Текст книги "A Few Broken Rules"
Автор книги: Kate Kane
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Текущая страница: 2 (всего у книги 14 страниц)
Chapter 3
After the left overs were put away and the dishwasher was filled and running, Ben gathered his family together and drove the short distance to the hospital. As they were walking toward the hospital, his cell phone buzzed.
“Bellini.”
“They’ve just moved him to intensive care.”
“We’re in the parking lot. Meet me in the lobby.” Ben ended the call. He looked at Lane as they went through the main entrance. “They’ve moved Justin to a room in intensive care. You and Jamie go on up. I’ll wait here for Tanner and join you as soon as I can.” As he pushed the elevator button, Ben kissed the top of Lane’s head and looked at Jamie, silently telling him he was in charge of taking care of his Mother in Ben’s absence.
The Parker Kids all knew the story; Philip Parker had made love to Lane one last time and then had come out of the closet before he walked out the front door; leaving her with two young children and the surprise pregnancy that followed. Philip left Lane and moved to Chicago to be with a man he’d met a year before. Jamie had never really known Philip. Sure, Philip had sent birthday and Christmas cards and then there was the one week a year that Philip went to Omaha and stayed with his mother, Evelyn Parker, and spent some time visiting his kids. That wasn’t being a dad and Jamie knew it. It made Jamie’s decision to call Ben, ‘Dad,’ an easy one. The fact was that from their first meeting, Ben Bellini had been like a father to him.
Jamie had been tall and gangly, his voice was changing, and he just felt awkward all of the time. Then he’d moved to Kansas and met his mother’s best friend, Ben Bellini. From their first meeting, Ben had called Jamie, ‘Bambino,’ Italian for Kid. He shot hoops with Jamie and with Jamie’s older brother, Jake. He’d taken the boys and their sister, Jess, to play paint ball and taught them to shoot, paint guns and the real ones too. He’d sat Jamie down and had the sex talk with him. Of course, the sex talk still galled Jamie a little. Ben had told him there were three rules: Rule 1: No means no and stop means stop. Rule 2: Never have sex with a woman who was too incapacitated to say either no or stop. And, the most important was Rule 3: ALWAYS wear protection.
Ben had ignored rule number three, having unprotected sex with Jamie’s mother, getting Lane pregnant BEFORE the wedding. Sure, they were engaged at the time, but that wasn’t the point. Then right after Mom and Ben became engaged, Ben had told Lane he needed a break. Jamie still didn’t know what that had been about. Ben and his Mom had spent more than a month apart. And, when they got back together, they told the Kids that Lane was pregnant, and got married that same night. Ben might be the only father he’d ever known, but when he thought about the whole thing, it irritated him more than a little.
During the summer, Jamie had tried to ask Ben, if he was sleeping with his Mother. Ben had told him that it was really none of his business, that he loved Lane, and that he was in this for the long haul. Jamie could tell from the way his mother and Ben behaved when they were together that they were in love. He hated to admit it, but Ben was right. It wasn’t exactly his business what his Mother did. But, all of that was beside the point. She was his Mother and since he was the only Parker Kid still at home, it was his job to protect her. Ben had told the Parker Kids for years that their mother was too trusting and naïve and that they needed to watch out for her. That was all Jamie had been trying to do when he’d talked to Ben.
The elevator doors opened. Tanner walked out and Ben ushered Lane inside. He kissed her hand. “I’ll be up as soon as I talk to Tanner.” Ben looked at Jamie who nodded back as the elevator doors closed.
Ben looked at Tanner. “We need to get the crime scene techs inside that Jeep. If I had to venture a guess, I’d say someone covered the steering wheel and maybe the door handles with peanut oil. Either it entered his system that way, or he ingested it somehow. Jamie said Justin keeps an epipen in his glove compartment. He was probably trying to get to it when he passed out. I’ll talk to John and Joan Harper. I may need you to reach out to someone on the force. That rookie cop really botched this up.”
Tanner nodded. “I’ll grab some dinner and wait to hear from you. I think I’m going to head back to the parking lot so I can keep an eye on the vehicle. Call me after you talk to the parents. Let me know what you want me to do. If someone tried to kill the kid, that’s just sick.”
“No argument. Good thing that Jamie was there.” Ben pushed the button for the elevator. “Call me if there’s anything hinkey at the school.”
