This is the sequel to A Slow Dance by RichardGerald. Please read that short story first as it sets the stage for this one. This sequel was written with Mr. Gerald’s approval.
His original story struck a chord with me when I read it years ago, and I’ve always wondered what happened later. This one is kinda long; I have to admit it sort of wrote itself. Once I started I just couldn’t quit until it was done. I hope you enjoy it.
—-
Annabelle Ford stood in the back of the ballroom in an elegant evening dress, watching her mother working the room. This was The Bitch’s big night, a celebration of her being named to Superior Court, Judge Morgan. The same bench her late mentor, Leonard Simpel, had occupied. It was the culmination of Katherine Morgan’s unrelenting drive and ambition. AB was here to show solidarity and let everybody know what a wonderful mother The Bitch was. Daddy was here too, he was off with a group of men chatting and laughing over their drinks.
God she hated her. AB wanted to puke. She would pay, oh yeah, she would pay dearly.
—-
One year ago.
AB (nobody called her Annabelle any more) was outside her mom’s office waiting for her to be done with yet another meeting. Seems like since she’d been nominated for the Court, she’d become even busier and less available than ever. But it did fit her pattern; she often went on these crusades that left her and Daddy alone for weeks at a time – par for the course.
Kate came out to greet her daughter so they could head out to lunch. They had a lot to talk about regarding the choice of law school. Kate was confident that AB would have several good schools to choose from, and she wanted to ensure AB made the right choice.
Just then a harried looking admin came into the waiting area and went right up to Kate. “Miss Morgan, Jack would like a word right away.” Jack was the senior partner, the only person it seemed who Kate jumped for.
“AB go sit in my office, I should only be about 15 minutes, I hope.”
AB went into Kate’s office, her inner sanctum. She hadn’t been in there much; a big time lawyer like Kate didn’t need a little one running around distracting her from her important work. But on those occasions as a girl she had been in there she came to know how much Kate’s office reflected her mom’s personality. Everything in its place, nothing out of order. And all of it untouchable for a curious little girl.
As AB glanced around the room her gaze fell on the bookcase displaying mementos of Kate’s career- awards, plagues, pictures of Kate with important people. And in the center, in a glass box, under a little spotlight like some relic, was “the watch”. AB flinched remembering when she was little and had tried to touch it. Kate had risen from her chair and scolded her daughter “don’t ever touch that!”
It had become a talisman, a symbol of the unreachable part of her mother for AB. And here she was with 15 minutes to touch it all she wanted, she couldn’t help herself. In a moment she’d lifted the glass lid and had the watch in her hands. A man’s Rolex, rose gold, super expensive. AB turned it over in her hands and saw the inscription “From Kathrine and Annabelle your loving ladies”.
AB’s world exploded, whose watch was this!? It clearly wasn’t her dad’s, he wasn’t a Rolex kind of man. So what could the inscription mean? It referred to her mom and her certainly, but to whom did the watch belong!? She had the presence of mind to take a quick snap with her phone of the front and back with the inscription and put the watch back. She made sure she wiped off any finger smudges on the watch and box with a tissue.
She felt sick to her stomach at the possible implications. She needed the restroom and right away before she heaved her empty stomach. Making her way quickly to the ladies room she found an empty stall and sat down on the lid with her head in her hands breathing deeply.
Just then two women came in chattering away. “So the witch is finally getting her seat on the bench. Of course it’s a year’s worth of vetting, but she’ll get it. She always gets her what she wants. She learned a lot from Simpel at the end of his cock.”
“How long were they together?”
“Pretty much since she joined, for about 8 years until he was killed”
“And her husband never knew? Or about the girl?”
“Word is she married the guy so she’d have a good husband as a cover, and a good father for the kid. Simpel wasn’t a family man, or the marrying type. He just wanted a fuck doll that he could take out to functions.”
“Poor guy, do you think he knows about the witch’s boy toys? She only keeps them for about a year and then dumps them for a new one.”
“I don’t know how she keeps it from him. I guess she tells him that she busy working, it’s a good cover for her ‘activities’. The guy must be dumb and blind.”
“To hear the witch talk he’s just an easy going guy, not much going on upstairs. Must be nice to have that much power, she gets her cake and gets to eat it too.”
They two women finished their business and left the restroom. AB had been shocked before, now she was paralyzed. She didn’t know how long she’d been in the stall but when she came to her senses she went to the basin and splashed some water on her face. AB tried to compose herself, but realized there was no way she could have lunch with her mother now. She’d never be able to keep it together.
Making her way back to Kate’s office, she told the admin that she’d suddenly felt ill and would be going home. She would talk with her mother later. Which as it turned out, didn’t happen at all since Kate had to work late yet again. AB had some leftovers and turned in early. Not that she got much rest, the twin revelations from the watch and what she overheard kept her tossing and turning until the wee hours. When she woke the next morning, her mother had already left for the office. AB hadn’t heard her come in.
—
Kate had in fact come in, but it too had been in the wee hours. After three orgasms from her newest boy toy Stephen she’d fallen asleep in the downtown hotel room they’d shared. She deserved a bit of a celebration, Bill was out of town, AB was capable of taking care of herself, and so Kate had indulged. Stephen was tall and athletic; he’d played rugby in college and still had all of his stamina. Plus a 9 inch cock and he came in such copious amounts. Kate had never had that before, the first time she’d been amazed at how long it took to clean him out of her.
She had basked in the afterglow of her orgasms and enjoyed going down memory lane a bit. Kate had taken her first boy toy 18 months after Len’s murder. She’d done her best in that first year to be the good wife she’d promised herself she’d be for Bill. But she had indeed absorbed the lessons Len had taught her, after all she was his protégé. See what you want and take it, own it, and make it your own. His mentoring (it wasn’t all in bed) had given her the momentum she needed to keep rising in the ranks.
Henry had been that first boy toy; she had decided that she didn’t want the complications for the kind of relationship she’d enjoyed with Len. For Kate, it was more of a reward for her hard work. Plus it was a way to assert the more dominant side of her personality. She’d become very much like Len had been, and she embraced it. If she was going to succeed in a male dominated world, she would have to make sure she could swim with the sharks.
Bill had stayed by her side throughout, after the murder he had been supportive while she grieved and then supportive again when she’d come out of her funk and once again became the hard charging lawyer Len had mentored her to be. She really did love Bill, but she often wondered at his nature. She remembered Len’s funeral when the whole world came to offer her their condolences, it seems more people than Kate or Len had realized knew that she was his mistress. But Bill never noticed, he was there for her, had eyes only for her, supporting her in her grief. Just like when she miscarried so long ago – Bill was a rock.
Bill had taken care of little AB, Annabelle, throughout, giving Kate the time she needed to come to terms with Len’s death. Again she marveled at how seemingly blind he was to why she had become depressed. It was if he was too good a person to see the evidence right in front of him that she was grieving her lost lover.
And so she’d tried to protect Bill from the harsh reality of what she’d done to him. Choosing him as a cover for her first pregnancy, and then cuckolding him throughout their marriage. As she had often said Bill was a fine man and a great father, but not all that exciting. He was a good steady, dependable type. And apparently not that observant. She needed to maintain Bill’s ignorance, to give him the peace of mind he deserved and had earned as her good and faithful husband.
She had tried to be there for him for all these years, even when he decided to open his own business. Which had surprised her at first, Bill was a capable man, who had held a responsible job at the Railroad. Kate did not think he had the grit or moxy to make it as an independent business owner. Bill was a family man, a devoted father and a loving husband. And yet he had moved up steadily in the ranks within the Railroad, and now his business was thriving, he began to travel and even take on overseas work. Which in turn had given her even more time to devote to her own career, and her ‘other activities’.
And now here she was at the pinnacle of her ambitions, nominated to the Superior Court, and much more delicious, it was Len’s seat that she’d ascend to. In the 15 years since he’d been killed, Kate had worked very hard indeed to rise, she had not been idle. She had needed to prove herself, and continue to do excellent work; with Len’s influence gone she had earned her place on her own.
—-
AB might look like her mother, tall kinda slim but with a hint of curves to come with coal black hair; but she was her father’s daughter. AB wanted to be a lawyer like Kate, but at heart she was able to focus on her goal, to come to conclusions and act swiftly, like her father had taught her by example and some hard lessons.
The priority problem was to find out just whose ladies her mother and she were. Who was the owner of the watch? If it wasn’t her dad, then who? If it was Simpel did that mean he was her biological father?
She knew Bill Ford as her always there Daddy- he’d changed her diapers, taught her to ride a bike, drive a car, a bit of how to defend herself, but always in a quiet patient way. AB was a lot like her Daddy, how could she not be, he’d taught her everything, and her temperament was molded by him.
Now her world was crumbling, how could she bring such devastating news to such a good and loving man? She needed more proof than a picture of a watch and some overheard gossip.
She decided she’d go digging and find out what she could about her mother’s affairs. In that she was like her mother who she resembled so much. Tall, dark hair, piercing eyes, and an inquisitive and stubborn streak that had served her well. She was just as smart as her mother, everybody said so, and AB was determined to be just as good a lawyer someday as Kate. Her applications to law school were already in the mail, she expected to be getting her choice of school soon.
Since it was spring break and no classes, she decided she needed to find out more about Leonard Simpel. She kind of knew who he was; she’d heard his name growing up. Opening her laptop she typed his name into the search engine and was immediately confronted by tons of information. AB was able to quickly get a rough image of the man. Hard charging DA, rose steadily via high profile convictions and political savvy. As a Superior Court Judge he’d had the reputation of being a harsh law and order man. The society pages were the most interesting, in all of them Kate Morgan was always close by – in every one. It was a simple task to put together a series of images spanning the eight years from when her mother had joined the DA’s office until Simpel’s murder.
The murder had also generated plenty of information, high-profile judge murdered in his own home. Shot right between the eyes by some drugged out vet. The case even rated a press conference when they found the killer. The description sounded like a professional hit to AB, how could a druggie have pulled that off? His hands would have been shaking all the time. AB had been exposed to some of the seamier parts of life by listening to her father’s stories. Bill Ford had quit the railroad about 5 years ago and had opened Ford Security, to provide security services. What kind of man could be so blind as to not know what was going on with his wife? That didn’t sound like the Bill Ford AB knew and loved, and certainly not the head of a security company.
A DNA test would be needed, but she’d have to be discreet. Another lesson her dad had taught her, gather as much information as possible before acting. But how could she get her dad to agree to a cheek swab without tipping her hand? On the ‘net she searched for more information about DNA testing and found a service that could use hair samples instead of a swab. Perfect! Although the $285 was going to put a strain on her bank balance, her parents didn’t monitor her spending that closely. Kate made metric dollars and dad’s business had taken off so they were doing well.
The order placed, the kit would arrive by priority mail in two days. The website’s description had said that at least six to ten strands of hair with the follicles intact are required to extract enough viable DNA for their test. The other party would get a home DNA test kit and could provide cheek swabs. Being home alone during the day made it a simple matter of going into her dad’s bathroom and getting the samples from his hair brush. She’d swab her own cheek with the other kit.
Part of AB was enjoying the Nancy Drew aspects of this sordid adventure. She dreaded what the results would be, but she had to know. She was on the case and nothing would stop her. But what exactly was she going to do with this information once she got it? AB needed a plan, so plan she did. Making a list of information she needed was first. Second she drafted several what if scenarios, creating a decision tree, what to do and how to alter course depending on what she learned along the way.
She already had plenty, the society page pictures, she’d transcribed as best she could the overheard bathroom conversation, and of course the front and back pictures of the watch. But what was her ultimate goal? Confront her mother, tell her father, and what did she want the outcome to be? All these questions went into the growing file.
Two days later AB was beside herself, she’d mailed the samples that morning but the instructions said results would take four weeks! A whole month, she didn’t know how she was going to keep it together for that long. How could she keep her dad and mother from seeing that something was bothering her? She had to be honest with herself, she might be a good student and kept her nose clean, but she was no actress. She’d made it these two days because dad was not back from his business trip, and mother was working late both days.
