Now and Forever 5, Love's Journey (36 page)

“Alan. Put the gun away. You can’t run away
from this,” Mac said.

“I can and I will.” Alan started to move
around his desk.

Mac heard heavy breathing from the hall,
then the word “pig” muttered softly. He turned to look as a man
stepped into Alan’s office, raised a gun and pointed it directly at
Alan’s chest.

“You’re going nowhere, mister. You killed my
daughter. You can rot in Hell.” John Walker emptied his gun into
Alan’s chest. Alan went down, his hand squeezing the trigger and
his gun discharged as he fell. The bullet grazed Mac’s upper arm
and blood started flowing.

Callie called the police on her cell phone
while Danny rushed to Alan’s office. He grabbed John Walker,
subduing him before he could harm anyone else. There was blood
everywhere.

“Drop the gun, Mr. Walker,” Mac said. “Drop
it or Danny will break your arm.”

John Walker was in shock. He dropped the
gun, but Danny continued to hold on to him. Casey woke up and began
to cry. “I’ve got him, Danny,” Callie called from down the
hall.

Dave Williams arrived along with an
ambulance, which was too late as Alan Littleton was dead. The
medics cleaned and bandaged Mac’s wound. Dave took John Walker into
custody.

“I hate days like this,” Dave said to
Mac.

Danny returned to his office to comfort his
son. Callie flew down the hall to Mac.

“Are you okay? He was going to shoot you.
Oh, Mac, you’ve been hit!”

“I’m okay. I’m okay,” Mac said, hugging
Callie with one arm but feeling shaky.

“Dave, I had no idea Walker was out in the
hall,” Mac said.

“That’s okay, Mac. Who could have predicted
this? We’ll be needing your statement as to what Littleton said
before Walker shot him.”

“No problem, Dave. When do you want me?”

“In an hour?”

“I’ll be there.” Mac walked down the hall
with Callie.

“What happened, Mac?” Callie asked him.

“I’ll tell you when we get home. Some
people…you never know.” He opened the car door for Callie with his
good arm.

* * * *

Rex had to check into a hotel for a few
weeks as Alan’s house was being swept by crime lab people with a
fine-tooth comb, looking for evidence of liaisons with other
girls.

“Hey, Sarge, look at this. Isn’t this a
nanny cam?”

“Yeah. It’s a miniature camera parents hide
to catch the nanny beating up their kid. Let me see that, Carl. Can
you get anything off this?”

Carl looked at the tiny camera.

“I think there is stuff recorded on this.
Give me a couple of hours and I’ll pull whatever’s there off and
put it on the computer in the lab. This afternoon, by three.”

At four Carl summoned Dave Williams into the
lab’s office.

“Weren’t you looking for the goods on this
guy, Dave? Look at this.”

Carl played the tape which had Rex’s
confession to Alan on it. It seems Rex had left one of his cameras
in the living room.

“Carl, this is the best news I’ve had all
week. Pick up Rex Vesson, Jackson. This closes the Deena Johnson
murder case. A confession is a beautiful thing, Carl. Alice, can
you get me Mac Caldwell on the line, please?”

* * * *

Mac returned home to a pot roast dinner and
Unchained Melody by The Righteous Brothers playing on the CD
player. Callie was wearing a negligee and the kids were in bed.
Nine o’clock was late to be eating dinner but Mac had been working
late hours since the Deena Johnson murder investigation destroyed
his ability to concentrate.

Tonight he came home wearing a big grin. He
sat down and dug into his favorite meal with a hunger for food he
hadn’t had in weeks.

“This is the best pot roast yet.”

“You’re so hungry newspaper would taste
good.”

“Seriously…it’s the best.”

“The case is over?” Callie sat back, letting
the negligee fall loose, exposing some of her curves.

“They have a taped confession.” Mac cut some
meat and stabbed it with his fork.

“Perfect. Now we can return to our lives?”
She leaned forward.

“Yup.” He shoveled a big helping of potatoes
and carrots into his mouth.

“Excellent.”

