CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Twelve hours later
Monday mid-morning
March 31 – 10:05 P.M. MDT
Denver, CO
Alex sighed.
Back to Joiner.
Back to work. Secure in her basement office, Alex spent the morning with the quiet solace brought by a map of a section of North Korea. Joseph had decided they needed a better work environment. The men spent the morning setting up the carriage house. Alex had to smile at their work. The carriage house was clean, furnished, and ready for action.
Her desk was located on the second floor between Matthew and Joseph’s desks. Raz’s desk sat collecting dust in front of her. She heard the laughter and conversation of the men hard at work around the carriage house.
Right now, she was waiting for the arrival of her key witnesses. Bobby Lopez and his daughter, Beth Ann, had been interviewed by the Texas Rangers. Their report told her everything she already knew. Tristan Joiner had come to live with them last fall. He was a good kid, blah, blah, blah.
She’d checked on Tristan this morning. He and the other children were malnourished, beaten and more puzzling, suffering from Mercury poisoning. They were alive, if only barely, in a secure hospital in Texas.
Alex blocked the mothers from seeing their children. Until she had satisfactory answers, the children would remain safe and secure. The last thing she wanted was to release the surviving boys only to have them held hostage again.
“Krystal Jo Joiner is here, sir.” Larry stuck his head in the door. “She’s been escorted to the bedroom with the table in it. Downstairs.”
“Thank you, Sergeant,” Alex said.
“Oh and sir?” Larry asked. “She’s pissed off.”
“So noted, Sergeant,” Matthew said.
Krystal Jo Joiner was her other key witness. Why weren’t her male Joiner children held hostage? She was so indignant during her interview with the Texas Rangers that they didn’t get much out of her.
“You coming Joseph?” Alex asked.
“No, I need to work on the Weasel’s file,” Joseph said. “I’m compiling the information you received from the Weasel with the Joiner information. I meeting with James in about an hour to go over the information SIS has on the Boy Scout.”
“Troy?”
“He’s made headway on the Fey bank account. He said it should be ready by this afternoon.”
“Good,” Alex nodded. “Vince?”
“He’s working with the Texas Rangers on the bombs in the Mariscal Mine. They aren’t sure how the bombs were ignited.”
“Larry seems quite chipper.”
“He’s researching Joiner’s holdings while his honey studies for her exams.” Joseph smirked.
“His honey?” Alex raised her eyebrows.
“Don’t worry fairy godmother. He has a crush on your Helene.”
“A crush?” Matthew laughed. “He worships the very ground she walks on.”
“Anyway, nothing happened last night. Or so her father said. By the way, Ben said he was returning to Paris. You know how to get a hold of him?”
Alex nodded.
“Weasel then?”
“Weasel it is,” Joseph said.
She looked at her watch.
“When Robert Lopez and his daughter get here…”
“White Boy and Trece are on their way with them,” Joseph said. “Trece says Bobby’s a great guy. They want to play cards. So don’t worry. We’ll let Trece and White Boy entertain them for a while.”
“Those boys come in handy,” Matthew said.
“We need to talk about the men.” Noting Alex’s dark look, Joseph said, “Later.”
“Later,” Alex said. “Krystal Jo then Bobby and Beth Ann.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Joseph said.
“Thanks.”
Alex touched his sleeve. He looked up and smiled at her. She nodded. He put his hand over hers in a gesture of support.
“I always hated Joiner.”
“I know,” he said. “See you in a bit.”
Alex and Matthew walked down a short hallway to a straight flight of stairs.
“How are you feeling?” Matthew asked.
“Yes,” Alex said.
She turned down the hallway to the small bedroom on the first floor. Matthew laughed.
“Good answer.”
“And you?” Alex asked. She nodded to the Texas Rangers standing next to the door.
“Yep,” he said.
She smiled.
“At least you don’t smell anymore,” he said under his breath as they walked into the room.
A medium sized blond woman stood with her back to the door. She was staring out the window at the melting snow in their backyard. Wiping her eyes, she turned to watch them enter the room.
“Hello. I’m Lieutenant Colonel Alexandra Hargreaves and this is Captain Matthew Mac Clenaghan, US Army. You may call us Alex and Matt.”
“Are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?” Krystal Jo Joiner asked. “The police came… and I don’t know where my boys are… and…”
She sniffed at a tear then squared her shoulders. Her eyes sparked with strength.
“What has Cee Cee Joiner gotten us into this time?” she asked. Her voice was as fierce as her Texas accent deep.