Ben rode the elevator to the intensive care floor. The elevator doors opened and Ben found Lane and Jamie sitting in the waiting room with the Harpers. John Harper stood as Ben walked into the room. He extended his hand to Ben.
“Thanks. The doctors say he’ll be fine, but only because he got to the hospital when he did. From what Jamie told us, we have you to thank for that.”
Ben shook John Harper’s hand. “It’s true my investigator opened the Jeep, but I think we have to thank Jamie. He called 9-1-1 and me. John, Joan, I want to ask you a couple of questions.” They sat down.
“Both my investigator and I noticed a faint smell of peanuts in the Jeep. I think you need to file a police report and we need to get the crime scene techs to impound the Jeep and go over it.”
Joan Harper looked at Ben, and he could see the confused horror on her face. “You mean you think someone did this to Justin on purpose?”
“Joan, it certainly appears that might be the case. I just think we need to cover the bases. The crime scene techs can check for residue of any kind of nuts in the Jeep. They can dust for fingerprints. If someone did this on purpose, we need to find them.”
John Harper patted his wife’s hand as he nodded toward Ben. “Is it something you can do for us?”
“Roy Tanner is my investigator. He’s retired from the Kansas City, Missouri police force. I can have him reach out to a friend and get the ball rolling, but the police will want to talk to you, and of course to Justin when he’s up to it. In the meantime, Tanner went back to the school. He’s keeping an eye on the Jeep. If you give me the keys, we can drop them off to Tanner on our way home.”
Lane stood and hugged each of the Harpers. “I’m so glad that Justin is going to be all right. You have our numbers. Call us any time if you need something.” She smiled. “I mean it. Any time. Do you need someone to stay with the younger kids while you’re at the hospital?” Lane knew that Justin was the oldest of four and that the youngest was maybe ten or eleven.
Joan shook her head. “My parents are at the house with the younger kids.” She smiled. “Besides, you have enough on your plate.”
The whole world knew Lane was pregnant. Last month the paparazzi had been following her daughter, Jess Parker, around because she had been cast in the coveted role of playing twins Kate and Kit Hart in the Harts in Time trilogy. Jess had blurted out Lane’s pregnancy to an ex-girlfriend of Ben’s and the video had gone viral.
Lane smiled and motioned to Ben and Jamie, “Yes, but I’ve got these two to take care of me. Seriously, if you need anything, call.”
The Harpers gave Ben the keys to Justin’s Jeep and the Parker-Bellini family left the hospital. The high school was on the way home from the hospital and so Ben drove there. Ben always held Lane’s hand in the car and he gave her hand a little squeeze as he got out of the SUV to talk to Tanner.
Jamie leaned toward the front seat, “Is this how it is when you and Dad are on a case?” Over the past few months, Lane had stumbled over two dead bodies; she’d been kidnapped, and had been threatened with a gun.
Lane laughed. “Ben and I are not on a case, if anyone is on a case, it’s Roy Tanner.”
Jamie gave his head a slight shake. “I’m going to go listen to Dad and Mr. Tanner.” He said as he opened his door and got out of the SUV.
Lane leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes. She had her 12 week pre-natal appointment and ultrasound scheduled for tomorrow. She was so glad to be moving into her second trimester. She’d had terrible nausea during the first trimester, but thank God, she hadn’t done actual vomiting. Her obstetrician had accurately predicted that the first trimester of her pregnancy was going to sap her energy. Now that she was entering her second trimester, the nausea was gone and she was hoping the fatigue would soon subside as well. She had planned to talk with Ben tonight about the ultrasound. Often the gender of the baby could be determined during an ultrasound. She wanted to be surprised and find out the old-fashioned way, when the baby was born. But, she didn’t know what Ben’s thoughts were. After all, this was her fourth pregnancy, but it was Ben’s first. Since missing the first appointment, Ben had come to every subsequent appointment with her, which wasn’t always easy given his trial schedule; and because it was a high-risk pregnancy, she’d been seeing the doctor every two weeks instead of once a month. She heard the doors open and good-byes being exchanged. She opened her eyes.
Ben took one look at her and could see how tired she was. He looked at the digital time displayed on the dashboard. It was nearly 10:00 p.m. and past her bedtime. He reached for her hand and lifted it to his lips.
