Wally seemed to study him for a few seconds before replying. “There was this cousin who would babysit me. I think he was just ... a confused young man. I don’t harbor any ill will toward him. In fact, I’m glad to see that he moved on with his life, too. Went out and got married. Actually a couple of times, I think. Had kids of his own.”

A ripple of nausea swelled inside Shad. “And you continued to keep his secret, I presume.”

“I didn’t feel the need to rip up his life.” Wally’s gaze seemed to sharpen on Shad. “Have you told anybody ... about me?”

If a bowlful of water left out in the depth of winter, when night temperatures would plunge below zero, could feel the water freeze so hard the container would break, Shad could relate to what that might feel like. A flicker of panic that seemed to hold off the impending hard freeze warned him not to answer that question at its face value.

At least he’d had many “dark watches of the night” when Shad spoke to the only other One who was there. “Yes.”

Wally frowned slightly. “Is this supposed to be part of some kind of therapy you’ve been through?”

“The one thing you and I agree on is that this doesn’t concern us anymore. But I can’t allow you to continue.”

“Continue what?” Wally sat up. “Do you intend to file a complaint against me?”

Shad grappled for a response. Maybe Wally wasn’t entirely familiar with the law, or maybe Wally had already done the math and knew Shad could only file a civil suit against him. But unless Shad hired a private investigator to tail Wally, which also wasn’t an option, he had no evidence to prove Wally was lying to him.

The truth actually turned out to be his best answer. “I don’t know yet what I’m gonna do with you.”

“So you admit it?” Wally leaned forward. “You don’t need to rip our lives apart by accusing me of something I’m not doing?”

Shad decided he’d reached his saturation point. There was no way he was going to extract a confession from Wally, and this conversation would only continue going in circles. He wished he hadn’t come here. Shad wished he’d never opened that newspaper on the train.

“I’ve got nothing else to say to you,” Shad said bluntly as he got to his feet.

Wally’s eyes widened. “You’re leaving?”

“We’re done.”

The man scrambled to his feet as Shad turned away from the desk. “That’s it? You’re going to leave just like that? You aren’t going to give me any explanation? You’re just going to leave me hanging?”

Shad hesitated at the door and glanced back at Wally. When the man had left that seedy apartment over twenty years ago, he left during the night while Shad was asleep. The boy had been given no warning of his departure. Shad had simply awakened to discover that Wally was gone.

“And that still doesn’t make us even.” Shad stepped out the door.

Chapter Nine

I form light and create darkness, I make weal and create woe – I the LORD do all these things.

--Isaiah 45:7

After Dulsie left for work the next morning, Shad lingered at the house a little longer than usual to review some of his books on psychology and abuse. Everything he read confirmed his prognosis about Wally, which meant Shad needed to act if he was going to stop the man’s predations. But he was still stumped on just how to go about that action when the law stood in his way. Shad didn’t miss the irony that he had become an attorney in order to find ways that procured justice when the law was too rigid, and now he was personally in such a dilemma ... again. And although his role the first time had been more passive, it was those events that led him to this career.

Shad was convinced God had a wicked sense of humor.

His plan to linger involved missing most of the morning traffic, so it was actually ten minutes after eight o’clock when Shad stepped through the door of his office into the reception room. Francine looked up from typing at her computer.

“Flat tire or dead starter?” She asked.

Shad realized Francine was referring to the only other two times he had arrived after his coworkers, and he had been late by a much wider margin than this morning.

“Preoccupied driver,” Shad replied.

“I was wondering at what point do I start worrying about you.” Francine regarded him with a slight frown. “You didn’t call, so I was starting to think you had a bad encounter with a deer or a semi.”

“I’m sorry, but I knew I wasn’t gonna be that late.”

“Do you know how much insurance paperwork I’ll have to fill out if you get crunched?”

Shad smiled a little. “It’s nice to know you missed me.”

“I’m not the only one. You’ve already received two calls this morning.” Francine glanced down at her desk.

Shad’s stomach did a couple of rollovers. Did Wally call here wanting to discover what Shad’s plans were?

“Who are they from?” He asked casually as Shad stepped closer to her desk.

Francine picked up a couple of message slips. “One is from a gentleman wanting to discuss lease termination. The other is from Monica Simms.” Francine’s gaze switched to Shad’s face. “She says it’s urgent.”

Shad was relieved it wasn’t Wally, but also disappointed that he was stuck with expecting a call from the man. Since his home and cellular telephone numbers were unlisted, Shad knew Wally would be able to reach him only at the office. He thanked Francine and took the slips into his own work area. Shad set up his laptop computer, turned it on, and dialed Monica’s number on his office telephone.

He knew it was probably too early in the morning for Vic to be there and answer the phone, so Monica was the one who picked up.

“It’s Charissa,” she replied to Shad’s inquiry. “You said, and she said, that you wanted to listen to her whenever she wanted to talk. Well, yesterday after our meeting with the psychologist, when she was going to bed, she said she wanted to tell you something.”

“Do you know exactly what about?”

“It’s the darndest thing. She absolutely refuses to tell me.”

“Will she talk to me on the phone?”

“I’ve already asked her. She said she doesn’t want me to hear, so no, not on the phone.”

As Shad began pulling up his schedule on the computer he tried to analyze Charissa’s change in behavior. Was it a change in strategy?

A definite side effect of being away from the office for a day was the pileup of work which would always greet him upon Shad’s return. He also had a court appearance this afternoon. “I’ve got too much going on today to see her this morning or afternoon. I suppose if I must, I could come out this evening.”

Monica didn’t respond for a couple of seconds. “Lawyers will make house calls?”

“This one does.”

“Well, it’s just that tonight we’d promised Charissa to take her out to the movies.”

“Don’t break your promise.” Shad pulled up his schedule for Friday. He knew there would be spillover from today, which made tomorrow’s itinerary chaotic but doable. His difficulty was determining when to make time for Charissa.

“I should be able to fit you in tomorrow, but I’m probably gonna have to grab the first opportunity that pops up, and I don’t know when that’ll be. I think it would be easiest if I just make that house call when the chance comes up. I’ll give you a call when I can head out.”

“That works for me.”

After he hung up the phone, Shad proceeded to plunge into his work, but the matter about Wally kept infringing on his thoughts, making Shad almost cringe every time the phone rang. He was actually glad for the court appearance that helped Shad to stay focused on matters at hand, but that only lasted for a couple of hours. When he returned to the office the work load didn’t seem any lighter, and it was five-thirty before he was able to start wrapping things up. Then his cell phone rang.