Meet the Evans' Clan (A.U. M/L Mature) END 4/8/11

[mary mary]

Eve: Maybe Liz will turn the cats into hunters and they won't have to feed them so much...do you think?
Dreambeliever: I don't think cats ever had it so good!
Carolyn: Yeah, you're so right! As hard as they're trying to keep things normal it's a harrowing experience. At least they're aware of the danger and are prepared for any surprises.

***

Chapter: 21

After the kids had a good look at the baby kittens they decided the tiger looking kitten should be called “tigger”, they decided this using their sign language so Jonesy wouldn’t have to lie in case he was asked.

When they went back into the house they found their mother waiting for them in the office turned classroom and got ready for their day. Liz managed to complete their lessons in three hours just like yesterday and decided that she should spend some time with the boys practicing writing their numbers and the girls worked on learning more spelling words and rules. After the numbers were mastered she would start on the alphabet as extra curricular activities for them and the girls could work on cursives. She figured if she spent fifteen minutes each day on one number at a time they would be in the lines and legible in 10 days which meant two weeks. Even if they can go back to school, and hopefully they can, she would practice with them anyway. It didn’t take that long and it was worth it. So by noon they were finished for the day and Liz told them to go and have lunch before going out to play. She was going to look over their work and fax it off to school but before she could gather it up her baby was standing there, in his big boots, waiting to see how he did.

Liz looked at her youngest and smiled, her heart swelling with every beat.

“Come here JP and bring your papers with you and I’ll check them out first so you can go out to play.”

JP gave his Mom a big smile and brought all of his papers over to her. She looked at the crude attempt at writing but everything was answered correctly and she put a great big star on his work and smiled down at her baby.

“Everything is perfect JP…all you need is practice with your penmanship.”

“Does that mean I can go to school with everyone?”

“No sweetie…it doesn’t. It means that you are a very smart little boy but you are still too little to go to school with the big kids. Daddy and I like you just the way you are and next year when you start kindergarten you can help the teacher with the other kids just like you do at pre-school with daddy. You will be able to play t-ball next year too and then you will be able to make new friends and have fun with kids your age but right now you have to stay home with me and move the earth in the back yard.”

JP stood there and watched his mom and then he smiled and nodded. She already told him he could play t-ball and make new friends so he guessed he would just have to wait to go to school but he needed some new books…

“Mom, if I have to wait to go to school can I have some new books to read…mine are all old.”

“Tell you what JP, when we get all of this danger taken care of and we feel safe again I will take you to the library and we will see what they have for someone your age. Okay?”

“That sounds great mom…how soon do you think that will be…” And then they were interrupted by Olivia who had a very nice middle aged looking gentleman following her into the office.

“Liz. This is the Captain of Detectives at the PD, he’s here to see you.”

Liz held out her hand and shook the gentleman’s hand and introduced JP to the captain who also held out his little hand to the man, which the captain took and he stood there and smiled at the youngster. He had read the report from the break-in and the tyke was everything Bradley had described. Bright and alert and very mature for his age.

“How do you do JP, I am so happy to meet you.”

“I’m happy to meet you too sir. Are you here to arrest my mom?” JP asked in an extremely nonchalant manner for such a big question.

“No JP. Your mom hasn’t done anything wrong. I am here to retrieve some equipment from your mother that’s all.” And the Captain stifled a chuckle…he didn’t want to make light of the situation.

“JP you can go out and play with your brothers and sisters and make sure you stay where Jonesy can see you at all times.”

Now JP, being the bright little boy that he was, looked up at his mother and grinned and Liz thought ‘oh no, what’s he up to?’ And JP said…

“Can I go look at Tigger?”

Liz wrinkled her eyebrows at her son and she wasn’t going to let him get away with it…she knew he thought he was getting away with something the minute she saw that grin…well he was going to be corrected whether they had company or not.

“JP, you were told not to name those kittens and you were told to stay away from the patio. As soon as those kittens are old enough they are gone…DO YOU UNDERSTAND!”

JP looked at his mom and then the Captain and grinned and said…

“Yeah. Good bye Captain. I’m glad you’re not going to take mom away even if I can’t name the kittens.” And he was gone.

The Captain looked at Liz with a question unasked and Liz felt he deserved an explanation…

“A stray cat had kittens in the side yard and they are brand new so we have them in a box on the patio. The kids were told to leave them alone because I don’t need a cat and 6 kittens but I think I’m fighting a losing battle.” And she grinned at the Captain who only shook his head and smiled.

“Anyway, come with me and I’ll get your equipment and you can place the new one wherever you want to if you think it’s really necessary.”

The Captain followed Liz to the kitchen and Liz handed the man the surveillance device that was wrapped in a plastic sandwich bag and then the Captain noticed the man on the patio…there was also one on the front porch when he arrived and he had to ask..

“Mrs. Evans, just how many body guards are here?”

“Oh, there are eight all together. Four on day shift and four on graveyard. Four are sleeping right now. There’s the ‘gardener’ who is trimming all the shrubs, bushes and trees around the perimeter of the property. There’s one on the patio, one on the front porch and one on the balcony upstairs. The other four went to bed after breakfast.”

The Captain shook his head and smiled,

“Mrs. Evans, I really don’t think we need another device. Just dial 911 and tell us who is calling. We will be here within fifteen minutes. Right now I have four men going over all of the surveillance tapes from the hospital and I am sure we will find out what this Joey is driving and we should be able to find him soon. I can’t make any promises to you about how long but it should be soon. I only wish we had known all of this a day sooner and it would all be over with but it seems that life doesn’t work that way does it?”

“Well, apparently not where I’m concerned.” Liz said and she was as serious as she had ever been.

“You know what Captain…if a governor wanted to cut expenses it seems to me that he would hire a group of independent accountants who didn’t care about any personalities, length of service, or the departments in question. They would go over a budget and expenditures and cut expenses where they really needed to be cut and I don’t think releasing hardened criminals is the way to start.”

“I agree with you Mrs. Evans. Maybe you should run for governor. Have you ever thought of politics as a career?”

“Are you serious…I’ve got a husband, five kids and a children’s facility to deal with, the last thing I need to deal with is the general population. My God NO!”

The Captain chuckled at Liz and held out his hand…

“Mrs. Evans, it has been a pleasure to meet you and as I said…911. Just tell the kids, the guards and your husband and anyone else in the house that needs to know…911 and ‘this is the Evans.’ That’s all you need to say.”

“Thank you Captain, I’ll let them all know. And thank you for coming out here to get that thing…I am just so glad to have it gone.”

“You’re very welcome Mrs. Evans and good luck with those kittens.”

“Thanks, I know they’ll all have names by the end of the day but it was worth a shot.”

And they both laughed as Liz led the Captain to the front door and bid him goodbye.

Shorty nodded to the man as he left and the Captain nodded back and walked down to the unmarked vehicle parked in the driveway, he felt as though the Evans’ were going to be well taken care of and pity the person that tried to harm them. He just hoped for everyone concerned that this would all be over soon.

*
In the meantime, across town in a seedy motel room, a confused Joey Sabotini watched Don Adams and wondered what in the hell he should do. Apparently the man needed medical help and he sure as hell couldn’t take him to a doctor and then he finally asked the man if he knew anything at all about himself.

Don just looked at him with a blank stare and finally spoke very softly…

“The doctors in the hospital said there was swelling on my brain and they didn’t know how long it would be before I knew who I was, if ever.”

Joey just sat there bewildered and then made a decision…

“Your name is Don and I am going to call you a cab and have the driver take you back to the hospital so you can get some help man. I don’t know what to do for you and they do so here’s the deal…keep quiet about me, don’t tell them where you’ve been and I’ll keep checking up on you. When you regain your memory we’ll leave again. Do you understand?”

Don nodded his head in agreement, not knowing what the hell was really happening and Joey made the call.

When the cab arrived at the motel Joey took Don out to it and told the driver where to take him.

“He was discharged yesterday and his symptoms showed up again and he’s lost his memory…he needs to go back to that particular hospital. Take him to the emergency room and tell them that he’s Don Adams.”

The cab driver looked at the man and saw the bandages on Don’s head and nodded in agreement and did as Joey asked and when Don showed up in the emergency room again the place went nuts as you can imagine. The Captain himself was there overseeing the investigation and finally decided that he needed to talk to the cab driver since this Joey was smart enough to send Don back to the hospital knowing he sure as hell didn’t need an amnesiac on his hands.

So when the cab driver was dispatched back to the hospital he went right in to the waiting room and met with the Captain of detectives. Of course he was asked where he found Don first thing off the bat and the cabby gave the PD the address of the motel and told the cops that Joey, of course he didn’t know the guys name, was dressed in cammies and an army green t-shirt. He gave the cops the room number and several black and whites were dispatched to the motel within minutes. When the police arrived they found the room empty, naturally, but they did question the desk clerk and the Forensic team took over the investigation of the room. They found numerous fingerprints, hair samples and dirty linens but that’s about all. The front desk did have a license plate number on the old jeep which was sent out over the wires immediately and then the Captain showed up and wanted all information that had been compiled right now. As soon as he was satisfied that he knew everything that was gathered he called the Evans’ home and talked to Max.

Max told the Captain that he had talked to Liz this evening about his visit and thanked him for his concern and he also told him that he wasn’t going to let the body guards go until all players in the game were accounted for. The Captain smiled and told Max that he agreed with him 100%.

“I can certainly see where you’re coming from Max. You take care of that family of yours and those kittens. Do they have names yet?”

And Max chuckled…

“You know it.” And the Captain laughed.

“You take care of them Max and we’re doing everything we can to take care of this.”

“Thanks, and thanks for calling.”

And the two men hung up.

*

“Who was that?” Liz asked her husband as she passed him on her way to the laundry room to put the kittens dirty towels in the washer. She had just cleaned their box out for them and gave mommy cat some fresh milk and water.

“That was the Captain over at the PD. Joey sent Don back to the hospital in a cab. Apparently Don has amnesia and Joey didn’t know what to do with him and did a smart thing or a dumb thing. Don is back in custody, he has no idea who he is and the cabby gave the PD all the information on the motel where he picked up the fare. He’s driving an old jeep and they have the license plate number.”

“Uh-huh. Well, I can tell you the old jeep is gray.”

“How do you know this?” Max asked.

“Because it’s been parked down the street for quite awhile now. I thought the driver must be working around here somewhere. Now that we know what to look for we should be able to prevent an entrance to the house and the fact that all the bushes and trees have been trimmed back to practically reveal the entire block we should be able to see everyone coming and going. Let’s get the guys in here and fill them in on the good news before they change shifts.”

