Righteous Obsession (35 page)

Jeff walked up to the police officer who was standing
outside Colin’s door.

“I need your name, Sir?”

“I’m Jeffrey Michaels.”

The guard consulted his list.  “I’m sorry but I don’t
see your name on my list of people who are allowed into his room.”

“I just recently arrived and they might have forgotten
to add my name to your list,” Jeff replied.  “Could you ask Colin if he’ll see
me?”

The officer scratched his jaw.  “I guess it wouldn’t
hurt to ask.”  He knocked on the door and Alethea opened it.

When she saw Jeff, she smiled and reached for his
hand.  “Hi!  Come on in.”  She led him into the room.  He saw Colin was wearing
jeans and a T-shirt and sitting in a chair.

Colin covertly stared at him.  He felt extremely weird
because it was like looking at an older version of himself.  Jeff turned from
talking to Alethea and walked over to Colin.  He extended his hand and said,
“Hello, Colin.”

Embarrassed to have been caught staring, Colin ignored
his hand and mumbled, “Hi.”

“I think I’ll leave you two to get acquainted.  I have
a lunch date with Vanessa,” Alethea said.

“You can share mine,” Colin pointed out as the nurse
brought in his lunch tray.

“No thanks!”  She laughed and gave him a kiss.

He held her tightly for a moment before letting go of
her.  “Have fun, okay?  Tell Vanessa I said hi?”

“I will.”  She touched Jeff’s arm.  “It was nice
seeing you again, Jeff.”

When they were alone, Jeff remarked, “I see they
transferred you out of intensive care.  How are you feeling?”

“Alright,” he replied, rubbing his right arm that was
bruised from the IV.  “They took out the IV this morning and they’re letting me
walk around a little.”

“I glad you’re doing so much better.”  Jeff tried to
think of a way to break the ice then said, “You have a wonderful wife.  You’re
very lucky to have someone like her.”

Colin bristled at what he perceived to be a judgmental
tone in Jeff’s voice and snapped, “And unlike you I won’t run out on her!”

Jeff gave him a searching look then said quietly, “I
think we need to talk about that, Colin.”

“I don’t need to talk about anything and I don’t want
to hear a bunch of lame excuses!”

“Well, I’d like a chance to explain!”  Jeff snapped
then took a deep breath.  “I’m sorry.”

Brought up short by his tone, Colin shrugged and said,
“Okay, so talk.”

“I think it’s only fair that you hear both sides,”
Jeff pointed out calmly.

“What’s to hear?”  Colin replied angrily.  He crossed
his arms.  “The facts speak for themselves – you ran out on mom because you
didn’t want a kid!”

“I ran out on Amanda because I was a stupid, immature
and irresponsible eighteen-year-old or as my daughter would say a real ‘butt
chunk!’  My only concern was that a baby would cut into my partying big time!”

“So why this big outpouring of fatherly concern when
you never gave a flying fuck about me all these years?”  Colin snapped.  “You
know what I think? You thought I was going to die and you didn’t want me on
your conscience for the rest of your life so you decided to come and play concerned
daddy!”

“That’s not true!”  Jeff yelled, jumping to his feet. 
He drew another deep breath and once again apologized for his anger.  “The
truth is I’ve been looking for you for a long time, but since I had very little
hard information on you my search amounted to nothing.  My first glimmer of
hope came when I obtained a copy of Amanda’s and my divorce decree with the
information that she had been granted full custody of a minor male child named
Colin.  At least I had a starting point, but no matter what avenues I searched
I found no trace of a Colin Michaels.”

“Yeah, right!”  Colin muttered.

Jeff ignored his sarcasm and continued, “It wasn’t
until your grandparents sent me this clipping about California’s new attorney
general that mentioned his family that I had a definite clue to your
whereabouts and I hired a private investigator to find out more.  Shortly after
that I saw the cover article about your band in People Weekly.  When I saw your
picture I knew you had to be my son.”

Colin remained silent as his father continued his
narrative.

