WFOL 2016
BBTV Round Robin

(Chapter Index)

Chapter 7

by Barbara Anderson

 

Sam was silent for a moment.

“Sam, you can trust me …” Catherine said, giving his hand a squeeze.

His laugh had a bitter tinge to it. “It’s been my experience that when people say I can trust them … it usually means I can’t.”

Catherine raised her eyebrows and then nodded. “You have a point. That’s been my experience too, but I don’t know what else to say. Sam, you know Mitch is a dangerous man. He is probably a little desperate right now, which probably means he is even more dangerous than usual. If he is in the Tunnels … if he has these kids … if he is threatening them or using them in some way … do I need to go on? Two of William’s carving knives have been stolen. If he has them … do I need to spell it out … what a threat he is to everyone down there?”

Sam sighed and shook his head and spoke softly. “No … I know what Mitch is, Miss Chandler, and I know what he is capable of. But you have to remember, he is still my son, and even if he is a no good piece of …” he paused for a moment and cleared his throat, “… I love him. In spite of everything he has done … I love my son, and I don’t want him to get hurt.”

Catherine squeezed his hand again. “I understand, Sam, really, I do. But the only way everyone will ever be safe is if he is back in prison where he belongs. I think you know that.”

Sam pulled out an old handkerchief, blew his nose thoroughly, wiped his eyes, and then stuffed it back in his pocket. After clearing his throat a couple of times, he finally began to speak. “Molly was Mitch’s … I don’t know … girlfriend … common law wife. He just called her his ‘old lady,’ and a few other things I won’t repeat. They’d been together pretty much since Mitch was about twenty. Molly was a few years older than Mitch. They had a son, Jimmy, together. She already had Jane and Theresa when they met. She must have had Jane when she was about fifteen, because Jane was eight or nine by the time Mitch came into the picture.

“They never actually got married, but Molly stuck with Mitch through thick and thin. She loved him, no matter what he did. I always wondered if Mitch had something on Molly, you know, something he was holding over her head. He used to beat her up somethin’ awful when he would get drunk, but if Jane was there, she could make him stop.

“He’s always loved Jane like his own kid. Sometimes it seemed like he preferred Jane to his own Jimmy. His job on the docks and then in the union seemed to keep them going pretty good, until he went to prison. The cops confiscated just about everything. Left her with three kids and nothing but the clothes on their backs and a dilapidated old car. I couldn’t help them. They were evicted from their house. They lived on the street in their car for a while, and then I lost track of them. I guess she scraped by somehow.

“When Mitch got out of prison last time, he tracked her down, and they got back together. Except she had had another kid. He was pretty mad about that. He forgave her though … I guess. Took her back, anyway, but he didn’t want anything to do with the new kid. I never heard him call her by her name. He just called her ‘the whiny brat.’ But he still loved Jane, and for some reason Jane has always loved him. She’s just like her mother, she thinks Mitch hung the moon, and no one can ever convince her otherwise. If she has been stealing food down there, I’m sure Mitch is involved somehow.”

“You said Molly died. What happened to her?” Catherine asked.

“Cancer.” He shook his head. “By the time they discovered it, she was too far gone. She died less than six months after Mitch went back to prison. Jane’s been trying to keep them all together since then. But she is just a kid herself, and Social Services is always breathing down their necks. She finally reached out to Mitch in desperation. I don’t know what she thought he could do. The next thing I know, the cops are knocking on my door, searching my house and watching my every move. As if Mitch would be stupid enough to come to me. He knows this is the first place they would look … and he knows I can’t help him even if I wanted to. I can barely help myself.”

“Sam, you said there are four kids. Is that right? What are their names and ages?”

“Well, there’s Jane. She’s about nineteen now. Then Theresa. I guess she’s about sixteen. Jimmy is ten, and the youngest … she’s about five.”

“And the youngest one … do you know her name?”

“Yeah, it’s Hannah. Why?”

