Second Chances: A PAVAD Duet (22 page)

A man’s voice was clearer
than her son’s. Marianna estimated they were at least three floors
above her. She paused as she listened.

The man continued. “No,
son, you did the right thing. These punks—they were bullying this
girl, right?”

Ted’s
yes
was clear, confident. Marianna
still couldn’t see them. But she recognized the second voice
as
his.

Dennis—
Ed—
spoke again. “So you were
protecting someone smaller and weaker than yourself. There’s
nothing wrong with that. It was very brave, and noble.”

“
But I didn’t win.” Ted’s
voice turned sullen.

“
No. You
didn’t. And you won’t always. Probably won’t even most of the
time.” Marianna listened for the sounds of footsteps, but the two
had apparently stopped moving. She crept closer. “But all you can
do is try, and know that
sometimes
good does win. And because you did the right
thing—you know you did. And that makes it just a little bit easier
to know what to do next time. I’m proud of you. You should be, too.
I bet your mother will be, too.”

“
You don’t think she’ll be
mad?” Ted sounded worried, Marianna tensed.

“
I don’t know. What do you
think?” Ed asked.

“
I think I’ll get in
trouble for fighting. We’re not supposed to fight. At all. ‘Cause
my dad had a temper and liked to hurt people. Mom worries we’ll be
like him.”

Marianna’s stomach dropped
out. Ted hadn’t seen his father in six years—did she really come
across as afraid the boys would be like him? God, she hoped not.
She put a hand over her mouth, not wanting to start
crying.

She hadn’t even realized
Ted
knew
about how
violent his father had been.

“
I’m sure
it’s not that, son. You’re mother most likely just wants you and
your brothers to learn to solve your problems with other means,
instead of violence. Fighting should
always
be the last resort,
never
the first answer.”
Ed’s tone hadn’t changed, was still matter-of-fact, reasonable,
open and accepting.

Ted was speaking more
freely to this stranger than he had with her in several months.
Marianna didn’t know if it was a good thing or not. Did Ted feel
that comfortable with Ed Dennis? Why?

Ed reminded her so much of
her ex-husband in so many ways. Powerful, charismatic, decisive,
authoritative—all were traits that made her extremely leery.
Physically he looked nothing like her ex-husband, but deep down,
deep down, he set her on edge. And it scared her that he was
interacting with her vulnerable, impressionable son.

“
Yeah. But I still bet I’ll
get in trouble.” Ted was disgruntled, pouty. What had he done that
he’d get into that much trouble for? “Probably have to take out the
trash for the rest of my life!”

“
Then you’ll take out the
trash. Sometimes, even when we do the right thing there are some
not-so-great consequences. That’s why doing the right thing can
often be so hard.”

They started walking again
and Marianna felt her eyes widen. She didn’t want either of them to
know she’d eavesdropped. She started walking again, careful to keep
her steps light and her body relaxed. She met them halfway up.
“Ted! I was looking for you!”

Her voice trailed off as
her son lifted his face to hers. His eye was already turning the
bright red that told her he’d taken a good pummeling. She ran a
quick eye down him. His lip was swollen, eye bruising, hair
everywhere, and clothes filthy, but he was in one relatively whole
piece. “Ted...?”

“
Mom. It wasn’t my fault! I
swear!” His eyes widened, and he looked to the man beside him for
support.

But what stopped Marianna
completely was when Ed put one hand on her son’s shoulder and
offered wordless support to Ted. Ted straightened, his chin firmed,
he paused a moment before continuing. “I’m sorry, Mom. I know I
shouldn’t have been fighting. But these kids were picking on this
little girl. And they made her cry. I couldn’t let them get away
with it. I know I broke the rules, and I’m sorry.”

For the first time in his
life, Teddy voluntarily took responsibility for his actions. Ed
looked down at him with clear approval on his face. Ted looked up
at him, Ed nodded with reassurance.

Marianna didn’t know what
to think. And now the ball was in her court.

Ed knew she’d been
listening–it was in the way her pretty blue eyes looked slightly
damp and in the way her hand trembled minutely where it rested on
the railing.

“
Dr. Glendower, I’m sorry,
we were on our way to meet you. I’m afraid I delayed Teddy when he
arrived.” Ed kept his stance non-threatening, knowing that her
position on a lower step could potentially increase her
tension.

He’d made a point to keep
several feet of physical space between them whenever he’d had
occasion to work with her. She was less skittish that
way.

“
I hope he wasn’t bothering
you.” She wrapped one narrow hand around her son’s arm and pulled
him to her slightly. Her free hand pushed the wild blond hair off
Ted’s forehead. There was obvious love in the gesture—love and
exasperation.

He understood it as only
another parent could. “I need to get to my meeting. Ted, remember
what we talked about. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“
Yes, sir. Thank you.” Ted
nodded.

“
Ted, we’ll talk about
this later. For now, why don’t you go find Agent Len. I need to
have a short word with Agent Ed.”

She waited until the boy
was out of the stairwell before turning to him. “I’m sorry if Ted’s
been any trouble.”

“
He isn’t. He’s a good kid,
one who’s going through a rough time right now. Reminds me of
Georgia at around the same age. We moved when she was eleven, too.”
He placed one hand softly on her back, guiding her through the
second floor doors. “She struggled, as well. It took her a
while.”

“
I don’t want him causing
you any trouble.” Her words were firm. “If he’s having a problem,
he needs to come to me.”

“
Sometimes, doctor, there
are things you just can’t talk about with a parent—especially an
eleven-year-old boy with his mother. Ted isn’t a bother. And I
don’t mind listening to him.” Ed kept his words equally as firm.
“And you have my word that if he ever tells me something you need
to know—I will let you know. I know what it’s like being a single
parent—it was hard enough with just one child. You have my full
admiration for doing it with seven. If I can help in a small way
with Ted, I’d be happy to.”

