Chapter 8

Sterling - Chapter 8

Robert wasn't sure what the big deal was. It's not like he'd gone to his brother's house to kill anyone. Premeditated murder could get you into a lot of trouble. He knew this. But, had she just done what he wanted then things would have been so much easier on her. And now because of her stupidity, he was a wanted man.

His picture was plastered all over the news. They were even putting it under programs that were running too…his face, and that he was armed and dangerous. That wasn't right. He had no guns, just the baseball bat that he'd taken from the house. None of this was making any sense to him. It was all on Isaac, and no one was saying a word about how he'd lost his job because of his brother.

Then there was Isaac. He had no idea how he thought that he could just fire him. It wasn't as if he'd done anything to warrant it. Of course, he supposed that he could have not taken the whores into the building. But if he hadn't, then he'd have had to pay them to drive to where he was staying. His way, he'd saved nearly two hundred dollars a pop by having them just come to where he was working. If anything, Isaac should be proud of him for being so thrifty. But instead he had fired him, and had him dragged from the building like he wasn't anything or anyone important.

Now here he was, sitting in an abandoned building with nothing to entertain him. He wasn't even able to use his phone for fear of someone tracking it. He looked over at it when it buzzed. It was Isaac again, his picture taking up all the screen like he was so important.

Robert tried to think how long he could stay on the phone before someone could track him. He was sure it was less than five minutes, but he wasn't positive. But it was getting on his last nerve that Isaac thought he was so stupid that he'd allow him to let the police find him.

Finally, when it stopped ringing, he looked around where he was. The dead man in the corner bothered him a bit. It was as if he were accusing him of something that he'd done. Another thing to blame on his brother and sister-in-law was this man's death. Had he only just left the building when Robert had asked him to then he'd be living the rest of his filthy life out normally. Poor, of course, but he'd be alive.

The phone rang again and he nearly tossed it across the room when he noticed that the call was from an unknown number. Picking it up, he answered without saying a word.

"Come now, you don't want me to think that you don't care for me, do you?" He knew the voice but wasn't sure. "You called me the other day and warned me about putting my things in the gallery. Well, warned is a tame word for it. I believe you threatened me, then tried to bribe me. Isn't that right?"

"Calhoun?" The caller laughed. "I don't think I caught your first name. I just got a glimpse of the contact on my brother's desk, but not really a name. Why are you calling me now? Surely you've seen what Isaac has done to me."

"I have, yes. But I think you're wrong about what he's done to you, and it's more what you've done to him. As for my name, no, I suppose you'd not have it, now would you? The thing is, you hurt a very dear friend of mine. Poor Gloria didn't stand a chance with you beating her to death with a ball bat, now did she? And that poor baby. You—"

"I did nothing to that brat. I couldn't find it no matter how much I looked. You can bet that I'd have not left it around either, had I found that little cocksucker." There wasn't any kind of response, so he continued. "You didn't really think that I'd not hedge my bets, did you? I mean, if he should die, then he does. My father should never have left him that place anyway. I'm only younger than Isaac by ten minutes. But that's not fair to penalize me for not being first and getting everything I wanted. Don't you think?"

"You would have run it into the ground and we both know it. I think your father was a smart man to have left it to the smarter of the two of you, regardless of who was born first." He started to tell her he was the smarter when she continued with a hearty laugh. "In fact, now that you'll be in prison for a very long time, if not on death row, then I'd say he really did the smartest thing by not leaving it to you."

It occurred to him that she could be recording this. Or even tracking him. But he knew artist types to be vain and sort of stupid. Especially ones that would stoop to coming to the Sullivan Gallery. No, she'd not be smart enough to do something like that.

"You should know something, Calhoun. As soon as I can arrange it, I'm going to go after that brat, and even my brother. No one will be able to stop me either." She asked him why not. "Because I'm going to say it was insanity from being fired from my job, as well as it being my family thing. No court in the land will convict a man that has had everything taken from him."

"So, you're going to say that being fired made you insane?" He told her of course. "Well, I'm not sure, but I think people thought you were insane well before you were fired, Bobby. The very idea that you think that is going to fly is just ludicrous. Don't you think?"

"I'm not Bobby. My mother named me Robert. And no, I don't think it's ludicrous. I think it's brilliant. Isaac was always the stupid one in our family. Why he ever hired me in the first place is beyond me. Even if Mommy would have told me to, I'd have never hired me. But now that he has, he should have made it so that I could draw a check there forever. And firing me? That shit will never happen again either."

