Chapter 1

Atlanta, GACharles

PHILIP AND I dealt with a growing list of social obligations after the Christening, and we hosted a Christmas party for my office about a week before Christmas. I was pleased that Andrew and Emily could attend, as they’d been out of the country at the time of the Christening. Andrew and I had kept in contact by telephone every ten days or so, so he was up to speed on what was happening in our lives, as well as what was going on at the office. We’d told both him and Emily to consider themselves to be honorary grandparents to the boys, and the pleasure on their faces at that announcement was obvious.

We had, by comparison, a fairly quiet Christmas celebration at home for Gran, Philip, and myself. The gang came over Christmas Eve, and we exchanged gifts before we all attended midnight mass at St. Philip’s. The next morning, we carried the boys downstairs to see the Christmas tree, and they seemed to be fascinated by all the bright lights, although at less than two months of age, we weren’t sure how much they could actually see.

We celebrated New Year’s Eve with the gang, and we all drank a little too much Champagne, so much so that we insisted that the four of them use two of the guest rooms, which they did. True to his promise, Philip’s nephew Steve kept in regular touch with his uncle Philip, calling him at least once a week. Occasionally, he would ask to speak to Uncle Charles as well, which pleased me very much.

January and February flew by, and we were now well into March, looking forward to spring and warmer weather. A little after six o’clock one Saturday morning in mid-March, Philip’s cell phone rang. We’d just gotten up but were not yet showered and dressed. He looked at the display, said, “It’s Steve,” and continued, “Hi, Steve, how’s my favorite nephew? This is kind of early for you, isn’t it?”

His expression changed to one of surprise and then shock, and he said, “I see.” Then he listened for a while before he continued, “Do you know how to find the house? Good. Thank God for MapQuest. We’ll have the gate open and the lights on out front.”

He snapped the phone shut and said, “That wasn’t Steve, it was a friend of his. To make a long story short, my sister Marie, her husband, Frank, and their two daughters are out of town, visiting my brother Julien down in Alexandria, which is almost one hundred miles further south in Louisiana than Monroe, where they live. My nephew Steve stayed home and had a friend over. Frank came home unexpectedly by himself last night and caught Steve and his friend in flagrante. The friend says that Frank beat the shit out of Steve. Steve insisted on being brought here, so the friend and an older brother are doing just that. They’ve been driving all night and will be here in twenty minutes or so.” He’d been pulling on clothes while he told me all of this, and I’d automatically followed suit.

We hurried downstairs to turn on lights and open the gate; then I went to the kitchen and started the coffeemaker. Philip and I stood anxiously in the foyer, watching through the cut glass panels on either side of the front door. Finally, we saw headlights turn off the street into the driveway, and we went outside to wait.

The car stopped in front of the house, and two boys got out. The driver appeared to be at least eighteen or so, and I guessed the passenger to be Steve’s age, which was a couple of years younger. The younger one came up to us and introduced himself as Jeff Smith and his older brother as Rob. Then he said, “Steve is in the backseat. He finally passed out a couple of hours ago.”

“Okay, guys,” I said. “Let’s get him upstairs and into bed.”

The four of us managed to get Steve up the stairs and into our old room. The two boys and I held him while Philip turned the covers back; then we laid him on the bed and stripped him down to his shorts. His torso was a mass of bruises, as was his face, and Philip said, “Son of a bitch. I could kill my brother-in-law for this.”

“We’ll deal with him later, babe,” I said. “Right now we need to take care of Steve. You stay here while I call a doctor.”

I left the three of them with Steve and hurried to our little office. Then I found Dr. Butcher’s home number and called him. Luckily, he hadn’t left home yet to make his morning hospital rounds, so he agreed to come at once.