The ‘den’ Triplets
by: E Walk
(© 2009-2010 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 18  

Don’t Mess With Me

I called David and Jeff into the office. “I want you guys to get as much dirt on Mr. George Hooper as you can.  The Daniel boys can give you some information.  Mr. Shoemaker can also provide some good background information. Mr. Hooper and Mr. Stocker are planning to take me to court to get me to release the DNA evidence on the two DeLuca girls.”

Jeff shrugged his shoulders. “Boss, you need to hire at least one more body if you’re going to have us running around the countryside digging up dirt.  The person would need to answer the phone and be able to take notes and keep you straight.”

David asked, “If Jake doesn’t have a job, put him to work for his room and board.”

I frowned, “I don’t see Jake as being interested in working as gofer in a law office, but I can check with him and see if he’s interested.”

I called the house, “Hi Todd, is Jake there?”

“No, he went to pick up Antonia.  They were going to go talk to Pastor Miller about getting married and baptizing the twins.”

“They’re moving awfully fast, aren’t they?”

Todd laughed, “They’re trying to get it done as quickly as possible, to keep Jacob’s father from getting involved.  Jake is afraid that his father would treat Danny’s daughter as if she didn’t exist, if he could find out which girl is which.”

“Todd, tell Jake that I would like to talk to him as soon as possible.”

“Mike, it is none of our business what Jacob and Antonia do.  You have already done your part.”

“Todd, I was just going to offer Jacob a job.  You and I already have our hands full.  Have the Majors arrived yet?”

“They haven’t arrived yet.  They should be here any time now.”

“Tell Jacob to call me, if he should get home before four.  I’ll see you tonight.”

The afternoon was busy and I didn’t have time to worry about Jacob and Antonia.  When I got home, the Majors were there and their things were in the guest bedroom.  Jacob apologized, “Mike, I’m sorry I didn’t call you this afternoon, but I needed to get my things out of the guest bedroom.  What did you need to talk to me about? “

“I was going to offer you a job.  I understand that you were talking to Dr. Miller about him marrying Nia and you and baptizing Tina and Nina at the same time.  What do the Deluca’s think?”

“I’ll explain over dinner.”

Needless to say, Jacob had everyone’s attention over dinner.  Especially my Mother’s, since she had been in on almost all that had happened in Jacob and Nia’s case.

Jacob told of his and Nia’s afternoon.  “We went to see Dr. Miller, because I sure don’t want my stepfather to have anything to do with the wedding, since Antonia was brought up Catholic, I would have had to take hours of instruction before her priest would marry us.  I think that he didn’t want to marry us because of the two girls.”

“We spent the afternoon getting our marriage license.  Pastor Miller is going to marry us and baptize the girls on Friday night, in a small private ceremony.  We want Mike, Todd and Mrs. Naylor to be there, along with the Delucas and the Howards, since one of the girls is their granddaughter.  The Howards are planning to treat the girls both as their granddaughters.  They’ll make up for the absence of my parents.”

Mrs. Majors raised her eyebrows, “Is Mrs. Stocker as bigoted as her husband?”

Jake shook his head, no, “She just ignores him for the most part until she has to do damage control to mend fences that Mr. Stocker went charging through.  She devotes most of her time to volunteering at the children’s hospital where she works with the terminally ill children.”

We were just about finished with dinner when the doorbell rang.  Todd shook his head, “That’s either my parents or Mr. Stocker.  I gather that it’s not my parents or they would have walked in, by now.”

I went to the door and Mr. Stocker and Mr. Hooper were standing there with the Stodolas coming up the walkway.  I looked at those seated around the table, “Let’s see what Mr. Stocker and Mr. Hooper are here for.  Don’t mention anything about Jacob and Antonia’s plans for Friday.   They would probably try to stop the proceedings.”

After the introductions and everyone was seated in the living room, I looked at Mr. Stocker and Mr. Hooper, “To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?  It must be important for the two of you to come to my house.”

Mr. Hooper spoke, “Mr. Naylor, you would save everyone a lot of grief if you would unseal the DNA test results of the two DeLuca girls, so we would know which of the two girls is Jacob’s daughter.”

“Mr. Stocker and Mr. Hooper, you certainly are consumed with finding out which of the two girls is Jacob’s offspring.  It’s almost as if you are trying to prove that the little girl is evil because she was born out of wedlock.  What amazes me is the amount of time the two of you are spending trying to find out which is Jacob’s daughter when Jacob is related to neither of you.”