"Of course not. If you think you're in charge, I can see where you'd not fire yourself." He wasn't sure what she meant, but laughed when she did. "Well, this has been fun, but I've done all I can do today. Thanks."

"For what? Are you going to help me out?" She told him that she already had. "How? I didn't hear you say you were going to let me sell your paintings."

"No, I didn't. And that's not going to happen at all." She laughed and his temper hurt his head. "By the way, you're surrounded."

He heard the sirens then. Standing up with the phone still in his hand, he looked out the window and down the street. He was indeed surrounded, but he wasn't sure what all the fuss was about. He'd killed his sister-in-law in self-defense. It wasn't as if she were alive to say anything different. So instead of running, he decided to play the insane card to the fullest.

When the police came into his little area of the building, he was taken to the floor and his hands cuffed behind him. He didn't say a word. Robert was afraid that they'd hear intellect in his voice and his insanity plea would be over. Watching them, he forgot about the dead man in the corner and only shrugged when asked about him.

"Robert Conrad Sullivan, you're under arrest for the murder of Gloria Sullivan, William Luna, Jacob Smithy, and the attempted murder of Isaac Sullivan—"

"What does that mean, attempted? I did nothing of the sort. And if you think I killed my poor sister-in-law, I'm going to tell you right now, it was her fault. She came at me first. And I have no idea who those other two are. You're adding names just to make things sound worse for me. I won't have it, I tell you." The officer just looked at him with that "sure she did" look. And explained to him that the others were the guards around the house he'd murdered when he'd gone into the house. "Oh. Well, they were in the way. But I swear, she had this bat there, and as soon as I got in the house, she hit me with it."

"Got in the house? You mean, when you forced your way in." Robert told him how she wouldn't open the door. "So, you admit to breaking into your brother's home and killing his wife?"

"I didn't kill her on purpose." He asked him why he'd done it in the first place. "She was supposed to give me money. And when she said she didn't have any, I asked for my niece. Or nephew. I can't remember. But I was only going to hold him until my brother hired me back and then paid me. I know that he can't just pay me without hiring me, so I asked, nicely mind you, for her to give me the brat so that I could have something to bargain with when I talked to Isaac again."

"You are aware that it's kidnapping, aren't you?" He said it was a relative, so it didn't count. "Yes, it does. When you take someone against their will or their caretaker's, then that's kidnapping. You just admitted to wanting to take the child for gain. That's kidnapping almost word for word in the dictionary."

Robert didn't think he had that right but said nothing. As soon as he was home again, he was going to look it up. Robert had done a lot of research on things before going to Isaac's house. And he was as up on the laws as these bozos were. Probably more so.

As the officer finished reading him his rights, Robert tried to think who he needed to contact with his one phone call. His brother was the only person he knew. There was a lawyer too, but for the life of him he couldn't think of his name. But he was sure that Isaac would remember it and call for him. There wasn't any way that Isaac would leave him in jail for more than a couple of hours.

He was taken to the jail in one of the larger vans. It wasn't as nice as the car might have been. First of all, there were four armed men in the back with him, and they were rude, not answering a single question of his, nor wanting to joke around. The second thing that was pissing him off, there wasn't any way for him to hold onto the seat. He wasn't buckled in, and every time they went around a curve too sharply, he'd fall over. Finally, he just laid on the floor rather than get up to be knocked down again. And the assholes with him thought it was funny.

When he was brought into the jail the back way, he noticed the television crews. There were several local, as well as a few statewide, ones. He thought he saw someone from the newspaper too and asked about it. He didn't expect a response, and was surprised when one of the men answered.

"They're here for a murderer. When a person kills someone and even admits to trying to kill a child as well, people get up in arms. Go figure." He wasn't sure who they were talking about and asked. "You. You are the one that they're pissed at. I think that they're justified in it, but that's just me."

"I didn't admit to anything." He thought about the conversation with Calhoun. "I can't be recorded unless they tell me about it. I know my rights."

"So, you admit to telling her that you killed Gloria while Calhoun was recording you?" Robert nodded. "You're telling me that you admitted to killing Gloria Sullivan, your sister-in-law, when talking with Calhoun on the phone earlier? And those two men?"

"Yes, of course. But she can't use that against me. I wasn't informed that I was being recorded." He asked him if that counted body cams. "I would guess not. They're supposed to keep the people safe, aren't they? It's not as if you did anything to me that I'd have to call you out on. But that stuff with that artist person, she said nothing about recording me. By the way, how did you find me? She didn't strike me as smart enough to do some kind of GPS on me."

