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Garcia laughed.
“I’m going to need your help to explain the Lear and the last-minute arrangements to my mom. She’s a very smart woman and won’t be easy to snow.”
“Whatever you told her about your current assignment, you continue with that to explain it. And I did read her file,” Garcia said as if to say I know. “She was a psychologist on staff with the Richmond Police Department for nearly fifteen years, before the Parkinson’s symptoms became so bad that she took disability and left the department.”
“That happened almost immediately after she was diagnosed. She had to have it for some time before the diagnosis as it was already advanced at that point. I hate seeing her this way,” Laura Lee admitted.
“Maybe this research facility will give her a new treatment that will improve her symptoms,” Garcia said.
“Wouldn’t that be ironic?” Laura Lee remarked.
Dorthea Saxton, though suspicious, didn’t question the sudden trip and the treatment facility too deeply. It was as though she understood there was more going on, more that she shouldn’t question. It was undeniably her trust in her daughter that allowed her to go with it, even accepting that for some reason, Laura Lee was treating her sister and her family to an expensive beach vacation to be near her. As they drove towards the airfield, Laura Lee added perceptive to the many adjectives she’d use to describe her mother.
“Oh my, a private plane,” Dorthea Saxton exclaimed as Garcia drove up to the hangar, the Shepherd Security Lear inside.
They’d arrived before Burke. Laura Lee could only imagine the bedlam at her sister’s residence trying to get packed. And as surprised by the plane as her mom was, she could only imagine what her sister’s reaction would be. She really hated that she thought the way she did about her sister, always anticipating the worst, always assuming that her sister was out to get everything for nothing.
“It’s the agency’s plane. Remember I told you I was temporarily on loan to a subsidiary of the Army Corps of Engineers on a specialty domestic contract? Well, instead of flying on military aircraft, we fly on this one sometimes.”
“Okay, we’ll go with that,” she said.
The corners of Garcia’s lips tipped up. Dorthea Saxton was more astute than he’d given her credit for. He pulled the car up beside the aircraft. “When you worked for the Richmond P.D. I assume there were many confidences you had to keep.”
“That is true. And don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten how to keep those confidences.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said with meaning.
Laura Lee was getting her mother settled in one of the seats farthest aft on the plane when her sister entered, carrying Jeriah on her hip. Donna was all smiles, obviously impressed and surprised by the private plane. Laura Lee vaguely recalled feeling that way the first time she flew on a Lear. The boys trailed her, followed by Burke, carrying several suitcases.
“Can you believe this, Mom?” Donna asked their mother, making a beeline straight towards her. She handed Jeriah to her grandmother and then motioned for Elijah to sit beside Grandma as well. “And how fun that we all get to go to Miami together!” Then she sat opposite her mom, beside Elijah, after she buckled everyone in.
Laura Lee joined Rich and Garcia, making another trip out to the car to get the rest of the bags. “You are not her personal butler, bag carrier, or babysitter,” she said in frustration to Rich. “Do not let her take advantage of you.”
Burke chuckled. “I don’t mind, Laura. And she can’t very well tend the kids and carry the bags at the same time.”
“She could have at least carried a backpack on to help,” Laura said, taking hold of the backpack she knew Donna used as her diaper bag for the kids. She slung it over her shoulder.
The flight to Miami went amazingly well. Laura Lee watched her mom soothe Jeriah during takeoff and descent. The boys were well behaved, each playing with the electronic toys Donna had brought along. Despite the fact that Donna was the Saxton’s natural child, Laura Lee had never felt that she was any different from Donna in Dorthea’s or Charles’ eyes and heart. She felt every bit as much of a daughter to them as Donna was her entire life. And watching her mom with Donna’s children, a part of her wanted to have her own child who her mother could dote on. She was an incredible grandmother. She couldn’t help but wonder what kind of mother and grandmother Ruth Lee would have been.
Upon deplaning in Miami, while giving Donna a hug, Laura Lee whispered a warning to her. “Rich is a good friend of mine. He’s not the hired help, and he’s not boyfriend material, so don’t treat him as either. And even though I doubt that you’re seriously going to be in danger here, do whatever he tells you to do to keep you safe.”
“I am offended,” Donna whispered. “And I don’t see no wedding band on his hand, so in my mind that makes him fair game. He is a fine man.”
“I’m warning you, Donna. He’s a friend of mine. Don’t go there.”
“You sure just a friend?”
Laura Lee’s gaze swung toward the SUV that Rich and Garcia had their heads stuck in the back seat of, securing the car seats. “Yes, just friends. And Garcia’s not wearing his wedding band, either. That doesn’t mean his wife and son don’t exist.”
“I already know Rich is single.”
“You asked him?” Laura Lee snapped.
“Of course I did. That man is fine.”
Laura Lee cringed. “Just keep a low profile. You’re just a regular family there to enjoy your beach vacation. Don’t do anything to draw attention to yourselves.”
“Don’t worry,” Donna assured her, which made her feel anything but assured.