She was still a Junior in high school; the academic year didn’t end until June, then summer vacation. She needed a plan for the near term. And she needed another plan to find out more about the real Bill Ford. He was certainly a big part of the puzzle. How could she get even closer to her dad? As it was they spent a lot of time together when he wasn’t travelling, his time seemed to be divided between AB and the shop.
Her Daddy had taught her that she could bring anything to him, any problem, worry, and yes even stupid mistakes. Her Daddy was fair and even-handed; she had learned that he always treated her fairly, even when she had screwed up. His new company reflected her dad’s personality in providing security services.
The shop! That was the key, she needed to become part that other aspect of his life. Get to know what went on at the mysterious Ford Security and its ‘son-of-a-bitch’ owner.
A plan was coming together, a role she could inhabit to cover her anxiety and more her need to get more intel. Hah, intel; she was starting to sound like a spy. Her cover would be that she was a bit scared about growing up, going off to college soon, Senior year, her whole life changing. She would approach her dad with these fears and together they’d come up with a plan help her deal with all these changes. Of course it would be AB’s plan, work at the shop, keep her eyes and ears open, and learn all she could over the summer.
Why should her plan end at summer? That’s the ticket, summer working at the shop, and then part time during her Senior year. Senior year of high school was usually a relaxed year for bright students like AB. Her grades were great, her college applications were in, most of her peers we going to coast. All she had to do was keep her grades up and she’d be fine. However with the extra burden of not revealing her knowledge, she needed both a distraction and a way to keep herself busy. Hmmm, maybe instead of coasting she’d take a full load of classes instead. That was a great cover, miss perfect student on the outside, sleuth on the inside.
Scrap the full load crap; she’d take advantage of the lighter class schedule to continue to spend time with her dad at the shop. By then surely she would have found out all she needed to expose her mother, once she had her dad on her side.
All this planning had served to calm her nerves. Having a way forward infused her with confidence and relaxed her mind. Maybe she could be a bit of an actress after all.
AB wondered not for the first time what those services were. Sheila Marks, dad’s business partner had quit the FBI to join him. Together AB guessed they worked on government security contracts. Sheila was exactly who AB needed to talk to. But how and when?
—-
“Ford Security, this is Sheila.”
“Hi Sheila, its AB. I was wondering if you were free for lunch today. Dad’s away on a trip and I need some information.”
Sheila paused for a beat and said “AB, I was wondering who was calling on this line. Are you sure you don’t want to wait until your dad gets back? He’ll only be gone a couple more days.”
“We’ll I kind of want to talk about him, not exactly to him. And so I thought you’d be the perfect person to ask, since you’ve known him since the Army days.”
Another hesitant beat, “Ok AB, come on over and we’ll walk over to the Mexican place nearby.”
AB and Sheila traded pleasantries while their food was coming. And once their heaping plates were in front of them, dug in for a bit in silence.
“So AB, what do you need to know so badly that you can’t wait to ask your dad?”
Now it was AB’s turn to pause, she regarded the tall athletic woman who she had come to know as her father’s most trusted friend. And also wondered why she never saw Sheila with anyone, nor heard her dad talk about her in any context except work. But AB and she had come to know each other, with some fondness on both sides.
Deciding to lead with trust, AB said that she’d come across some disturbing news and was trying to come to grips with it. That news had eroded some of the faith she had in her father and needed some reassurance.
AB said, “I never thought of my dad as anything more that – daddy. He’s been a constant in my life for so long that I never really took a hard look at him. So tell me more, dad is so even handed and downright nice, what was he like back in the day?” AB had decided that she wouldn’t mention to Sheila about the watch and subsequent bathroom talk.
Sheila got a grin on her face “the Generals used to call your dad a right son-of-a-bitch. His performance in Iraq, his talents as a Military Policeman and later Warrant Officer got him a reputation as somebody who got to the right solution in a short amount of time.”
“Your dad meted out justice as if he’d been born to it. His methods were often swift and sometimes exciting, although the guilty did pay a heavy price” Sheila hadn’t thought about those days much in the last few years. Working closely with Bill to build the business had washed a lot of those cares away. And the closeness had grown the other parts of their relationship too. Pure joy.
“Can you tell me any specific incidents so I could get a better feel for what he was like? What kind of situations and people did he have to bring to justice?”
“No, I’m not going to go there. Your dad will have to decide what to tell you about that. Be assured that the right son-of-a-bitch is still very much in there. It comes out very seldom any more, but that’s what makes him so good at what we do now.”
“I’ve been wondering about that too. I guess I just never bothered to ask what Ford Security is all about.”
Sheila wondered at AB’s newfound curiosity. It couldn’t be that she had suddenly grown curious, although AB had a quick mind and was very intelligent. What exactly did she mean her faith in him had been eroded? Sheila had grown fond of the young woman, especially since she was Bill’s daughter and she couldn’t have any of her own. For the millionth time she wondered what might have been.
“Well, I can’t really talk about what we do. A lot of our work is for the government, and most of it is secret. I don’t mean like governments secrets, but we sign strict NDA’s and so details can’t be revealed, not even for the boss’ daughter.” Sheila was certainly not going to tell this young woman anything about what they really did. It was too intense, and would certainly not do AB any good to know of some of the “jobs” they were contracted to perform. Actually, nobody needed to know.
“Dad has been travelling quite a bit this last year. Is that because of the government work?”
“Yes and no. Your dad doesn’t do what we call field work, he’s out there meeting with our government contacts drumming up new business or meeting with existing clients face to face. Some communications can only be done in person.” Again, Sheila was not going to tell AB whether those ‘in person’ meetings were with the government, or with targets. “Luckily for us both, a lot of that extra travel has paid off. We’ve got contracts signed that will put us in really good shape and assure us of steady growth for some years into the future.”
AB continued to pick at what was left of her food, then said “But I still don’t know what kind of man my dad was, or still is, he’s just daddy to me.”
AB decided to go for broke “Maybe if I got to know his business side, you know understand what Ford Security really does I could get a more rounded picture of dad. Maybe I could be an intern, you know, filing and stuff. You could teach me some basic security concepts. We could have more to talk about besides school and boring stuff.” AB mentally held her breath; she’d given Sheila enough line, now to see if she nibbled on the bait.
“Well that is a surprising idea, I’d always pegged you to follow in your mom’s footsteps and become a lawyer. I never considered you might be interested in the grittier aspects of the world. I certainly could use some clerical help at the shop; it would free me up to concentrate on higher level work. Let me talk to Bill when he gets back. Have you thought about how this might work? When does high school let out? You’re a Junior now right?”
AB thought, I’ve got her – now to get her in the boat. “Yeah, a Junior. But I don’t have summer school this year because of my good grades and AP classes I’ve taken. I could be like a summer intern.” AB thought, I’ll leave the Senior year participation for a later discussion, this was going too well to muddy the waters with another topic.
“Well young lady, you have given me a lot to think about. You seem sincere, and clearly have given this some thought. Now let me do some thinking before we bring this to your dad. Better to have a clear cut plan than to just spring this on him out of the blue.”
AB was elated, she had Sheila on her side, she was sure she could convince her daddy that this was a good idea.
—-
Bill was actually in DC meeting with one of their biggest clients. Those meetings were not conducted in any government office, instead in high end quiet restaurants where the waiters were exceedingly discreet. That first General from the rape case in the Army had been Bill’s first call when he was exploring whether to open his own shop. Bill had offered his services once again to the General, knowing full well that some work had to be done outside of the normal channels. It had been a gamble, but the General had realized that Bill could still be useful.
And use him he did, those first couple of assignments had taken Bill right back into the fray. Bill had maintained his ability to focus on always achieving the right result without worrying how you got there. And the results gave the General just what he needed, a resource to be used under the right circumstances.
Word got around DC that Bill Ford could deliver in the toughest situations. And when Ford Security opened their doors it already had a healthy client list. Sheila had been wary of the plan from the beginning; her ten years in the Bureau had made her extra cautious. But she would do anything for Bill, and when he floated the idea of their own business she couldn’t resist. They could spend more time together, perhaps not hiding so much.
And so five years ago she quit the FBI and became Bill’s official business partner. At least three quarters of their work was above board, providing Security consulting for large corporations, advising Executives where the holes were in their security strategy, and sometimes providing Executive protection. They had grown to a staff of 20 full time employees and a dozen or so contractors.
The other quarter of their work was strictly need to know, and nobody needed to know.
Sheila and Bill had alternated in those first couple of years with running the business while the other was in the field. They’d meshed well; the business ran smoothly as they established process and procedure that ensured consistency. And so they had begun to add staff, trusted people who could focus on the task at hand – people who understood the sometimes messy aspects of their brand of Security.
The one task that Sheila did not relish was keeping tabs on Kate. Her dossier had grown over the years; Stephen was the latest addition to her file. One a year! Sheila’s contempt had only grown as she added more and more information to the archive Bill had started right after Len’s death. He had reasoned from the beginning that he would want to keep informed about her activities in case another action needed to be taken. But Kate didn’t hew to Len’s example of wanting a steady side piece, preferring instead to swap out boy toys about once a year.
They had pooled their talents in those early years; it served to broaden their relationship. Both playing at being investigators and keeping up the surveillance of Kate had given them another thing to bond over. It had ultimately led Bill to start talking about doing Security work under their own banner.
Glancing through the file with its documentation of dates and times, pictures and receipts, Sheila marveled at Kate’s arrogance, she really believed that she could do no wrong. The psych profile that was included in the file outlined a narcissistic, selfish, arrogant personality – willing to be ruthless when circumstances warranted it.
One tiny corner of Sheila’s mind did hold some admiration for Kate; she had truly made it on her own. In the male legal world she had excelled. And now nominated for Superior Court, Sheila wondered what new arrogance Kate would rise to.
Now AB had come sniffing around for background on Bill. That had been quite a lunch.
Hopefully Sheila had given AB enough to dampen her curiosity, but just in case she and Bill would need to strategize on just what story to tell the young lady if the need arose. That girl was too bright to let her start seeing what had been right in front of her eyes all this time.
—-
Bill was relaxing his body into the plane’s comfy first class seat, and high ball in hand, allowed himself a self-satisfied smile. He was just about there, these last few trips to DC to meet with his ‘clients’ had all but assured that he was entering the comfortable part of his life. Everything according to plan.
He’d taken advantage of the Railroad’s generous education benefits years ago and slowly at first, had added to his Security skills. And with that newfound education and training had steadily moved up the ranks. From Supervisor, to Manager, then Regional Manager, and finally Security Director about seven years ago.
He’d never stopped learning; Security was such a vast topic. He had kept up with the latest technologies, often making changes and suggestions that helped the Railroad catch bad guys, and to prevent theft that was always a problem. He’d made a reputation by modernizing security at the Railroad from top to bottom.
His other motivation was keeping tabs on Kate. Every time he’d learned a about a newer, more stealthy method of surveillance, he’d used Kate to field test it. As a result, Kate Morgan couldn’t sneeze without it being recorded and filed in Bill’s archive about her.
He’d been able to compartmentalize her, keep her in the pigeon hole she’d made for herself. She thought she was the puppet master; she thought she was another Leonard Simpel. Especially now that she’d been nominated to the Court. Another inward chuckle, she’d had to bed two different Senators to get that nomination. No matter, he had his lady for support and AB was growing into a fierce young woman. He was almost at the point where the shop could run itself, AB was off to college next year, and Kate would ascend to the bench.
One more year and he could finally breathe easy. One more year and he would be free.
—-
Unfortunately for Miss Junior Sleuth, her dad was not unprepared or too surprised when Sheila told him about her lunch with AB.
“I think she’s overheard something about Kate that has alerted her. Instead of going on the attack she’s identified the weakness in her world. Bill she said her faith in you had been shaken by something, I think she’s wondering if what she heard is true, then how could you be blind to it.”
“Well my lady, we knew this day would come eventually. With the advent of cheap DNA testing available to all, why they probably do that in health class at school. We’re going to have to keep tabs on her and be ready to alter course if necessary. I never looked at her DNA profile because I didn’t want to know, and now I’m afraid I’m going to be learning the truth once and for all.
