Cascade (42 page)

Under the cover of darkness, they were
escorting him to DRDC. Once there, they took the Tag Hauer watch
he’d bought when Jake had offered him a job. They took his sobriety
ring, his wallet, his keys, the gold chain bracelet Sandy gave him
for Christmas and every other symbol of his former life. They
stripped him down, made him shower and redress into an orange
prisoner jumpsuit. They gave him a blanket and escorted him to a
cell.

No one was happy to see him. No one made
jokes. It was all business, all prison. He was just another one of
the livestock housed in this barn.

The guard opened the cell and he stepped
inside. He barely had time to clear the gate when the door clanged
closed. The lock made an ominous ‘click’ when it closed. Aden stood
behind the bars staring out into the prison.

“
It’s hard to get used to
at first,” a man’s voice came from behind him. “But you’ll do
fine.”

Aden turned around to see who spoke to him.
A man stood from a bunk on the right side of the room. Aden
blinked. That’s Molly’s husband. Jacob’s bookkeeper Molly’s
husband. Pete.

“
Pete?” Aden asked.
“What?”

“
Hi Aden,” he said. “They
told me they were putting us together. They thought since we knew
each other, I wouldn’t be influenced by your fame.”

“
What are you doing
here?”

“
Drugs,” they said
together.

“
I thought you kicked it,”
Aden said. “You’ve been driving for us for a year. And I know they
pee test you every time you step into a truck. Hair follicle test
every three months.”

“
Yeah, I had a year and
three days,” Pete said. “Then… I don’t know what happens. I miss
the life, I guess. Molly’s been working a lot for Jake. They’ve
gotten really busy. She’s making great money.”

“
Too much of a good
thing?”

“
Nah, I swear she and Jake
have a thing.”

“
Molly and Jake?” Aden
shook his head. He sat down on the bunk across from Pete. “Have you
seen Jake with Jill?”

“
I was at the wedding
reception. But otherwise, I haven’t.” Pete shook his head. “I went
to high school with Jill. She and Trevor were always a thing. It’s
hard to believe she could be with someone else. But Molly says I’m
a fool to think that she’s with Jake. Anyway, I got pissed off and
stupid jealous.”

“
Started using again,”
Aden said. “I’ve done that. Rewarded myself. I deserve a
little…”

“
Right, that’s exactly
right,” Pete said. “Fuck this, I’m going out. I was gone for three
days. When I got home, Molly was mad. I’ve never seen her that mad.
We argued and the neighbors called the cops. I was angry, high,
drunk, obnoxious and on parole.”

“
Revoked your
parole?”

“
Yeah,” Pete said. “I
either get three years community corrections or three years in
Cañon City. Depends on what they say here.”

“
Wow, I guess that was
worth it.”

Aden got up to review their space. Two
bunks, sink and toilet. Nothing fancy. At least it was clean. Pete
watched him look around.

“
Why am I famous?” Aden
asked then sat down again.

“
You beat up that
chester,” Pete said. “It’s not such a big deal here at DRDC but in
the general population, you’re a hero.”

“
Lucky me.”

“
I guess that was worth
it,” Pete repeated what Aden has said.

“
Not so much,” Aden said.
“I haven’t done this in a while.”

“
Don’t worry,” Pete said.
“I’ll walk you through it. It’s pretty easy.”

“
Thanks.”

“
There’s something you
could do for me,” Pete said. “In return. If you don’t
mind.”

“
What?”

“
I have three kids. And
Molly. I love them. And when I sit here, I know they’re the best
thing in my life, the only thing that matters. Without them, I’m
nothing.”

“
But getting high takes
all that away?”

“
I love getting high,”
Pete said. “I can’t have both. Molly says she’s done. I either get
high or have a family. That’s what she said. And I believe her.
I’ve put her and the kids through too much. She’s doesn’t deserve
to have a drugged out husband.”

Aden nodded.

“
Can you help me get
straight?” Pete asked. “You did it. You’ve been sober
for…”

“
Five years in March. Six
years off and on before that.”

