CH13
It was a couple of weeks later now, early December:
The boys are downstairs trying their best to get a basketball go thru the hoop and Kate is in the kitchen fixing dinner when Alexis comes charging up the stairs crying heavily. "MOM!"
"Alexis I'm in the kitchen." Kate waits for her to reach her. "Hey sweetie how are you doing?" Then she turns to look at her daughter. "Alexis what's wrong?" Kate moves around the counter to get to her.
"Alexis talk to me sweetie, what's wrong?" Kate can tell she has been crying. Probably heavily by the look of it. "Sweetie talk to me what's wrong?"
"He, … He, … He wants a divorce." Alexis stumbles out between her tears.
"Who, Ray? Why does he want a divorce?" Kate is totally shocked.
"He's been seeing this girl at work. He says he's in love." Alexis cries out.
"Ray has been cheating on you?" Kate is left speechless.
Lucile shows herself. "His credit and debit cards are canceled. The money in the joint bank account has been diverted to a new account in the Cayman Islands. The electronic documents for the deed to the house have been modified." Lucile starts listing off the things she is doing.
"Lucile slow down, let's find out what is going on first." Kate cautions her.
"He has hurt my baby, he has to pay." Lucile tells her.
"Lucile please? Alexis when did you talk with him?" Kate is fighting two fronts.
"Just minutes ago, I came straight here."
"Have you ever seen this woman?" Kate asks.
Alexis just nods. "You said she is at his work. Do you know what she does?"
Alexis shakes her head. "What did I do wrong mom?"
"Oh sweetie you haven't done anything wrong. Do you know her name?" Kate asks her.
Alexis nods. "Debbie Bennett." Alexis sniffles out.
"Lucile." Kate is mad she has screwed with her daughter.
"Credit cards and debit cards canceled. She lives in an apartment complex, eviction notice sent. She owns a 2063 Pontiac SUX. She is now 6 months behind on payments. Repossession notice sent. Car insurance canceled. Renters insurance canceled. Cell phone account canceled. Her email name and password have been changed." Lucile informs them.
"Slow down Lucile. Boy I really wish Ryan and Espo were still here. I'd have those two pick her up and stick her in the interrogation room and take her apart piece by piece." Kate tells both of them.
Alexis starts laughing while sniveling and wiping her nose. "Oh mom what am I going to do?"
"You are staying here tonight. Then we are contacting Jim, Don and Tom to help you move in here. And if we need to we are going to give Ray to Natalie. She is a Marine and will teach him what it means to be on the wrong end of a Marine." Kate tells her.
"Where's dad?"
"He's out of town with his publisher; they are in London for two days talking about expanding coverage of his books into new markets. Lucile do you know where he is right now?" Kate asks Lucile.
"He is in his hotel room probably sleeping since it is 2:00 am tomorrow there." Lucile explains.
"Come on sweetie let's get you into a shower and then into bed. We'll decide what to do in the morning." As Kate helps her up and down to the guest master suite bathroom. She lays out some sleep ware of hers for Alexis to change into and takes Alexis's clothes and puts them in the washer for tomorrow.
Secure that Alexis is in the shower. "Natalie?"
"Hi Kate how are you tonight?" Natalie sounds happy.
"I need you and Jim over here, NOW! Please?" Kate pleads.
"Is something wrong?" Natalie sounds worried now.
"Please Natalie, can you and Jim come?" Kate tries again.
"We'll be there in a few seconds." Natalie tells her.
Kate heads for the kitchen and pulls out a shot glass and the bottle of Tequila that they have. Just as she does Natalie and Jim announce their arrival at the top of the stairs. "I'm in the kitchen." And Kate pulls out two more shot glasses.
"Kate what's happening, where's the fire. Oh my, we need alcohol for this?" Natalie is concerned now.
Kate pours all three glasses and downs hers quickly then re-pours. "Alexis is downstairs in the shower. She, …. She. … Lucile?" As Kate downs her drink and then pours another one.
Lucile shows herself. "Alexis came over to tell us that Ray was asking for a divorce." Before she can continue Natalie slaps her hands over her mouth and sucks in a raged breath.
"He has been having an affair with a co-worker." Lucile finishes.
Jim takes the drink off the counter and drinks. "Where do we find this piece of scum?" Jim is going to teach this guy a lesson.
"Forget him, I want her." Natalie takes the other glass and drinks.
Kate re-fills all of them. "I put Lucile to work on her. I just don't know what to do with Ray?" Kate tells them.
"No offense Lucile but they need their asses seriously kicked." Natalie tells her.
"I don't need you two getting into trouble over this." Kate tells them.
"And that's why you called us over here. Lucile where are these two pieces of pond scum?" Natalie asks.
Lucile doesn't answer but does tell them using their communications disks behind their ears.
Natalie downs her drink. "You explain it to Ray and I'll explain it to this bitch." As Natalie heads for the front door with her husband right behind her.
"He's going to remember this day for a long time to come, maybe." Jim tells his wife.
"This shouldn't take more than what, five minutes? I'll meet you back here. Just remember don't leave any DNA behind." Natalie tells her husband.
"The only DNA being left behind is going to be his or what's left of his." Jim starts stretching.
"I'll see you in a few." And Natalie kisses him quickly and opens a transmat wall. After she is gone Jim opens one of his own and steps through.
Three minutes later Natalie is back and not even breathing heavy but still has a very serious look on her face. Just as she reaches the top of the stairs Jim steps thru carrying an aluminum baseball bat.
Natalie waits for her husband. "Any trouble?" Natalie asks.
Jim shakes his head. "His baseball bat is damaged." Jim explains as he holds it up for inspection.
They both head for the kitchen where they still find Kate.