“The first step is to get more information about what she might know or suspect. Please assign Charlie to bug the bosses’ daughter; phrasing that way should head off any questions he might have. Have everything piped to a server only you have access to, I need plausible deniability. After all, she does have me wrapped around her finger. Make sure everything gets bugged; be as thorough as we have been with Kate. Although this is for good reasons as opposed to why we keep an eye on Kate.”
“Bill you would have been proud of her the way she tried to play me. I think she had her strategy all planned out. Knock me off balance with that loss of faith crap, and then wondered how to get closer to you, and finally the internship suggestion. Yes, we’re going to have to keep a close eye on her. ”
“Maybe the internship is not a bad idea; we could keep really close tabs on her thinking that way. I don’t want her throwing a wrench into our plans with only a year or so to go. Yes, I’m going to let her convince me to come work for us, and you can take her under your wing. This just might be a win win if we work it right. Now if you don’t mind, I need you in my arms, I’ve been away much too long. Holding you will help fortify me against what is coming. Then I can go home and let AB work on me.”
Sheila melted, she was where she was supposed to be – In the arms of her man, safe and loved.
—-
“Good morning sleepy head, why don’t you get a shower and we’ll get drive over to the donut shop and we can plan our day. Since you only have today and Friday left of Spring Break, let’s spend it together. You can catch me up on what I’ve missed this week.”
AB dragged herself into her bathroom to get a shower and ready to go. She’d slept surprisingly well after Tuesday’s lunch with Sheila. Since her mother had left her to do whatever nominated judges do, she hadn’t had to exercise her acting skills. More the better.
Now if she can just keep it together for the next two days with her dad, then a normal weekend and then next week school madness will give her all the cover she needed. She reviewed in her head the planned script for conversation with her dad; she needed to get him to where she wanted him without making it seem too much like he was being manipulating. She loved him so, but she was daddy’s little girl, and he was pretty easy to convince.
Once seated at the donut shop the proceeded to chow down on the caffeine and sugar bombs, AB with her latte and chocolate kroller, dad with a black coffee and apple fritter.
“So AB, have you had a good vacation? Sorry I had to go out of town, a big client needed me in person and it couldn’t wait.”
“It’s been kinda quiet, my best buds Loren and Uma went skiing. Brrr, I can’t imagine freezing my butt off just to slide down a hill. So, I’ve been just hanging out at home. Did some shopping, had lunch with mom one day, hung out with Jeremy yesterday afternoon. And maybe Sheila mentioned it, but on Tuesday we had lunch.”
“She did say something about you and Mexican food. But we needed to debrief from my trip so we didn’t chit chat much. Those all sound like daytime activities, what have you and your mom been doing in the evenings?”
“Well mother has been working late every night. Now that she’s been nominated for Judge, seems like her schedule is busier than ever. So I’ve just been hanging out. Jeremy wanted to go to a movie last night, but I was not in the mood.”
“Hmmm, Jeremy gets two mentions in one morning. Anything happening there I should know about?”
“Daddy, I’ve known Jeremy since we were in kindergarten! Ewe, actually double ewe!”
Bill could see that this conversational dance was going just as AB wanted it. Clever girl was leading him forward like a pro. The next sentence should be a redirect, to catch me off guard and plant the seed.
“How come I never get to come on your business trips? I’d love to see DC, go to a show, catch a museum, maybe a fancy restaurant. It can’t all boring meetings and business talk about Security. You know, I’ve been thinking, I really don’t know much about what Ford Security actually does. I asked Sheila at lunch the other day, but she was kinda vague.”
He had to hand it to her; she’d sprung it on him amidst chatter and gave me two different but related topics to confuse me. Bill also noticed that AB didn’t seem to be acting, so she was using her real curiosity about his business to mask her actual intent. He hadn’t seen this side of her personality blossoming; he’d have to refocus now that business was on a more solid footing. He guessed that she’d let him respond and then veer off in a different direction. Then she’ll bring it back up later today or tomorrow.
“Much of it is boring and business talk, the topics are sensitive and sometimes secret. But it’s not super spy stuff, just a lot of analysis, proposals, implementing fixes, and sometimes investigation after something bad has happened. You would most certainly be bored out of your mind.”
“Can we hit the mall daddy? I’m thinking I need a new laptop or maybe look into upgrading. I know there’s only a few months left in the school year before summer vacay, but my old clunker is slowing down. I’ve had that laptop since I started high school, it must be almost three years old!”
Excellent pivot and mis-direction, AB certainly has a lot of her mother in her. Then a dark thought intruded and Bill wondered if she any of that was Len’s, if any of his traits would manifest. No matter, she was HIS daughter, her personality had his stamp on it; he was fiercely proud of AB. She was an excellent student, and a good kid all around. She was growing into a real beauty like her mom; she really was a mini-Kate. And now with these new sneaky tendencies, she would need even more of his guidance. He and Sheila would certainly be making a project out of her. Intern indeed!
“Great idea, maybe we can go to the ‘puter store and check out the latest and greatest. And also stop by the repair desk to see what upgrades might be available for your old clunker. Then maybe some clothes shopping, I could use a couple of new shirts. After that let’s have lunch at the Philly cheesesteak place. And after that maybe we can take in a movie. Or would you rather save your sitting in the dark for Jeremy?”
“Daddy!!”
—-
Thursday had gone really well, AB reviewed the day as she was brushing her teeth getting ready for bed. Daddy had been totally cool; they’d had a great day. Then plopping into bed exhausted, she snuggled under the covers and wondered how to set the hook tomorrow while they were out and about.
They probably wouldn’t see much of mother this weekend if at all. Which suited AB just fine, if half the stuff she’d overheard was true, the less she saw of her mother going forward the better. And with that last thought drifted off to sleep.
Friday started out just as fun as the day before, they hit the donut shop again. This time they brought her laptop along since AB had let her dad convince her that an upgrade was a better idea than a new one. The repair desk said it would be ready by lunchtime so they decided to go for a walk in the park and just hang out together. Then dad’s phone rang.
“Hi Sheila, what’s going on? Really, maybe I should find something to keep the troops busy if it’s so quiet at the shop. AB and I are at the park and we have to pick up her laptop at lunchtime. What’s that? No, nothing wrong, it’s just that her laptop is this ancient two year old model that needed some TLC. No, we hadn’t decided on lunch yet, don’t tell me you’re so not busy that you can take a lunch break? Ok, ok. We’ll swing by and pick you up and we can all go to lunch together. Yeah, probably 12:30. K, see you then. Bye.”
“AB I hope you don’t mind having lunch with Sheila two days in the same week.”
“I really like Sheila dad, I can tell she’s a really good person. You’re lucky to have such a great partner. Too bad she doesn’t seem to have anybody of her own, you know like a boy or girlfriend.”
“Well AB, Sheila is a very private person. She doesn’t talk much about her personal life, if at all. She’s very guarded about that, we have to respect her privacy.”
AB was thinking fast, she would have to control two adults to get the conversation to where she needed it to go. Despite what she said about Sheila, she didn’t know her well enough to know what buttons to push. She’d have to be very careful.
The laptop was ready exactly on time, upgraded with solid state drives and more memory, the guy at the repair counter said that it would be a screamer now. They handed them the old parts in a bag with the receipt and off they went to pick up Sheila for lunch.
As they were driving to the shop; AB wondered why the Ford Security offices were called that. Dad always referred to it as the shop, like it was some lawnmower repair shop, grubby guys in overalls and dirty fingernails fixing broken machines slaving away at work benches.
“Hello! Anybody home!? It’s only the boss man coming in to inspect the troops!”
“Hey Bill, said Sheila as she came out of her office to meet them. “Where are you taking us to lunch, I’m starving. Hi AB, nice to see you again.”
“Sheila, is Charlie in the building? I want him to check out AB’s freshly upgraded laptop. The guys at the computer store are good, but I’d feel better if Charlie gave it a once over to make sure it’s running perfectly, nothing too good for my little girl.”
“Daddy!! I’m seventeen!” She blushed automatically at being called little girl in front of the tall woman.
Sheila did something on her phone and moments later Charlie walked up to the entrance.
“Hi Bill, hello AB. Sheila pinged me to come up.”
“I’m taking my two lady’s to lunch, and I was hoping if you’re not too busy you could give AB’s laptop the once over. She just had it worked on at the repair shop and I’d feel better if you could put your magic hands on it.”
“Sure Bill, I can run some diagnostics and scans to make sure it’s running optimally. No problemo at all, I brought my lunch in today so it can run while I gobble my food toiling away in my lonely cubicle.”
“Ha, ha Charlie. I hope you kill the emperor today, you’ve invested so much time on that game it’s no wonder nothing ever gets done around here. While you’re at it could you make sure to dispose of these old parts properly.” Bill handed him the plastic bag.
Charlie’s mention of his sandwich had cemented where they were going to eat. They found a table outside the café and tucked in. AB made it about a quarter of the way through her chicken salad on sourdough when she opened the conversation.
“Daddy, I wanted to bring up the thing I mentioned yesterday about getting to know more about your security business. I think Sheila mentioned that I might be able to do an internship this summer. You know, filing and other office stuff.” AB was happy with that opening, it included Sheila in the idea and AB hoped that the older woman didn’t remember much about who had said what at their lunch the other day.
“Yeah Bill, I’ve been kinda bogged down with the admin stuff since I haven’t really ever hired that kind of help. It might give us some breathing room and help us understand if we want to hire somebody full time for those kinds of tasks. That might free me up for more goofing off.”
AB thought Perfect! Sheila had said exactly the right thing in exactly the right way. Almost as if they’d planned it.
Of course, unbeknownst to AB this conversation had indeed been planned. But it wasn’t AB who was doing the manipulating, nope- AB didn’t realize she was the one being played.
“Don’t tell me Charlie has convinced you to join Star Force and fight the evil emperor on company time!? Having an admin/intern would give you plenty of time to practice with your laser rifle. But seriously AB I thought you had your heart set on becoming a big time lawyer like your mom? Working at the shop might be considered a step down from that lofty ambition.”
“Oh daddy. It’s not like I want to be a security guy like you and Sheila. Oops, I’m sorry. That didn’t come out right. Let me put it this way, I only know you as my daddy. Sure you share stories sometimes about what you guys do, but I don’t really understand that side of you. It’s like there’s this whole aspect of your life that I know nothing about. You’re such a family man and great father, that it’s the only side of you I know. Being an intern doesn’t mean I’m signing up for whatever it is you guys do, I’m looking at an internship as a way to get to know you better.”
AB was super pumped, that little speech had come out just right. A little stumble at the beginning, and then a strong finish. It helped that she really meant what she’d said; that she had an ulterior motive notwithstanding.
“AB I’m touched by what you just said. I mean the part about being a great father.” He grinned.
“Daddy!!”
“No, I mean it. What you said gives me great satisfaction that this is the image you have of me. As to an internship, I think it’s a great idea. And you’re right; working here at the shop won’t derail your plans for your career. And right back at you, it’ll give me a chance to see you in a different setting too. Let’s see how you handle real grownup responsibilities. Yes, let’s do it. But, seeing as how I’m the big boss man, I’ll have to delegate supervision of your time to my most trusted minion. Sheila, she’s all yours.”
AB was on cloud nine the rest of the day, Sheila had promised to exchange emails arranging the start date, pay!, and promised to find a cubicle not too far away from the Star Force barracks. Plus Charlie had handed her laptop back even faster than the repair guys had left it. He said something about tuning the CPU to work better with the new upgrades. That night AB burrowed under her blankets with a very satisfied sigh. Her plans had gone off without a hitch.
Her last thought was reminding herself that she needed to keep a close eye on the mailbox, she couldn’t afford for her parents to see the envelope with the DNA results. It could come at any time; having reread the instructions again she realized it actually said up to four weeks; not that it would take all four weeks.
—-
Thursday, 4:17pm, six weeks later. “NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!”
Sheila rushed over to Bill’s office, “AB just cried out and when I checked her bedroom camera she’s weeping on her bed. There’s an open envelope and a single sheet of paper next to her. Go, NOW.” It had been so easy to keep tabs on AB once all the gear was in place. Sheila kept a small window open in the corner of one monitor, with just the audio feed from AB’s room. She was a creature of habit that came home from school every day and went right to her desk to get her homework done. All the other feeds went to the ‘ND server’, ND for Nancy Drew, for review at her convenience. AB hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary at all, just the waiting.
