Red Dog Saloon (25 page)

“You
have no idea,” Gina retorted. “Some of Easton’s most famed citizens were
involved. What would you say if I told you Mayor Glenn Satterfield was one of
them too?”

“I’d
say I never trusted him, from the very day mom went to work for him,” Ben
snapped back without hesitation. “There was something about that guy. I just
couldn’t put my finger on it before.”

“He
no doubt hired Elizabeth hoping to buy her silence about what I’d told her,”
Gina said soberly. “They were evil, Ben. All of them. And they’d do anything
not to be exposed for what they did.”

“Why
don’t you expose them?” Ben asked. “You still can. Go public and let people see
them for what they are.”

Gina
smiled, rolling her eyes as let out a laugh.

“Yeah,
like that’d do any good,” Gina said. “Who would believe me after all this time?
Haven’t you noticed? I’m certifiably crazy. Better yet, what are the chances,
given what they tried to do to old Mr. Cutts, that I’d ever live to tell the
story if they knew I was coming forward? From what I hear your honorable mayor
wants to be governor so I doubt he’d want it to get out that he likes raping
young girls.”

“I
won’t let them hurt you again,” Ben promised.

“I’m
sure you wouldn’t,” Gina said reaching out to pat Ben on the arm, touching her
son for the first time since she held him in her arms immediately after giving
birth to him. “But it’s too late.”

“It’s
never too late!” Ben exclaimed.

“No
Ben, it’s too late for me,” Gina replied. “The only thing that would make me
happy now would be to see them all dead and in Hell. They’ve ruined my life and
messed up yours. They deserve to burn in the everlasting flames for what they
did. For some sins there is no forgiveness.”

Ben
couldn’t disagree with her wish. The group had earned themselves a special
place in torment.

Gina
went on to explain that after she gave birth to him, she “ran away” and got as
far from Castle County as possible.

“It
wasn’t like my home life was all that anyway,” she revealed. “My father left
when I was little and my mom wasn’t exactly a candidate for mother of the year.
I guess you could say I was from the wrong side of the tracks.

Gina
admitted she hated Castle County after what happened.

“I
wanted to be anywhere but there,” she admitted. “I couldn’t get away far
enough.”

She
broke ties with everyone she knew in her hometown, including Elizabeth who she
entrusted to raise her son. She even became estranged from her mother as she
seemingly fell off the face of the Earth for several years.

“It’s
all a blur,” Gina said. “I went from place to place, never staying anywhere
very long.”

It
was a few years ago, while she was institutionalized at a facility on the west
coast after another one of what Gina referred to as her ‘episodes’, that her
mother was contacted. From there her mother rekindled their relationship and
convinced her to move closer. That was when she became a resident at SMHI.

Shelby
was as close as Gina would move to Easton, her hatred of her hometown just as
intense as it was the day she left it behind forever. The reunion was short
lived, however, when her mother died a couple of years ago, snatched away
suddenly by a heart attack. Her death left Gina alone, again, her only living
relative not even realizing she existed - that is until now.

“It
would have better if you never knew I was alive,” Gina declared

“No,
now I know the truth,” Ben disagreed. “And you know what they say - the truth
will set you free.”

“I’ll
never be free,” Gina said resolutely. “Never again.”

“Tell
me who they were - all of them,” Ben demanded.

“I
didn’t want you to get involved in any of this,” she responded. “They are
dangerous.”

“They
have no idea what danger is,” Ben responded coldly. “I want you to write down
on your pad their names and everything you know about each of them.”

Gina
did as she was told. Her son’s forceful instance and perhaps a deep-down hope
they would get their just deserts convinced her to reveal all. Even though it
had been over twenty years, she hadn't forgotten one detail.

“That’s
all of them. Everything I know,” Gina said as she handed Ben the sheet of paper
bearing all the conspirators names. “Now what?”

Ben
sat in deep thought for a moment, trying to decide where to go from there.

“Now
I guess we get to know each other,” Ben said. “After all, you are my mother and
we have twenty-one years to catch up on.”

“I’m
surprised you’d have anything to do with me after how I left you,” Gina responded.

Just
as he had done with Elizabeth earlier in the week, Ben spent the next hour
catching up, this time with his birth mother. He told her about his career in
the service. He could see the pride in her eyes as he talked about his time in
the military, leaving out some of the more graphic missions he had completed.

They
ended their first meeting with Ben promising to come back the next day for a
visit.

“Can
I bring anything?” Ben asked, realizing Gina likely never had any visitors.

“Well,”
Gina began quietly. “I haven’t had a drink in years. They don’t allow alcohol
in here. I mean, after all, it is an institution.”

“So
you want me to smuggle some alcohol in like I’m going to the prom?” Ben
clarified.

“Maybe
some wine or Champagne? We could toast to new beginnings,” Gina suggested.

“Well,
okay, but if I get busted you’re going to have to bond me out,” Ben smiled as
he patted her on the shoulder before heading out the door.

Ben
spent that evening doing what the military called target acquisition. He found
the whereabouts of each of the six on the list Gina wrote for him. As luck
would have it, bad luck for them anyway, they all still resided in Castle
County. He also acquired intelligence on a seventh person she had not included
on her list - a person Ben held equally responsible. He would find the
whereabouts of Earl Cutts later. For the time being, he was simply intelligence
gathering, nothing more.

After
his reconnoitering, Ben spent the rest of the evening sitting in silence alone
at Elizabeth’s house, recalling the good times he spent there as a child. He
also wondered what life would have been like had his birth mother not given him
up. Did the men who victimized his birth mother have any idea what they had
done? It simply wasn’t fair they were allowed to go on with their lives all
these years as if nothing ever happened. They needed to pay for their
transgressions. The question was, as Ben sat deep in thought, how he would
exact justice on them. He had already resolved not to return to duty until he held
them accountable for their actions. The only question in his mind was how far
would he go?

