Second Chances: A PAVAD Duet Page 15

  The little blond boy at the desk just giggled. And giggled. Apparently whoever was bellowing didn’t frighten him in the least. “Grandpa! Lucifer likes to play hide and seek!”

  “Apparently.” A rueful Director Edward Dennis suddenly appeared behind the desk, obviously on his knees and clutching something black and white, and...wiggling...in one hand. “He also likes to play destroy the expensive tie...”

  He looked up and saw his guest in the doorway. “Dr. Glendower, may I...we...help you?”

  Ed Dennis was on his knees clutching a puppy. Not exactly what she expected to find when she’d gone searching for her middle son. “Yes, sir...Ted?”

  “Hi!” Matthew jumped down from the leather swivel chair and rushed to Bobby’s side. “You’re the new kid!”

  Bobby—always quiet and reticent at first—slowly nodded. “You’re in my class.”

  “Yep. I’m Matthew Dennis—hey Grandpa!”

  “Indoor voice, Matthew. We’re all in the same room.” Dennis’s voice was mild. It surprised Marianna; she thought surely he’d be harsher with a child. Her ex certainly had been, at the slightest provocation. “What do you need?”

  “Am I Matthew Hellbrook yet?”

  “Not yet. A few more months.”

  “Oh. I’m still Matthew Dennis, then.” He held out a hand for Bobby to shake. He did, after glancing up at Marianna. “Want to play with my puppy? He’s real nice.”

  “Sure.” Bobby let go of her hand and the two little boys bombarded Dennis. He handed over the puppy after retrieving what looked to be a silk tie from the animal’s mouth. They carried the dog over to a soft-looking leather couch. Marianna remembered it well. It was where she and Ted had sat waiting for Ted’s sentence to be handed down.

  Dennis approached her. Marianna fought the instinctive tensing. “Sir?”

  “Please, it’s just Ed. Sir’s ok when in large groups, but when it’s us one-on-one, I’d prefer that the sir be dropped. Now, what can I do for you? Can I interest you in a Border collie puppy by any chance?”

  “Uh...no.” Marianna didn’t know how to respond to this Ed Dennis. “But if you could tell me where my son is...”

  “He was supposed to be waiting in Agent Len’s office.” Dennis frowned. Marianna tensed. “Was he not there?”

  “No. And neither is Agent Len.” Marianna felt a small touch of worry.

  “Here I am, Mom!” Ted said. He and Agent Fin McLaughlin stood directly behind her. “Agent Len took me to see Uncle Fin’s office. We thought we’d be back before you got here. We didn’t know Uncle Fin was here!”

  “I stopped by to get some paperwork.” Fin wrapped his good arm around Marianna’s shoulder and gave her a quick hug. “Ted and I got to talking.”

  Marianna immediately relaxed. Ted was smiling, Fin was smiling. Apparently there was no hard feelings on the man’s part where Ted was concerned. “Ok. I was just a little worried. You’re brothers are waiting with Aunt Ally and Ryan and Aislin. They’re in the lobby.”

  “Cool.”

  Marianna did a quick inspection; taking in the messy hair and bright blue eyes of her son. He seemed more relaxed than he’d been since the last time they had both been in Ed Dennis’s office. His cheeks were a little red, but he’d spent a great deal of time outside in the last two days before returning to school. And Ted always burned. But he seemed happy and healthy. Dennis hadn’t been too hard on him.

  Marianna had been terrified.

  She’d had a few days to hear stories of the division leader, to hear how protective he was of his only daughter. And Georgia Dennis Hellbrook had been in that elevator that morning as well. She’d also seen younger agents quaking when they mentioned Dennis, had heard the reverence and fear in their whispered conversations.

  Her fear had just grown with each story until she’d been more afraid of Dennis than Ted.

  Instead her son—two of her sons—were laughing at the antics of a puppy while Dennis stood less than a yard from her with dirt on the knees of his expensive suit. His hair was just as unruly as his grandson’s, though it was the color of steel. His shirt was unbuttoned, partially revealing a plain white undershirt beneath. His tie was gone, clutched uselessly in his hand, and his charcoal suit coat was being trampled by two first-graders and a dog.

  And the man was smiling, fully smiling, as he watched the kids and the dog.

  He looked at Marianna again. The smile lingered. “Are you sure I can’t interest you in a puppy? I can guarantee the name Lucifer is a true misnomer.”

  “Funny, Grandpa! You can’t get rid of Lucifer!” The little blond boy giggled.

  Dennis looked at him a moment, frowned. Marianna tensed. Dennis looked back at her. “Can I interest you in a blond five-year-old and a puppy named Lucifer?”

  Chapter 5

  Did she always have that confused expression? Ed was beginning to wonder just who he’d hired to lead his forensic department. Poor woman looked as if she’d fallen down a rabbit hole. He watched as she hurried her two sons out of his office. As if he’d bite or had two heads. Something about her was just...off...in a way he couldn’t quite identify. He made a mental note to dig a little deeper into just who Marianna Glendower was.

  Matthew demanded his attention for most of the evening, but after at least a dozen rounds of Go-Fish and SpongeBob Memory, the little boy was finally asleep and tucked in to the top bunk in the room Ed had redecorated just for him. Spiderman and various other super heroes covered the walls in a mural he’d had hand painted.

  He loved that kid beyond belief, and loved being a grandfather. His daughter had done a wonderful job since taking guardianship three years earlier. Matthew was a happy, healthy, gregarious little bundle of non-stop energy. He wasn’t, however, a tidy child, Ed thought, as he tripped over a Transformer currently being devoured by a stuffed dinosaur.