Bill was frozen for a single beat, diet soda on its way to his lips. Setting it carefully down on the coaster, he made his way quickly to his car. Since week three of the waiting, he’d been getting home right on time, usually by 5:30, making the 18 minute commute from the shop to his home. They’d decided on no travel for him, Sheila would take any out of town meetings, until the letter came. And now it had, and from what Sheila had just told him, it was the news he’d been dreading all these years.
Bill drove as fast as was legal, expertly making his way thru traffic as if he was in a getaway car. His thoughts were dark, hard, unforgiving. Kate’s arrogance had hurt his little girl, all their plans for this eventuality now forgotten in the rush of emotions. Thank god she had left early that morning for a short flight to the capital, more meetings about the Court vetting process. She was probably bent over Senator Lancaster’s desk by now, before they got down to their real business. Kate was easy to hate in moments like this.
Bill’s expert driving got him to his front door in record time. Entering the house, he went straight to AB’s bedroom and scooped her up. He sat on the bed rocking his baby in his arms as she wept into his chest, great heaving sobs that wracked her whole body. For her part AB was an unthinking, hurting ball of pain. No coherent thought was possible, only ‘No Match’ burned into her brain like some infernal neon sign from hell.
They were like that for at least a half hour. Bill hadn’t said a word the whole time; AB couldn’t do anything but cry. But she was safe, protected, her daddy was holding her. He’d make it all go away. Why had she touched that stupid watch, overheard those harpy’s in the bathroom. More weeping, and then almost an hour after her daddy had wrapped her in his loving arms, she stopped crying and just let him rock her as her breathing started to get back to normal. Her whole body literally ached, almost as much as the pain in her heart.
Then her brain started to work, she really was a very bright young lady. Why was daddy home early, he wasn’t due for another hour. She clutched at him even harder. But he was here, just when she needed him. What could she say, how could she tell him? Oh my god, where was the letter. He must have seen it sitting on her bedspread like some coiled snake.
AB pulled back a bit, trying to muster her thoughts and looked up at her father. And then she saw it, he didn’t have to say anything, she could see it in his weary look, he already knew! The letter was still where she’d dropped it, but his gaze told her that he didn’t need to read it; somehow her daddy already knew.
“How, how did you know? Oh daddy, what am I going to do?” AB went back to crying, this time not as violently, but still more heartbreaking tears were added to Bill’s already soaked shirt.
“Its OK baby, it’s gonna be OK.” More rocking, and holding her tight. AB lost herself in her grief again for another few minutes, but as she calmed down once more her mind went in a totally different direction catching Bill off guard.
“THAT FUCKING BITCH!!” AB had jumped up and both hands balled into fists stood ramrod straight, her whole body now rigid in her anger, “I’LL KILL HER, I’LL RIP HER FUCKING HEART OUT. HOW COULD SHE BE SUCH A CUNT!! HOW COULD SHE DO THAT TO YOU!!” And then she fainted.
Her brain had finally short circuited, not enough oxygen getting up there from all the crying and then the angry outburst had done it. She crumpled like a rag doll and Bill caught her. He laid her on top of her bed and decided to let her come around naturally. She needed to heal, to come to terms with what had happened. Shutting down like that was her body’s defense mechanism, he’d let her have some quiet. Checking her pulse and forehead just to be sure, Bill went over to AB’s desk chair and sat down with the letter.
No Match was printed prominently at the top of the page; the rest was a comparison of Subject A against Subject B listing alleles that didn’t mean much to a layman, except to note that the values in each of the two columns were not the same. Even though he’d been preparing for weeks now, seeing it written out finally made it hit home. He didn’t waste any tears, but a checkmark had been placed in Kate’s account, Bill had another piece of evidence of her betrayal.
It was just before 7pm when AB started to stir, she’d lain in the same position unmoving for almost two hours. “Daddy?” Bill hadn’t moved much either, he was still in the chair, waiting.
“I’m right here baby.” Rising he came and sat on the edge of the bed and stroked her hair. “It’s gonna be all right, we’ll get through this.”
“Daddy, how did you know? How long have you known? What are we going to do!?” Quiet tears rolled down AB’s cheeks, she was profoundly sad and hurt.
“Well the first thing we’re going to do is stuff ourselves with pizza so our bodies and brains have enough fuel to deal with this. Get up, go wash your face and meet me downstairs. Let’s blow this popsicle stand and get something to eat.”
And with that he left her bedroom. Her daddy was like that, swift decisions, do what’s needed first, deal with the rest later. So she dragged herself into the bathroom, used the toilet and washed her face. Making her way downstairs she found him standing near the front door, actually staring at the inside of the entrance as if he could see through it. For his part Bill was running scenarios, getting ready to flex in whatever direction was necessary – to do whatever was necessary.
“Instead of talking right now, or silent agonizing, I want you to put on your favorite song and sing along with it as we drive over to the restaurant.” Bill knew she needed something familiar, something for her mind to anchor to, he’d seen too many people lose themselves in a downward spiral after receiving a shock like the one AB had just had. And the pizza was part of that; sure it was fuel which her body desperately needed after the shock, but also a familiar surrounding that had happy memories.
AB didn’t argue with her father, she was on auto pilot. She queued her song on the car’s audio system and did sing along. As she was doing that her lungs got a bit of calming exercise, her mood improved a little bit, and few dark thoughts plagued her. The song was doing the trick.
“A medium number 3, extra cheese and a pitcher of diet soda” Bill paid the girl behind the counter and taking their glasses grabbed a table. Bill assumed a calm demeanor, he needed AB to focus on what he was saying, he was going to be reasonable and informative, but it would also be intense. It would do AB no good for him to be emotional, or sad, or weepy himself – she needed his strength more than ever.
“I’ve known, or suspected since you were two years old. I never really checked, not even when DNA testing became so cheap and easy. YOUR ARE MY DAUGHTER. Nothing, no one, no circumstance can change that; I will not allow anything to come between us. I would lay down my life for you, when I held you that first time at the hospital when you were born I made a promise that I would love and protect you as long as I was able. It has been my most important job to nurture and help you grow.”
AB felt the power of her father’s words; they bounced around in her shell shocked brain and came to rest in her heart. Daddy was there for her, he would protect her, he would handle it.
“But daddy, there’s more that you don’t know. I’ve learned some things that I need to tell you about.”
“No baby, you don’t have to tell me anything right now. I need you to keep listening to me, focus on what I’m telling you. There’s nothing I don’t know, I have every single detail except the one you uncovered. First in the Army, then at the Railroad, and now at the shop, my stock in trade is information. I need to know things in order to act, or decide not to act. And sometimes plans take a long time to come to a conclusion, information sometimes doesn’t make sense before a pattern emerges.”
AB was listening, but as she was looking at her father she realized his posture was different right now. His usual aura of easygoing daddy wasn’t in front of her. Instead was this straighter, bigger man who exuded confidence and control. Was this the real Bill Ford, where was her daddy?
Just then the pizza came and at Bill’s insistence they ate two slices each before he’d allow any more conversation. He needed her to get some calories into her body so the healing could begin. Once the food hit her system, she’d be in better shape to continue. After all she really was just a 17 year old kid; she couldn’t be expected to deal with this all at once. He’d have to dole out any revelations carefully, be guided by her questions and not feed her too much.
Bill realized Kate being out of town, probably thru the weekend, was a blessing. He and AB would have all the time they needed to put on their game faces before Kate got back. He was going to have to get AB on target in a short amount of time. She was in for the test of her life. He needed for her to quickly transition from grief and sorrow to planning and action.
“When I was in the Army I accidentally found my calling….” Bill spent the next 15 minutes describing his stint in the Military Police, meting out swift justice, often coloring outside the lines. Good, he observed, another half a slice had disappeared into AB. Then he moved on to describe his training and subsequent job at the Railroad as a supervisor, and his rise over the years to Director. How he had to come up with more and more clever strategies to stay ahead of the cargo thieves, he even mentioned digitizing the security cameras, that part always made him smile inwardly. The rest of that third slice was now gone and AB had grabbed another, more goodness, she was going to be so carb loaded she’d sleep like a rock tonight.
And finally Bill described what Ford Security did; they fixed problems and broken things. They analyzed situations and programs, came up with fixes and improvements, listened to their clients and gave them what they needed, not always what they wanted. Bill had woven a tale across his three careers of seeing a situation for what it was, and then applying the right fix. It only took about 45 minutes of talking but he could see AB starting to think about what he was saying. And that fourth slice had disappeared and she was nibbling on some crusts.
So Bill sat back and gave AB some space, her next words would be important.
“But daddy, what are we going to do?” Bingo, he had her in a better place.
“Well AB, you’ve just had a real adult shock. Part of your world has been torn down and now we have to figure out what to put in its place. That’s the important bit, WE as in you and I need to come up with a plan and then put it in motion to get through this to the other side. Let’s leave that planning for tomorrow, we should get home and get some sleep. It’s 9:30 and tomorrow’s a school day, that is if you’re feeling up to going in the morning. Let’s head home and you can sing along with that tune of yours on the way.”
Bill headed up to Kate’s bathroom as soon as they got home. He found her sleeping pills and grabbed one. AB was almost as big as her mother, so he reasoned that AB could handle a full tablet.
“Here baby, I want you to take one of your mother’s sleeping pills. We need to guarantee you get a full night’s sleep so you’ll be rested for what comes tomorrow. Also, I want you to take a hot shower before bed, that will help relax your muscles; you’ve had a physical reaction too.”
A bit later AB was under the covers, and drifting off to sleep as the pill and the shower worked their magic. Her daddy was there, he loved her, they would plan together what to do. And her last thought was, do I tell him everything I know?
—-
“How did it go? I’ve been on tenterhooks since you rushed out of the office.”
“Actually it went pretty good. I got her into listening mode once we got to the pizza place and eventually she asked the right questions.”
“My god Bill, when she jumped up and yelled about killing Kate I was so surprised. Even watching remotely through the cameras her rage was palpable. You look very surprised when she did that, when we review the tapes we can chuckle at the look on your face.”
“I was completely surprised, I knew there would be tears and maybe some exclamations, but rage, I wasn’t expecting that. Must be some of Len popping through.”
“Don’t ever say that, she is your daughter! I won’t have you giving that bastard any credit, or that whore of a mother for that matter. That young lady is all you, she may her own person still to blossom, but that is Bill Ford’s daughter we’re talking about.” It was one of the few subjects that Sheila got heated about, AB might not be hers, but she was Bill’s, and that was good enough for Sheila.
“I gotta sign off my lady, I’m drained too. That was an intense afternoon and evening. Having it be AB and not some client or perp raging hit me in a whole different way. I’ve got to come to terms with the new reality too. Hopefully a good night rest, and a belly full of pizza, will get me prepared for what is next. Good night my love.”
“Bill I love you so much. Good night.”
Bill’s thoughts didn’t keep him awake for too long. He knew tomorrow would be hard, but not as bad as today. He felt that the worst was past. But what exactly would happen next? He felt ready; all the years of preparation and planning gave him confidence, and options. Yes, he and AB had plenty of options.
—-
It was 10am the next morning when Bill heard the upstairs toilet flush. He was in the kitchen reading the paper with a cup glass of juice when AB came downstairs carrying her laptop.
“I called the school and you have a sick day today. Your mother will be out of town until Sunday evening so we have plenty of time together.”
“Thanks daddy, wow I slept for like 11 hours. I guess I really needed it. It all seems so unreal this morning with the sun coming in and you looking all normal. But it’s not, everything’s changed.”
“Well it’s true that one of the foundation of your life has been broken, but the other parts will hold you up. I told you we’d get through this together, and I meant it.”
“Daddy, there’s more you need to hear. I’ve been gathering information, and I’ve got a good sized file on my ‘puter I want to share with you.”
“And I want to see what you have, but not before I get an apple fritter and some joe. How soon can you be ready to roll? We can grab our stuff from the café and go use a meeting room at the office. If we’re gonna debrief and make plans I want it to be in the right atmosphere.”
