Fort Lupton (43 page)

“
Words?” Rodney
asked.

“
Like a little video,”
Tanesha said.

“
And did it
work?”

“
Yes,” Tanesha said. “Yes
it did.”

“
That doesn’t seem like
such a bad thing,” Rodney said.

“
Then I looked around the
room,” Tanesha said. “I could see what everyone was thinking. Most
people were thinking about themselves or their work, but the guy on
the end . . .”

“
What about the guy on the
end?” Rodney’s voice rose with tension.

“
He’s the mole,” Tanesha
said. “He
hates
me. Calls me a ni . . .”

“
Don’t say that word,”
Rodney said.
“It
demeans you and every single one of your ancestors who fought
like hell so you that you could be where you are today.”

“
And a bi
. . .”

“
Or that one,” Rodney
said. “You are not a dog.”

“
Well, combine the words
and that’s what he calls me in his mind. So, he’s the one who’s
been selling me out to the gossip rags.”

Tanesha stopped talking.

“
So?” Rodney
asked.

“
Well, I thought ‘Oh, fuck
you’,” Tanesha said. “One minute, he’s just standing there, and the
next minute, he’s falling over backward. Broke his leg.”

“
Again, not such a bad
thing,” Rodney said.

“
I’m scared,” Tanesha
said. “What if I kill Jabari or my teacher or . . .
Jeraine! You know how likely it is that I’ll end up killing
Jeraine?”

Rodney chuckled.

“
Where are you
going?”

“
To get you,” Rodney
said.

“
What?” Tanesha
asked.

“
I’ll tell you when I get
there,” Rodney said. “Tell your teacher you have a family
emergency. Your father’s coming.”

“
Okay,” Tanesha said.
“That’s a good idea.”

“
I’ll be there in a
minute,” Rodney said.

“
Thanks, Dad,” Tanesha
said. “And Dad?”

“
Yes.”

“
How did you know you
needed to come?” Tanesha asked.

“
It’s happened to your
mother before,” Rodney said.

“
I have to go,” Tanesha
said.

“
Try not to kill anyone,”
Rodney said.

“
I’ll try.”

Tanesha hung up the phone and went back to
class.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday evening — 6:45 p.m.

“
Hi, I’m looking for my
son, Nash Norsen?” Aden asked the small, bright red-haired man
standing at the bakery counter.

“
Well, you see,” the man
said in a thick Northern Irish accent, “about that.”

“
What’s happened?” Aden
instinctively put his hand on his heart

“
It’s not exactly what has
happened, but what has been done,” the man said.

Aden scowled and looked at the man’s name
tag. It said: “EOIN”. Aden had heard Nash say his name but he
couldn’t remember how to pronounce it.

“
What?” Aden
asked.

“
It’s not exactly what has
happened, but what has been done,” Eoin repeated.

“
Does that mean anything?”
Aden asked.

The man tipped his head to the side and
thought for a moment.

“
Now that you mention it,
I don’t think it does,” Eoin said with a nod.

Aden put his hands on his hips and squinted
at the man.

“
I’m looking for my son,
Nash Norsen.” Aden tried again.

“
About
that. . .” The red-haired man looked up at the ceiling.
“Well, actually. . .”

“
His sister was attacked,
as was our friend Sissy Delgado,” Aden said. “The Denver Police
caught one of two killers set to kill Charlie Delgado, and our
friend Wanda was nearly killed in the hospital.”

“
And the girls with fairy
names?” Eoin asked.

“
Who?”

“
Tink and Ivy?”

“
They were out,” Aden
said. “The killers missed them.”

“
We know all about the
attempts to kill and the almost-killing in the hospital.” Eoin
nodded. “Brutal business for such young people.”

“
Is there someone else I
might talk to?” Aden asked.

“
Nope,” Eoin
asked.

“
Are you always like
this?” Aden asked.

“
It’s an affliction,” Eoin
said.

“
Affliction?” Aden
asked.

“
I’m better in Irish,”
Eoin said. “You speak that?”

“
No,” Aden
said.

Eoin nodded. They stood there staring at the
walls behind each other.

“
What would it take for
you to tell me about my son?” Aden asked.

“
Those other kids,” Eoin
said. “They okay?”

“
We’ve been very lucky,”
Aden said.

“
I like that girl, Wanda,”
Eoin said. “She’s a tough kid in a tough situation. Her dad brings
her here on the weekends. She likes the peanut-butter
chocolate-chip cookies — eats them in tiny bits.”

Eoin nodded.

“’
Course, we think of
Noelle as one of our own,” Eoin said.

“
Why is that?” Aden
asked.

“
Theodore is family,” Eoin
said.

“
Who?” Aden
asked.

“
Teddy,” Eoin
said.

“
And my son?” Aden
asked.

“
Is he your son?” the
red-haired man said.

“
Yes,” Aden
said.

“
Teddy?” Eoin asked. “I
thought he was . . .”

“
Nash!” Aden said. “Nash
Norsen is my son.”

Aden scowled and tried to think of a way to
get this man to connect him with Nash. Annoyed, he turned around
and looked out the plate glass windows onto the South Platte
River.

“
Hey Eoin, have you seen
my dad?” Nash’s voice came from behind him.

Aden spun around.

“
There’s a man who claims
to be your father,” Eoin said. Aden sneered at him. “He hasn’t
shown me his proof.”

“
Dad?”

Nash came around the counter, and Aden
stepped back. Nash’s face was a quilt of red and purple bruises,
dried blood, and stitches. Aden grabbed him and held him close.
Nash grunted.

“
Don’t say I didn’t warn
you,” Eoin said. Aden glanced at him and he gave an indignant
sniff. “He’s the worse for wear, but fine
none-the-less.”

