Justice Healed (7 page)

* * * *

Tanner was shoving a load of towels into the washer when he heard a rap on his front door.  Scout, his four year-old German Shepherd lifted his head from where he was lying on the kitchen floor and whined.  He wanted to bark and run around but was too well-trained to do it.  Tanner walked to the front window, stopping to scratch Scout behind the ears.

"Good
boy," he crooned. 

One look outside made his gut clench.  It was Stacey, Chris's wife.  She appeared to be on her own.  He opened the door, Scout immediately behind him and ready to rip off a limb if the visitor was unwanted.

"Hey, Stacey.  Come on in.  How about a cup of coffee?"

Tanner acted as if it was a social call but he knew better.  Stacey's features were pinched and she looked like she hadn't had a good night's sleep in a while.  Scout recognized her and danced around her legs while she pet him.  Stacey picked up one of Scout's toys and tossed it into the living room.  Scout went scampering after it with a happy bark. 

Stacey entered but seemed to hover in the foyer.  He put his arm around her shoulders and led her into the kitchen.  She sat down at the table, staring at her purse.  He waited while she gathered her thoughts.  He liked Stacey and she deserved better than what she had with his son.  Tanner had hoped she would be a calming influence on Chris but the opposite effect seemed to have taken place.  He was wilder than ever since he married Stacey nine months ago.

"I've left Chris."  Her simple statement broke his heart but didn't surprise him.  He'd wondered how long she could hang in there.  Tanner sat down at the table across from her.  Her eyes were bright with tears and her lips trembled.  Scout brought his toy into the kitchen, dropping it at Stacey's feet.  As if he knew she was upset, he rested his head on her thigh in comfort. 

"I'm sorry to hear that, but I had a feeling it might be coming.  Where are you staying?  What about Annie?" he asked gently. 

At the mention of her daughter, she smiled weakly.  "She's with my parents.  That's where we're going to stay for awhile until I can figure out what I'm going to do."  Her face crumpled.  "I talked to my mom and dad.  I'm going to file for a divorce and ask for full custody of Annie.  Don't worry
.  I'll make sure you get to see her, Tanner.  I just can't have her around Chris anymore.  I can't trust him."

Alarm shot through him.  "Has he hurt you and Annie?"

She shook her head but the tears were starting to fall.  "No, but he's so angry, Tanner.  He yells and scares the baby.  He scares me.  I can't take it anymore.  He says that everything will be better now that he's working for Fenton, but I need to see it before I can believe it."

Chris had done a number on trust with his loved ones.  Tanner knew from experience it would take a long time to build it back up.  Working for Fenton wasn't a magic cure-all for what ailed Chris.

He patted her hand.  "You did the right thing.  Until Chris sees the consequences of his behavior, he won't change."

She lifted her tear-stained face to him, her eyes beseeching.  "Will you talk to him again?  Try and convince him to go to the AA meeting with you?  I want Annie to have her father, but not this way."

She scrubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and anguish filled Tanner's soul.  He wasn't sure she would understand that Chris had to want to do this himself. 

"I'll talk to him," Tanner found himself saying.  "I don't think it will make any difference, but I will.  Chris doesn't have any respect for me."

"You're wrong."  Stacey shook her head.  "He does.  He knows you quit drinking cold turkey.  But he doesn't have the confidence to think he can do that himself."

Tanner didn't agree with Stacey's assessment but that wasn't the important thing at the moment.

"Do you need anything?  Does Annie need anything?"  Chris's regular bouts of unemployment had wrecked their finances.  Stacey, Chris, and Annie were basically living hand to mouth. 

"My parents are taking good care of us.  We're okay."  She stood, clutching her purse as if it was a lifeline. Scout sprang to life, watching her intently. 

Tanner stood as well, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.  "Whatever you need, day or night, you call me.  Promise?"

Stacey sniffled and ruffled Scout's fur.  "Promise.  Thank you, Tanner.  I know we can always count on you."

He walked her to the door.  "Does Abby know yet?"

Stacey stepped out onto the porch.  "I assume Chris will tell her and Fenton.  You know Abby and I don't have the greatest relationship."

Abby had never thought any woman would be good enough for her baby boy, hence her chilly demeanor when dealing with Stacey. 

"You're probably right.  I'll talk to you after I've talked to Chris.  Still the same cell number?"