“May I get you some water or iced tea?” Alex asked.
“You can bring my babies to me,” Krystal replied with a shake of her yellow hair. “They have never been away from me.”
Alex smiled.
“Matthew, can you bring us some iced tea and some cookies?” Alex asked.
Matthew nodded his head and left the room. They’d agreed that Krystal might feel more comfortable speaking with a woman, but Matthew refused to let Alex work alone. Matthew left to let Alex get started.
“Please sit down,” Alex said. She indicated a chair at a small square oak table. Krystal took the chair nearest her and Alex sat across from her.
“I’m not sure what to call you. Do you go by Krystal? Krystal Jo? My bunkmate at basic was from Texas. She said people’s second name was very important to Texans.”
Shaking her head, Krystal furrowed her brow.
“Is this a joke? I’m arrested, my babies are God knows where and you want…”
Raising her eyebrows, Alex smiled at Krystal.
“I’m sorry,” Krystal said. “I’m too exhausted and worried to remember polite conversation. What was your bunkmate’s name?”
“Catherine Susan Lesser. Cathy Sue for short. She would squint her eyes at anyone would called her ‘Cathy’ and not ‘Cathy Sue.’”
“What happened to her?” Krystal asked.
“She met,” Alex’s voice changed to imitate Cathy’s accent, “the sweetest boy.”
Krystal smiled at Alex’s imitation.
“Somehow, Cathy Sue happened to get pregnant after we received orders to go to Bosnia. She got out on a medical discharge. They live in San Antonio. He works for Whole Foods Corporate office.”
“Everyone calls me Krystal,” she said. “Joiner is my father’s name. Not Cee Cee’s name. Our grandfather’s were cousins. You probably know this but I’m an insurance agent. That’s how I met Cee Cee. I manage the insurance plans for Pecos Oil.”
“And?”
“And what?” Krystal’s blue eyes raked Alex’s face. “You’re the girl who beat up that guy in the parking lot. I wondered if you were injured. That’s some cast.”
“I had surgery yesterday.” Alex raised her aluminum and gauze arm in her blue sling. “I’m hoping to get a real cast tomorrow.”
“Looks uncomfortable,” Krystal said.
“Yeah,” Alex shrugged. “Shall we?”
Krystal nodded.
“What’s your relationship with Cee Cee Joiner?”
“He’s the father of my children,” she said.
The door opened and Matthew came in with glasses, a pitcher of ice tea and a plate of lemon drop cookies.
“You have to try these.” Alex picked up a cookie. “My brother-in-law is a baker. He made these last night. Matthew, Krystal wants to know why she’s here.”
“Cee Cee Joiner’s male children have been kidnapped.”
Matthew gauged his voice for maximum impact. They had to know if she was involved.
“What?” Panicked, Krystal jumped to her feet.
“You didn’t know?” Alex asked.
“Some man called on Friday to ask about the boys… when they were born… where they went to school… stuff like that. He said he was from Homeland Security. I called the police to make sure he was legitimate before I answered even one question. Did he kidnap my babies?”
“Please sit down,” Alex said.
“My boys… Are they safe?” she asked.
“Your boys are safe,” Alex said. “They are with Cathy Sue. Last time I checked, they were playing Guitar Hero with Cathy’s boys. Cathy lives in a gated community but to be safe, there is a Texas Ranger with the boys. It’s my understanding that he sucks at Guitar Hero. But you didn’t hear it from me.”
Krystal looked from Alex to Matthew then sat down again.
“Why am I here?” Krystal asked.
“Cee Cee Joiner’s male children have been kidnapped,” Matthew repeated. “All of them except your boys and his current wife, who is pregnant with a male child. They didn’t get him either.”
Krystal’s lips dropped in a pensive frown.
“When?” Krystal asked.
“Tristan is the only one we have good data on because a missing person’s report was filed.”
“By Bobby Lopez?”
“How…?” Alex started.
“I manage their health insurance. I know all the dirt,” Krystal said. “Tristan’s lived with them since Cee Cee fired Bobby from Pecos Oil.”
Alex blinked.
“Didn’t know Bobby worked for Pecos Oil?” Krystal asked. “He worked for them since he was fifteen years old. Started in the oil fields. Tristan went missing? When?”
“Around Christmas,” Alex said. “We rescued Tristan, Cory, Cody, and Kyle last night.”
“Cee Cee has a few more boys. Let’s see… There’s Daniel and David…and Marvin, of course. What?”
