Chapter 20 #2
He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I cannot imagine when they start walking.”
She burst out laughing again and got the triplets’ breakfast lined up and handed a spoon to Anderson. She began feeding the two girls before her, while she nodded for him to take care of the other.
He grinned at her. “I hope I’ve already told you,” he began, “but I’ll tell you again. I really appreciate you stepping up and helping.”
She nodded. “I know you do,” she said, “and I’m enjoying this. It reminds me that someday I want kids of my own, but I would prefer to have them one at a time.”
“Oh yes, please,” he noted fervently, smiling as he fed one of the hungry babies.
At that, she had to laugh again. “You never did get married, huh?” she asked curiously.
“Nope. I don’t know whether it was because of Angel or just the fact that I headed off to the military,” he shared, “but I never really made another deep connection.”
“Did she hurt you that badly?” she asked, frowning. “I’m sorry. I never intended to start something that would hurt you. I was trying to prevent it.”
“You didn’t start anything,” he told her. “I think I probably would have found out what Angel was up to in due time, but it’s always hard when it’s your first love, and at times I wonder if that was even love at all.”
“I don’t know. You tell me.”
“Looking back at it now, I don’t know whether I would call it lust or obsession or I don’t know what,” he admitted, waving his hands. “Every teenage boy probably gets caught up in it at some point. It was so long ago that I am not worrying about it now.”
“Good to hear,” she said. “You made me pause there for a moment.”
He shook his head. “No, it’s not something for you to worry about. You did what you thought was right at the time. You also paid the price, and I’m sure that wasn’t much fun either.”
“Nope, but, then again, I was ready to go off to college, so whatever.”
He laughed. “Yeah, I hear you. I didn’t stay in touch with any of that group either.”
“Nope, I didn’t either,” she noted, raising her hands and sighing. “My ex died from a drug overdose,” she began. “I didn’t even hear about it until a few years after it happened, only when I came back here. That was a bit of a shock, but apparently he was already into drugs way back then.”
“You didn’t know?”
“Hell no,” she declared, with a dry laugh. “It wasn’t my thing, but I know it was a big experience for a lot of them. I wouldn’t have been involved with him if I knew.” Pamela began clearing away the remains of breakfast, wiping down the highchairs and the babies’ messy hands and faces.
Anderson followed suit but pondered that last comment of Pamela’s, frowning. “I don’t remember much happening in the way of drugs in high school, not with the crowd I hung around. My drug of choice back then was sex, I guess.”
That brought a smile to her face again. “Yeah, you sound like every other teenage boy out there.”
He grinned and nodded. “Yep. That’s about right.”
They soon had the babies out of their highchairs and into the big playpen, now positioned in the living room, hoping they might take a nap now that they had a good meal in their bellies.
Meanwhile Anderson and Pamela discussed a couple other people she had heard updates on. Then she added, “One of your high school friends, I don’t know if you remember him, … Colin? He became a detective.” He turned to her, and she suggested, “Maybe you should talk to him about this.”
“Wow. I haven’t even thought about him in years,” Anderson acknowledged.
“I didn’t know he was a cop,” he said, with a shrug.
“Still, Tim bragged about the drug dealers having cops in their pockets. So I have to wonder who else has any connection to Talia’s attack and to Tim. So, no, I won’t contact Colin.”
She nodded. “Of course. I would be speaking way out of turn to even suggest or assume that he knows anything about Talia’s case or possibly shouldn’t be involved.”
“This case probably involves some large-scale drugs though, since we are dealing with an international operation,” he pointed out. “Seems my brother-in-law’s work-related trips were more about moving the goods for his employer.”
“What? As in importing them?” she asked, her eyes wide.
“Yeah, that’s the impression I got anyway. I mean, Tim could be lying because, well, that’s what he does, particularly with the trouble he’s facing.”
“I didn’t consider that,” she muttered, looking ashen. “He’s in really big trouble then, between the cops and maybe some drug cartel, right?”
“Yeah, and, because of him, Talia was badly beaten. So, there must be some restitution in there too.”
“But the courts will not charge him for that, will they?”
Anderson sighed. “Depends on what we find out. Tim may not have done the deed, but I feel very strongly that he set her up for that beatdown. Even so, we have to wait for this to go to the courts,” he explained.
“Still, I don’t expect Talia’s brutal attack to be high on the court’s priority list, not when compared to getting the drug dealers.
Especially at this level, where they’ll be supplying a lot of the drugs here in San Diego and beyond. ”
She winced. “We have so many drug problems here that I don’t even want to contemplate what Tim’s been directly involved in.”
“That’s the thing to consider. How many of the families you work with are dealing with drug issues? Then you think about somebody like Tim, who’s bringing those drugs into the country, into our very city.” Anderson shook his head and didn’t say any more.
She nodded. “It’s got to be stopped,” she stated. “It’s bad news here. It’s bad news everywhere. It affects so many families, so many children.”
He just nodded.
She continued. “It’s pretty much everywhere. It’s just so frustrating to think that people are out there who don’t care. Anybody who’s making a profit off the drugs just doesn’t care,” she turned to him. “Was Tim making a profit?”
Anderson frowned, shook his head. “He’s just a pawn. I doubt he saw much more than his weekly paycheck.” He got up and paced around. “I need to see if I can get into Talia’s bank accounts.”
“But her bank accounts may not be his bank accounts. I mean, … that money would be Talia’s.”
“Right,” he said, with a nod in her direction, “but they should also have some connection since they are still legally married. I meant to check out her office but haven’t gotten to that yet.”
Pamela nodded. “Talia appears to be using the downstairs bedroom as a small office. I suppose she was freelancing from home, right?”
“Correct, using the room you’re sleeping in.”
“Right. I’ll watch over the triplets while I clean up the kitchen, so you can take a look.”
He laughed, and then he frowned as he eyed the babies, already warming up for the day’s activities. “Are you sure? I can give you a hand first.”
“No,” she replied, shaking her head. “I’m good, and you need to get to the bottom of this.”
“Fine. I’ll check on her bank accounts. Maybe Tim came here to access her accounts to get some money. After all, he stole cash from his lover, so why not his wife too? I’ll see what I can find. Holler at me if you need any help with the babies.”