In no time at all they were in the conference room with the door closed. Bill gestured for AB to plug her laptop into the projector.
“AB, I want you to gather your thoughts then show me what you’ve got. Take your time, I might have some questions along the way, but I want you to pretend you’re one of our investigators who’s come back to report on their findings. Stick to the facts, and point out what you have that’s conjecture.”
AB could appreciate the way her father wanted her to act. If they were going to make life altering plans and decisions, she would have to take it seriously if she was to be considered an equal partner. And so she began speaking, first outlining the broad topics she’d collected – Mistress, AB Parentage, Simpel Murder, Boyfriends, Nomination. She then dove into the specifics in each topic and where she had gotten the information. Finally she shared her list of intel still to be gathered and her decision tree. In all she talked for about an hour.
“Ok, let’s take a break. This next part is going to be difficult but let’s grab some water and come back in 10. You know where the restroom is if you need it, and please grab three waters on your way back.”
When AB came back to the conference room, (she hadn’t realized she needed to pee), she understood why her dad had asked for three waters. Sheila was in the room sitting next to daddy, with a pad of paper in front of her and a serious look on her face.
“AB I want you to run through your presentation again with Sheila present. But first I want to add an important dimension to what we’re doing. You’re not just accusing your mother of stepping outside her marriage; you are potentially affecting the nomination of a Superior Court Judge. That could have wide ranging implications that we’ll have to consider.”
AB’s eyes widened at that, she had been so caught up in her grief that she failed to look beyond the walls of her little world. Her dad’s suggestion that they come to the shop to have this discussion helped widen her perspective. This second time through her files she felt a different vibe; she was fully embracing the investigator role her dad had suggested. Sheila only asked one question, about how accurate AB’s transcription of what she had overheard in the bathroom that day.
“OK AB, sit back and take a moment. Sheila, I’d like your critique of our junior sleuth’s file, and her presentation.”
“Fairly well organized, good citations of where the intel was gathered. I especially like the decision tree mapping out possible scenarios depending on what new intel comes in. What’s missing is an analysis of the target’s motivation and possible goals. Overall I’d give it a C plus for an amateur, actually pretty good for a first effort.”
“I agree a good first effort. AB what are your recommendations? How do we proceed and what are the outcomes we want to achieve? Can you identify what is the thing we’re trying to fix?”
A C plus!? AB was a straight A student, she wasn’t used to being called an amateur. But those thoughts faded quickly as she considered the questions her father had posed. “I’ve only thought as far as making a list of intel still to gather up. Like I remember you saying, you have to collect enough information until a pattern emerges. As for mother’s motives I have no clue, and to tell the truth I had only been thinking about how this affected you and me, not why she might be doing what she’s done/doing.”
“Good conversation, I like where this is headed. We need more intel so we can add more pieces to the puzzle. My suggestion is to run another DNA test, this time you against your mother. That will give us a confidence score with the DNA lab you used. Then we’ll have to find a way to determine if Simpel really is your biological father, or if it was somebody else.”
“Oh daddy, this must be tearing you up.”
“No AB, it’s not. I came to terms with your mother’s behavior many years ago. I have kept my promises to her and to you. That she lost her way is all on her, I never ever stopped taking care of you both, loving you as best I can. Remember I’m a great husband and father.” Then Bill smiled letting them both in on the joke, it cut some of the tension in the room.
“So now let me share some of what we know. I can confirm that the watch was Simpel’s; your mother gave it to him on their eighth anniversary. She got it back from the police after his murder investigation was complete. So the conclusion you came to based on the society pages and what you overheard in the bathroom was correct.
“Next as to your parentage, we can be fairly certain that Simpel is your biological father. We should add that to the list of things to do, it would be prudent to somehow get a DNA sample to compare against yours so we can be absolutely sure.
“As to Simpel’s murder, we know that case was closed to the police and FBI’s satisfaction.” Bill didn’t think it was prudent to dive any deeper into that case, hopefully never.
“Your mother has indeed had a series of boyfriends starting a little more than a year after the murder.”
“Finally the Superior Court nomination. I think I can add that while your mother’s methods and tactics have been ruthless, and certainly self-serving, she’s done it on her own. She’s navigated the cut throat world at the top of the legal profession as well as anybody I’ve ever encountered. And in sum, she hasn’t hurt that many people along the way. Excepting myself of course.”
Sheila asked “AB how are you feeling right now?”
“Physically I’m ok, my ribs hurt from all the crying yesterday. But the rest I got from sleeping all those hours helped my mental state. Although it does all seem unreal, finding out your mother is a serial cheater and had been somebody’s mistress will do that to you.” She afforded herself a small chuckle at her little joke.
“You and dad have really helped me this morning. Making me pretend to be an investigator made me go outside of my self, to put aside my emotions and let the evidence speak for itself. I think I’m ready for what comes next, although I really don’t know where to start.”
Sheila leaned forward, “That’s a good place to be, admitting that you don’t have all the intel, and not having a clear path forward. This is the stage where a good investigator relies on their patience, not to get ahead of the evidence. So let’s go with that, we need more information. As Bill said, first you run another DNA test against your mother using the same firm. Speaking of DNA I’ll take the task of finding out if there is any DNA on file from Simpel’s murder. Barring that, I seem to remember him having a sister; maybe we can use that to get a familial match.”
“AB you and I are going to have to work together to make sure our home life is not affected by these revelations. Since we haven’t defined the problem to fix, nor what we want the endgame to be, we need to continue on as we have before. We can’t let on to your mother that we know what we know. I’ve had many years to come to terms with this; you’ve only had a few weeks.”
AB could see that Sheila and her dad were pulling her into a partnership. They were supporting her, but also involving her in the ongoing investigation (was that what this really was?). “It shouldn’t be too hard, mother is hardly around anymore. She’s either in a zillion meetings, working late, or if the gossip is true spending time with her current boy toy. And there’s only a few more weeks of the school year and I’ll be out for the summer. I don’t expect we’ll be taking a family vacation with the nomination work going on. So all in all I think keeping our investigation (there she said it out loud) quiet shouldn’t be too hard.”
They’d been at it all morning and as it was nearing lunch time they ordered burritos to be delivered to the shop. Surprisingly, dad ordered an extra one. He said he’d ask Charlie to join them for lunch. AB wondered what that meant. What did Charlie have to do with anything?
—-
Once they’d settled in to their lunch Bill turned to Charlie “OK Star Warrior, we’re going full disclosure. Please plug in your laptop and show AB what we’ve done.”
“Sure boss. First of all AB, you need to understand that you’re the bosses daughter. By extension that means that in protecting you we are protecting the shop, Ford Security. We do a bunch of work for the US Government and so our skirts need to be clean. With that, let’s take a look at your bedroom” On the big screen two images of AB’s bedroom appeared, split screen style. One was looking at her bed and the hallway door beyond, and the other from the opposite angle showed her desk and closet to the left.
“These two cameras are low light and have built in microphones, which by the way are super sensitive so if I were to turn up the volume a bit you could hear the dripping faucet in your bathroom. The bathroom door was to the right of your desk, and not picked up by either camera. We’re surveilling your, not invading your privacy.”
“OH. MY. GOD. You have my room bugged!!?”
Charlie continued, “Yes, yes we do. In addition to that your car is equipped with a hidden camera, mics in the passenger compartment and a GPS tracker tucked behind the front fender. All your handbags and your school backpack have mics and micro-GPS trackers. And of course your cell phone and laptop are totally open to us; everything you do is uploaded straight to the ND server archive, every phone call or text from your phone, all your browsing and files from your laptop. It was lucky you got yours repaired that day, while I was supposedly tuning it I cloned all your info to the ND server and installed monitoring software giving your supervisor full access.”
AB was gob smacked, her burrito forgotten on her plate. They already knew everything weeks ago, she thought she was being so clever, so secretive and manipulative. The whole time the shop was watching and listening to her every move. She took a few moments to compose herself and then asked.
“Why did you put me through this entire thing daddy? You could have brought the information to me; you could have let me in on the secrets and made it easier on me. And what the heck is an ND server, I’ve never heard of that brand of computer before?”
“We had hoped you would never find out, never need to be told. Of course, we had imagined some medical need that would bring all this out in the open, but we hoped it was a long way off. The day you inspected the watch and overheard those gossips in the bathroom was a perfect storm. The cat was out of the bag and all we could do flex with the new situation. And an ND server isn’t a brand, ND stands for Nancy Drew.”
AB hadn’t imagined she could be any more surprised, but once the ND thing became clear she burst out laughing. Big belly guffaws, she laughed until her eyes teared up.
“Oh my god, you guys. Here I was thinking I was being stealthy, a super sleuth, and you were on to me from the beginning. What tipped me off?” AB was still getting her breathing under control after this colossal joke.
It was Sheila that spoke up, “Your invitation to lunch when we got Mexican food that day was the trigger. And your carefully planned conversation cemented our fears that you had discovered something. Then your blatant manipulation of your father later in the week. We saw you coming a mile away.”
AB realized just how outmatched she actually was. She was in the company of real live security professionals who had put her in their crosshairs. She was in awe, and more to the point, who as the boss of Ford Security? Was her daddy actually a super spy running a spy organization?
“Daddy, Sheila, you gotta tell me what’s going on here. I’m getting the feeling that you guys don’t just advise clients on the best door locks and anti-virus stuff.”
“Well baby, you have three source of intel filled with plenty of details right in front of you. First there was your conversation with Sheila at your first lunch, then there was our talk about how my career has progressed, and now you’ve had a peek at our capabilities, which I might add is just the tip of the ice berg on what we can do. Take all that and put it together and you’ll have a pretty good picture of Ford Security.”
AB composed herself and not saying anything went back to her burrito. She was quiet while she finished it off and then washed it down with diet soda. Her mind was putting it all together, and the clues that had been right in front of her. And then she hit on the thing that didn’t fit the pattern.
“Daddy, which are you? The super spy head of this spy organization? Or my daddy, the great father, not too bright husband to quote mother and the gossips, and generally goofy guy who taught me to ride a bike and loves apple fritters.”
“Bill! How many times have I told you to lay off those fried heart attacks! Honestly, you try my patience.”
AB noticed that exchange, and the intimacy it hinted at. She’d have to keep an eye on Sheila for more clues, but right now she needed more immediate answers. She arched an eyebrow at her dad as if to emphasize that she wanted those answers now.
“It actually both, and a bit more. First and foremost I am your father, your daddy. And the characteristics you list are truly part of my personality. The super spy stuff is a bit exaggerated, although we do quite a bit of undercover work. I won’t go into that too much, as Sheila told you, nobody gets to know about that side of the shop. There are a couple of other me’s that you’ll meet going forward, and a couple I hope you never see. I’ve compartmentalized these various aspects of my life to gain the advantage; I let people see what they expect and underestimate what I’m capable of. And I’ve had to do it and more to protect those I love.”
AB noticed her father forced his eyes to stay on her and not letting them move to Sheila, another clue.
Switching gears, “So can I assume that mother is under this same kind of intense scrutiny too? What is her archive server named?”
She had never seen Sheila blush before and then she started laughing “Your mothers archive server is labelled KF, for Kathy Ford.” That set off all three adults laughing, and AB couldn’t help but join in the laughter. Her mother had never been ‘Kathy Ford’.
Lunch broke up soon after that, Sheila and Charlie going back to their desks and AB and her dad headed home.
“Daddy, spell it out for me. What are we going to do now?”
“First and foremost we’re going to carry on just as if we had never had these revelations. You go back to being a 17 year old Junior in high school who keeps her nose clean and gets straight A’s. I will continue to be a great father and husband (snicker), just like before. Now you, like me, have a different aspect of your personality that you’ll have to bring forward at the right times. Like getting the DNA test against your mother done. And most of all you have to have patience. You’ve become part of a thing that’s bigger than just you. There are parts of this still to be revealed and other tasks you’ll have to perform. All of that will take time. This summer you’ll come work for us and we’ll take things as they come, being as prepared and thoughtful as we can be.”
