Page 8 of Operation: Unify

“Sounds good. Thanks for reaching out. Do you want me to call the others for you?”

In a way, he wanted to talk to them all, but he’d purposely called Paul first as the oldest, knowing the other two were more likely to follow if Paul agreed. “I’d appreciate that.”

“Is this your cell phone?”

“Yes. Texting is fine.” In fact, he’d prefer it.

“Good. I’ll let you know what the others say. It might be a hard sell. Sorry or not, Dad broke up our family.”

Connor swallowed the urge to defend Dad. They only knew Mom’s side of the story, just like he only knew Dad’s. It was natural for them to believe the best of Mom, but the truth was, both parties had messed up. “I hope they’ll want to at least meet Ferd.”

“Does she look like a Kincade?”

“Yes, she looks a lot like me.” Connor snorted. She more than looked like him, she had the Kincade stubborn streak too.

“So, this isn’t someone trying to take what used to be our part of the inheritance?”

“Are you bothered that you gave it up?” Connor had always wondered why they’d done that.

“No. Wayside reminds me too much of dirty, hard work that was never good enough. It reminds me of the line between the barn which was Dad’s domain, and the house that was Mom’s. I can’t ever see myself going there often. I’ll come for this, but that’s it. No amount of money is ever going to make Wayside welcoming for us.”

Connor swallowed hard. He’d thought he was the only brother hurt by all that had been done. In some ways, his brothers had been hurt much more. “It’ll be good to see you. Thanks for taking my call.”

“Yup. Talk to you soon.” He hung up without saying anything else.

Lacy followedMelinda’s directions to the police station despite her insistence that they wouldn’t be helpful. The police had already decided she was trouble, and nothing could be said or done to change that. The building was two-story and stucco, giving off a distinctly 70s vibe.

Melinda sat in the car even after Lacy had turned off the engine. She glanced over her shoulder and Lacy briefly wondered if that was a habit.

“I was watching the whole time. We weren’t followed.”

“Only because he was too drunk to find his keys.” Melinda took a deep breath. “I hid them in the cabinet with the water glasses. He won’t look there until morning when he goes for his morning huge glass of water to get rid of his headache.”

Lacy thanked God that, while Connor had various other issues after his time in the military, drinking wasn’t one of them. “Will he still call the police?”

“Depends on what he did to himself in the moments after I left. Maybe he was too far gone to remember his plan. I guess I can hope.” She ducked her head, and Lacy saw the distinct form in the shape of a hand across Melinda’s face.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get there sooner.” It was still morning. How in the world was he already that drunk?

“It’s fine. Just another Monday in paradise.” She opened her door and stood, then leaned against the back door as she closed it.

Lacy got out and came around. For some reason, even though Melinda was out of that house, she was sure this was only thebeginning of what she needed to do. The hope that she could come, report the issue to the police and let them handle it, looked less and less likely as the minutes passed.

“I don’t think you realize how many times I’ve tried this. I’ve told them what actually happens in that house. It’s like they don’t hear me. I applied for a restraining order and was denied on the basis that there was no apparent threat, and I could leave his residence at any time. Since I don’t have my own place, I couldn’t restrain him from his own rental.”

“It’s not like a spouse is likely to have another house. That seems like a terrible loophole.” Lacy could believe the justice system didn’t necessarily have a good plan in place for domestic issues.

Melinda shook her head and swiped her hair behind her ears, then shivered in the cold. “There have been very few times in the last few years where I haven’t felt like the deck was stacked against me. I feel like I can’t do anything to make my life better. You were my last hope.” She headed in her bare feet toward the front door.

Lacy rushed ahead to hold the door, then waited with her along the wall where they were told to. Lacy slipped her boots off her feet and handed them to Melinda. She’d still have her socks and then Melinda wouldn’t have to walk around on the concrete floor in bare feet.

As soon as Melinda slipped them on, a deputy came out and led them to a small room. The deputy seemed young. Then again, lots of people had started to seem young once Lacy had passed the age of thirty. Whereas, five years ago, she’d fit into the category of ‘young’, she now was in this weird in-between of feeling not young, but not old.

“I’m Officer Bakersfield. Please have a seat.” He glanced at Lacy’s feet but said nothing.

“Thank you.” Lacy took over, deciding she would first tell him what had happened to her, then Melinda could back her up. That way, they couldn’t say Lacy had developed the story while Melinda was telling her side.

“I went to this address about ten minutes ago.” She opened her phone and flipped it to show the officer. “While there, the man living there made threatening remarks and even jumped on the hood of my car when I tried to leave. I think he left a dent.”

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