Righteous Obsession (41 page)

They started upstairs.  “I probably won’t be able to
sleep,” Caitlin said.

“I know, but I’m sure things will get straightened out
tomorrow and your mother will be released.”

“Daddy!  I almost forgot to tell you!  Detective
Madison is coming back tomorrow and he wants to talk to you.”

Jeff sighed.  “I was expecting that.”

Colin was walking around his room, slowly, but without
help.  He stayed close to solid objects he could grab hold of in case he got
dizzy or felt weak.  Alethea sat at the foot of his bed, watching him closely
and ready to help him if he needed it.

“How am I doing?”  Colin teased, aware of her
scrutiny.

“You’re doing fine.  How do you feel?”

“Great!”  Colin held out his arms.  “Care to dance?”

Alethea giggled.  “What?  You hate to dance!  I’ve
never been able to get you out on the dance floor even once in the whole time
I’ve known you.”

“Hey, I love to dance except the kind of dancing I
like you don’t do in public!”

“Oh!  That kind of dancing.  I agree, you do like that
and you’re very good at it.”

Colin made his way over to the bed and leaned against
the foot.  “You haven’t seen or heard from Jeff, have you?”

“No, not since the other day.  I thought about
stopping by his hotel to check on him, but I was afraid I might disturb him.  I
hope he’s all right.”

“I’m sure he’s okay.  I know when Steve gets a
migraine; he has to spend a couple of days in bed in a darkened room even with
medication.”  There was a knock on his door then his parents followed by Liam,
came into the room.  “Hi!”  He gave them all hugs and then asked Liam, “How are
you doing?”

“I’m fine except…”  Liam made a face.  “Except for the
nightmares!”  He shivered involuntarily.

“Yeah!  I know what you mean,” Colin agreed, putting
his arm around his younger brother.

“Are they ever going to stop?”

“I’m sure they will once the trauma starts to fade.”

There was another knock on Colin’s door.  Peter opened
it to admit Detective Wickersham.

“Hello, Detective,” Amanda said, smiling.  “How are
you?”

“Fine, thank you, Mrs. Matthews.”

“Do you have news for us?”  Peter asked.

“Some, but I’m afraid not all of it’s good news. 
We’ve definitely identified the suspect who kidnapped Liam and tried to kill
Colin.”  She turned to Colin.  “Does the name, Father David Michaels, mean
anything to you, Colin?”

Colin’s eyes widened and the color drained out of his
face.  He looked as if he might faint so both Alethea and Liam reached out and
quickly grabbed one of his arms to steady him.  They guided him to a chair. 
“Are you all right, Colin?”  Alethea asked.

“Yeah,” Colin shook his head.  “I’m sorry I scared
you.”  He glanced up at his parents who looked almost as shocked as he did.  He
looked at Wickersham.  “I’ve never had any contact with Father Michaels.  In
fact, I didn’t even know he existed until a couple of days ago, but he’s my
half-brother.”

“Yes, I found that out when I talked to Detective
Madison last evening.”  She turned to the others and explained, “Colin had told
me about the attempted murder of a fan of Unforgiven’s in Minnesota.  He felt
there might be a connection between the two cases so I sent the composite to
the detective in charge of her case.  He showed it to the victim and she
positively identified it as Father David Michaels, a former teacher of hers.”

Colin was happy to hear that Debbie had come out of
her coma and was apparently doing well.  At least, there was some good news!

“Has this Father Michaels been arrested?”  Peter
demanded.

“That’s the bad news,” Wickersham said.  “He skipped
town.  It appears at the moment he was warned about his impending arrest.”

“What!”  Amanda blurted.

Wickersham relayed all the information she’d received
from Madison to them.

“I don’t believe this!”  Peter exclaimed, shaking his
head.

“As I said, we don’t know for sure, but it does appear
as if somebody warned him.”

“And we all know who that somebody was, don’t we!” 
Colin stood up so quickly that a sharp pain shot through his side, making him
wince, but he paid it no mind.  “Migraine, hell!”

“Colin, you don’t know that Jeff was the caller,”
Alethea argued.  “One of those pro-life fanatics he met here could have just as
easily called and warned him.”

