Tammy nodded. "He used to
give the girls fresh fruit. I never knew where he got it. He would just show up
at that old warehouse we stayed in for a while and bring them a bag of apples
or oranges, or some other type of fruit."
"I never really talked to
him," Rona admitted.
"He didn't talk much, but
one night he was drunk and told me he had been a tunnel rat in Vietnam. After
that one night he never mentioned it again."
They fell silent for a moment
before Rona continued with Malcolm's story.
"What are you going to
do?" Tammy asked when Rona finished.
"I can't afford to keep
him in a motel for long. I thought I'd ask Lenny if he could stay with him for
a while. The problem is, I don't know if he lives in an apartment or a house.
He may not have room for him."
"He lives in a small
house, but there's a spare bedroom,"
Tammy
replied. The kitchen grew quiet as they stared at each other. "Today was
the first time I've been there. He invited us over for a barbecue," she
said defensively.
"Does he know about
Wayne?"
Tammy nodded. "I told him
everything. Besides, there's nothing going on between us. We're just
friends."
Rona held up her hand. "I
don't need to know."
"There's nothing to
know."
"I suppose he's at work
now," Rona said.
"Yes, but he's picking me
and the girls up at ten tomorrow. We're going to the zoo."
Rona stretched. "There's
nothing else I can do tonight. I'm going to bed." Long after she went to
bed, she lay staring at the ceiling wondering why Anna was still in Midland and
why she hadn't called.
A knock on her door woke her
the next morning. Tammy poked her head in.
"I just talked to Lenny.
He said Malcolm can stay with him until we find his sister or make other
arrangements for him."
Rona sat up in bed.
"Great. Just give me the address and I'll get him over there sometime
after you guys get back from the zoo."
"It's raining. We aren't
going."
"Oh. Sorry."
"I told him we would
bring Malcolm over," Tammy said. "Lenny said he might be able to help
locate Malcolm's sister. I didn't remember her name, but he said he could
search the Internet and see what he can find, once we get there."
Rona rubbed her face to hide
her smile.
Three hours later, they were
all at Lenny's house. Rona had decided to take up Anna's offer to use her car
and drove it downtown to pick up Malcolm.
After they arrived at Lenny's,
Tammy got busy trimming Malcolm's hair while Rona and Lenny began searching the
Internet. After an hour with nothing to show for their efforts, Rona went to
see how the barbering was going. As she walked through the living room, she
found the twins completely engrossed in some cartoon.
In the kitchen, she found a
freshly clipped and shaved Malcolm sitting at the kitchen table wrapped in a
blanket. "Wow, you look different," she said.
"I feel very
different," he agreed and smiled.
"I'm washing his
clothes," Tammy called out.
Rona went toward the voice and
found her in a small utility room.
"They're almost
dry." Tammy lowered her voice and added, "They're in pretty bad
shape."
"Do the best you can.
I'll take him to Goodwill this afternoon and find him a couple of decent
outfits."
"Yo, man. I almost didn't
recognize you," Lenny said.
Tammy and Rona left the
utility room in time to see Lenny waving a sheet of paper at them. "What's
that?" Rona asked.
"It's a marriage announcement
from nineteen eighty-three for one Miss Njeri Ooko to Mr. Edward Beasley of
Philadelphia."
Malcolm began to laugh and
clap. "I have a family."
Rona punched the air with her
fist. "Yes. You are the man, Leonard Wilkes," she said as she grabbed
him and gave him a hug.
"Watch it with the
Leonard," he warned.
"All we have to do now is
to see if we can find a number for Edward Beasley of Philadelphia," Rona
said.
Lenny removed a sheet of paper
from behind the one he had been waving. "As usual, I'm way ahead of you. I
received eight hits. All we need to do is start calling."
Their elation gave way to
disappointment as the names on the list began to be eliminated. Only two of the
phone numbers couldn't be verified. One was no longer in service. No one answered
at the other one.
"I'll go back and start
looking again," Lenny said. "Now that I have a city, I can check the
Philadelphia papers. I might be able to find birth announcements or something
else. If nothing turns up there, I'll check the colleges. You said she was a
professor, right?" he asked and looked at Rona.
"Yes," she replied
as she watched Malcolm's earlier joy melt away. "She was at Columbia
University."
Lenny clasped Malcolm's
shoulder. "Don't give up. I have a friend who's still in the Navy. He's a
genius on anything dealing with the Internet. I'll send him an e-mail and ask
him to work his magic."
"Thank you, Lenny,"
he replied.
The hours ticked away. Rona
wanted to call home to see if Anna had made it in, but the phone line was tied
up with the computer. It was after six when she stretched out on the couch and
fell asleep. She was in the middle of a wonderful dream about Anna when Tammy
shook her awake.
"What?" she asked as
she sat up.
"Lenny's friend found
her," Tammy said as she danced a little jig of excitement.
"Are you sure? I mean, is
he sure it's really her?"
"We called and Malcolm
talked to her already. She left Kenya five years ago and is now living in
Philadelphia."
Rona felt a twinge of
disappointment that she had been left out of the monumental moment. "How
did it go?"
"She wants him to come
live with them. Oh, Rona, he was so happy."
"Why didn't you wake me
up?" she asked peevishly.
"It all happened so fast.
I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I'm just
whining. The important thing is he found her," Rona said. "What time
is it?"
"It's a little after
ten," Tammy said as she sat down on the couch beside Rona.
"I can't believe I slept
for four hours," She rubbed her eyes. "I guess I should call the bus
station and see if there's a bus out of here tonight that I can put him
on."