“
Why?” Her cheeks turned
red and he realized she hadn’t meant to blurt it out the way she
had. “I mean, what’s in it for you? He’s a middle school kid with a
chip on his shoulder and immature tendencies. What could
you—someone with your background, your life, your job—possibly gain
from befriending Ted?”

“
Absolutely nothing but helping Ted. There
are
people in this world that do care
about others, and aren’t out for what they can
get.”

The color on her cheeks
deepened, and he sighed. He deliberately took the bite out of his
next words. “Ted
is
a good kid, and for whatever reason, he’s comfortable talking
with me. But if you’d prefer I not encourage that, I understand.
After all, he is
your
child.”

He’d disconcerted her, that
was easy to tell. But she hadn’t shrugged off his hand. That was a
good sign.

There was something about
this woman that brought out conflicting instincts. Part of him
wanted to fight—her, himself, whomever. Part of him couldn’t get
past the feel of her warmth beneath his hand, past the floral scent
of woman tickling his senses.

It had been a while, maybe
even decades, since he’d been
that
conflicted about a woman. He pondered that for a
quick moment, half losing what she’d said. “I’d prefer it if Ted
bothered you as little as possible. If you’ll recall, this ten-week
thing wasn’t my idea.”

He didn’t miss the tiny
touch of hostility behind
those
words. “No, but your son also needed to learn
that
you
weren’t
the only one who could deal out consequences. Are you saying this
is a bad thing for him? If you’d prefer he not be here every day,
we can work something else out.”

She paled. He stopped,
stared down at her. “Marianna, I’m not saying it would be something
on a legal basis...I’d never let them send Ted through the court
systems!”

He didn’t miss the way she
trembled slightly, the way her eyes darted everywhere, avoiding
his. “No, this is fine. Ted can continue for the full ten
weeks.”

He stopped her just inside
the first floor doors. “I’m not a bad guy, doctor. Despite the
rumors you may have heard, I’ve never hurt someone who didn’t truly
deserve it, and most of the people who work for me will admit that
I am fair. There’s no reason why you and I can’t be friends. It
will take every one of us working together,
trusting
each other, to keep the
PAVAD division running. I can promise you
we’re
on the same side,
ok?”

He waited until she nodded.
“Good. I’d better be going. I have a meeting with Hellbrook and
Reynolds. They should be back at any moment. I’ll see you in the
morning...No. Well, yes, I guess I will. I believe tomorrow is the
kindergarten day carnival at Brynlock. Mattie has insisted
his
entire
family
be there.”

“
So you and your daughter
and Agent Hellbrook?”

“
The McLaughlin’s, too. I
think Matthew wants to show off the baby.” He laughed. “I did draw
the lines at the puppy, though. Of course, I wouldn’t put it past
him to put the pup in his backpack and carry him in.”

Her face relaxed, and she
smiled a little more fully, her smile beautiful, her eyes having
just a touch of sparkle. “Bobby speaks of him often. They seem to
be hitting it off well.”

“
Matthew
does the same. From what I can tell, you son sounds a bit more calm
than my grandson. That’s good for Matthew. Sometimes I worry he’ll
be
too
much of a
daredevil.”

“
And I worry Bobby will be
too reserved.”

“
It’s the
nature, isn’t it—that we worry about them constantly? All this gray
hair...it’s from Georgia.” He ran a hand over his hair. “I’m afraid
I have no more room left for Matthew. But you—I’m wondering how
you’ve done it
without
the gray.”

“
A good beautician.” She
smiled once more before turning toward the lab hallway. “Thank
you.”

“
What for?”

“
It’s not easy for me.” Her
face turned earnest, he stepped a bit closer. “To let go of them at
times. And I worry about Ted the most. He’s the most like me, you
see. And sometimes, I think I worry too much about them so I go to
the wrong extreme. In here,” she motioned to her head, “I know this
is a good thing for Ted, but in here,” her hand covered her heart
quickly, “In here I can’t help but be scared for him. I keep
thinking someday that fear will go away, but...”

“
Take it
from one who knows—that fear
never
goes away. Ever. I worry about my daughter every
time she leaves this building. And even when in it. But
Marianna, you’re doing a wonderful job—at least with Ted, and from
the sounds of it, Bobby, too. Chances are good then, that you’re
doing fine with the other five as well. Now, I’ve truly got to go.
This case was a bad one for the CCU. I need to check and make sure
they weren’t burned too badly.” He nodded once, then turned and
walked away.

He almost swore he felt her
eyes on him the whole way down the hall.

And it actually took him a
great effort to avoid looking back.

Marianna met Kelly in the
hallway just outside her office after having collected Ted. She had
fifteen minutes to get to the day care facility to pick up the
younger twins and Bobby, before heading over to the high school and
getting the older twins and Nate after band, soccer, and football
practices.

That was the life she
led—by day she ran a crime lab, by night she was a taxi driver.
With only seven fares.

Kelly was paler than
Marianna had ever seen the redhead. “Kel? Everything
ok?”

“
No.” Kelly jerked her head
back and forth. “My sisters are in town; Emma apparently kidnapped
Grace. Ally’s taking them to my father’s, and you need to get
Aislin and Ryan.”

Nine fares. Good thing
Ally’s children went to the same daycare as hers.

“
And you?”

“
I need
to find...my father’s...tenant...and get the key to his house.
Because apparently he has custody of my youngest sister. My mother
can’t remove
her
from my father’s house. Not legally, anyway.” She frowned, “I
don’t even know
who
my father’s tenant is.”