Twisted Justice (20 page)

“I don't understand, Dr. Pope,” they could make out Steve saying. “He's just a child. He's got nothing to be anxious about.”

“Some children are high-strung by nature,” they heard a gravelly male voice coming from the treatment room. “Their bodies overreact, resulting in a rapid heartbeat like the one we have here.”

“But the tiredness? He just can't keep up. I told you, it's not normal when an eight-year-old child can't even walk a hundred feet without having to stop and his heart racing so.”

“Probably just nerves,” the doctor said. “Maybe some passive-aggressive acting out.”

“My son is not a nervous type. I'm telling you.”

“I'm not a pediatrician, Mr. Nelson, but I'm telling you, there's no emergency here.”

“His blood count is normal?”

“Perfectly. He's not anemic. No abnormal white cells and a normal hemoglobin. I suggest you take him to your family doctor to do a more thorough check-up if you still feel that something's wrong.”

“Fine. I'll take him in to see Dr. Chambers then,” Steve said.

“Dean Chambers? Been to a lot of meetings together, the Northern Michigan Medical Society. Say hello for me,” Dr. Pope said.

Mike and Kevin exchanged looks and scurried away from the door as Steve came out holding Patrick's right hand. In his left was a large green lollipop.

“So what happened?” Mike asked as they all settled back in the car.

“My heart was going too fast,” Patrick answered. “But there's nothing wrong with me, is there, Dad?”

Steve attempted a smile. “The doc said it's nothing, so we're heading up to the U.P., guys.”

“Doesn't Pat have a hole in his heart?” Mike asked.

Steve glanced quickly at Mike in a shut up way.

“No way,” Patrick blurted. “There's nothing wrong with me.”

“Well, let's call Mom,” Mike went on. “She'll know what to do. Did you tell that doctor in there that our mom is a doctor, Dad?”

“Listen Mike, just quit it. This is a camping trip for us guys. Right now my plan is to cross the Mackinac Bridge and stay at one of those cabins on Trout Lake tonight. Then tomorrow we can fish in the morning and leave for Tahquamenon Falls State Park, the place I told you guys about.”

“Hey, Dad,” Patrick said, “I just wanna go fishing.”

“We're all gonna starve to death first,” said Kevin.

Steve smiled genuinely for the first time all day. “Maybe I should make you catch your lunch, huh? But you're in luck, there's a place to stop just before the bridge.”

After eating deli sandwiches, they crossed Mackinac Bridge, the largest suspension bridge in the United States, and reached the Trout Lake Cabins just at dusk. There were fourteen small cabins situated in a horseshoe pattern, lacking any amenities except for telephones. Steve chose to stay the night there, off Route 123, rather than set up the tent, in case something did happen with Patrick. He parked the wagon behind their cabin, unloading only what the kids would need for the night as well as the ice chest with the sandwiches they'd bought at a small store after they stopped at St. Ignace for ice cream.

He returned to the cabin amid complaints that that there was no TV. In fact, there were only two double beds, a night table, and a phone. He sent the boys outside and called his father. Learning of Laura's latest antics — that she'd gotten a court order to have the twins returned to Florida as a result of his absence — Steve began to wonder how much detail the girls would remember of their Michigan trip. Another of his growing bag of worries.

Later, after a game of cards, he slept with Patrick in one bed, and Kevin and Mike shared the other. In the middle of the night Steve heard a muffled sound — Kevin crying. Turning over he whispered, “Kev, you okay?”

“Is Pat going to be okay,” Kevin whispered back.

“I'm sure he will,” said Steve.

“What's anxiety?”

“It means nervousness.”

“But Pat's not nervous,” Kevin snuffled. “I wish Mom was here to check him.”

“He'll be okay, Kev. Some people may not act nervous on the outside but they worry on the inside, you know.”

“Yeah,” agreed Kevin. “I'll try to be nicer to him.”

“Good idea for all of us, son,” said Steve.

In the pinkish-gray of predawn Saturday, Laura awoke. For a moment, she could not move and panic started to seize her. As a rush of feeling followed, she remembered ecstatically: the twins, they were home! At the moment, one slept peacefully on either side of her, having pressed themselves completely against her as they all went to sleep in Laura's big bed the night before. Breathing a sigh of huge relief, she thanked God for returning the girls safe and sound to her. Maybe this was a sign that everything would work out, that their lives could finally get back to normal, that everything would eventually be all right.

She needed this sign. She needed to believe this, she repeated to herself like a mantra, until it finally lulled her back to sleep.

Laura crawled out of bed just before seven. Later in the kitchen, she checked the clock over the stove as it ticked toward eight, picked up the phone, and dialed.

“Mom, did I wake you up? I waited until eight.”

“Laura?” Peg Whelan sounded excited. “I've been dying to call, but I didn't want to —”

“They're home! We got back just before midnight — too late to call.”

“And are they all right, honey?”

“Absolutely! We all slept in my bed, talked half the night. They're still asleep.”

“Oh, I can't tell you how happy I am. No problems on the Michigan end?”

“No, thank God. Chuck had the court order, so Jim had to turn them over. Chuck said he seemed relieved actually. You know, I'm going to give him a call later today. I don't want any hard feelings between us. He's a nice man and always has been good to me.”

“Um hum.” Peg paused. “Strange situation though — Steve's relationship with his family. I mean, Jim's never visited you down here, and you've never taken the children to Traverse City, except for when Helen died five years ago. Well, I don't know, it's none of my business anyway. So how are my granddaughters?”

“They really seem fine. You should have seen us at the airport. All crying at once. Poor Chuck must have been embarrassed. Later today, I'll have a talk with them, see if I can find out what's really going on. Like why would Steve just take off with the kids? Why the sudden urge to see his father? Is Jim seriously ill?”

