Just My Luck Chapter 16
The shrill ringing of the phone reverberated within the small confines of the cheap hotel room. For a moment or two, it seemed as if there would be no end to the noise, but then a semi-clad figure burst from the bathroom, rubbing a towel roughly over his head.
“Coming…coming…” he mumbled, grabbing at the phone, his grip fumbling as he grabbed the receiver.
“Yeah…what is it,” he barked, tossing his towel to the side before shuffling through his suitcase for jeans and a shirt. Just as his hands brushed over denim material, all movement ceased.
“Sorry, Mr. Picatti,” Ron Williams quickly apologized. “Thought you were someone…no, sir. No one has called here except management…no…I haven’t really spoken to anyone who knows them, yet but I did get some information on where they might be staying,” he replied, wincing at the half-truth, but also knowing that his employer would never find out about his bringing the waitress from the café back to his room. The information that she had provided would be useful and her visit had been pleasurable, but he had yet to follow up on any of the details that she had provided about Raylene Scott or the deceased woman’s home.
“Yes, sir…let me grab something to write on…” he said, his free hand snaking out to the thin pad of paper and pen sitting on the nightstand.
Within minutes, he had several sheets of names, addresses and phone numbers of connections in the Houston and Dallas area that Mr. Picatti wanted him to contact. Tapping the pen against his thigh, he continued to listen to further instructions all the while wanting the phone call to end. Finally, the end to the conversation was coming to an obvious end.
“These names…they’ll…okay…I’ll just give them a call. Houston? That’s about an hour from here. Dallas? I’d say…at least four, maybe five hours driving…45 minutes flying, I imagine…yes, sir…yes, sir, Mr. Picatti.”
With that said, Ron hung up the phone before glancing over the long list of names of numbers.
“This is going to take time,” he mumbled. With a grunt he stood up then crossed the room to the bathroom for a quick shower.
~~~~~~~~
Jan Scott stepped off her plane and with quick, nervous strides entered the terminal all the while glancing anxiously about her, knowing that no one was going to be there to greet her but looking just the same out of habit since she had, on occasion, experienced when meeting Justin or any of the other boys…the stares, whispers and screams.
Half an hour later, she had her two bags in hand and was making her way toward a car rental agency’s booth at the far end of the building.
The day was going to be long, filled with funeral plans…going to the nursing care facility that her aunt Dora had lived in to take care of any necessary paperwork, as well as picking up the few personal belongings that her aunt had had…events that would drain her of what little reserves of energy she had remaining since visiting her school the previous evening in Houston.
She had been so thankful to learn that none of the children or her fellow colleagues had been harmed in the blaze but the school had been a total loss. Everything contained in the expansive building…absolutely everything had been either burned in the blaze or damaged so severely by the heat or water, that nothing within its walls could be saved or even salvaged. Years and years of accumulated teaching materials, files, records and memories would be forever lost.
The memories of the previous evening had drained her physically, as well as emotionally and now…now she would need to somehow pull herself together enough to accomplish the seemingly endless list of things to do set before her in San Diego.
Add to that the stress of leaving Justin and the others alone in Texas…and even worse not being able to call them or their families to check up on them was causing Jan to feel absolutely certain that the week ahead would never end. The only small ray of light had been the fact that Albert and Nora had so willingly stepped in to save the day. Jan could only hope and pray that the group would continue to heal.
Taking a deep breath, she approached the rows of car rental counters. She looked through the faces…decided upon the friendliest then approached to make her request.
~~~~~~~~
The ringing of the phone in Dr. Shannon’s office prompted a flurry of activity on the other side of the room’s locked door.
After fumbling with his key the physician practically flung the door open, causing it to swing open then close once again in his hurry to get to the phone, knowing that Dr. Holder would be calling him sometime that morning and not wanting to miss it.
“Hello?” Dr. Shannon said, his tone breathless as he checked the caller id on his office phone, wincing at the fact that he should have done so before answering, but breathing a sigh of relief upon recognizing the long distance number.
From halfway across the nation…“Dr. Shannon? This is Dr. William Holder in Woodville…I’m calling in to give you an update…” the older man said, his voice casual and easy as he leaned back in his home office chair. He opened a folder and looked over the notes that he had briefly recorded the night before, focusing through the pair of bi-focals perched at the end of his nose.
Upon hearing the cheerful doctor’s voice, Dr. Shannon sat down at his desk, unknowingly mimicked the older man’s actions, grabbing his own newly acquired glasses, then leaning back in his chair, pulling a folder from his briefcase, which he had dropped onto his desk.
