Chapter 38

word count  1525

Hank Bower and Gil Bettencourt pounded on Buzz Miller's front door. Gil toted a fat file ballooning with papers, sheets flying out in all directions. He and Gil had worked into the night on the Simon Learnagel case. Not that they had tons of evidence to analyze. In fact, they had none. Instinct was their only hope to flush out a clue in this case, and no one had better instincts than Buzz Miller.

Jeannie Miller answered the door. She spotted Hank first, and a tiny smile passed her lips.

“Hank! My appointment is not until later. Aren't you early?”

“Hi, dear! Actually I'm here with Gil to visit with Buzz.” Hank shot her a soft, kind expression.

“Hi, Jeannie!” Gil murmured.

“Well, go right on in! I'll bring some coffee.”

“Thanks, Jeannie!” they chimed while glancing at one another as if each was asking, how can Buzz not cherish this women?

The door to Buzz's room was open and actor John Wayne's voice blasted from inside. “Rooster Cogburn” was playing on the movie channel. As soon as Buzz saw them, he switched off the TV.

“What are you guys doing here? I'm glad anyway, I think John Wayne is all out of character in this. That's not the Duke, buckling down to a little girl, Ha!” He tossed the remote aside in disgust.

“We need help,” Gil stated.

“I'll bet you're working on that little boy's case who disappeared. Hey, raise this bed up for me, will ya?”

Hank proceeded to do so as Gil spread out the file papers on the bed.

Jeannie entered the room, balancing three big mugs of coffee and spoons on a tray. She bumped into Hank and shot him an embarrassed smile.

“Dammit, woman! Can't you watch where you're goin'!” Buzz's face flushed beet red in anger.

“I'm so sorry. I'll try to be more careful.”

“Really! No harm done!” Frank broke in.

“She does that kind of crap all the time,” Buzz growled.

Jeannie stopped short of curtsying and ran from the room, as Hank and Gil exchanged glances. Hank's pulse raced in anger, but he held his tongue.

“Well, anyway, boss! We've got nothing to go on but one lady who saw a man near  our boy while he was playing in the park, the same day he disappeared. In fact, her kid was playing with Learnagel. But she couldn't identify the guy she saw. The sun was in her eyes and his face was in the shadow. She did say she thought he was clean shaven and well dressed, so she didn't worry.” Gil stirred his coffee and took a sip.

“Aside from that, you're thinking it was Lichtenstein who took the kid, aren't you?” Buzz gulped his Java with a noisy slurp.  He ran his finger down one of the pages Gil had laid out.

“Yeah. But he's disappeared.”

“Hmmph,” Buzz pondered. “How long since he's been seen?”

“Well, sure enough he disappeared the same night the kid did, and we found a motel room he'd used, but there was no sign of the little boy.” Hank shifted in his seat, feeling restless. He always felt uneasy in Buzz's presence. “Nothing adds up.”

“So the boy vanished, Leichtenstein vanished, and you've found no connection between the two.” Buzz took another slurp. “I'm inclined to agree he's the guy we want, simply because he has disappeared at the same time as the kid. No sign of him at his usual haunts, panhandling by the school?”

“Nope. No sign of him. But no evidence to link him to this crime either,” Gil stated. “We're at an impasse here.”

“Not necessarily, maybe something's changed,” Buzz paused to think. “Maybe you're not seeing anything because you keep looking for the same old thing...that bearded, grisly derelict we all know and love. What if something has changed? What if all of a sudden he were disguised to look different?”

“You mean you think he changed his appearance to hide from us!” Gil's voice took on an excited tone.

“Yeah! I mean, he could be 'hiding in full view' as they say, and we'd look right past him. If we're chasing Jake as we know him, he knows we'll catch him sooner or later. So maybe he's thrown us off by looking different now, camouflaged to fit into the crowd. He could be right in front of our noses.”

“So, wait again! That lady in the park said the guy she saw was clean shaven, even his head, nice clothes. That's why she didn't worry when he offered a toy for the boys to play with. He looked clean cut.”

“Right, BINGO! I'm sure that's it! We would never think to look for a 'clean cut' Lichtenstein! In fact, who knows what he looks like under all that hair and beard?  Get out there and find that bastard before he grabs another kid. Don't release the info about his appearance to the press though. I don't think we should tip him off that we're onto him. Let's keep him confident so he feels free to walk around.”

“Didn't I tell you the boss would figure this out?” Gil said, shooting Hank a high five.


Later, Hank went back to give Jeannie her ride to the hospital. He smiled as she got in the car. He enjoyed the trips. But today he needed to work on her again to tell Buzz what was going on. He needed to get down and dirty with her about it.

After her hospital visit, he helped her into the car. She looked drawn and tired.

“Would you like to stop and get some coffee or tea? You look like you could use a time out from everything.”

“No, I should get back to Buzz. He might want something to eat.” She glanced at her watch with a resigned expression.

“Isn't it about time you stop worrying about Buzz and worry about you?”

“He'll be angry if I”m not there. He may yell at Adam.” She wrung her hands in a worried motion.

Hank exhaled in a long, slow release. “Jeannie, you've got to tell him you're sick. You can't go through this alone like you are. You need his love, his help, his cooperation.”

“I can't.” She said it in a matter-of-fact way, but also reached in her purse, extracting a clean tissue to dab her eyes which were welling with tears.

“Jeannie, look ahead. Where is this going? Chemo is tough. You're going to be very sick. You can't hide it. And you're his wife! Gruff as he is, he loves you and would want to be a part of this, to help you.”

“You don't understand. I had a sprained ankle once, and he got mad at me because I was laid up. He'll get mad again.” She sobbed into the tissue and scrambled in her purse to find more.

Hank handed her a clean, white handkerchief from his pocket. It had a monogrammed “HB” on it. “Okay, so he may have a few personality problems, but how does that equate that you should hurt yourself like this? I'll tell you what! You tell him you're sick, tell him all about it, and if he gets mad or rejects you like you say, you can come and stay with me until you're well. Then you can decide your future from there.”

He leaned closer. “Jeannie, you are so beautiful and warm and wonderful! I'm not going to see you hurt yourself because your husband has no heart or soul.”

“No, no! He's a good man, just misunderstood. You don't understand him!”

“Well, maybe I don't. But you're not understanding this disease. This disease kills people, and you are flirting with death if you don't take care of yourself.”

She looked taken aback. They were harsh words, untempered, blunt. She could die without a full blown effort and determination to live. She could die if outside forces stacked up against her. Oh my God! Was she trying to kill herself? Jeannie's face went pale. What was this crazy world she'd stumbled into? She just wanted to live her life without turmoil...to fix Buzz his meals and take care of Adam, nice and peaceful. Now all of a sudden, she was two-stepping with the devil while he threatened death, and she was all alone. She was fighting the Reaper all by herself. Had she stacked up her chances against winning, stacked them up to die just by failing to do her best, to not admit it to anyone, by hiding from it, dodging it at every turn? Was she hiding from the obvious, pretending she was okay to avoid the trouble it caused her? Was she doing all she could to win this battle? She wanted to live. She wanted to do all she could to win and live.

Her heart picked up its beat and pounded relentlessly in her chest. If Buzz got in the way of that, of her winning, then damn him!

“Okay,” she murmured. “I'll tell him. And if he doesn't want to help me win this battle, I'll leave him.” She looked at Hank, wide-eyed and stunned.