And that’s exactly what happened, and to AB’s wonderment it went easier that she’d feared. With only a few weeks left in the school year she was legitimately distracted with finals, and then end of school year activities. The DNA samples for her and her mother were mailed soon after debrief day. She even let Jeremy take her to the Junior Prom. She only had to spend a handful of hours in her mother’s company; Kate was just so busy these days.
—-
Kate was really racking up the miles, and eating a lot of banquet food. Her campaign to get elected to the Bench was in full swing and she had to make a great many public appearances. She spoke at countless dinners in front of a sea of people. She shook a million hands and her cheeks got kissed by all the hoi poloi up and down the state.
Her monthly visits to the capital to dine with the political operatives were not much more fun but a necessary evil. Even her monthly sessions bent over Lancaster’s desk had become somewhat pleasurable. Since Lancaster wasn’t very long or thick, she could enjoy the anal sex that Stephen couldn’t give her because of his girth.
She occasionally wondered about AB and Bill, knowing full well that she was neglecting them. They were the part of her life that had been shoved to the bottom of her priorities. She was so close to her goal, she couldn’t afford to let sentimentality distract her. Besides, she knew that Bill had the household duties well in hand, and AB worshipped him. They could take care of themselves. Once she was on the bench she could re-evaluate the balance in their lives. Maybe she could rebuild some of the closeness she was currently sacrificing on the political alter.
With AB going off to college next year, and Bill’s little company doing well, they wouldn’t pose too much of a distraction to her new place on the bench. Everything was going according to her plan.
—-
“Good morning AB, and welcome to the team. I’ve put you in the cubicle next to my office as you’ll be taking direction from me most of the time. As an administrative intern you should be prepared to assist any of the other staff with low level tasks they might require. Yes, there might be some coffee runs or parts errands for Charlie. For the most part you’ll be helping me with business records and planning documents. Almost everything is electronic files; there is only one actual filing cabinet in the whole office.”
“Let me take you around to introduce you to the other people who come to work every day. There are only a dozen or so, because a lot of the work is done remotely, or in the field as you might guess.
“Hey Charlie, look who started today.”
“Hi AB, what does the slave driver have you doing on your first day?”
“Hi Charlie, nothing yet. I’m getting the grand tour, prolly just meeting the people who come into the office. I know where the break room, restroom, and the conference rooms are. There can’t be too much more to see.”
“Cool, let me know if you need anything. Although I’ll probably know it as soon as you do.” Charlie smiled was genuine, but AB knew only Sheila had access to the ND server, or was supposed to.
Sheila took her by the Research, Analytics, and Forensics departments to introduce her. Many of these people knew her by the many pictures Bill kept in his office; it was no secret how proud he was of AB. She was struck by the wide range of ages and ethnicities in the office. There were a couple of girls in Forensics that didn’t look much older than AB, and then the guy who ran Research looked to be ninety. Plus the diversity, it seemed like every culture on the planet was represented.
And so a pattern was established, AB became the office gofer. The first week consisted of her going through that one filing cabinet and cleaning up the files. Some got digitized and then the paper copies shredded. Others needed to be preserved because of the ink signatures. In the end that filing cabinet would yield its secrets to anybody now that it was spit spot.
Each department had a characteristic temperament, and appetite. Research liked their coffee black and strong, Analytics were more of a latte bunch, and Forensics only drank soft drinks, some diet and others fully leaded. Research resembled the file cabinet, their cubicles neat and tidy. Analytics had lots of plants and even an area rug or two. Forensics was total chaos, empty soda cans stacked into pyramids, giant plastic tubs of Cheetos, and nerf darts everywhere. AB grew to like them all; it was like an apartment building with a different crazy neighbor on every floor.
And in the middle of all that was Sheila, she was not exactly mother hen, as much as Camp Commander. Her military training and habits had never left her, and she ran a tight ship. AB had glanced one time at one of the three monitors on Sheila’s desk to see a complicated calendar app filling the screen. She didn’t look too closely but it was populated with many projects and people. Many of whom she hadn’t heard mentioned at all; those must be the field operatives.
Then there was the boss, her dad seemed to drift from department to department throughout the day. He seemed to be chit chatting but always with the clear intent that he wanted a piece of information. Bill Ford was keeping a million details in his head and apprised of the status of everything that went on. For AB this was the biggest revelation, her father could hold all that information, status, project plans, and clients in his head. No detail was too small to escape his notice. AB concluded that there was a high powered brain running Ford Security, one that she’d never seen in the man puttering around her house.
There were not very many meetings going on. Although once a month Bill held an all-hands that seemed more like a kegger than a real meeting. It was Sheila who held meetings, once a week with each department head on a set schedule. She also had regular meetings with the field teams too. They were closed door, AB was never allowed near those.
Once again, at exactly the six week mark, the letter from the DNA firm arrived. She brought it into the office to show Sheila, her dad was in DC again.
“OK AB, open it. I don’t expect there to be a surprise, a person can’t fake who their mother is.”
AB neatly sliced the envelope with an opener from Sheila’s desk, and unfolded the letter. “Mother Daughter was printed at the top. AB let out the breath she’d been holding, silly she chided herself.
“Right, at least we know the DNA guys are legit. Now to figure out how to compare you to Simpel. I don’t have any contacts at the police now that Connie has retired. But I have found out that Simpel’s sister is still alive. She’s in a nursing home down in Florida. She still has her wits about her so maybe we can work that angle. What are your thoughts?”
AB was pensive a moment then, “It won’t do any good to just phone her, we need to get a DNA sample. To do that we’ll have to actually visit her. Maybe it’ll be just as simple as paying her a visit and stealing her hair brush or her coffee mug.”
“OK, no plan is a bad plan if it works. Go with it, how do we steal her hair brush?”
AB got that pensive look again, “Not steal, replace. We buy the exact same brush and then when we visit we make the swap.”
“OK, take it further. How do we find out what brush she has?”
“We do a video call with her and hope that it shows up on the screen.”
“Right, a video call direct to her room. Florida nursing homes are not exactly bastions of technology.”
“How about we pay her a visit, we call first and I tell her I’m Kate Morgan’s daughter doing a piece for the school newspaper about my mom. Simpel’s name came up as her mentor and I’m following up for a human interest angle.”
“OK. Swapping the brush, how do we accomplish that?”
AB got a sly grin on her face, “We don’t, everything I said was too complicated. I’m not a field operative. I don’t know what things might go wrong. You assign an existing field operative to do the swap, let them figure out the details. Somebody local to Florida who can get the job done quietly.”
Now it was Sheila’s turn to smile, “Exactly, that’s good delegation. When you try to over plan back at HQ you get paralyzed by all the possible scenarios. Better to let a flexible person scope out the mark in the field, and then let that person handle the execution details as they pop up.”
And so it was that seven days later they were opening a mailer envelope containing Sharlot Simpel’s hair brush. It turned out the brush was purchased at a local pharmacy store where Sharlot’s prescriptions were filled. The rest of the details of the actual swap were never discussed, they were minutiae.
“And now we wait another six weeks,” groused AB.
—-
“Hi Tom, long time no speak. How are you and Connie enjoying Montana? How many grandkids are there now?”
It had been Thomas MacPierce’s retirement two years after the Simpel murder when he’d put in a glowing recommendation for Sheila. From there she had excelled, boosted by her second hand glory as Tom’s most excellent partner.
“Sheila, so good to hear from you. Gosh it’s been too long; I think it was about 5 years ago now, when you quit the Bureau. We hadn’t left for the wide open spaces yet. Hah! Quite an eye opener when you up and quit, and to hang out a shingle with Bill Ford. Wasn’t he a suspect at one time? You never told me back then you knew him, shoulda disqualified you from working the case.”
“I was pretty green back then. I didn’t know all the rules yet. Things were different in the Army.”
“OK Sheila, cut the crap. Watz going on? You didn’t call me for a count of grandkids.”
“It’s actually about the Simpel murder. You may not know but Mr. Ford’s wife Kathrine Morgan has been nominated to Superior Court. He’s delegated to me to look into that old case in the event that it comes up to haunt his wife’s vetting process. He’s very supportive of her, but wants to keep an arm’s length, so I’ve been assigned to review that old case.”
“Uh huh, I’m waiting for the other shoe,” said Tom.
“I don’t really have any contacts with the local PD. Ford Security has stayed strictly out of our own backyard. I was hoping you could pretty please with sugar on top ask Connie if she could make a call so I could take a look at the evidence archive.”
“Wow you don’t ask for much. However, I think I can make that happen. Let’s see, I know just the motivation I need to approach Connie with such a request. If a bottle of Knob Creek 12 Year Old were to suddenly appear on my doorstep, I think I would be sufficiently enthusiastic about this.”
“Thank you Tom, I would say I owe you, but you already know that. You taught me so much at the Bureau and made it so much easier for me to make a career there. Why I kinda felt like another daughter in your final months.”
“Ah jeeze, don’t get all sentimental on me. You’ll have me thinking I’m getting old. But seriously Sheila, I would like to have a nice visit with you before I cash it in.”
“Next year Tom, I promise. Next year things will be so much better.”
“OK Sheila, it’s a date. You expect a phone call, and I’ll keep my eye out for the postman.”
“See you later Tom. Thanks for everything.”
—-
Two weeks later Sheila popped into AB’s cubicle and “Hey AB, we’ve got a field trip today. First lunch, then to an archeological dig.”
AB had grown used to Sheila’s unique labelling of events; it wasn’t until after the fact that AB would get the joke. But she was learning, Sheila almost always had a lesson buried in the patter.
So grab lunch they did at a sandwich shop downtown. The place seemed to be at least half local cops; it was a sea of blue polyester. AB wondered if this choice of eatery was a clue.
When they finished eating, Sheila led AB across the street to Police Headquarters. Up to reception they went and Sheila addressed the desk sergeant seated behind protective glass.
“Sheila Marks to see Lieutenant Salazar please. We have a 1:30 appointment.”
“Ok, please sign in at the kiosk to your right and I’ll ring the Lieutenant that you’re here.”
After signing in, scanning their ID’s and holding still for the picture, the kiosk printed out visitor stick-on badges for AB and Sheila.
And then a movie star called their name; a Latin lover, tall dark and beyond handsome man approached them. He held out his hand first to a poleaxed AB, then to an impressed Sheila.
“Lieutenant Salazar, thank you for giving us some of your time. We really appreciate your agreeing to let us see the old Simpel file.” Sheila just managed to get her voice to sound normal.
“You must be somebody very special; it’s not every day I get a call from my godmother asked for a favor. Although, I have heard of Ford Security, I thought you guys were only into the big government arena.”
“You’re right, but since the old case might impact the nomination of a Superior Court judge we were asked to discretely look into the Simpel murder just in case it might come back to haunt the nominee, Katherine Morgan.”
“Ugh politics, way above my pay grade. But since it can do no harm to have you look through the evidence, and you’re ex FBI, PD is happy to oblige. Besides nana Connie talks to my wife weekly so I’m extra motivated to stay on her good side. I had the box pulled from archive and it’s in a conference room. This way please.” The Lieutenant badged them in and down a hallway to a small interview room.
“Please be aware that there are cameras in this room monitoring your activity. You can open the box and examine its contents, but everything goes back after you’re done.”
Once they were alone with the box AB said, “Oh my god, that was the most beautiful man I have ever seen, on a screen or in person. I swear Sheila I was having impure thoughts.”
“Put a lid on it missy, we’re here on official business.” But she said it with a grin; she too had been impressed, and had some impure thoughts of her own.
The box was a standard cardboard banker’s box, but with a PD label on the side. The label had case information, and on the lid a form for logging who had accessed it. Sheila noted that Salazar had already filled out a line for today’s date with his name, and hers too. All done by the book, good.
Opening the box they encountered an evidence binder and several bagged items. There was not really all that much in there. So they opened the binder and perused the inventory list. Jackpot! The fourth item on the list was ‘bloody shirt’, no need to look further or touch the evidence.
Sheila replaced the binder and put the lid back on the box. She poked her head out the door and spotted Salazar down the hall at the coffee machine. He saw her and sauntered back.
“Need anything? Restrooms are to the right of the coffee machine I was just at.”