“Okay sweet. You go get the kids ready for bed and tell JP he can sleep without his boots tonight that the really bad guy is back in jail.” And he kissed his wife on the top of her head…one of his favorite things to do and she headed back to the family room to gather her brood only to find them missing. Oh damn…out to the patio she went and there they all were kneeling around the box with Jack by their side just watching the kittens sleep.
***

[mary mary]

Carolyn: I think those boots are pretty close at hand...JP is too smart to let them out of his sight.
Eve: I don't think either one of those guys are too smart or they wouldn't have been in prison in the first place.
XAF RU208: Welcome back and thank you...

*~*~*

Chapter: 22

“Okay…everyone, upstairs and into the showers. They’ll still be here tomorrow.” And with that Liz turned on the little night light she had plugged into the socket, closed the door to the patio and nodded to Smitty who was sitting in a patio chair over in the corner of the back porch grinning at her and she said…

“Be quiet!” And grinned right back at him.

Smitty and Olivia had won the bets about naming the kittens. They both figured the kittens would be named by tonight and the rest had bets going on tomorrow… Liz was pretty sure of what they were doing but really didn’t want to know about it.

Max had picked up kitty litter and cat food for new cat mothers at the pet food store and the cats, it seemed, had found a pretty good and safe temporary home. Hmmm?

*

The next morning Philip called Liz and was filled in on all of the excitement over at the hospital and also the kitten epic and of course, the kids in question being his grandchildren, he thought it was wonderful. He had spoken with Max when the extra guards had been posted but he still wanted to know how things were going with the home schooling and all the extra bodies. He was very concerned about all of them and wanted, no…needed, to be kept in the loop. He was walking a thin line between exploding and keeping sane as well as everyone else, he couldn’t remember ever having been this frightened.

“Liz, do you think JP would like to go fishing with me Friday morning? He’s probably bored to death with you teaching school at home.”

“Well, you’ll have to ask JP Philip. He’s attending classes with the others and taking it very seriously just as he does everything that he involves himself in. He is doing quite well actually and understands everything that is going on. He informed me that he needs new books to read because his are all old and he knows them already so we are going to join the library when all of this blows over.” Liz said with a chuckle as she worked her way to the back door leading to the patio in question.

“I’ll get him for you…I have a sneaking suspicion that they are all out in the enclosed patio checking on the baby kittens. It only took them a matter of four hours to give them names and three of those four were spent in class. They were forbidden to do that you know and Jack is as bad…he has taken to protecting the kittens as well as the kids. When they are in class the dog stands guard over the patio door like a sentry at his post. The only thing I can say about the whole thing is that I am proud of all of them, including the dog, the way they have become so protective of the little creatures.

They are so cute Philip, they make the cutest little sounds and can’t see a damned thing yet but they know where their food is and it is amazing how they can make their way right to the spot…crawling over one another to get there and the mother never moves. She’s also gotten used to the kids and the dog and seems quite comfortable about the entire situation.”

Philip had to smile listening to Liz. Max had told him about the cat food, kitty litter, night light, heating pad…clean towels and anything else the woman could think of to make the cat comfortable. Hell, some women didn’t get treated that well and then he snapped back and replied…

“Well yes, then, if you think he’d like that let me talk to him.” Liz grinned, JP was going to have to make a major decision it seemed.

When Liz got to the patio sure enough they were all kneeling and watching the kittens along with Jack who seemed to understand that this was a very important event.

“JP, your grandfather would like to speak with you.” And she handed the youngster the phone.

“Hi grandpa…” JP stood and spoke into the phone with all the confidence of any adult and Philip grinned on the other end of the line.

“HI JP…hey, I was wondering if you would like to go fishing with me tomorrow morning. I could come over and get you tonight and we could go really early tomorrow then you would be home about 10:30 or 11:00 in the morning. Does that sound like fun?”

“Well, yeah it does but I have to go to school with mom in the morning. Can we go on Saturday morning and then Parker, Gerard, Briana and Deana can all go too. Maybe even Dad. Is that okay? You and grandma can come over here and stay and grandma and mom can do something together.”

Philip chuckled…just what Max and Liz needed, two more bodies.

“Ask your brothers and sisters if they want to go fishing on Saturday and I’ll wait until then to go, how’s that?”

“Hey guys, grandpa wants to know if you want to go fishing on Saturday?”

Parker was the first to answer…

“Gerard and I have a ball game on Saturday…what time are we going?”

“Grandpa, Gerard and Parker have a ballgame on Saturday, what time do you want to go?”

“What time is the ballgame?” Philip didn’t want to make the boys tired for their game.

“What time’s the game?”

Jonesy was sitting over in his position in the chair taking all of this in while Liz just stood leaning against the door frame, watching the interaction between her children. ‘They are getting so big’ she thought to herself as they spoke like adults to each other, she just knew that Philip was thrilled with this conversation.

Gerard spoke this time…

“It’s at 3:00 p.m. Is he going fishing in the morning?”

“Are you going to go in the morning grandpa?”

“Yes JP. I plan on leaving at 6:30 and we’ll be home by noon.”

“He said he’s leaving at 6:30 and we’ll be home by noon. You’ll have lots of time to get ready for your game. You can even take a nap.”

And Liz turned her back on them and stifled a laugh as own her words came back to haunt her. “You’ve gotta have a plan.”

Gerard and Parker looked at each other and said in unison, as they always did…scary…

“Okay.”

Then JP looked at his sisters and they said they’d rather stay home with mom.

“Grandpa… Parker, Gerard and I would like to go but Bree and Dee Dee want to stay home with mom. Are we going to stay with you and grandma or are you going to stay with us?”

“Well JP, now that I know you want to go I’ll have to check with your mom to see about sleeping arrangements. But either way I will see you on Saturday.”

“Okay grandpa, here’s mom.” And JP handed the phone back to his mother. Liz smiled down at her son, told the kids to leave the kittens alone and headed back into the house.

“Well what do you think Liz? Should we pick them up Friday night or Saturday morning?”

“I think Friday night would be great Philip. It will give them a chance to get away from the chaos that is our life right now. Maybe Max and I can do something with the girls on Saturday that would give them a little break as well. I’m sure eight body guards can take care of the house while we’re gone.”

“You know what Liz? Why don’t we all go fishing?”

“Philip, as much fun as that sounds I don’t really feel up to it right now. Maybe we can plan a fishing trip later, when things have settled down.”

“Fair enough Liz…I’ll come over on Friday afternoon on my way home from the office and gather them up and take them on home with me. Maybe we can go out for pizza and rent a movie. We haven’t done anything with them in quite a while.”

“I’m sure they would love that Philip, I’ll have them all ready for you. We are usually finished with our lessons by noon and then they have lunch. They’ve been spending a lot of time watching the kittens the past couple of days so I think they need a break. Whenever you feel like coming over they’ll be ready.”

“Great Liz. I’ll see you on Friday afternoon then.” And the two old friends hung up. He may be her father-in-law but he has been one of the best friends Liz has ever had and she smiled. Life was still good even with it’s lunatics.
*

After Liz and he had hung up Philip called Jesse to see if he had any news regarding the Joey incident and Jesse told Philip something that came as a surprise.

“Philip, you know that “release model prisoners” to save money just wasn’t setting well with me so I had a team investigate a little deeper into some of that entire scenario. It seems that the Governor of Connecticut and your Judge Abbott were roomies at Yale. None of this is making a whole lot of sense to any of us. There were a total of ten prisoners released and only one had been convicted of attempted murder…one Don Adams. Joey Sabotini was only a petty thief when you get right down to it so why was Don Adams released? I think we need to delve a little deeper into this, there’s a whole lot more going on than meets the eye here Philip.”

“Well my God. I sat in on a meeting with the man just the other day along with the Chief of the PD. We discussed the entire case with each other...this was before Sabotini helped Don escape and then he sent the man back to the hospital in a cab for God’s sake. I think Sabotini might just have been brought into this as an after thought if you ask me. Sabotini must think there’s some easy money to be had and if they were living in a motel you know they had to be getting money from somewhere. Neither one of them are gainfully employed. Something sure sounds fishy. Good work Jesse, keep up the investigation and I will make sure to bring the Chief up to date and we just might keep any pertinent information away from the Judge for awhile. He really doesn’t need to be kept in the loop anyway. It seemed as though he was just doing us a favor by holding the meeting in his chambers. We’ll get to the bottom of this yet.”

And with that Philip and Jesse bid their goodbyes.

*~*~*

[mary mary]

Carolyn: It seems that JP kind of marches to his own drummer...kind of in his own little world taking it all in and not missing a trick.
Eve: Busy is an understatement at this point. I sure wouldn't want to be cooking and cleaning up after all of those people...it's like a hotel there!

*~*~*

Chapter: 23

*
So on Friday afternoon, about two o’clock, Philip drove up the driveway and found three little boys sitting on the porch talking to Shorty as they awaited their grandfather’s arrival. The gray haired gentleman had a smile as broad as the Hoover Dam.

“Hey grandpa, we’re ready but mom has some stuff for grandma and our clothes are in the house so you need to go in there first,” JP announced.

Philip grabbed the youngster and threw him in the air and laughed and then he tussled Parker and Gerard on the head…The last time he picked them up they informed him they were getting too old for that so they settled for a good head rubbing and gave their grandfather a big smile. About that time Max pulled in behind his dad in the circular driveway and gave his dad a big hug as well as the boys, nodded to Shorty and they all headed into the house together.

Liz saw the whole group and gave them all a big smile, Philip got a hug and Max got a nice little peck on the lips and a big wink for good measure and then Max hugged his daughters as did their grandfather. It was so good to be home and see everyone safe…this situation with Don and Joey was getting to him as well as Liz but he couldn’t let her know that.

“Liz, it’s so good to see you…JP tells me you have something for Diane?”

“Yes…Olivia and I made apple butter yesterday. The men trimmed all of the trees and the apple tree was overflowing with apples so we got on the internet and found a recipe. I remember Grandma O’Reilly making apple butter when I was little and we used to visit her so we decided to take a turn at it and it’s pretty good. We also canned some apples for pies or apple sauce but I have a sneaking suspicion that they will be used for applesauce due to the fact that Max still insists on ordering his pies from Connecticut. Tell Diane that there is plenty more where that came from.”

Philip smiled at his daughter-in-law and took the small box full of jars and thanked her and then looked at the boys…

“Are we ready?”

And three little faces looked up into the tall man’s eyes and smiled and nodded yes. They each had their little overnight bags with their names boldly printed down the side and they pulled the handles free and all started toward the front door when Liz stopped them cold in their tracks…

“Hey! Did you forget something?”

They all turned and looked at their mother for a second and then JP dropped his handle and went over and reached up to his mom for a hug goodbye.

“Sorry mom, I forgot.”

Liz smiled and hugged the little boy for dear life and Parker and Gerard were right behind him waiting their turn.

The twins looked at their mom and in unison, as everyone expected…

“Bye mom. We’ll see you tomorrow.” And Liz smiled as they walked out the front door. Liz, Max and the girls followed them as far as the porch and Philip got them all loaded up, put their bags in the trunk and waved as he drove off.