“I’m pretty sure Hannah is with us, and they caught one of the girls below stealing food from the kitchen pantry. I’m not sure which one. That still leaves Mitch and Jimmy and one of the girls unaccounted for. Thank you, Sam, you have been a great help. I’ll walk you back to your apartment.”

Catherine paid the tab and walked Sam home. As she was leaving his apartment, she opened the door to a familiar face.

“Cathy Chandler? What are you doing here?”

Catherine tried to sound calm and professional while trying to come up with a believable excuse for her visit. “Hi, Greg. I didn’t expect to see you here.” She knew her voice sounded too cheerful, but her nerves were too frayed to do any better.

“What do you want, Detective Hughs? I’ve already said all I’m going to say to you!” Sam declared gruffly.

“Hey, I’m just doin’ my job, Mr. Denton. Just doin’ my job.” Then, turning to Catherine, he waited for her answer.

She knew she had to come up with something fast. “Greg … I … uh … heard Mitch Denton escaped from prison. I was hoping Sam could give me some information about his whereabouts.”

Greg looked confused. “That’s not your job, Cathy, it’s mine. What business is it of yours?”

“Need I remind you, Greg, that the last time I saw Mitch Denton was just before he shot me? I think that makes it my business, don’t you? I have no intention of repeating the experience, if I can help it.”

“You could have called me. How did you get Sam to let you in anyway? I couldn’t get past the door without a warrant.”

“It’s Mister Denton to you,” Sam interjected. “She’s a lot prettier than you, and she smells better, too! Anyway, she offered to buy me dinner. How often do you think I get an offer like that from a beautiful woman?  Ha! Try never.”

Greg Hughs chuckled. “Ah … the old ‘get to the man through his stomach’ routine, huh, Chandler? I should have known.”

Catherine laughed. She appreciated the help Sam was giving her.

“So what did he tell you, Cathy?”

She chose her words carefully. She didn’t want to give Greg any information that could jeopardize the Tunnels, but she knew she had to give him something. “Just that he doesn’t know where his son is, and that Mitch’s longtime girlfriend passed away while he was in prison, and her kids seem to have gone missing around the same time as his escape.”

Greg sighed and shook his head. “You’ve been robbed, Cathy. He didn’t give you any information we didn’t already have.”

Catherine looked at Sam and he smiled apologetically. “Sorry, Lady D.A. A free meal is a free meal, after all. Is it my fault you’re a sucker?” And with that he slammed the door in both of their faces.

Catherine did her best to feign extreme shock.

Greg laughed and put his hand on her shoulder. “Sorry, Cathy, it could have happened to anyone. You should have just called me. Let me at least walk you down and see you safely into a taxi.”

As they walked down the stairs, Catherine asked, “Greg, what do you think the connection is with his girlfriend’s kids? It doesn’t make any sense. Being saddled with kids would only slow him down.”

Greg was more than willing to answer her, since they were on the same team and all. “As far as we can tell, at least one, maybe two of those kids are his. But since when does someone as cold-blooded as Mitch Denton care about anyone besides himself ... even if they are his blood? He sure has left his father high and dry. Anyway, do you remember a big jewelry heist back in 1983 that left the jewelry store owner and a security guard dead?”

Catherine nodded. “That was a long time ago, Greg. I think I remember it … vaguely. They caught a couple of the guys, but the rest were never caught. Is that right?”

Greg nodded. “Yeah, that’s the one. The two guys they caught worked down on the loading docks. They were friends of Denton’s. We knew there was a woman involved, as well. We always suspected the other two robbers were Mitch and his girlfriend Molly, but we could never get any hard evidence against them, and we never recovered the diamonds that were stolen. The two guys who went to prison died there, and now his girlfriend’s dead. So where are the diamonds? If Mitch could get his hands on those diamonds, he could get himself out of the country and live on Easy Street just about anywhere in the world.”

“I still don’t understand what that has to do with the kids, Greg.”