“It’s good to hear from you, doctor. How are the boys doing?” he asked, a smile evident in his voice as he grabbed a pen and pad of paper, prepared to write down any new information on the conditions of the group of young men.
“Well…as far as I know, everything went well last night after our phone conversation. I never heard from the boys so…no news is good news, I suppose. I doubt very seriously that the rest of them got much rest last night…they were a little wary last night about us leaving them…but there was no immediate danger of another episode…” he said, referring to the fact that the medications that he had given JC before leaving pretty much guaranteed a very deep, dreamless sleep.
He had felt his own level of guilt in having left the group to, more or less, fend for themselves, but he knew that the young men were capable of handling situations…last night had proved that.
“You were able to get to them fairly quickly last night, so there would have been no reason for you and your wife not to leave,” Dr. Shannon reassured him.
He had also battled those same feelings of guilt after realizing that the doctor had left. He wanted, more than anything, to have had the ability to hop on the next plane to Houston, but in the end he knew that if there had been any immediate danger, Dr. Holder never would have left the group. He was going to have to trust this man’s better judgment and the fact that Jan did was cause enough for him to also begin to do so.
“We are just about 30 minutes away,” Dr. Holder agreed before adding, “And…one of my sons, who is also a physician, lives even closer to the house they are staying in and could be there in the event that I was held up.”
“Sons? I didn’t…I mean, with all that happened yesterday, I didn’t know you had children,” Dr. Shannon said, surprise evident in his voice as he stood up from his desk since it was obvious that their conversation about the boys was now finished.
“Yes…four grown boys, as a matter of fact. Jarod took over my practice when I retired. Then, there’s the oldest, Adam, who is a lawyer in the Houston area, then Timothy who is an EMT with our town’s fire department and Neal, who is an engineer for a major mill in our area. I plan on having my boys come out there for supper this evening…meet the group…give them some new faces to look at,” he said with a smile. “Mother has plans to put more meat on those boys’ bones, too I believe,” he said with a chuckle.
“That’s sounds like a good idea,” Dr. Shannon said, nodding in agreement as he chuckled. “That’ll give you a good chance to get them better. You’ll find out that they are a fine group of young men to know.”
“Yes…I already had that same thought,” Dr. Holder replied with another smile. “It’ll also give Mother someone new to dote on for a while.”
Although he had felt that he and Nora had been welcomed and accepted by the group, due in large part to Jan’s knowing them, he knew that there was still a certain level of wariness and uncertainty just lying beneath the surface. From what information they had garnered from Jan before she had left and from the boys, they had been through enough to justify their chariness.
All in all, it was going to take more time than just a few hours for the young men to totally put their trust in he and Nora, but it was a challenge that the couple was willing to take on.
“So…what all do you plan to do today, besides check on their progress?” Dr. Shannon asked.
“While Mother plans to spend most of the day in the kitchen, I plan on taking the rest of the group exploring…if Joshua and Joseph are up to it, they may also come.”
“Exploring? Well…with the amount of land that Jan spoke of the Scott’s as having, that sounds like something they’ll enjoy doing…especially Lance,” Dr. Shannon said.
In knowing each of their personalities, Lance and Justin would more than likely enjoy walking around the property the most. Chris, Joey and JC would enjoy it also, but just not on the same scale. Lance had often spoken of hunting as a young boy out on his grandparents’ land in Mississippi while Justin’s hunting experiences had been with his dad on a maintained lease in Tennessee.
“With what I’ve heard…it sounds like there need to be some safe places for them to go…just in case,” Dr. Holder said quietly and suddenly, the pleasant conversation that they had been having turned into one that was sobering, to say the very least.
In response to the quiet words, Dr. Shannon ran a hand through his thinning hair…tension suddenly replacing the relaxed attitude he had just had only moments earlier.
“What did you, uh…have in mind?” he asked, clearing his throat midway through his question.
“My boys and I used to hunt out here on the Scott property. There’s about 3000 acres of forest and pasture land surrounding their own couple hundred acres. Through the years, we put up some good, sturdy stands that would make excellent hiding places if the boys needed one. They’re easy to get to if you know where they are…if you don’t, well…let’s just say, you’d have a dickens of a time finding them. I have some maps…and we’ll figure out which ones are best.”
Dr. Shannon cleared his throat as his emotions threatened to overwhelm him as the older man described some of the stands and their locations.
“We do plan on leaving in about an hour to head out that way and I’ll contact you later in the day.”