“I think Steve just wanted to punish you,” Peg said not unkindly. “To teach you a lesson, that he can take what's most important to you. Using the kids to get back at you. I just don't understand Steve anymore.”

“He's like a whole different person,” Laura sighed. “I just want to get my life back together.”

“Honey, have you gotten around to actually filing for a divorce?” Peg asked. “All these custody issues need to be squared away. You've got to get the boys back with you too.”

“I know. Haven't done it yet,” Laura admitted. “Need to talk to Greg about it. We've all been so focused on getting the charges dropped. My custody chances have to be better once I get out from under all this. Anyway, that should be soon.”

“Certainly there can be no doubt?” Peg sounded surprised. “Custody always goes to the mother.”

“Not if the mother is accused of murder,” Laura said. “Not such a minor detail.”

“Honey, Dad and I will be there later this morning. We can't wait to see Natalie and Nicole, but we're expecting a call from Ted
today. We think he's still in Uganda, and Idi Amin's on another rampage. After kicking out the Orientals, missionaries are supposed to go next.”

“Geez, Mom, I am so sorry to add to all your worries. You've got enough on your minds without all my stuff. You know I pray for Ted's safety every day. When are those Jesuits going to send him home?”

“Don't forget to pray for your sister too, honey. She and Kenneth are still waiting for that baby. She can't leave France right now or the adoption might be put on hold. Anyway, you know how much both Ted and Janet want to be with you, but —”

“I know, Mom. You'd better hang up so you don't miss Ted's call. We'll see you and Dad later.”

“Mom!”

Laura was flipping through an AMA journal munching her third peanut butter toast with orange marmalade when Natalie and Nicole, still in their nightgowns, bounded down the stairs.

“I had to pinch Nattie,” Nicole announced as she darted toward the refrigerator and pulled out a half gallon of orange juice. “We couldn't believe we were home when we woke up!”

“Oh, I missed you oh-so-much!” Laura jumped up and hugged them both. It felt so incredibly good to have her little girls home again. The house had been deathly silent until their return, but still there was an anguished void. The delightful banter of her daughters only served to highlight the ache in her heart for her sons. When would they all be together?

As Laura made the twins' favorite breakfast, pancakes with strawberry syrup and bacon, she pondered how to approach a discussion of their father, about his plans, his motivations.

Nicole preempted. “Mom, Dad said that you were too busy trying to stay out of jail so you didn't have time for us. I kept telling him that that was a lie. I mean, of course you wanted to talk to us, right? He was the one who didn't want us to talk to you.”

“Nicole, you shouldn't talk about your father like that,” Laura felt obliged to say.

“Dad's always mad at me anyway,” Nicole said. “He's always liked the boys better than us. Like, why didn't he take us camping with him?”

“That's not true, Nicky. You just like to make him mad,” Natalie said. “We even said that we didn't want to go camping. Yuck. No bathrooms. Sleeping in a tent. Bugs. Snakes.”

“Yeah, well, why did Dad make us all go away in the first place?” Nicole said. “When we left that night, he said it was because Grandpa Nelson was sick. He didn't look sick to me when we got there. What do you think, Mom?”

“You know, that's what I was going to ask you two,” Laura countered. “Did Dad say anything about how long he plans to stay in Michigan?”

“Nope,” said Natalie, “even though we all kept asking him — especially Mike. He wants to be back here for baseball real bad, but Dad kept saying that you don't want us with you.”

Laura stroked her daughter's hair. “You didn't believe that, did you honey?”

“No, I didn't,” Natalie insisted, though she sniffled a bit. “None of us did.”

“Boy, he's really gonna be mad when he finds out we got to come home,” Nicole grinned.

“Let's not worry about that, girls. I just wish the boys were here too,” said Laura. “But, hey, guess what? Grandma and Grandpa will be here later this morning.”

“Let's make a cake for Grandpa!” Natalie suggested.

“Yeah!” Nicole added. “We had to leave with Dad instead of having his birthday party like we were supposed to that day.”

“I remember,” said Laura, as she once again pondered the details of that dreadful weekend.

“Jim, this is Laura. I wanted to just say that I'm sorry that yesterday things had to happen the way they did.”

Laura had waited for the twins to go back up to their room to
choose a board game. It was one of those rare monsoon-like days that drenched South Florida, otherwise the girls would be out in the neighborhood checking on their friends.

“It's not your fault, Laura.” Jim Nelson sounded tired. “Though Steve is very angry indeed. He called a while ago from a campsite in the Upper Peninsula. It's got one of those long Indian sounding names I can't pronounce. I wouldn't be surprised if he gave you a call.”

“That's good, Jim. I need to talk to him to tell him that charges against me are being suspended.”

“Oh, is that so? Maybe that'll change things. You know, I still don't know why he's hell bent to keep the kids away from you. I keep telling him that the kids need their mother. They really want to go home, you know. Not just the girls, the boys too. Oh, well, Steve's put his foot down. I never remember him being this stubborn.”

“I know what you mean. So Jim, how are you? You've been ill?”

“I'm fine,” he said. “Had the flu right before Steve arrived with the kids, but I was better by the time they got here.”

“Good. I'm glad you're okay.”

“Well, you take care. Tell the little girls that I miss them, but that I'm glad they're back with you.”

No sooner had Laura hung up with Jim Nelson than the phone rang. It was Steve.

“How did you manage that?” The snarl in his voice made Laura cringe. “I leave for a couple of days, and you send some kind of agent in to scare the hell out of my dad? Some stranger drags off my daughters when I've left them in the care of their grandfather. I never suspected you'd stoop so low.”