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“Your father. You can call him your father.”
“Joe was my father. And I can’t believe you could disrespect his memory like that.”
Elisha sighed in frustration. “I loved Joe, and I was proud to be his wife. This has nothing to do with Joe.”
“I was getting ready to get a fire hose to separate you two,” Pro seethed.
“If you ask me, you could use someone in your life that would inspire a little fire now and then,” Elisha shot back.
“Not today, Mother,” Pro huffed.
“Then don’t complain about me,” Elisha sassed, keeping her voice low, “when the man who gave me my darling baby says a few nice things to me.”
Pro surrendered. “All right, truce!”
A big voice called out, “As I live and breathe, Elisha Martin!”
Pro turned and Elisha looked past her daughter to see the heavyset man in the cheap suit as he walked toward them. He had a round face and his eyes were filled with delight. He opened his arms to Elisha. “Elisha Martin—no, no wait, it’s Elisha Thompson now, right?”
Elisha moved into the hug. “How are you, Mark?”
“Still practicing law. Someday I’ll get it right,” he laughed at his own joke. “Still married to Minerva, who loves me, God knows why. How is your marriage?”
“He gave me sixteen good years, but he passed away about two years ago.”
Mark frowned. “Sorry to hear that. But look at you. Except for the gray in your hair, you look like you haven’t aged a day.” His eyes moved to Pro, and he grew serious. “Wait, can that be?” He approached and looked carefully into Pro’s blue eyes. “My goodness, Prophecy Martin, all grown up!”
“They do that, Mark,” Elisha said.
Mark shook his head in amazement. “I guess so. I mean you were the same age as my Jinny. I remember when you kids used to play together.”
“Hello, Mister Jeffries,” Pro conceded.
“Mister Jeffries? That’s a long way from Uncle Mark!” Mark exclaimed and looked from one woman to another. “So what are you two doing here? How did you know to come here?”
Elisha spoke quietly. “Max called me, Mark. Pro was the arresting officer.”
Mark turned to view Pro with new respect. “What, you’re with NYPD? That’s great! I don’t really do criminal cases, so I don’t see the police very often.” He looked up at the taller Pro and chuckled. “So, little Prophecy Martin…”
Pro was having none of it. “It’s Pro Thompson these days, counselor. Let me escort you to the suspect.”
Mark glanced at Elisha, chagrined. “My, this is an unusual situation.”
“Don’t I know it,” Elisha responded sardonically.
3. Three Card Monte
Mark sat with Max in the interrogation room, and through the observation window Pro watched her father gesticulate while he told his story to the lawyer.
Of course she would have loved to know what they were saying, but that would be in direct conflict to the lawyer/client privilege. So, all she could do was watch the silent show acted out in front of her.
“Are you all right?” Chu murmured, standing next to her. He glanced back to see Elisha sitting at the chair next to her daughter’s desk looking at her cell phone.
“Yes…no…I don’t know,” Pro conceded and shook her head. “It’s like my entire past has come to hit me upside the head.”
“Family drama and all that, huh?”
“Yes, but more than that. My parents broke up when I was five. And divorce turns any marriage into a business that’s being dissolved. I mean, Max moved away, Mom met Joe, so all of their discussions about me, about money, were…businesslike.”
