Ben looked at his baby brother. "Okay, let me have it."
Pauli shook his head. "She's amazing, bro and that's all I've got to say. Oh, and I can't wait to meet her kids."
Since their hotel was at the airport, it was a very short trip to pick up Maggie. Lane parked and got out to help Maggie store her suitcase in the cargo area. Once they were both belted in, Lane put the SUV in gear and then explained that Ben and his brother were going to meet them at the hospital.
"Paul is a doctor here in Saint Louis. He might be able to offer some professional assessment on Jeff's condition if you'd like."
Lane parked the SUV and they were walking into the hospital. Maggie was obviously worried, and would be until she could see Jeff for herself.
"I am so anxious to see him. Tell me, does he have tubes and wires everywhere?"
Lane laughed. "No, but he did have an IV last night because he was dehydrated. Of course, that could be gone today. When I talked with him last night, he was drinking water fine. As I told you this morning I'm going to let Jeff tell you what happened himself, but I should warn you that there might be a police guard outside his door. The guard was put there for Jeff's protection, but the kidnappers have been caught now so he should be safe."
As they exited the elevator on Jeff's floor, Ben and Pauli were waiting for them. “Maggie, this is Dr. Bellini. Paul, this is Maggie Donaldson."
Maggie and Pauli shook hands. "Have you seen my son Dr. Bellini?"
"No, I thought you'd like to see your son first. Then if he'd like, I can review his chart, but none of that may be necessary. I understand that it's entirely possible that he'll be released today."
Ben hugged Maggie. "It's good to see you again, Maggie. You two go on back. Pauli and I will be in the waiting area."
Lane showed Maggie the way to Jeff's room. The police guard was still in place and Lane nodded to him and had Maggie precede her into the room. Jeff was sitting up. The IV was gone, he'd shaved, and he looked like a different person from the one Lane had left the night before. She hung back as Maggie practically ran to the bed and embraced her son.
Lane waved to Jeff and said, "I'll leave you two alone to talk."
She joined Ben and Pauli in the waiting area. "The police guard is still at Jeff's door. I thought he'd be gone since they've caught the kidnapper and the drug dealer."
"I imagine they wanted to keep the guard in place until things are taken care of in Nebraska. There are still some arrests to make concerning the meth house. And, the girl had help getting Jeff to Missouri. As I understand it, the negotiations and interrogations went through the night."
"I was thinking that if they release Jeff today, perhaps he and Maggie could follow us home and they could spend the night at my house and leave for Omaha Tuesday morning. While I'm sure both he and Maggie are anxious to get home, seven plus hours in a car might be too much for Jeff all at once."
"That's probably a good idea." Pauli told Lane.
"Since Jeff's in there telling the whole story to Maggie, would you fill in the pieces for us? I know that the blonde kidnapped Jeff, and that it had to do with the house where his truck died but that's about it."
Lane explained the whole thing to Ben and Paul as Jeff had told it to her. Pauli shook his head, thinking how lucky he was that the police had saved him, even though it hadn't felt like they were saving him as they threw him onto the concrete floor in that warehouse and tightened zip ties around his wrists.
Maggie came into the waiting room. Ben, Pauli, and Lane stood.
"I can't believe what he's been through. But he says he's fine and he must be since they're going to release him today." She looked at Ben "I understand you still haven't met Jeff, and you've done so much to get him safely to me. Will you come with me?"
"Sure, there's more to the story. Things Jeff couldn't tell you because he didn't know. Maybe it will help if we fill in those blanks for both of you at the same time."
They followed Maggie to Jeff's room and waited as Maggie did introductions. Maggie sat on the foot of Jeff's bed saying Lane should take the chair. Ben explained about the drug busts in Missouri and Nebraska, and about Pauli's involvement with the blonde girl.
“What the heck is her name anyway, I can’t just keep calling her blondie.”
At the same time both Jeff and Pauli said, "Star."
They all laughed. What was it Jeff had said about stranger danger where a beautiful woman was involved. Lane hoped that these two guys had learned a valuable lesson about women, but somehow, she doubted it. She looked at Ben and wondered at what age a man started to think more with his big head than with his little one. She suspected it might be 15 minutes after death, but it wasn't something she was going to say aloud.
Italian Translations
Paolo Italiano: Speak Italian, Pauli
Me lo dica che cosa è successo: Just tell me what happened.
bella donna dai capelli rossi: Beautiful red-haired woman
Preview
Family Secrets
Lane Parker loved the movies. She'd grown up in a rural farming community where, in an effort to encourage adults to spend more money in the local stores, the merchants sponsored a free Saturday Matinee for the kids. She'd spent countless hours watching the old movies, versions of action flicks - Tarzan starring Johnny Weissmuller; suspense thrillers - like The Pit and the Pendulum - staring Vincent Price; or romantic comedies - starring Elvis Presley while her faithful dog Ginger waited not so patiently in front of the theater. Perhaps that was what angered her most about the murder. Sure, she was bothered that one human being decided it was their right to take the life of another human being but what really irked her was that they did it in a theater filled with kids, well teenagers at least.
The medical examiner's van had removed the body. The detectives had questioned the theater employees - mostly teenaged kids who acted as if this was the coolest thing that had ever happened to them. The multiplex manager was standing in front of the cop in charge, yelling about lost revenues. On one level, it was easy to sympathize with him. It was, after all, Saturday night - the biggest movie night of the week and it was release weekend for the new Jason Barlow action film, which was expected to break all Jason's very impressive previous box office records and be the summer blockbuster of all times. But, this guy really needed to get his priorities straight. One of the movie patrons was dead. The place was closed for the night whether this guy liked it or not.
She had a sinus headache from hell and sat with her eyes closed, as she pinched the bridge of her nose. She felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Ms. Parker?" She slowly turned to face the man in charge.
"I'm Detective McGuire. I understand you found the body." She nodded ever so slightly, careful not to give her head more reason to throb. He went on.
"I know you spoke with one of other officers earlier, but I'd like to ask you some questions. Would you come with me?" She rose slowly; sometimes the slightest change in altitude would intensify the throbbing.
"Can you show me where the man was sitting?" He asked as he led her into theater 18. The scene of the crime as they say. They hadn't put up all that yellow and black "Police Line Do Not Cross" tape that you see on television yet and she wondered if they would.