Chasing the Monsters: 57

"It's right here, finally.  I've almost burned my eyes out of my head reading this stuff," Jack Ribsky said, handing the book to Timothy.

The Irishman took it, and read:

Tonight, I met a friend of Peter's, at last.  It has been strange never seeing him interact with anyone but me.  Anyway, the man's a policeman, and it seems he's a long time friend of Peter's and of the family.  (He may have been involved with getting Todd out of trouble, I'm betting).  Anyway, he came by the house to talk with Peter this evening, and I was there, so he introduced me.  A nice enough man, seems very into his work, rather quiet.  They had beer, I got it for them.  My wrist still hurts from when he grabbed it the other night, but I'm ignoring it.  I had trouble holding two beers with it, but I managed.

They started talking about things I am not sure I understand really, something about arrangements for something financial, they were talking softly, and of course, Peter made me leave the room, so I went and got you, diary.  Peter has a strong belief that women are more or less to be kept out of things, and he decides what I'm involved in and what I'm not.

"Sounds like a peach of a guy, eh?"

"Bastard.  She'd just been with him a short while, maybe a year, and he'd already started abusing and using her.  She was tough, though.  She knew how to read and control him to a point."

"Shall I read more?"

"Yeah, I guess you should.  I can't, my eyes are shot."

"All right then," he said.

All in all, it's been an interesting evening.  Peter's got a great deal of money coming in.  He knows how to invest it and make it grow, and he's been successful doing that.  Not sure where the money came from originally, but he did tell me he got a large amount from Todd's birth father, and has made that grow over and over.  If I can just get him to trust me, more than anyone else, then I will be in the clear and have access to anything I want at any price.  He's already promised that.  Not sure why he's chosen me; Todd says there was a line of women before me that he cast off, including Todd's adoptive mother, Barbara.  

But, I have staying power for some reason, and I guess that's what counts right now.  He bought me lots of beautiful things that I want, including a new car, just last week.  

I guess meeting Ben was the only thing new for me today, but it was of huge value; it made me see that he does have contacts outside of me and his son, and that they're respectable, upstanding citizens.  Well, at least this man Ben is. 

A cop.  How much more respectable can you get than that? 

By the time Timothy finished reading this, Ribsky was already perusing the list of policemen on file, but he did so with a frantic manner.

"What's the matter, Mate?"  Timothy said.

"Just hang on," Ribsky answered, and continued.  Timothy sat with the journal still open in his hands, and glanced down at the next entry.

Upsetting day today.  Peter and Todd got into a verbal altercation, and it was escalating.  I tried to step in and stop it from becoming violent, and Peter told me to leave the house.  He said the only one involved in disciplining his son would be him.  I'm not sure what's happening, but I am concerned, and hate to admit I am slightly worried about Todd.  I couldn't calm Peter at all, but he said he knew exactly what to do.  Not happy.  More later.

Timothy was interrupted by Ribsky's slamming his palm hard onto the table.  "Fucking unbelievable!"

"Can ya share this?" Timothy said, still recovering from what he had read.

"There's only one freaking Ben on the whole list of cops," he said and got up.  He began to pace, "Out of the hundreds of names, only one freaking Ben."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Man, but that's a good thing.  No searching, nothing left to do."

"No searching.  Nothing left to do.  Heh."

Timothy was confused.  "I don't understand."

"Ben Miller, the only policeman named Ben on the force at that time.  It was him."

"Yes, that's what it seems to be unless the man was using an alias.  It will be simpler now to solve this, we can get the court to issue a warrant for his arrest.  Ya should be celebrating."

"I'd be celebrating if this cop were anyone BUT Ben Miller, my mentor and long-time partner."

***

Sam ran up the stairs to the kitchen and was frantically racing to get to Blair.  He stormed into the family room and was crying.  It was difficult at first to understand him.

"Sam, calm down, honey I can't understand what you're saying," Blair said.

He cried, and said, "Mom, something bad . . ."

"What Sam, what is it?"  she was alarmed, and as she and Bitsy got to her feet, she heard the copter starting on the helipad.

Bitsy said, "Sam, is it about your father?"

"Yes!  Mom it's bad!  Mom!"  he paced nervously, and Blair ran past him to the service stairs and up to the roof.  

She wasn't sure what it was, but it was bad enough to get Todd going, and that was enough.  She started screaming his name, knowing full well he might not even hear her.  "Todd, wait, stop!  Where are you . . . Todd!"

She couldn't hear anything but the copter engine, as he put the earphones on and lifted off. 

"Todd!"  she screamed as loud as she could, and then watched the copter rise to the clouds.

She was breathing heavily, and Sam appeared in their bedroom, at the glass panes.  She turned, defeated, and went to him, and opening the panes she entered the bedroom and took him by the hand.  "Sam, you have to calm down."

