Not Dead Yet (8 page)

CHAPTER FIVE

They rode in Mollie’s “showroom car” as Theia called it, because Mollie kept it spotlessly clean.  Theia’s car tended to have books and client files stacked across the back seat with some spare heels on the floorboard, which is why they always rode in Mollie’s car. 

Waiting at a stoplight, Mollie asked, “So when are you going to tell me what happened in the latest phone call?”

“You won’t believe it,” Theia said.  “He wants me to meet him at an abandoned quarry outside of Dixton tomorrow at midnight.  How stupid does he think I am?”

“You’re not going, are you?”

“Of course not,” Theia assured her.

“So what are you going to do?”

“I thought you could help me figure that out at lunch.”

They drove to their favorite Chinese buffet, a huge place that was always packed with a mix of people – corporate workers in crisp suits were elbow to elbow with construction workers covered with sweat and dirt.

“I love coming here,” Mollie said.

“So do I,” Theia agreed.  “The food is really good and you get a lot for your money.”

“True, but who are we kidding?” Mollie smiled.  “We really come for the fried sushi.  Seriously, who ever heard of fried sushi?  I don’t even like regular sushi, but I can’t resist this stuff.”

They piled their plates high, as if trying to test their balancing skills against the force of gravity. Sliding into their booth, they saw that the jasmine tea had already been placed on the table.  Theia sighed, soothed by the familiar ritual of coming to her favorite lunch spot with her best friend.

“So I’m thinking,” Theia said, “Maybe I should hire Guido and a couple of his boys to hunt him down and rough him up so he leaves me alone.”

“Guido?”  Mollie asked.

“Oh, that’s what I call any of the nameless, faceless guys on the Hill who, you know, help with things.”  The Hill was an old Italian section of town.

“How are you going to find one of these ‘helpers’?”

“I thought I would call Cement Head or Night Train,” Theia continued, naming two of her college friends who played rugby.  “They might know someone.  What do you think it would cost – a couple hundred bucks?” Theia asked. 

“If you pretended it was Mardi Gras and flashed them, they’d probably do it for free,” Mollie suggested.

“Hmm, that’s a thought,” Theia pretended to consider her suggestion.

“So, seriously, what are you going to do?”  Mollie asked after a moment.  “Would it help to run through your options?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, behind curtain number one … do absolutely nothing.  Behind curtain number two … call the police and tell them about the phone calls.  And - let’s see … what’s in the box … get involved.”

“Can I get a fourth option?” Theia asked, with a weak smile.

“Well, the ‘get involved’ option has several possibilities.”

“And they all scare the hell out of me,” Theia said.   “I’m not cut out for this superhero stuff.  I’m just plain old ordinary me, doing my job and making a living.  That’s the way I like it and that’s the way I want it to stay.  My life is finally peaceful and normal.  Nix option number three.”

“All right,” Mollie conceded.  “That leaves doing nothing, or calling the police.”

“Those options both suck.  If I do nothing, I’ll feel guilty.  If I call the cops and something bad happens to her, I’ll feel guilty.”

“Theia, face reality,” Mollie urged.  “Something really bad has more than likely already happened to her.”

“Well then it’s probably too late for the police to help her — for all we know he killed her at the house and has just been messing with me,” Theia replied.  “What a psychopath.”

“We both know the cops aren’t going to break a nail trying to find her,” Mollie said, “and I can’t say I blame them.  Even if they find her, and she recovers from whatever he has done to her, she’d just go back to him.  Didn’t you tell me he’d already put her in the hospital a couple of times?”

“Yeah, once he broke a chair over her head and another time he beat her while she was pregnant.”

“Oh God, what happened to the baby?”

“She lost it,” Theia said.

“So she wouldn’t even leave him to save the life of her child?”  Mollie asked.

“You know how it is for battered women.  You’ve had cases like this.  They’re afraid to stay and even more afraid to leave.  They’re usually told they’ll be killed if they try to get away.”

“True,” Mollie agreed, “she probably didn’t have a will of her own anymore.”

“She may have felt as though she did not have any options,” Theia commented.  “They had a couple of kids.  That’s how she’s connected to Lu Capeto.  The kids were hellions at impressively young ages.  They rotated between juvenile hall and foster care.  Lu was the DJO on one of the cases.”

“What happened to the kids?”

“They moved out of the house during high school. Lu lost track of them after that.”

“What a mess.  Are you actually considering getting mixed up in this?” Mollie asked.  “I feel badly for her, but how can you fix this?”

“You’re right—I can’t. Okay, so I tell the police, and be done with it.”

“I think that’s the best option,” Mollie agreed.

“How does this sound?  Hi, Officer Asshole?  Yes, this is Theia Pearson.  You remember.  You were a jerk at my office the other day.” 

“You might want to work on your delivery,” Mollie suggested.

“Okay, I’ll tweak it a little.  I hate being dragged into this situation, but I think the best way for me to help Rose is to cooperate with the police.”

“I’m afraid so,” Mollie agreed.  “What does your fortune cookie say?”

Theia cracked open her cookie and pulled out the slip of paper.  “Oh, great.  My fortune cookie says this is my lucky day.  If this is an example of a lucky day, I really don’t want to experience an unlucky day.  What does yours say?”

“It says ‘You will travel to an exotic place,’” Mollie read.

“Well, that’s no news flash.  You and David travel constantly.  That’s like saying you’ll breathe today.  Anyway, I am relieved … I think I have a plan now.  Thanks for helping me sort things out, Mollie.”

“Ready to head back to the office to make that phone call?”

“I may as well get it over with.”

Theia discovered it actually was her lucky day when she called the police.  The case had been assigned to Officer McCarthy, a different detective, who said he would be right over to take a follow-up statement.  He was polite and professional.