“Sorry it took us so long. Let’s get you home and to bed.”
“Is everything okay? Did Tanner get someone to come pick up Justin’s Jeep?” She asked quietly.
“Yes, everything’s fine. Tanner made the call and he’ll wait here until the techs come for the Jeep.”
Ben started the SUV and drove toward home. Lane leaned her head against the window again and was asleep before they left the parking lot. Ben felt helpless, just as he had as he watched her sip water and nibble crackers before she got out of bed. He couldn’t imagine the guilt he would have felt if she had ever actually vomited in the mornings. She had been so tired during the first trimester. One weekend a couple of weeks ago, she had spent most of Saturday in bed. He told her that day that he felt guilty and then he’d said it was his fault that she was pregnant. She had looked at him and laughed. “I think I was right there, with you, Dad,” she’d said and then she’d told him he was being ridiculous.
He knew it was true, but he’d told her that he was used to being in control and in this situation, he couldn’t even pretend to be in control. That had gotten another laugh out of her. “For the next year or so, this little one is the only one in control of anything.” She’d said as she patted her abdomen. He loved her more than he knew it was even possible to love someone.
Lane didn’t even stir as he opened the garage door and parked his SUV. Ben looked into the back seat as he turned off the ignition, “Get the door, Bambino.”
Ben quietly opened the passenger door and unfastened Lane’s seatbelt before lifting her into his arms. She instinctively put her arms around him as he carried her into the house and into their bedroom. Jamie followed them into the bedroom and pulled the covers back so Ben could get Lane into bed.
“Thanks, Bambino. Let me get her settled and I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
Ben slowly removed Lane’s cowboy boots and her socks. He unfastened her jeans and gently pulled them off. He lifted her up so he could get her sweater off. For now, he’d leave her in her underwear. He pulled the covers over her, bent and kissed her forehead, and then left the bedroom.
He found Jamie at the kitchen table with a large glass of milk and a plate of reheated leftover meatloaf and potatoes.
“You know, I went back into the locker room to get my backpack because I have a history test tomorrow. Guess I could have left it where it was and then maybe Justin wouldn’t have ended up in the hospital.”
“You can’t blame yourself, Bambino. As his parents said, you probably saved Justin’s life. Do I need to call the school about your history test? Maybe get them to give you a make-up test later?”
“No, I have a study hall in the morning before the test, I’ll be fine. Is Mom okay?”
“She’s fine, just tired. Apparently, pregnancy really taxes a woman’s system. The doctor has said the fatigue should go away soon.”
Jamie nodded as he stood up to put his dishes in the sink. He opened the dishwasher and started to put the dishes away. It was “against the rules” to leave dirty dishes in the sink overnight.
“You go to bed, I’ll get that.” Ben walked to the dishwasher, but Jamie hadn’t moved. “Are you all right, Bambino?”
“Yeah, it’s just weird, you know? To think that one of my friends could have died. And then to realize that most likely someone did it to him on purpose.” Jamie paused and looked at Ben. “But I know that you and Mr. Tanner will find out what’s going on.”
Chapter 4
Ben was usually up by 5:30 a.m. without the aid of an alarm clock. He was running a little late this morning. He got up, dressed for his 10-mile run, and left the house. When he came home, Jamie was in the gym going through his morning workout. Ben went through his weight and strength training routine. Both Jamie and Ben were morning people but neither of them spoke during his workout.
Jamie finished first, but he sat on the weight machine and looked at Ben. “Do you have court today?”
Ben stopped. “No, I’ll be in the office all day. I’m doing some prep for a trial that starts next week after the holiday. Call me if you need anything.”
Jamie nodded and left the gym. Ben watched him go, thinking Jamie was more shaken over this than he wanted to let on. Ben looked up at the wall clock. It was nearly 7:00 a.m. He needed to finish up and get his shower in.
Ben walked into the dark bedroom and made his way to the master bathroom. He closed the door and turned the water on. He’d brush his teeth, shave, and then hop into the shower. These last few weeks had been an adjustment. A pleasant one, yet it was still an adjustment. Ben had lived alone since he was in law school. Now he had a wife, a ready-made family, and a baby on the way. He knew it had been an adjustment for Lane and Jamie too. The door from the bedroom opened and Lane stumbled into the bathroom. She offered her cheek for him to kiss as she went into the powder room and closed the door. He smiled. His wife was not what anyone would call a morning person. The only reason she was out of bed at the un-Godly hour of 7:15 a.m. was that she was pregnant and her bladder felt like it was the size of a walnut.