Her son was shaking, crying, and saying many things at once, and very little was recognizable.  When she tried to get him to sit down by her, he refused and pulled her by her hand, still having difficulty expressing himself, toward the stairs and back down to the first level.  She decided to give up the talking to him and follow his lead.

Bitsy met them in the foyer, and seeing Sam's expression, and worry, she said, "Sam, Daddy's a man.  He's strong, and he will be all right."

Sam lead them to the mudroom, where he pointed.  Bitsy immediately knew what he was pointing to, and said, "His trunk.  All his special things.  I packed it away and hid it myself, so Peter couldn't get to it and damage any of it."

Blair's heart was pounding.  She quietly said, "Sam, if you can take some deep breaths, maybe you can tell Grandma Bitsy and I why Daddy's so upset."

She saw her son try to gather himself, and he was slowing his own breathing.  Blair coaxed him, while Bitsy was at her knees, fingering a few of the items in the trunk, and starting to mist over with memory.

"He got mad, Mom.  He got really mad.  He was . . . I made him open the trunk."

"He was mad about the trunk?"  she asked her son.

"No, not really.  He was kind of sad about the trunk and was remembering.  He told me he was remembering.  But then, I told him I was remembering, too."

Of course, at this, Blair was almost panicking herself.  What did her husband have to hear, and what had happened to her son?  Sam was still crying, but more in control.  "What did you remember, Sam?"

"About my real Dad, Zeus, and his magic trunk."

"Okay," she was relieved.  At least it wasn't about Peter Manning.  "Go on."

"I told him about the time that Zeus got mad at me and locked me in."

"What?  Sam?" 

Blair hadn't heard it before and was losing her composure, so Bitsy stepped in.  "Sam, Mom's upset because she didn't know about this and she is worried for you and your father.  Can you tell me what happened?"

"Dad was looking at old stuff.  His face was weird.  Sometimes he looked like he was in his mind, or something.  I don't know.  I asked him about it, and he said he was remembering.  I said that I was remembering too, and told him about Zeus locking me in the trunk to teach me a lesson about touching his things . . ."

"Oh, Dear," Bitsy said in a whisper, looking to Blair.  "The shed.  He . . . it's too similar, Blair."

Blair was beside herself, her eyes were filled with a mixture of sadness, anger, and fear.  She said, "I've got to go to him," and headed for the stairs.

"Blair, where?  Where will you go?"

"He's going after Zeus, I know he is," she said and ran to the first level of the house.  As she called for Williams, Bitsy turned her attention back to Sam.

"You're such a sweet and good person, you were worried about your father and you did the right thing, Sam,"  Bitsy assured.

"I did?"

"Yes.  You did.  Now I don't want you to worry.  He's just upset because you were hurt."

"I wasn't hurt, I'm fine, see?"  He turned in a circle, to show her.

"I know, but he means hurt in here," she pointed to his chest, "in your heart."

"I'm okay, Grandma Bitsy, really.  I haven't had a nightmare in a while.  Dad said I don't have to talk to Zeus ever again if I don't want to."

"That's right.  You don't.  Your father's right, and he will protect you.  Don't worry about this, Sam, your mother will help."

Sam nodded.  He looked to the floor.  "Should we put his things away, so that when he comes home, he finds them right where he left them?"

Bitsy glanced at the contents of the trunk, and said, "Yes, that would be nice, Sam," and the two of them began to pick up the items and return them to the trunk.  

"Jack!  JACK!"  Blair shouted as she threw items into an overnight bag.

"Yeah?"  he came quickly to her door. "What's the matter, Mom?"

"Your father . . . he's had a moment, let's just say.  Off to make a mistake.  I'm going after him, as soon as I can get myself going."

"Okay, is he all right?"

"He's fine.  He's . . . fine, Jack," she said, sounding doubtful and shaken.

"Mom, if anyone can talk sense into Dad, it's you."

She stopped and looked at her son.  "Yes, I guess that's true.  The point is, can I?"

"Don't worry about us, Mom.  We've got everything here."

"Between you, your grandmother and Shaun, I'm hoping so."  She zipped the bag and threw it over her shoulder.  

Jack said, "Let me take it down for you.  Go see the kids," and he was gone.  She went quietly into her youngest children's bedroom and peeked in.   Ray was napping the way he always did; his hand was tucked under his chin.  Jewel was sprawled out, all twenty-some pounds of her, on her side, as if the last thing she looked at when falling asleep was her princess pillow.  Blair sighed, and a few tears came, but she was determined to stop her man from making a very big mistake that could cost them everything. 

As much as she didn't want him to go to Greece and kill Zeus in front of Tea and her children, she understood him.  She knew where his heart was about Sam, about both fathers' failings, about everything.  She knew he was broken and just mending and that any slight jarring in the early stages of healing could require resetting the shattered parts.  

"Todd," she said softly, running her hand over the crib he'd insisted on assembling himself for their babies.

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