Page 4

Ronan Land of Confusion

Working quickly, the men unloaded the camping gear. Fitzgibbon directed where the three tents would go and Jude began to painstakingly unpack them. Ronan had read the directions four times and still didn’t understand how the hell to set up his tent. Maybe they should have practiced a time or two before they left the house. He bet Everly would have this thing assembled in no time flat.

Watching Jude closely, Ronan saw the way the tent poles went together. He tried to do it on his own and only succeeded in pinching his finger. “Ow! Motherfucker!” A blood blister was already forming.

“You know, lack of patience is your biggest problem,” Jude said conversationally.

“Oh, and you’re the Mother Teresa of fucking patience?” Ronan shot back. If Jude wanted to do this now, Ronan was more than ready to rumble.

“Never said I was.” Jude shrugged and went back to assembling his own tent.

Anger surged through Ronan’s body, as adrenaline coursed hard through his veins. He wanted to hit something, no, some one . “You can’t just fling out an accusation like that and then just drop the conversation like a hot rock.”

“I can do whatever the hell I want.” Jude said, before sticking out his tongue.

“Real mature, asshole!” Ronan knew he sounded like a child and hated himself a bit for not acting his age. Jude was right. His lack of patience was an anchor around his neck, not just at work, but at home.

“You’re the asshole,” Fitzgibbon interjected. “It was you who fucked up the McClellan interview. I bet the scheduling program on the computer was acting up and you were so frustrated with it that you probably walked away like a child instead of asking for help like a grownup would do. Now, we’ve lost access to him and there are no more leads to go on.”

Ronan was about to shout back that he’d scheduled the interview with no trouble. Yes, he was a fidgety hardhead, but was a perfectionist when it came to his work. “I get that I’m impatient, okay? Ten reminds me of that flaw all the time. You both know my work ethic. Say what you will about me off the job. I know I scheduled that interview. I just forgot when it was because of the thing going on with Everly.”

Fitzgibbon looked as if he was ready to fire back at Ronan’s response, but stopped at the mention of Everly’s name. “What’s going on with her, is she sick?”

Ronan shook his head. He stood up and went to the cooler and grabbed a bottle of water, using the extra few seconds to get his head together. “Ten and I were called in for a parent/teacher conference last Friday. The meeting came out of the blue.”

“Why did they want to meet with you?” Jude asked, all earlier signs of his anger were gone.

“Apparently, she’s been struggling in class. Math, mostly, but she’s been having trouble with her reading comprehension as well. She’s been reading since she was four years old. The teacher said Everly’s seemed uninterested in school, with learning, group activities, and even during recess and lunch. Miss Jacobs wanted to know if there was trouble at home. Was there violence, abuse; physical or sexual.” Ronan felt his eyes begin to tear up.

“Jesus, Ronan,” Fitz said softly, sounding horrified.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Jude asked.

“Because I was embarrassed and ashamed. I hadn’t noticed there was anything wrong with my daughter until the teacher mentioned Everly’s behavior in class. What kind of a father doesn’t see that his child is withdrawn and uninterested in the things that usually bring her joy?”

“We’re busy,” Jude began. “Life is crazy with work and getting the kids to school and making dinner and running errands. We worked late a few nights last week on the Desmond case, so you weren’t home as much as you usually are.”

“I get that. Ten didn’t notice anything wrong either. Not even with his gift. So that meeting blew us out of the water. We looked like idiots not knowing that Everly was struggling and then with the accusation of possible abuse-” Ronan stopped when his emotions threatened to overwhelm him. He took a few deep breaths, unwilling to cry bitter tears in front of his friends. “We’ve all worked cases where kids were the victims and have seen the devastation those situations bring to families. My head was spinning during the meeting. It was as if Miss Jacobs was talking about someone else’s kid. On the drive home, I kept thinking about all of the people who have access to Everly. Teachers. Aides. Librarians. Janitors. The two of you.”