“We?” Dr. Shannon said questioningly, not remembering there being any assistant. He remembered that the older man had alluded to the fact that his wife was going to be busy cooking…he just had not put two and two together when figuring out which kitchen she would be working in but a small chuckle on the other end of the line interrupted his thoughts.
“Yes…Mother…my wife, Nora seems to think those boys need some home cooked meals so she’s going to tag along,” Dr. Holder said, seeing out of the corner of his eye his wife lean into his office after hearing his reference to her. With a small shake of her head, she smiled at her husband and quietly clucked at him before entering the room.
“Let me be and let me do…” she said gently, before patting her husband on the shoulder.
In response, William gave Nora playful wink, causing her to smile before returning to his conversation with Dr. Shannon, turning sober as their discussion turned to last night’s events involving JC.
“That sounds like a good plan. I’m sure the boys will appreciate what ever she makes for them. Home cooked meals are few and far between for them so this will be special,” Dr. Shannon explained with a smile on his face before adding, “She might even get some help.”
“Oh really?”
“Yes…Joey is pretty handy in the kitchen…so is Lance, but you need to watch out for Chris,” he warned with a grin on his face as well as in his tone. “He can make a mess.”
Dr. Holder laughed heartily at the inside information.
“We’ve got one of those too, Kenneth. Neal is a hazard waiting to happen.”
“Well…Chris isn’t like that,” Dr. Shannon replied through his quiet chuckles. “He’s more like a whirlwind…just kind of leaves a trail in his wake.”
“I’ll be sure and warn Mother about him then,” Dr. Holder said with another chuckle as he closed his folder. “It might be late when I call you, Kenneth. If you don’t hear from me, don’t worry. I’ll call if there is some sort of problem, but I’m not looking for there to be one.”
"That’s fine. Just tell the boys hi for me. Let them know that everyone is doing well on this end and that the investigators are working hard to get them home.”
“Do they have any ideas when or how long?”
“No…nothing. Since they were able to put the boys somewhere safe, they’re slowing down a bit in order to make sure they don’t miss anything or anyone.”
The families had protested the change in pace but, in the end, they understood the need for the investigators to take their time. There were so many leads to follow up…possibilities to pursue and getting into a hurry could possibly create more problems than solve them.
“Well…I’m sure it’ll all work out in the end,” Dr. Holder said, nodding his head before glancing up to see Nora standing in the doorway with a questioning look gracing her features.
“Almost ready?” she whispered and Albert nodded.
“I’m going to let you go, Kenneth. The sooner we get out there, the sooner Mother can get to work,” Albert said with a teasing glance to his wife.
“Oh…you,” she whispered with an equally amused look on her face before leaving the doorway.
“Have a good day with the boys and I’ll be waiting to hear from you,” Dr. Shannon said. Seconds later, he turned his chair to look out the large windows behind his desk. With mixed feelings he closed his eyes to the morning sun pouring through the tinted glass and said a short prayer asking God to not only continue his watch care over the boys but to also keep special watch over Albert and Nora Holder.
~~~~~~~~~
To say that breakfast the morning after JC’s brief, but harrowing flashback was quiet would have been a complete understatement. For the most part, few words had been said besides those necessary in communicating what they each wanted for the simple breakfast that Chris and Lance prepared. No one was completely sure as to what to say, but knew that sooner or later the previous evening would have to be discussed.
For the moment, everyone remained lost in their own thoughts…their own fears…their own memories of not only last night, but of the long week that they had already endured…all due to the greed of seemingly one man…Marshall Goines…not knowing that there would be much more ahead for them.
As far as JC was concerned, he had no desire to find out what had happened…none at all. He had come to that conclusion after seeing the not only the apprehensive expressions on Lance, Chris and Justin’s faces, but also a certain look of, what could only be described as, guilt on Joey’s.
JC had no earthly idea where Joey was coming from…none at all. If anything, he should be the one feeling guilty since Joey’s hand had somehow been re-injured during last night’s events. Since he didn’t have the full picture of what had happened other than the fact that he had fainted, JC could only assume that Joey’s new injury had occurred when he prevented his falling onto the hard, wooden surface of the porch.
In all actuality, no one had come right out and told him that he had experienced a flashback. Throughout the sleepless evening, the four had been undecided as to exactly how to handle telling JC what they had witnessed…Joey most of all. Finally that morning before JC had come into the kitchen, it had been decided that if he didn’t ask any questions, they wouldn’t supply any information…unless it was absolutely necessary.
