Fatal Deduction (22 page)

I smiled and told him about Madge and all she meant to me. “She not only gave me a job, led me to Jesus, and saved Chloe’s life. She also encouraged me when I got down, baby-sat Chloe when I
needed her, and showed me how Christian love works. She also got me back in school and on to college. I only have a couple of more classes to take, and I’ll have my bachelor’s.”

Drew backed off the gas as he came up behind a Winnebago pulling a bright yellow compact behind it. “Believe it or not, Ruthie’s father was to me all those things Madge was to you. Del took me under his wing and taught me all he knew. My father was a nice enough man, but all things Christian were anathema to him. He also liked skating close to the legal edge. He did a lot of electrical work for people on the side, but he never declared the income. Stuff like that. The day a cashier gave him too much change was a day worth celebrating. So Del’s absolutes were hard to comprehend at first. I still remember when he called me on copying music illegally. I’d never thought about breaking copyright law before. But as I learned more and more about God’s Word, I appreciated Del more and more. I think the greatest hurt of my divorce was losing Del.”

“He cut you out of his life?” I was surprised, since he sounded like such a wonderful guy.

Drew checked over his shoulder to be sure no car was in his blind spot and moved out to pass the Winnebago that was weaving a bit too much for comfort, especially with the narrow lanes of the bridge fast approaching. “No, he didn’t. Ruthie was the one who had a fit because I wanted to stay close to him and Peg. She made it so uncomfortable for them, swearing at them, berating them, that I stepped back to spare them. We still talk, especially by e-mail, and we meet occasionally for dinner, and of course they love seeing Jenna, but Ruthie goes ballistic whenever she finds out.” He smiled sadly. “It’s just easier not to push that button. She has so many others that you can’t avoid pushing.”

We took the bridge, turned onto 95N, got off at the historical
district, and drove on past. I realized my shoulders were tense about what we’d find when we came to our lane. I breathed a relieved sigh when no one, dead or alive, was waiting for anyone on the steps. The girls woke up when the car stopped moving.

“I think I’ll stay with Chloe,” Jenna announced, chin raised.

“Sorry, sweets,” Drew said. “Not tonight. You need to come home.”

“Dad, please!”

Drew just shook his head.

With a long-suffering sigh, Jenna accepted defeat, which led me to believe she had expected Drew’s answer. “I’m going to go to my room and live there until she leaves.”

He threw his arm around her shoulders. “We’ll be okay, Jen. You’ll see.”

The two of them walked to their house and disappeared inside. I unlocked our door, and we walked into Aunt Stella’s. I was emotionally exhausted.

And tomorrow with its welcome home party would be much worse.

Tori’s cell phone vibrated. She smiled apologetically at her client as she glanced at the number. It was her boss.

“Excuse me a minute, Ron. It’s Anders.”

Ron nodded. “I just wanted to thank you again for taking care of Suzy.” With a wave he disappeared into the throngs heading onto the floor. Ron loved his poker.

“What’s up, Anders?” Tori caught glimpses of the boardwalk and the ocean when the darkened-glass automatic front doors opened.
She noted with approval that more people were entering than leaving, many with red faces from a day on the beach without enough SPF. She never went out without at least 30 on her face. She glanced at her arm, evaluating her tan. She was losing valuable beach time with all the traveling back and forth to Aunt Stella’s. Pretty soon she’d be as pale as the old ladies at the nickel slots.

“It’s Suzy,” Anders said. “She’s calling for you. She’s—”

Suzy! Tori’s hand went to her chest even though the earrings were no longer there but safely hidden in her room. Suzy’d missed them! Tori’s vision grayed at the edges as she fought panic. Then Anders’ words sank in. “She’s where?”

“She’s on the floor, literally, in an aisle in the quarter slots area not too far from the back door. Can you tell me why a woman with money like hers plays the quarter slots?”

