Amateur Hour

A Strategy and Storm

Steph

“You didn’t have to prime that pump, much,” Kayla remarked, as they pulled away from Starkey’s house.

“I know the man. Starkey’s a self-righteous SOB. Self – righteous people love to talk, and point out other people’s shortcomings. Doesn’t take much, to get them going.”

“He’s even creepier, outside his natural habitat.”

They drove on, for some moments, saying nothing.

“Julio has to want more of you, than just information on our comings and goings. He could have paid you, for that, and I think you might have accepted the money.” It wasn’t an accusation, merely an observation.

“I would have, and given him bad intel, until he caught on. Julio’s a crook. He deserves to be played.”

“What else does he want, Kayla?”

“He wants me to screw your partnership up, and get you to a point where you’ll have to fold your tent. Something about the two of you, operating as a pair, really chaps his ass.”

Steph grinned. “Good to know. What have you told him, so far?”

“Not much. I’ve exaggerated your annoyance with Guy’s input on how you rear Galen. Your constant bickering, that kind of thing. But… I have been guilty of trying to sow bad seeds, with Guy, in particular. He irritates me,” she admitted

“He irritates everyone. That’s his brand. Give back as good as you get, and it just becomes a friendly game.”

“I don’t like those kinds of games. I don’t like nicknames, either.”

Steph barked a small laugh. “I’ll let him know, but no guarantees. Especially when it comes to the nicknames. Is that all? No listening devices? No tracking devices?”

“None of that, no. He doesn’t care how you operate, he wants to see you not operating.”

“Okay. Tonight, you’re going to give Julio a happy little bonus. You’re going to tell him that Guy and I had a colossal argument.”

“I will, but why would you want me to do that?”

“Just to keep him fat and happy. Starkey’s weakness is his self-righteousness. Julio’s is his smugness. A well fed, smug Julio, is a Julio who isn’t on his guard. He won’t be looking for an incoming dog rescue.”

Kayla looked impressed.

“What will I say the argument was about?”

“Tell him… Tell him Guy gave Galen a pocket knife, against my express wishes. Say you took a side, doesn’t matter whose.”

“Okay. I can do that.”

“Don’t get too fancy, with it; just look pleased, with yourself.”

“How are we going to get Stan back? Julio’s a total spook. No one knows where he lives.”

“That’s why I want to see your pictures of him with Stanley. There could be a clue there.

*******

Ted

He hated the wary look on Nina’s face, when she answered the door. Rather, he hated the fact that he was the cause of it. The sad necessity of ringing his own doorbell was an experience Ted wouldn’t wish on anyone else. It was the coldest, loneliest feeling he’d ever had.

“I don’t have much time, Ted,” she warned him, stepping aside for him to enter. “I need to get to the store, and get a few supplies, for the storm. I have time for one cup of coffee, but that’s it.”

“That’s part of what I want to talk to you about. May I?” he indicated the armchair, to his right.

“Of course, you may,” Nina frowned. “I did offer you coffee. I don’t expect you to drink it, on the threshold.”

Ted seated himself, when what he wanted to do was seize his wife, and crush her to him. Janice had been right about her overall look of weariness, but today, Nina looked tidy and as sweet as ever. There was also disturbingly competent, about her somehow. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what had changed.

Maybe it was nothing more than his absence, that made her appear to stand taller, straighter, and more square shouldered. He watched her disappear into the kitchen, heard the rattle of cups, and all the other sounds associated with the homely task of fetching coffee.

He bent to offer Raven some attention, and she came to him. He was patting her, speaking to her, when Nina reappeared, and set his usual mug on the end table, beside him. Ted, administered the final face scrunching and scratching that Raven loved, receiving some hearty licks, in return. When he looked up, Nina was wearing a ghost of a smile.

“She’s missed you.”

“Thought she was going to take a chunk out of me, last time.” He said it, without rancor. He felt none — Raven’s instinct was to protect Nina, which was as it should be.

“What is it you wanted to talk about?”

“I’m going to have to go to Arizona. Today.”

Nina nodded. “Janice mentioned it.”

“I need you to come with me. I can’t stand the thought of leaving you here alone, with a possible Cat 3 hurricane coming in.”

“It’s not my first hurricane, Ted. By the time it gets here, it’ll be a ‘1’, at worst.”

He blinked. Was this Nina, sitting on the sofa, across from him? His Nina, who got pale and antsy, at the very possibility of flash flooding?

For just a flicker, just a heartbeat, it came to him that he could use the suggestion, and he was furious, with himself. It would be a Gordon-style manipulation.

“I know,” he replied. “But we’ve always ridden storms out, together. It might not worry you, but I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on what I need to do, for worrying about you. It’s not rational, but there it is.”

“We did ride out storms, together. You changed that. I didn’t.”

He took a sip of his coffee, then a deep breath, releasing it, in a slow, gusty sigh.

“I did, and I had my reasons. Are you really sure you want to hear it?”

“I think I need to know.”

Ted took a moment, to brace himself, then launched into his tale.

“I never lost contact, with my favorite cousin, David. I know,” he smiled a little at the surprise, on her face. “It seems crazy that I would have communicated with anyone, in that clan, ever. But David was the one exception, to the rule. He was like me, though a good bit older. You’d like him, very much.”

“Did I meet him, at Gordon’s funeral?”

“I’m sure you did, along with that wife, of his. She was the worst thing that ever happened to a good man, and I’m not exaggerating, Sweetheart.” He took another sip. “Anyway, I got to know all about his favorite of his two sons, DJ, through letters he sent me. The kid was quite the athlete, in high school, and David was proud of him. He sent me copies of clippings, from the kid’s local paper.” Ted paused, to get a handle on his narrative.

