Once More A Family Part 3

"You dig up anything to suggest a link toRustakov ?"

"Not yet."Mendozabraked, checked for traffic, then swung the Jeep into adriveway on the left. "This is it," he said as he cut the engine. "In a fewminutes you'll know."

"Nights are the worst. I ... I hear her c-crying, and I get up to go to herbut-" BrendaBenteen's voice broke, and she buried her face in her hands.

Several of the other women seated in a ragged circle around the bas.e.m.e.nt roomfought their own tears. The newest member of the group, Anne Williams, astrikingly beautiful high-school senior who'd once dreamed of beingMissAmericabefore she'd had an illegitimate stillborn child, bit her lip a.s.she pa.s.sed the tissue box to the now sobbing Brenda.

Seated across the room,Ria waited for the woman to regain her composure andthought about the support group that had gotten her through those firstterrible months after Jimmy's disappearance.

The paralyzing grief was gone-time's greatest blessing-but the pain wasalways with her. There hadn't been a day pa.s.s when she didn't think about her child and wonder if he was happy and healthy. His memory was with herconstantly, even now. His lopsided smile, the soft brown eyes that sparkledwith life and happiness, the st.u.r.dy body that was always in motion.

Going back to work had saved her.

Wabash Women's Center had started small, offering support groups for newlydivorced women and single moms, plus confidence workshops and counseling,whichRia as a licensed social worker ran herself.Tova Jones,Ria's best friendand fellow Purdue alumna, ran the job-training program which included careerplanning and placement. Internist Dr. Katherine Stevens ran the open-doorclinic. Volunteers and teacher interns from Purdue supervised the preschooland day care programs.

Since the center had beenRia's idea, her fellow directors steamrollered herinto acting as chief administrator, which was a fancy t.i.tle meaning she got tospend fourteen hours a day juggling the bills and scrambling fordonations-when she wasn't filling in for the volunteers who helped staff theday care center or counseling new clients.

Brenda had first come to Healing Friends three months ago, her eyes still redand swollen, and her face pasty white from lack of sleep. Her attendance hadbeen sporadic since then. In spite ofRia's encouragement and support, however,the painfully shy twenty-three-year-old waitress had never been comfortableenough to say more than her name. Instead, she'd sat with her gaze focused onthe hands she kept tightly folded in her lap, listening intently to the othersas they poured out stories of pain and loss and grief.

Tonight, however, something seemed to have broken inside her, and wordsspilled out almost too fast for her to control.Ria considered it an extremelypositive sign.

"I'm s-sorry," Brenda mumbled as she scrubbed tears from her blotchy cheeks.

"Never apologize for sharing your emotions," she told Brenda gently butfirmly.

"Heck, no, honey," exclaimed the imposing woman sitting to Brenda's right onthe shabby brown sofa.

CalpurniaGlendonwas six feet two inches of exuberant, outspoken, gloriouslyflamboyant female who was fond of brilliant colors and large, clunky jewelryshe designed herself. Eighteen months earlier, on Christmas Eve, she'd losther husband and twin sons in a fire. She'd been in the group from thebeginning and now acted asRia's co-facilitator. "Me, I blubbered my eyes outfor the first six weeks I was here."

"Actually, I think it was more like eight,"Ria said, thanking her with alook. Callie grinned before she turned back to Brenda, who was now busilykneading the used tissue in nervous fingers. "It's all right, Brenda. Takeyour time. We're here to listen."

Brenda nodded, then cleared her throat. "Missy was just lying there, like ...like a little doll baby. I'd just gotten her this little pink sleeper, and shelooked so sweet. Even ... even Monk thought she looked real nice like. 'Wake up,little lazy bones,' I said, and then bent down to kiss her on the little tuftof hair, like I always did, you know? And then I noticed she ... she-" Shefaltered to a stop, her face twisting with anguish.

Riaached for the suffering woman. The other seven women in the support group waited, their expressions uniformly solemn.

"Is Monk your husband?" Annie asked in a timid voice.

"For almost a year now." Brenda dropped her gaze to her hands. "My mother,she keeps saying he's no good because he didn't want the baby at first, buthe's a real good guy, Monk is."

Callie snorted. "Get your head outta the clouds, girl. The man threatenedtoleave you if you didn't stop coming to our group here."

Brenda brought her head up to glare at the older woman.Ria dropped her gaze,hiding her surprise. Callie and Brenda had obviously spoken outside of cla.s.s.It happened that way, sometimes. Callie took her responsibility seriously andoften phoned members of the group when they were absent, to check on them.

"I told you, Callie," Brenda declared with a rare pa.s.sion, "he didn't meanit. He just gets these moods sometimes. From all the stress and stuff he wentthrough in Desert Storm. And he has terrible headaches, he can't sleep and oreat and the littlest noise hurts something awful, which is why I know hesometimes-" She broke off to bite her lip.

"Sometimes what?"Ria probed in a gentle tone.

Brenda darted a nervous glance around the room before dropping her gaze tothe tissue she was shredding. "Nothing," she muttered, her shoulders stiff.