Liz looked up at Max as she held each girl around the shoulders and smiled.

“They need this…to get away for even a night will be good.”

Max smiled over his daughters heads and nodded in agreement. Then he asked the girls if they would like to do something fun.

“Can we go to dinner and a movie?”

Max and Liz looked at each other and smiled and Liz nodded yes…

“Sure we can. Is there anything special you want to go see or something special you would like to have for dinner?” Max wasn’t really sure what movie was playing that would be appropriate for the girls but if the girls didn’t know what was playing then they would check the internet.

“How about Chinese?”…the boys really didn’t like Chinese food and the girls did so this would be an excellent opportunity to go to the Chinese restaurant down town.

“You know what, that sounds great. Now, about that movie…what did you have in mind?”

And sometimes…just like their brothers…they said in unison.

“We don’t know what’s playing.”

They didn’t even realize that they had both spoken at the same time and Shorty just smiled and shook his head…Max and Liz didn’t even take notice they were so used to it.

“Okay then, let’s go check the internet and see what’s down town. Maybe we can go now and then have dinner later.”

And so that’s exactly what they did. The next movie started at 2:40 and if they hurried they could make it just in time and Liz called the Chinese restaurant and made reservations for five o’clock which shouldn’t be any trouble at all because people would be getting off work at that time and headed home so this was going to work out just perfectly, they would be home just about sunset and out of danger. God would she be glad when this was over and they could relax again.

*

The next morning Philip had the boys at the big estate and out on the fishing boat by 7:00 a.m. and the three little boys were as excited as if it was Christmas. They had all been on the boat fishing before but they always had help with everything. Grandpa was letting them bait their own hooks and cast into the water by themselves and Philip was very impressed with them. He, Max and Jeff had taken them out many times before and it seems that they listened to everything they were taught because all three of them were very careful with the hooks, tied them to the lines in perfect little knots and baited the hooks like little pros. Their mother would be proud of them, they had no qualms at all about handling the bait.

When they left the fishing dock at about 9:00 a.m. JP was the only one that caught anything worth taking home and Philip couldn’t convince the little one to release the poor lone trout back into the lake. He was determined to take it home and show everyone so take it home he did.

When they got back to Max and Liz’s JP was the first one out of the car and had his fish hanging from the stringer to show everyone and Shorty was the first to see the little one as he started up the driveway.

“Wow JP!!! What a great looking fish! Are we going to have that for dinner?”

And JP looked at Shorty and told him very seriously…

“You have to catch your own fish.” And headed into the house to show his mom and dad.

Philip looked at Shorty and shook his head…

“I guess you have to go with us the next time Shorty. He’s the only one that caught anything and as you can see he’s not letting loose of it very soon. I think he might want to have it stuffed.”

Shorty started to laugh…

“You know Philip, after getting to know him, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised. And with the parents he has they most likely would do it for him.”

“Oh Shorty, you better believe it. No doubt at all.”

By the time Philip had entered the kitchen with the other two in tow and had put three little overnight bags in the hall Max and Liz were listening intently to their son telling about the fight his fish had put up before he landed him. Max looked at Liz and said…”He’s got to stop watching those educational shows…whatever happened to cartoons?” Liz giggled and watched JP with interest…

Max looked up and nodded to his dad as he took a seat on one of the island stools and continued to listen to his son along with his wife. Parker and Gerard both shook their heads at their brother and went to the refrigerator and got a ‘Capri Sun’, they offered one to their grandfather who shook his head no as he noticed the coffee pot was almost full. Philip got up and went to the cupboard, got a cup, and helped himself to a cup of coffee and sat back down on his stool between Parker and Gerard and then Gerard tapped his grandfather’s hand…

“Do you want to come to our game today grandpa?”

“Yes, I think I do. Let me call grandma and see if she’s busy…maybe she’d like to come too.”

And both boys said…

“Good!” And got down from their stools and went and took their over night bags and headed upstairs.

Max watched with interest as the boys headed to their rooms …they were probably going to take a nap and he smiled.

Philip went to the patio to call Diane after he finished his coffee and to check on the kittens as JP finished his fish story.

*

“Wow! You were the only one to catch a fish…that’s great JP. What do you want us to do with it?” Liz asked.

“I want you to show me how to clean it and then I can have it for dinner.” Liz looked up at Max and smiled.

“Sure JP…do you think we should go to the market and buy enough fish for everyone else?

“Nah…they can eat something else. I’ll just have fish.” He was serious as usual and Max had to leave the room leaving Liz to deal with JP…it was very hard for him to talk with JP without chuckling and he did not want to let his son catch him when he was like this.

* ~*~*~*

[mary mary]

Eve: Thank you!
Carolyn: Did you figure out which one that was...(the youngest)
XAF RU208: Sorry, too busy reading other people's fics and forgot. I'll try to do better, although I must inform you that there are only two chapters left in the coffer...then I have to get busy and figure out how to get myself out of this hole I dug. And, to tell you the honest to God's truth I didn't think anyone really cared.

*~*~*


Chapter: 24

“Okay JP…first we have to get some paper and put it on the counter. Can you get the paper while I sharpen the knife? It’s easier if the knife is sharp.”

“Yup.” And off JP went to find some newspaper.

When he got back to the kitchen his mother had the knife sharpener on the counter and a trash can liner laid out in front of one of the stools. JP watched as his mom put the newspaper over the trash can liner and then she had JP sit down and she stood behind him with the knife in her hands.

“You have to watch me JP because I’m not going to let you cut with this knife yet. You’re still too little but you can learn by watching for the time being. Is that agreeable to you?”

“Yup.”

And Liz smiled and started right at the tail of the trout and worked her way up it’s belly to the part right under it’s gills, she did another slit from one side of the gills to the other along it’s throat and then she pulled the insides out and set them on the paper. Then she turned the fish over, laid it down on the paper and holding it still with her left hand she started scraping the scales off with her right. JP never took his eyes off his fish and he never once got sick watching. Max, Philip and Jonesy all stood at the back window watching mother and child while carrying on some small talk about the weather and then Philip looked at his son and smiled.

“Max, I know you know how lucky you are to have her but I thank God every day that she came here to find you all those years ago.” And Philip had tears in his eyes as he said it.

“I know dad…I know.” And Max smiled as he watched his wife and his son clean a fish.

“You know what dad…it’s too bad Isabelle isn’t here…Liz could make her sick.” And both men laughed.

Then Jonesy had to ask…

“What do you mean by that Max?”

“Well, my sister Isabelle has a pretty weak stomach and Liz knows it so she loves to tease Isabelle about this sort of thing. Liz was a science geek in high school and Isabelle would get sick just thinking about biology class. Liz would tease her unmercifully.”

“Oh, then you’ve known Liz a long time?”

“All my life. We grew up together. Our dad’s went to school together and then when they got married they continued their friendship. Liz’s dad took over the family business and dad went off to college but then dad moved back to Roswell with mom and started his law practice. He and mom are both lawyers but mom doesn’t practice anymore. Liz was always with us when we were little and mom and dad took her everywhere with us, then when we started to school we continued to be friends. Liz and Isabelle are just like sisters, then you throw in Maria DeLuca and there’s a threesome that terrorized the entire neighborhood. Maria’s mouth was always going, Isabelle was always planning and Liz always had a devious concoction to top it all off with…between the three of them they made our life hell. It was a great time.”

Jonesy stood there and listened to Max talk about his childhood and he could see why all these children were so happy and secure with their lives. He didn’t need to know that, had it not been for the Evans’, Liz would have never had a childhood nor a life. That was private.

Soon Liz was finished with the fish and put it in a zip lock bag and convinced JP that the fish should go into the freezer for another day because today there was just too much going on. She wrapped all of the fish innerds in the paper and put it into the trash can liner, rolled it all up and put it into another trash can liner and told JP to take it to the freezer off the laundry room until trash day. She didn’t want anymore cats than she already had visiting them. She only wished she had had the time to teach JP about all of the fish’s internal organs. That would have been great she thought to herself, maybe another time.

JP did as he was told and then went to see how the kittens were doing and found that they were doing fine just as he had expected and his grandfather and dad were talking to Jonesy.

“Grandpa, I heard you say you were going to the ball game with us…is grandma coming too?”

“Yes JP, she’s going to meet us there. She has some things she wants to finish first. Are you going to take a nap before we leave? I think I’ll take a little rest in the recliner…what do you say?”

“Yeah, okay. That sounds good. Mom… Grandpa and I are going to take a rest before we go to the ballgame, okay? And, I’m going to take my skateboard with me so I can have something to do while Parker and Gerard play ball…okay?” JP yelled into the back door. “You know Grandpa? I was watching “The Learning Channel” the other day and they were talking about gravity and you know what I think? I think if grandma stood on her head all of her wrinkles would fall out!”

Philip Evans almost spit his coffee all over everyone that was on the patio and Max and Jonesy had to leave the area. Liz walked in on the last part of the conversation and didn’t know what prompted her son to come up with such an idea but knew better than to ask him…

“Okay JP, how about you go take a shower, You smell an awfully lot like a dead fish.” She said with a grin.

“Ahh mom.”

“Ahh JP, just do it. I’ll wake you up in plenty of time to get dressed…now go.”

“Okay.”

And with that JP was off to the showers. Philip gave Liz a hug on his way to the family room and whispered “The Learning Channel” and then he said, with a twinkle in his eye…

“Do I smell like fish Liz?”

Liz grinned at her father-in-law and said…

“If you did I’d make you take a shower too, besides you have to catch a fish if you want to smell like a fish and, I think I’ll block the learning channel from all TV’s in this house.” Philip grinned and continued on his way.

“Well, do you think he’ll be able to clean a fish from now on.” Max asked his wife…

“No doubt about it Max…but I don’t want him handling a knife just yet. It’s so much easier to do it with a sharp knife but one slip and he could lose a finger or worse so we’ll just let him watch for now…and, I hope he doesn’t tell Diane she needs to stand on her head. I don’t want to tell him not to because then he’ll know it’s something that’s going to get a rise out of all of us and he’ll really make a show of it.”

Max pulled her into a hug and chuckled.

“I love you Liz Parker Evans.”

Liz looked up at Max and wondered where that came from, even though it was nice to hear and repeated right back…

“And I love you more than life itself Max Evans.” And they both smiled at each other as Philip hunkered down in the recliner to take a much needed nap. ‘I’m definitely not as young as I used to be’ he thought to himself then he grinned ‘gravity indeed’ and promptly fell asleep.