  He made a mental note to have Matthew at least create a pathway between his bed and the door. The toys had trickled out into the hallway; a stuffed dog sat forlornly near the top of the stairs. It looked remarkably like the puppy whining from the plastic dog kennel in the family room. “Lucifer, it’s time you went to sleep.”

  The dog gave a pitiful whimper and Ed sighed. “Let me guess—you need a drink of water? Have to go potty? I know—there’s a monster under the bed?”

  “Come on, then. Let’s go.” He released the latch and the puppy gleefully shot out of the pet taxi. The next ten minutes were spent trying to keep the puppy on task. He must have said go potty sixty times in that span of time.

  The first thing the dog did upon reentering the house was jump on the leather sofa. Lucifer curled up in a tiny furry ball and snuffled. His dark eyes closed. Ed didn’t have the heart to put him back in the kennel. He moved his laptop from the desk and settled on the couch with the puppy. Soon he had a warm body pressed against his thigh as he began searching for information on the enigma that was the beautiful Marianna Glendower.

  It took him about two hours of searching the FBI databases to find everything about the woman—including a six-year-old divorce decree—and a six-year-old police report. Domestic battery and sexual assault charges were filed against Illinois state senator Harvey Glendower by his ex-wife. Three witness statements were also included in the file—signed by Fineas McLaughlin, Sebastian Lorcan, and Marianna’s then nine-year-old son Nathan.

  Charges were dropped two months later.

  The first child support check was issued through the county court house one week after the charges were dropped. Seven months and two weeks after charges were dropped, Robert Sebastian Glendower was born. Ten months after his mother had given birth to twins James and Timothy, who would have been less than a month old at the time the charges were filed against their father.

  Ed knew what it most likely meant. And it explained a lot—her reticence with him, her almost obsessive retreat from all the males in the department, the protective manner in which both McLaughlin and Lorcan treated her. How Ted had seemed
so bitter about his father. As a law enforcement officer he’d seen the results of domestic violence and abuse—and he could now point out the signs, the behaviors she exhibited that told him what had most likely happened.

  It made him angry, on her behalf and on her sons’. It also made him admire her even more—she’d triumphed. Her children were happy, healthy, well-adjusted children. She was fast becoming a leader in her field, and that only came with hard work and accuracy.

  He hadn’t selected her by random. He’d kept an ear to the ground and when he’d needed to shake up the forensic department, he’d asked around. And gotten an overwhelming response about the Indianapolis team leader. And it hadn’t taken much to lure her and her people to his division. He was pleased with his choice, and now that he understood her background a little better, it made things very clear to him. Now he knew how to proceed.

  He just had to make her feel safe in her position, help her realize he’d never do anything to hurt her or her children. Maybe eventually she’d come to view him as a friend. Like she obviously did McLaughlin and Lorcan. He was a firm believer that people needed friends in this type of business. To function to the fullest you had to trust the people you worked with and for. Hopefully, he could help her see that.

  He closed the laptop and scooped the puppy up. Damned thing went completely limp, didn’t even open its eyes as he carried it down the hall. He was just a puppy, and Ed couldn’t see leaving him all alone in the kennel. Not all night.

  He’d let him sleep on the foot of the bed. Just for the one night; after all, the pup hated to be alone.

  Chapter 6

  It had been the longest week of Marianna’s life—at least in recent years. The kids were still attempting to get used to a new school while she was still attempting to get used to the new world she worked in. It wasn’t easy. Still, when the first week was finally over she gave heartfelt thanks that she’d have two whole days to finally get the house into as much order as could exist with seven boys around.

  Ted was the only fly in her ointment. The three younger boys were doing great—Bobby coming home every day with more tales of Matthew Ed than Marianna expected—but Ted...Ted still struggled. Even with Ryan at the same school, Ted just wasn’t adjusting. Part of it was his size, she knew that. Of all her children, Ted was the smallest for his age. Add in the lack of interest in sports, the thick glasses, and high intellect—Ted was the classic nerd. And the other kids at the middle school he attended in the Brynlock complex had picked up on that fact.

  One week, and she’d already had two telephone calls from the school, expressing concern over his adjusting. It had her worried, and stumped. How could she help her child fit in, when she’d always struggled with the same sort of issues? She’d been tall and geeky throughout school. Clumsy and intelligent as well. It hadn’t been any easier for her.

  And she hated that it wasn’t easy for Ted.

  She checked her watch—Ted had five minutes to get his scrawny self down to the cafeteria. She always made him check in with her after the car pool dropped him off. He’d had five days under Ed Dennis’s punishment, and if she wasn’t mistaken—he almost seemed to be looking forward to it every day. He hadn’t complained as much as she’d expected. She didn’t know if that was a good thing or if she should be concerned. What kid liked being punished?

  When he hadn’t made it to the cafeteria, Marianna began to get worried. It seemed she spent so much of her time worrying about Ted. He’d given her more worry-filled moments than any of the other boys. Maybe even more than his three older brothers combined. Still, he needed to let her know he was in the building, then she had to have a meeting with Richison and Eric, before heading over to the schools to get her boys. She didn’t have time to wait on Ted.

  She took the stairs, and was nearly to the top of the first floor landing when she heard a voice she recognized—Ted. She missed exactly what it was he said. She couldn’t see him, or who he was speaking with.

  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.

  Chapter 7

  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.”