She nodded and headed down the driveway to her old car.  Tanner had wanted to buy them more reliable transportation when Annie was born but Stacey had been too proud to allow it.  He watched her drive away, impervious to the bitter cold and lost in thought about his herculean task.  He'd promised to talk to his son.

And he would do it.  He'd promised Stacey.  He didn't think it would make a damn bit of difference but he'd try.  One more time.

Tanner glanced at his watch and scowled.  Finding his son was the issue.  What dive watering-hole would be open at eleven o'clock in the morning on a Sunday?

None.

That meant Chris was sleeping it off somewhere.  Tanner headed back into the house to grab his coat and keys.  He had some drunken, hung-over butt to kick.

"Scout, watch the house for me.  I'll be gone for awhile."

The dog barked as if he understood every word, parking himself on the living room rug.  He was sprawled as if he didn't have a care in the world.  Tanner chuckled as Scout's eyes closed.  The dog would be snoring within minutes.  Tanner would love to be as carefree, if only for a day.  But he wasn't a dog, he was a father.  A father who needed to have a talk with his son.  It wouldn't be the last.

Madison almost fell into the chair.  Her feet hurt, her head hurt, and her credit card was screaming after the workout she'd given it.  She grunted with relief and flexed her feet, stretching her toes inside her warm Ugg boots.  They had literally shopped until Madison couldn't take it anymore, so Sherry had dragged them both to one of the mall restaurants for a bite to eat.  Madison could only hope the shopping portion of the day was complete.

"You need to exercise your shopping muscles more."  Sherry laughed, helping Madison stack the purchases in the two empty chairs at their table.  "You're out of shape."

"I think my credit card actually caught fire at the last store.  I'm sure I'm going to hear from my bank when they see a long list of charges at the mall."

"When they call you can tell them your friend helped you be stylish and sophisticated."

Madison couldn't argue.  Although the delicate and lacy underthings Sherry had insisted on Madison buying wouldn't be seen by many, if anyone, the other garments made her feel amazing.  When she'd put them on and gazed in the mirror, it was hard to believe it was herself gazing back.  The old saying about clothes making the man were true, or in this case the woman. 

"I really do need to thank you.  I never would have thought to even try on most of what you picked out.  They didn't look good on the hanger."

Sherry leaned over the table.  "The secret of shopping.  Sometimes great clothes look terrible on the hanger.  They need a great figure to fill them out.  You have one.  I swear everything you tried on looked like it was made for you.  I almost hate you."  Sherry grinned.  "And lunch is on me since you took my advice without too much fuss.  I expected to have to do much more persuading."

The waitress came to the table and took their drink order.  Sherry ordered a Coke and Madison ordered an iced tea. 

"I want to look nice.  When I wear those clothes, I have more confidence."

Sherry slapped the table.  "Exactly.  That's what I've been trying to tell you."

"I need all the confidence I can get when I'm with Tanner, or any man for that matter."

"Fake it 'til you make it, my friend."

Madison opened her mouth to reply she wasn't sure how to fake anything, but a squeal interrupted her.  She turned to find tw
o women standing at their table with huge smiles.  They both had a few bags so clearly they had been shopping.  One was hugely pregnant and probably needed to sit down and rest. 

"Sherry, I thought that was you," the pregnant woman said.  "I told Lisa it was you, but she said it wasn't."  The woman turned to Lisa.  "I told you it was Sherry.  And look
, it's Madison, too.  Gosh, we haven't seen you in years.  How are you?"

With a jolt, and not a pleasant one, Madison realized the two women were Lisa Millstone and Carrie Eller.  They'd been in the popular crowd at school and had made Madison's school years difficult. 

Try awful and horrific.

Madison shrunk back into the chair on instinct as if waiting for them to make a remark about her red hair or her glasses, but then she remembered she didn't wear glasses anymore and the freckles had faded some. 

"I'm fine, thank you."  Madison forced the words between gritted teeth.  "How are you?"

Carrie patted her large stomach.  "Huge and ready to have this baby."  Her smile grew wide.  "Hey, are you taking new patients?  When I have this little girl here, it would be great to bring her to a female doctor."  Carrie
bit her lip.  "Not that your dad isn't great.  He is.  But it would be nice for a girl to see a woman doctor, you know what I mean?"