“What if Molly was keeping those diamonds safe? What do you think happened to them? We think that Mitch thinks the kids know where they are. If that’s the case, he won’t let those kids out of his sight until he has his hands on those diamonds. We’re worried that if he does get his hands on them, he won’t have any more use for the kids. He’ll dispose of them like yesterday’s garbage. Those kids are in danger, Cathy. I know it.”

“How much are the missing diamonds worth?” Catherine asked.

“They were worth about two million dollars back then. I’m not exactly sure what that would be now. I do know it’s more money than I’ll ever see.”

He suddenly looked up and put his fingers in his mouth and whistled for a passing taxi.

Catherine waved cheerfully at Greg as she drove away. As soon as he was out of sight, she laid her head back against the seat and breathed a sigh of relief.

                                                                        *****

Instead of going back to her apartment Catherine headed for the tunnels. She felt that the information she had learned was important for everyone to know.

As she entered the culvert, she heard a coded message on the pipes: “Edward is playing in the maze.”

She ran as fast as she could toward the safety of the main living quarters. She wasn’t surprised when Vincent didn’t meet her halfway; he had probably gone in pursuit of “Edward.” As she continued forward, she hoped that “Edward” would turn out to be Jimmy and not Mitch.

When she entered Father’s study, she encountered a room full of people, and yet no one was speaking. The tension in the air was palpable.

Samantha broke the silence. “Catherine, look who Jamie and Michael caught stealing food from William’s pantry.”

She wasn’t sure she heard Samantha correctly. “Jamie caught her? Is that right, Father?”

Father looked up at her and nodded, but no one spoke.

Catherine noticed a teenage girl she didn’t recognize sitting in a chair near Father’s desk. She seemed frightened, but she was trying bravely not to cry.

Catherine approached and stopped right in front of her. “My name is Catherine. You must be Theresa. Is that right?”

The girl looked up at her defiantly. “Don’t call me that. I hate that name.” She looked away, hiding her surprise.

“Would you prefer Tessie?”

The girl looked up again. “How do you know that?”

“Hannah misses you. She said it was Tessie that helps her with her hair. Was it you that left Hannah in the passageway to be found by us?”

Tessie eyed Catherine suspiciously. “You talk like you are one of them, but you aren’t dressed like them. You aren’t one of them, are you? You live up there,” she said, looking up to the ceiling.

Catherine ignored her comment. She hadn’t even admitted to herself how much it bothered her that she still stood apart from the people here. “You were trying to protect Hannah from him, weren’t you? You thought she would be safer with us than with him.”

Tears shimmered in the young girl’s eyes. “I don’t know who you’re talking about,” she insisted.

“Mitch. Mitch Denton. Your step-father.”

“He isn’t my step-father!” she exclaimed, then said with contempt, “He’s just the loser my mom shacked up with.”

Just then there was a commotion outside the chamber, and Mouse stumbled in carrying a sack that bulged like Santa’s on Christmas Eve. Mouse looked around in surprise. “Found them,” he declared excitedly. “Well … most, anyway.”

There was more commotion, and a young woman and a boy of about ten reluctantly entered the chamber, followed by Jamie and Pascal.

“Well, what have we here?” Father asked. “More unexpected guests?”

“We found them holed up in one of the old deserted chambers near the maze,” Pascal explained. “It was a great hiding place behind a fake rock fall. We might never have found it if we hadn’t seen this one disappear into it.” Pascal nudged the boy to indicate that he was talking about him.

“Where are Vincent and Isaac?” Father demanded with concern.

Jamie was quick to explain. “Well, when Mitch saw that we had discovered them, he lit out of there like his pants were on fire. He left these two holding the bag. Literally. Well, except for now … because now … Mouse is holding the bag, but you know what I mean. Anyway, Vincent and Isaac went after Mitch.”

Mouse took that as his cue to ceremoniously heave the sack onto the table Father used for his maps. At the sound of loud clanking and the clear sound of something breaking, Mouse hunched his shoulders and winced. “Oops … sorry,” he squeaked.

Father approached the two new arrivals. “Would the two of you care to introduce yourselves? We’ve already had the pleasure of meeting your …” He paused. “Hannah and Tessie. Are they your friends … or possibly … sisters?”

