The Denver Cereal (19 page)

Jill felt his safety
first. Then she could smell him. Jacob. In a snap, she returned to
the present. Seeing Jacob, she hugged him to her. He helped her to
her feet and tucked her into his shoulder. Jill buried her face
into his neck.

Jacob spoke with the
police officer and took the business card of the woman who had
stayed with Jill. Wanting to get her somewhere safe before the
inevitable storm of emotion, he led Jill to the Aston Martin. He
was halfway around the car when Jill started to sob. Slipping into
the driver’s seat, he leaned over to pull Jill onto his lap. While
the Aston Martin pumped out soft music and air conditioning, Jill
cried her eyes out.

Just lots of blood

“
Homeland Security is
saying we need to get the photographers off Race Street,” the
Denver Police chief said. “That entire neighborhood is on top of
the coal tunnels. No one can get in, so I don’t see why this is
suddenly a problem.”

“
What did you come up
with?” the Denver mayor asked the city attorney.

“
A constitutional
amendment. Freedom of the press.”

“
God damn it! This isn’t
news. It’s harassment . . . stalking at best! We’re
talking about Celia Marlowe’s daughter and her husband. You
remember Val? She waited tables at the Wynkoop.”

“
I know Val. She interned
with us in high school,” the editor of the
Rocky Mountain News
replied. “What
did the other mayors say?”

“
They feel powerless
against the hoard of press. I’ll tell you this, though. At least
one mayor said it’s good for business.”

“
Of course. That’s what
the Los Angeles Police chief said. He said every time they get rid
of the paparazzi, the business owners complain.”

“
Anyone complaining?” the
mayor asked.

“
Dean, Pete’s son, called
a couple times. He’s had their vehicles towed from his lot. He
would be very happy if they left and never came back.” The police
chief paced the office. “The LA chief said the best we could hope
for was that Miss Lipson would leave town.”

“
I’m not going to kick my
dear friend’s child out of town,” the mayor said. “God damn it.
Valerie grew up here. She’s one of us. That’s not to mention what
her parents have done for the city of Denver! Why don’t we let
Homeland clear them out?”

“
That’s like telling the
world: ‘NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT RIGHT HERE!’ They come in with
Black Hawks and soldiers. No fucking around,” the police chief
said. “With the Democratic convention in a month, we don’t want
Homeland involved.”

“
There is one thing we
could do. When is the city council meeting on this
issue?”

“
Tomorrow morning,” the
mayor said.

“
Let’s call immigration.
That’ll fuck with them for a while,” the city attorney
said.

“
Curfew’s at 11 p.m.,” the
police chief volunteered.

“
Do it,” the mayor
said.

~~~~~~~~

“
He . . .
he fired me,” Jill said. “He just called me in to f-f-fire m-m-me.
He said I . . . I . . .”

Her words were lost in her
sobs. Jacob stroked her hair until she was breathing
again.

“
I thought you worked for
Mabel,” Jacob said.

“
He . . .
he . . . t-t-tricked her out of t-t-the company.
T-they have a c-court date this w-w-week. I was just holding on
until . . . until . . . Oh God,
Jacob, I lost my job!”

Jill buried her head in
his shoulder. He returned to stroking her hair.

“
She got the company in
the divorce, but he . . . he . . .”
She wept into his shoulder.

“
You work for Ashforth
Pipe Supply?” Jacob asked.

“
Your mom got me the job
right out of high school,” Jill said. “N-n-now
I . . . I . . . I’ll never be able to
pay you back . . . Katy will
starve . . . I’ll lose her for sure. Oh my God,
where’s Katy?”

Her tears evaporated the
moment she realized she didn’t know where her daughter
was.

“
She’s with Delphie. Don’t
worry. Delphie’s really good with kids. Val and I spent a lot of
time with her when our parents were working.”

Jill nodded.

“
I left Katy’s meds in the
refrigerator at the office,” Jill said. “I can’t go back in
there.”

“
Let me. Did you get the
stuff from your desk?”

Jill shook her
head.

“
He’s s-so awful. He used
to j-just work the w-warehouse. The last three months have been
h-hell. I just . . . He lost an email. He deleted it
from his personal inbox and then couldn’t find it. He does that all
the time. If I tell him, he deleted it? He gets furious. So I found
the email, and then he fired me. He . . . he threw
me out.”

Jill lifted her shirt to
show the developing bruise on her elbow where her boss had grabbed
her. Jacob kissed her elbow. She threw her arms around his neck in
a tight embrace.

“
I’m so sorry,” Jacob
whispered. He shifted and she released him to look at his
face.

“
I should probably get off
your lap,” Jill said. “What about the Bronco?”

“
I’ll call someone to get
it. We have a job a couple blocks from here. They can pick it up
and I’ll get it tomorrow.”

“
You saved me again.
Second time in two days,” Jill said.

Jacob shrugged. “Fixing
messes is my specialty.”

“
Like me?”

Jacob crushed her mouth
with his mouth. He tasted her soft lips and delicate tongue. Jill
felt a rush of passion overcome her senses. Pulling back, he took a
breath.

“
I better stop or this
might get a little . . . public.” He nodded to the
police cruiser. “Are you all right here?”

“
Yeah, thanks.”

“
Jill? Don’t say you’re a
mess. You’re the very best thing that has ever happened to me.
Things are messy. That’s true. But life is like that sometimes.
We’ll sort all of this out. Promise.”

Jill nodded and slipped
off his lap. Jacob gave her the box of Kleenex. She kissed his
cheek and he slid from the car. Jill leaned her head back against
the leather seat. Smiling to herself, she closed her
eyes.

How did she get so
lucky?

~~~~~~~~

Katy opened her eyes.
Sitting up, she looked around Jacob’s apartment. Delphie was
sitting near the bed knitting.