“No actually, we’re done here. We found what we were looking for right away.”
“Oh, and what was that?”
“The victim’s bloody shirt, since DNA lasts forever tucked in an evidence bag we can get a modern test done. So I’m going to assume for that to happen we’ll have to follow procedure, can you please point us in the right direction?”
Exiting PD HQ with the business card of the PD Legal rep, Sheila drove them back to the shop.
“Sheila, I hardly said two words the whole time we were at the Police Department. First I didn’t understand why we were there, and then Lieutenant gorgeous tied my tongue, and finally being in the same room as the evidence of Simpel’s murder. I didn’t know what to say then, and I’m not sure what to say now.”
“OK AB, you don’t need to say anything right now. I want you to go to your cubicle and write up a trip report. I want it on my desk before the end of the day; what you saw, what you learned, what you surmised, and a conclusion. Don’t think too hard, get into scribe mode and write a detailed report. Scoot.”
—-
“Hi Lester, got something to interrupt your golf game. I’m sending you an email with the contact info for the Legal rep at the local Police Department. Do what you need to get approval and access to have a DNA test done on the bloody shirt from the Simpel murder. I’ll attach a pic of the evidence box so you’d have all the case information. Yes, I know that case is done and dusted a long time ago. And Les, your efforts should be under the tightest client privilege. Thanks Les, please fast track this. Yes, I know it might take a while. We’ll get to what kind of test we want done once you’ve got approval to do it.”
Over the next few weeks not much happened, everybody settled into a comfortable routine. AB continued to be spoon fed security topics by Sheila, and the rest of the staff got used to the boss’s bright daughter being around. Things were positively fun, for a while.
Then the DNA comparison for Sharlot came back positive, Aunt and Niece. For anybody else that would have been conclusive, but Sheila wanted something ironclad.
“Hi Lester, calling you to get status on the Simpel DNA testing. Have you made any progress? Oh good, hopefully it wasn’t too hard to obtain approval. Ha! At your billing rate that means you can go on vacation on Bill’s dime. Let me know when the sample will be ready, and I’ll get Subject B’s swab ready to go with it for the comparison. Sorry, you don’t need to know. Yeah, sorry not gonna budge even for you. Thank you for your excellent work, always a pleasure Les.”
They sent the samples off to the same lab that AB had used, but this time they paid extra for expedited service. The lab guaranteed two weeks turnaround. Sheila would strangle somebody if it was anything more than that. Summer was almost over and they still hadn’t finished collecting evidence. This DNA was the last piece of the sordid puzzle.
It was exactly 14 days later that the letter came. Bill and AB found it when they got home that evening. Surprisingly its contents didn’t generate the drama that the initial revelations had. Bill had years to get used to the possibility so he was very prepared, AB not so much. But working at the shop, diving deep into the details with her original report and how it had grown as AB added to it had shielded her from the news. Father Daughter.
AB let out a shaky breath and, “Ok, we finally have the DNA topic settled. I’ll add that to my dossier tomorrow and we can finally move on to completing the rest of the file.
Just then Bill’s cell phone rang. “Hi Kate, where you at? Really! No, we hadn’t made any plans yet. Sure we’ll get cleaned up, where do you want to go? Pizza really? OK, no, it’s great. We haven’t seen much of you since the nomination. Yeah, thanks for saying that. But we knew what the cost would be; we talked about what you’d have to invest to make your dream a reality. Ok, sure. Bye, love you too.”
“AB you mother is in her car on the way home. She wants to go out for dinner at the pizza place. What an incredible coincidence, today of all days.”
“Hah! At least we won’t have to sit around the house trying to pretend to be a happy family, especially now daddy. Are you sure you’re ok with this? I can’t believe I’m not throwing things and raging to high heaven.”
“Like I said, I’ve had years to worry about the possibility. And yes, I hid my head in the sand knowing full well what the answer might be. But I want you to remember my words from that time at the pizza place when you first found out. We’ll get through this together. Come here baby; give your great father a hug.”
Kate breezed through the front door a few minutes later and after a brief hello went to her bedroom to change. When she came downstairs she had changed from her expensive suit to some jeans and a blouse. Not for the first time Bill marveled at how such a beautiful exterior could house an ice cold heart.
“Come on guys, let’s go. Bill you drive, I’ve had enough of being at the wheel; I want to relax with my family.” Kate was going to enjoy this moment of respite, part of her really did miss her loyal husband and mini-Kate daughter.
“An extra-large number three, three glasses, and a pitcher of diet soda. Hey Kate, do you want a salad?”
They grabbed a table out in the center of the room and sat down, all the world looking like regular family out for a relaxing evening. Kate dug into her salad with gusto, it was so like Bill to remember how much she liked the Caesar salad here. She then began telling them of her adventures on the campaign trail, emphasizing how she needed to keep her tone of campaigning without making it too overt. She had to maintain a certain level of decorum for a judgeship.
“Daddy, there’s a man in the booth to the right of the door taking pictures of us.”
AB saw a momentary flash, of something scary in her father’s eyes as he turned to look in that direction. Yup, some guy had a real camera out and was snapping shots of them, right out in the open. Bill started to get up.
“It’s OK, that’s Stanley from communications, we need the pics for this next phase of the campaign.”
Another different flash in Bill’s eyes, AB had gotten used to looking for those different personas of her father coming out. She marveled again at him, and wondered how many different versions of him there were inside.
“Kate you could have told us this was a setup.”
“Oh, Bill don’t let it worry you. We need those pics to be candid and not staged. Let’s just enjoy our food and try to ignore Stanley. Now where was I, oh yes. So I was at the capital meeting with Senator Lancaster…”
AB wanted to puke. Today of all days her mother decides to put them in a fishbowl. She dreaded being sucked into the campaign, to have to make public appearances. Daddy had warned her that this might eventually happen, but AB had hoped her mother would never ask. Then she chuckled inwardly, this was so typical of her mother. She probably never would ask them to come in person. Kate would use pics like these to ensure everything was just so, and not give her and Bill a chance to do or say something wrong in person.
They stayed for quite a bit longer than they usually would have, AB surmised it was to give Stanly plenty of shots for the campaign. As they got up to leave Kate thanked Stanley with a pat on his shoulder.
When they got home AB made some excuse and went to her room. Kate declared that the salad and pizza were just what she wanted, and now she needed a nice hot bath to top off the evening.
Bill was in bed reading when Kate came out of the bathroom drying her hair with a towel. She had tied it up so it would hang into the water, but the ends had gotten wet anyway. She was naked and as she rubbed her hair in the towel, some of her nicer parts jiggled in response. Bill knew what was coming; he knew all Kate’s tells. And come he did, twice to Kates three times. Yup he thought ruefully, that’s me, the great husband.
—-
The next day as they were driving to the shop, AB was seething. Last night’s disrespect had seemed so contrived to her, they were dolls to be set up in some folksy diorama for her mother’s benefit. Did her mother even see her and daddy as people any more? Was daddy just some live dildo she used when she stooped to share his bed, yes she’d heard enough noise to know what had gone on down the hall. Maybe Stephen wasn’t available last night and mother decided to throw her husband a bone. Or was he the bone? That brought a real snicker from AB.
“My, you are in a weird mood this morning baby. Did last night’s performance really affect you that much?”
“Daddy, when she called you to say she wanted to go for pizza a part of me thought she might have thawed toward you, toward us. I thought maybe she’d realized how far she’d strayed and was trying to make a move back. But no, it was all a setup, literally a photo op for her ambition.”
“Unfortunately your mother is too far gone. She has constructed her world to her specifications, and she’s determined what role you and I will play. The lessons Simpel taught her were pretty well ingrained by the time I was recruited, and she only stumbled briefly after the murder. It was only a year later when she came out of her grief and depression that she got right back on her path. And she’s been making steady progress ever since. From her perspective she’s gotten everything she wanted.”
“She such a fucking bitch!” AB said with plenty of heat.
“Baby you need to get a hold of your emotions. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but you are only 17. It’s so unfair that you’ve been forced to deal with such betrayal at a young age. You should be out and about with your buds, picking a college, sneaking kisses with Jeremy.”
“Daddy, ewe!!” but that bring a smile to her face. Her dad did know how to push her buttons, mostly in a good way. He was right; she needed to get in it under control. Letting her mother always dictate the direction of her every move, of her life, had gone on for her entire existence. And how had she done that exactly? She was never around, yet her mother controlled most aspects of her father’s and her life.
“Hey Sheila, I see you beat us into the office again. Everything OK?”
And with that Sheila walked up to her father and planted an intimate kiss on him and then hugged him tight. WHICH. HE. RETURNED!! AB had been shocked before, but this!? Did she know anything about the real world? What else was going on right in front of her that she failed to see?
“My love, it’s time to bring AB fully into the fold. She deserves to know all the facts, the whole truth. With the confirmation from the DNA lab, the last piece has been put in place. It’s time we looked at the completed puzzle and absorb what it really is. I know you must be affected by this, who wouldn’t be. But we need to move ahead, tell AB about our plans, what we’re going to do now. Are we ready to act?” The tone of voice Sheila used for that was so warm, so loving. This was a side of her AB had never even suspected existed. Her daddy was right; she had a lot to learn.
“My lady, you are right. Let’s go into the conference room, I guess it’s time we debriefed Miss Junior Field operative on the real deal. Just let me grab a soda and I’ll be right in.”
AB and Sheila went into the conference room but before they could sit down Sheila put her hands on AB’s shoulders and, “You know most of the story already, you’ve done a great job filling out your dossier when you thought I wasn’t looking. We’re going to tell you as much as we can, but there will be some things we’ll keep to ourselves for now, ‘need to know’.” And then Sheila put her hand lovingly on AB’s cheek and gave her a warm loving, reassuring smile. Just like a real mom would do.
“Ok my ladies, let’s begin. AB your part is to act as Analyst. I know you’ve been spending time in that department so you know their methods. Sheila and I will start at the beginning and run through up to today. We really have only two questions left, what is the problem we are trying to solve? And what is the most efficient action plan? Once we can agree on those, we can map a way forward.”
“I’ll start, we’ll go over the large milestones first, then come back to fill in the details. Your father and I met in the Army when I had been raped by three officers; they had damaged me so badly that I was some time recuperating, because the doctors were unable to put me back into working order. I was told I could no longer have intercourse, and could never have children. When I was released from the hospital, I took an M4 and shredded their legs, all three of them. They’d never hurt anybody again. Your father was called in by the General to fix the problems I had caused. He investigated and turned it into an accidental discharge by a pot head with battlefield stress. The pot head got an honorable discharge, and I got to finish my enlistment, and then got out.”
“Is that when you to, umm, got together?”
“That came slowly over time. Bill was so supportive and nurturing, while the doctors had patched my body, I was a long time healing my psyche. He’s been there helping me every step of the way. He’s still doing that.” Sheila didn’t hide the loving look she gave Bill, no need for that any more.
“I used my GI bill to get a BA in Criminal Justice and then worked at Chastain’s to get my two years of field experience in so I could apply to Quantico. I did fairly well and then for the next few years, was an FBI agent until I quit to help Bill start Ford Security. Bill has been the one constant for all these years; we’ve bonded in a way that transcends the physical.”
“OK my turn, I was working as a Supervisor at the Railroad when I met your mother, she was with the DA’s office prosecuting the case of some stolen TV’s. She and I hit it off immediately and in a couple of years we were married. Actually, it was because your mother turned up pregnant. That forced our hand and we got married. Unfortunately, your mom miscarried a short time later, that was very rough time for her. I did the best I could to support her. Two years later you came along and I was over the moon. It was when you were about two when I found out about your mom and Simpel. I was on the alert but very soon after that he was murdered.”
“After the murder I decided that I could no longer afford to operate blindly, missing what was right in front of me. I took security classes, really got into the technical details. And started keeping a closer eye on your mom. It was easy that first year as she was still grieving for her murdered lover. That gave me plenty of opportunity to dig into their relationship and start a dossier, kinda like what you’ve done. It was then that I decided that I wouldn’t let your parentage, or not knowing for sure, to affect our relationship. You were, and are my baby.”
