The two intruders ducked down their heads as they were both placed into patrol cars.  Brent spoke briefly with his officers, who were first on the scene, and then made his way inside his father’s office building.

Charles was seated on the edge of his secretary’s desk as Jenay brought him a cup of coffee.  She had just gotten off of her cellphone.

“Who was that?” Charles asked as Brent made his way toward them.

“Tony,” she said.  “He’s still with Bonita, but he heard about the break-in.  At least, that’s what he was told it was.”

“And let’s keep it that way,” Brent said, “until I can interrogate both men and get a sense of what’s really going on.”

“They haven’t asked for lawyers yet?” Jenay asked.

“Brent better not let them pull that shit,” Charles said.  “We need answers first.”

“We’ll get them, don’t worry,” Brent said.  “But I still don’t know why they would say Lou Fontaine was behind it.”

“Probably because she was,” Jenay said.

Charles and Brent looked at her.  “How could you figure that?” Charles asked.  “This is so beneath what a Fontaine would do that I can’t even begin to wrap my brain around it.”

“I can wrap mine around it,” Jenay said.

“How so?” Brent asked.

Jenay leaned against the desk Charles sat up on.  They were so close that Jenay’s folded arms was leaned against Charles’s arm.  “Charles has the most power in town, at least in terms of land rights.  His son is the interim mayor.  His other son is police chief.  And his wife runs the largest hotel in town.  Maybe she was tired of taking a backseat to newbies like us.  Maybe she wants in too now.”

Charles nodded his head.  “That’s possible,” he said.  “But what exactly is she trying to get into?  Work?  Because that’s all we do day and night, while her ass hasn’t worked since the day she was born.  What would she want in on?”

Brent shook his head.  “I don’t know.  But don’t approach her until I’ve had a chance to interrogate Cheech and Chong out there.  Then we’ll go up to the big house and see her together.”

Jenay smiled.  “The big house,” she said, and shook her head.  “Sounds like a plantation.”

Charles laughed.  “Yeah, it does, doesn’t it?”

But Brent looked at his father.  “There was a knife,” he said.  “Do you think they were here to do more than rough you up?”

Charles shook his head.  “I don’t think so, no.  One of them had a knife, but I could see he was hesitant to use it.  She probably told them to rough up, but not kill.  But I could be wrong.”

“Since when?” Brent asked, and Jenay laughed.

“Do you know either one of them, Brent?” she asked.  “They look like crooks from way back.”

“They are, I’m willing to bet that too,” Brent responded.  “But they don’t have any records since they’ve lived in Jericho.  So, no, I don’t know them.  But I will before the end of this night.  Nobody comes for my father without coming for me, too.”

Jenay smiled.  The first time she met Charles, his sons seemed to worship the ground he walked on.  Whereas most young men wouldn’t want their father within pissing distance of them, Charles’s sons followed him around, and wanted to be with him above being with their own peers.  That kind of affection was new to Jenay.  But once she fell in love with Charles, she understood it too.  Here on earth, he was the center of all of their universes.

“And other than what they told you, about Lou Fontaine, you don’t have anybody else who could have had it in for you?” Brent asked his father.

Charles chuckled.  “Only about half this town,” he said.  And then he thought about it.  “And Percy Diallo.”

Jenay looked at Brent.  She was surprised that Brent seemed to know Percy’s name; that Charles had discussed him.  Then she looked at Charles.  “You think Percy could have had something to do with this?” she asked.

“You don’t?” Brent asked her.

“No,” Jenay said.  “Of course not!  Percy wouldn’t result to this pettiness.”

“But he’ll claim he’s dead for his pride sake,” Charles said, “and that’s not petty?”

But Jenay still wasn’t convinced.  “I just don’t see it.  He was here to see if he could rekindle something.  I’ll give you that.  But once we united and made it clear to him that that wasn’t going to happen, that was over.  He was over me I’m sure.  But whatever.  Look into it, Brent.  I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”

Charles was glad that Jenay at least left open the possibility.  “Right,” he said.  “And call me tonight if you find out anything,” he added, to Brent.

“No matter what time?” Brent asked.

“I don’t care how late,” Charles said, “if you find out something I need to know.”

“Yes, sir,” Brent said as he closed a writing/ witness statement pad he didn’t write in.  “I’d better get to the station and get on with it.  I’ll see you guys later.”

“Don’t work too late,” Jenay said to him.  “You have a wife and a son who would like to see your pretty face at least sometime before the night is through.”

Brent glanced at his father to see if he told his stepmother about his situation with Makayla.  He could tell, in his father’s eyes, that he had.  He looked at Jenay.  “She’s leaving next week,” he said.

“Yes, I heard.”

Brent continued to stare at her.  “What do you have to say about it?” he asked.

Jenay hesitated.  She knew Brent wanted her on his side.  And she would never go against her children.  But right is still right.  “Listen to your father,” she said.  “That’s what I have to say about it.”

Brent exhaled.  He should have known that would be her answer.  Those two, his father and Jenay, never went against each other in public.  Privately, they were at each other’s throats like everybody else, Brent was willing to bet.  But they tried their best to never display any public animosity.

“See you guys later,” he said again.

“Remember to come to dinner tomorrow night,” Jenay said.  “Last family dinner only Tony showed up.  I want everybody showing up tomorrow night.  No excuses.  And that includes Makayla.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Brent said.  “I’ll be sure to come.  As for Makayla?  You’ll have to ask her yourself.”

“No, you’re going to ask her,” Jenay corrected him, “and make sure she shows up.”

Brent looked at Jenay.  Although they weren’t that far apart in age, and had more of a friendship than a mother-stepson relationship, he knew his father allowed no disrespect of his wife.  Even from Brent.  And the way Charles was looking at him, as if daring him to say an out-of-tune word to her, proved his point.

“Yes, ma’am,” Brent said, and left the storefront building.

Jenay looked at Charles.  She wondered how different it could have turned out had she not been there to grab that gun, and wrapped her arms around him.  Talk about a devastated family, she thought, if something were to happen to Charles.