*

[mary mary]

Carolyn: Kids say the darnedest things...don't they? True story, honest!
Eve: I remember, a hundred years ago, in high school biology class that I actually got nauseous when we had to dissect worms. I still can't stand the sight of those things....yuck!
XAF RU208" I really am glad that you like this story...and I awoke in the middle of Christmas night with an epiphany and said a prayer of thanks to "Santa" for the help. This story has had me stymied for months. the first 26 chapters just rolled and then came to a screeching halt so I hope that I can finish it with the same enthusiasm that I started it with. Otherwise I will turn it over to someone else and have them finish it.
***

Chapter: 25

Joey Sabotini was parked in back of a deserted building, hidden away from any street activity, trying to make sense of his predicament. He knew he should have stayed in Connecticut and made some plans for his own life instead of listening to the deranged ramblings of Don Adams but it seemed like such a sweet deal. He never did find out who Don was working with on the outside to get things set up for them but it had to be some one big. The Jeep was old but the thing ran like a brand new vehicle, not a single rattle or ding anywhere, and it was waiting for them when they were released. There was also an envelope waiting for them at the motel when they arrived that had money and a map in it and it also contained all of the instructions to complete the agreement that Don had come up with for the person heading up the plan. That person had to be important because other prisoners with lesser crimes than Joey had committed were still in prison. Don and his crimes certainly did not fit the program the new governor had implemented either so something was really fishy. Joey didn’t know who he could call or talk to regarding his predicament and it didn’t seem like Don was going to be of help any time soon. He needed to get rid of the jeep and find something to get around in. He couldn’t sell the jeep because he was sure the cops knew what it looked like and what it was used for by now. He didn’t have enough money to buy a car, even a clunker would be a mistake because it would probably need a lot of repairs…then he thought, why not a motorcycle. He was familiar enough with motorcycles that he could most likely take care of any minor repairs…he could transport a passenger if Don ever regained his memory and he would be mobile. Yes. A motorcycle would be just the ticket. He would leave the jeep here in this parking lot behind the dumpster, it looked quite abandoned, and take what he could carry with him. He would find a trash bin far away from the jeep and dump the rest of the stuff and find ‘used motorcycles’ in the yellow pages. Why couldn’t he have thought about his own skin before ever getting tied up with that nut.

Joey opened the suitcase that held Don’s belongings and discovered a cell phone in the side compartment along with more money …he wondered what in the hell that was for but decided to keep it in his pocket then he had another thought. Why not leave these things here until he found a room and wheels, then he could come back and get the rest of their belongings and try and figure out some of this mystery. This idea sounded a lot better than any he’d had so far and so he locked things up in the back, hidden as best he could and headed out of the deserted parking lot and toward the street to look for a phone booth.

*

Meanwhile, back at the Evans’ Liz had fixed a nice lunch for everyone and left a huge stew cooking in a crock pot for dinner. She told the body guards to help themselves to anything they wanted in the kitchen, including the stew, in case they were not back early enough for dinner. The men assured her that they would be fine and were quite capable of taking care of themselves but she wanted to make sure they knew where everything was before leaving. Max just nodded to the men and said,

“Guys, you have to humor her otherwise she will worry herself to death about you so let her show you where everything is and then she will be able enjoy her afternoon .”

They all smiled at Max and followed Liz around the entire kitchen…in and out of walk-in pantries and refrigerators, freezers and cupboards and when she was finished with the tour they thanked her and then Shorty looked at Max and told him thanks as well…

“You know Max, we never would have found all of this if she hadn’t shown us so thanks for suggesting that we just follow her.”

“No problem.” Max smiled at the man and then grabbed his keys and followed his wife and children out of the house.

*

Jeff and Nancy had been invited to the ball game as well as Diane so they all met up at the little league field. It looked like a family reunion when the Evans’ clan showed up. They all grabbed a hot dog and headed for the stands just as Parker and Gerard’s team took to the field and the stands went nuts…well Liz did anyway. You would have thought she was cheering for the Phillie’s the way she screamed and yelled and Max and his dad just looked at each other and laughed. It was hard to forget her pounding on poor Alex during the series. It’s a wonder he was ever able to lift his arm again and they watched as she cheered on. Nothing made her happier than her family and her happiness was contagious. The people around her got into the spirit and cheered the youngsters on right along with her and exactly one hour and seven innings later the little Evans boys were going home with the title for the year. Their mommy and daddy were so happy they were walking on air.

Liz looked down at little JP carrying his skate board and smiled…

“You know JP, next year you will be playing on this field also and maybe your team will win the T-ball championship.”

JP looked up at his mother and smiled…

“Oh, we’ll win mom. No doubt about it. Parker and Gerard have been teaching me everything and dad shows me how to hold a ball and bat. We’ll win!”

And the little one found his way through the crowd and to the car without any problem whatsoever, just as sure of the T-ball title as he was that the sun would come up tomorrow. Max and Liz just shook their heads and kept on walking. With that kind of confidence it might just happen.

*

Meanwhile Judge Abbott found out about the escape at the hospital and called the Chief over at the P.D. The Chief informed the man of all the events that had taken place and assured him that Don Adams was safely locked up in the hospital ward again and instead of having a guard outside of his room there was also another one stationed inside the man’s room. This second guard was out of the ordinary but this was no ordinary case. Strange things just kept happening. The Judge thanked the Chief and rung off.

‘I wonder where that Joey is right now?’ the Judge thought to himself. He has to be somewhere in the city…I’ll bet my life on it. And the old man locked his office and headed to bed.

*

After all the family said their goodbye’s Max and Liz headed on home. They thought about getting some pizza for the kids but Liz assured Max that there was going to be plenty of stew for everyone and she wanted to make sure Jack and the kittens were okay as well. Max assured her that Smith and Jones would see to the animals but she needed to be home. It finally occurred to Max that Liz didn’t feel safe away from the house and then he realized that he would have another job as well as keeping everyone safe. He was going to have one helluva time making his wife feel secure again. Oh this wasn’t good at all and he continued on his way to their home. “Shit” was the only word that ran through the mans mind…shit, shit, shit!!!

*

Meantime Joey found a rooming house on one of the seedier sides of town and rented himself a single room with a coffee pot in it. That was all of the conveniences the place offered. There was a community bathroom at the end of the hall and Joey figured no one would ever find him here, it was a good place to get lost. He managed to pilfer a telephone book from the public phone booth outside and took it up to his room where he studied it until he found what he was looking for. After that he put the phone book back and walked back to the secluded parking lot behind the abandoned building and removed the suitcase and duffle bag stowed there, locked the vehicle up and headed back to the flop house. No one had seemed to pay any attention to him one way or the other and he was quite content with himself.

After he had himself settled he started going through Don’s belongings and discovered a key to a locker somewhere in the city. Joey knew that he and Don had spent all of their time together so he wondered where this key was from…there had to be some clue in all of this stuff that would tell him what this was for. He continued to search through pockets, socks and envelopes until he came upon a torn seam at the bottom of the old suitcase. When he opened it he found a typewritten note with instructions. It told of how he was to kidnap Mrs. Evans and on what day of the week to do so…where he was supposed to take her and what to use the phone for. The key was to a locker at the Greyhound Bus Depot in downtown Philly and he would find further instructions there. Joey was dumbfounded. They were supposed to abduct the Evans woman the day after they went to the house not on Monday. Apparently on Monday the person in charge of this program knew that Mrs. Evans would not be alone. Boy did Don screw this up. Joey knew the man wasn’t all there but these instructions were clearly written out and he probably would be on his merry way had he followed them. Then Joey reached into his pocket and looked at the phone. There was nothing in the instructions about this phone…it had to have some significance because Don did not use a phone the entire time they were together. Joey wasn’t ready to use the phone just yet but he knew he would be trying the thing out soon. Just who is the person in charge of all of this and where was he? Joey wasn’t going to wait forever to find out what was happening.

*

[mary mary]

Carolyn: You are pretty clever...
Dreambeliever: Yep!
XAF RU208: Thank you!!!
Eve:It's going to start clearing up pretty quickly I think. If JP doesn't hog too much of my attention.

*~*~*

Chapter: 26

The next morning Jesse received a call from his friend at the FBI and was surprised to hear the man’s voice to say the least.

“Jesse, are you still working on that situation with Philip’s daughter-in-law?”

“Yeah. What’s up?”

“Well, I did some snooping around and found out that the governor of Connecticut, Joseph Freeman, and one Judge Abbott went to Yale together. When you told me that this Don Adams had been released from prison on good behavior due to a new program that had been set up I just had to find out more about it. This just didn’t set well with me. Then this man winds up in Philadelphia, where Philip and his family happen to live and Philip is having meetings with a man that went to college with the man that set the idiot loose?!? No matter how well behaved a prisoner is, someone convicted of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and bigamy with consecutive sentences just isn’t paroled no matter how well behaved he is. I’m no expert here on this line of thinking Jesse, but something isn’t quite right.”

“You know what? I think you’re right. I’ll let Philip know what you’ve come up with and I’ll keep you informed about what we find out.”

“Great Jesse. You take care and come see us once in a while, okay?”

“You got it and if I can ever return the favor let me know.”

“Will do buddy.” And the two old friends rung off.

Jesse couldn’t wait to get Philip on the line and give him this new information.

*

Back at the Evans’ home Max was getting ready to leave for the children’s facility and had just finished helping Liz clean the kitchen up when Olivia came through the back entrance to the house and was greeted with happy little faces all trying to tell stories of their week-end adventures at the same time. Max and Liz looked over in her direction and smiled, they knew she would handle the crew in short order and have them all sitting at her side talking in turn. It was a sight to behold and Shorty smiled at the woman as he left the house to take up his post on the front porch.

JP was full of fishing tales, Parker and Gerard were thrilled to share the little league championship game with her, play by play, and the girls couldn’t wait to share the movie they had seen with their parents. It seemed that everyone had a marvelous time and Olivia was happy to see that some things were still normal if not all of them.

Max pulled Liz into his side and kissed the top of her head as he smiled at the group and then he grabbed up his wallet and keys, kissed each child on the head as he had done their mother, hugged Olivia and was off. Shorty gave him a wave as he drove out of the driveway and Max smiled and nodded as he passed the guard on his way to the main street. He liked all of the men Jesse had sent to the house and would have chosen any one of them for a friend but he certainly wished that it was under different circumstances that they were all there.

Liz left Olivia in the kitchen with the kids for a minute while she went out to check on the little family on the patio and had to giggle when she saw one of the little ones trying to make it’s way out of the box. It didn’t take the little creatures long to figure out they were confined and the need to explore was growing by leaps and bounds. She picked up the little ball of fur and set it down to wander around and lifted the rest of the babies out as well…Mama got out and stretched herself and Liz smiled down at her as she changed the towels and the little waterproof barrier she had placed between the heating pad and the towels. She then cleaned the kitty litter container and put the babies all back in the box and left mama to roam around while she went to get cat food and dispose of the dirty towels. Jonesy sat and watched the young woman take care of those kittens as if they were her own children and he smiled. It’s no wonder those kids are the way they are with those kittens…no matter how tough she tries to be she is just a big softy at heart. She handles those kittens as though they were the most delicate jewels on earth and then Liz caught him watching her. She could only smile and shrug her shoulders…then she said,

“They are just babies you know?”