“Among the things he obtained on you was a copy of
your birth certificate.  He’d also taken surveillance photos of you.  In one of
them you were with Amanda.  Those two things confirmed that I’d really found
you.”

“Big deal!  I already have a father and I don’t need
another one!”

Jeff knew Colin was deliberately baiting him, but
chose to ignore it.  “I live in Minneapolis so I went out to the mall when
Unforgiven appeared there.”  Jeff paused briefly then admitted, “I don’t
honestly know why I even went.”  He shrugged.  “I guess I had some fantasy
about running into you and having you suddenly realizing I was your father.” 
He shook his head.  “I did see you, but I just watched you.”

“So you were the one!  I told Jake I could feel
somebody’s eyes drilling holes in my back.  When I turned around that one time
I caught a glimpse of somebody turning away real fast.  That was you?”

Jeff nodded.  “Yes.  I also called you that evening
but when I heard your voice I froze because I realized I didn’t even know what
I was going to say to you.”  He smiled.  “You know, your sister, Caitlin, is a
big fan of Unforgiven’s.  She and I went to your concert and we had a really
good time.”

Colin didn’t reply immediately so struck by the weird feeling
of having had a father and a sister he’d never met in the audience while he was
performing.  When he finally did speak, his tone was less belligerent. 
“Alethea told me you have two kids.”

“Yes.  Dave’s twenty-six and he’s a priest.  I hope
you’ll be able to meet him before he leaves for Rome in a few weeks.  Cait’s
nineteen and she just finished her first year of college.”

“How do you think they’ll react when they find out
about me?”

“Cait already knows and she’s looking forward to
meeting you.”  Jeff smiled again.  “She’s very spirited and independent so I
think you two will get along fine.”

Colin smiled faintly and confessed, “You know I always
wished I had a sister.”

“Dave’s been vacationing in Florida so I haven’t had a
chance to tell him about you.  It isn’t the kind of news I want to break over
the phone.  Your grandparents have really been looking forward to meeting their
eldest grandchild, too.  We’ve talked about nothing else since I got
confirmation you were my son.”

“I guess it never occurred to me that I actually had
another set of grandparents,” he admitted.  “Where do they live?”

“In the Pacific Heights section of San Francisco and
in the same house I grew up in.”

Colin thought for a moment.  “Grandpa and Grandma
Scott still live in that area of town too.”

“Yes.”

There was a knock on the door and Amanda peeked
inside.  She looked more than a little surprised to see Jeff with Colin.

“Come on in, Mom,” Colin called.

She hesitated, but then Jeff said, “I was just going
to leave so Colin could get some rest.”  He turned to Colin.  “I’d like to come
back later if that’s okay?”

“I’d like that.”

Jeff smiled as he left the room.  He nodded pleasantly
at Peter and Liam as he passed them.  Liam gazed after him, curiosity written
all over his face.

“Liam, get your butt over here!”  Colin called when he
spotted Liam.  He came over and Colin gave him a big hug.  “I’m so glad to see
you!  How are you?”

Liam shrugged.  “Okay, I guess.”

Colin caught a worried look passing between his
parents.  “Mom told me how you helped the police artist draw a composite of the
creep that did this to us.  I know it was hard, but I’m really proud of you for
doing it.”

“It wasn’t hard – I wish I could forget his face!” 
Liam replied with a shudder.

“That reminds me,” Peter spoke.  “Detective Wickersham
did tell us that they’d found the group who gave this creep refuge after
McGregor shot him.  It’s one of those fanatical anti-abortion groups.  They
sent him to a doctor, who’s apparently in sympathy with their cause and he treated
his wound.  They claim he wasn’t from New Orleans and has since left town.”

“Colin, why on earth didn’t you tell us about those
threatening messages you’d been receiving?”  Amanda asked in a gentle but
reproving tone.

“I’m sorry, but I thought they were somebody’s idea of
a sick joke at first.  When they kept getting more and more threatening I was
going to do something, but then they suddenly stopped.  I just assumed that
whoever was doing it wasn’t getting a big enough thrill out of it and quit.  What
I want to know is how that bastard got my cell number!  I don’t suppose this
doctor who treated him asked his name?”

