Jubilee's Journey (The Wyattsville Series) (43 page)

“Afraid not.” Mahoney explained that he was a detective with the Northampton Precinct and asked for Gomez’s home number.

“It’s probably better to wait ‘til Monday,” the voice said. “Gomez is none too fond of you Northampton boys.”

“Will do,” Mahoney said and hung up. He then grabbed the Wyattsville directory and started calling the Gomezs. Although the directory listing was for a Maria Gomez, Hector answered the third number he called.

“I’ve got something for you,” Mahoney said.

“Who’s this?” Hector replied.

“Jack Mahoney, Northampton.”

“What the hell—”

“Look, I’m doing you a favor here,” Mahoney said. Then he went on to explain what he’d just heard. “I’m off the case, so this’s a chance for you to step in and grab the glory.”

“How do I know this ain’t another one of your hot shot deals?” Hector asked.

“You don’t,” Mahoney answered. “But I’m at the hospital right now, and it’s seven o’clock. I’ll sit on it until eight-thirty. If you’re not here by then, I’m going to turn it in to Captain Rogers.” He hung up the telephone.

Mahoney’s next call was to Christine. “I’m going to be later than I thought,” he said and promised to make it up to her.

Minutes later he called Olivia Doyle.

The Carmella Encounter

W
hen the telephone rang Olivia didn’t answer it. She glanced up at the clock. Seven-fifteen; it was probably Clara. If not Clara, then Seth, or perhaps Jeanine.
I’ll call back in a few minutes,
she thought and slid a tray of cookies into the oven. While the cookies baked she washed the dishes, tidied the kitchen, and leafed through the latest issue of
Ladies Home Journal
. It was nearly a half-hour later when she remembered about the call.

Olivia hurried to the answering machine and pushed the Play button, expecting to hear Clara’s voice. Instead it was Detective Mahoney.

His message was short and to the point.

“Missus Doyle, this is Jack Mahoney,” he said. “I’m at the hospital and wanted to let you know your suspicion was right. We’ve confirmed that Paul Jones was
not
involved in the robbery.”

That was it. No details saying how such information came to light, just that it was. Olivia waited for a moment, thinking there would be another message trailing the first. An explanation of sorts. The tape stopped, and the machine clicked off. Not trusting she’d heard the message correctly, she played it a second time, then a third. Each time the words were the same. And each time she could almost hear Mahoney’s voice sounding a bit happier than the time before.

After she’d listened to the recording three times, Olivia snapped off the machine and hurried into the living room.

“You were right about your brother,” she told Jubilee. “Detective Mahoney called and said they know Paul was not involved in that robbery.”

A smile such as Olivia had never before seen lit up the girl’s face. “Can we go see Paul now?”

“Yes, I believe we can,” Olivia answered happily.

While Ethan went in search of the shoes he’d been wearing, Olivia called Clara to share the news. “It seems a small miracle that the children will finally be reunited.”

“Thank heaven!” Clara replied. Then she went on to say how all along she’d suspected Jubilee’s brother couldn’t possibly be involved in something so scandalous. “Family upbringing shows through, and I’m betting the brother is a fine young fellow.”

By then it was after eight and rapidly approaching what should have been the children’s bedtime. Instead of telling them to go brush their teeth and get their pajamas on, Olivia loaded both kids into the car and started for the hospital. Mahoney had only mentioned that he was there. He’d said nothing about Paul, but Olivia’s listening was love-impaired and she heard what she wanted to hear.

When Sidney regained consciousness, Carmella Klaussner’s heart swelled to five times its normal size and overflowed with the joy of living. For the past three days she’d walked around so deliriously happy she found it impossible not to smile. She held on to that smile from the time she opened her eyes in the morning until she closed them at night. When Carmella crawled into bed, her face ached from all that smiling but she didn’t care. She once again had her Sidney.

Until today nothing in the entire world could have taken Carmella’s smile. But in mere moments everything changed. Now a sliver of regret stabbed her skin like a steel splinter. She thought back on the phone call she’d made. She remembered the words she’d said. They were cold, heartless. She hadn’t waited for justice to take its course. She’d demanded it right then and there. The boy who had saved Sidney’s life was in jail, and she was to blame. After three days of thanking the Lord for returning her Sidney, Carmella fell to her knees and began praying for forgiveness. 

Just as she uttered her last “Amen,” she lifted her eyes and saw the boy’s sister coming down the hallway. Certain it could only be divine providence, Carmella jumped up and ran from the room. Without any explanation, she squatted and hugged Jubilee to her chest. “You poor child,” she moaned. “I have wronged you and your family terribly.”

Olivia and Ethan Allen exchanged looks of confusion.

“Do we know you?” Olivia asked.

Carmella stood. “Maybe not, but I’m the one responsible for your boy being in jail.”

“I’m not in jail,” Ethan Allen said, “Paul is.”

“And it’s entirely my fault,” Carmella acknowledged. She explained that she was Sidney’s wife. “I was beside myself with grief over Sidney, and I wanted your boy to suffer the way I was suffering.”

Olivia noticed how the woman continued to refer to Paul as “her boy.”

“I was wrong,” Carmella said. “I see that now, and I’m going to make things right. I’ll make certain your boy goes free.  In fact, I’ll do it right now,” Carmella added. “I’ll march myself into that police station and demand they let your boy go free!”

After several minutes of listening, Olivia began to put the pieces together. “So, you’re saying it was you who put that story in the newspaper?”

