Chapter 17
CHAPTER 17
Christmas Eve Nearing Noon
“Yes,” Jeff admitted sheepishly. “Katlin Wolf is Tyler Malone’s widow.”
Lizzie glared at Jeff, who had obviously known that important piece of information. Widow. Most likely then JT was the result of his father’s affair. No wonder the boy fell through the cracks. Very likely no one knew of his existence. That realization tore a piece out of her heart.
“There was another letter inside the envelope to Commander Carson addressed to Alejandro Lobo who legally Americanized his name to Alex Wolf.” Jeff glanced at a wide-eyed JT before he continued, “It seems Alex, Katlin, and Tyler Malone were all very good friends in high school and college.”
“True.” Top Cooper confirmed. “The three of them were inseparable.”
“Did you know my father?” JT swung his attention to the gray-haired retired Marine.
The older man nodded twice. “I did, ever since Katlin and her family moved to Miami while she was in high school. He was often her boyfriend. First throughout high school then while they were both in college. See, it’s been my job to protect Katlin almost her whole life. I worked with her father since she was a year old.” He smiled warmly. “I’ve watched her grow into a wonderful woman.”
“You knew her as a baby?” JT seemed hungry for any information about his father and his future foster parents.
“Yes. Well, she wasn’t quite a year old when I went to work for her father at the U.S. Embassy in Chile. When he was transferred to several other embassies around South America, he took me with him.” Top grinned. “When she was about your age, I taught her to shoot.”
“Do you think she’ll let me learn to shoot?”
The older man in the back of the limousine chuckled. “I have no doubt it will be a requirement.” He cocked his head to the side. “Do you take martial arts? Or wrestle?”
JT’s shoulders fell as he shook his head side to side. “No. We weren’t allowed to do things like that in gym class and only the high school has a wrestling team.”
“That’ll change,” Top said with confidence.
Lizzie sat stunned at the conversation. JT was only eight years old, and they were going to teach him how to shoot a gun? Put him in the martial arts classes? She thought about her own childhood. Although her parents were not hunters, several of the farms in her service area made thousands of dollars every year from men and women all over the world who would come to Kansas to hunt mule deer, pronghorn antelope, ducks, geese, and pheasant. Many of those animals were considered pests to farmers. Memories of boys receiving guns for their birthday or Christmas flooded her mind. Okay. Learning to shoot might be all right.
As for wrestling and martial arts, it was often recommended by counselors, especially for preteen and teenage boys as a socially acceptable means of learning to control their aggression.
She wasn’t raised that way. On the other hand, she wasn’t a boy. Glancing around the car filled with testosterone, none of the men seemed to be offended by anything that Top Cooper had taught Katlin. Their faces showed approval.
Lizzie was now even more interested in meeting Katlin Wolf.
The city fell behind them and eventually they slowed and halted at two brick pillars holding an ornate gate. At the box, the driver slid down the window, allowing the snow to spit inside. He spoke into an intercom, but Lizzie sat too far back in the car to understand his words. When the ornate steel gates opened, they drove along a narrow paved road. She had a weird feeling that they were being watched. But that was silly. Nothing was to either side except tall pine trees and an occasional deciduous hardwood that had surrendered its leaves several months ago.
A smaller road peeled off from the side here and there, but she couldn’t see where it went.
“Horses!” JT exclaimed and shot out his hand in front of Lizzie toward the window. “Look, Miss Lizzie. Horses. Do you think they belong to Mr. and Mrs. Wolf?”
She had no idea. Perhaps the gates had been to an exclusive community in which they lived, although she hadn’t seen any houses. Only a barn next to where several horses grazed. Could all this belong to the Wolf family? No one where she lived in Kansas had a gate to their house. In larger cities there were whole communities that required a code or some kind of pass to enter the gates. A few even had a small building that was manned twenty-four/seven. On television she’d seen mansions that had gates protecting the homes of the rich and famous, but she’d never seen one in real life.
She felt a tap on her leg and looked down at JT. “Do you think they would teach me how to ride a horse?”
“From what I’ve heard about Mr. and Mrs. Wolf, they will teach you anything you want to learn.” And then some went unsaid. As she watched the horses grazing on lush green grass in a pasture lightly dusted with the newly fallen snow, her gaze followed the white fences that had been running along both sides of the road since they’d entered the fancy gates.
The limo turned a bend and she gasped. Before her stood a home that could have been plucked off any southern plantation. Red brick stretched two and a half stories tall with white trim windows guarded by black shutters that looked as though they would actually close to protect the glass and the inhabitants. Two-story Gothic pillars supported a tall porch that wrapped around both sides of the house, giving the upstairs rooms a balcony and the main floor a wide covered seating area that was currently adorned with decorated Christmas trees on each corner. It looked as welcoming today as it must have been a hundred years ago. Lizzie could imagine horse-drawn buggies pulling around the circular drive waiting their turn to stop in front of the stately steps and discharge ladies dressed in hoop skirts and corsets and men in bowties and top hats.
The well-established evergreen shrubbery that surrounded the house was filled with red and white twinkle lights. From her seat inside the car Lizzie could see that the Christmas wreaths on the double doors were made with real fruit intertwined with pine needles and a red bows that matched the real pine garland that swooped from post to post around the house.
