Chapter 9 –

Hank knocked on the door and then rang the doorbell just in case. Was he nervous? Oh yeah! Sitting next to Jean in French class was the best thing that could have happened to him. All the other girls were his own age. They were too sophisticated for the immature brat they thought he was. But, here was a pretty girl who liked him. No, not just liked him. She laughed at his jokes and blushed when he said nice things about her. Now, he steeled himself for the grand inquisition of the father. His mother sat in the car. This was one rite of being a boy, no, a man, that she would not assist him with. He looked back at her smiling at him. He turned to see the door opening and his executioner standing in the gap. He sighed and said to himself, ‘Lord, let it be a swift execution, please!’

“You must be Hank?” Cam asked nicely.

“A-ah, yes sir. My name is Hank Roads. Do I have the pleasure of speaking to Mr. Laignaux?” He wanted to run away. What a stupid formal idiotic thing to say. Was it too late to join the Foreign Legion? Damn, he would need to learn French first!

Cam had waited for this moment all day. Years ago, he was the goofy teenager who had to stand in front of a door and be ushered into the living room and be told by the man of the house exactly where he stood in the grand scheme of things. He could tell the poor boy was going to pee in his pants at any moment. ‘Good,’ he thought, ‘time to put the fear of the Dad god into this man-child.’ “Yes,” he said with cool disdain, “come on in please.”

Cam stepped aside and watched the poor wretched creature slither in. He snickered as the mass of Jello cast quick glances at him as he entered to see if he would survive the inferno that was about to descend upon him. “Please sit down. Jean will be down in a moment.” He cast hot knifes at him with his eyes launching each one by a roll of his eyebrows savoring each delicious strike. All those years of watching Eastwood movies were paying off. The boy was pudding with legs.

“Thank you sir.” After his inevitable neutering at the hand of Jean’s dad, Hank knew he had a career as a diplomat at least.

“So, you two are going to see a movie for school today?” Looking past the boy, he saw his own mother with a smirk on her face. He knew she would rescue the poor lad on cue. But not before he had his pound of sweat from his daughter’s hormone driven suitor.

“Yes sir.”

Seeing that he was properly a puddle of nervous teenage goo, he prodded him. “I expect you to treat her with respect and be a total gentleman. Is that understood?”

“Oh yes, sir!” Hank almost fell over as he sat down and looked scared beyond belief as he waited for death.

Before that could happen, his unseen protector entered the room and took charge. “Oh, I know you will take good care of my granddaughter. Hello, I am Jean’s grandmother. I have heard so much about you, Hank.” Cam’s mother came over and stood next to her son. Cam looked at her and winked. They knew what they were doing and had rehearsed this before hand. Both of them looked upstairs and nodded to Mrs. Laignaux who headed down the hallway to get Jean.

Jean wore a simple faux wrap dress with a tulip hem that she had fallen in love with at the mall when shopping with the girls. She wore some black hose and natural beige wedges. Her hair was drawn back into a pretty French braid. She used a little make-up. Her lipstick was a soft pink. She had used mascara and a neutral tan for her eye shadow. She was simply stunning but not overly dressed for going out to a movie and an afternoon date. She grabbed a white purse and proceeded to make her entrance. As she came downstairs, Cam watched the eyes of Hank as he lit up. Nothing, he thought, makes the entrance of a beautiful girl look more appealing than facing the fire of a father before he is granted her hand for a date.

Jean waved to Hank. Upon descending the stairs, she stood on her toes and kissed her dad on the cheek. “Thanks Dad, I love you.”

“I love you too, Honey. Now her grandmother will be here waiting for you to drop her off. We have games to go to this afternoon with our other children. You guys have a good time.” As he ushered the young children out the door, he could swear he heard fluid squishing in Hank’s shoes as he walked out the door.

“Son, you scared the hell out of that boy.”

Cam beamed with pride. “Yeah, I did, didn’t I?”

Outside, Jean laughed and coyly took Hank’s hand. “I see you survived. Good.”

“Barely. I almost died back there.”

“I would have attended your funeral if you had.”

“Is that why you are dressed in black.” he quipped.

“Darn right.” Jean squeezed his hand as he opened the door for her.

“Thank you, Hank. I knew you were a gentleman.” Hank closed her door.

“Hello Mrs. Roads. Thank you for driving us to the movie. It is very kind of you.”