"She's very smart, Especially since the chief was telling her what to say to you. Keeping you on the line was a good deal easier than any of us thought it would be." Damn it, Robert thought. Was no one honest anymore? "Now, you just go on into the cell here and we'll get this cleared up."

"I should hope so. I have things to do today, and none of it will get done with me behind bars." When the officer walked away, he realized that he'd forgotten to ask about his one call. Well, he'd get it next time. Anyway, the officer had already told him that he was working to get this cleared up. Soon, he'd be out and looking for his brother to take care of things.

The cell he was in was bare. There was a cot, yes, and a commode that he was sure was meant as a scare tactic. There wasn't any way that he was going to be able to use that thing without a curtain or something. The blanket at the end of the bed was soft but not overly large. Nor was it very thick. He'd have to see about getting someone to get him an electric blanket if he ended up spending the night for some reason. Robert didn't like being cold at night.

As the time ticked by, he was beginning to worry that they'd forgotten about him. Just as the sun was going down, he realized he was hungry. Standing up when he heard the door opening at the end of the hall, he saw someone coming toward him with a tray. Finally, someone to give him some much-needed answers. At the last second, he remembered he was supposed to be insane.

"I'd like to call my brother, please. Also, if you could please tell me why I'm in here, I'd very much appreciate it." His tray was slid under the bars and the man started to walk away. "Hello? Did you hear me? I need to call Isaac. I can't remember the name of our family attorney. I need someone to come here and get me out."

The man paused and turned to look at him. He didn't say anything but stood there, so Robert tried again to get him to understand what was happening. Also, he asked about the blanket.

"This isn't a hotel, you know that, don't you?" Robert said that it barely passed for a cell. "It's the minimum that we have to provide. There won't be any calls yet as the phone system that you can use is out of order. Also, I'm not thinking you're going to get an electric blanket of any kind. I can bring you an extra one of those should you want it, but nothing electric. We don't want you to have any sort of accident while under our care."

The man left him there, and it wasn't until Robert was sure he wasn't returning that he looked at his meal. This was ridiculous. Ham on whole wheat bread? No, it should have been rye, everyone knew that. And a bag of carrot sticks as well as some sort of dip. There were also two things of milk and an apple. This was a diet meal, and he was far from fat.

~*~

Sterl walked into the living room to see Joe holding the Sullivan baby in front of her. Her arms were stretched out and the little guy was hanging from her hands. Joe was holding him under his arms about a foot from her body. It looked to him like they were having a staring contest and the child was winning.

"Whatcha doing?" She told him that she'd been asked to watch the infant. "I see. You do know that you don't have to watch his every movement, don't you?"

"When I tried to lay it down, it cried." He told her his name was Benson. "Yes, Benson. When I tried to put him down, he cried. He doesn't when he's like this."

"How long have you been holding him out like that? I mean, you look like you're not enjoying having a baby in your arms." He laughed when she growled at him. "Seriously, why are you not holding him in your lap?"

"I told you, it cries." He told her again it was Benson. "I know his name, damn it. I just don't want it to cry again. It makes my whole body hurt to hear it."

"Do you want me to help you?" She looked at him with pleading eyes. "Joe, you have to set him down for a moment. He has had some tragic things happen to him in the last few days."

"You think he misses his mom?" Sterl told her that he was sure that he did. "Sterl, if you could please take him from me and not let him cry, I'd really appreciate it. When they asked me to keep an eye on him, he was sleeping, but that didn't last very long. In seconds—I'm betting they weren't even at the car yet—he was awake and bawling like he was going to break the sound barrier."

He took the baby from her and sat down on the chair. Benson was a cute little guy. Fat cheeks and pretty blue eyes. Sterl took his hat off, and the little boy smiled at him then looked over at Joe.

"I don't think he trusts me." Sterl asked her why she'd think that. "I don't know. It's the way he looks at me. Like he's waiting for me to mess up or something."

"I doubt very much that he's learned how to distrust someone yet. He seems to be just fine. Want to hold him again?" She shot off the couch like a starter pistol had gone off and she was in the lead. "Why on earth did you offer to watch him if you're so afraid of him?"

"Isaac said that he needed to go to the bank, and he asked if Trent would take him. I think he needed to get away for a few hours. And he's making funeral arrangements this afternoon too." Sterl told her how they'd caught Robert. "Yes, we heard. Marty called here right after she got off the phone with him. She told me what Robert said to her."