“
How did you do that?”
Pete asked. “The longest I’ve been clean is a year and three days.
I don’t think I can do it.”

“
If I can, anyone can,”
Aden said. “But the question isn’t how I got sober. The question is
how are you going to get sober? What’s it going to
take?”

The lights in the prison shut off. Hoping
for some sleep induced oblivion, Aden got under the covers of his
bunk. He lay staring at the ceiling.

“
But you’ll help me,
right?” Pete whispered.

“
I’ll help you help
yourself.”

“
Good.”

~~~~~~~~

Thursday — 12:13 A.M.

Sandy shooed away Tanesha and Heather around
nine. She had to force Jill to leave. After receiving a firm
promise that Sandy would call her, Jill made Sandy another cup of
Tension Tamer tea and left around eleven.

Sandy gone to bed. But the tears seeped out
of her eyes.

Overwhelmed, she tossed and turned for what
felt like an age before she got up. Sitting at the antique dressing
table Aden had bought for her, she peered at her image in the
mirror. She could see why Jill was worried.

Her hair was clean but messy. Her skin
looked pale and her face drawn. She smiled at herself in the
mirror. Even her smile looked faded. She had the stunned look of
someone who’d just seen a ghost or witnessed something horrible.
Her eyes were blood shot and puffy from unshed tears. Wrinkles
sprouted along her forehead.

Looking down at her left hand, she slid off
the engagement ring Aden had given her. No point wearing it
now.

There was little point to anything anymore.
She hadn’t worked in forever. She was sure her clients had moved
onto other hairstylists. She couldn’t go back to her home, her
condo that her father bought for her. She couldn’t go out and get
drunk because of the baby.

And her knight in shining armor was in
jail.

And her knight was in jail.

In jail!

Tears seeped again.

Cleo walked across the dressing table. She
rubbed her face against Sandy’s tears. Sandy picked up her black
and white cat and set her on her lap. The cat kneaded Sandy’s lap
with her nails before jumping off. Cleo hopped onto her favorite
perch on the mantle in front of the fireplace.

Sandy and Aden hadn’t talked about him going
to jail. It was stupid. She was an idiot for not making him talk
about it. But with everything else going on, and two traumatized
children to care for, they just hadn’t gotten around to talking
about it. She had no idea what he wanted to do with his house, what
he wanted to do about the kid’s school, what he wanted to do about…
almost everything. Not only was her knight in jail, she had no idea
what he wanted her to do with his life.

She only knew she was responsible for his
entire life. Samantha Hargreaves gave her Aden’s checkbook and his
power of attorney.

No. There was no point in wearing his
diamond now.

If he got out of jail, they would decide
what to do next. But for now, she needed to focus on all of her
responsibilities – Noelle, Nash, her obligation to her father’s
crap, Aden’s financial mess and the baby. That’s assuming she never
worked again.

Sandy dropped her head into her hands. It
had been a long time since she’d felt this sad and overwhelmed. She
wanted to wail, beat her fists against the floor and kick her
heels. But that wasn’t going to change anything.

For the next ninety days, she was on her
own. That’s assuming everything went well. And Aden did easy time.
And he got through testing. And community corrections had space.
And a whole bunch of other things she didn’t understand.

She heard a floorboard creak in the hall.
There was a sound of a small knuckle against the wood. Sandy got up
to open the door.

Noelle stood on the other side. Her hair was
sleep-tangled and her face wet from tears. Her eye filled with
ointment and her bruise covered in cream. She was a vision of
sorrow and pain.

“
Oh, you’re awake.”
Noelle’s face shifted to a detached cool girl look. She moved her
weight onto one leg to stand more casually. “What are you
doing?”

“
What are you
doing?”

“
Oh. Well.” Noelle’s face
dropped its cool mask. She began to weep. “I miss Daddy. Except
when I had to stay with Nuala, I’ve never slept without Daddy. Even
sleepovers. Daddy usually comes to get me after everyone goes to
sleep.”

Sandy hugged the broken-hearted little girl.
She was about to invite Noelle inside when they heard a door open
in the hall. Nash stuck his head out. He ran down the hall to join
their hug.

“
Can we sleep with you?”
Noelle asked. “Would that be okay? We sleep with Daddy sometimes
when we get scared or really sad.”

“
Like when we made him let
us watch the Shining,” Nash said.

“
Or when Nuala didn’t show
up for a visit,” Noelle said.

“
I’ll tell you what,”
Sandy said. “There’s some of his undershirts in the laundry. Why
don’t we change into them then cuddle up?”

“
We could smell like
Daddy!” Noelle brightened.

She ran into their closet. Nash followed
her. The children dug in the laundry bag until they came up with
three white T-shirts. While Sandy watched, they changed into the
shirts and climbed into bed. Turning away from them, she changed
into a T-shirt as well.

“
You go in the middle,”
Noelle said.

Sandy climbed onto the bed. She used the
remote control to shut off the lights. With Noelle on one side and
Nash on the other, she settled in the middle of the bed. She had
just laid down when there was a yip at the door.

“
BUSTER!” Noelle
said.

Noelle jumped out of bed to let the dog in.
Buster the ugly dog hopped on the bed near their feet. Not to be
out done, Cleo wandered across the tops of their pillows until she
found a spot near Sandy’s head. Snug in the bed, the children let
out a collective sigh.

“
Sandy?” Noelle
asked.

“
Yes, honey.”

“
Are you going to stay
with us?” Noelle said.

“
Yes, honey.”

“
Until Dad gets out or
forever?” Nash asked.

“
I don’t know what forever
holds. I don’t know what forever even means. What I know is that
I’ll be here with you for as long as it works for us.”

Nash stretched up to kiss Sandy’s cheek. He
nestled into his pillow and fell asleep. Sandy could almost hear
Noelle’s mind hop from worry to worry.

“
What would help?” Sandy
whispered.

“
I don’t know,” Noelle
said. “I wish Daddy were here.”

“
Me too.”