"That's not
necessary," Lenny replied as he and Malcolm came into the room.
"Did you hear, Rona? My
sister has been found in Philadelphia. She is working at a school for special
children." He leaned over and gave her an awkward hug. "You said you
would find her."
"Lenny found her,"
Rona said.
"Yes, but you found
Lenny."
They all laughed, then Rona
turned to Lenny. "Why isn't it necessary to call the bus station?"
"Njeri has arranged to
have a ticket waiting for Malcolm at the airport. His flight leaves at
five-thirty tomorrow morning." He showed her the e-mailed confirmation for
the ticket Njeri had purchased.
Malcolm was smiling so, Rona
was certain his jaws were aching. She stood up. "Come on, Malcolm. We have
a couple of more things to do before you leave."
He tilted his head. "What
more do I need to do?"
"It's time to go
shopping," Rona insisted.
Malcolm looked at Lenny.
"Sorry, man," Lenny said. "You're on your own with this one.
Once women get you in the store you're stuck there for hours."
Before they left the house,
Rona called Domingo to let him know Malcolm was somewhere safe. She didn't
mention where Malcolm was, and Domingo was smart enough not to ask.
An hour later, Rona and
Malcolm were at a twenty-four-hour Wal-Mart. They found him two pair of pants,
along with shirts, shoes, socks and underwear as well as some personal hygiene
items. On the way to the register, they found him a small carry-on bag. Rona
tried not to cringe as the clerk rang up the purchases and gave her the total.
"I will pay you
back," he insisted as they made their way to the parking lot.
"Don't worry about
it." She stopped to look up at him. "You know, I'm not sure I would
have made it out there on the streets without your help." She waited until
they got into the car. "You know, there's one more thing we have to do
before you leave." In the reflection of the parking lot lights, she could
see the fear in his eyes.
"Yes," he agreed.
They drove to a nearby
convenience store. From the pay phone, Malcolm called 911 and gave diem
directions to the building where he had been working. While he was calling,
Rona went to a nearby ATM and withdrew more of her precious savings.
After they returned to Lenny's
house, they agreed that because of the flight's early departure time, Lenny
would take Malcolm to the airport. Rona hung back as Tammy said good-bye to
Malcolm before helping Lenny get the sleeping twins into the car.
When they were alone, Rona
pressed the folded bills into Malcolm's hand. "This is two hundred dollars
to help you get started," she told him.
"I cannot take your
money," he said as he tried to give her the bills back.
"Please, take it. You'll
need a little something until you can find a job."
"Thank you." His
eyes filled with tears and he hugged her tightly. "I shall never forget
you, Miss Rona Kirby."
"Nor I you, Mr. Malcolm
... Kepha Ooko."
He bowed slightly and smiled.
Rona rushed out before he
could see her tears.
Tammy and Rona were silent as
they drove back to Anna's house. Rona wondered if the police would take
Malcolm's call seriously and check into it or if they'd think it was a prank.
She didn't like Roach or Harper, but she didn't want to think about someone
killing them either.
"Did you leave the
kitchen light on?" Tammy asked as they pulled into the driveway.
"I don't think so,"
Rona said as a spark of excitement ran through her. "Maybe Anna came
home."
"Look at you," Tammy
teased.
"What?" Rona
protested as she pulled the car into the garage.
"You're like a kid on
Christmas morning. You can't wait to get into that house."
"You're so full of
it," Rona scoffed. She jumped out of the car and threw open the back door
to get Katie. It had been a while since she had lifted either child.
"Crap," she grunted as she picked her up. "What have you been
feeding this kid?"
Tammy looked at her from the
other side of the car. "Three meals a day, thanks to you and Anna."
"Did I hear my
name?"
They turned to find Anna
holding the kitchen door open for them.
"I was beginning to think
everyone had moved away and left me," she said with a smile, her eyes
following Rona.
"It's been a busy couple
of days," Tammy replied as they trudged into the house.
"I just opened a bottle
of wine," Anna said as she gently squeezed Rona's arm. "Shall I get
out extra glasses while you two put the twins to bed?"
"May as well," Tammy
said. "I'm too revved up to sleep anyway."
Anna winked at Rona as they
headed up the stairs. Rona was relieved. Anna's meeting with Tanner must have
gone all right.
After they put the girls to
bed, Tammy stopped Rona in the hallway. "If you'd rather be alone, you can
tell her one of the girls woke up and I decided to stay up here with
them."
Rona took her by the arm.
"Come on down. I want to hear all about you and Lenny."
"There's nothing between
us," Tammy protested.
"Excuse me, but I've
known Lenny for a long time and he spent the entire day watching every step you
made."
Tammy smiled. "Well, he
is very nice."
When they reached the kitchen,
Anna poured the wine and they gathered around the kitchen table. "What
happened with Tanner?" Rona asked before Anna sat down.
"He wanted me to sit in
on a meeting with a group that was wanting him to invest in a particular
venture, and then afterward he asked if I would review the portfolio of an old
friend of his."
"Wow. Does any of this
mean extra business for you?" Rona
asked.
Anna appeared relaxed. Rona suspected the meeting with Tanner had kept Anna too
busy to worry herself sick over Neal. "Yes," Anna replied. "His
friend is going to become a client." She smiled and rubbed her forehead.
"I told him all about the problems with Neal. I didn't want to take a
chance of him hearing about it elsewhere. He said he understood and he
appreciated the way I was upfront with him." She looked at them. "Now,
tell me about your day."
Epilogue