“You are very welcome Jean. I gather my son survived.” The two giggled. The door opened and Hank climbed into the back with Jean. He listened to the two of them giggling.

Jean could see that Hank wanted to shout at his mother. She took his hand, “It’s okay. I think you are my hero for surviving my dad.” Hank blushed.

“You look very nice today, Jean. Don’t you think so, Hank?” said Mrs. Roads.

“Yes, you always do. I wish more girls at school cared to look as nice as you.”

“Thank you Hank. You don’t look so bad yourself.”

Mrs. Roads dropped them off at the movie. She told them she would meet them at the deli across the street afterwards giving them enough time to have a late lunch.

As she drove away, she looked into her rear view mirror and saw Hank take Jean’s hand. They walked slowly into the College student union.

***

Riding over to her game with her mom, Jessica asked, “Mom, what did the bad guy do to turn Camy into a girl?”

“I think you are a little young for the total description. But, essentially, the bad guy took Camy’s boy part and turned it inside of her. Then he removed a couple of parts that would allow him to father children and grow into a man.”

“So, she can never have children. She told me that. I think it is so sad. I told her I would let her have one of my babies when I grow up.”

“Well, you don’t have to go that far. You can give her one of your eggs and then she can have someone else give birth to the baby.”

“That would be nice. I am so glad to have her home. But, she seems very angry about what was done to her. Will she always be a little angry?”

“More than just a little angry, I would think. I believe that she would have been your sister anyway. But, it was her choice to make. Someone stole that from her. So, there is a part of her that feels her selfish need to become a girl robbed her of a family she loves.” She pulled into the parking lot to take Jessica into the game.

“Jessica, how do you feel when someone answers a question for you and you knew the answer all along.”

“Cheated.”

“Now, multiply that by five years. Every day, every hour, and every minute, someone is answering for you even though you know the answer.”

“Is that how Jean feels?”

“Yes. That is how the doctor explained it to your dad and me. And what is worse, I used to treat her that way too. I used to tell her what to do and how to do it. The hardest thing for me to accept is that I was just as bad as the bad man because I made her easy to manage.”

“I don’t think you are. You let us make our own decisions all the time.”

“I do now. But, back then, I knew your brother ran off to the bushes because I had caught him wearing girl’s clothes at Melissa’s and told him never to do it again. I knew he went into those bushes to hide from me.” She began to cry.

“It wasn’t your fault, Mom.”

“No, Honey. I feel guilty. I just feel if I had been more accepting of his desire to be a girl, I wouldn’t have lost almost six years of his life.”

“I think you need to tell Jean this.”

“I think you are right. When did you get to be so smart?”

“I learned it from my mom.”

***
Bishop sat in the Starbucks with his back to the barristas and watched the main door. About 3:05, he saw Jason Mandrake come into the Starbucks. Before he announced himself, Bishop watched him for a moment to size him up. He wasn’t overweight. He was in his early 40s, but still had a youthful appearance. When Jason looked in his direction, Bishop waved. Jason pointed to himself. Bishop nodded yes and gave him a come here wave. Jason made his way through the tables and greeted Bishop.

“You are Officer Bishop?”

“Yes.”

“Can I get some drugs from the barrista first?” Jason winked.

“Sure. I am just as guilty.” Bishop laughed and raised his latte macchito to signal his approval.

After a few minutes, Jason sat down with a frappaccunio and a chocolate scone. “So, you have been assigned to the Laignaux case?”

“Yes, and it is very frustrating, let me tell you. The case went from hot to ice cold as an Alberta Clipper in March. No signs, no sightings, no ransom demands, no suspects, and no resolution for over five years. We are coming up on the sixth year very soon. So, what can I answer for you that might bring the case to light again?”

“Nothing at this point.” Jason pulled out his notebook. “Let’s go over the facts first.” For the next ten minutes, Jason methodically went over the particulars. Who, what, when, and where. His last question was the most illuminating. “What kind of assistance do you need from the press?”

Bishop shrugged his shoulders. “Well, obviously, to keep the story alive. But, I guess the most helpful thing is to bring us any kind of lead so we can work on it. Maybe a new officer and a new reporter can break this story open. What do you say?”

Jason smiled. “Which means that if a new reporter works with a new officer he gets a new exclusive if he helps.”

“Anything that will bring the Laignaux family closure, yes. So long as you don’t exploit them and just exploit me.”