Mac finished the pot roast on his plate, sat
back and eyed his wife, his gaze sweeping her from head to toe.

“Is that new?”

“I thought you wouldn’t mind. Franklyn’s was
having a sale and when I got your call I thought—”

He stopped her words with a strong kiss.

“Who said anything about minding?”

She grinned at him.

“On to another topic…”

“Oh?” Mack raised his eyebrows.

“About another baby…” Callie leaned forward,
letting the silky fabric fall away from her body.

“Were we talking about another baby?” Mac
eyed her breasts, clearly in view.

“Now the threat is over…we should be.”

“Another baby…hmmm.” His hand followed his
gaze to slip under the soft fabric and caress her.

“Come on, Mac, you know I want one.”
Callie’s breathing began to get heavy.

“Do you? The first two are so great…” His
attention wandered as she leaned closer.

“They are, aren’t they?” His lips were but a
breath away.

“So?” He brushed his lips lightly against
hers.

“What do you say?” she whispered into his
mouth.

“Go for it, baby.” His mouth captured hers
in a passionate kiss.

Callie stood up from the table, took his
hand, and led him into the bedroom.

Chapter
Twenty-four

Callie and Mac agreed with Danny and Eliza
the bachelor parties for Peter and Lara should be small and
private. After the near-disaster of Danny and Eliza’s bachelor
parties two years ago, this seemed like a safe plan. Danny would
take over his house and have the party for Peter in his basement
man-cave. The guys would eat, drink, tell dirty jokes and play
pool. He invited Peter, Sam, Mac, Jim Caterson, and Bill Jones.
Little Casey would sleep through it all.

The women took over Cold Spring Spa. Both
parties were scheduled for the same Saturday night. The spa would
be empty then. The women booked the whole spa so they could have
the sauna, massage, manicures, pedicures and facials in total
privacy. Callie had a local caterer deliver finger food like cold
shrimp with cocktail sauce, warm tiny quiches, stuffed mushrooms,
chestnuts wrapped in bacon, crudités with dip, mini éclairs,
napoleons and cannoli, and a case of cold peach champagne, her
favorite drink. The guest list included Callie, Eliza, Kaitlyn,
Sally, Pat and Jonesy.

Sam was the designated driver of Mac’s SUV
because he said too much alcohol made him sleepy. He delivered the
women to Cold Spring, then picked up the men and took them to
Danny’s place. The men had
man
food, wings, pizza, a case of
beer, scotch, and chocolate chip cookies, Peter’s favorite. The
guys started doing shots and beer around six-thirty. Sam cued up
the balls for pool.

“If you guys keep drinking, I’m going to be
able to beat you all,” Sam said.

“Not me. Alcohol doesn’t affect my game,”
Danny said.

Everyone got their favorite stick and the
game began. As the drinking progressed, Danny, Jim, and Sam started
telling dirty jokes. Mac and Peter didn’t join in right away.

“Don’t you boys know any dirty jokes…no
limericks? What kind of sons have I raised?” Sam chuckled.

“Your being here is not exactly…conducive…to
telling dirty jokes, Dad,” Peter piped up.

“Yeah, if we make comments, you’ll yell at
us.”

“Hell, if it’s directed at me, yeah. But
dirty jokes…come on!”

“All right, all right. I can rise to the
challenge. Let’s see if I remember how this goes. ‘There once was a
lady named Venus…’” Mac began.

“I know where this is going,” Peter chimed
in.

The more they drank, the raunchier the
stories and jokes got. Peter and Mac clapped each other on the back
and laughed until they cried. Sam didn’t want to say anything to
embarrass his sons, but he was overjoyed to be included in the
bachelor party and be an important part of the lives of both of his
sons.

“I bet I lost my virginity younger than any
of you guys,” Peter boasted.

“Don’t count on it,” Danny said with a
smirk.

“Yeah? Okay, okay. I was seventeen,” Peter
said.

“I’ve got that beat. I was sixteen,” Danny
said with pride.

“I was a little older, but not much…just
eighteen,” Sam said, quietly.

