Now & Forever 3 - Blind love (35 page)

Mac knocked on Alan’s door then went in.

“Hi, Mac. What are you doing in the English department?”

“Hey, Alan. I want to ask you about this late grade change.
You changed Jenna Walker’s grade recently. Why?” Mac slipped into the chair
across from Alan’s desk.

“I don’t like to admit this, but I made a mistake. You know
with the rush to get grades out on time and all, I gave her the wrong grade.”

“What was her old grade?” Mac sat up straight.

“Gee, I don’t remember. I got rid of it on my computer and
you know how it is, I can’t remember every student’s grade.”

“I saw the transcript, Alan. There was a printed copy in her
dorm room. You gave her an F, then you changed it to a B. Why?”

“No one likes to give an F, Mac. Especially when it’s a
mistake, you know.”

“I know, Alan. That’s a pretty big mistake. Didn’t Jenna
complain to you?”

“No, she didn’t.” Alan crossed his legs.

“Why not? She was a very conscientious student one who’d
question an F. Why did Jenna fail your class?”

“Frankly, I didn’t want to say, now she’s dead, but she did
fail the class. I changed her grade to make things a little easier on her
parents, you know.”

“No, Alan, I don’t know. Did she fail or not?”

“Yes, she failed.” A few drops of sweat appeared on Alan’s
upper lip.

“But I checked and there were no warning emails sent to her.
No notice was sent to her advisor or to our office. Did you discuss this with
her? Did you recommend her for tutoring? Did you call her advisor?”

“No, no I didn’t.” Alan uncrossed and recrossed his legs.

“Why not, Alan?”

“Because…because, well I forgot.” He leaned over and opened
his briefcase.

“You didn’t forget to go through channels for Jimmy Scott or
Mark Stevenson. You gave them several warnings and called their advisors. Our
office received official notice too. I checked. They ended up passing your
class. Why did you fail Jenna, Alan?”

“I made a mistake, Mac.” Mac watched the color slowly drain
from Alan’s face.

“What kind of mistake?”

“I fell for Jenna. When she wouldn’t go out with me, I
threatened to fail her.”

“You what?” Mac shot up out of the chair, pushing to his
feet.

Mac heard the faint sound of footfalls in the hall.

“Didn’t that ever happen to you, Mac? Didn’t you ever fall
for a co-ed?”

The footsteps got louder and Mac was momentarily distracted
by the sound of a person approaching getting louder. Then the sound stopped. He
turned his attention back to Alan.

“No, Alan. That never happened to me. You’re in big trouble,
here.”

“What about Callie?” Alan crossed his arms then uncrossed
them.

“She was a graduate student and twenty-six years old. We
dated, I didn’t threaten her. She was not under my jurisdiction at all. That is
completely different and you know it.”

“I guess…” Alan slipped his hand inside his briefcase.

“I’m going to have to fire you, Alan, and turn you over to
the police. You say Jenna wouldn’t go out with you…is that the truth?”

Alan pulled out the gun he bought after Rex threatened him and
trained it on Mac.

“No, you idiot. She wouldn’t have sex with me. I told her if
she had sex with me, she’d pass. She wouldn’t. So I failed her.” He held the
gun with both hands.

“What are you doing? Put that away.” Mac stepped back toward
the door.

“I’m holding you here until I can get away. Go ahead and fire
me, but I’m not going down for murder. I didn’t kill her.” Alan aimed the gun
at Mac’s chest.

“You did kill her, Alan. With that F on her transcript, her
chances of going to med school were finished. You’re disgusting. It makes me
sick to be here in the same room talking to you.”

“You don’t know what it’s like to be really lonely, Mac.”
Alan tried to explain while his hand holding the gun began to shake.

“Yes, I do, Alan. That doesn’t mean you can force young women
to have sex with you. You’re a monster.”

“I’m sorry, Mac. I didn’t want Jenna to die. I liked her. She
had a beautiful body, you know? Now get out of the way. I’m leaving and I don’t
want to hurt you,” Alan said, aimed the unsteady gun at Mac.

“Put the gun down, Alan, before you hurt somebody,” Mac said.

“Mac, get out of the way.” Alan waved the gun at the dean.

“Alan, did you force Stephanie Harrison to sleep with you?”

“Stephanie? Oh, Stephanie…she was lovely. She did. Then she
stopped. She wouldn’t cooperate. Said something about a boyfriend. So I failed
her. Her suicide was a real tragedy.”

“You’re a pig. Put the gun down, before it goes off
accidentally and you kill me.”

“No. I’m leaving and you can’t stop me. I’ll kill you if you
get in my way. I mean it. I’ve got nothing to lose now. Get out of my way,
Mac,” Alan yelled, his control slipping, his forehead bathed in sweat.

“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.”