“Who cares?” Tori caught her reflection and admired both the huge, relieved smile—Suzy hadn’t found her out—and her slinky image. If Marilyn were alive, she’d be jealous. “Be happy, Anders. She began with the nickel ones. What’s she doing on the floor?”

“She’s having her baby.”

“In the casino?” Tori’s voice squeaked in surprise.

“In the casino. One of the players took time from her machine to call 911, so the EMTs should be here soon, but in the meantime, get over there!”

Perspiration broke out all over her body. “I don’t know anything about having babies!”

“I don’t care. She wants you.”

Phone still to her ear, Tori ran across the floor, dodging customers intent on finding their area of play and servers with drinks on trays as they did their part to keep everyone lubricated and betting.

“Where’s Ron?” Anders asked. “Do you have any idea? Though she didn’t ask for him. Just you.”

Tori spied a cluster of people all staring down at the floor and guessed that was where Suzy lay. Her stomach did a slow roll as she elbowed her way through. She swallowed back her fear. When this was over, she and Anders were going to have a talk about her job requirements. No more babies!

Sure enough, there was Suzy, her flowing gauzy dress hiked up to her waist, her knees bent, her hands grasping her stomach, and fluid and blood pooling beneath her. Instead of her
bleh
noises, she was making breathy little gasps.

For the second time in five minutes, Tori thought she might faint.

“And don’t you dare pass out!” Anders yelled in her ear.

“What? You can see me?” She knew cameras were everywhere.

“No, but I know you.”

“Ron’s playing poker!” She flipped the phone shut, stuffed it in her cleavage, and looked down at Suzy.

“Hey, girl, what are you doing here? I left you resting in bed just a couple of hours ago.”

“Boring,” Suzy managed between pants. “More fun down here. At least it was. Besides—
ohhh
, that hurt!—I’m not due for another month.”

“Like babies pay attention to schedules,” one of the onlookers muttered. “They come when they want.”

And this one wanted. Suzy let out a great groan, and Tori had to bite back one of her own.

“Anybody got a beach towel?” she yelled. The least she could do was mop up the mess.

To her surprise, two people grabbed towels from bags and shoved
them at her. They smelled of suntan lotion and beach, but it was not the time to be picky. She knelt and slid one under Suzy’s legs and rump to make things a bit more comfortable and to mop up some of the stickiness. The other she draped over Suzy’s knees. Suzy may have lost all her modesty at the moment, but Tori hadn’t.

Suzy grabbed Tori’s hand, gave a shriek, and squeezed so hard Tori had to fight not to shriek right along with her.

“I thought labor pains came on gradually,” Tori said. “Didn’t you have any warning?”

“Sure, but I thought they were those phony things. Besides, I was on a roll. I won ten dollars, and I could feel a hundred was just a minute or two away. That’s twenty-five hundred free turns. Yeeow!”

“Twenty to one it’s a girl,” said a guy watching from the end of the aisle.

“You’re on,” said a lady in bright pink shorts.

“Take the bet, Tori,” Suzy whispered. “It’s a sure thing.”

“Which way?”

“Either.”

Tori frowned.

Sweat soaked Suzy’s face and dress. “One of each.”

“Where is she?” Ron’s frantic voice floated through the gathering crowd. “Where is she?”

“Over here, Ron,” Tori called, ready to stand and give him her place.

“Don’t you come near me, Ron Merchant,” Suzy hissed. “Ooow! This is all your fault!”

Ron ignored her and fell to his knees across from Tori. He grabbed Suzy’s free hand. “Breathe, baby. Come on. Breathe. Just like they taught you in class.”

“It’s coming! I can see its head!” a woman yelled. The beach towel apparently wasn’t doing what Tori had hoped.

“A nurse? A doctor?” Tori yelled frantically.

No one responded. Where were the EMTs?

“She or he’s coming,” Suzy managed through gritted teeth. “Tori!”

Not knowing what else to do, Tori moved between Suzy’s legs, and sure enough, a little head was visible.