“We’re going to get out here and Ned will park the limo over on the side in front of the garages.” Top Cooper opened the side door and scanned the area before he allowed Jeff and the commander to exit. This seemed to be the procedure with Guardian people, Lizzie decided as she and JT exited last.
As they all headed en masse to the long steps up to the wide porch, a tall man with light brown skin stepped out to greet them. She pegged the handsome man as Latino. Most likely she was looking at Alejandro Lobo. His welcoming smile changed the hard angles of his face to more approachable yet there was a dangerous air about him.
When JT stopped, Lizzie nearly stumbled since she was holding his hand.
“Santa is going to come here.” He pointed to a sign in the yard: Santa Stop Here.
“You bet Santa is going to stop here. He has lots of children who are spending the night tonight. Some of them have already arrived.” The man on the porch strode toward them.
Lizzie’s heart fell. All these other children would be unwrapping gifts from Santa, and they hadn’t brought anything for JT to open. Maybe she and Jeff could run to the nearest mall and at least pick him up a toy or two. Her thoughts ran to the plastic horses they sold in every feed store in Kansas.
“Do you think he knows I’m here?” JT’s voice broke.
“Of course he knows.” He was practically next to them when he said, “We expected you yesterday, so you’ve been on his list for this location over twenty-four hours.”
The man kneeled and held out his arms. “Welcome home, JT. I’m Alex. Damn, you look a lot like your father.”
As the two embraced, a beautiful blonde woman carrying a healthy baby wrapped in a blue blanket on her hip emerged from the house. After a moment of surprise, she trotted down the steps and hurried to Alex and JT.
“You’re here.” She closed her eyes and looked to the heavens.
Lizzie watched her lips as she said, “Thank you, God.”
Alex stood and took the baby from her as he introduced them. “JT, this is my wife, Katlin, and your new little brother, Riccardo.”
Katlin stared at the boy before she finally knelt and slowly held out her arms. “You have his eyes.” She blinked several times. “I’m going to fall in love with those eyes all over again.” When JT stepped into her arms, tears ran down her perfect cheeks as she said once again, “Thank you, God, for bringing JT home.”
Snow started to fall in earnest as the wind kicked up.
Katlin stood but held on to JT’s hand. “Let’s get inside.” She looked down at him with love in her eyes. “You have cousins to meet, including one your age. He’s always hungry. Are you ready for lunch?”
Shyly JT answered, “Yes, ma’am.”
Dutifully, Lizzie followed Katlin and JT, Commander Carson, Jeff, and Top Cooper right behind her.
Katlin stopped at the top of the steps where she pulled Commander Carson into a hug. “John, thank you for everything you’ve done to bring us JT.”
“The real thanks go to Lieutenant Arwood.” He gestured to Jeff.
“It was my pleasure, ma’am.”
“You’ll all stay and join us for lunch,” Katlin ordered as she entered the house.
Jeff looked up at his commanding officer as though for permission.
“I didn’t mention this in the car, but Katlin used to feed me on a regular basis. Ty and I would come into D.C. where Katlin would cook the most magnificent meals for us in her small off-campus apartment. I’m not going to miss whatever is in that kitchen.”
“Wise choice,” Top Cooper agreed. “Her mama taught her how to cook but Katlin has taken it up several notches.”
“We’ll leave right after lunch,” Commander Carson announced. “I want to get home to my wife and children. It is Christmas Eve.”
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I can’t leave yet.” Lizzie’s gaze swept over each of the three men. “The two of you can leave at any time. I still have to interview both Mr. and Mrs. Wolf and certify them as fit foster parents. At this point I am legally responsible for JT. I haven’t decided whether he’s going to be able to stay with Mr. and Mrs. Wolf, who by the way, I haven’t formally met.” She’d purposefully stepped between the men and let herself into the house.
Lizzie immediately looked around for JT and found him being introduced by Katlin to a dark brown-skinned boy about his same age and size. He had a Central American look about him, but Lizzie wasn’t sure why she thought that.
“JT, this is your cousin Simon. Simon, this is our new son, JT. You’re both eight years old. Simon, will you please show JT to his new room? Lunch should be ready in just a few minutes so listen for the announcement.”
“Excuse me, but that may be a little premature since I haven’t certified you or Mr. Wolf as fit foster parents for JT.” She turned her attention to the young man in question. “Why don’t you and Simon find someplace to play while I talk with Mrs. Wolf.”
“Yes, Miss Lizzie.” JT turned to Simon who had stunning blue eyes. “Do you have a room here?”
“It’s not my bedroom but it’s the one I use when I come visit Aunt Katlin and Uncle Alex. It’s filled with stuff just for me so my little sister’s not allowed in there. Want to see it?”
“Sure.”
When the boys started to run, Katlin called, “We walk inside the house.”
“Yes, ma’am,” both boys said in unison as they slowed their pace.
Lizzie looked around for Mr. Wolf then returned her attention to Katlin. It was then Lizzie noticed the other woman’s strikingly beautiful blue eyes. The same as Simon’s. She shook off her fascination with this woman. “This would go faster if I could interview you and Mr. Wolf together.”
“Who the fuck are you and what gives you the right to tell me that we may not be able to keep JT?” Venom radiated off Katlin.