Page 31

Chapter Thirty

I sat next to Eli in the Patterson’s living room. I’d been talking to him for ten minutes, but he wasn’t opening up to me. I couldn’t get him to talk about his mom much, and he just froze when I mentioned Bruce’s name.

Inwardly, I sighed.

Then I spotted the PlayStation setup that was connected to the TV. There were a couple of games lying on the floor beside it. Bluey and Paw Patrol. I pointed to the two games. “Do you play those games?” I asked.

For the first time since I arrived, he gave me a gap-toothed grin. “Yeah. With Mr. Patterson. He’s not very good.”

“Do you think you could teach me?”

He gave me a long look. “I dunno. You’re old and you’re a girl.”

I managed not to laugh. “Please? I really want to try.”

He gave a big, put-upon sigh. “All right.” He wiggled off the sofa and went over to the TV and turned everything on. Then he sat cross-legged on the floor. He looked over his shoulder and stared at me. “Come on.”

I took my cue and sat down next to him, cross-legged. He handed me a controller.

“Okay, now we’re going to start. Are you ready?”

I shrugged. “Sure.” I looked at the screen. Nothing was happening.

“You’re holding it upside down. Give it to me.” Eli took the controller out of my hand and flipped it over, then handed it back. “Now you can play.”

Again, I had to suppress a grin. Now I was seeing the little boy I’d hoped to see. “Now what?” I asked.

He leaned over and pointed at my controller. “See this button? This is the ‘X’. That one makes them jump. The stick makes them run or walk. Mostly they just walk, cause they’re puppies. You know?” He turned his head sideways to look up at me.

“Makes sense,” I agreed.

“Give it to me and I’ll show you.” He took the controller again, moved the joystick and wiggled it. One puppy ran around. “If you press the circle button he barks. Watch.” The dog on the screen barked. “But don’t let him bark at people. That would be bad.”

“Why?”

“That’s rude. We can’t be rude.”

“Who says? Your mom?”

He continued to fiddle with the joystick, but slower. He shook his head. “Not Mom. Mrs. Patterson. She knows a lot. She’s teaching me things. So is Mr. Patterson. He’s not ever mean. He doesn’t even yell.” Eli handed the controller back to me.

“That’s really good, Eli.”

“I like it here.” He went silent.

I softly bumped him with my shoulder. “Show me some more,” I encouraged.

He grinned at me. “Now you get to pick your puppy. Press the ‘X’.”

I deliberately pressed the square.

“No, you did it wrong. Give it to me.”

I relinquished the controller again, and he pressed the ‘X’.

“Oh wow, Eli. Look at all those puppies. I get to have one?”

“Yep.” He was grinning really wide. Then, in a flash, his grin turned wobbly, and I saw his eyes fill up with tears.

“What is it, Eli?”

“What happened to Sparks?”

“Who’s Sparks?” I asked.

“My dog.”

I tried to think. Things were kind of a blur from that night, but after a moment I remembered Beau telling me he had called animal control.

“Sparks went someplace where they could take care of him. He was sick, honey.”

“I know. Bruce was really mean to him.”

“What did he do?” I asked gently.

“He hit him and whipped him, just like me. Sparks tried not to cry, but sometimes he did.” Eli’s voice broke. “Miss Avery, where is my dog?”

I’d never seen a child so in need of a hug, but he was sitting so stiff that I knew I couldn’t hold him, at least not yet.

“Remember the man who found you under the stairs?”

Eli nodded.

“He made sure that Sparks got to a hospital. Just like you.”

“I didn’t see him at the hospital.”

“That man made sure he went to a hospital for dogs, honey.”

“Will I get to see him again?”

“I don’t know.”

His lower lip trembled. “Please, can’t I see him? I don’t want him to ever live with me again, cause I know Bruce will just hurt him again, like he did me. I want him safe. But can’t I please see him?”

Eli about broke my heart.

“What did Bruce do to you?” I asked.

Eli looked away from me and started staring out the big bay window over the couch.

Fuck, I’d lost him.

“Eli? What did Bruce do to Sparks?”

“I don’t remember.” His whisper was so low, I had to strain to hear him.

“Honey, if you don’t tell me, I can’t make sure he doesn’t hurt Sparks again.”

He turned to look at me, his blue eyes wide and shimmering with tears. “You can do that? You can make it so he doesn’t hurt Sparks again?”

I nodded. “But only if you tell me what he did.”