“It was about a year after the murder that your mom came out of her funk and got back to work. And shortly thereafter, chose her first boyfriend. I was hurt beyond measure, really doubted myself. But I soldiered on; I had a precocious 3 year old to chase after. Since I worked mostly night shift in those early days, I was able to be with you during the day. I slept in the evenings. Which coincidentally gave your mom plenty of opportunity to work late, and pursue her other activities. Thank god for babysitters.”
“And that established the pattern of our lives for the next 10 years. I kept up my studies and surveillance of your mom, her dossier now growing quite large. I watched as she navigated the shark infested waters and learned to swim with them. She moved steadily upwards and got the attention of the party operatives, which eventually led to her nomination. I was the dutiful, not very exciting husband.”
“The other part of my story you already know – moving up in the Railroad because of my studies and accomplishments until I made Director. You know, your mom deserves some of the credit for that. My surveillance of her motivated me to keep up with the latest in bugging technology. Every time something new became available I tried it out on her. And once I had field tested it, I employed a similar thing at the Railroad. That more than helped me advance.”
“Then about five years ago I decided that I wanted to open my own shop. I’d gotten as far up the ladder at the Railroad as I could and was tired of all the politics. And so here we are.”
Sheila said, “OK, that about covers the background, that’s a good stopping point. Let’s take a 15 minute bio break.”
AB was thinking fast, the two adults had put the border on the jigsaw puzzle and fitted some of the bigger parts of the picture together. But there were still gaps, a bunch of pieces on to the side that needed to complete the puzzle, some of which she knew. She wondered what she didn’t know, was there something obvious she’d missed? But she appreciated the process, bringing all the facts together ensured everyone on the team had a clear vision of the case.
“Daddy, Sheila, I think I’ve got a preliminary analysis I want to share with you.” AB said when they were seated again.
“No honey, not yet. Here’s where you have to trust the process, saying out loud your initial thoughts might muddy the waters. It might lead your teammates down a rabbit hole. Keep your thoughts to yourself and let us finish the debrief portion of the process. We certainly want you to ask clarifying questions, but don’t share any conclusions yet.” Sheila had called her honey!! AB thought, boy her life was changing at an accelerated rate.
They spent the rest of the morning diving deeper into her mother’s activities. They reviewed the psych profile, the evidence of the affair, the timeline of her rise at the law firm, and a brief survey of the 11 boy toys including the current one, Stephen. Sheila called for a lunch break and said, “Obviously we’re not going to share the raw evidence of your mom’s affairs. Yes, we have pictures and video, but there is no point in your seeing that graphic evidence. Let’s get lunch, I’m famished.”
After lunch they spent the rest of the afternoon in filling in more of the timeline, adding AB’s contribution, which was short as she was only 17. But that was important, it was yet another area of manipulation her mother had perpetrated, she had forced AB into a mold and role.
“AB that’s enough for today. And you’ve got as complete a picture as we can manage. Sleep on all this, let your mind work its way thru all the details and in the morning we’ll continue. Just so you know, before we listen to your proposed answers to your father’s questions, we’ll need to go over the motivations of each of the involved parties to try and fully understand the dynamics of the situation. This case is not just static facts, it involves thinking feeling people.” As Sheila said those words AB got a deeper understanding of the process she had told her to trust. She was asking AB to hold herself apart from the case, to be analytic, even though she was one of the principles.
As she and her dad cooked dinner AB was pensive, thinking about motivations. One thing that occurred to her was her confusion as to why make this all such a big deal. Why not just divorce the bitch so her dad and Sheila could live happily ever after? And why hadn’t daddy done that the minute he’d found out about the affair?
AB was starting to slow down, her brain a whirlwind of facts and evidence. She decided that a hot shower would help her sleep, soon after that she was in bed drifting off. Her mind turned to the happy part of all this, her dad and Sheila. Her dad had Sheila to support him, he hadn’t been alone suffering. Her dad and Sheila, Sheila and her dad. Sheila… And she was asleep.
The cameras recorded a troubled sleep, AB tossed and turned for a couple of hours. Even in her sleep her young mind was putting it all together, reviewing, sorting, trying to make sense of it all. At about 2am she finally settled down, her face showed a brief smile before it settled into a fully relaxed repose that signaled her brain had finally quieted enough to let her rest.
—-
AB woke refreshed and ready to tackle the day. Her proposed analysis of the case, and its solution fully formed. She only had one question left, and then they could all get on with it.
AB asked her dad to stop at the donut shop, she felt a little like celebrating. While there they picked up a sugar bomb for Sheila too. I seemed a certain somebody had a weakness for lemon filled jelly donuts.
Once again Sheila had beat them into the office, did that woman ever sleep? “You two are going to gray my hair. Bill! Now AB knows my kryptonite is a jelly filled.”
Good thought AB, they were on a relaxed jovial tone. That would serve her purposes to a T.
AB took the lead, “Right, we have four principal parties, and a host of others orbiting. We can focus on the principle’s motivations since they are the ones who we have to ensure get the win win. And since three of the principles are in this room, we can safely share our motivations. You two have shown me that switching personas is a good thing, often necessary.”
“The other thing I’ve concluded is that our three motivations actually are the same as the problem we are trying to solve. So I think this part of the discussion will go quickly. In short, we three are trying to get out from under mother’s control of our lives. And the answer to what is the root cause is simple too, mother has not treated us as rational thinking persons, opting instead to think of us as less, pets almost. She decides when we eat and when we get treats and rewards, like pet animals. She’s dehumanized us, and that lets her discount our wants and needs, and our desires.”
“I can see by your nodding that we’re in agreement. I knew this wouldn’t take long; I woke up feeling confident in my analysis. I think we can move on to an action plan, which I think is simple too. Just like the hair brush caper, we tell our field agent what we want done and then let them handle the dirty work. In this case, daddy and I will be those field agents. The what is to secure our freedom from mother’s domination.”
“Let me assume the field agent persona. I will confront mother with my dossier to blackmail her into letting me go, to forge my own path. Which is where my motivation, analysis, and evidence all come together. My ultimate motivation is to replace daddy at the head of Ford Security.”
Bill and Sheila leaned forward in their chairs.
“Hang on, don’t react yet. Hah, your words right back at you. Daddy you said you found your calling in the Army, when you were already a grown man. I’ve got the advantage of finding it at ‘only 17’. I think I understand what it’s going to take to get there, and that it will take years of preparation and training, but I don’t see any other path for me. It just feels right.”
“Hang with me just a bit longer. I’m going off to college for sure, but it’s going to be for a BA in Criminal Justice. I’ll work my summers here at the shop, and after I graduate full time to get the field experience to qualify for Quantico. Where I will try to be at least as good a trainee as Sheila was. And when I make it to the FBI, as bad ass a Field Agent as she was. So you see, my path is a combination of both of yours – follow the trial Sheila blazed, and then step into daddy’s shoes here at the shop. It has the added benefit that you can ensure that I am trained properly to be your replacement. Let that sink in, sleep on it. We’ll talk more about that later, let’s stick to the case.”
“Daddy, you have a field agent role to play too. You can use the same tactic as I’m proposing to blackmail mother into granting your freedom so you and Sheila can finally be together for real, out in the open.”
“I like the simple elegance of the solution, it’s a real win win win. All three of us win. But mother doesn’t, she is left alone to pursue her ambition. WE ARE GOING TO BURN THE BITCH. I DON’T CARE IF SHE DIES LONELY AND ALONE WE’LL BE RID OF HER ONCE AND FOR ALL. SHE HAS TO PAY FOR ALL THE DAMAGE SHE’S DONE, THE DISRESPECT, THE HURT SHE’S CAUSED DADDY!!!” AB had had enough of holding her emotions in check, the adults had asked her to bottle it all up to work the case. But her white hot anger that had been simmering not too far below the surface had finally burst thru.
Sheila and her dad had discussed when AB would finally blow. They were ready for her outburst, but perhaps had not quite how vehement she’d be. AB was red in the face, both her hands balled into fists, just like the day she fainted. But she didn’t, for half a minute she sat there steam practically pouring from her ears like some cartoon before calming herself, regaining her composure.
“Ok now that that is out of the way, there’s only one more thing, one last question to answer before we discuss the timing of our reveal. Here, let me plug in my computer. There is a picture we need to review that will provide background for my question.” AB plugged in her computer and opening her dossier started scrolling thru a series of pics from the Murder section.
As she was nearing the one she wanted, she got their attention once more, dragging their eyes to her and away from the screen. In a calm controlled voice AB said, “Daddy my only question is this, what did you say to Simpel before you shot him?” Both her dad and Sheila reared back in their chairs as if they’d been slapped. Both of them, almost at the same instant became aware of the picture AB had projected on the screen. It was of the press conference where the PD and FBI announced that they had found Simpel’s murderer, some drugged out vet – Salvatore Marsh. There at the extreme left of the pic was Sheila Marks, Junior FBI agent.
—-
AB gave them a few moments to regain their composure, although it was clear she had rattled them, right where she wanted them. Again in a calm controlled voice, AB thought – this is my ice queen persona, turned to her dad and, “Daddy just to confirm, it was Salvatore Marsh who took the fall for the shooting of the three officers back in the army?”
Bill was numb and completely blindsided by AB, all he could do was nod. Who was this, this steely eyed woman, and where was his little girl?
“You two have been teaching me to see what was right in front of me. That has been the big lesson, you said it yourself daddy when you talked about finding out the truth about mother. You had everything right in front of you the whole time, you just didn’t see. We’ll this picture is one of the first one’s I collected back on that horrible day when I overheard those two ladies in the bathroom. I’ve looked at it a hundred times, and never really saw it. In fact, I didn’t look at it to prep for this meeting. I already knew it was there. My brain had seen what my eyes didn’t. Sometime in my sleep last night it all came together. You two fixed the circumstances, altered the situation, so you could hand out swift justice and make everybody happy. Even though you two were the only ones who actually knew what happened. You two pulled the same cover-up as you did back in the Army.”
“I’m going to get a diet soda, you guys want anything?” AB spoke as if it was any other meeting, a simple break from reviewing the morning calendar. It was anything but; she had uncovered their most protected secret, one they never talked about even amongst themselves. While she was gone her dad and Sheila could only shake their heads, their eyes locked on each other. Both of them wondering what they were going to do now that they’d birthed this, this unknown creature.
AB came back with two waters for them, which each of them took and downed a big swig to help calm them. “I don’t think you need to worry too much about anybody else figuring this out. They would have to have access to Army records for you two and Salvatore Marsh. Plus they would have to trace Sheila’s career to see she was part of the Simpel murder investigation. And of course nobody could possibly know about the fix for the situation of the officer’s shooting. No, your secret is safe with me, and I certainly won’t tell. Besides the murder case was solved to everybody’s satisfaction, why would anybody even want to look at it now?”
“So I think that just about wraps things up. There are only a couple of details to agree on. When do we confront mother, and how do we do it? My suggestion is we wait until she’s won the nomination, while she’s in the middle of basking in her triumph. We gotta catch her when she’s on that high, that way we can hit her between the eyes, get her off guard, and finish her, just like Simpel. Her fall will be spectacular, she won’t see it coming and it will devastate her in the best possible way. We’ll then be free of her, me to pursue my calling, you two to be together. We all ride into the sunset. Good plan huh!?”
Coming out of his daze Bill said, “I didn’t say anything to him, didn’t give him a chance to speak. It was all over in and instant, the only thing I did was wait for him to recognize me by the light of the porch. He had touched my woman, he needed to go. He needed to pay. Not only my sense of justice by my morals had been violated, this man was evil and had to be dealt with.” Bill had spoken in a cold toneless voice, but one that carried a deadly menace. Wow.
“I was satisfied with the swift justice; I needed to protect what was mine, to eliminate this outside attacker. I’ve been doing that ever since, protecting you primarily but shielding myself too. I needed, and still must, keep my promise to nurture and protect you. But it’s almost over; you’re going off to college, becoming an adult. Your mom is going to achieve her ambition. I can finally relax; I can finally start to live my life for me.” With that he took one of Sheila’s hands and gave her a loving look.