John Locke - Lethal Experiment

Chapter 5

Iwas still in the hospital, back in my street clothes, awaiting the results of the stress test. With time on my hands, I decided to break hospital rules and make a call on my cell phone. Kimberly answered on the first ring.

“ Daddy !” she squealed.

“You sound almost too happy,” I said.

“Does it show?”

Oh oh , I thought. She’s in love . “Does what show?”

“I’m in love!”

“You’re too young,” I said, instinctively.

“Oh, Father,” she said. “I’m a junior in High School.”

“That’s young. Anyway, you’re not a junior until next semester.”

“A technicality,” she said, “seeing as how school starts in ten days.”

I sighed.

“His name’s Charlie,” she said.

“Please tell me it’s not Charlie Manson.”

On the other end of the phone, in Darnell, West Virginia, my daughter giggled.

We spent the next fifteen minutes talking about books we’d read, music we liked, and summer vacations we hoped to take someday. I asked her how serious her relationship with Charlie was, and she changed the subject.

“Has Mom called you?” she said.

“Not recently.”

“She will.”

I groaned. “What now?”

“She found out about Kathleen. Her friend, Amy, told her.”

I knew it had to happen. Several months ago, my ex-wife, Janet, had been engaged to the former wife beater, Ken Chapman. In the course of discouraging Janet from marrying the jerk, I met and fell in love with Ken’s former wife, Kathleen.

“Dad?”

“Still here, kitten.”

I wondered how much Janet knew about Kathleen. Did she know only that I was dating the ex-wife of her former fiancé? Or had she somehow learned that the woman who came to Janet’s home and identified herself as Ken’s ex was actually a hooker I’d hired to pose as Kathleen; a hooker who lied about being beaten up by Ken Chapman.

Whatever Janet knew, however angry she might be, it had been worth it. I’d prevented the marriage. I knew first-hand about Janet’s ability to push a man’s buttons. With his history of violence, Ken Chapman probably would have killed her.

Kimberly sensed I was distracted. “Did you hear what I said?”

“You said Mom knows about Kathleen and she’s going to call me.”

“That was earlier. Just now I asked if you and Kathleen were living together.”

“It’s complicated.”

“Dad, why is it that when you talk about Charlie it’s all cut and dried, but when I talk about Kathleen it’s ‘complicated?’”

I paused a moment before saying, “I wish I had a better answer, but the truth is, that’s a good point.”

“Damn right, it is! I’m your kid after all.”

“You are that,” I said. “Okay, here’s the scoop.”

Over the next few minutes I told her about my feelings for Kathleen, and how I stay with her whenever I’m in New York. I told her about Addie Dawes, and about Kathleen’s adoption efforts. When I finished there was a brief silence on the line.

“You okay?” I said.

“Are you aware this is the first time in my life you’ve treated me like a grownup?”

“How could I not? You’re a junior in high school.”

“Try to remember that, next time you start worrying about me and Charlie.”

“Ugh,” I said. “Speaking of Charlie, how much do you know about this kid?”

Kimberly said something about him being twenty-one, but I was distracted by the curtain being pulled aside as Dr. Hedgepeth entered my cubicle. I motioned for him to give me a second. He frowned at my use of a cell phone in the emergency room, but waited respectfully.

“I’m sorry, Kitten. What did you just say?”

“I said, ‘Don’t even go there, Dad.’ Don’t go all crazy and run a credit check or background report on Charlie. He’s a good kid. His father’s a big-time attorney.”

“Attorney? I’d rather have you date Charlie Manson than an attorney.”

She sighed. “He’s not an attorney, his father is. Look, just promise you won’t run his records.”

“I promise.”

“Good,” she said. “Now go spend some quality time with Addie. She sounds adorable. And, Dad?”

“Yes?”

“I’m happy for you. And I love you.”

“I love you too, Kitten.”

I clicked the phone off and Dr. Hedgepeth said, “As I suspected, you’ve got the heart of a lion.”

I nodded.

“Any pain since the test?”

“None.”

“Any stomach discomfort?”

I shook my head. “Not yet.”

“Food poisoning can take up to forty-eight hours to hit,” he said.

“What’s the average?”

“Six to eight.”

“So it could still be that,” I said.

“Yes, but we pushed you pretty hard on the treadmill. And you aced it. Even in the early stages of food poisoning I would have expected some abdominal cramping. Makes me think it’s not food poisoning.”

He handed me a piece of paper with a name and phone number.

“A shrink?” I said.

“In case you want to see someone here, instead of your home town.”

I pocketed the slip of paper and shook his hand. “You’re young, but you’re good.”

He winked. “That’s what they all say!”

Chapter 6

“ You know anything about this kid Charlie Beck? His father’s a big-time attorney in Darnell.”

I was on the phone with Sal Bonadello, Midwestern crime boss and my sometime employer.

“I know people who probably know him,” Sal said.

Okay, so I promised Kimberly I wouldn’t run a credit or background check on her new boyfriend. But I never promised not to ask around.

“Kimberly’s usually a great judge of character,” I said. “But something bothers me about this kid. For one thing, he’s old enough to drink legally.”

“That’s a small town, Darnell,” Sal said. “People talk. I’ll make some—whatcha call—inquiries.”

I thought about the way Sal might ask around. “I don’t want to make a big deal about it,” I said, “and I especially don’t want Kimberly to find out that I’m the guy trying to get the information.”

“Hey, I got a girl of my own. I’ll take care of it.”

“Thanks, Sal.”

“You still comin’ to my party?” he said.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“You bringing that new girl? The one lives in New York?”

“We’re going dress shopping later today,” I said.

“Dress her up hot,” Sal said.

“She’d look hot in a flour sack.”

“Flour sack’s fine. Make sure it’s a small one.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

“What about the blond that works with you?”

“What about her?”

“She comin’?”

“To the party? No way.”

“Did you invite her?”

“I did.”

“Maybe I should—whatcha call—extend a personal invite.”

I thought about Callie dressing up, attending a social event. Gorgeous she is. But, “She’s not a people person,” I said.

“Unless it comes to killing them.”

“Unless that,” I said.

“If a kid’s gonna get in trouble in Darnell, West Virginia, it’s gonna be at the Grantline Bar & Grill.”

“So?”

“So I know the bartender, Teddy Boy. He owes me, big time.”

“I’m not ready to have Charlie’s legs broken. Not yet, anyway.”

“All I’m sayin’, Teddy Boy knows what’s what. If your kid’s been in the bar, he’ll tell me. If she goes in, he’ll keep an eye on her.”

“Kimberly’s only sixteen,” I said. “You’re not going to find her in a bar.”

“Darnell’s Darnell,” Sal said.

“Meaning?”