Second Thoughts (15 page)

“That was a rough time. I remember how much you were hurting. Both of you.”

Connie nodded, swallowed. “Yeah.”

“It must be scary thinking about trying again.”

“Rough. And scary. Apt words.” Then Connie felt her mood softening as wistfulness slowly settled in. “You know, that day we went fishing, a couple times I found myself…conscious of him, I guess is the best way to put it. The way I used to be, before we had a past.”

She stopped, and the pensiveness abruptly faded. “A past full of misgivings and misunderstandings. Hurt feelings and hard memories.” Purposely she closed off her expression and got to her feet. “Didn’t work out then, and it won’t work now. We clashed constantly.” With resolution she got back on track and returned her attention to the suitcase.

“That you did.” Kristy leaned against the closet door and folded her arms. “But it wasn’t the fighting that caused the breakup.”

Connie’s gaze snapped back to her. “What?”

“Face it, kid. You’ve got a short fuse, and so does he. You’re bound to clash. That didn’t have anything to do with the breakup. You told me yourself, more than once, that you never went to bed angry, either one of you, and you never woke up angry. Whatever the problem was, you found a way to deal with it.”

“But…those last months…we didn’t even talk to each other, Kris. There was no marriage left.”

“Exactly. You weren’t talking. You weren’t fighting. You weren’t communicating. The relationship ceased to exist.” She crossed one ankle over the other. “I wouldn’t recommend it for everybody—wouldn’t work for Kevin and me, for instance—but in your case, conflict enhanced the relationship. It fueled the chemistry.”

Connie was silent for a long moment, studying her friend. “Okay, Ms. Freud, then what was the problem?”

“The separation, when he moved and you didn’t. Instead of exploding, having a big row over it and clearing the air, you both sulked. You let it simmer, let it steep, and it got so big that neither one of you could deal with it.”

Connie was quiet for another long moment. “If this is what you thought, Kris, why on earth didn’t you tell me then?”

“I was hurting too, for both of you, and working as hard as I could to remain neutral. I wasn’t seeing it very clearly right then either.”

Suddenly, Connie collapsed on the cot and put her face in her hands. “I don’t know what to say. Or do. I can’t even think straight.”

“I’m not surprised.” Kristy waited a beat, and then added softly, “Is Derek worth all this stress?”

Connie’s head snapped up.

Kristy’s gaze was steady. “Is the relationship worth it?”

She crossed the room, and lightly kissed Connie on the forehead. “Those are tough questions, kid. Think about it long and hard. And you know where I am if you need a sounding board. In the meantime, goodnight. And thanks again for taking such good care of my kids.”

* * *

Although Kevin seemed to lighten up the next day, his guests grew more tense. Since he hadn’t been able to break either of them down, it appeared he’d decided to do the next best thing and ignore them.

Max and Petey’s house was thirty miles away, and Chris wasn’t able to tell his dad how to get there. Police patrols were searching the vicinity; it was only a matter of time before the house was discovered, but Derek and Connie were intent upon squeezing out all the time they could for Max and SteelMan.

The police chief in Kevin insisted that the kidnapping be reported. So, hoping to sneak past the media, the report had been filed in the names of D. Richard O’Reilly and Connie Robertson. So far they’d gotten away with the simple ruse. Since the kids’ surnames matched their uncle’s, neither had the media caught the connection to the chief of police.

When the phone rang late Saturday morning, host and hostess sat at the kitchen table with after breakfast coffee, and their guests sat on the tall counter stools. The twins were napping, and Christopher was at a play-date with a neighborhood friend.

Connie wasn’t comfortable because her feet wouldn’t reach the bottom rung on the too-tall stool. As she watched Kevin answer the phone, she wondered why she was here instead of over there at the table where there were four comfortable chairs. But as soon as the thought crossed her mind, the answer followed it: she and Derek were squaring off against his brother.

Kristy had refused to take sides, and Connie was surprised she was at the table and not standing in the middle of the room. Then she remembered Kristy had been there first and Kevin had sat down next to her.

It occurred to Connie
then that adulthood could be a whole lot like first-grade-hood.

The police chief held the phone to his ear, doing more listening than talking, and glanced occasionally at his guests, who weren’t even trying to disguise their interest. Then when he replaced the phone receiver, he just stared at them.

“Well?” Derek asked, probably realizing his brother wasn’t going to volunteer anything. Connie didn’t blame Kevin for being so closemouthed, but she still would’ve strangled him if she could.

“Does the name Maxwell ring a bell?” he asked finally.

“Oh,” Connie said, trying to cross her legs. She almost slid off the seat, so she continued to let her legs hang. “So that’s their name. No, Kevin, it doesn’t ring any bells. We told you we didn’t know what their last name was.”

“Herman and Peter Maxwell. And they have now added attempted extortion to armed robbery and kidnapping. These boys are busy.”

“Alleged extortion,” Connie corrected. Neither did she like the word attempted. Apparently, Max hadn’t got the book back or adequate compensation for it.

Kevin gave her an eloquent look that held no appreciation. Then he said, “The big guy, Moose, wasn’t in on the
alleged
extortion attempt. We still don’t know anything about him, other than that he’s big and he wears a beard.”

Derek nodded. “And that’s all we know. We already told you that.”

His brother propped his elbows on the table and made a tent with his fingers. “Amazing what tidbits we pick up here and there, which often enables us to find someone without having his name. For instance, Chris knows he likes extra crispy chicken, lasagna, and cheese omelets. That doesn’t help us very much, however. But you know things about him that would lead us to him. At least Connie does.”

Derek looked surprised, and Connie blinked. Kevin was right on target, and she wondered how he knew. She glanced sideways at Derek. She hadn’t told him about Max and Moose’s AA connection, and she wasn’t about to mention it to his brother. Confidentiality was a keynote of that organization, but she still feared that tidbit of information might help lead Kevin to Moose.