Madison shifted in her seat.  Carrie seemed perfectly sincere and appeared to have grown out of her former catty demeanor.  "I am.  Just call the office when you're ready."

Carrie beamed.  "I will."

Lisa eyed the huge mound of packages Sherry and Madison had amassed.  "I see we've been shopping seriously.  I do hope this is for a date with the
sheriff.  We're all rooting for you two."

Heat flooded Madison's face.  "Oh God, does everyone know?  It's so embarrassing."

Lisa laughed.  "What for?  You two look good together.  I saw you both in the coffee shop the other day."

Madison pointed to Sherry.  "
When are you going to admit that you had something to do with that?"

"Guilty."  Sherry raised her right hand as if in court.  "Lisa and Carrie have been excellent partners in crime."

The waitress slid their drinks in front of them and drifted away without a word. 

"It was fun," Carrie enthused.  "As an old married woman with two kids and one on the way, I don't have much romance in my life."

"Three kids?" Madison asked.  "That's great.  Who did you marry?"

Carrie grimaced.  "My first husband was Steve Trotter, but it didn't last."  Madison stiffened in shock but tried not let it show in her face.  Carrie and Steve had been one of the golden couples in high school.  "He was a big, fat, lying cheater.  I divorced him and met Larry.  Do you remember Larry Poplar?"

Madison did.  He'd been a nice guy but never in Carrie's league.  "I do remember him.  Congratulations."

Lisa sighed.  "You had it right, Madison.  Getting good grades and going to college before settling down.  You're a doctor.  That's amazing.  I wish I'd done something like that.  Not a doctor, of course.  I'm not that smart.  But something, you know.  I have a crappy job as a receptionist at a law firm.  My boss is a jerk.  Always yelling and screaming about a case."

Madison was definitely in the twilight zone.  These women were saying they admired her?  "I'm sure you are smart, Lisa.  You can do anything you want."

Carrie laughed and shook her head.  "No, you can do anything you want.  Us mere mortals have to take what we can get."

"There's nothing special about me," Madison protested, but inside she felt changed.  When she'd come back to Springwood, somehow the town and the people had been frozen in time.  She'd pictured everything and everyone as they were.  Madison hadn't stayed the same, so why hadn't she given that much credit to the people around her?  Life was hard on everyone.  It was so basic, yet for all her IQ points she'd completely missed it.  She reached for the bags on the chairs.  "Would you like to join us?  We haven't ordered yet."

Sherry gave Madison an approving smile.  "That's a great idea.  We can move all this stuff."

Lisa looked unsure.  "We don't want to intrude–"

"You aren't intruding.  I'd like to catch up with you both," Madison said.  She really meant it.  It was time to put a stake into the heart of her insecure past and move the hell on.  This was the first step.

"We'd love to."  Carrie grinned.  She and Lisa sat on the now cleared chairs.  "This baby has a craving for cheese.  Anybody want to split an order of mozzarella sticks?"

They all nodded and Madison felt lighter as if a weight had been lifted.  Things could be different if only she let it happen.

* * * *

Tanner's cell ran
g just as he was pulling into Chris's driveway.  Logan had promised him to look into Fenton's background and hopefully that was what this call was about. He answered the phone but left the engine idling and the heater blasting.

"Hey, Logan.  What's up?"

He heard Logan chuckle.  "I'm calling about Fenton Jacks, of course.  Plus another interesting development.  Which do you want first?"

"Fuck you, Logan.  You know what I want first.  Talk to me."

Tanner loved Logan like a brother, but he could be a real pain in the ass.  He loved to joke around long after Tanner had lost his sense of humor. 

"Funny thing about Fenton Jacks.  He doesn't exist.  Not really."

"Really?"  Tanner's gut had been right, as usual.  Now that his suspicions were confirmed, he wondered why he'd ever questioned them.  "Tell me more, my friend."

"Now I'm your friend?"  Logan laughed.  "What if I'd given you the news that Fenton Jacks was a fine, upstanding citizen and loved by all?"

"Stop stalling," Tanner growled.

"Man, you're easy to rile.  Okay, so here's the scoop.  Fenton Jacks doesn't exist.  At least he didn't until he showed up in Springwood.  The man has no past to speak of.  It looks like he walked into town with a million dollar bankroll and some fake identification papers."