“Thanks for coming over,” Theia greeted him warmly.  “I’m hopeful this new information will help you find Rose before it’s too late.”

“I appreciate your trying to help.”  He put a small recorder on her desk.  “Okay if I record your statement?  If you saw my handwriting, you would understand,” he grimaced good-naturedly.  “I always take notes, in case there are problems with the recording, but I’m the only one who can read my notes.”

“If your handwriting is half as bad as mine, I pity you.” Theia told him about the two phone calls that Lu had received, and the decision to avoid future phone calls. “I really want to get out of this as soon as possible and leave it to the professionals.”

He frowned, tapping his pen on the notepad.

“Is there a problem?  I thought you would be thrilled not to have an amateur involved, messing things up,” Theia said, looking a little baffled.

“Yes, but I am just a little concerned about not having a way for him to make contact,” the detective answered.

“Look, you guys can figure that out.  I don’t want to touch this with a ten foot pole.”

“Would you be willing to have the DJO keep her old phone number, and keep passing his messages to us?” the detective asked.

“I’m sorry,” Theia said, shaking her head. “If I get involved, I could muck things up and make it worse for Rose.  Her husband is already angry with me.  I don’t want to give him another excuse to beat the hell out of her.  The best way I can help her is to let you professionals do your job.  Sorry, but I want out.”

“That’s okay.  I was just thinking out loud.”  He reviewed his notes, tapping his pen annoyingly on his notepad again. “We’ll check out the quarry to see what we can find there.  Thanks for your time, Ms. Pearson.  I’ll see myself out.  Oh, and keep a good lookout, just in case he tries to do something stupid.  It’s highly unlikely though.  If he was going to do something to you, he probably would have already done it.”

As the detective strolled down the hall, Theia took a deep breath and slowly let it out.  The hard part was done.  The police were going to look for Rose.  And Theia was out of the case.  Free. 

The next day, Theia had an appointment with a woman who wanted to divorce her husband.  After introducing herself, Theia began asking the woman the basic initial questions.  The client had a bemused look on her face as she stared up at the artwork through her John Lennon glasses.

“Ma’am, how long have you been living at your current address?” Theia asked.

Theia repeated the question, but was unable to draw the woman’s attention from the abstract prints on the wall.

“Look at the swirls,” the woman murmured.  “And the splotches. That blue one looks like my husband.”

Theia looked at the woman’s dilated pupils.  Perfect.  No wonder she wore tie-dye and sandals.

“Ma’am, you made an appointment to talk with me about getting a divorce.  I need to ask you some questions.  First, I need your full legal name, please,” Theia inquired.

“I am the Mother of God,” the woman replied.

“Okay,” Theia said.  “You know, I don’t think I am the right lawyer for you, but I can give you the name and phone number of someone who would be great.  In fact, his office is just a few buildings away.  Why don’t we call him right now to see if he can work you in to his schedule today?  And make sure you tell him I gave you his name.  It might get you in to see him more quickly.”

Theia turned over one of her own business cards and wrote the name and telephone number of a lawyer who had tried to screw over her client in a recent case.  “Revenge by referral” was highly effective, and seldom had to be used more than once on a lawyer. 

“He can see me right away!” the woman said, delighted, as she hung up the phone.  Theia drew walking instructions and sent her on her way.  Theia already had more than enough crazy clients.  The last thing she wanted was one more.

Theia walked over to the county courthouse, which was a block from her office.  She had a case in front of Judge Quinones. There were eighty cases on the 9:30 am docket and another sixty on the 10:30 am docket.  Theia was on the 10:30, so they had a long wait. 

Theia sat with eleven other lawyers who had gotten there early enough to get a seat in the jury box.  Since the pews were filled to the brim with people who were either seeking an order of protection or trying to get out of one, all the other lawyers had to mill about on foot. 

Adult abuse court was a soul-sucking pit.  Usually the dregs of society were paraded out for public display and humiliation.  Some people found entertainment in waving their own tawdry banner of bad taste, just like people on trashy television shows.

“So, what happened?” asked Lu, as she squatted down next to Theia’s chair. 

“Jesus, Lu!  You have to stop just popping up like that.  You scared the hell out of me!  What are you doing here?”  Theia asked.

“Barnum & Bailey isn’t in town, so I thought I’d come watch this circus,” Lu said.  “That, and it’s fun to watch you jump.  It always works.” 

Theia glared at her.  “Are you on a case in this division or just taking up floor space?”

“No.  I had a termination of parental rights case in Juvenile court, and swung by here afterward.  Your office said you would be here,” Lu explained.

“So, how did your case go?”  Theia stalled.

“The case was a no brainer.  The pervert was already in prison for what he did to his kids. He only objected so he could take a field trip to court.  Now, are you going to tell me what is going on, or do I have to wait all day?” Lu asked.

“I told the cop about the two times Donald contacted you, that you were getting your number changed and we were staying the hell out of it,” Theia dutifully answered.

“Just like that?”

“Yeah, just like that,” Theia confirmed.  “He did suggest that you not change your number and that I continue to pass the messages on to him, but I refused.  I’m done with this case.”

“I hear you.  I mean, jeez, look at the grocery bags under your eyes,” Lu taunted.

“Bitch!  I do not have grocery bags under my eyes.”

“Fine, you keep telling yourself that.  I’m surprised you didn’t get them their own chair.”

“Did you come here for any purpose other than to tell me I look bad?” Theia demanded.

Lu paused for a moment, then the seat next to Theia opened up.  Lu snatched it before someone else could.  She leaned in and whispered, “Look, I just want to make sure you’re okay.  I realized after we talked this might bring back some bad memories … so, how are you holding up?”