Page 20 of Nick

“Hello, Dave.”

“Hi, Jenna.” He leaned down to my ear, “Why did you bring her? Luca is going to be so fucking angry.”

“That’s a bad name.”

“I’m sorry, Jenna. But Opal is trying her hardest to get me into trouble.”

“Listen, I went to see Samantha. She was lying in bed dying. Jenna was taking care of her. They had no phone. I had an ambulance pick Samantha up and take her to the hospital. The only way I could convince Jenna to stay at my house was to tell her I would take her to see Luca. I don’t care how angry Luca is. I’m trying to figure out how to keep her from leaving tonight.”

“Now, take me to see Luca. He needs to know what is going on with Jenna and Samantha. Maybe this will make him do what he should have done in the first place.”

“Follow me. I hope to hell he gets out soon.”

“Jenna, don’t talk to anyone, okay.”

“Okay.”

We sat in that same room I had met him the first time I was here, waiting for Luca. When he came in, he was shocked to see Jenna. She jumped up and ran to him. When he put his arms around her, the guard stepped forward.

I stepped forward at the same time, “Leave them alone a moment.”

“Jenna, what are you doing here?” He looked at me like he wanted to murder me.

“Sammy is dying.”

“Jenna, come over here and sit down. She’s in the hospital. I went to see them yesterday, and Samantha was in bed. She said she didn’t have long to live; she has cancer, Luca. I don’t know if she will live. I talked to her doctor and he said he wanted her to start treatment three years ago. But she didn’t have anyone to help her with Jenna. She’s staying with me for now.”

“Is Samantha going to die, Opal; is that what you’re telling me?”

“I don’t know. They don’t live where I live. They moved to Portland Maine.”

“Why?”

“They didn’t have it easy after you pleaded guilty. People blamed them for everything. Samantha went to work in a country grocery store until she got sick. They were living off her savings.”

He reached over and took Jenna’s hand. “Is this your house?” she asked.

“For now. But not for much longer.” He looked over at me, “Let’s do this. My family needs me.”

“Okay. I already started the process. We go to court next week. Be ready for Tuesday. Tell Jeff we go to court on Monday. They will bring him there, and he won’t be coming back here. I’ve spoken with the district attorney. He’s dropping all the charges against him.”

“I’m glad to hear that. He’s a scared boy,” he said, squeezing my hand.

10

Nick

We made it to the small Texas town where we were to pick up our client. Her name was Nancy Reaves. She was at the county jail so they could keep her safe. She told us about the crazy guy who she said boarded up every window and door in her house with her inside.

“How did he do that without you taking off out of another exit?” I asked.

“I was tied up naked in the bathroom. This guy is crazier than anyone in the universe. Who does this to a neighbor? I don’t know what to do anymore. I can’t stay locked up in jail. I have a ranch to take care of. My father is helping me, but this whole thing is crazy. My dad has his own herd to watch over. There is so much cow stealing now. Food is so high-priced people can’t afford to buy meat, they are now stealing it. But that’s another thing going on. I can only take care of one thing at a time.”

“You’re right. This is crazy. Tell me when you started noticing how crazy your neighbor was?”

“After the first month. I think he was angry that I wouldn’t go out with him. I like women, so I damn sure wasn’t going out with him. I tried telling him nicely. I would say sorry, but I’m gay, and I like my partner without one of those things dangling between your legs.

“He was pissed. He tried telling me he could change me. He would make me only like men, he kept telling me. I told him I wasn’t going to discuss it with him. He snuck into my house and tried to rape me. He was naked and thought to sneak up and ‘stick it in me.’”

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