Jason though a moment and toyed with his coffee. “Deal!” He shook Bishop’s hand and pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. Unfolding it, he passed them across the tablet to Bishop.

Bishop acted astonished and read the emails from the Anonymous source. “This really looks to be a photo of the boy.”

“Yes, and look in the corner there. There is a newspaper from Mexico City. I researched it and it came out a week after he had been kidnapped. So, it is proof. I think.”

“What makes you suspicious?” Bishop asked.

“I had one of the boys from photo look at it. He told me the shadow on the boy is a 28 degree angle opposite from the shadow behind the candle on the table with the paper. He thinks it was Photoshopped.”

“Which means that this is likely the kidnapper. Good work, Jason. Has he or she contacted you back?”

“No. I am waiting for him or her to contact me.”

“If he does. Can you ask him for proof of life evidence? No, wait. If the child is dead, then he might be doing this to return his remains out of guilt. Asking for proof of life is what cops ask for.”

“Reporters too, for that matter.”

“I know from talking to our guys in IT that all we need is the full header to analyze where it came from.”

“Won’t help. I had our IT guys look at it too. He or she is a using a free anonymous email server in Bangladesh. I know you government guys are good, but this isn’t going to crack like one of those NCIS shows where McGee and Abby pull a magic IP address out of a hat and solve the crime.”

“You are most certainly right there. There are three possible reasons. One, he is dead and wants to return the remains. Two, he is dead and he wants to extract money from the Laignaux family to reveal where he is. Three, he is alive and wants to return him for money or just to return him.”

“Personally, I would go with one or two. I don’t see number three happening.”

“Well, be forewarned, our kidnapper will try and deceive you somehow. Be wary. And let me know immediately, please. You have my personal cell phone. I have yours programmed in. I will answer asap the moment you call. And, thanks for helping. Can I keep these emails or do you want them back?”

“They are evidence, you could take them.”

“Yes, but you are an informant at this point. I know I can court order them from you if I need to do so. But, I would rather not. What you have shared with me is as valuable as having them. Good work and thank you.” Bishop put out his hand to shake Jason’s hand.

“You’re welcome. Please, keep them.”

“Again, thank you. I hope that with our combined efforts, we can bring closure to the Laignaux family.”

After Jason left, Bishop walked to his car. On the way, he made a phone call. “Yeah, we just had a reporter call. I will email you photos of the emails. They had full headers.”

“Thanks.”

“Will you be able to research the source past the firewalls?”

“Not saying yes. Not saying no.”

“Not saying naught.”

“Yup.”

***

“Mrs. Roads, Hank, all I am allowed to tell you is that something very bad happened to Jean south of the border before she came here. She saw some things no child should ever have to see happen to a couple of boys she cared about. She can’t talk about it nor can I because it is under investigation. But, let’s just say that the movie reminded her of those bad things and brought back the horrible memories.”

“She said something about not wanting to see him die again, Detective Bishop, she was so scared. I have never seen anything like it.” Hank was trembling, but not for himself, for Jean.

“I know Hank. You are just going to have to trust me. And, don’t let anyone else know at the school, okay. She is getting professional help.” He sent them on their way.

Bishop was relieved to hear that they were the only students from the school that attended. Nobody went to those extra credit movies until later in the school year. It was also a good thing he knew the campus cop personally that was called to the scene. She was someone he would sometimes date too, but not right now. He turned and could see Mrs. Laignaux come in. She looked at him. He could tell she had been crying. Following her was her daughter Jessica. He was about to panic himself when she said, “It’s okay. Jessica knows now. She overheard her dad and Jean talking. Go to her, Honey.” She motioned for her to go to her child huddled in a chair being comforted by a lady officer. “What happened?”

“The movie is about two boys. One of them is taken away by the Nazis to be killed at the end of the movie. That is when she broke into a panic attack. She started to sob and cry. All she kept saying was ‘Do I have to watch him die again.’ The doctors feared this. They felt she had seen one of the boys murdered by Mr. Jack, but couldn’t break through that wall.”

“Oh my. Poor girl.” Over in the corner of the room, she could see Jean holding onto Jessica.”

Out of the corner of his eye, a nicely dressed man came around the corner. “Hello, Detective Bishop, I am Dr. Lipscomb, Jean’s psychiatrist. Can you fill me in on what happened.” While they were discussing it, Mrs. Laignaux went over to Jean to console her.