Lane emerged from the powder room still in the underwear he’d put her to bed in the night before. She looked down at what she was wearing.
“I fell asleep in the car and you carried me in to bed, didn’t you?”
He walked over and wrapped his arms around her. “Yes.” He said as he bent to kiss her.
“You have to stop doing that.” She said.
Ben leaned back and looked at her. “Stop kissing you?”
Lane laughed. “No, stop carrying me. Kissing me you can do forever.”
He kissed her again. “Good, I was a little worried for a minute. As for carrying you, you’re just going to have to learn to live with that, because I will not wake you up.” He rubbed her abdomen. “You two needed your rest.”
She put her hand over his. “We have our first ultrasound today.”
“At 3:30, I know. I’ll probably have to just meet you, but I’ll be there.”
She stood on her toes and kissed him. “You know sometimes they can tell the baby’s gender in an ultrasound. If they can, do you want them to tell us or do you want to be surprised when the baby’s born?”
“Knowing might make decorating the nursery easier, but it’s up to you. I’m okay either way. Did you find out with the other kids or did you wait to be surprised?”
“Ultrasounds weren’t so much routine when I had the older kids, but I think I’d like to be surprised. Are you sure you’re okay with that?”
Keeping his hand on her abdomen, he leaned down and kissed her again. “I’m good with finding out the old fashioned way, when the baby gets here.”
She hugged him, “Okay. I love you. I’m going back to bed. I’ll see you later.” She said before turning and walking back to their bed.
Ben turned on the water for the shower and got in. He knew he was running late, he was usually in the office before 7:30 a.m. He’d give his admin, Stephanie, a call from the car and leave a message that he’d be in closer to 8:30 a.m. today. She’d be shocked because he usually beat her into the office. However, even he was allowed to come in late occasionally.
He finished his shower and went to his closet selecting a grey and wine, glen plaid suit. He pulled out a pale pink dress shirt and a paisley tie and pocket square. He dressed, then sat on the bench in his closet and put on his socks and his Gucci oxfords. He walked into the bedroom. Lane was fast asleep. He bent and kissed her forehead. “Ti amo.” He whispered and left the bedroom closing the door behind him.
Jamie had already left the house. His classes started at 8:00. Ben went into the kitchen and made a protein shake and a cup of coffee. He drank the shake and put the dishes in the dishwasher. He poured the coffee into a travel mug and went to the garage. His office was only about 20 minutes away, and he knew Stephanie would have coffee ready there, but he really liked his coffee. He’d tried giving it up in support of his wife, who had to give up caffeine because it’s a stimulant and bad for the baby. Thank God, she’d told him that was crazy. He dialed his admin’s number and told her that he was just leaving the house before backing out of the garage.
The alarm went off at 8:00 and Lane got out of bed. She didn’t know how Ben could get up every morning, usually without the aid of an alarm clock, before 6:00 a.m. Even on the weekends, he was up and dressed, out for his run, his workout done, and in the shower before she even thought about getting up. She smiled. She had lured him back into bed more than once, on the weekends since the wedding, for a little morning sex.
She got up and went into the bathroom. She turned on the water. As she brushed her teeth, she looked down at her left hand. He had gotten her rings at Tiffany’s and they were amazing. She didn’t know much about those “four c’s” of diamond buying, but she knew big and sparkling when she saw it. She washed her face with Ivory soap, stripped out of her underwear and got into the shower. The shower was six feet by six feet and had rain showerheads in the ceiling with jets in two walls. She washed her long strawberry blonde hair, shaved her legs, and used the luffa on her back. She stepped out of the shower and towel dried both her body and her hair. She sat at her dressing table and applied her makeup before going to her closet and dressing. She rotated through her closet by selecting the suit on the furthest left, then selecting a blouse to go with it. She’d wear a suit twice and then send it to the dry cleaner. The routine worked for her. This way she didn’t stand in her closet debating about what to wear. She grabbed her underwear, shoes, and hose, walked into the bedroom, and laid the suit on the bed. She dressed, changed her purse to match her shoes. She went to the den, got her brief case, and left the house. Her office was about 15 minutes away and thank God she had reserved parking so she could be at her desk in about 20 minutes.