Unknown to them, JC had already been toying with the idea of finding out some details about the previous evening…but that was as far as his curiosity went.
Across the table, Joey’s usually smiling face was developing a frown as he awkwardly gripped his fork in his left hand since the fingers of his right were far to swollen for him to properly grip the utensil. Carefully, he stabbed repeatedly at the large chunks of cheesy, scrambled eggs on his plate that Chris had made especially for him, but he remained unsuccessful in his attempts to eat.
Finally, with a small sigh of frustration and defeat, he lowered his fork to the table and rested his head in his left hand, watching the others pushing their own food about their plates…no one really very hungry. He then glanced back down at his plate before picking his head back up, the smell of the meal serving as enough of an enticement to find some way of eating…even if it meant having one of the guys feed him. The thought of Chris holding a spoon, twirling it in the air with Justin making airplane noises in the background briefly caused his frown to disappear. Then, with a small shrug, he picked up a piece of egg and proceeded to eat with his fingers.
“You’re reverting, Joe,” Chris said, a smirk evident in his voice.
“Well…I thought about asking you to feed me…but…nah. This isn’t so bad,” he said with another shrug, picking up another chunk of the eggs, pulling several strings of cheese with it.
“Hmmm…” Justin said with a small smile. He dropped his fork on the table then grabbed a chunk of egg off his own plate and popped it into his mouth, prompting laughter to erupt from the rest of the group. And…for a brief moment, their troubles were forgotten.
Once they had finished breakfast, JC and Joey both laid back down since, with encouragement from the others, they had taken some of their medications.
At the same time, Lance busied himself with cleaning up the kitchen while Justin and Chris decided to walk down the hill below the house to a barbed wire fence surrounding the homestead in order to get a better look at a small herd of cattle grazing in the field.
“I thought there weren’t supposed to be any neighbors any where close to us,” Justin said, frowning slightly.
“I guess someone could have them here…like renting the property or something,” Chris suggested as he and Justin stood watching the animals.
“My granddaddy had some cows when I was little,” Justin said, turning to look at Chris. “I remember them being kind of mean. Granddaddy wouldn’t let me go near them without him around.”
“Yeah?”
“If they got scared or mad, they would chase after you. I was always scared of them, but…”
“They don’t look scary, J,” Chris said with a smirk as he approached the fence with Justin a few steps behind him.
The cows continued to quietly graze on the other side of the fence seemingly unaffected by the two new comers while two young, doe eyed calves carefully came within reach of the pair, their tails twitching as they sniffed the air, investigating the two strangers.
For several moments, the four simply stared at each other, none of them quite sure what to do until Chris quietly giggled, then
with uncharacteristically slow movements, he bent down along the edge of the fence and pulled a handful of sweet, juicy grass from the ground. For several seconds he remained in his crouched position so as not to spook the two animals away while Justin continued to stand stock still, not wanting to ruin the moment.
“What are you doing?” Justin whispered, not taking his eyes off the nervous animals as Chris slowly stood back up.
“I’m going to feed some baby cows,” Chris replied just as quietly, his tone that of an excited 10 year old rather than that of a 30 year old as he slowly approached the fence, one small step at a time until he was against the barbed wire, and carefully reaching through, extending the grass to the calves. Moments later, the animals were tearing the grass from his hand and Chris was sporting the most genuine smile that he had had for days.
Almost an hour later, a quiet knock and deep voice on the other side of the front door alerted the boys to the Holder’s arrival. With Justin at his side, Chris opened the door to find a smiling Nora and Albert.
“Well…good morning, boys,” Albert said, reaching out to shake both young men’s hands before ushering Nora forward through the door. Without a second thought, Nora gave both Justin and Chris a quick hug then looked them up and down with a critical head to toe glance.
“Morning, sir…ma’am,” Justin replied, stepping aside to allow Mrs. Holder through the doorway, smiling as she looped an arm through Chris’s then gently patted him on the arm.
“Well…where is everyone else?”
“Lance just went upstairs to check on Joey and JC. They both took something after breakfast and laid down,” Justin answered.
“Good…good. We’ll just let them sleep and I’ll check up on them after lunch,” Dr. Holder said, nodding his head.
“Speaking of sleep…you didn’t get much sleep last night, did you, Christopher,” she said, slightly shaking her head, clucking as Chris raised an eyebrow at Justin, who hid a small smile behind his hand.
At the same time, Albert simply rolled his eyes then turned his back, making his way back to their car, popping the truck open. Behind him, he heard footsteps.