“Oh, Mom. It was awful. I had a flashback. I remember hearing him die. It all came back to me.”

“I know dear. I was told that your memories would come back. That is one of the reasons you don’t know much about things like DVDs. You have suppressed so many things. I just didn’t expect to happen when you were on a date. Can you talk to me about it?”

The campus cop sat down next to her. “If it is okay, I would like to hear it too.”

“Yes. Okay. Mom, it was about a year after I was kidnapped.” The lady officer, a Ms. Allison Trevor, sat bugged eyed as Jean began to retell what had happened so many years ago.

“You do know that you are to keep this silent. My daughter was kidnapped about six years ago.”

“I thought her name seemed familiar. Anyway, go on please.”

“Well, Mr. Jack had forcibly changed him too. But, he wasn’t happy. He kept trying to climb the walls. I told him it was no use. But he was determined. After he was put in boy clothes and thoroughly punished with a belt, he scaled the roof and tried to jump over the wall to freedom. Mr. Jack was so angry that I saw him go out the front door and chase after him with a baseball bat. All I heard on the other side of the door were screams. And then, silence. When I saw Mr. Jack again, he had blood on him. Nothing was ever said again. I knew I was never to bring it up or the same fate would be mine.”

Officer Bishop had come up a moment earlier with the doctor. “Did you ever hear his name?”

“Yes, it was Steve Louis Hogan. He said he was born in St. Louis and that was why he was named Louis. But, Mr. Jack wanted him to be Louise.”

Mrs. Laignaux started to ask, “Was that ...” and Bishop slowly nodded yes.

“Bishop, shouldn’t we be writing this down and taking a statement.” said Allison.

“We can’t Allison. It happened in Mexico. Out of our jurisdiction. But, I will give Officer Juan a call and arrange for him to come here to take her statement. I would enjoy seeing him again anyway.”

She leaned against him so the others couldn’t hear and said, “So, this was the big case you were working on that kept you from going out with me.” Bishop looked anxious. “It’s okay. She is such a sweet girl. I understand. A little young for you maybe, but I understand.” She gave Bishop a coy smile. He breathed a heavy sigh and shook his head trying not to grin as the two looked at each other. She gave him that look that said she knew what she had done to him.

“Thanks for your help, Allison. I really appreciate it. Jean really appreciates it. I was thrilled when I found out that you were the responding officer. I knew she would be in wonderful hands.”

“She means a lot to you.”

“Well, with what she has been through and her family … you understand. Anyway, I owe you.”

“I will hold you to that mister.” Allison turned around and looked at the family working with Dr. Lipscomb. “I think they need this room more than we do.”

“I think you are right. Good call.”

“Cup of coffee?”

“Tsk, tsk. Do you know the penalty for trying to bribe a detective, Miss?”

“Why, what is it, Sir?”

“A friendly chat and a warm feeling I hope.”

Before they closed the door, they let the family know they could use the room for counseling and they would be just outside the door having some coffee.

***

“So, she moved here from Mexico. You know nothing more than that. Well, she seemed like such a nice girl too. But, if what they hinted at was true, she must have witnessed something horrific. I wouldn’t talk about it if I were you.”

“Can I see her again? I mean, I really like her.”

“I don’t know, Darling. I think she needs to work through her emotional problems before she dates someone again. This was way more than a nervous breakdown. I think she needs to get her issues straight before she goes out on a date again. I don’t think it was fair to you to have this happen to you. I think it just best that you forget her.”

Hank looked out the car window in pain and muttered to himself, “But how can I when I love her?”

“What was that honey?”

“Mom, I read in the news that the cartels in Mexico cut off heads of their victims. What if she saw that happen to a boy she knew?”

“And how do you know that the bad guys aren’t going to come after her again and do the same thing to you? Have you thought about that?”

***

Dr. Lipscomb didn’t expect an impromptu session there in the midst of a holding/conference room at the College. But, his patient was the reason he was here. “I was expecting this to happen at some point Camy. I know what you have been through. I am absolutely thrilled that your sister is here too to comfort you.”

“Mom, I think you need to tell Jean what you told me. I think she needs to hear it too.”

Dr. Lipscomb was taken back. “Do you think it will help Jessica?” Jessica nodded yes.

“Today, Camy, I was telling Jessica that I felt very guilty. Years ago, when I caught you wearing a dress at the neighbors, I got mad at you and told you never to do it again. I feel that if I had been more understanding and let you explore your feelings, you wouldn’t have had to hide in that bush and wouldn’t have been kidnapped. I realized that my being bossy and demanding made you susceptible to Mr. Jack’s influence too.”