“The kid’s local paper. Your cousin and DJ’s mother divorced?”

“Yes. She moved away with the boys. There’s an older one, as well. He’s more studious, like David, and David’s proud of him, too — he just makes less of a splash.” Ted smirked. “Some Eldridges are more Eldridge than others.”

“I’ve figured that out.”

“You’ve figured a lot out, I’d say.”

“So, your cousin’s son, is Jess Greene’s ‘DJ’.”

Ted nodded. “I suspected a connection, when Julio Serrano sent me the ring she’d been wearing, on a chain around her neck. The school and the mascot were the same, as in DJ’s clippings. And, Anya Greene was DJ’s new stepmother.”

“You knew, all along, who Jess was, then.”

“I knew, but I didn’t know why she’d been enrolled in New Canaan. David wasn’t willing to discuss that. When her journals surfaced, it made the reason clear.” He glossed over the involuntary incest.

“I never spoke to her, outside of class,” he went on. “I did try to keep an eye on her, and everything seemed… normal, until the very end. She said, in her journals that at times she felt ill, or, not like herself. I saw evidence of that, in her classroom presence. She was being drugged, I think.”

“I thought you hadn’t read them.”

“Oh, Nina! Of course, I read them. I may be monstrous , but I’m not quite the monster Stephanie would have me be… or Janice.”

“Then… Then, what kind of a monster are you, Ted?”

It was now, or never.

“I suppose that’s for you to decide.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, with a pained look. “When I realized it was Gordon, who had kidnapped you, I was crazy, furious — and all I could think of, was how I would get even, once I had you, back. I wanted, needed for Gordon to be held accountable, for some of the things he’d done. If not by his victims, then by his peripheral victims. I reached out to DJ, in an anonymous email.”

“Oh… Teddy!” Nina groaned. “Why? Why would you do that?”

“I had no idea it would escalate.”

“What were you expecting? For DJ to send strongly worded letter?!”

“Gordon had threatened my wife, my child. He’d been responsible for the death of one student, possibly others. He was responsible for the suffering of many more — suffering and despair that I’d seen with my own fucking eyes, Nina! Day, after day! At the very least, he should be made to face what he had done.”

“It worked out, better than you planned, then.” Nina’s face was accusatory, uncompromising.

“It was a move, worthy of Gordon, himself. But, it was like I was the sorcerer’s apprentice. The spell I cast, got away from me. I meant for him to be humiliated, brought face to face with himself, at last. Not killed.”

“You’re a fool, Ted. Such a fool. That kind of spell would only work on someone capable of feeling shame. Like you.”

“I’m ashamed of what I’ve done to DJ, yes. And, to David, if he ever finds out. But, I hold the only real evidence, and I have the power to bury it.”

“You might be underestimating Steph Howard.”

Ted grinned, sourly.

“Not for a second. I’ve kept her at arm’s length, but she might put it all together. I expect she will, eventually, but she has no proof. And, I’m paying her, for her discretion. Even if I weren’t, she’s one of the most painfully principled human beings I’ve ever met. She knows what Gordon was.”

“And, Guy?”

“He knows, even better.”

“Leaving only me, to upset your grand plan.”

“You could do it,” he acknowledged. “Maybe even without the physical evidence, or the records. I’m gambling on you, not hating me, so much that you’d be willing to throw a tormented young man under the bus.”

“I don’t hate you, Teddy,” she sighed. “I’m just very, very disappointed, in you. I never thought you were so careless, or so thoughtless.” She sighed, staring into the cooling contents of her mug. Finally, she took a sip. “When does your flight leave?”

“Whenever I get there. It’s a charter.”

Nina smiled, faintly. “Of course, it is.”

“I have to get there, as soon as I can, Sweetheart. I don’t have time to be at the mercy of a commercial airline’s schedule.”

“I suppose not,” she allowed.

“Nina, please come with me. You won’t have to stay with me. You can have your own house, on campus. Guy says there’s plenty of them, and there will be even more, in the next twenty-four hours. You can bring Raven. It’s only a three hour flight, and she can ride with us, in the cabin.”

Nina thought about it, then rose, slowly. “I want to show you something.”

Ted stood, as well, and followed her, obediently, in the direction of the nursery.

“I finished it, yesterday,” she said, opening the door. She flipped on the light, and gave him a small shove.

Ted gasped, turning slowly, to take in the finished mural. From logs, to moss, to bugs and minnows, Nina had omitted nothing. She had even decided to include an alligator, sunning itself on a bank, minding its own business, as most gators were wont to do. Its eyes were half closed, as if it were about to fall asleep.

His slow turn stopped abruptly, when he got to the panther in the tree. He had seen her, before, of course. Now, she had been joined by two cubs, wrestling and tumbling on the ground, below. His eyes widened, and he pointed to them, with his mouth open.

Nina nodded, with a little smile.

“Girls,” she said.

“Girls?” he repeated, with a spreading grin.

She nodded again. Ted flew at her, laughing. He picked her up and swung her around.

“Well, don’t squash them, Teddy!” she protested.

“Sorry,” he said, setting her gently on her feet, again. “Sorry, girls,” he repeated, bending to address her abdomen.

“You like the mural, then?”

“It’s the best thing you’ve done, yet.” It was. It was also a testimony, of sorts. Nina hadn’t given up. She wouldn’t have shown it to him, if she had given up, on him. On them.