She looked back at her ex-brother-in-law, but refused to engage in a staring contest, so then lowered her gaze to the counter. “Did you learn anything else in that phone conversation?”

“Connie, can you think of any reason why I should share any information with you?”

She looked up. Answered calmly, “No.”

Different emotions warred across his face: surprise at her candor and respect for it, then a renewal of last night’s frustration, which was then slowly replaced by resignation. He looked at the window, shook his head, exhaled heavily and looked back. “Okay, we’re going to try it this way and see what happens. Herman and Peter—”

“Max and Petey,” the pair at the counter corrected in unison. They looked at each other, then Derek directed a shrug toward Kevin. “We already told you that.”

“That’s right. The one thing you told me, and I forgot all about it.”

Kristy gave her husband a reproving look.

“Anyway,” Kevin continued. “They showed up at Julian Hayworth’s house this morning—he’s the owner of the convenience store they robbed three times, by the way—and demanded five grand or they’d continue to rob and harass him in whatever way they could. Hayworth refused, slammed the door on them and called the police.”

Connie felt empty, in heart and gut. She hadn’t really expected Max’s plan to work and didn’t think he’d held much hope of success, either. But until that moment, it wasn’t total defeat.

“Charming people you’re covering for,” Kevin said. “And not especially smart. On top of everything else, Hayworth is also their landlord, so he’s got plenty of information on them.”

“He is?” blurted two surprised voices.

Kevin glanced sideways at his wife. “How about that. I knew something they didn’t.”

Derek and Connie looked at each other. Unspoken communication passed between them. She took in a deep breath and let it out. “Okay,” she said. “You shared your information, we’ll share ours.”

“Gee, thanks,” Kevin said dryly.

Kristy gave him a look that clearly said
shut up
.

“For starters, it’s not Max and Petey who lack charm,” Connie stated unequivocally. “It’s Hayworth. He stole something from them, and they only want to be compensated for it. And worse than the fact of stealing in itself is the way he did it. Petey is a grown man, but no older mentally and emotionally than Chris. Hayworth knew that, and he took unfair, unjust and immoral advantage. If that isn’t illegal, it should be. He is the charming person you should be concerned about.”

Kevin nodded. “Okay, go on.”

“There’s nothing else.” When she saw his angry disbelief on its way back, she added quickly, “That’s the truth. We don’t know Moose’s name, where he lives, works, or anything. We knew Hayworth owned the convenience store, and that Max wanted to see him this weekend, but that’s it. We don’t know anything else, Kevin. Honest.”

“Another thing you should know,” Derek said, “is that we were never in any danger from those men. Not any one of us. Admittedly, I was worried in the beginning, but it quickly became evident there was no danger. Chris knew that before we did, and he’s also told you that, in several different ways.”

“They didn’t even have bullets in their guns,” Connie said. “Doesn’t that tell you something?”

Kevin gave her his full attention. “And the way you found that out was by pulling the trigger, wasn’t it?”

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, then again met his gaze. “Yes.”

“But you’re trying to tell me now that you weren’t frightened.”

“Of course I was scared,” she snapped, getting angry and not caring that she was. “I was
scared to death. We had two babies and a five-year-old, and Derek and I were not a match for three men, especially when one of them was as big as a moose. I was scared to death,” she repeated, “and would’ve done anything to get those kids out of there.”

Kevin’s countenance underwent a rapid change. He looked like he would gladly eat his words if she asked him to. He opened his mouth but didn’t speak for a long moment. Then he said simply, “I’m sorry.”

He looked at his wife. “And I agree with Kristy. We owe you both a debt we’ll never be able to repay. You brought our kids through…that, and they’re none the worse for it.” His expression lightened fractionally. “In fact, Chris had the time of his life.”

Connie again felt out of her depth. “No apology is necessary. This whole thing has hit you guys hard, and Derek and I haven’t been…well, very forthright. But we wanted fair play for Max and Petey. They broke the law, and we knew you wouldn’t accept that, but we had to give them time. Even though it hasn’t worked out for them.”

Kevin said, “I still don’t understand the why of it. What did Hayworth steal?”

“Oh. Uh, well…” Connie’s gaze drifted to the hallway.

“Well,” Derek agreed. He looked at Connie, then his brother. “It was, uh, well…”

There was no way around it. “A comic book,” Connie said in a small voice.

Kevin swore under his breath. “So help me, if you two don’t stop—”

“Now wait a minute,” Kristy said in a warning voice. She looked dubiously between her husband and the people at the counter, as if not sure she should tell Kevin to be civil or their guests to be serious.

“It’s true,” Derek said. “You wanted us to talk, and we’re talking. Now you need to back off and listen.”

He waited for his brother’s nod before he continued. “He stole a rare SteelMan comic book that’s worth at least five grand, probably a lot more. They’d prefer to have the book back, but they’ll settle for the money. From the little I know about the subject, I’d think the price tag is a steal in itself, pardon the pun.”

Kevin still appeared to be having difficulty, and Kristy looked skeptical as well. “When I think of all the ills in this world,” he said, “and then compare them to a lost comic book.” His head wagged from side to side. He looked disgusted. “This has got to be one of the stupidest problems I’ve ever run across.”

“Well, there are people who’d disagree with you,” Connie said, defensive and defiant at the same time. She’d often seen the mood she felt on the faces of her first-graders, and she was just as stubborn as any one of them ever was. “And you can mark me down as one of them.”

Though he couldn’t be aware of the fact,
Kevin parked the mini van in front of the farmhouse in approximately the same place it had previously rested. “So this is it,” he said to his passengers, and Connie and Derek nodded.