~~~~~~~~

Thursday — 8:20 A.M.

Hearing a knock, Sandy wandered from the
kitchen toward the door. The kids were still sacked out in her
bedroom. After such a rough night, she had let them sleep. Sleep
was better than waking up to the reality that Aden was gone and not
coming back. After checking in with Jill, Sandy had spent the
morning reading the corrections website.

It looked like she might be able to visit
Aden but only after she’d been approved by the prison system. And
that took at least ten days. While she doubted that she would be
approved, after all there were still death threats against her, she
filed applications for herself and the kids. She had just finished
transferring money into an account for Aden when she heard the
knock.

She trotted to the door after hearing
another knock. Looking through the eyehole, she saw Sam Lipson on
the other side. She pulled her bathrobe closed then opened the
door.

“
Hi Sandy.” Sam stepped
into the room. “Where are the kids?”

“
They had a rough night. I
was letting them sleep.”

“
Well, it’s time to get
going.” Sam beamed a bright smile in her direction. His kind eyes
took in her sorrow filled face.

“
Going, sir? We don’t have
anywhere to go.”

“
Ah, that’s the problem,”
he said. “You lot have been sitting around for way too long.
Certainly the kids needed some convalescing but enough is
enough.”

“
Sir?”

“
Let’s get the kids up,”
Sam said. “Noelle needs to be back in school. Nash can come with me
to work today.”

“
Sir, they’re exhausted,
heartbroken, I…”

“
They need to get moving,”
Sam said. He touched Sandy’s arm. “You need to get moving. This
moping around is killing all of you. Noelle can go back to school.
Nash can come with me.”

“
Oh.”

Sandy’s face went blanch white. She dreaded
the idea of spending the day alone.

“
And you need to be doing
hair. My secretary is sick of getting calls for you.” Sam walked
across the apartment. “Are they in with you?”