It soon became clear that no answer was forthcoming, so Father turned to Catherine. “Catherine, you seem to be a wealth of information this evening. Perhaps you can introduce us to our guests.”

Catherine stepped closer to the new arrivals and said in a congenial voice, “Everybody, this is Jane, and this is Jimmy.” Then turning back to Jane and Jimmy, she said, “Jane and Jimmy, this is everybody.”

It was Geoffrey who stepped forward first. He nervously held out his hand to Jimmy and said, “Hey, Jimmy, I’m Geoffrey.”

As Jimmy began to reach out to take Geoffrey’s hand, Jane stopped him. “No, Jimmy, it’s a trick. Mitch said you can’t trust any of them. He said they’ll stab you in the back the first chance they get.”

Jimmy put his hand back in his pocket.

“Is that why you took my good knives?” William growled from across the room. “So you could stab us in our backs first?”

Jane looked around the room, looking for any escape route she could. But there were too many people. Realizing they were trapped, her shoulders slumped, and Catherine noted that she suddenly looked very tired, and much older than her nineteen years.

“You have your stuff back now. No harm, no foul, right? So why don’t you just let us go?” Jane begged.

“And where will you go, Jane?” Catherine asked.

Jane shook her head. “Home. What do you care?”

“I care, because I know you don’t have a home… do you? You don’t have anywhere to go, and if you go back Above, you know Social Services will tear you all apart. You might never see each other again. There are people here who want to help you. That is, if you let them.”

No one had noticed Vincent and Isaac slip into the room.

“You have no authority to make promises like that, Catherine,” William declared gruffly. “These kids are thieves. They aren’t our problem. We should send them back Above where they came from. It’s where they belong.”

“But, William, they only stole because they were hungry,” Catherine countered.

“That isn’t the point, Catherine. You aren’t a member of the Council or of this community. You don’t live here, and you don’t have a vote.”

William’s words silenced her. She nodded toward Father and blended back into the crowd.

Father looked up and saw Vincent standing silently in the entry way. “Ah, Vincent, there you are. Were you able to catch him?”

“No, Father, but we saw where he exited the Tunnels, and we have doubled the security at every entrance and access point. He won’t be getting back in without us knowing. I would say it’s probably safer at this point to bring the children back from Catherine’s apartment rather than leaving them Above any longer.”

Father nodded. “Yes, I agree. It’s best for the children to come home.” Then, looking at William, he said, “As far as these children go, I think for the moment… at least, as long as Mitch Denton is on the loose, it’s best if we keep them here. They will be safer, and so will we, if we can keep an eye on them.”

“So we’re prisoners here?” Jane asked.

“Not at all, Jane. As soon as Mitch Denton is caught, we can all sit down like adults and decide what to do next. Until then, I think it’s best if you remain here with us.”

William huffed his disapproval and went to his kitchen to bluster in private.

Isaac had observed it all in silence.

                                                                        *****

“You’re very quiet, Catherine,” Vincent observed as they approached her threshold to retrieve the children. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, Vincent, I’m fine,” was all she said.

Unsatisfied with her answer, he asked again, “Catherine? Something is bothering you. I feel that there is something … wrong. You’re wrestling with something, I can feel it. Please tell me.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head.

“Would you keep the truth from me? I thought we promised … never to do that.”

“This isn’t the time to discuss it, Vincent. If I speak right now … I can never call it back. Do you understand?”

“Not really.”

“What I am feeling … what I am thinking … I need to sort it out.”

“Please … Catherine … I want to know what it is.”

She nodded. “You say that … and I believe you mean it … but sometimes words… they only have the power to harm others. I don’t want to do that, Vincent.”

“You are trying not to harm me … with the truth of what you’re feeling? I can already feel it. It feels like you’re angry. Are you angry with me?” he ventured.

“It’s been a long day, Vincent, and I’m very tired. Please …”

“Catherine … please,” he insisted.