“Come on, Alethea, quit defending him!  You know damn
well he was standing right behind me when Detective Wickersham showed me that
composite and there was no way he could’ve missed who it was!”

“Calm down, Colin,” Amanda urged.

“I don’t want to calm down, Mom!  Jeff Michaels just
sold me down the river – not only me, but all of us!”

Wickersham felt compelled to intervene in Colin’s
outburst.  “Colin, as your wife pointed out, we don’t know for sure that Jeff
Michaels was the caller or what he said if he did call.  Madison’s going to
interview him today so I’ll know more after I speak with him.”

“Colin, it isn’t fair to Jeff to make a snap decision
like this when you don’t even have all the facts,” Alethea added, trying to
reason with him.”

“Fair!  Is it fair that his lunatic son is running
around free so he can terrorize us to his heart’s content?  Don’t tell me
what’s fair!”

“There’s one thing I don’t understand,” Liam spoke up
for the first time.  “How did Father Michaels even know about Colin?”

“When the police searched his family’s home they found
he had a file on Colin.”

“A file?  You mean he hired somebody to investigate
Colin?”

“Yes and no, Liam.  The file was originally obtained
as the result of a private investigation, but it was Jeff Michaels who hired
the investigator.  Father Michaels apparently copied his file from his
father’s.”

“Well, that’s just fucking peachy, isn’t it?”  Colin exploded
again.  “That fucking file only has my entire life in it!  The psycho knows my
address and cell number, probably what kind of car I drive and its license
number!  He probably even knows how I vote and has a copy of my fucking library
card!  That’s just fucking peachy!”

“If it was Jeff who did make that call; will he face
charges?”  Amanda asked.

“If that turns out to be the case – yes!  We don’t
take kindly to aiding and abetting a wanted fugitive no matter who he is!”  She
turned back to Colin.  “As for you, I’m keeping a police officer outside your
room until you’re dismissed.”

“Don’t bother because I’m leaving today!”

“Colin…”  Alethea started to protest.

Colin waved her off, picked up the call button and
pressed it.  A few seconds later a nurse came into the room.  “Did you need
something, Colin?”

“Yeah, I want to leave so please get whatever papers I
need to sign so I can get the hell out of here!”

The nurse looked uncertain.  “I’m sure Doctor Trumbull
didn’t leave any orders for your release.”

“No, he didn’t, but I’m leaving anyway.”

The nurse left his room still looking doubtful and
went to find Doctor Trumbull to let him know what was transpiring.

“Colin, I don’t want you to do this, please,” Alethea
pleaded with him.

“I’m sorry, Alethea, but I’m not going to let that
psycho have another crack at me – not without a fight!”  There was another
knock on his door and Doctor Trumbull came into the room.  “What’s this I hear
about you wanting to leave?”

Colin, a stubborn look on his face, crossed his arms
over his chest.  “I’m going home and there’s nothing you can say that’ll change
my mind!”

“I wouldn’t think of it.  You should consider, despite
how well you’re feeling right now, you still haven’t got your full strength
back and the trip home will be tiring.”

“Colin, will you please listen to Doctor Trumbull?” 
Alethea pleaded.

“I don’t care!  I just want to get out of here!” 
Colin complained.

“How about this?”  Doctor Trumbull proposed.  “You
stay here today and you can leave tomorrow.”

Colin sank back in his chair.  “Alright, as long as I
can leave tomorrow.”

“You have my word.”

Colin agreed.  He felt too tired to offer any further
resistance.  He just wished everyone would leave.

Detective Wickersham excused herself, promising to
keep them posted on any progress in locating Father Michaels’ whereabouts.

Amanda bent and kissed Colin’s cheek.  “We’ll let you
get some rest, but we’ll come back later, okay?”

“Okay,” he replied dispiritedly.

Amanda slammed her fist against the wall when she left
his room.  “Damn it!”

“Mandy!”  Peter exclaimed, catching her hand.  “You’re
going to hurt yourself!”