"They are both now sorry for how they treated Alexis." Natalie tells Kate. "Very sorry indeed."
"Guys?" Kate shakes her head.
Natalie walks around into the kitchen where Kate is standing. "Sweetie if you didn't want this to happen you wouldn't have called us first. You would have called your other daughter's instead. They don't even know yet do they?"
Kate just shakes her head. "It'll be alright." As Natalie wraps her arms around her. "And no more alcohol, you have to be mom tomorrow. Your baby is going to need you tomorrow." And Natalie puts the Tequila away.
"Lucile, Alexis is going to need a paper trail that puts her here tonight instead of there." Natalie calls out.
Lucile shows herself. "Already taken care of, and thank you." And she means it. "You both need to get back to the base and create an alibi." Lucile reminds them.
Natalie releases Kate and comes back around to her husband. "I'll go get Jenn you go get L. Oh and get rid of that thing." Natalie points to the bat.
"I know a lake that has its name written all over it." Jim assures her. "I'll meet you at the base as soon as I get L and explain it all to Tom." And they both head for the front door and are gone.
While they are gone Alexis comes upstairs. "Mom?" Still crying dressed in the clothes Kate had left for her.
Kate comes around out of the kitchen to meet her. "It's going to be ok sweetie Lucile and I are here for you. Lucile, move everything to the Caymans, everything." Kate asks her.
"I already have. There is a lower level part-time animal keeper position at the New York Zoo open, I've already submitted Alexis's resume and application for the position." Lucile informs them.
After getting a slightly shocked face from both of them. "Well I'm not leaving you out there all alone with that,… that, Aaugggh." As Lucile does her best to kick something but has her foot/leg go straight through it.
Kate just smiles while Alexis actually giggles a little and is interrupted when Jenn comes flying up the stairs "ALEXIS!" Jenn screams out. Spotting her with Kate and Lucile she runs across the room and crashes into both of them and wraps her arms around Alexis who does the same.
"Oh sis, tell me it's not true?" Jenn wants it all to just go away.
"He doesn't love me." And gets Alexis to start crying again and soon has Jenn joining her. And they are both interrupted when L comes flying up the stairs "ALEXIS!" Having spotted her with her other sister runs across and takes Jenn's place and wraps her arms around Alexis.
"Jim told me." And pulls back just enough to look into her eyes. "Oh sis, I'm so sorry." Then goes back to squeezing Alexis.
"Why don't you two take her down to the guest master suit, she needs to get some sleep. You can go home after that when you are ready." Kate tells her daughters.
"Oh hell no, we're staying here where we are needed." Jenn tells her mom.
"Yea and Tom has enough breast milk for a couple of days. Come on sis let's get you into bed, we'll figure out what to do in the morning. I've read all of dad's books. We can start planning the perfect murder then." L tells them. Getting a chuckle out of Alexis.
"L and I will have it all worked out by the time you are up in the morning." Jenn adds. "He has messed with the wrong family."
Kate and Lucile watch them go downstairs. "We have our work cut out for us Lucile."
"Yea, but this time we don't have to do it alone." Lucile turns to look at Kate. "This time we have a much bigger family. And some of them are Marines who don't leave anyone behind or ever give up."
"Do you really think Natalie and Jim, …" Kate doesn't finish.
"Natalie was right Kate, if deep down you didn't want them to do what you think they did, you wouldn't have talked to them first. You would have talked to the girls to help you with Alexis first.
Don't beat yourself up about it. Just imagine what Rick would have done had he been here." Lucile tries to help.
"I might have a husband who would be in jail soon." Kate talks to herself as an answer.
"Richard is many things Kate, but you of all people know the lengths he will go to for his family." Lucile reminds her.
Kate just smiles and nods her head. It was one of the many things she loves about him. "Lucile can you teach me how to take one of these off of another person?" Kate asks holding up her left arm.
"Yes, you are thinking of taking Richard's away from him when he gets home, aren't you?" Lucile questions.
"Actually I was thinking of going to London and taking it from him there. I want to take the temptation and his ability to do something away from him before he does something stupid." Kate explains. "After I tell him."
"I'll let you know when Richard is up." Lucile assures her.
"Thanks Lucile, I'm going to go down and check on the girls. Are the boys still playing?"
"Yes, however they have switched to Foosball at the moment." Lucile tells her.
"I'll go tell the boys after I check on the girls. There is already a dark cloud forming over this house and the sooner the boys know the sooner we can all work at getting rid of it." Kate tells her and heads down the stairs.
Kate finds them trying mightily to beat each other in a game of Foosball. "Boys I need to talk to you." Kate starts.
"Hi mom." And they are still playing.
Kate puts her hands on the rods. "Sorry guys but we need to talk now."
"Something wrong mom?" James has spotted the look on his moms face.
"Alexis is here, …." And gets interrupted.
"Alexis is here? Where?" James is excited.
"We need to talk boys. Alexis has been hurt."
"HURT? Who hurt our sister?" James sounds mad and is.
"Her husband decided he didn't want her anymore so she's upstairs." Kate tells them. Trying to keep it simple.
At that the boys are off like a shot and running up the stairs. Kate is lightly jogging after them. By the time she makes it to the bedroom door, she finds them wrapped up in Alexis's arms. "We'll break both his legs for you Alexis. You just open a transmat wall for us and we'll fix him. No one hurts our sister!"
And Kate's heart breaks all over again as she watches her twin sons who are only in first grade stand up for their older sister. And she can see Jenn and L hugging each other and starting to cry.
Kate reflects that there was a time in her life where she would have missed out on all this except for a man from outer space and his daughter. A daughter who needed her badly when she was only five and now she needs the mom she grew up with just as badly.
And she was going to get one too, as Kate steps into the room to join them.