The Big Bad Wolf

CHAPTER 54

THE NEXT NIGHT I got home before six o’clock. I had a sit-down dinner with Nana and the

kids, who were surprised but clearly thrilled that I was home so early.

The telephone rang toward the end of the meal. I didn’t want to answer it. Maybe somebody

else had been grabbed, but I didn’t want to deal with it. Not tonight.

“I’ll get it,” said Damon. “It’s probably for me. Some girlfriend.” He snatched the ringing

telephone off the kitchen wall, flipped it from one hand to the other.

“You wish it was a girl,” taunted Jannie from the table. Dinnertime. It’s probably somebody

selling MCI or a bank loan. They always call at dinner.”



Then Damon was pointing at me, and he wasn’t smiling. He didn’t look so good either, as if

he’d suddenly gotten a little sick to his stomach. ,” he said in a low voice. “It’s for you.”



I got up from the table and took the phone from him.

“You okay?” I asked.

“It’s Ms. Johnson,” Damon whispered.

My throat felt constricted as I took the receiver. Now I was the one who felt a little sick, but

also confused. “Hello? This is Alex,” I said.

“It’s Christine, Alex. I’m in Washington. For a few days. I’d like to see Little Alex while I’m

here,” she said, sounding as if it were a prepared speech.

I felt my face flush. Why are you calling here? Why now? I wanted to say but didn’t. =o you

want to come over tonight? It’s a little late, but we could keep him up.”



She hesitated. “Actually, I was thinking about tomorrow. Maybe around eight-thirty, quarter

to nine in the morning? Would that be all right?”



I said, “That would be fine, Christine. I’ll be here.”



“Oh,” she said, then fumbled for words a little. “You don’t have to stay home for me. I heard

you were working for the FBI.” My stomach clenched. Christine Johnson and I had split up

over a year ago, mainly because of the nature of the murder cases I worked. She had

actually been abducted because of my work. We finally found her in a shack in a remote

area of Jamaica. Alex was born there. I hadn’t known Christine was pregnant at the time. We

were never the same after that. I felt it was my fault. Then she’d moved to Seattle. It had

been Christine’s idea that Alex stay with me. She’d been seeing a psychiatrist and said she

wasn’t emotionally ?t to be a mother. Now she was in D.C. ?or a few days.”



“What brings you back to Washington?” I finally asked.

“I wanted to see our son,” she said, her voice going very soft. “And some friends of mine.” I

remembered how much I had loved her, and probably still did on some level, but I was

resigned to the fact that we wouldn’t be together. Christine couldn’t stand my life as a cop,

and I couldn’t seem to give it up.

“All right, well, I’ll be over at around eight-thirty tomorrow,” she said.

“I’ll be here,” I said.