“When Sparks was hungry, and I tried to get food for him and Bruce kicked him. Really hard. It hurt.”

The way Eli said it hurt, told me that the kick had happened to him, too. “Did you try to protect Sparks?”

Eli nodded slowly.

“Did you get in the way so Sparks wouldn’t get kicked?”

“Sometimes,” he whispered.

“Did Bruce kick you instead of Sparks sometimes?”

Eli looked at the controller in his hand. A tear splashed down on the black plastic. “Sometimes.”

“What else did he do to Sparks?”

“He had a piece of wire. It made a whizzing noise when he swung it. He would hit Sparks over and over and over again with it. Sometimes he made him bleed.”

Eli wiped his nose with his sleeve.

“Did you try to protect Sparks from the wire?”

Eli nodded.

“What happened when you did?”

“It hurt. One time, he took off my pajamas and hit me with it. I was bleeding just like Sparks, but mom made him stop that time.”

I scooched closer to him so that my arm rested against his arm. After a few moments, he rested his head against my shoulder. It felt like I had won a marathon.

“What else did he do to Sparks?”

“He didn’t feed him. He said he wasn’t worth food. Sparks would get really hungry. Sometimes I would get up in the middle of the night and steal food from the fridge and give it to Sparks. Bruce never caught me.”

Thank God for small miracles.

“I don’t want Bruce to ever be around Sparks again,” I said.

“That would be good,” Eli mumbled. “But Mom made him go away once, but he came back, and he was madder.”

“Bruce?” I asked.

Eli nodded.

“I can make it so Bruce goes away for a long, long time.”

“You can?” I got another powerful hit from those blue eyes. This time, they were filled with hope.

“Yes. I can. But I’d need your help.”

“I can’t do anything. I’m little.”

“You’re teaching me how to play video games.”

“You’re not very good.”

I chuckled. “No, I’m not. But you’ve helped me. You did, Eli. So, can you help me stop Bruce from ever hurting Sparks again?”

“How?”

“I need you to tell a friend of mine the same things you told me. He’s a lawyer, and he can make it so that Bruce can never hurt Sparks again.”

“He can?” Eli looked amazed.

“He really can.”

“Can I see Sparks? Can he come here and live with me?”

“I’m going to work really hard to find Sparks, but he might have already found another family who adopted him.”

“Like Mr. and Mrs. Patterson are taking care of me?”

“Sort of. Let me see what I find out. I’ll come back tomorrow. Okay?”

He nodded with a tremulous smile. “I can teach you more Paw Patrol.”

“I’d like that.”

* * *

Irene had volunteered to check in on some of my cases for me this week so I could spend more time with Beau since he was leaving on Sunday. But first I used that time to visit two of the animal shelters in Gatlinburg to see about Sparks, but I didn’t have any luck. They suggested two additional animal shelters, so I left messages.

I also made a call to Oliver. He was excited to hear that I got Eli to talk. He told me what he planned to do with this new information, and then I got excited.

By the time I got to my house, I wasn’t as early as I’d hoped to be. And I was majorly bummed when I didn’t see the Escalade sitting outside my house. Oh well, I’d text him when I got inside, then take a shower. I pulled into the carport, shut off the engine, and gathered up all my crap.

By the time I made it inside, I realized how hungry I was. I dumped everything in my hands onto the dining room table and took my phone into the kitchen. I texted Beau to let him know I was home, then scrolled through to see if the two animal shelters that I hadn’t visited had responded to my calls. They hadn’t.

I opened my fridge and pulled out a root beer and was halfway through it when a text from Beau came in saying he would be home soon. That meant I needed to get my ass in gear and make something for dinner.

Another text came in. It was from Beau again. I grinned.

BEAU:Do you want me to pick up something from Polly’s?

MADDIE:Hell yes. Want me to place the order?

BEAU:Hell yes. I want chicken and dumplings. Is there beer in the fridge?

MADDIE:Yes.

BEAU:Then don’t get anything to drink for me, but get a piece of cherry pie.

MADDIE:Got it. How soon should I say you’ll be there?

BEAU:Tell her I’ll be there ASAP.

MADDIE:Great. Love you.

BEAU:Love you too.

I finished off my root beer, called in the order, then headed for the shower. Maybe I’d surprise him and put on a sundress.