“Ma’am, Daniel, Marvin and David are dead,” Matthew said. “And…”
Krystal gasped in horror. Her hands flew to her face. With her nose and mouth covered by her French manicured fingertips, only her eyes showed her shock.
“We aren’t sure Cory will make it. Cody and Tristan have been poisoned with mercury,” Alex said.
“Tristan is older, bigger. The doctors expect him to shake the mercury. However he’s been beaten. He’s in reconstructive surgery now and…”
Matthew stopped speaking in response to Krystal’s increasing distress. They had planned on pounding her with the facts to break the truth from her. That wasn’t going to be necessary. His voice softened.
“But Cody is very ill and Cory is only two years old.”
“Cory was always sickly. He has bad allergies and asthma. Oh God…”
Krystal wept in earnest. There was no mistaking her reaction. Krystal Joiner had no idea the children were kidnapped.
“I know I’m not helping,” Krystal said. She swiped at her tears with her hands. Matthew held a box of tissues out for her. “I loved those boys. My boys will be heart broken. Poor Sue Ann. Daniel and David were her life.”
Krystal squinted her eyes with determination then squared her shoulders.
“You want my help figuring out what happened,” Krystal said. “Let’s get the bastard who did this. If you can beat up that big guy, I bet you’ll find out who did this. Ok, what can I do?”
Krystal reached for a cookie. She bit into the cookie as if she was biting into this problem.
“What do you know?” Matthew asked.
“Nothing,” Krystal replied. “I had no idea the boys were… well… wait a minute.”
Krystal tapped her upper lip with an index finger.
“We usually get together with all of Cee Cee’s kids, and their Moms, for the holidays. We Moms hate Cee Cee so much that we are actually pretty good friends. Well… the wives are very tight. A couple of the other mothers work for Buffy. She’s Cee Cee’s first wife and acts like the Queen of the Joiner harem. I’m not a part of the inner circle. After all, I have a job. But they usually include us in their holidays. We saw everyone at Thanksgiving but at Christmas… Huh.”
Krystal lapsed into silence while she finished her cookie.
“What?” Alex asked.
“We were supposed to get together before Christmas. Tristan was going to be home. My boys worship Tristan. We usually meet at Buffy’s house. This year, she canceled at the last minute. I figured she was mad that Tristan was living with Beth Ann. But… Why wouldn’t she tell everyone?”
“We don’t know,” Alex said. “The Texas Rangers are interrogating the mothers. We spoke with all of the mothers on Friday. They denied their children were missing.”
“Every single one,” Matthew said.
“That is… odd.” Krystal lapsed into silence again. “I was relieved we didn’t have to go to Buffy’s house. She can be impossible. We had such a nice Christmas this year… just me and my boys.”
“How are you and your boys different from the other children and mothers?” Matthew asked.
“I’m financially independent. That’s probably the biggest difference. I don’t get money from Cee Cee. My father was in insurance. I joined his practice after college and I took the practice over when he died. I owned my own house when I met Cee Cee.”
“How… I mean…”
Alex started then stopped. She wasn’t quite sure how to ask Krystal why she had a relationship with the awful Cee Cee Joiner. Krystal laughed at the look on Alex’s face.
“Cee Cee can be fun. After my Dad died, I felt very alone in the world. I took over insurance at Pecos Oil and I met Cee Cee. It happened like one, two, three, four: Daddy falls over dead; take over his large insurance practice with this huge oil contract; meet Cee Cee Joiner; get pregnant. I think everything happened in less than six months.”
Krystal shook her head then took a drink of iced tea.
“You aren’t from Texas.”
“We are not. Why?” Alex asked.
“This tea is not sweetened,” Krystal smiled.
“Would you like some sugar?” Matthew asked.
“No, thank you,” Krystal said. “Ok, why Cee Cee? Cee Cee isn’t the kind of man like I bet you are Matthew. No, he’s not kind or thoughtful. He could care less about anyone but himself. But he made me laugh. He took me out on the town. He’s fun in bed.”
“I knew he was married… It’s not my proudest moment.” Krystal shrugged. “I got pregnant with Lance and Cee Cee started bossing me around. I needed to do this and that and whatever else for his child. That was it for me.”
“How…?”
“Sperm bank,” Krystal said. “I didn’t want Lance to grow up alone and I wanted them to have the same father so we would look like a family. Stupid huh? Cee Cee banked sperm so I used it to have Jason. I’m not sure Cee Cee even knows.”