Her assistant was always in the office by 8:00 a.m. and had checked Lane’s calendar, her email, and voice mail. Meg had everything sorted and ready for Lane as she walked into the office. She had hired Meg Kelly when she had first taken the Chief Privacy Officer position. It was Meg’s first office job and the two of them had just clicked.
Lane’s oldest son, Jake, had met Meg at Lane’s birthday party in August and the two had been dating ever since. Meg had a little girl from a relationship she’d had in college. The relationship had ended badly and Meg hadn’t even told the boy about Abbey. Jake seemed to adore little Abbey, who would be three years old in just a couple of weeks. Lane hadn’t spoken to either Jake or Meg about their relationship, but from what she had observed, it wouldn’t surprise her if Jake bought Meg a ring for Christmas. Jake had gotten his MS in Civil Engineering from Kansas University and had been working at Burke and Jones since mid-August. Lane had given each of her children $250,000.00 from an unexpected windfall she’d gotten during the summer. Jake had used his money to buy a house, but she suspected there was enough left over for a nice engagement ring.
Meg handed Lane her messages. “I don’t know how it happened, but you have no meetings today. You do have your OB appointment this afternoon at 3:30 p.m., so I’ve blocked your calendar from 2:30 p.m. on so you won’t be late. Is Ben picking you up or meeting you?”
Lane took her messages. “When he left for work, the plan was to meet me. He’s doing prep for a trial that starts next week.” She smiled, “But, you never know, he might break free early.”
She walked into her office and was greeted with the scent of roses. Every Tuesday morning Ben had two dozen red roses delivered to Lane’s office. It was a symbol that he loved her and thought about her every hour of the day. She smiled remembering his proposal. He had the ballroom at his family’s Italian restaurant filled with nine dozen red roses. According to him, 108 roses meant, “will you marry me?” He’d filled their wedding reception with 1001 ivory roses and told her it was for a love that will last for all eternity. She smiled as she shook her head. She had no idea how he knew all of this but she was glad she was the lucky recipient of the knowledge.
“Meg, what are you and Abbey doing for Thanksgiving?” Lane knew Meg was an only child and it suddenly occurred to her that since Jake was probably going to be spending at least part of the day with Meg and her family, that maybe she should invite Meg and her parents to have dinner with the Parker, Bellini and Luciano families.
“My mom cooks. It’s usually just Mom, Dad, Abbey, and me, but this year Jake will come over sometime.”
Lane smiled and nodded as Meg replied. “Why don’t you call your Mom and see if she’d like to join us? Ben and I are already cooking for the whole family, this way you and your Mom won’t have to cook if you don’t want to.”
“That’s so nice of you. I’ll give Mom a call. The truth is, she loves making the pies and doesn’t care too much for the rest of it. Maybe we could contribute dessert.”
“That would be nice, but no pressure, I won’t be offended if your parents would be uncomfortable coming. We’ll be serving lunch at the nursing home where one of my friends is a volunteer, so we won’t be eating until around two o’clock in the afternoon. Just let me know.” Lane thought, “It’s probably time we all meet.” After all, she had a strong feeling that they’d be in-laws someday soon.
*****
Ben was deep in preparation for his defense of Rosella Garcia. Rosella had killed her abusive ex-boyfriend during an assault. He was using fists and she picked up a .38 caliber revolver and emptied it into him. According to the medical examiner, one of the shots was to his back, which would indicate that he was fleeing at the time. Which is why the D.A. had decided to prosecute. Ben was pouring over reports and photographs taken over the two years that Rosella had been with Juan Rameriz. She had been in the ER 36 times over those two years, with injuries ranging from bruises, to broken bones, to stab wounds. Each time she had told the medical staff that the injuries were due to her own clumsiness; but it’s hard to believe that anyone could stab herself, in the back, between her shoulder blades. At the time, she told the ER doctor that it had happened when she backed into a knife. Ben shook his head, yeah, right, a knife that just happened to be more than four feet off the ground and went deeply enough that it required over twenty stitches. There was no doubt that Rosella was systematically abused during those two years. She had finally gotten away from Rameriz, and moved from St. Joseph, Missouri to Kansas City, Missouri. She was hoping to start a new life, but six months later Rameriz had found her and he wasn’t happy that she had started seeing someone else, or that she was in fact pregnant with the other man’s child. Juan had decided the way to teach her a lesson was to beat her until he killed her, or she miscarried, whichever came first. He was well on his way to that end when she’d gotten away and locked herself in her bedroom. She had pushed a dresser in front of the locked door, but Juan kicked the door in, pushed the dresser out of the way, and came after her. Her new boyfriend kept a loaded .38 caliber revolver in the nightstand and she’d used it to save herself and her baby. She had a restraining order against Juan and called 9-1-1 to report him as soon as he had entered the apartment, but it had taken the police too long to respond, and by the time, they finally got there, Rosella was badly beaten and Juan was dead.