“I know Liz. When do you think they’ll be leaving?”

“I don’t know. Max took a picture of them and posted it at the gas station. We figure she has to be from around here somewhere because she was ready to give birth and usually they look for a safe place in that condition if they aren’t in familiar surroundings so maybe things just progressed beyond her control and she chose here. Hopefully her owners will show up rather than the animal shelter. I would hate to think they were going to be put down.”

“So, you’re not going to keep them?”

“No Jonesy, we aren’t going to keep them. I know we should probably keep at least one but they aren’t our cats and the kids have to learn that we can’t just take what isn’t ours. That’s why I didn’t want them to get too attached but we all know that was futile. Anyway, they’re safe for now and they are cute.”

“That they are. JP is especially fond of “Tigger” you know.”

“Jonesy, JP is fond of anything that moves, bless his heart, and that’s okay…but he has to learn, as well as the rest, that he can’t have everything he wants.”

Jonesy smiled…he knew that the statement she just made was not entirely true but it was worth a try. There wasn’t too much those kids could possibly want because they already had it and then he thought about it…they really weren’t spoiled. They were well mannered and very obedient considering. JP pushed Liz a little but she was totally aware of it as was JP and he didn’t do it to be malicious, he was just a tad too smart for his own good.

So, Liz finished up her chores on the patio, left Jack sitting sentry by the patio door, and headed back into the house to start classes for the day. It was about 8:45 and class started at 9:00 so back to the library she headed with five little people hot on her heels.

*

When Philip arrived at his office at 9:00 a.m. there was a message from Jesse waiting for him and Philip called his Roswell office immediately.

“Jesse, what’s up?”

“Philip, good morning. I have some information to share with you about this Judge Abbott and the Connecticut Governor and I think you might find it interesting. I don’t know how close you two are but I think you should share it with the Chief of detectives that you’ve been working with.”

And Jesse proceeded to tell Philip all about the two old friends from Yale.

“Philip, it could be a coincidence, or not, that Don Adams was released but I think some caution should be taken about sharing information with this judge. Didn’t you tell me that you had a meeting in his chambers regarding this problem?”

“Yes, yes we did. The man seemed very interested in helping us. I think I’ll give the Chief a call and set up a lunch meeting with him and discuss what you just told me. I just don’t believe in these kinds of coincidences anymore Jesse. Especially not when my family may be in jeopardy. Thank you and tell your friend thanks for thinking about us.”

“Will do Philip. My love to all.”

And the two men hung up.

***

After Philip had his conversation with Jesse he made a call to the PD and asked if the Chief of Detectives was in and told them to tell him it was Philip Evans. It wasn’t but 5 seconds later the Chief of Detectives was on the line.

“Philip, I hope everything is alright.”

“Yes, yes it is but I have something to share with you that I’m not so sure about how to handle. You need to know that the Governor of Connecticut, the one who paroled our two star players here, and the illustrious Judge Abbott went to Yale together and graduated in the same class. Do you find this a little alarming?”

“Well, yes I do as a matter of fact. It could be just a coincidence you know.”

“Yes, that’s what we all thought as well but then I think it’s just too ironic that these two men found their way to my son’s home not a day after their release. I think that is just too coincidental for my blood. I’m not saying there’s something wrong here but I’m not overlooking the fact either. I just wanted you to be aware and to pull you into the loop so to speak. I definitely will not be sharing anymore information with the man and would appreciate it if you didn’t do any sharing either. I know he seems extremely helpful but now I’m wondering why. I don’t want to seem paranoid but this is my family we are talking about and I certainly don’t want to take any unnecessary chances when their lives are at risk.”

“Philip, I totally agree with you and I will bring in the four detectives that I have working on this case with me and fill them in on this information as well. I have not brought the entire department in on all of the facts because of the compromising situation our department is in as well so I will be sure that only these four are aware. I think we should also let the bailiff know what we suspect just in case he accidentally finds out something we don’t want the judge to know. We will find out what this is all about Philip. Trust me.”

“Oh I trust you chief but you can also trust that we are going to be working on this just as strongly as you are.”

“I understand. And thank you for the heads up; I’m glad that you trust us at least.”

Philip chuckled as he answered the man…

“Well, I guess we have to trust someone don’t we? I’ll be talking to you again and thank you for taking my call.”

“Anytime Philip, do you have my home phone number?”

“Yes, Liz gave it to all of us and thank you. Have a good day.”

“The same to you Philip, goodbye.”

And the two men hung up.

*

[mary mary]

Carolyn, Eve and XAF Ru208:
Well the three of you seem to have this figured out pretty well don't you?

****


Chapter: 27

After Liz finished with classes and corrected all of the work the kids had done she put stars on everything and posted the work on the bulletin board in the hallway for Max to see. Their hand writing was becoming truly wonderful with just fifteen minutes a day and JP was staying between the lines with his printing as well. She was so impressed with all of them that she could practically fly on her own. Shorty saw Max pull into the drive way and came in through the back door to use the bathroom and noticed all of the school papers on the hallway bulletin board and had to stop and take a look. All five of the children had some pretty impressive papers hanging there and he wondered just how in the hell they were going to deal with all of these little geniuses when they got to be teen-agers. Their lives could become one living hell if these kids ever put their minds together for some mischief. There wasn’t a single thing he could see wrong with their work. The penmanship, the answers to the questions neatly written or printed and even the four year old was right up there with the rest of them. He was amazed…and then Max came in and gave him a smile and took notice of all the stars posted for the world to see and gave the other man a grin. “Scary isn’t it?” he said.

“Boy, you’ve got that right…I’m glad they’re yours.”

“You know it’s their mother that’s the cause of this don’t you? She just seems to have that knack and they eat it up. All of it. It doesn’t make any difference what it is she teaches them they find it fun and want to learn. She’s an amazing woman that’s for sure.”

“Yes she is Max, but those kids are pretty intelligent with or without her.”

“Yeah, but she brings out the best in them. I dropped off some of their work at school the other day just to catch up with their teachers and to make sure that we were keeping up with everything and they said that the kids are way past their classmates and that Liz should slow down so we are going to take them to the library this afternoon and get them all library cards after we take the girls for their ballet lessons. Liz is going to have a reading session every morning and they will each get to choose a book to read and discuss. This should take up some of the time that they need for studying and JP has already informed us that he needs some new books. So rather than buy more children’s books we thought we would introduce them to the library. I think it will be good for them.”

“It certainly will. That way they’ll still have their play time in the afternoons and they won’t become nerds.”

Shorty just stood there and laughed at the man…there wasn’t a thing ‘nerdy’ about any one of them.

Liz heard her husbands voice in the entryway to the back door and went to see what was keeping him and then she had to smile. Max and Shorty were both discussing the papers on the bulletin board and she had a great big smile on her face for both men. She was one proud mother and the pride was shining through her eyes and she couldn’t contain the urge to giggle. Max looked down at her and grinned as he pulled her close and kissed her forehead. She had every right to be proud and then Shorty told her…”Nice job Liz.” And made his way to the bathroom.

*

“Hi sweetheart, are you and your crew about ready?”

“Yeah…the girls are putting their jeans on over their leotards and they should be down any minute now. The boys weren’t really sure about going to dancing school but when I told them that we would stop at the mall for a little while and they wouldn’t have to sit there and watch ballet they were okay with it. I haven’t told them about the library yet, I want to surprise them. I think they will like being able to choose their reading material and I think it’s going to give them a huge advantage in understanding English grammar in fourth grade. That’s when they’re really going to start getting into the guts of the subject and it really isn’t the easiest to grasp when you take into consideration all of the slang terms we have that will not fit into the lessons at all. I am so tempted to continue home schooling them but I know it won’t be fair to them. They also need the interaction with their peers but I intend to take a more involved interest in their homework. It won’t be a quick scan to see to it that it’s done correctly anymore…it will be an active interest in the library to make sure they really do understand it all. They are so smart Max and they eat this stuff up like little sponges. It’s amazing.”

Max just stood there and listened to her go on about their kids and he loved it. She was as amazing as the kids and he wanted to take her upstairs and ravish her. He knew that what she was talking about had nothing to do with wanting to turn him on but it sure as hell was and he wasn’t a bit ashamed to tell her either.”

“Liz, you have to quit talking honey…I’m getting so turned on right now that I really don’t think I’ll be able to drive us anywhere until we go take care of this little problem I’ve got growing and it’s getting worse by the second.”

Liz looked at Max like he’d just lost his mind.

“What are you talking about Max…we’re talking about school here!”

“I know, and you’re driving me nuts here!”

Then she looked at him and grinned…

“You’re kidding…right?”

Max grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him and then forced their mid sections together and Liz’s eyes got as big as saucers…

“Max? You’re not kidding are you?”

“Not hardly Liz… Now let’s get the kids and get the hell out of here while I still can.”

Liz looked up at her husband and blushed and Max groaned low in his throat and had to leave her standing in the hallway. She had no idea how much she turned him on or how much he really loved her. And to think she would blush after all of these years was even a bigger turn on. God, he was going to have to take a cold shower if those kids didn’t soon get down here.

*
They finally headed on to the dance studio where they all disembarked, much to the
complaints of three little boys, and headed on in together, it was decided everyone would go to the mall. There was no way that either parent would leave those two little angels unattended even if it was supposedly a safe environment. There was a row of seats outside the actual studio itself with a large window where parents could observe the lesson and that is where Liz and Max sat while the boys found some books that interested them over at a child sized table with a few chairs. All three of them were able to read the stories and when JP had a problem he would ask either Parker or Gerard who was more than glad to help their brother. Since they were now attending classes at home Parker and Gerard had developed an appreciation of their younger brothers capabilities and were eager to assist him. Liz and Max were carrying on a conversation with one of the other parents when the other person realized whom she was talking to. Max just held up a hand and smiled…just a parent here, honest. And the lady returned his smile and continued talking.

“Do you find it difficult to have two sets of twins to raise?”

“Not at all. Of course I have a lot of help from family and friends but all in all I actually enjoy it. They are a lot of fun and keep us young. How many do you have?” Liz asked the other woman.

“Just the one daughter. We have been trying for what seems like ages for another one but so far we haven’t had any luck. We could possibly try invitro but we aren’t that well versed on the subject and are a little scared. The unknown, I guess that’s what it is.”

“Oh, well, look. That is part of my expertise and I would be more than glad to help you with anything you wanted to know about it.”

And with that Liz reached into her purse and pulled out one of her business cards and handed it to the woman. Then the woman introduced herself to Liz as Mrs. Lydia Shaw and asked Liz to please call her Lydia. Max just sat there and took it all in as he kept an eye on his sons and daughters with a smile on his face. Always the helper…and he felt his pants getting a little tighter…he shook it off and wondered what in the hell was wrong with him today.