"At almost the very moment a drug war broke out." 

"Funny coincidence, huh?  I thought about that.  Has he ever said anything about where he lived before he moved there?  Family names?  Anything that I can run down?"

Tanner snorted.  "After what you've told me, I don't feel the least guilty investigating this guy.  He wants to be my kids' stepfather?  Screw that.  I'm going to call the DEA agent I've been working with.  Give him this guy's picture and info.  Maybe they can run some facial recognition on him."

"Good idea.  What can I do?"

Tanner admired Logan's workhorse attitude.  He was a stalwart friend and nothing was ever too big a favor.  "Fenton talked about a sister once.  Natalie Harmon from Kansas City, Missouri.  I don't suppose you could run that down while I pursue him?  He has a picture of her at his house so I assume she's a real person."

"Got it.  I'm all over it, Tan.  I'll call you if I get something.  Now for the other thing.  Seth called me."

Tanner was immediately on guard.  "Is everything okay?  Is Presley all right?"

"They're great.  This doesn't have anything to do with Presley."  Seth's wife, Presley, had been in the Witness Protection Program due to attempts on her life by her boss.  It had turned out to be something completely different, but Tanner knew Seth was still very protective of his wife.  "Seth got a call from Marshal Evan Davis.  He needs our help."

Davis had come across as a pretty capable guy when Tanner had met him at Seth and Presley's wedding.  "With what?"

Logan chuckled.  "He won't say yet.  You know those Fed guys.  It's all super-secret double-naught spy shit.  He wants to talk to us about it.  Can you be available for a conference call on Monday morning at ten?"

"Sure.  I admit I'm intrigued."

"Me, too.  Maybe he's got another woman for Witness Protection.  Hell, he only needs five more and we'll
all be married.  If that's the case, count me out."

An image of Madison floated into Tanner's mind.  He'd given in
to the strong feelings he had for her and asked her out on a date.  Already he was anticipating her company.  He liked being with her.  She was easy to be around and she understood his job, or seemed to.  Abby had forever harangued him about the military and then law enforcement.  She'd hated the pay, the hours, and the danger.  She'd never understood his need to help and protect.  Madison appeared to share that with him.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that.  Listen, I need to go.  Stacey asked me to talk to Chris."  Tanner sighed.  "She's left him and taken Annie.  I'm in his driveway now."

Logan whistled.  "Holy shit, why didn't you say so?  Do you think it will do any good?"

"No."  It broke Tanner's heart to admit it, but Logan would know the truth if Tanner tried to lie.  "Until Chris wants to get better he won't.  He's working for Fenton now, for fuck's sake.  It's gone from bad to worse."

"It probably ain't going to get any better very soon so buckle up for the ride, Tan.  Are you going to say something to him or Abby about Fenton?"

"I don't have enough details yet.  But the minute I do, I will.  In the meantime, I just want to try and keep Chris sober."

"Good luck.  You're going to need it."

Logan signed off and Tanner
hung up, tucking his cell back into his pocket.  He turned off the truck and walked up to the front door of the small, run-down house Chris and Stacey rented.  It looked sad with its peeling paint and rickety shutters, reminding Tanner of the first house he and Abby had lived in after he got out of the Army. 

The inside was more cheerfully decorated with bright, happy colors.  Stacey had done everything she could to make the house a real home.  Tanner had to admit he missed a woman's touch in his own ho
use.  More and more often these days it felt cold and lifeless. 

Tanner rapped on the door and waited, listening for a sign of life.  Chris's truck sat in the driveway so he should be home.  Tanner banged on the door again but there was still no answer.  He tried the door and it swung open easily.  Whenever Chris had come in from a night of partying, he hadn't locked the door.

Tanner wasn't sure how long Stacey had been gone but the house was a mess.  Litter was tossed everywhere along with a pizza box and a few empty beer bottles.  He shook his head in disgust and headed back to the bedroom.  Chris was in a lump on the bed, the sheets tangled around his waist.  Even in sleep, his son's face was drawn into a scowl instead of peaceful repose. 

Hardening his heart, Tanner grabbed the end of the sheet and gave it a hard tug, rolling Chris's body off the bed and onto the floor with a thud.  He groaned and raised his head, blinking against the light as Tanner pulled back the drapes and let the sun shine directly into the room.