“No, nothing,” the man said.
Burke stepped back from him and yanked the guy off the wall. “Turn around, hands on the wall.” He helped the startled man get into the requested position. He re-holstered his weapon at the small of his back and then he searched him. He found a flask in the side pocket of his cargo shorts. He unscrewed the lid and took a sniff. “You’re going to go blind drinking that.” He tossed it aside after replacing the cap. He removed the man’s wallet from his back pocket. “You can turn around.”
The man pulled himself upright. His eyes were wide and showed fear.
Burke took his phone from his own pocket and snapped a picture of the man’s driver’s license. The address on the license matched. He lived here in unit three-seventeen. “I know who you are now. You’re going to want to forget about me. This is an active police operation. You’re lucky I don’t arrest your ass.” He handed the man’s wallet back to him. “Get out of here. Go home and sleep it off.” He nodded at the door.
The man’s eyes settled on his flask. He took a step towards it and then his gaze went back to Burke. Burke said nothing. The man picked it up and moved quickly to the door. Burke gazed out of the open door, gazing down the outside hallways in both directions before he re-closed the door and locked it.
Donna found his intensity both alarming and an attractive attribute. She couldn’t help but watch him and be impressed with what she saw, which was a competent United States Marine Raider. There was no doubt in her mind that he could be lethal,which she found an appealing quality given that he was her protection. After that moment, Donna never doubted they were well-protected, as the man was vigilant and courageous.
He was also gentle and encouraging. He taught all three of her kids to swim in the pool, even her daughter who was then only two years old, teaching her to flip onto her back and float. The boys became accomplished swimmers that week. He also played with the boys in the surf, tossing them into waves while the boys laughed. He built sandcastles with the kids and tossed a ball around with them on the beach. He reminded her a lot of her own father, which further endeared Rich Burke to her. Charles Saxton had been the perfect father. She missed him terribly.
One evening as they watched a Disney movie on television, Donna and her children snuggled on one side of the couch; Rich sat on the other. Her kids all fell asleep. Rich thought she had too. He covered them with blankets, tucking them all in. It was a small, thoughtful act that showed Donna how tender he could be.
And each night after the children were in bed, Donna and Rich stayed up for hours and just talked, which was easy and comfortable. He didn’t judge her, as she’d always felt her sister had. Donna had assumed it was Laura Lee’s military training that made her so critical. Rich was not like Laura Lee, though. He asked questions with genuine interest. He listened. And he shared things about his life from his childhood all the way through where he currently was in his military career, his achievements, his goals, and even a few failures. She truly got to know the man and, admittedly, she fell in love with him as easily as her children had.
And since then, he’d stayed in their lives by choice, which Donna thought was amazing.
He’d also helped to repair her relationship with Laura Lee. Donna knew her sister didn’t approve of her life: three accidental pregnancies by three men she thought she’d loved, but who abandoned her and turned out to be deadbeat dads. Rich stuck up for her, voicing praise of her to her stubborn sister, and he even helped to facilitate an honest conversation between the sisters where real healing had taken place. Rich had seen her for who she was, a dedicated mother, and he made her sister realize her perceptions lacked full context. His words.
There had been more going on in Donna’s life than Laura Lee had realized, just as Donna learned things about her sister she never knew.
Laura Lee was five years older than Donna, adopted right before their mother had gotten pregnant with her. Growing up with that age difference, they were never playmates, but they were close. Donna was only twelve years old when their father died on the job, a police officer who patrolled one of Richmond’s roughest neighborhoods. Their mother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s shortly after his death. A year later, Laura Lee left for college. Donna felt abandoned by her sister, the weight of the world on her small shoulders.
Yes, Donna blamed her sister for bailing on her and her mom. First, she left for college, then the Army. She visited only a few times a year. Of course, Donna didn’t know that their mom had pushed Laura Lee to have the college experience their mom wanted her to have, downplaying her illness so that Laura Leewouldn’t feel the need to visit more often. But Donna had been there, and she saw the decline in real time.
Until Thanksgiving a year earlier, Donna didn’t know what had happened to Laura Lee when she was at college, which had caused her great trauma. All she knew was that Laura Lee, her older sister, who should have been there to help her, had abandoned her. She understood now, though, and she had forgiven her sister, but there had been many years the sisters had been at odds. Donna was happy that they were in a much better place now. Just over a year earlier, she wouldn’t have even told her sister about going back to school, and she certainly wouldn’t be on her list to call to share this exciting news.
Donna hit dial on her phone and brought it to her ear.
“Hello,” Laura Lee answered. “Well, how’d you do?”
Donna smiled into the phone. She’d expected it to go to voicemail. “I passed! I have my national certification. I can now work as a phlebotomist.”
Laura Lee actually squealed into the phone. “I knew you’d ace it! Congrats!”
Donna laughed. “Thanks, I felt I did well on it but wasn’t as confident as you.”
“Did you call Mom yet?” Laura Lee asked.
“Yes, right before I called you,” Donna said. “I’m going to invite her to go out for dinner with the kids and me tonight to celebrate. I wish you were here to celebrate with us.”
“How’s she really feeling?” Laura Lee asked.
“Good, the new meds and the diet she’s on seem to really be helping. She seems less fatigued every day, and she says she’s sleeping better.”
“You’re not planning to get a full-time job right away, are you?” Laura Lee asked.
Donna knew her sister was just worried about her mom getting too exhausted from watching her kids. She didn’t take offense at her question as she would have a year earlier. “No, minimal hours until Jeriah turns three and can be in that full-day preschool, and then I plan to work only when the kids are in school. I won’t stress Mom out. Don’t worry.”
“I know you won’t,” Laura Lee said. “I didn’t mean that when I asked. I was thinking of you and the kids. This is going to be a big change for all of you.”
Donna’s screen showed a call waiting from Rich. “Hey, I have a call I have to take. I’ll talk to you later.” She disconnected the call and switched over to Rich’s call. “Hi.”
“I don’t have long, but I wanted to tell you live how proud of you I am,” Rich said.
“Aw, thanks,” she said, feeling the smile spread on her face. “I’m proud of myself too. I’m going to take the kids and my mom out for dinner tonight to celebrate. I wish you were here to go with.”