*

“Just call that number and set up an appointment with the office at the Evans’ Children’s Facility and I will make it a point to be there. I will tell them to make sure that they take down your information. It will have to be an afternoon appointment since I home school the kids but if you’re interested I’ll be there.”

“Yes Doctor Evans, I certainly will.”

“Oh no Lydia, there’s no formalities here, you just call me Liz. How long has your daughter been dancing?”

“Since she was three. We sort of lied about her age and enrolled her four years ago in baby ballet. She loves music so we just went for it.”

“Well, she certainly is a beauty all right. She’s how old now?”

“She just turned seven but they think she’s eight.”

Liz giggled…

“I won’t tell.”

And about that time the class was over and Max had the boys put the books back on the table and waited for Liz to gather up the girls and get their jeans back on them before heading out to the mall.

*

Just as they rounded the corner and was headed toward the food court JP grabbed his dad’s hand and drug him toward a store front…Liz had the other four follow and wondered what possessed the child to act this way. He never did anything like this before and then JP pointed at the window and told his dad to look over at the pizza counter. Max did as the young boy suggested and JP looked at his dad’s reflection and said in a low voice…that’s Joey!...

*~*~*

[mary mary]

Eve: Lord knows what JP is going to grow up to be. I think he can pretty much do whatever he puts his mind to and at this point in his life nothing is impossible to him.
Carolyn: I'm sure Liz will be more than happy to take care of Max's "problem" later in the day.
Dreambeliever: Glad to see you back...and Max is a typical male!!!


Chapter: 28

Max took JP’s hand and motioned for Liz and the rest of the family to follow him into the store. It was a men’s clothing store, thank God it wasn’t Victoria’s Secret next door, they went over to a counter that obscured them from the window and Max told Liz that JP had spotted Joey Sabotini at the Pizza counter. Liz nodded but never said a word and dialed the special number the chief of detectives had given her and walked toward the back of the store to talk in private. The chief, Dennis, was on the line in a matter of seconds…

“Liz? What’s up?”

“Hi chief…we’re at the East Side Mall and JP just spotted Joey at the pizza counter. I don’t know if he’s still there or not nor do I know if he’s going to be eating at the food court but JP definitely knows who this man is and if he says it’s him then it’s him. We’re in the men’s store across from the food court and I can’t see out the window from where I am but I don’t want to tip our hand by going up front for a look so we’re staying put.”

“Good, just stay right where you are. I’ll have mall security there in a couple of minutes…as soon as I fax a picture of Joey to them they will detain him until we can get there. Someone will come into the store and get you as soon as things are secure. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine chief and I must say I am so proud of my baby. He took Max by the hand and led him to the store front window and told Max to look at the reflection across the mall and pointed the man out to his dad. He didn’t make a scene about it and is as calm as a cucumber. A lot more calm than I am right now…I can tell you that.”

Then Liz thought to herself…there’s no way I’m going to stop him from watching television…he had to learn that maneuver from watching TV.

“He’s one smart little boy but I don’t think he feels any threat from this Joey. You said he waved to him the entire time he was standing on the other side of your wall so he probably is doing as he was told and just pointing him out. I’m sure it would be a different story if it was Don Adams…he’d probably walk up and kick the man.”

Liz giggled at that statement because there’s a good chance that is exactly what JP would do.

About that time she heard some commotion going on outside of the men’s store and proceeded to look out the window and noticed that, yes, Joey was in custody by the mall security and the police were making their way down the concourse…

“Well, I must say I’m impressed. You took care of this while you kept me busy talking. Very good chief. What should we do now?”

“Continue on doing what you intended to do and I’ll get back to you as soon as we’ve finished questioning this Joey. We don’t want to arouse any suspicion from the other players in this game just yet Liz…but I think you can put the kids back in school.”

“Nah…I don’t think so chief. We know there’s someome out there, the ring leader so to speak. I think I’ll just hang onto them for a little while longer until we are sure we have the brains behind this little game safely locked up.”

“I see what you mean. Very well and thank you for all of your help.”

“Oh, don’t thank me, thank my little genius…he amazes me more everyday.”

And they rung off.

When Liz came back into the main section of the store Max had the kids looking at jackets with him and then he looked at her and winked as he pointed his thumb over his shoulder to the scene outside. She gave him a knowing grin and picked up on the conversation with the kids and as soon as things had settled down outside they left without purchasing a thing…much to the chagrin of the sales clerk that was hoping for a very large commission on his next pay check. Life is just full of little disappointments.

JP raised his eyes up at his mom with a questioning look and Liz smiled and bent over and whispered in his ear.

“The chief took care of everything JP. You may have to identify Joey as the man outside of our house but I don’t think so. He’s gone now and we can go have lunch…what do you say?”

“Well, I don’t want any pizza that’s for sure.”

And Max and Liz both laughed at their four year old. Then Max suggested that they just head on out of the mall and go have dinner since it was so late.

Parker and Gerard both whined at the same time…

“But we haven’t had lunch yet!”

People on the concourse looked at the twins in what seemed like shocked silence and Max and Liz both started laughing. They were so used to the boys saying the same thing at the same time that it didn’t even phase them but total strangers weren’t sure if they heard two voices or not.

“Fine, we’ll have lunch here and then a late dinner at home after we leave the library.” And Max grabbed JP up off the floor and put him on his shoulders as Liz took hands and headed over to the food court, making sure to by-pass the pizza counter, and started taking orders from the kids.

About an hour later they were at the library getting library cards for all five of the kids and then they headed over to the children’s section to make some choices. They explained to the kids that they could each have two books today and they would read them in class then, in two weeks, they would come back and check out two more each. The kids were thrilled and really got into the process of reading the covers as well as looking at the pictures. Max and Liz each took a little chair at a small table and waited for their children as though they were obeying an order and the children’s librarian stood there and laughed at them…Max looked over and winked at the woman knowing full well what was going through her mind and Liz just kept an eye on five little people. JP went over to the science section and started looking through the children’s educational books and Liz and Max sat there shaking their heads in disbelief.

Then Liz looked up at Max and smiled as she said…

“Damn that learning channel…he’s going to tell Diane to stand on her head, I just know it.”

And Max burst into laughter as Liz nudged him in the ribs trying to shush him as Max feigned injury and looked over at her and grinned.

“You have to admit it was funny Liz. You missed dad’s initial reaction. We had to dodge the coffee that was in his mouth he was so flabbergasted. I just left the scene and Liz, you know that mom has been told to stand on her head already.”

“Well, he can’t be telling his grandmother that gravity will get rid of her wrinkles if she stands on her head Max…it’s just not polite regardless of how funny we all think it is.”

“Liz, we’re talking JP here…Mom will laugh her head off and you know it.”

“Maybe, but it’s still impolite.”

“Not where JP is concerned…he’s doing it out of kindness. What did the chief have to say?”

“He said he would be in touch as soon as they had Joey in custody and had some answers. He said he doesn’t want to play his hand too soon until he’s absolutely sure of who the brain is behind this entire fiasco. He also said it was safe to send the kids back to school but I disagree with him. Not until all the players are where they belong.”

“Hmmm…I agree with you. We still don’t know what this nitwit has up his sleeve, if anything. So far his entire plan is falling apart and one little four year old is a big cause of that. Liz, I am so proud of the way he handled himself this afternoon. He was so calm and relaxed and did everything to perfection…better than most adults would have handled it.”

“I agree with you there Max. I had no idea what we were doing looking in that store window but I knew it had to be important to JP. I will never doubt him Max…he just thinks way beyond his age and it’s a little scary.”

“As I told you before…there’s nothing to be afraid of. We will continue to treat him like a little boy and he will continue to be JP, no problem, we just have to accept that he’s four, and Liz, he really is a little boy.”

“Yes oh mighty psych. doctor.”

They both laughed at that as the five youngsters all showed up with their choice of books and they all headed to the check out computer. Each child was given instruction on how to stack the books with the identification tags all visible to the scanner, scan their card and when their ticket printed out they took it and put it in the front of one of their books. All five had the process down in nothing flat…modern conveniences was all that Liz could think of as they made their way out of library and headed on home.

After dinner had been served and everyone had their showers Liz took the opportunity to ask the kids if they had a preference to which book they wanted to start their lesson with the next day and each child checked out the others selections and then they had a discussion, which could have easily turned into a heated discussion if Max hadn’t intervened, and it was decided calmly which book went first. They went by age, oldest to youngest and although the twins were only minutes apart they knew which twin was the oldest so Briana got to choose first. She of course had chosen a fairytale which sort of made the boys groan but fair was fair. The next story to be read would be decided by the second oldest and so on. When they all understood that they would be discussing the book in class they thought about it for a minute and decided that maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all. The boys could listen to fairytales without getting any flack from their friends because they had to study them. This could really work out well they thought. And Liz and Max were happy about the entire idea.

*
Just as Liz was ready to turn out the lights the phone rang and as she answered Max was right beside her listening…

“Hi Liz, this is Dennis, the chief of detectives…can you come down to the station tomorrow and bring JP with you. If we have JP talk to Joey while filming the conversation I don’t think it will ever be necessary to have JP go into court and identify him. Joey has no idea who is behind all of this but he’s got some clues and we feel that JP is just the person to help bring all of this information out. The man is enthralled with the kid. He thinks he’s one of the most intelligent little boys he’s ever come across. Of course he doesn’t know that many little kids but with JP waving to him all of the time and watching him play in the back yard for so long he feels he knows him and I think if he thinks JP is in any danger he will prevent that.”

“Chief, I’ll discuss this with JP. I’m not so sure I like the idea and if JP makes any indication that he’s frightened of this man there won’t be any up close and personal conversations. If that’s agreeable with you then I’ll let you know tomorrow. The kids are already in bed.”

“I understand Liz and I’ll be waiting to hear from you. I want you to know that this was most likely one of the cleanest take downs I’ve seen I a very long time and I take it we have JP to thank for that?”

“Yes you do…I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow chief. And thank you.”

And they rung off. Max pulled Liz close into a hug and kissed the top of her head. She’s still as tough as ever and God did he love her. Thank God this wasn’t Maria, she would have Michael in a nut house by now. Liz looked up at her husband and smiled and Jack ambled in to take a look at the situation before heading on out to the hallway to take up his post. Max and Liz both smiled and headed to bed and then Max looked down at Liz as she started to turn down the covers and when she caught sight of him he sort of looked a little dreamy and she just smiled and started to pull the bottoms of her pajamas off…what a way to end the day!

***

[mary mary]

Carolyn, Eve, XAF_RU208: Thank you for the fb. It truly is appreciated.