“Umm…can I help?” Justin asked, walking up to the back of the car.
“Sure, son…just be careful with that wrist…don’t want to push it.”
Justin nodded as Albert added, “Better yet, take just one sack.”
“Wow…” Justin commented, his voice trailing off as he took in the several sacks of groceries in the car’s trunk.
“Jan…before she left, she set us up with groceries…enough to last us for a while, Dr. Holder. I mean…I don’t want to sound ungrateful or anything…this is nice, but you didn’t have to.”
Albert laughed as he handed over a sack to Justin, who awkwardly tucked it under his left arm.
“You have to understand something, Justin,” he said rather sheepishly. “Nora and I raised four boys and, as far as she’s concerned, food solves all problems great or small.”
Justin chuckled at the older man’s admission. “Well…you won’t hear us complain, Dr. Holder…believe me.”
“So…how did last night go?” Albert asked, following Justin up the porch steps and into the house.
“Okay, I guess…I mean…I…don’t know,” Justin answered, shrugging his shoulders, walking through the door, nodding at Lance, who was holding the door open. “They both pretty much slept straight through the night.”
“Need some help?” Lance asked quietly, stepping out onto the porch when Albert nodded at him then gestured over his shoulder. “There’s a few more bags out in the trunk. I want to take a look at that throat, young man when we’re settled in…sounds a little strained.”
“Yes, sir,” Lance replied just as quietly with a small wince. His throat was indeed was scratchy and sore…more so than the previous evening but he had just brushed it off, thinking that it was due to having not spoken for a week.
When he reached the back of the car, he stood still for a second or two, taken aback by how much food was actually there.
“Well…it won’t come in on its own, young man,” Albert said with a chuckle, surprising Lance as he stepped up behind him.
“You didn’t have to…I mean…this is…” Lance stumbled over his words, stepping back when the doctor gently pushed him to the side before bending over the trunk.
“This one…and this one…and…one more,” the doctor said quietly, handing over three bags to Lance then reaching in to grab the remaining bags. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned in almost 50 years of marriage, Lance, it’s this…never argue with a woman bent on a mission.”
“A mission?” Lance asked with a small smile as he followed the doctor up the porch steps.
“Yes…a mission. It’s Nora’s mission in this life to take care of young men, such as yourselves in the best way possible…through food. Now…you wouldn’t want to interfere with that…would you?” the older man asked, a smile gracing his features.
Lance chuckled then grimaced.
“Give it some time, son,” the doctor said not missing the pained expression. “Let’s go in and I’ll check on all of you.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Well…looks like you may have pushed things slightly, Lance,” Albert said, putting aside the bright flashlight he had just shone into the young man’s mouth. “Your throat is pretty raw and slightly more swollen than it was before I left here last.”
“What does that mean?” Chris asked, his voice laced with concern as a wave of guilt washed over him. He knew he should not have let Lance sit outside with him in the wee hours of the morning.
“It looks like he’s back to not speaking for a few days,” the doctor answered, giving Lance a pointed look. “I know that this seems like a step in the wrong direction, but it’s better to be safe than sorry, son,” he said, reaching out to pat Lance on the knee. “We knew that this might be a possibility, Lance…this is just a small setback.”
“I know,” Lance mouthed before dropping his head in disappointment. He rubbed a hand over his forehead then over his head while Justin draped an arm over his shoulder.
“I’m sorry, man…I’m sorry,” he said. “It’ll be okay.”
Lance nodded his head, brushed a hand over his face, wiping away a stray tear in slight embarrassment.
Reading the awkwardness of the situation, Albert snapped his medical bag shut.
“Well…let’s find out what mother has cooking. It smells like something good,” Albert said, standing up. “I think she’s got some plans for a pot of chili.”
“If it’s anything like Jan’s, it’ll be great,” Justin said with an almost forced smile. He stood up and watched as Lance slowly rose from his seat to make his way to the stairs. It was very clear that the older man was upset and he felt powerless to make the situation any better. Sadly he watched as Lance climbed the stairs…part of him wanting to follow him…at the same time knowing that his friend more than likely just wanted to some time alone.
“He’ll be okay, Curly,” Chris said sadly, knowing what the younger man was thinking. “Lance is tough…he’ll be okay.”
“Why don’t we go check in on Joshua and Joseph,” Dr. Holder said, gesturing toward the stairway and Lance’s retreating figure. “We won’t wake them…but I would like to see how they’re doing…and…you can also check on Lance.”
“Sure, doc,” Chris said as he gently gave Justin’s arm a tug.