Catherine was silent for a moment. She took a deep breath. “Fine, if you insist.  Vincent … how could you allow Jamie to go in there after the intruder when you wouldn’t allow me?” she asked accusingly.

Vincent was a little taken aback. “Jamie thought it would be less confrontational if she did it,” he explained.

“Vincent, you risked her safety. She isn’t much more than a girl herself. I don’t understand why you would send me away for my safety, and then you would risk hers.” Catherine was having a hard time keeping her voice down.

“Catherine … Jamie is perfectly capable of defending herself.”

She could see that Vincent wasn’t getting her point. “And so am I. Isaac told you I am the best pupil he’s ever had. I heard him tell you that … and yet you risked Jamie.”

“I’m sorry, Catherine, but Jamie is a member of this…” He stopped when he realized what he was about to say.

Catherine stiffened and then slowly nodded. “Jamie is a member of this community,” she said quietly, “and I’m not. Is that it?”

“Catherine, I didn’t mean it like that,” he pleaded. “Please, don’t misunderstand.”

She smiled a little, but she couldn’t hide the pain in her eyes. “I’m sure I didn’t, Vincent. You have made yourself perfectly clear.”

Vincent didn’t know how to respond. There was an uncomfortable silence. Finally, Catherine spoke. “Wait here while I go up and get Mary and the children.”

After she ascended the ladder, Vincent turned and saw Isaac leaning against the threshold.

“How much of that did you hear?” Vincent asked, clearly uncomfortable.

Isaac shook his head and whistled long and low.

“You have something to say, Isaac?” Vincent asked.

“Mm … mmm… mmm,” Isaac said, still shaking his head. “I don’t think I should get in the middle’a this. Trust me, Vincent, you don’t want to hear what I have to say.”

“Isaac … we’re friends. I truly do want to hear what you have to say.”

Isaac thought about it for a moment and then nodded. “All right then. You’re fixin’ to lose the best thing that’s ever happened to you, man… probably the best thing that’s ever gonna happen to you.”

“What do you mean? Vincent asked.

Pointing to the ceiling, Isaac said, “That woman, she’s been fightin’ for you for a long time … a long time … but she’s gettin’ tired, Vincent. I can hear it in her voice… see it in her eyes. Can’t you?

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“It’s just that … when women are abused by the men they love, their love brings them back again and again. But sooner or later, it wears ‘em down ‘til they just don’t have the strength to do it no more. One day, they’re just done. When that happens, man, there ain’t no gettin’ ‘em back. When they’re gone … they … are … gone.”

Vincent was quick to defend himself. “What are you talking about? I haven’t abused Catherine. I protect her. I have never harmed her. I would rather die than hurt her.”

“There’s more than one way to abuse a woman, Vincent. Maybe what you do is the worst kind.”

“I don’t understand.”

You break her heart, man. Every time you deny your feelings, every time you reject hers. It’s like people who starve their dog. They give ‘em just enough attention to keep ‘em loyal, and just enough food to keep ‘em alive … just enough … but not enough to make them thrive. You’re starving her soul, man. And she loves you so much she would rather starve to death than leave you. She has given you her heart, and you repeatedly trample it under your feet. And you don’t think that’s abuse? Believe me, beating her would be more humane than what you are doing to her. If you don’t want her, bro, then let the woman go.”

Vincent was stunned. He just looked at Isaac in disbelief.

Isaac continued. “Every time you look at her the way you do, every time you take her in your arms, it gives her hope... that maybe … maybe this time … And then you push her away and you crush her all over again.”

Vincent put his hand up. “That’s enough. You’re wrong, Isaac. Please stop.”

“Oh, no, Vincent! You said you wanted to hear what I had to say. I’m on a roll now … so you might as well hear it all. I need to get this off my chest.”

Vincent leaned against the wall and hung his head. “Fine,” he whispered.

