Although they’d never met, Jamie knew that Roy Tanner was a retired Kansas City homicide detective, who was now a private detective, and that he worked for Luciano and Bellini, Ben’s law firm. Ben had never lost a case, and many people gave Roy Tanner at least part of the credit.
Jamie explained about going back for his backpack and then finding Justin, as he was now, in his Jeep. “We just finished football practice, Justin must be passed out or something, but he didn’t even stir when I knocked on his window.”
They could hear the sirens. Jamie looked questioningly at Tanner. “Mr. Tanner, Dad said he was on his way.”
“I was closer.” Roy exuded calm, hoping it would flow to Jamie. “He was leaving court when you called. He’ll be here as soon as he can. You haven’t called your mother, have you?”
Jamie looked at him. Is this guy nuts? “Of course not.”
His mother was pregnant and because of her age, it was a high-risk pregnancy. There was no way he was going to risk upsetting her. Jamie checked the time on his phone. It was 5:30 p.m.
“I’ll wait for Dad, but if we’re not going to be home for dinner, someone’s going to have to call her. Better him than me,” Jamie said as the police car pulled into the lot.
The young uniformed officer got out of the car and approached Jamie and Tanner. “Which one of you called?”
“I did.” Jamie responded.
“Okay, Kid, tell me what’s going on.” The policeman, who didn’t look old enough to shave, said.
Jamie motioned toward his friend’s Jeep. “That’s my friend Justin Harper. We just finished football practice and were walking to our cars. I forgot something and had to go back to the locker room. When I got back to the parking lot, I found him like that and he hasn’t moved.”
The policeman looked at Tanner. “You a teacher here?”
“No, my name’s Roy Tanner. I work for Jamie’s father.”
Tanner could have told him that he used to be “on the job” but it was irrelevant, and everything about this young cop shouted rookie. Why waste his breath?
Ben pulled into the lot and parked his Lincoln Navigator next to Tanner’s SUV. He got out and walked toward Jamie. “You alright?”
Jamie looked imploringly at his father, “Yeah, I’m okay, but Justin still hasn’t moved. Why can’t we get into his SUV and check on him?”
Ben looked at the uniformed cop and introduced himself.
“I need to call this in.” The officer explained.
“Come on, officer. You have reason to believe the kid’s in distress. Let’s get the vehicle open and check on him. If you’re worried about the kid or his parents, I’ll take responsibility.” Ben said as he nodded to Tanner.
Roy Tanner walked to his SUV and came back carrying what’s commonly called a slim-jim. A slim-jim is a flat piece of metal with a notch cut in it. Law enforcement, locksmiths, and car thieves alike use it to open locked car doors. Tanner walked to Justin’s Jeep, inserted the slim-jim at the window, gave it a yank, and unlocked the vehicle. Tanner opened the door and used his knuckle to push the button to unlock the doors.
Jamie called to his friend. “Justin? You okay?”
Ben tilted his head toward the officer. “Are you going to check on the kid, or am I?”
The cop didn’t move. Ben walked to the passenger side of the Jeep and used the side of his fingers to pull the door handle. He reached in and felt the side of Justin’s neck, looking for a pulse. He looked at Tanner and gave his head a slight jerk indicating that he needed to get Jamie away from the vehicle.
He looked at the cop and spoke in tones he intended only for the uniformed man. “You need to call a bus. I’m no doctor, but I’d say he’s just barely hanging on.”
Ben walked toward Jamie. He angled himself so that Jamie had to look away from Justin’s vehicle to talk to him. “He’s alive, but I’m not going to lie to you Bambino, it doesn’t look good. We’ll wait for the ambulance, but I don’t think there’s anything more you can do.”
Ben’s cell phone buzzed and he pulled it from his pocket. Looking at Jamie, he said, “Your mother.”
“Red, what’s up?” His voice in no way gave away the emergency that surrounded him.
Lane had told him before they were married that the worst thing he could ever do was to lie to her. At the time, she had discussed lies of commission and lies of omission. However, he was a lawyer, and in this case, he was going to skirt the truth, at least until he got home and could talk with her in person. In all likelihood, there was nothing to tell. After all, at this point, they had no idea what had happened to Justin.
“I’m making meat loaf and au gratin potatoes for dinner. I’m just checking to see what time you’re going to be home.”
Ben checked his watch. It was nearly six o’clock. He knew that the meatloaf would take at least an hour. “Is it in the oven yet?” He asked knowing that if she’d started as soon as she had gotten home that dinner would be ready soon.
Lane laughed. “Yes. Dinner will be ready at about 6:30, but I can slow it down a bit if you need more time.”
“No need. I’ll be home soon. I love you.” Ben said, anxious to end the call before the sirens from the ambulance could be heard.
“I love you. I’ll see you soon.”
Ben had ended the call just in time; he could hear sirens. In moments, the ambulance came into the parking lot and Ben turned toward Jamie and Tanner. He looked at Tanner and nodded toward the Jeep. “Follow the ambulance and see what you can find out at the hospital. Call me when you know something.”
Ben nodded to Jamie. “Go home. Tanner will call with an update later.” He patted Jamie’s shoulder. “We can tell your Mom about this during dinner, but it would probably be best if we don’t both show up at home at the same time.”
Jamie nodded and got into his truck. Tanner and Ben stood watching the action at Justin’s Jeep. Tanner looked at Ben, “Go on home. I’ve got this.”
Chapter 2
It took Jamie less than 10 minutes to get home. He was late and he knew that his mother would probably ask why. Lane didn’t normally nag about things, but she did insist that her family keep her informed about where they were and when they would be home especially if they knew they’d be home later than usual. She was even stricter around meal times.
Jamie and Lane had moved into Ben’s house after the wedding. The house was nearly 6000 square feet; it had five bedrooms, a state of the art gym; outside, there was a swimming pool, a basketball court, and a tennis court. There was a three car attached garage and two additional bays in an unattached garage where Ben and Lane parked their convertibles in the off-season. Jamie pulled into his bay in the garage and walked into the house.
“Hey, Mom. I’m home.” He called as he entered the house and walked toward his bedroom to deposit his backpack and change clothes.
“Hey, yourself. Go ahead and change. Dinner will be ready in about 20 minutes. I talked to Ben, he should be home soon.” Lane replied.
His mother had no idea that Jamie had just left Ben and he certainly wasn’t going to say anything about what happened at school until Ben got home. He went into his room and changed out of his school uniform of khaki’s, dress shirt, and tie.
As Jamie walked toward the kitchen, he heard Lane and Ben in the kitchen. He decided to hang out in the hall for a few minutes. His mother and her new husband were very affectionate toward one another and Jamie sometimes felt like a voyeur as they kissed and hugged and sometimes danced around the kitchen while dinner was being prepared. It was best not to be in the same room with them when Ben first came home from work.
Lane was five feet ten inches tall to Ben’s six feet four inches and when she was in her heels, it didn’t seem like much difference, but in her stocking feet, as she was now, she had to stand on tiptoes to reach his lips. Ben pulled her close and as their tongues touched, Lane moaned which always drove him to the edge.