Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
Every time the phone rang Jeff resisted grabbing it. This was his mother’s home, and it was always for her. She’d been deeply embedded in the community long before she became the elementary school principal. She served on several committees at church, including one that was serving dessert after the midnight service on Christmas Eve. He was shocked at how many members of her book club had called, concerned about the impending storm that was raging through the Rockies and whether they were still going to meet at her house to exchange gifts the next evening.
Jeff had just put the last supper plate in the dishwasher and was wiping dry the pot his mother had used to make spaghetti when she walked into the kitchen all smiles. “Thank you, Commander Carson. It’s been a pleasure to meet you over the phone as well. I’m now handing the phone to my son.”
He took the phone, and his mother beamed, crossing her fingers. As soon as she’d gotten home from work, he’d filled her in on the latest developments concerning JT.
“Sir, Lieutenant J.G. Arwood here.” He sent a quick prayer asking for it to be good news. He held the phone to the side so his mother could also hear.
“Alex Wolf and his wife have agreed to honor Tyler Malone’s wishes and raise the boy.” It was as though a weight Jeff hadn’t known he was carrying had suddenly lifted from his shoulders. “I’ve spoken with both Alex and Katlin Callahan.”
Jeff hated to interrupt but needed to clarify, “Sir, you said Katlin Callahan? Are they married?”
“Yes,” his CO reassured him. “For professional reasons she’s kept her maiden name.”
No wonder he couldn’t find anything on the Internet about Alex Wolf’s wife. He’d have to do another deep dive using that name.
“They understand the urgency of the situation and want to purchase both you and JT tickets to Washington, D.C. tomorrow. Grab a pen and paper.”
His mother stepped aside and opened the junk drawer, extracting a notepad and pen.
“I’ll give you the phone number they gave me to make the arrangements. Since you’re flying with an unrelated minor, you’ll need a note from the parents, the foster parents in this case, allowing you to take the child out of state. I’m not sure, it might need to be notarized.”
His mother waved her hand in the air and mouthed no problem .
“Once you make flight arrangements, send them to my office. I’m going to meet you in D.C. Ty pulled me into the shit show and I need to see it through to the end.”
“Yes, sir.” Jeff closed his eyes, dreading the time he’d be spending with his commanding officer on this personal mission. He’d learned at the Naval Academy that it was best to keep your head down and don’t make waves. This was a fucking tsunami.
His mother threw her arm around his shoulders and hugged him tight. She patted his bicep before dropping her arm back to her side. “I’m ready for those numbers when you are, sir.”
A few minutes later, Jeff thanked his commanding officer.
“I advise you to call the travel agency number right away. I understand there’s a storm that’s going to hit your area tomorrow afternoon. The sooner the boy is out of Kansas, the better. Good luck, Lieutenant. I’ll see you in D.C. tomorrow. Commander Carson out.”
Jeff hit the off button on the portable phone and slumped into his kitchen table chair. He glanced at the turtle clock on the wall, a gift from his mother’s class decades ago. It was already after eight o’clock. Since he hadn’t heard from Lizzie, he doubted that she had already picked up JT.
“So, what are you going to do?” His mother glided into her chair at the table.
He tapped the phone number on the pad of paper. “I’m going to call these folks to make reservations for two to D.C. for as soon as we can get out of here tomorrow morning. Do you think it’s too late to go pick him up now?”
“Absolutely. The Cantrells have small children who are used to getting up early to catch the bus to school. I’m sure they have an early bedtime. The whole household will most likely be up and moving by seven if not earlier.”
“Even though they’re technically on Christmas break?”
His mother grinned. “Once they become teenagers, they’ll stay up till midnight and it’ll take dynamite to get them out of bed in the morning.”
“I wasn’t that bad, was I?” He tried to remember those years, but there had been too many miles in between then and now.
She patted his hand that lay next to the phone numbers he’d written on the pad. “You can tell yourself that lie, but I lived through it. You are not a morning person and never have been.” She stood and tapped the number. “You’d better call them.” She stared down at him for a long minute. “I’m so proud of you for doing this, but I hate that it means you have to cut your leave short. When you finish making the arrangements, would you meet me in the living room, please? It looks like you and I are going to celebrate Christmas tonight.”
Oh, shit. He hadn’t even thought about that. Knowing his mother, she’d planned to cook a large Christmas-style breakfast for the last day he was going to be home. Afterwards, they would exchange gifts and talk about all the things they were thankful for over the past year. Last year, she’d visited him in San Diego, so they’d spent the afternoon on the beach. This year, she’d be spending the day alone.
Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it. He picked up the portable phone and called the number designated for travel arrangements.
“Guardian Security, how can I help you?” The male voice shocked Jeff. Had he gotten the numbers confused?
“This is Lieutenant J.G. Jeff Arwood. I was given this number and told that you would make the arrangements for our flight to Washington, D.C.” He knew he sounded hesitant.
“Good evening, Lieutenant Arwood. You’ve called the right place. I’ve been briefed on your needs. Where is the nearest airport and how soon can you depart? Also, do you have the exact spelling of the boy’s name as it appears on his birth certificate?”
It took some coordination between Jeff and his mother to figure everything out, especially the timing. In the end, he figured he could be at the Cantrells’ house shortly after seven, and hopefully convince them to release JT to him within an hour. He had enough time to stop by his childhood home, pick up his bags, and get to the small regional airport in time to make the flight to Chicago around noon. They had a two-hour layover before catching the plane to Washington, D.C. The arrangements sounded very doable with only six hours total flight travel time.
Jeff was surprised when the man gave him the seat assignments. They were in first class. On a lieutenant’s salary he could never afford such expensive seats, especially purchased at the last minute. He was much more accustomed to the jump seats in the back of large military airplanes. When he traveled home from the Naval Academy, his mother had booked the flights months in advance to get the best prices. As often as possible, he paid the cost difference to sit in the exit row where he had room for his long legs. He and his friends called those seats the poor man’s first class.
Since everything depended on the Cantrells, and Jeff couldn’t control any of that until the morning, he joined his mother in the living room to celebrate Christmas.