“How did you arrange it?”
“He signs a lot of insurance papers for me. I slipped the permission form in with the papers. He spends about two minutes signing thirty pages of insurance forms. We have no relationship. Here. Sign these papers. Thank you. That kind of thing.”
“Do they have much interaction with their father?” Matthew asked.
“No. They see him once a year at the most. Cee Cee says he loves my boys but I think that’s because they don’t cost him any money. Cee Cee loves himself and money. That’s all.”
Not sure where to go next, Alex was about to terminate the interview when Krystal began talking again.
“Cee Cee has life insurance policies on all of these boys. Not the girls, only the boys. Could he have…?”
“Anything is possible, ma’am,” Matthew replied.
“I’m sorry. I want to be helpful but I’m kind of grasping at straws,” Krystal continued. “You know, Cee Cee had mercury poisoning once. We had to petition the insurance company to cover it. He picked it up in some South American country… Peru, I think. Shale oil. At least that’s what he said. With Cee Cee, you never know. We were seeing each other at the time. He stayed with us. My housekeeper and I nursed him back to health. Oh… I probably shouldn’t have mentioned her. She’s not legal.”
“We’re only interested in finding out what happened to these boys,” Matthew said.
“What can you tell us about your housekeeper?” For the first time, Alex’s pulse quickened. Something about the housekeeper was important. Alex had to work to keep the excitement from her voice.
“I don’t know what there is to tell. Her name is Luana Melo. She’s from a small village in the Brazilian jungle. I met her… oh… about a year, maybe two, before Daddy died. She was twelve and I was twenty years old. I was in Rio for Marti Gras. I found her on the street. She was selling… well… She was selling herself. I… bought her.”
“So you and she…” Matthew started.
“Oh no,” Krystal said. “We aren’t lovers, if that’s what you were going to ask. We were standing on the same street corner. I felt a strong connection with her. People talk about soul mates or whatever. I felt like I’d known her all my life. I paid her pimp for the weekend then brought her back to Texas. She’s stayed ever since. Her sister, Yaritza, came to help when Lance was born. Yaritza lived with us until Jason was five or six. She married a guy from Columbia. We had the reception at our house.”
Alex nodded her head. The wheels in her head began to spin. People can get mercury poisoning from burning shale oil… but that’s only done to create electricity… which they do in Brazil. Mercury is released when they extract oil from shale. It’s almost impossible to extract fuel from shale oil with out creating an environmental disaster. Brazil also has enormous shale oil reservoirs.
“I don’t like the look on your face, Lieutenant Colonel Drayson. Luana is a saint. She would never hurt a fly, let alone a child.”
“She wouldn’t happen to be from the Amazonas Basin? Near the center of South America?” Alex asked. The first time they rescued Cee Cee Joiner, he had run a foul of the people of the Amazonas Basin.
“How did you know?” Krystal asked. “Her family still lives near the border of Brazil and Peru.”
“Lucky guess,” Alex said.
“Are we done?” Krystal asked.
“For now,” Alex replied.
“Alex?” Krystal called. “Isn’t there more that I can do?”
“We’d like you to stay in Denver for now. We’ll take care of the arrangements. We may need to speak with Luana and maybe Yaritza. But not right this minute. Thank you for your assistance.”
“Luana won’t speak to you. We have a plan so she won’t be deported. She went into hiding when the police came to the house. If my boys are playing Guitar Hero, they won’t miss me for days. Why don’t I get her and bring her here?” Krystal asked.
“That won’t be necessary,” Alex said. “I apologize for keeping you.”
Krystal Jo Joiner hugged Alex then whispered, “I know you’ll sort this out.”
Alex nodded then followed Matthew out of the room. She gave the Texas Rangers instruction to take Krystal to a hotel downtown. At least she would be comfortable while she waited.
“What do you think?” Alex asked.
“What you see is what you get,” Matthew said. “I think she’s on the up and up.”
“Me too,” Alex said.
“And that means?”
“Fuck if I know,” Alex said.
A loud cheer came from the front room.
“Bobby Lopez?”
“Probably,” Matthew said.
Shaking her head, Alex followed Matthew to the front room.
F
Learning to Stand is the second novel in the Alex the Fey thriller series
written by Claudia Hall Christian.
The novel is available in paperback at Amazon, our store, your local library and bookstore.
Entire chapters are be published at
StoriesbyClaudia.com and AlextheFey.com.
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