“Thank you for sharing that Mrs. Laignaux. How does that make you feel hearing that Camy?”

“I feel guilty too. If I hadn’t been such a jerk and tried on clothes at school, Mr. Jack wouldn’t have found out about me and I wouldn’t have been kidnapped. I might still be your precious little boy. I feel guilty because I got what I wanted, but it cost Steve his life. I hate what being a girl in a boy’s body did to someone else. I really hurt.”

Dr. Lipscomb looked at the three ladies. He started by addressing the elephant in the room. “None of you should feel any guilt. When Mr. Jack took it upon himself to do what he did, he is the one that became a real criminal. Mrs. Laignaux, you would have changed as a parent like every other parent on the planet earth. Camy was your first born and you were doing exactly what parents always do with their first born. They expect and demand too much of them. Camy, you have a right to be a child and explore the world you were born into. Yes, your mother set up boundaries that weren’t sensitive to your every need. But, you know what, I honestly believe that your father would have intervened. Believe it or not, it is not uncommon for one parent to get it and then talk to the other parent about it. Your dad gets it. He was taking you to those baseball games not to bring the boy out in you, but to connect to you. And, in reality, he was finding that you wanted to be with him and didn’t care about the game. He was already beginning to see you as a girl, not a boy. He just didn’t know it yet.”

“Does this mean I am a bad parent?” sniffed Mrs. Laignaux.

“No, but, the beauty of a two parent family is that there is a diverse and alternative view of how to raise a child. Cam would have come to you and talked it over. Eventually, you would have come around and allowed Camy to become what she was meant to be. And to both your credits, you have a strong marriage and a strong commitment to raising your kids right. I have found that neither of you really has ego in the game. You love your children more than anything. Or, else you would be divorced by now.”

“Well, I suppose you are right. I just don’t feel it right now.”

“And that is because, like any other parent, you are learning as you go. There are no set answers. If there were, we could have robots raise our children with no mistakes. Every child is different. And, we often forget that so is every parent. They need just as much room to grow as their child. Just because some parents accept a transgendered child right away doesn’t mean that every parent is a bad parent and won’t eventually come around.”

Mrs. Laignaux nodded in agreement. “So, where do we go from here?”

“Well, I will want to start working with Camy on her repressed memories for one thing. It will take a while, but I know we can get her the closure she needs. The second thing is ladies, Jessica is right, you need to talk about your feelings. This has affected all three of you. Yes, even you Jessica. I would suggest a weekly night out for just you three where you can discuss your feelings. The sooner you let those feelings out, the better for everyone. Let me give you an example. Camy, do you think less of your mother for feeling guilty?”

“No, it makes me feel like she loves me and cares about me even more.”

“Mrs. Laignaux, do you feel ashamed of Camy for sharing her feelings?”

“No, I like sharing with her. It makes me feel like she trusts me. I have come to really enjoy our talks.”

“And lastly, Jessica, when you are part of their sharing their feelings, do you feel less left out?” Jessica smiled and nodded yes.

Dr. Lipscomb folded his arms and said in a silly voice, “Well, then, what do you need me for. I feel so useless now.”

The ladies all complemented him and said of course they needed him. “Oh, okay, but only because you insist. I want to thank you all for working so well together. I want you to know that because you are opening up about your feelings, the healing of Camy and the rest of the family will happen all the faster.”

Jean asked, “What about the men in the family?”

“Well,” said Dr. Lipscomb, “I know from personal experience that men don’t discuss feelings. I think they will work it out in other ways with your help. So, they won’t be forgotten. But, that is a good question. My advice is to give them time too. Already, I can see Cam is head over heels in love with Jean. The same way he feels about Jessica and Sammy are just about the same. My guess is that the boys won’t take as long.”

Mrs. Laignaux said with a little amusement in her voice, “So, you are saying the girls are a little more complicated than the boys?”

Dr. Lipscomb smiled and responded to the bait, “Of course. And I wouldn’t have it any other way Mrs. Laignaux.”

“Well said. Please, call me Sandra. Mrs. Laignaux sounds too formal to me now.”

“Very well Sandra, please call me Bill.” He felt victory. Sandra had changed at last.

Copyright © 2017 by AuP reviner