Chapter: 29

The next morning found Liz draped across her husbands body as usual...Jack was licking the bottom of a foot that was dangling out from underneath the covers and Liz kept jerking away from the dog causing a disruption in Max’s sleep. Finally, not being able to stand the jerking of his wife’s body Max opened one eye and looked toward the offending cause, having to move a handful of hair out of the way giving him a better line of vision. Damn, he raised his body slightly trying not to disturb Liz who seemed to be sleeping through the entire episode and whispered to Jack to go away. The dog just stood there wagging his tail…Max knew nothing was wrong due to the action of that tail and he raised his free arm toward the door and pointed. Jack sort of slumped out of the room and then the alarm went off but Liz never moved. Since the alarm was on her side of the bed Max had to remove her, literally, from his body…disentangle arms and legs in order to get over her and turn the offensive thing off. By that time he was wide awake and decided what the hell, it’s probably the first time in weeks the woman actually relaxed enough to get a good night’s sleep, the teachers told him to tell Liz to lighten up so he made a decision without her input and gave her and the kids the day off.

Max got himself up and into the bathroom as quietly as possible…he showered quickly before heading on downstairs to feed the dog, put on the coffee and to check on the cats. He was thinking as he shaved that they still hadn’t had any replies to the flier that he had put in the gas station window and it was getting close to the time to call the pound if someone didn’t come and claim them soon. It was a unanimous decision between him and Liz that the cats were not going to stay and it was going to be really tough if the owner didn’t show soon. When he finally made his way downstairs and into the kitchen he could only stand there and groan,

There was Jack… standing on his hind legs, both front paws sprawled out in front of him on the kitchen counter with his chest resting on it and his nose buried in Liz’s coffee cake that she had made for breakfast. Oh well, the dog didn’t need to be fed now…wonder what dog food tasted like and he smiled at that thought. He just wished he knew how the hell to make a coffee cake…he picked the camera up off the desk instead and took a picture of the dog for Liz before shooing the creature outside. He could only stand there and laugh…Liz wasn’t going to think this was funny, but when she saw the picture she definitely would have to laugh. About that time Shorty and Jonesy came in and saw the grin on Max’s face and he showed the picture to them and they stood there and laughed right along with him…it was a guy thing.

“You know she’s going to be pissed…right?” Jonesy said.

“Yeah, but she’ll get over it. Do either of you know how to make a coffee cake?”

“Nope, not me…how about you Shorty?”

“Never tried it but I could probably manage with a cook book….I think we should just show her the picture instead. She’ll only be mad for a minute and then she’ll laugh.”

“Hey you two, I’m beginning to think you’ve had to live here too long, you know us too well.” And all three men grinned at each other.

“Do either of you have families?” Max asked as he made the coffee.

“Yeah…my wife lives in Roswell, she comes in to town on my days off and we stay at the Hyatt.” Shorty said as he went to the pantry and retrieved the bread for toast…no coffee cake so toast was on the menu. Max grinned…

“Me too. Actually, they are pretty good friends.” Jonesy answered, he got some plates out of the cupboard and headed toward the dining room. Max took all of this in and continued to grin…

“Well, damn…do you have kids?”

“No, I don’t and Jonesy and Loretta are expecting.” Shorty answered as he put four slices of bread in the toaster and retrieved the butter out of the refrigerator and a butter knife out of the drawer under the cabinet holding the dishes.

“Well, listen. The next time they come to town you bring them here. They don’t have to stay in a hotel.” Max said as he retrieved a skillet from the pantry and a bag of hasbrowns from the freezer.

“No Max. We don’t want them in any danger…and after all, that is why we’re here. We’ll just keep things the way they are if it’s all the same to you. Maybe, when this is all over we can bring them over for a visit and have them meet everyone but no, not while we’re still unsure of everything. Our job is to keep you safe and we don’t need to be worrying about them.” Shorty said and Jonesy nodded. Max nodded in agreement and about that time Liz showed up in the kitchen.

“Max, why didn’t you wake me up? We’re going to be late getting things going now.” She looked worried and then noticed the three men busy getting breakfast…

“I decided that you needed a day off. The school said the kids are way ahead of everything so you can all have a “snow” day.”

And Liz laughed at her husband. They used to have what was called “snow” days in Roswell in case it snowed because there were no snow plows to take care of it due to the fact that it was an extreme rarity, Then she looked at the counter and started to sputter…she was ready to shout some mild expletives when Max handed her the camera.

She didn’t think it was funny, she had seen this action many times and the dog had been punished many times for doing this very thing but leave it to Max to get a kick out of it and to take pictures. The dog was a comical sight but there was nothing funny about him eating their breakfast off the kitchen counter or anything else for that matter. She would just have to remember to put stuff in a much higher place was all. She completely forgot about setting the cake on the cookie rack to cool off before putting it in the cupboard. Oh well, since she wasn’t going to be teaching school today she could bake another one and proceeded to get the bowl, mixer, pan and ingredients out of the various cupboards while Shorty, Max and Jonesy continued with their part in the breakfast menu.

*

After everyone had been fed and the night crew was asleep Liz called JP into the kitchen for a pow-wow. The other four followed suit since they weren’t quite sure about the mornings activities so they sat in on the meeting.

“JP…do you remember meeting the Chief of detectives after Don broke into our house?”

“Yeah…he was that big gray haired dude.”

Liz smiled…

“Yes, that’s him. He called last night and wanted to know if you would mind going to the police station and identifying Joey and maybe talking to him.”

“Sure, I can do that. When are we going?”

“Just as soon as Daddy gets finished with his work at the facility and comes back for us. We aren’t going to go alone. Maybe you kids can go up and put some nicer clothes on today other than play clothes. You don’t have to put on church clothes but school clothes would be nice. Then when you’ve done that come on back down and we’ll read a book instead of having regular school today.”

“Oh goody…Can Olivia listen too?” Briana wanted to know.

“Of course she can if she wants to. She’ll be here soon. So all of you head on up and just change into something nicer while I clean up the kitchen. Did you make your beds?”

“Yes!” replied five little voices.

So off the five of them went and when Olivia arrived Liz asked her if she wanted to read “Fairy Tales” and grinned at her old friend. Olivia smiled back at her and winked.

“Been thinking about that all morning.”

And both women laughed as Olivia helped Liz put dishes away out of the dish washer. Then she noticed two large baking pans….

“Did Jack enjoy his breakfast?”

“According to Max he did. He even took a picture of it for me…I told him I was very familiar with the sight, don’t need reminders and didn’t think it was funny but all of the men disagreed so I guess it’s a guy thing.”

“Liz, he does look funny sprawled out like that and you know it…even if it is a pain in the backside.”

“Yeah, I guess… I’d really like to take the broom to the little shit but I could never hurt him in a million years.”

“I know and maybe he deserves a cake every now and then.”

“Yeah, as good as he is with the kids I guess he does.”

*

Liz made her way to the back office to call the Chief just as the kids came down the back stairs and she told them to go into the library to wait for her and she’d be right in. then she made her phone call.

“Hey Chief…it’s Liz Evans. I spoke with JP this morning and he said he doesn’t mind talking to Joey at all so what time would you like us to come over this afternoon. My husband will be taking us so it definitely has to be after noon sometime.”

“Well…Mrs. Evans, how about we set things up for 2:00. That way everyone will have had their lunch and my men will be ready to sit in on the conversation as well. It will be done in the interrogation room and the rest of us will be behind the glass taking it all in. We don’t want to make JP uncomfortable.”

“Oh Chief…I don’t think anything will make JP uncomfortable but I’m sure Max will be with him while he does the talking. Max may be uncomfortable but JP will be fine.”

“Well, if you’re sure Mrs. Evans. We will be filming the conversation, I can’t call it an interrogation but it is definitely a conversation between a four year old and a criminal. I don’t want to have to call JP into court for an identification of the man if it isn’t necessary. I think, even though it’s a little out of the ordinary, that this is the best way to go.”

“Alright then, we’ll see you at 2:00 p.m. til then Chief.” And Liz hung up.

When she got to the library all five kids and Olivia were seated around the table and Briana had her book open and was ready to start reading aloud. The other four were seated with their hands folded on the library table in front of them and Liz wanted to giggle…it looked like a corporate meeting going on and she had to take a moment to compose herself before settling in to listen to the story at hand.

“Okay kids, before we get started I want to make sure that you understand that we are going to be discussing all of the characters in the story to make sure that we all know what the author intended us to learn so pay attention. Okay Briana, make sure you give us the title and the author’s name before beginning.” And everyone sat back and listened to the youngster read her story to the group sitting around the table. Liz and Olivia looked at each other and smiled as they watched the serious looks on the kids’ faces.

*

[mary mary]

Carolyn: Liz puts up with a lot from the dog but the dog is truly a good friend to the family, he's just a little pushy sometimes. I'm sure he knows he's not supposed to eat off the counter but it's just so handy sometime.
XAF RU208: Yes, JP is definitely his own little person...full of confidence and a whole lot of BS, that's for sure.
Eve: You are certainly right about JP not being afraid...I don't think the little fellow realizes the concept of fear yet. Maybe someday it will sink in but as long as he has his kicking boots he seems to be okay and Liz...well, I think she knows she should have put the cake up but it's a little late and she paid for it.

*~*~*

Chapter: 30

Right at noon Liz called the class to a close and all five of the children weren’t really ready yet. Briana had finished the story about two hours before and all five of them were really getting into the open discussion and what the story was really about. Olivia and Liz both sat and listened to them discuss back and forth, throwing out ideas and solutions at each other and they were truly impressed with how things were going. She didn’t even interrupt them when they got a little silly…they were just children but all in all Liz couldn’t wait to share this with Max, she just knew that he was going to be very impressed with the way this had turned out. She hadn’t had this type of activity in class until she was a Freshman in high school and even that was more of a question and answer type of lesson…this truly was trying their thinking caps and she couldn’t have been happier.

By the time Max had come home the table had been set for lunch and everyone was seated and already eating soup and sandwiches as JP led the conversation and kept all of the men entertained with his antics. He truly loved the attention and made the most of it while the other four were more than glad to let him have his fun as they would much rather eat their lunch and get on with more important things like playing. Max just smiled at the group as he leaned over and kissed his wife on the top of her head before going to the kitchen sink and washing his hands. Olivia gave him a big smile as she ladled him a bowl of soup from the huge pot on the stove and Max reached over and gave her a hug as well. Both women smiled as he took his bowl to the table to join everyone else. About a half hour later Liz had the kids in the bathroom wiping hands and faces and making sure their clothes were still clean from the mornings activities and then they were off to the police station, one and all…

*

When they arrived Max told the desk sergeant who they were and they were immediately greeted by none other than the Chief himself. The desk sergeant just looked up in surprise but said nothing as the Chief led the entire family to an elevator and they all disappeared.