“
What happened?” Aden
asked. He set Nash back to look at him.

“
We were jumped,” Nash
said. “Teddy and me, because of the trial and all.”

“
I thought you were
protected!” Aden said. “Safe!”

“
We did as well,” Eoin
said. “They were unloading a truck. I was here. Cian had just
stepped inside — one second and wham.”

“
We kicked their asses,”
Nash said. “Cian’s a madman.”

“
Now, laddie, we promised
we wouldn’t say that,” Eoin said. “We don’t want immigration to
know the status of our friend Cian’s mind.”

Nash gave Aden a confirming nod to Cian’s
madness.

“
Let’s just say they ran
away screaming,” Eoin said.

“
How is Teddy?” Aden
asked.

“
About the same,” Nash
said.

Aden touched Nash’s face and Nash
winced.

“
Did you take him
. . .?” Aden started.

“
We had a real, genuine
doctor look at them,” Eoin said. “Who do you think we are? We’re
not heathens.”

“
Who?” Aden mouthed to
Nash.

“
Dr. John,” Nash mouthed
back.

“
So what if it’s in the
family?” Eoin asked. “We were told to trust no one because anyone
could be in on this thing.”

“
It seems like you don’t
trust anyone anyway,” Aden said.

“
True enough,” Eoin
laughed. “The boy’s all right though. No broken teeth, broken
bones, nothing permanent. Theodore too. They’ll get some sympathy
from the ladies.”

“
Ladies?” Aden asked and
looked at Nash.

Nash shook his head.

“
The boys made dinner for
you to take to your missus,” Eoin said. “Why don’t you stay for a
spot of tea and a muffin?”

“
Muffin?” Aden
asked.

“
The boys have been
cooking all day,” Eoin said. “They’re getting good at
it.”

“
Okay,” Aden said. He
hugged Nash one more time for good measure.

“
Do you want to try one?”
Nash asked.

“
Sure,” Aden
said.

“
Sit right there and I’ll
. . .” Nash ran off to the back. Aden watched him go.
Bruised and battered, Nash seemed one part little boy and one part
adult. Nash was on the verge of manhood. Aden scowled to cover his
wistful feelings about Nash growing up.

“
They grow up fast,” Eoin
said.

Aden nodded.

“
And we just grow about
the middle,” Eoin said.

Aden laughed, which caused Eoin laugh. They
laughed until Teddy and Nash came out with dinner, warm muffins,
and tea for three. Eoin gave Aden a nod. The boys sat down in front
of Aden and began talking. For this moment, they were all boy, and
Aden was listening.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday evening — 7:25 p.m.

Phoenix, Arizona

Yvonne closed her eyes and opened them
again. She couldn’t remember a time when she had been so frightened
for such a long period of time. She was exhausted from being
terrified. She glanced at Dionne. Her best friend’s face held the
same terror and exhaustion.

Everything started out really easy. They had
followed Agent Angie into the office building. The secretary had
lead them to a conference room where she said the bankers would
meet them.

“
Anything for the FBI,”
the woman had said.

Yvonne looked down at the ground where the
woman’s body lay. She’d been pretty in life. Her long fingernails
and almost-perfect makeup indicated that she cared about how she
looked. She’d had a swish in her walk as they came back here. She’d
given them a knowing smile, which seemed to say that they were
going to get what was coming to them. Yvonne wondered if the
secretary had deserved the bullet that went through her heart.

Looking straight ahead, Yvonne saw only the
conference room table that Agent Angie had tipped over to protect
them. Yvonne caught Dionne’s eye. She didn’t dare say a word for
fear the men would remember they were still there. Yvonne used her
chin to nod to Agent Angie. Dionne shook her head and shrugged.

Agent Angie lay between them. They’d shot
her just below her bulletproof vest. That was before Agent Angie
tipped the table over and they hid behind it. Dionne had done her
best to treat the gunshot wound but in no time at all, Agent Angie
had passed out.

Yvonne closed her eyes and tried to get the
story straight. She knew Rodney would want to know. She pretended
her loving husband was sitting next to her.

“
What happened, Yvie?” the
Rodney in her mind said.

“
We went to the office
with our warrant,” Yvonne said in her mind. “We went, just us —
Agent Angie, Dionne, and me. Agent Angie was going to go by
herself, but I told her that having me and Dionne there would scare
them more. So we left all the armed guys outside and went
in.”

She could see Rodney’s concerned face in her
mind.

“
We met the cutest
secretary,” Yvonne said. “I remember thinking she must be sleeping
with one of the bosses.”

“
How could you tell?” the
Rodney in her mind said.

“
Just the way she walked,”
Yvonne said in her mind. “She seemed so secure, so sure that we
were in the wrong. Agent Angie showed her the warrant, and she led
us to this conference room. She said they would be there right
away.”

“
What happened then?” the
Rodney in her mind asked.

Someone outside the conference room ran down
the hallway. Yvonne looked at Dionne to see if she had heard it
too. Dionne nodded that she had.

“
What happened then?” the
Rodney in her mind asked again.

“
I don’t remember,” Yvonne
said out loud.

“
Shh,” Dionne
said.

“
They came in,” Yvonne
said in her mind.

“
Who did?” asked her
Handsome Homeland Security Agent when he appeared in her
mind.

“
The men,” Yvonne said in
her mind.

“
I think he wants their
names,” the Rodney in her mind said.

“
Oh, I don’t know their
names,” Yvonne said. “Creep One and Creep Two. Their names were on
the form.”

“
Which one is Creep One?”
the Rodney in her mind asked.

“
No, it’s better if we
figure out what happened,” her handsome Homeland Security agent
interrupted. “Names don’t matter until later. We can match them to
photographs.”