“I’m sorry, but I’m so angry!  I knew we should have
found a way to keep Jeff away from Colin!  I knew he’d only end up hurting
him!  He’s never given a damn about anybody but himself!”

“I know, Mandy, but Colin made the decision to have a
relationship with Jeff and we had to respect his decision.”

“I know,” Amanda sighed.  “And Jeff put on such a
caring front, he fooled me!”

Liam, who was walking beside his father, suddenly
asked, “Why did he even bother to look for Colin when it seems he doesn’t care
what happens to him?  Do you suppose he was just trying to cash in on Colin’s
fame?”

“I don’t know, but I am glad of one thing – if this
had to happen; I’m glad it happened when Colin was an adult.  If he’d been a
child or a teenager it probably would have destroyed him!”

Everyone had left except Alethea. Colin got back into
bed and lay with his arms folded underneath his head.

“Colin…” Alethea began.

“Alethea, I don’t want to talk anymore about Jeff!” 
Colin said, cutting her off sharply.

“Do you want me to leave?”

Colin looked at her then extended his hand to her. 
She took it and sat on the bed beside him.  “No, I don’t want you to leave and
I’m sorry I snapped at you.”  He sighed loudly.  “Boy!  Our marriage is sure
off to a great start!”

Alethea leaned over and kissed him.  “Hey!  I married
you for better or worse, remember?”

“Well, it looks to me like you’ve been getting only
the worst!”  Colin grumbled.

“Do you hear me complaining?”  She demanded.

Colin shook his head.  “No.”

“Well then I don’t want to hear anymore about it. 
Deal?”

“Deal!”  Colin replied, smiling at his wife while
silently thanking whatever gods for giving him Alethea.

The doorbell rang just as Caitlin and her father were
finishing lunch.  “I’ll get it, Daddy,” she said, getting up from her chair.

Jeff watched her closely.  He felt very concerned
about her because she appeared to be operating on automatic pilot since the
hearing this morning.  It had been very difficult.  Kathleen had looked right
through them and he knew Caitlin felt terribly hurt by her mother’s ugly,
unfair attitude.  He felt frustrated and angry with his wife.  She had no right
to be angry with them!  They’d done what was right, but Kathleen viewed
everything as being for Dave or against him. Their cooperation with the police
definitely fell into the category of being against Dave.

Caitlin came back into the kitchen followed by a man
who Jeff assumed to be Detective Madison.  Caitlin quickly confirmed his
assumption.  “Daddy, this is Detective Paul Madison.  Detective, my father,
Jeff Michaels.”

“Detective,” Jeff said, rising to shake his hand. 
“Please, sit down.”

Caitlin got him some coffee and refilled her father’s
cup.  “Can I get you anything else?”

“No, I’m fine.  Thank you, Caitlin.”

“Will you excuse us please, Cait?”

“Sure, Daddy.  I’ll be upstairs if you need me.”  She
shot them an uncertain look before leaving the room.

“This has been very hard on my daughter,” Jeff remarked.

“I saw you in court this morning.”

“Yes, and it wasn’t easy.  My wife acted like we we’re
strangers!  She refuses to accept the fact that Dave’s committed terrible
crimes and she apparently considers us traitors for cooperating with the
police.”

“I’m sorry the judge refused to drop the charges
against your wife and also refused bail, but I’m not surprised either.  I
understand from Detective Hoelscher she takes a very dim view of deliberate
defiance of the law.”

“She made that very obvious.”

“Mr. Michaels, did you call your son, warn him he was
going to be arrested for the attempted murders of Debbie Simpson and Colin
Matthews, and tell him to leave town?”

Jeff looked shocked.  “No!  I did call him, but I was
going to tell him to turn himself in or I would!”

“Then you didn’t speak to your son?”

Jeff shook his head.  “No.  Kate refused to let me
speak to him, but I told her if Dave didn’t turn himself in I was going to see
Detective Wickersham and do it myself.”

“And did you?”

“Yes, I stopped on my way to the airport yesterday. 
Detective Wickersham was in court, but I left her a note, telling her who I was
and it was my son, Father David Michaels, who stabbed Colin.  I left both my
home and office phone numbers so she could call me.”