I was stunned, but not by what Ben had just revealed.
I wasn’t at all surprised that Eldon Porter was still alive. I had, of course, been the one person who believed that all along. What caught me completely and utterly unprepared was that Ben would keep this fact from me.
I sat for what seemed a lifetime, silently gathering my thoughts and staring back at my friend. He was correct with his earlier comment. We had already argued more than enough for one day, but at the moment, I couldn’t help feeling as though I’d been grievously betrayed.
The silence was finally broken by Detective McLaughlin clearing her throat and then unlatching the sliding door on the van. “I’ll see you two inside” was all she said before climbing out and yanking the door shut on the rumbling slides.
“There… Are ya’ happy now?” Ben said coldly as we continued to play stare-down with each other.
My jaw worked for a moment before I could get any words to come out. When they finally did, I had to force my voice to remain even and calm, although my query was thickly coated with an angry frost. “You’ve known this since Friday? Exactly when were you planning to tell me?”
“Not known. Suspected. Suspected it since Friday,” he corrected. “I didn’t get a verification from Mandalay ‘till this mornin’ just before you showed up.”
“And?” I pushed hard. “You still didn’t tell me.”
“Yeah, and right now I’m starin’ at why,” he stated flatly.
“What? You don’t think I have the right to be upset?”
“Sure. Ya’ got the right ta’ be just as freakin’ upset as ya’ want, not that it’s gonna do ya’ any good.” He nodded. “But the deal is, you’ve got enough shit goin’ on right now, so I thought it was for the best ta’ keep it under wraps for a bit.”
“That’s insane!” I told him. “You know as well as anyone that I’m probably number one on his hit list. I could tell by the look on your face when I said I felt like someone was following me that this has got you scared too.”
“Yeah, and I ain’t the only one, believe me,” he offered. “But it’s bein’ taken care of.”
“How so?”
“You’ve got a lotta people lookin’ out for ya’, white man,” he explained. “There was more than just one call made Friday. The local coppers stepped up patrols in your neighborhood that night as a precaution, and Mandalay called Carl Deckert over at County. They’re keepin’ an eye on ya’ too.”
“I haven’t noticed anything.”
“You aren’t supposed ta’,” he sighed. “Ya’know, Mandalay is all over this too. She’s even been watchin’ over ya’.”
“You still should’ve told me,” I spat. “Especially this morning.”
“You were gonna find out tonight.”
“Is that why you invited us over for Christmas Eve?”
“Actually, we were already plannin’ to invite ya’. It just worked out this way, and I figured it’d be easier ta’ keep ya’ at the house if I already had you two there.”
“Keep us at the house?”
“Yeah, I’m movin’ ya’ in where I can keep an eye on you until we find this fuckhead and lock ‘im up.”
“I suppose you’ve talked to Felicity about this?”
“No. She didn’t need the headache either. Besides, last go ‘round when I tried ta’ do this she wasn’t havin’ any part of it. So I’m guessin’ she’s gonna be just about as reasonable as you are right now.”
“You should be so lucky,” I chided.
“Yeah, I know,” he grunted.
“Dammit, Ben,” I muttered. “Felicity is running around the city unprotected right now.”
“In public, with a group, and at one time or another a freakin’ camera crew from every local TV station has been followin’ ‘em around. They’ve also been gettin’ followed by a copper. She’s as safe as you are. We’ve got it under control, Rowan.”
“I hope so.”
“We do.” He sat for a long moment, allowing the words of reassurance to hang in the air between us before finally speaking again. “Now that ya’ know, ya’ might as well pack bags before comin’ over tonight.”
“What about the dogs? And the cats?”
“We’ll arrange somethin’.”
“You know Felicity won’t go for this, Ben.” I shook my head. “Like you said, she didn’t last time. She won’t this time either.”
“Yeah, well last time ya’ almost got killed, so I’m not givin’ ya’ a choice.”
“You can’t do that,” I returned.
“Ever hear of protective custody, Kemosabe?”
“You wouldn’t…”
“Fuckin’ try me.”
“How’s it going?” I was fighting to keep the mix of depression, anger, and fear out of my voice as I spoke into the telephone. “Everyone having fun as usual?”
It was early afternoon, but the “Santa Brigade” was booked right up until 5:30 p.m. this year. I had managed to remember enough of the schedule to catch my wife on her cell phone in between stops, since I had missed their lunch break. I could hear the upbeat chattering of the rest of the group in the background when she answered.
“Great,” Felicity’s voice came back to me over the handset. Her brogue was returning, and I could hear how tired she was. But at the same time it was obvious that she was still running on excitement and a healthy dose of adrenalin. “Just to let you know, I’ve had three marriage proposals so far-one of them from a twelve-year-old, mind you, so you’d best watch out, then. Younger men do still find me attractive.” She punctuated the comment with a giddy laugh.
“I’m not surprised. But I’ve told you that before.”
“I still like hearing it, then. Of course, I still attract the older men it seems. About thirty minutes ago we were at a nursing home and an elderly gentleman in a wheelchair grabbed my arse. Not just once, but three times. Kept wanting me to sit on his lap.”
“Did you?”
“Only for a quick picture, and that would be when he grabbed it the third time.”
“And you’re still calling him a gentleman?” I chuckled, the visual helping me to forget my worries, if only for a moment. “So you didn’t hurt him too much, did you?”
“He was harmless, really,” she laughed. “Besides, it was probably the biggest thrill he’s had all year. And I just have to look at it that I’m spreading the Christmas cheer, then.”
“Beats a nut log, I guess.”
“Aye, he said something like that too, but I’m thinking he meant it with a much different connotation.”
“So what you are really saying is ‘elderly gentleman’ is short for ‘dirty old man’?”
“Filthy would be more like it,” she giggled.
“Well, considering the way you looked when you left this morning, I guess I can’t blame him. Sexiest Missus Santa-elf-helper-whatever I’ve ever seen.”
“So you liked the outfit, then?” her voice held an undertone of satisfaction.
“What do you think?”
“Hmmmmm,” her voice lowered to a purr. “Maybe I’ll leave it on when I get home, then… For a little while anyway if you know what I mean.”
If we’d had this conversation a few hours earlier, I would probably be looking for a place to hide, so I wouldn’t embarrass myself. Unfortunately-or perhaps fortunately as the case may be-the recent revelation from Ben was severely dampening my heretofore-overactive libido.
“You might want to hold on to that thought, Lass,” I told her. “Allison and Ben have invited us over to their house for dinner.”
“That’s nice,” she said. “What did you tell them?”