"He hits you, don't he, girl?" Callie declared, her voice flat.

"No! That's a mean thing to say."

"Ain't mean if it's true."

"Well, it's not!" Brenda twisted in her chair, her face contorting. "You'rejust like that policeman, trying to make me say things about Monk that aren'ttrue."

Riacaught Callie's quick glance. "What policeman, Brenda?"

Brenda started. "The one the paramedics called when they ... after..." Shestuttered to a stop, her face losing the color her outburst had brought to hercheeks. "The cop, he kept asking me did Monk ever lose his temper with Missy?I told him Monk yelled sometimes, but it's like, he's got a right, you know?Him working so hard to provide for me and the baby and all."

Riafelt a chill. "Are you saying the authorities think Missy might have beenmurdered?"

Brenda flinched. "The coroner, he said it was natural causes. You know,SIDS?" She glanced up, her expression beseeching and a little lost. The otherwomen nodded their understanding.

"At least your husband hung around," Annie said in a thin voice. "Myboyfriend split as soon as he found out I was pregnant. Quit school and joinedthe Army."

"How about your folks?" Sylvia asked quietly.

From the corner of her eyeRia saw the relief that pa.s.sed over Brenda's faceas the group's focus s.h.i.+fted away from her. For the rest of the hour Brenda stared in silent misery at the floor, alone with her own memories. As soon asthe meeting ended, she bolted from her chair and headed for the door.

Riahad been giving Annie a hug when she saw Brenda rush past. "Excuse me aminute, Annie,"Ria said, hurrying after the fleeing woman.

She caught up with her an instant before Brenda reached the stairs leading tothe ground floor.

"Brenda, wait!"

Brenda spun around, her face ravaged by tears. "It wasn't my fault,Ria .Missy was almost out of diapers, and I had to go to the market for more. Sheusually slept a couple of hours, so I figured I'd be back before she startedto cry."

She swiped at her wet cheeks with a trembling hand. She was clearly agitated,which was understandable. It was the raw fear in Brenda's pale blue eyes thathad alarm bells ringing inRia's head.

"Did she cry a lot?" she asked with a gentle smile.

Brenda nodded. "It wasn't so bad when Monk was on the road, but when he'shome, he needs his sleep, you know? 'Specially after he's been out on a longhaul." She stopped, her gaze darting pastRia's shoulder. "I've got to go."BeforeRia could stop her, she turned and raced up the stairs.

"There's bad stuff going down in that girl's life," Callie said as shereachedRia's side. "Might be we don't see her again."

"We can't force her to come,Cal. All we can do is be supportive when she'shere."

While Callie collected several foam cups that had been left under thechairs,Ria emptied the coffee urn into the sink in the small rest room at theend of the hall and wiped it clean.

In the room opposite,Tova was conducting a job skills seminar. One floor upin what had once been the living room, dining room and kitchen, Kate washolding evening clinic. The Center was open until nine.Ria rarely made it homebefore eleven.

"I sure do hate what I'mthinkin '," Callie murmured as they climbed thestairs side by side.

When they reached the foyer, they stopped. The door to the clinic's waitingroom was open, andRia noted that most of the seats were filled. For the pastsix months Kate had been lobbying for a physician's a.s.sistant, but the budgetwas already stretched tissue thin.

Callie s.h.i.+fted her huge tapestry purse from one shoulder to the other. "Whenare you doing your back-to-nature gig? Tomorrow?"

"No, early Sat.u.r.day morning." She flexed her tired shoulders. "I still can'tbelieve I'm starting off my one and only vacation by spending two nights in atent with ten other females."

The annual Big Sister-Little Sister campout was to be held in a state parknear theIllinoisborder. As the deputy director for the greater Lafayette area,she'd felt obligated to partic.i.p.ate-even though the ten-year-old girl who was her Little Sister had just come down with chicken pox and wouldn't beattending.

"I read this story once, about this fer-de-lance that crawled into a man'ssleeping bag in the middle of the night and curled up on his belly. One twitchand the guy wasdead. He had to lie there frozen for hours until the sun cameup and the snake got too hot and finally crawled away." She shuddered. "I knowI won't get a wink of sleep."

Callie chuckled. "I hope you likes'mores and rock music, girl, 'cause yousure are gonna get your fill of both."

"I thought about coming down with a sudden case of twenty-four-hour flu, butBetty LouSanberra would just knock down the door to my town house with thoselinebacker shoulders of hers and haul me out of bed."

Callie's grin was merciless. "Knowing you, you'll be right in the thick ofthings,roastin ' weenies andsittin ' around the campfire, telling those tiredold urban legends about guys with hooks stalking lovers in parked cars andfolks waking up in a bathtub full of ice and finding out they mislaid akidney."

Riahad to laugh. She suspected Callie was right. "It's supposed to rain thisweekend. The man at the sporting goods store swore that the tent he sold mewas waterproof, but he couldn't quite look me in the eyes when he made thatclaim."

Callie laughed. "If it rains, maybe they'd call it all off."

"Not a chance. Betty Lou would simply consider mud camping a challenge."