Isaac’s tone softened a little. “Vincent, what do you think it does to her every time she sees you all welcome people you don’t even know into these tunnels… but your doors are always closed to her? Even after everything she has done. Not only for you … but for this entire community. And all she gets is ‘Thanks a lot, Catherine… you can go now.’ Did you even see the look on her face when William pointed out that she isn’t a member of the community? Do you know how that hurts her? I thought you could feel what she feels. How could you not feel that? Even I felt that!

“She has never said anything,” was Vincent’s lame reply.

Isaac was getting riled up again. “She shouldn’t have to! Man, for someone as educated as you are, sometimes you sure are stupid.”

“But Isaac,” Vincent interrupted, “these people that we take in, these children, they are alone in the world. They have nothing, they have no home, no family, no friends. They need us. Catherine … she has a life, Above… she has a career… she has ….”

“She has what? She ain’t got nothin’ up there, Vincent … you just described her! Catherine has no home up there. Unless you call that sorry excuse for an apartment a home. She has no family, and she has very few friends. She gave most of them up when she chose you. What did you give up, Vincent? What have you sacrificed? What exactly is it that you have lost by loving her? I can count on one hand the number of friends she has left, the ones who really care. And every single one of them have lives of their own, real homes, real family and friends. Are you really that blind to how alone she is up there? How much she needs all of you down here?”

Vincent looked as if he had been struck by lightning.

Mercifully, Isaac was obliged to stop talking when Mouse appeared suddenly from the direction of the tunnel.

“Are they coming soon? Mouse is here. Mouse can help,” he said, bouncing from one foot to the other. He looked from one to the other, but seemed oblivious to the tension between them. “Where’s Catherine?” he innocently asked.

Just then the trap door opened and Mary began quietly descending the ladder, followed one by one by the children.

“Oh, good, you’re here,” Mary observed. “You two can help them all down. Oh, and make sure you count them. We came up with eleven, and we need to return with the same number!”

After all the children were down, Sarah and then Catherine followed. Vincent was at Catherine’s side as soon she reached the ground.

“Where is Princess Di?” a panicked and teary voice called out. “I lost my doll! Where is she?”

“Here she is, Hannah.” Catherine laughed softly. “You left her on my couch.”

As Catherine held out the doll, Hannah grabbed it and held on tight.

“Princess Di, huh? Is that short for Princess Diana?” Catherine asked.

Hannah looked at her shyly and shook her head. “No, it’s short for Princess Diamond.”

As the children were escorted into the tunnels, Catherine heard echoes of a conversation.

“That’s a funny name.” She heard Veronica ask, “Why’s she named that?”

“My mommy used to say, ‘Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.’ And my doll is my best friend.”

“Ohhhh… Where is your mommy?”

“She’s in Heaven.”

“Mine is, too,” was the last thing she heard as their childish voices faded into the distance.

“Catherine?”

She felt his light touch on her arm as Vincent whispered her name. They suddenly found themselves standing alone in her sub-basement. “Catherine, we need to talk.”

Catherine shook her head. “Not now, Vincent. Right now you need to get the children back safely. We can talk another time.”

“You’re not coming back with us?”

“No. I’m very tired. I’m going to go back upstairs. I’m going to try to get some rest.”

“But, Catherine, I …”

“Please, Vincent,” she interrupted. “When this is all over, I promise, we can talk all you want. Right now the children need you more than I do.”

                                                                        *****

Back in her apartment, Catherine stood in a hot shower, attempting to wash away the stress of the day. She was relieved to see the children safely return to their Tunnel home. But the silence in her empty apartment only reminded her of how alone she really was. Being able to help by bringing the children to her apartment had made her feel a part of the community, but now that it was over and she was back to being a helper above, she was filled with an overpowering feeling of sadness that she couldn’t explain.

She was beginning to realize that she might never truly be a part of the Tunnel community.

As the hot water beat down on her, she berated herself for being jealous of needy, homeless children who needed a safe place to land. She was ashamed to admit, even if only to herself, that she envied Isaac and the welcome that he had found in the Tunnels.

Why can’t I just be happy with what I have? she asked herself. What’s wrong with me? she thought as she let the water pour over her.

 

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