“Here!” Someone pushed several beach towels into her hand. “They’re new. I just got them.”

Tori rested them on her lap and put out her hands. The little head was followed by shoulders and a body, all slimy and bloody. Tori held it in her shaking hands. “It’s a boy. Ron, open one of the towels!”

“Joseph,” Suzy ordered. She might be weary and soaked in sweat, but she was still Sassy Suzy. “Joseph Ronald.”

Ron held out a towel. “After her late brother,” he explained. “He’d love the irony of his namesake being born in a casino, considering how he loved gambling.” He rubbed a finger over his son’s cheek. “Hey, Joey.”

Just as Tori wrapped the tiny boy in the towel with a garish sunflower superimposed over royal blue waves, two EMTs pushed through the crowd. In a daze, Tori offered Joey to them. One took the baby and cleared the air passages and cut the cord. The other wheeled a gurney into place to move Suzy to the waiting ambulance.

She let out a great yell. “She’s coming!”

“Another?” the EMT said in surprise.

“Another,” Ron confirmed as he leaned over Suzy. “Come on, baby. You can do it.”

The EMT shoved Joey back into Tori’s arms and dropped to help deliver the second baby.

A few minutes later, Tori walked beside Ron as they followed the gurney and Suzy down the aisle toward the back entrance. She still held Joey in her arms; Ron, the baby girl in his. Suzy seemed remarkably unmoved about having the twins but extraordinarily displeased about leaving the casino.

“Take me back! I was on a roll. Just let me have a couple more tries. And my credit card’s in the slot!”

“Shut up, Suze,” Ron said. “You can play later. I’ll go get the card.”

As he spoke, a light began to flash behind them and a bell made that up-and-down clarion call that Tori always thought sounded like cop cars in Europe.

Suzy turned the air blue. “That was my money! I know it!”

“Be thankful the bug hasn’t bitten you like that, Tori,” Ron said as he turned to go retrieve Suzy’s credit card from the machine. “It isn’t a pretty thing.”

Tuesday morning dawned overcast and muggy. I sat in the back garden and frowned at a noise that sounded like a lawn mower drifting over the fence from Maxi’s. I hadn’t given much thought to caring for this little Eden I so enjoyed. I looked at the grass. It hadn’t grown tall so much as shaggy in the week we’d been here. When we arrived, it was like every blade had been measured to length. Now, some dared to be a quarter inch to a half inch off level, disrupting the symmetry like a Rockette who kicked too high.

So what was I to do about the problem? Bring my lawn mower
from home? I hadn’t seen anything here I could use. There was no little shed for keeping gardening tools and supplies and a mower. Of course there was so little grass that an old-fashioned push mower would be ample to keep up with the trimming. Still, there was no push mower anywhere around either.

I’d have to ask James what Aunt Stella did about lawn care. James knew everything.

As I thought that, the side gate in our fence opened, and a Latino guy in shorts and a tee that read “Lopez Lawn Care” walked in pushing a power mower. Behind him was a second man in an identical shirt, wearing gloves and carrying a large green trash bag.

They stopped when they saw me and smiled, each sporting a gold incisor that flashed in the sun. I smiled back and decided it wouldn’t do to ask to see green cards. I gestured toward the lawn with a nod and went inside. In less time than I could have imagined, they were gone, the grass was again all one length, and a couple of geranium heads that were getting a bit ratty had disappeared.

Newest question to ask James: Who paid these guys? In fact, who paid any of the bills here? Water? Gas? Electric? Cooling? I assumed the estate, but what if I was wrong? Were Tori and I going to get stuck with these costs for the next six months? The lawyers could tell me, but I hesitated to call them because they were always on the clock. I didn’t want the estate billed several hundred dollars for something James might be able to tell me for free. Since he knew Aunt Stella’s significant other, maybe he knew about the money too. It’d certainly be easy enough to find out.