“
Hello, Katherine,”
Delphie said.

“
I know you,” Katy
said.

“
Yes, you do,” Delphie
said.

“
But I don’t know your
name,” Katy replied. Her small brow furrowed in concentration. “Did
I meet you before?”

“
A long, long time ago,”
Delphie said.

“
Are you a friend of my
Jacob?”

“
I am a friend of your
Jacob. I’m Delphinium. People call me Delphie.”

Delphie set her knitting
down and came to the bed to shake Katy’s hand. After shaking hands,
Delphie sat next to Katy on the bed.

“
I thought your name might
start with an ‘R,’” Katy said.

“
Yes,” Delphie said. “Your
mommy is having a little bit of trouble. Your Jacob went to help
her. So we have to carry on without her for a while.”

“
Okay,” Katy said. “I’m
glad Mommy has someone to help her now.”

“
Me too,” Delphie said.
“Would you like to go meet your Aunt Valerie?”

Katy nodded. “Will you
help me go potty?”

“
Of course.”

Delphie helped Katy off
the bed and they walked hand in hand toward the
bathroom.

“
I like you,
Delphie.”

“
I like you,
Katherine.”

~~~~~~~~

“
Of course, Mr. Marlowe,”
the receptionist said. “I can escort you back.”

“
That’s all right. I know
the way,” Jacob said. “Thanks for your help.”

Walking through the
office, Jacob could feel the tension crackle around him. The women
office workers stood in clusters whispering to each other. As he
approached the owner’s office, a dirty-dishwater-haired woman
darted in front of him.

“
Mr. Marlowe! I didn’t
realize you were here,” she said in a deep Wisconsin accent.
Nervous, she pulled at her light pink sweater set.

“
Hi, Darla,” Jacob said.
“Mabel’s not here.”

Darla startled and shook
her head.

“
I need to speak with him.
Is he in?”

“
You have to forgive us.
We’ve had a challenging day.” Darla smiled.

Smiling, Jacob let the
silence drag.

“
Really, sir. Today’s not
a very good day to . . .”

Just then, the owner’s
office door opened.

“
Jacob! How the hell are
you?”

“
Great. Do you have a
moment?” Jacob asked.

“
I was just leaving for a
meeting, but I always have time for my best customer.”

“
This will only take a
second,” Jacob said.

“
Please, come in,” the
owner said. “Darla, you stupid cow. I’m paying you. Can you
work?”

Darla jumped and raced
back to her desk.

Jacob followed the owner
into his office. Ashforth indicated a chair in front of the desk,
but Jacob continued to stand. A glance around the tiny office told
Jacob that Ashforth was moving out. Ashforth shut the lid of a
toolbox stuffed full of large pipe wrenches with a flip of his
foot.

“
I’m here to tell you that
Lipson Construction will no longer need your services.”

Jacob turned to leave, but
the owner said, “It’s because of that stupid, incompetent bitch.
You should pay
me
for keeping her lazy ass here for so long.”

Jacob spun in place and
moved toward the owner. Catching himself, he stopped walking. He
backed to the door.

“
You don’t want to make
this personal,” Jacob said.

“
Why should I listen to a
little twerp like you?” the owner sneered. “Did you ask your daddy
first?”

“
I am Lipson Construction,
you stupid fuck. DO NOT MAKE THIS PERSONAL OR YOU WILL UNLEASH A
SHIT STORM YOU ARE NOT PREPARED FOR.”

Jacob stalked to the door.
He felt the owner follow him but he refused to turn around. In his
mind, he longed for the owner to touch him so he could let loose
his rage and indignation at this pathetic excuse of a
man.

But the owner never laid a
finger on him.

“
You make sure your last
invoice is on my desk by the end of the week,” Jacob said. “You
will hear from my lawyers.”

Yanking the door open,
Jacob saw the office employees clustered around the door. He pulled
a stack of cards from his pocket and gave them to the
women.

“
Give me a call when you
need a job,” Jacob said. “Now, can someone show me the
kitchen?”

“
I’ll take you,” Darla
said.

“
Thanks. I hate to ask,
but would someone mind boxing up Jill’s desk? She didn’t get a
chance to do it.”

“
Mr. Marlowe, I was doing
that when you came in. I was going to drop it by her place
tonight,” said a clerk. She shrugged. “She sits next to
me.”

“
Thanks.” Jacob smiled,
nodded to the women, then followed Darla to the kitchen.

“
Did you just terminate
your contract?” Darla asked. She bent into the refrigerator to
retrieve Katy’s medication.

“
Yes,” he said. “We were
unaware of the ownership change.”

“
That was intentional. We
wanted to keep every customer for when Mabel comes back. I’m
sorry.” Darla gave a weak smile. “Guess I should get my resume
together.”

“
That’s probably a good
idea,” he said. “Keep me in the loop, Darla. We can always use good
people at Lipson.”

“
I heard you had another
business. Molly does your books?”

Jacob nodded. “Send me
your resume.”

He shook Darla’s hand and
took the medication from her. Walking through the office, he picked
up a box of Jill’s possessions from the other women. He waved and
went out into the bright day.

Seeing Jill in the car, he
smiled. Some messes were easy to clean up.

~~~~~~~~

“
What’s happened?” Mike
asked Delphie.

“
As far as I can tell?
Nothing,” Delphie said. “Maybe Jake was wrong.”

“
He’s never been wrong
before,” Valerie said. “He’s better than Mom was. Between the two
of you . . .”

Valerie jumped from her
armchair to pace the Castle living room. Mike held his arms out in
case she wanted a hug, but she shook her head. She was too anxious
for comfort. For the billionth time, she wished she had even a
twinge of her mother or brother’s skill.