When they got upstairs and went toward the interrogation room the chief took JP aside and asked him if he was scared. JP looked the man right in the eye, since the chief had knelt down on one knee to be eye level with the child, and told him that he knew Joey wouldn’t hurt him. The chief nodded and for some reason, for what it was worth, he believed JP and then he explained to the rest of the family what they were going to do as Max smiled and said, very emphatically, that he would be sitting with JP during the ‘conversation’. The chief nodded and then opened the room to reveal the rest of the investigative team he had working on their case. He introduced Carl and the other three men to JP and his brothers and sisters and each child held out their little hands to the detectives and shook them as they had been taught since practically babies. All of the men were very impressed with the children and could only stand and smile...

Then the Chief explained to JP that they would be standing in this room watching him talk to Joey and he didn’t have to do this if he didn’t want to. JP said he didn’t mind and being the smart little boy that he was he said to the entire group…

“Maybe he’ll tell us why that Don guy wants to hurt us.”

“Yes JP, maybe he will.” The chief said, and knew he had made the right decision in having the child come in for an interview with the suspect.

*

Max was holding JP’s little hand as they entered the room with the table and two chairs sitting across from one Joseph Sabotini. There was a camcorder over head in the one corner and one wall had a large mirror, which of course Max knew was a two way mirror. He took JP over to the chairs across from Joey and JP crawled up onto a straight back, moved his little bottom right to the edge and folded his hands in front of him on the table while his feet dangled below. Max sat next to him in the other chair, crossed his right ankle over his left knee and draped his arm around JP’s chair in a very relaxed looking position but if you looked into the man’s eyes he was anything but. They clearly said, ‘don’t mess with me or mine’ and Joey just nodded at Max and then smiled at JP as he had done so many times before.

JP was the first to talk…

“Hi Joey, they told me what your name was a while back…how are you?”

“I’m fine JP and you?”

“Oh, pretty good. Hey Joey, why did that Don Adams want to hurt us?”

Joey knew the boy would be straightforward and was more than happy to answer his question. He held only admiration for the child after watching him play in the backyard with his trucks and the other children. He had a knack for taking charge of a situation and it didn’t seem to matter how old or how young the person was with whom he was speaking.

“I don’t think he was supposed to hurt you JP, he was supposed to kidnap your mom but he changed things around.”

“Why did he do that? You know he used to be married to my mom don’t you? And then he tried to kill her.”

Joey just sat and looked at the child before him and couldn’t believe his ears. Just how much of this have they told him?

“No JP…I didn’t know all of that. Why do you think he wanted to kill her?”

Don had mentioned some things about Liz and a blond but he really hadn’t paid that much attention to his ramblings.

“Well, my mom told us all about it. You see, she was married to that Don guy while he was married to someone else and also, he was staying with another woman. He wanted my mom to die so he could in…in…” JP looked at his dad for help…

Max smiled at his son and said “inherit”.

“Oh yeah… so he could inherit my mom’s money. Mom said she didn’t have a lot but she had a big life insurance thing with the company she worked for and that Don guy wanted that. Plus she has some apartments and we stay there sometime when my mom goes to visit her old company for business. My dad likes to get his pies there too. My mom took two apartments and made one out of it so we have room to sleep. It’s fun there. So you don’t think this Don guy wanted to hurt us, just mom?”

Joey was having a tough time following all of JP’s rambling but he got the gist of most of it and then he looked at Max who seemed to be wincing occasionally. He could tell the man wasn’t at all comfortable with any of this but he allowed his son to continue. Joey looked at JP again and said…

“Well JP, as near as we can figure, Don was hired to kidnap your mom for some reason. I don’t know why but Don went to your house the day before he was supposed to and that’s how you got involved in this.”

“Oh. So I sort of saved my mom when I kicked that Don guy and mom whacked him with the bacon skillet. Did you know that mom did that? You should have seen it! She whacked him good! He hit the floor and blood squirted and mom kicked the kitchen rug over him and then I ran.”

Max could hear the chuckles coming from the other room and controlled his own little smile as he reprimanded his son before he got too carried away.

“JP, you know you were told to quit telling that story.” At least he didn’t say she killed a guy with the skillet Max thought to himself…

“Oh yeah…sorry.” JP thought for a minute and continued…”Joey, mom did hit the guy with the skillet but she didn’t kill him.” Max rolled his eyes and turned his head to the wall as he scratched behind his ear and controlled the urge to laugh…

Joey looked at Max and didn’t know what to do, he truly wanted to laugh at the boy but the situation wasn’t funny…

In the control booth there was a lot of chatter between four detectives and one highly agitated chief of detectives as he tried to contain the situation. He could hardly keep a straight face himself but the kids and their mother were taking all of this in and it wasn’t a good idea for them to be making light of this situation and then Briana, the oldest of the group looked up at the chief of detectives and said, looking very serious with those big brown eyes that mirrored her mothers…

“This is all true you know. Mom had an awful mess to clean up after they took that man away. And then she had to sit down and tell us all about him. He has children you know. With his wife…he has a boy and a girl. Mom said they live in California. Mom said that it probably was as far as the woman could get from him without swimming.”

Liz just reached down and patted her daughter on the head and hid her smile …this was like a circus and if it wasn’t real she would say that it was a television sit-com. The five men looked away from the young family and fixed their eyes on the window in front of them…it’s too bad they couldn’t share any of this with the rest of the squad the chief thought to himself…They could use a good laugh once in awhile but this was all true and since it’s all true it is therefore very sad.

Then JP continued…

“Hey Joey, you said someone told Don to do this. Do you know who did that?”

“No JP. I have a telephone that was left in Don’s suitcase and an envelope with money but I don’t know who gave it to Don. I guess the guy that hired Don doesn’t want his identity known. Do you know what identity is JP?”

“Yeah, you hear that a lot on TV…it’s how you know who someone is…and it’s when someone hides their name from everyone. I guess this guy is hiding like you were huh? Why did you go back to get Don…didn’t you know they’d catch you?”

“Well, I didn’t know what else to do JP.”

“Oh…then why were you at our house everyday?”

“I didn’t have anything else to do and I thought it was important if Don ever woke up from when your mom whacked him.”

“Oh. Why didn’t you just come to the door and knock. My mom would have fed you. She feeds everyone, it’s what she does.”

Max just looked down at his son and shook his head as he smiled. Yeah, she probably would have…

“So Joey, you don’t know who wants mom dead then?”

“JP, I don’t think the man wants your mom dead…I’m not sure what he wants but he clearly wanted her kidnapped. Don’s instructions were very explicit…do not hurt her. So I don’t think he wanted her dead.”

“Oh…so he just wants something from her then. What do you think she has that he wants. Don wanted her property and insurance and she doesn’t have that anymore, just those apartments. She has us and my dad and she says that’s all she needs so if this guy wants something from my mom I’m sure she would give it to him if he just asked, unless he wanted my dad or us kids…then she’d probably whack him a good one too.”

That was it…Max couldn’t control it anymore. He reached over and picked his little son up and sat him in his lap and kissed the top of his head.

“Are you finished talking to Joey yet JP. Because I think we need to go home now. What do you think?” Max was having a really tough time controlling a laugh and God knows this wasn’t funny but his son was…God love his little heart he was funny.

“I think I’m done…how about you Joey. Do you have anything else you want to talk about?”

“No JP…but it has been really nice to meet you face to face. Maybe you could come to see me again sometime.” And Joey really meant that, he truly liked JP.

“I’d have to ask my mom Joey, but I think that would be okay. I’ll ask. You take care of yourself and I hope you figure out who this other guy is and what he wants my mom for. It’s too bad he couldn’t just ask her. She’s always doing things for people.”

“I’ll just bet she is JP. You take care of yourself.” And Joey nodded to Max as he put his son in the crook of his arm with JP wrapping his little arm around his daddy’s neck as though it was the most natural act on earth and Max walked out of the interrogation room while JP looked over his daddy’s shoulder and waved goodbye to Joey as he had done so many times before.

Max was met on the other side of the door with an entire entourage of people and when he saw the look on the Chief’s face he knew they had discovered something that they hadn’t thought of and he was glad that the meeting had been fruitful.

“What’s up Chief…you look like you’ve had an epiphany?”

“I have Max…JP said something that we haven’t even considered. This person or persons want something from Liz. My next question is what? What does Liz have that we are not aware of?”

“What? Besides a genius IQ I’ve no idea. She works in genetics, she studies special kids and sometimes adults…she analyzes problems and discovers proper meds to assist these people toward living a normal life.”

“Max…you have a special children’s facility do you not? Are there any restrictions regarding this place?” Carl asked.

“Only one really…we don’t take anyone over the age of 12. We really don’t have the room number one, and number two; after the age of twelve there are many other programs out there to help these kids. Plus, there are a couple more facilities like ours spaced out across the US that my friends are involved in and they do the same kind of work. Liz visits their facilities occasionally and, on rare occasion she uses the companies facilities where she used to work in order to do a more in depth study when required. They are very cooperative with her and she in turn does research for them. We try not to turn any child away and if we have to we refer them to some place where we know they can be helped. We can only do so much.”

Carl thought for a moment and then asked …

“Max, would it be okay if we looked at the files of children that have been turned down in your facility, just to see if any names come up that could be connected with this in any way. We didn’t think of it until JP asked Joey what this man wanted from his mom. Maybe this ‘man’ needs Liz’s brain.”

“Well…let me go through them with my father and I’ll give you anything that we think is pertinent, I can’t go around handing out information about children with problems, it just wouldn’t be ethical.”

“I understand, how soon can we expect to hear from you.”

“Is tomorrow soon enough?”

“Tomorrow will be great Max. Just tell the receptionist who’s calling…you’ll get right through.”

“Thanks Carl. I’ll talk to you then.” And Max was off with his family in tow.

The chief looked at his men and shook his head.

“Out of the mouth’s of babes, literally. I would have never thought of that in a million years. Money, property, ransom…but something mom has! Never!” And he just shook his head and walked off and said…

“Someone take care of Joey. I really do think the man is harmless but he did break the law. We’ll just have to keep him incognito until the big brain is in custody, maybe we can cut him a deal for his cooperation.”

And so life went on at the PD and Max took his family home. He looked over at Liz in the front seat of the Escalade and smiled. She just shook her head and stifled a giggle, he was just too much she thought to herself…how did she ever give birth to a child like that. So in control of himself and so confident…he was something else. The others weren’t much different but they were more subdued…not JP…he just let it all out and then she did giggle and Max knew exactly what she was thinking. To think a conversation between a convict and a small boy would result in a new twist in an investigation was ridiculous, but it worked. All the Chief wanted was a tape to prove Joey’s participation in all of this without causing JP to have to go to court and face attorneys…although Max doubted very much that the experience would have bothered JP in the least. If Don is ever brought to trial for his part in this crime it will most likely be a different story. God, how did Liz ever get tied up with that imbecile. Max just shook his head as he continued on his drive home.

***