A friend of Ben’s who worked at the hospital where Rosella was taken after the last assault, called him and he had gone to the hospital to talk with her. He’d never lost a case, and he was very expensive. There was no way Rosella, who worked as a maid in a downtown hotel could have afforded him, but after he’d talked with her and reviewed the police reports, it didn’t matter. He took the case pro bono. It was self-defense and he was going to make sure the jury saw it that way.
Ben was thinking about jury selection, which was set to start the Monday after Thanksgiving when his cell phone rang. It was 1:00 p.m. and once again, he’d worked though lunch. “Bellini.”
“Dad?” Jamie whispered, “I think I need a lawyer.”
“Bambino? What are you talking about?”
“Coach is dead and I’m afraid they’re going to think I killed him.”
Ben was out of his chair and heading toward the door as he asked, “Where are you?”
Jamie’s voice was still a whisper as he responded, “At school.”
“Don’t worry; everything’s going to be fine. Don’t say anything else to anyone. Don’t eat or drink anything and don’t touch anything. I’m on my way.” He ended the call, grabbed his suit jacket, and strode out of his office.
“Stephanie, I’ll be out for the rest of the afternoon. Is Sal in his office?”
Sal was Ben’s uncle and one of his partners in the law firm. Salvatore Luciano was also a criminal defense attorney. Ben walked into Sal’s office.
“Il bambino trova un corpo a scuola, vieni con me.” He said.
Sal stood and followed Ben out of the office, and onto the elevator. Ben was first or second generation Italian American depending on whether you were counting from his Mother’s side of the family tree or from his Father’s. The Bellinis and Lucianos usually spoke Italian to each other. It was especially true if they didn’t want the rest of the world to know what they were saying. Ben clicked the remote to unlock the doors on his Lincoln Navigator and the two men got into the SUV.
Even alone in Ben’s SUV, the conversation was entirely in Italian.
“Tell me.” Uncle Sal said.
“Jamie found his football coach dead. He called me, saying he’s afraid the police will think he did it. If anyone’s hurt my kid, I may need a lawyer.”
“Nephew, we need to be calm. You know this. What else did the boy say?”
Ben took a breath. “Last night after football practice, Jamie found a friend, Justin Harper, unconscious in his Jeep. The boy has a peanut allergy and when we got the Jeep opened, there was a faint smell of peanuts. Today all he said is that the football coach is dead and he’s afraid they’re going to think he did it. That’s really all I know. Except that there is no way Jamie would be involved in any of this and if this ruins his appointment to West Point, it will break his Mother’s heart. They are my family and it’s my responsibility to protect them. Right now, that’s all I can think about.”
Ben ran his hand through his dark, wavy hair. “Lane has a doctor’s appointment this afternoon; we’re having our first ultrasound. I can’t tell her about this and I can’t miss the appointment. That’s really why I need you.”
Sal nodded. He and his twin brother Vinnie had met Lane when she was only four years old. They loved her then and they loved her now. She was the daughter Sal never had. He would personally have the head of anyone who caused her distress, especially now while she was pregnant.
“It will be fine, Nephew. The Bambino did nothing and the police will see that too.”
Ben nodded as he pushed his blue tooth. “Call Tanner.” He said.
The line barely rang when the investigator picked up. “Tanner.”
“It’s Ben. There’s been another incident at school. Jamie’s football coach is dead. He’s afraid the cops will think he did it. Sal and I are on our way there now. See what you can find out.”