“Dad, if this involves Mom, I don’t think we
want to know,” Mac said.

“It doesn’t involve your mother. Do you
think I’d discuss anything about sex involving your mother with you
or anyone else? You must be crazy! No, no. Besides, I didn’t meet
her until college, I was older, at least twenty-two, if I remember
correctly. I went into the service at eighteen. I served in Viet
Nam. When I got back, I used the GI Bill to pay for college. Seemed
like a good plan at the time for a young man with no money.”

“You served in Viet Nam? With what branch?”
Danny asked.

“Army, of course.”

“Me too. In Iraq,” Danny said, extending his
hand to Sam, who shook it.

“Viet Nam too, but Navy,” said Bill Jones,
shaking hands with Danny and Sam.

“So, who took your virginity, if it wasn’t
Mom?” Peter asked, his eyes glazing slightly, a sexy grin on his
face.

“I’m not going to tell you that! Danny
understands, don’t you, Dan? In the military you have
certain…opportunities you might not have otherwise. Right,
Dan?”

“Hell, yes! And I don’t mean prostitutes,
either…except when you’re deployed. But there are
so
many
townies around…you can almost have your pick, right Sam?”

Sam blushed and nodded. He didn’t intend to
explain anything about his sexual experiences to his sons.

“Come on, Dad. Confess. This story sounds
too good to pass up,” Peter urged.

“No.”

“To be fair, you’re the one who brought it
up, Dad,” Mac said, hiding a smile.

“I was just answering the challenge. That’s
all.”

“You were bragging, Dad,” Mac said.

“Now you have our attention. Give,” Peter
chimed in.

Sam shook his head.

“Aw come on, Sam. Both boys are grown men
with wives of their own,” Bill said.

“I’m not married yet!” Peter exclaimed.

“They’re both over thirty, Sam. I doubt we
have any virgins here,” Jim coaxed.

“So, you all want to hear a juicy story, do
you? I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed.” Sam smiled.

The men took their drinks and sat down to
listen to Sam. Sam leaned against the arm of the sofa, cradling a
glass of tonic.

“Okay, okay. I was eighteen and green as
they come. I grew up in a suburb of Philadelphia, with a sister and
two brothers. My parents worked hard but they didn’t have much
money. My father was a postal worker and my mother taught school.
We had food and all, but there was no money for college. So I took
myself off to the recruiting station and joined the Army.”

“Get to the good part, Dad,” Peter
urged.

“I’m getting there. Don’t rush me. I had a
girlfriend, Linda, in high school. I kept trying to get her to
sleep with me, but she refused. After two years of begging that got
me nowhere, I washed my hands of her when I went to war. She cried
and said she’d bake me cookies. Cookies! Hah! She still wouldn’t
give me what I wanted…which was a good roll in the hay. She had a
body…well, it was unbelievable…but you’ll just have to use your
imagination,” Sam said, color creeping into his cheeks.

“When I got to basic training camp in Pine
Bluff, Arkansas, I was a tall, skinny, horny kid who didn’t know
much about anything, especially women. But several nights a week, I
tagged along to a bar with a bunch of guys who went into Pine Bluff
looking for a good time. For the first few nights, I got drunk and
sick because I wasn’t used to liquor. After a while, I understood
my limits.

“The guys kept getting…finding women. But
not me. So they were going to make me a cause célèbre, if you get
my drift. The next Friday night, we went to The Sunrise Bar, one of
the favorites with the guys because the woman who ran the place,
Jeannie, was the widow of a Viet Nam vet. So the guys figured
drinking there was like keeping it in the family. Jeannie was a
pretty brunette who kept the guys in line by not falling for their
crap. They teased her and she teased them back. But no one got to
first base with Jeannie.

“That Friday, they all kept an eye out for a
girl for me at The Sunrise. None of the girls there were interested
in a tall, skinny kid who didn’t know what he was doing when they
could go off with one of the experienced guys who had muscles and
smooth talk. So it was another lonely night for me,” Sam said,
pausing to take a sip of his tonic.