* * *

Chicken and dumplings and chicken-fried steak deserved the dining room table, so I pushed my stuff over so half of the table was cleared off, and then I set out plates and silverware. Just as I was finished, Beau was letting himself into the house. I could immediately smell the homemade goodness.

“Maddie, you look gorgeous in yellow. I love the dress.”

I sauntered over and gave my man a kiss. “I love it when you supply me with food.”

Beau looked over my shoulder. “We’re going to eat at the dining room table, huh? Pretty fancy.”

“Yep, we’re going to eat our food on plates, not out of takeout containers.”

“Big day.” Beau snuck in another kiss.

Good man.

“Let’s eat before the food gets cold,” I said as I took the plastic bag from his hand. “Bring the plates back to the kitchen, and I’ll plate the food. I didn’t really think it through when I put the plates on the table.”

I had the containers all out on the counter when Beau came in and I was just putting the vanilla ice cream that Polly had packed separately with ice cubes, into the freezer. I liked my apple pie à la mode, and I didn’t have any vanilla ice cream here at the house.

“I’ll leave the pie in the kitchen and we can warm it up later. The food seems to be warm enough right now,” I said as I put everything on plates.

Beau carried the plates out to the table and we sat down.

I was a third of the way through with my chicken-fried steak and well into my mashed potatoes before I realized neither of us had said a word. When I looked up, I saw Beau smiling at me.

“What?”

“Nothing. I’m just enjoying watching you.”

“You enjoy seeing me eat like this is my last meal?”

He frowned. “Did you eat anything today besides breakfast?”

I put down my fork and sighed. “No. My stash in the Jeep was empty. And things got away from me. But I did have a root beer as soon as I got home. That counts, right?”

“Maddie, I’ve cut up cantaloupe and bought raspberries and string cheese for you. It’s all there right by the root beer. Those would have been better choices. I worry about you.”

I felt my heart melt. “You did?”

“You saw me cut up the cantaloupe. I know that your favorite fruits are cantaloupe and raspberries. I should have put together something for your car.”

“Beau, you’re amazing.” I said. And I meant it.

“You’re not going to get out of this conversation by complimenting me. I’ve seen you close to hitting the wall when you haven’t eaten. I’ll put some protein bars in your car tomorrow. Do you promise you’ll eat them for lunch from now on?”

Okay, now he was getting annoying. “I hear you, Mr. Marine. You don’t have to run this into the ground. I’ll eat something during the day. Okay?”

He gave me a long assessing look, then smiled. “Okay.”

I looked down at his plate and saw that he was more than halfway through. “What about you? Did you eat lunch? You’ve sure eaten fast.”

“Yes, I’ve eaten lunch. I’m just a growing boy.” He smirked.

I rolled my eyes.

I took a bite of my mashed potatoes and gravy. Polly sure knew how to make good food.

“So how was work today?” he asked.

“It was pretty damn good. I spent time with Eli today. I got him to talking. He tried to teach me how to play Paw Patrol on his PlayStation. I sucked.”

“He’s liking it with the Pattersons?”

I nodded as I swallowed some steak. “Yeah. Better yet, I got him to tell me about what Bruce had done to him. First, he told me what Bruce had done to Sparks, but then Eli confessed what Bruce had done to him.”

“That’s good news, right? You told me how the D.A. didn’t have a case against Bruce and he’d probably go free.”

I nodded. “I called Oliver. He thinks that with Eli’s testimony and the hospital records of how Eli had been abused, it will be a slam dunk. He’s going to call Bruce’s public defender and see if Bruce will just take a deal, so Eli doesn’t have to testify.”

“That is good news.”

“What about you? How did you spend your day?”

“Went for a run with Kai, then went back to his place and we talked for a quite a while. I can’t tell you how weird and great it is to have a brother after all these years.”

“I’m so happy for you.”

We continued to talk about different things going on in the world and in Jasper Creek as we finished our meal, then our pie. We took our plates into the kitchen and Beau loaded them into the dishwasher, then he turned to me. “Did I tell you how much I really like the sundress you’re wearing?”

“You might have mentioned it.”

“It’s kind of early to go to bed. Should we watch some TV?” he suggested.

I shook my head.

“Wanna play pinochle?”

I shook my head.

“Scrabble?”

I shook my head.

“Wanna fuck?”

“Now that’s an activity I can get behind.” I grinned.

“How did I get so lucky?” Beau whispered as he took me into his arms.

“I let you win at pool,” I answered with a laugh.

And wasn’t that one of the smartest things I’d ever done?