Peter shook his head regretfully.  “No.  He claimed it
wasn’t his policy to ask the names of individuals whom he treats ‘outside of
office hours’.”  It’s my guess he wouldn’t tell even if he does know and he’d
go to jail to protect this person.”

“Yeah, those religious fanatics pride themselves on
that!”  Colin replied bitterly.

“What’s really frightening is that he’s still out
there somewhere,” Amanda said and shivered.  Peter put his arm around her and
pulled her close to him.

“And that means, if they don’t catch him, we’re all
going to be looking over our shoulders for a long time to come,” Liam
concluded.

“By the way, Colin,” Peter said.  “Steve and Doctor
Trumbull are holding a press conference in a couple of hours.  I just wanted to
warn you that Detective Wickersham asked them to fudge the facts a bit because
if the person who did this is watching and hears you’re going to recover …”

“He might try a second run at me,” Colin finished for
him.

“Unfortunately there is that possibility.”

There was a knock on the door and Alethea came
inside.  “Hi, everybody!”  She wore a silky dress in a bold and colorful
print.  She gave Colin a hug and a kiss.

“Is that new?”  Colin asked, pointing to her dress. 
“I don’t think I’ve seen it before.”

“Yes.  Vanessa bought it for me.  She said she knew
you’d love it.”

“And I do!”  He assured her.  “Tell Vanessa thanks for
me.”

“How did it go with Jeff?”

“Okay, I guess.”  He shrugged.  “I mean, I don’t
really know what he wants from me.”

“Maybe, he just wants to get to know you and for you
to get to know him,” Alethea suggested.

“Maybe.”  Colin shifted his position then yawned.  His
side was starting to hurt and he felt tired.

Amanda noticed and said, “We’d better be going so you
can get some rest.”  She gave him a hug.  “We’ll stop back this evening?”

“Okay, Mom.”  He gave his father a hug too.  As Liam
was leaving, he caught his hand.  “Any time you need to talk, give me a call. 
I don’t care if it’s in the middle of the night, promise?”

“I will.  Thanks, Colin.”  He gave him a hug then
followed his parents outside.

“That was a really nice thing you did for Liam,”
Alethea remarked, sitting down on the bed next to him.

Colin shook his head.  “I’m kind of worried about
him.  I’ve never seen him depressed before.  I think mom and dad are worried
about him, too.”

“I think you’re right.  Vanessa and I have been trying
to keep his spirits up, but I think being able to talk to you will be the best
medicine for him.”

“I hope I made him understand that he can talk to me
anytime.”

“I’m sure you did.”  She slid off his bed.  “I’d
better let you get some rest.  I’ll be back later.”

“How are you getting home?  I don’t want you going out
by yourself with that maniac still at large.”

“Buck’s waiting for me.  He’s appointed himself my
personal bodyguard while you’re hospitalized.”  She giggled suddenly.  “He went
shopping with us and I wish you could have seen it!  This big six-foot plus guy
sitting outside the dressing rooms, but he was real good about giving us his
opinion.”

Colin chuckled, too, at the picture of McGregor
sitting in the woman’s department, giving out fashion advice.  “Maybe, he’s got
a second career as a fashion consultant if he wants it,” he joked.

“I’ll tell him you approve,” She replied, giving him a
kiss.

After Alethea had left, Colin slept for a short time
then watched the press conference.  He felt dismayed to find the press being
given the impression that he was hanging by a thread.  After thinking it over,
he realized the intention was to lure the guy out of hiding.  He’d probably
want to know if it was true which would mean either a trip or a call to the
hospital to verify the information.  Either way, the police would be ready for
him.

His mother called later in the afternoon and asked if
he minded if they didn’t stop by that evening.  She explained that Louisa and
Beau had tickets to a theater play and had invited them to come along.  Colin
replied that he didn’t mind and asked her to encourage Alethea and Liam to go,
too, saying they needed the escape.  Amanda promised she would and told him
they’d stop by before lunch tomorrow.