“Yes, and I’m ashamed to admit it.” Carmella’s shoulders drooped. She stood hunched over with a penitent gaze focused on the floor. “According to Sidney, your boy came into the store looking for a job and had nothing whatsoever to do with what happened. He got in the way of that bullet because he tried to stop the robber.” After she’d finished her story, Carmella grabbed Jubilee’s hand and tugged her toward Sidney’s room. Olivia and Ethan Allen followed along.

Mahoney stood to the side of the room. Gomez was next to Sidney, asking questions and scribbling notations of what was said.

“The boy came in asking for a job,” Sidney said.

Gomez wrote “asking for job.”

“Then what?” he asked.

“The man in the leather jacket came in maybe a minute later.”

Mahoney’s eyes were fixed on Sidney, so at first he didn’t notice Olivia standing behind Carmella. When he finally caught sight of her, he asked, “What are you doing here?”

“You called, and Jubilee was anxious to see her brother.”

“Paul’s not here,” Mahoney said. “He’s still in holding.”

In an unexpected burst of generosity, Gomez said, “I can fix that.” He gave a sheepish smile. “Now that I’ve got Mister Klaussner’s testimony, there’s no longer a reason to hold the kid.”

“Blessed be the Lord,” Carmella murmured. “Your boy will be at home with you tonight!”

Jubilee’s grin stretched ear to ear. “Tonight?”

“I guess so,” Gomez nodded. “I’m gonna need an hour or so to wrap up the paperwork. Then he can go.” The grumpy face Hector Gomez usually wore was gone; he’d returned to thinking about the possibility of a promotion. 

Without looking inside her head, a person could tell Jubilee was celebrating the thought of being with her brother again.

Happy as Olivia was for Jubilee, she couldn’t help thinking about how Carmella kept calling Paul “her” boy. The lower part of her face was curled into a smile, but her forehead was creased with worry lines. Where would she put another child? And what would the Rules Committee have to say about it? Olivia could already picture a steamy spiral of smoke coming from Jim Turner’s ears. While there had been a remote chance of her remaining in the building once she’d taken Jubilee in, with three children such a thought was beyond thinkable.

Gomez finished questioning Sidney Klaussner, then left with a smile on his face and a fistful of notes in his pocket. Mahoney followed him out a few minutes later. It was already nine-thirty. On the way out of the hospital, Jack stopped in the gift shop and bought Christine a bouquet of yellow daisies and baby’s breath. He’d hoped to get roses, but this was the last remaining bouquet and the florist had closed hours earlier.

Olivia stayed behind because Carmella latched onto her hand and said, “Please don’t go, Sidney just loves talking to the children.”

It was apparent that Jubilee and Ethan Allen were enjoying it also, because they were both locked into listening to Sidney’s account of the robbery.

“I knew that man was ill-intentioned when I saw the look on his face,” Sidney said. “Then a speck of sunlight flashed against the gun he was pulling from his pocket, so I reached down and grabbed the Browning.”

“Was you scared?” Ethan Allen asked.

“Sure I was, but being scared don’t count for much when you’re facing up to a hell-bent crazy person with a gun.”

“And Paul punched the crazy man?” Jubilee added.

“More like shoved him,” Sidney said; then he continued with the story.

While the children listened wide-eyed to Sidney, Carmella kept a tight hold on Olivia’s hand. “I can never begin to make up for the heartache I’ve caused you and your boy, but rest assured, I will spend the rest of my days trying.”

“Well, I don’t really think that’s necessary.”

“I insist. Surely there’s something I can do. Some way to help? Some way to atone?”

“Well, I suppose if you really want to, you could make a contribution to the Bicycle Ball. It’s an event the Wyattsville Arms hosts every August.”

Olivia told how the ball got started the summer Ethan Allen came to live with her. “We use the proceeds to buy bicycles for needy children.”

A sparkling glimmer suddenly appeared in Carmella’s eyes. “Oh, we’d be thrilled to help. We won’t just contribute. We can serve on the decorating committee, provide food, and, of course, attend the ball.”

Sidney, who was none too fond of lace-napkin teas or dances, glanced over. “What if I’m not up to dancing yet?”

“Don’t worry,” Carmella assured him. “You will be.”

By the time Olivia and the kids left to pick up Paul at the Wyattsville station house, Carmella could see herself becoming Olivia’s best friend and Sidney a benefactor to the children.

She sat beside Sidney and smiled. It was apparent that the Lord had not only forgiven her but also shown her how she was to atone for such rash judgment.

The Homecoming

I
t was ten-thirty when Olivia walked out of the Wyattsville station house with all three children. Paul was taller than she’d expected and, compared to Jubilee or Ethan Allen, a lot quieter. Jubilee had climbed atop Paul’s shoulders and sat there so comfortably, so snuggled close, it made Olivia think the girl had done this same thing for much of her short life. Even with the added weight on his shoulders Paul stood tall and straight. As he walked side by side with Ethan Allen, the two boys talked.

Olivia slowed her step so she could watch the trio. They walked as a family, close together, words passing from one to the other. At first it seemed as though an aura surrounded them, but when Olivia looked more closely she could see it was more than an aura. It was a love so palpable it generated the feeling of warmth, of contentment, of quiet family nights and wordless devotion.

They crossed the parking lot and climbed into the car, Paul and Jubilee in the back seat, Ethan Allen up front next to Olivia. For a short while Jubilee talked about the things she’d done and the people she’d met, but before they crossed Monroe Street her words slowed and her head dropped sleepily onto Paul’s chest. He lifted his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders. Without opening her eyes, she snuggled into him the way one might bury their head in a feather pillow.