Ben
awoke the next morning at nine o’clock, sleeping later than he had in years.
Civilian life was already making him soft. After doing some chores around the
house, since he would place his childhood home on the market when he returned
to the service given he had no plans to return to Easton, Ben pointed his car
toward Shelby. He recalled Gina’s wish and stopped to pick up a bottle of wine
on the way.

He
was greeted by the friendly smile of the receptionist when he arrived at SMHI.
The cute girl gave him a knowing look.

“You
didn’t tell me you were Ms. Porter’s son,” Helen said as he walked up to the
front desk with his backpack slung over his shoulder containing the contraband.

“Well,
I didn’t know I was until a few days ago myself,” Ben responded with a grin. “I
didn’t want to freak everyone out here with some long-lost son story.”

“She
was very excited,” Helen revealed. “She’s told everyone that will listen that
her son came for a visit.”

Helen’s
revelation gave Ben a warm feeling inside, knowing he had lifted the spirits of
his birth mother.

“Excited
doesn’t always mean it’s a good thing,” came Agnes’ voice as she emerged from
her office. “Whether you realize it or not, your mother is a very disturbed
woman.”

“We
spoke last night,” Ben replied. “She seemed fine.”

“She
certainly isn’t fine,” Agnes countered. “She has life-long mental issues, many
which center on you.”

Agnes
had just sucked all the happy out of the room, replacing it with her gloomy
diagnosis.

“With
that said, your sudden appearance in her life could be really good or really
bad,” Agnes continued. “We just have no way to know yet. I just hope it is
positive because, if it is, that could help lead to her improvement.”

“Maybe
even her recovery?” Ben asked in a hopeful tone. “Is there any chance she might
be able to live on the outside some day?”

“I’m
afraid she will never completely recover,” Agnes replied. “The scars are too
deep. All I ask is that you watch her closely during your visits and let me
know about any changes you see.”

Assuring
Agnes he would do what was best for her, Ben gave them a wave as he strolled
down the hall to Gina’s room. She sat scribbling on her pad when he walked in.
However, instead of continuing her work as she had on his first visit, she
quickly put away her pad, placing it underneath where she was sitting.

“I
told you I’d be back,” Ben announced.

“And
so you did,” Gina replied with a broad smile.

“And
guess what I brought?” Ben announced in a quiet voice so no one would overhear
as he pulled out the bottle of wine. “Was 2012 a good year?”

“It
sucked for me,” Gina retorted. “But I’ll drink to it anyway.”

Laying
the bottle on the table, Ben, who was straight-edge having rarely ever taken a
drink, discovered wine bottles contained corks.

“Houston,
we have a problem,” Ben said. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to get that
out.”

Gina
gave him a disappointed look. 

“Tell
you what, I’ll go down to the desk and sweet talk the receptionist and maybe
she will give me something to open it with,” Ben said as he started out the
door.

“Ben,”
she began. “I just want you to know that I love you.”

Ben
didn’t know how to respond to her statement. It caught him out of left field.
He wasn't a touchy-feely kind of person so such words of endearment were
strange to him.

“I’ll
be back in just a minute.” Ben responded.

Feeling
almost guilty that he didn't return her declaration of endearment, Ben strolled
back down the hall. He was greeted by the smile of the receptionist when he
approached the front desk.

“Back
so soon are we?” Helen asked.

“Yeah,
she was busy doing something so I thought I’d come down and chat with you for a
second,” Ben said.

He
was covering the true purpose for his visit to the front desk since he figured
it was against the rules to drink alcohol in the rooms.

“Well
I’m honored,” Helen responded. “So what should we chat about?”

On
second thought, perhaps Ben would kill two birds with one stone. Helen was a
good looking girl and he hadn’t been on a real date since high school. The
military had been his steady date for over three years.

“Well,
we could talk about going out and getting some dinner tonight,” Ben suggested.

“Are
you asking me out?” Helen clarified, her eyes already telling Ben the answer to
his question would be resounding yes.

“Well
I suppose I am,” he responded with a smile. “Maybe dinner and a movie? You do
like movies don’t you?”

“Yeah,
scary ones are my favorite,” Helen said with a grin still on her face.

“It’s
a date then. Tonight around seven?” Ben asked.

“That
sounds great,” Helen replied.

“Hey,
while I’m at it, and I know it’s kind of against the rules here, but would you
have anything that a person could get a cork out of a bottle with?” Ben asked.

“Well
it’s against the rules for a reason and not what you think,” Helen responded.
“It’s not the alcohol but the glass.”

“What?”
Ben asked as a sick feeling suddenly settled in the pit of his stomach.

“Your
mother, well I don’t know if you know this, she’s classified as a high suicide
risk,” Helen revealed. “She’s attempted suicide on several different occasions
since she’s been here. That’s why she’s in a special pod away from anything she
could use to harm herself.”

The
color left Ben’s face. Helen immediately realized something was wrong.

“You
didn’t leave the bottle in the room with her did you?” Helen asked in panicked
tone.

Ben
didn’t bother answering as he bolted down the hall. Helen banged on Agnes’ door
before she followed.

Ben
ran faster than he had ever run but it wasn’t fast enough. Arriving at the door
he found it blocked, an obstruction preventing him from opening it. A look
inside confirmed his worst fears. On the floor lay his mother amid an expanding
pool of blood. The broken wine bottle was beside her. She had used the jagged
glass to slash her own throat.