Kim felt numb as she turned down the street toward Shane's house and saw a couple of vans emblazoned with the logos of the local news stations. Some cameramen and a group of other people were clustered by the driveway.
Vultures, she thought, remembering how they had thronged the house when Shane had "died." She honked her horn and turned into the driveway, ignoring the cameras that filmed her passing by.
The reporters crowded around her, as she tried to get out of the car. "Let me by," she cried.
A microphone was shoved in her face. "Mrs. Donovan, what do you know about your ex-husband's arrest?" Kim ignored the question.
"CNN is reporting that the State Department has disavowed that Captain Donovan was on an official ISA mission," said another reporter. "Do you have a response?" Kim ignored that one too.
"Kimberly. . . . What's your view on Shane being arrested for saving your brother-in-law?"
That voice Kim recognized. She spun around to see Jack Deveraux standing a few feet away.
"How dare you," she stammered. "How dare you show up here. Didn't you and your brother do enough damage?"
Jack stepped back, but could not escape her wrath. The other reporters hemmed him in.
"Kim-"
"No, Jack. Shane went to bat for Jennifer with Lawrence, and he got you off that island last year. And this is how you repay him?" Kim stepped close. "I hope you feel proud of yourself. You got your story. But was it really worth ruining a man's life?"
"Kim . . . I didn't know what would happen." For a moment, Jack sounded sincere, but that hardly mollified Kim.
"I'm sure," she said, angrily. "But you're perfectly happy to take advantage of it. Now you've got an even bigger story, don't you?" She glared at all of the reporters. "Get out of here. This is private property."
In the back of her mind, she wondered where the ISA was. For the past few weeks, there had been ISA agents in front and back of the property. Had they-
Oh my god, she realized. They've left. They abandoned us.
The reporters were not moving. If anything, they were pressing even closer. "Get away," she screamed. "Get out of here."
"Mrs. Donovan!"
"What do you think-"
"Did you see-"
The voices were overwhelming and she shrunk back against the car.
"You heard the lady," barked a man's voice. Someone grabbed her by the arm and began pulling her away, clearing a path through the reporters to the door. A moment later, she was inside the house. Simmons was saying something and she looked to her right to see Mike, still holding her arm.
"Are you okay, Ma'am?" he asked, as Simmons announced her would fix some tea.
It took her a moment to catch her breath. "I . . . I didn't expect that."
Mike let go of her arm and turned to the door. "I'm sorry," he said. "If I'd known you were returning, I would've been out there."
"I thought the ISA was guarding the house." Kim said that, even though she knew what Mike would say even before he did.
"They pulled out after you left," he explained. "Said they got orders from Washington that all units on the house were being recalled and reassigned."
Kim felt sick and she looked down at her hands. After everything Shane did for the ISA. . . . She looked up at Mike again, who was staring carefully at the front door. "I can understand if you don't want to stay. You didn't bargain for this."
"I have a job here, Ma'am. I don't know exactly what's going on, but I'm not going anywhere until Captain Donovan relieves me."
As reassuring as it sounded, there was so much wrong with that statement that Kim almost did not know where to begin. "For one, I don't think Shane's going to be 'Captain Donovan' any longer. For two, he won't be arraigned until Monday."
Mike seemed to think for a moment then shrugged. "You must have a sleeping bag or two in this place."
Kim smiled, blinking back some appreciative tears. That had been the most expressive Mike had ever been around her. "Thank you."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Where's Andrew?" she asked.
"Master Andrew is watching television in the back, Madame," Simmons said, returning with a cup of tea. "I hope you don't mind that I told his tutor it probably was better to skip instruction today. She actually volunteered to take phone messages from everyone who's been calling."
Kim took the cup from Simmons. The phone had probably been ringing all morning. News traveled fast in Salem. Almost as if on cue, she heard a distant ringing and then realized that Simmons had probably turned off the ringer on the phone in this room. "And where's Jeannie?"
"She was with the nanny the last time I checked," Mike said.
"Thank you, both. I don't know what I'd do without you."
Mike stood up. "I'll see about making sure the reporters move away from the house. I also called the police and spoke with a Detective Carver. He said he'd send some officers over." He turned and walked away.
Kim sipped at her tea, then realized Simmons was still watching her. She looked over at him, and realized he probably wanted to know about Shane. Sometimes, she forgot that Simmons had been more than just a servant in Shane's house. He had been a constant in Shane's life since his childhood and, after Shane's parents died, Simmons had been the only other person living at Donovan Manor. He was almost as much Shane's family as anyone else.