Shock and anger registered in Fitzgibbon’s green eyes. Jude wore a look of disbelief. “You actually think Fitz or I hurt Everly?” Jude sounded devastated.

“For a second, I couldn’t help but wonder. Everyone was a suspect in my mind, even Tennyson. We had a huge fight over it. He was angry that I accused the two of you and your husbands of hurting Everly, but he really lost it when I accused him.”

“Christ Almighty, Ronan,” Jude said with a low whistle.

“That’s why Monday and Tuesday were so rough at work for me. Ten and I still weren’t on good terms. All I could think about was that I didn’t know what was going on with Everly and that she hadn’t shared what was going on with me. I thought she told me everything. We tried to talk to her about things on Friday night after Ezra went to bed. We figured if we let her stay up late and gave her a bowl of ice cream that maybe she’d open up.”

“Did she?” Fitz asked.

Ronan shook his head. “She said she didn’t want to talk about what was going on with her. We tried again on Saturday and on Sunday, but no dice.”

“Is that why you cancelled the sleepover with Aurora?” Fitz wore a worried look. “Because you were afraid of her being with Jace and me?”

“Yes. No. Partly.” Ronan knew he sounded like an idiot. “I didn’t want to take any chances. Ten read Everly and couldn’t see anything wrong with her, mentally or physically. I was at my wits end and didn’t want to put her in any situations that could possibly make her uncomfortable until we got to the bottom of the situation.”

“Did you?” Jude asked, sounding afraid of hearing Ronan’s answer.

“Yeah. It all came spilling out after dance class on Wednesday night. Turns out Everly hates her new dance class. The new teacher and some of the students who’d been mean to her. Ten and I have always encouraged her to dance and she felt like she’d be letting us down if she told us she wanted to quit. We told her that wasn’t the case and then let her in on the meeting with Miss Jacobs. She said that no one had been inappropriate with her.” Ronan sighed. “Part of me knew that was the case, but then the other part, the one that suspected you guys, felt fucking awful. For me to have accused you in my mind was something that I felt was unforgivable. Things were already in a bit of an uproar because of the McClellan case and all we were doing was fighting and arguing with each other, so I kept this story to myself. The guilt’s been eating me alive. Can you two ever forgive me?” Ronan felt sick to his stomach. If Jude and Fitz said no, he didn’t know where their friendship would go from there.

“Of course I forgive you. If this happened to Aurora instead of Everly, I would have felt the same way you did. There’s something in us as girl dads that’s completely illogical. We have to protect our girls at all costs from any and all dangers,” Fitz said. “I’m sorry Everly was going through such a hard time, but I’m more sorry that you didn’t come to me and let me know what was happening.

Jude nodded. “Same here. I would have lost my mind if there was a chance someone hurt Lizbet or Wolfie. I forgive you too.” He offered a small grin. “Since we’re all talking again like rational men, I’ve got something of my own to confess.”

As angry as Ronan had been over the last week or so, he’d noticed something was up with Jude. It would be nice to finally get to the bottom of his issue. “Shoot, let’s hear it.”

“It’s about the McClennan interview,” Jude began.

“Fuck me blue, I’ve already apologized for missing the interview.” Ronan took a breath to hold back the anger threatening to surge through him again. “I’m sure it was my fault the appointment wasn’t entered into the calendar at work.”

“Actually, it wasn’t your fault,” Jude said in a voice that was barely audible. “It was mine. I messed something up in the online calendar and when I tried to fix it I thought all of the appointments had been saved, but I guess I was wrong.” Jude wore a sheepish look. “Can you guys forgive me for that?”

“Water under the bridge,” Fitzgibbon assured Jude, who turned to Ronan.

“I’m not sure I can forgive you yet.” Frowning, Ronan walked toward Jude’s tent. One by one, he released the poles from their grommets and the tent slowly deflated before his eyes. “ Now you’re forgiven.”