Sterl had heard as well, and it chilled him to his very core to know that the man was that heartless. Benson cooed a little and grabbed his tie. Looking at the clock over the mantel, he asked when the baby had eaten last. Since it had been a few hours, he took him to the kitchen to find something for him to eat. Sterl thought of the things that he and Marty had talked about this morning.

The showing was going to proceed as scheduled. Sterl was also going to be the artist in the house. Mr. Millview had convinced him of that last night at the premiere by giving him the confidence that he rarely had anymore. They were also going to not worry about the showing, how much things were going for, nor whether or not they'd sell. One thing at a time, they'd decided. He looked at Alta when she handed him some cooked carrots and applesauce.

"There's a high chair in the pantry if you'd like to use it." Before he could hand her the baby and get it, she was bringing it out to him. "I'm thinking that this little man feeds himself all right, but you might need to help him a little. He'll be a mess after."

"I don't mind." He didn't either. Sterl had been a teacher before the accident, and he loved kids. Not as much as his brother Randal did, but he had enjoyed them. "I was thinking that I might need to make some arrangements about tonight. I know that Isaac said it was all taken care of, but I worry about him. I don't know what I'd do if something ever happened to Marty."

"You'll be just fine and I've talked to the little woman that is running the place for Isaac tonight. She said that the caterers have been called in, as well as waiters and waitresses. I've a few of my own there, just in case. Also, you should know that the Bentleys are going to be there, in full force. You can't get any better than that when it comes to protecting you. You all will be fine and dandy."

Sterl nodded and fed Benson. He was able to feed himself, but he was using his hands more than the spoon. And a lot of it was ending up in his hair as well as on Sterl. Every time Benson slapped his hands on the tray and Sterl jumped, Benson would laugh like he'd been tickled.

He liked the Bentleys. They were cougars, and an assortment of other creatures as well. In addition to a witch, the grand witch at that, there was another shifter, a faerie, as well as a couple that he didn't know that well yet. Sterl was glad that someone was going to be watching their backs while he humiliated himself in front of a group of people. Laughing to himself, he finished lunch with Benson.

He fed the baby the applesauce, then he gave him some round cereal that he enjoyed watching the little guy pick up and eat while he enjoyed a sandwich of his own. Benson had a sippy cup and was using that, but he would need a bottle when naptime came. And as he was falling asleep while he was eating, Sterl thought it was about that time anyway.

Taking the little boy to the living room, Sterl smiled up at Marty when she joined him there. Rocking Benson and talking to her in low tones, he told her where Isaac had gone. He also told her about Joe and the baby.

"Yes, I don't think she's the cuddle type. I can see her doing that. Holding the baby so still so as not to upset him." They both laughed. "I was so afraid that Robert would figure out what we were doing. I know that Chloe said it would be fine, but I was still worried. And I feel bad that he thinks I'm the artist."

"I don't care, love. I'm just glad this guy is behind bars and he can be out of our lives forever. I do worry about Isaac, but I think with support he'll be all right." She said that she hoped so, he was a good man. "He really is. I just hope that he and Benson come out on top of this. Like you, I worry about him too."

Alta and her niece, another witch, were going to watch the little boy and protect him when they went out. He wasn't sure where Isaac was going to be, but here or there, he'd be in good hands. Sterl hoped things turned out well for them all.

The opening was at five, and at four o'clock he joined Marty in their room to dress. Violet had shown up and taken over the care of Benson, as Isaac was running behind. But Benson seemed to like her, so it was all right with Sterl to leave them together.

"I need your help with my zipper." Sterl nearly swallowed his tongue when Marty presented her back to him. When she turned to ask him what was wrong, he nodded and pulled the little tab to the top. Really, what he wanted to do was take the dress off her, but he knew they'd be late. And he'd been warned by both his grandparents and parents not to let that happen. "I'm not sure that this is going to be a good dress to wear tonight."

When he got his tongue working again, he smiled at her. "I think this dress would be much prettier on the floor beside our bed, but we have to leave on time. I think the limo is going to be here in fifteen minutes."

"We could fool around in the car." He shook his head and told her he'd been warned about that as well. "Well, I don't know how they expect us to make them grandparents if they have all these rules to follow."

"You want children?" He pulled on his tux after stripping down. "We never talked about it. I do. Lots of them, if you want to."

"I do, and soon." She bent at the waist to get her shoes and he wanted to bite her. Marty caught him looking at her ass. "If you keep that up, not only will we be late, but we might not make it at all."

While he was completely all right with that, he did agree to behave, but he couldn't help himself, so Sterl did keep looking at her body. And damn, but she had a fine one too.