"I don't really know anything," she said. "They wouldn't even let me see him. We probably won't know anything until tomorrow."
Simmons frowned slightly. "I'm sorry."
"Me too, Simmons."
"If there's anything I can do-"
"Thank you, but I don't think there's much anyone can do until we know some more." Kim set down her cup and stood up. "I'm going to check on Andrew. I need to see how he's doing."
"Yes, Ma'am." Simmons stepped back toward the door. "I'll go through the phone messages and separate out the reporters from friends and family."
For a few moments, Kim stood in the silent library and stared around the room. The silence reminded her of that terrible time after the mountain explosion when she was all alone, trying to figure out how to hold her family together after Shane's "death."
Shane's not dead, she told herself. He's not hurt and this all will turn out okay. She wished she felt reassured by those thoughts, but she had to convince herself that everything was going to be okay. She had Andrew and Jeannie to worry about.
Leaving the library, Kim made her way down the hallway, passed the kitchen, and found her way to the den. Andrew was sitting on the couch in the dark, wood-paneled room, watching a video. He looked up at her as she entered, then made a point of looking back at the television where the ninja turtles were in the middle of yet-another battle.
She walked toward him and took a seat on the couch. "Andrew, sweetie. . . ."
He refused to look at her.
She reached for the TV remote, noticing that he did not fight her for control of it. Years of working with children told her that meant he wanted to talk, even if he acted like he did not. She studied her son for a moment before she stopped the program.
Andrew reminded her so much of Shane. It wasn't just his looks. He also had many of his father's mannerisms. The way he might cock his head or narrow his eyes in response to something you said. Or the way he would grow stone-faced when he tried to act like nothing was bothering him. The similarities did not end there. Andrew was smart like his father. She could see the way he noticed things that a lot of children his age might miss.
Also, her son shared his father's love for adventure and was fearless. She had learned that last summer when he fought a much-older boy for insulting Shawn. Unmindful of how he might be hurt, Andrew had stood up to the boy - and had later treated his resulting black eye with a sense of pride. It also had been Andrew who had thought it would be a grand adventure to play hide-and-seek with Shawn Douglas in the oil refinery construction site.
But for all his fearlessness, Andrew was still just a boy. A little boy who worshiped his father.
They sat in silence for a while, before Andrew asked, "Is Daddy coming home?"
"Not today, sweetie," Kim said. "He'll be away for a few days." At Andrew's harsh scowl, Kim asked, "Andrew . . . what happened this morning . . . I know it's hard for you to understand, but Daddy didn't do anything wrong. What's happening is all because Daddy tried to help Uncle Steve."
Andrew looked at her. "Daddy said the bad men wouldn't take him away."
She felt her heart tighten. How do I explain? "Daddy's going to do everything to be with-" She almost said "us," but caught herself. "With you. There's nothing more important than being with you. He loves you more than anything."
"Then why did he let them take him? Why didn't he fight them?"
Because the real world is not like a cartoon, Kim thought. "Oh, honey," she smiled sadly and tried to hug him.
"No!" Andrew yelled, as he jerked away. "Daddy said he wouldn't let them take him! He promised!"
"Andrew." Kim realized she was almost pleading with him to listen. "It's not like that."
Andrew shook his head and jumped off the couch. "I don't believe you," he yelled. "I don't believe you or Daddy." Before Kim could reach him, he spun around and ran out of the room.
"Andrew!" she shouted as he raced away, but he did not stop. She followed as fast as she could, but she only heard his footsteps as he ran down the hallway. She turned the corner and saw him opening the front door. Oh god, if the reporters see him. Kim rushed forward, crying, "Andrew," just as he opened the door.
And ran smack into Bo.
"Whoa there, kiddo . . . . where do you think you're going?" Before Andrew could react, Bo picked him off the ground, stepped inside, and closed the door tight behind him. He looked at Kim and took in the obviously distraught look on her face. "Guess I don't need to ask how things are going around here." He smiled softly and held out his free arm. "Come here, Kimber. Looks like you and the boss man here could use a little help from Uncle Bo. Good thing's the cavalry's arrived."
He had no idea, she thought, as she fell into his arms. He held her tight and she heard him murmuring. "It's okay, sis. Everything's going to be okay."