got back on the floor and wrapped her arms around Elisa.

"Thank you.  Oh my God, thank you," she wept.

***

The local authorities stayed in close contact with Elwood and within an hour, Mr. Anderson was located, badly beaten and unconscious in the home of Dominique Flame.  He'd sustained serious injuries and was being transported to the hospital, but he would be OK.  The Flame children were located at a babysitter's house, and after some questioning, everyone was allowed by the police to leave and return to Elwood.  Mary Jane dropped her mom and kids off at the hospital to be with her dad, with a promise to return quickly.

Then she accompanied Elisa to pick up her sons from the police department.

Once inside the PD, both Elisa and Mary Jane received five star treatment.  Mary Jane was grateful that they'd already located her father, but given the fact that all of it could have been avoided if they'd believed Elisa all those years ago, she didn't have much to say to any of them.  The women were escorted into an office where Derek and Alex sat at a table.

As soon as they walked in, the boys stood, staring at Elisa with wide eyes.

She stopped and stared back at them, uncertain of how to proceed.  But, her uncertainty diminished when both boys launched themselves across the room and into her arms.

"Mommy," they cried.

Elisa dropped to her knees to better hold them both and began to cry pitifully.  "You remember me?"

Both boys were crying by then as well.  "Of course," Derek blubbered.

"We missed you always," said Alex.

She pressed her face against Derek's chest and hugged them both fiercely.  The relief and release of the moment was apparent in all of them.  After a long time, she motioned for Mary Jane to step forward and join the group hug. 

"It's going to be OK, now," Elisa whispered. 

Mary Jane nodded and wrapped her arms around them.

The End