At the door they exchanged hugs before Callie pulled open the door. A gust ofwind scented with rain swirled around them, and they exchanged looks.

"Pray for clear skies,"Ria muttered, shooting a fatalistic look at the sky."Start tonight."

Callie's sultry mouth twitched. "Soon as I get home," she promised, beforeheading into the rising wind.

Riafrowned at the thick charcoal clouds faintly visible in the fadingtwilight before closing the door.Tova's seminar had apparently just ended, andnoise swelled from below as the attendees spilled into the corridor. In theclinic waiting room a baby cried and a child laughed.

Turning to head upstairs, she spied a waif-thin teenager helping an elderlywoman who was using a walker to inch her way across the foyer. On the sunsetside of eighty, EsterCocetti lived in a tiny frame bungalow across the streetfrom the Center.Inher salad days she'd been an exotic dancer in the wild andwoolly days of Al Capone'sChicago.

Now crippled with osteoporosis and arthritis and struggling to exist on atiny pension from her husband's job as a railway conductor, she'd been Kate'sfirst patient. Since then, the garrulous widow had adopted them.

"Ria, dear," she said, drawing to a stop. "I was hoping to see you beforeyour vacation."

"Hey, what's happening, boss lady?" Sixteen-year-old TinaCocetti was spendingthe summer with her great-grandmother. As a favor to Mrs.Cocetti -and in spite of the added strain to their budget-Riahad hired the girl to do odd jobs. Toher great surprise and delight, Tina had turned into a regular dynamo.

"Good evening, ladies," she said before leaning down to kiss the papery cheekMrs.Cocetti presented. "Is this a routine visit, I hope?"

"Oh, yes, dear. Katie does mean well, but she fusses so."

"Gram's been having chest pains," Tina contradicted, earning her a look ofrebuke, which she blithely ignored. "Dr. Kate said it was the chili peppersGram insists on putting in everything."

Rialeveled a severe look at the woman she'd come to adore. "Now, Mrs. C.-"

"Don't you starting fussing, too. I'm perfectly fine." Mrs. C. pattedRia'sarm. "I'm glad we ran into you, though. I wanted to ask you about thatrabbitylooking girl who went running out of here a few minutes ago. Poor thing lookslike she could use a good iron supplement."

"Oh, Gram," Tina muttered, her gaze on a youth about her age seated just inside the waiting room, reading a magazine. "She was just a little pale."

Rianarrowed her gaze. "What was this woman wearing?"

"A dress in the most unattractive shade of mauve, poor thing. Two sizes too large, at least. In my day we called them house dresses."

"Brenda,"Ria murmured, more to herself than theCocettis .

Mrs. C. c.o.c.ked her head. "Whatever her name is; she's the same woman I saw tussling with a man in your parking lot last week."

Riafelt a sudden chill. "Tussling?"

"Well, it wasn't really a tussle. G.o.d knows that poor thing couldn't hold her own against a flea, let alone a bruiser like the one who grabbed her."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. C, but I'm afraid I'm not following."

"Not at all dear." Mrs. C. glanced around to make sure they weren't being overheard.

The old woman puckered her brow below the fringe of white fuzz. "It was a fewminutes before seven. She was just getting out of this old Ford stationwagon-you know, the kind with the fake wood on the side." Her lips compressed.

"Now in my day, they used real wood. Oak, I think and-"

"I hate to interrupt, Mrs. C., but I'm a little pressed for time."

"Youalways are, dear."

Tina took pity on her. "Like Gram said, this lady was getting out of her car, and all of a sudden this big old truck comes barreling into the lot."

Ria'sstomach tightened. "Truck?"

"Yeah, just the cab part, you know?Kinda blue-green, with a red stripe?"

Rianodded, feeling sicker and sicker.

"Anyway, this big guy jumps out and grabs the lady by the arm and throws herup against her car. Shemusta hit her elbow, 'cause she grabbed it and sort ofbent over. And then he was, like, yelling at her."

Mrs. C. looked surprisingly sprightly all of a sudden as she bobbed her headin vigorous agreement. "I told Tina to call the police, but by the time shefound that blasted cordless doohickey, the man had pushed the woman back inher car and she drove off, with him following practically right on top ofher."

Riacompressed her lips. Maybe Callie was right. Maybe Brenda was beingknocked around. "Could you identify this man?" she asked, her gaze includingthem both.

"Probably," Tina said with a shrug.

"Of course," Mrs. C. said at the same time. "My eyesight is still young, evenif the rest of me is moldering away as we speak."

Riachoked a laugh. "You're doing no such thing."

"Ha. You haven't seen me naked."

"Not so loud," Tina exclaimed, looking mortified.

Riaand Mrs. C. exchanged smiles. "I appreciate the information,"Ria told theold woman before giving her a gentle hug. "And please, let me know immediatelyif you see that man again."

"I certainly will. We can't have those kinds of goings-on in ourneighborhood." Mrs. C. moved her walker a few inches, then stopped. "If Big Alwere still around, that bully would have been buzzard bait by now." Her faceturned dreamy and her eyes distant. "Now there was a man,Ria . There was aman."