Boston Blues - BLACKBIRD book 2

2. busted grandpa

There was a moment of thick puzzled silence when they walked into the station with Mr. Parker. Considering Brock's mood, Gillian faced the Police Chief and his upset officers while he took the man to the only interrogation room.

She got Tanya's call when she tried to follow Brock. "Katy's just received a text from a burner," the girl said. "It's the address of a motel outside Westborough."

"That's halfway between Worcester and Boston. Send it to Fred and Al and get eyes on it."

Gillian brushed past the officers to the one-way mirror. They gathered around her like flies, their murmurs a low buzz to fit the image.

Mr. Parker sat at the table, face to the mirror, eyes low and fingers tightly crossed, his lips pressed together in a stubborn line. He was a nice, healthy old man, and his clothes showed his good position. It was easy to picture him golfing with her own father, exchanging tailors' phone numbers.

Brock stood at the man's right, hands in his pockets—wait, how come he wore one of his flawless suits? When had he changed his tux? Looked like he always had a suit ready at hand! All of them had changed their black-tie outfits before heading to Winthrop, but he'd come here almost straight from the gala, with hardly a pit stop at the field office to... Gillian kicked herself out of those silly thoughts and paid attention: Declan Brockner in an interrogation room wasn't something she was about to miss.

Parker seemed determined to keep his mouth shut, but the weight of Brock's scowling silence soon made the old man snap. "I have nothing to do with this! Don't you think I want my grandson back?"

"Then start telling the truth!" Brock's voice lashed like a whip as his hands landed on the table.

Gillian stiffened, startled: she'd never heard him speak so loud. It worked. Parker shook his head, biting his lip.

"You're right, this is all on me...," he muttered. "But I couldn't just sit there and watch! He would've ended up killing my Katy!"

Brock went back to his cold, controlled tone to state, not to ask, "Jimmy's father abused her."

Parker nodded, closing his eyes with a shaky breath. Brock circled the table and sat down before him.

"He's not the beating kind, you see," Parker said. "But he's got this twisted, sick way to manipulate her, to make her feel wrong and useless. Katy was a bright, happy girl until she met him. She never needed pills before she married him! Now she's been depressed and medicated for over three years! And yet she wouldn't leave him!"

"So you took her away from Jimmy's father."

Gillian arched her eyebrows—come again?

Parker sighed. "One day Jimmy calls my wife, asking how can he wake Katy up, because his dad is about to come home and he's gonna be mad if he finds her in bed. And he says he's been trying to wake her up for a good while, but she just wouldn't open her eyes. And I say that's it. So I take my car, drive over to Worcester, and take them both away with me before that bastard comes back from work. Katy's completely out, so I take her to the hospital. And they tell me it's a miracle she's still alive after taking so many pills. She tried to kill herself!"

"And that's why they're here, living with you and your wife."

"Yes. We take care of them, keep an eye on Katy's pills, make sure she sees her therapist. And she was getting better, you know? But now..."

Brock ignored Parker's tears. "Jimmy's father never tried to get them back?"

"He called that night to ask if I had seen them. And when I tell him he can forget about them, he says that I can have my useless daughter back for all he cares, and the boy too, 'cause she's already spoiled him into a feeble waste. Can you believe it?"

"So you filed the divorce in her name, and tricked her into signing it without telling her what it was."

Gillian swallowed her surprise at Brock's conclusion. Parker shrugged with a desperate grimace.

"And he never called again? Never tried to see them?"

"No."

"What about Katy? How did she take being away from Mr. Nelson?"

"She's so confused, she thinks she still loves that scumbag. She says she's getting better to be the wife he deserves."

"Are you aware he may be behind Jimmy's abduction?"

The shock on Parker's face was enough to answer Brock's question.

"And still you helped Katy run away, maybe to meet him."

"She said the kidnappers threatened to kill Jimmy if she didn't keep the police out!"

Brock held the man's eyes in silence. Parker looked away.

When Brock stood up, Gillian turned to the Police Chief. "Mr. Parker stays in custody until further notice."

"What? What did he do?" argued the man, outraged at the thought of throwing one of his nice neighbors in a cell.

"Obstruction of justice," she replied, and turned her back to him to meet Brock, coming out of the interrogation room.