Mr. Hooper stood, “Mr. Naylor, don’t say we didn’t warn you.  We’ll be seeing you in court at the beginning of next week, and we’ll get the information we’re seeking.  You have no right to conceal the information from people who need to know it.”

“Mr. Hooper, I haven’t met anyone who needs to know the information as of yet.  Certainly not Mr. Stocker.  Now, if you will leave, I’ll be waiting for your subpoena.”

The looks that I received from Mr. Stocker and Mr. Hooper would have normally made me cringe, but instead, I was laughing because I knew something that they didn‘t know.

After the uninvited guests had departed, the three mothers were planning a small reception for Friday night after the wedding while the fathers were taking care of the boys.  Todd and I were doing the dishes and Jacob went to talk to Nia.  He returned with the DeLucas, Nia and the twins.  Mother had even called the Howards to come and get involved.  By the time everyone departed, the wedding and christening were planned.

After everyone was in bed, there was a knock on the bedroom door.  I put on a robe to see who was there.  Jacob was standing there, “Mike, were you serious about offering me a position in your law office?”

“Yes, David and Jeff feel that they need someone to answer the phone and take messages if they are going to be out of the office trying to gather background for my cases.”

Jake sighed, “Aren’t you afraid that my reputation would tarnish your business?”

“Jake, I’m not exactly sure what you’re talking about.”

“Mike, you know what kind of person Reverend Stocker is.  If he feels as if he is not getting his way, he looks for a ways to get revenge.  I don’t know Mr. Hooper very well, but he strikes me as the same kind of person as Mr. Stocker.”

“Jake, I think it’s smart that you’re getting married this week, so that by the time they bring the case to court, the case will be mute.  We’ll need to keep the wedding quiet, so we can sock them below the belt where it will hurt.”

Jake went to work with me on Thursday.  David and Jeff gave him a crash course on what he needed to do as a receptionist.  Jake was proficient on the use of the computer so that was an added bonus.  We actually made it through Thursday without anything strange happening, other than the fact that David and Jeff were gone most of the day.

Just before we were getting ready to close, a warrant server arrived at the office and I was subpoenaed to be in court on Monday for withholding information that was critical to the resolution of a domestic case.

When Jake and I arrived at the house, I showed the subpoena to Dad Majors.  Dad shook his head, “I’m surprised that Jacob didn’t get one yet.”

Todd chuckled, “There was a process server here, looking for Jacob and I told him that Jacob wasn’t here.  He tried to get me to sign for a subpoena, but I refused.  He’ll probably show up later tonight.”

Todd didn’t miss his guess, but the process server was out of luck because Jacob had gone to the DeLuca’s house to make the final arrangements for the wedding.

Everyone was in bed when he arrived at the house.  I kept waiting for him to knock on the door, but he didn’t.  He was already downstairs dressed to go to work when I got up on Friday morning.  He had fed the triplets and I was thinking, ‘We’re going to miss having Jacob around here.  He’ll make a good father for the two girls.’

I looked at Jacob, “Did you get your subpoena yet?”

“Nope, the guy doesn’t seem to be trying to find me too hard.  It’s like he goes where he knows I won’t be, and we never wind up at the same place at the same time.”

Friday was going like a normal day except that David and Jeff weren’t around.  They finally showed up about four o’clock.  David handed me two folders, “Boss, you need to read these and tell us what you want to do with the information.  The information could ruin two people.  Tell Jacob to go, so he can get ready for the wedding.  We can handle the rest of the day.”

After Jacob had departed, I read the two folders and I was sucking wind.  “Guys, is everything in these folders based on facts.”

Jeff nodded, “Yep, those two men are so rotten that anyone is afraid to touch them for fear of having the stench of them around the rest of their lifetime.”

“Guys, make three copies of each of these folders.  I want a copy of the one on Mr. Hooper delivered to the governor.  I want a copy of the one on Mr. Stocker delivered to someone who is on the governing body of his church.  I want a copy to hand to each of the gentlemen at the trial.  On second thought, I probably should have four copies of each file, so I can submit one as evidence during the trial, should the need arise.  Make sure you put the original in a safe place.  These two men aren’t going to give up without a fight.”

When I got home, everyone was waiting for me.  It was only Mother, Todd and I who were going to the wedding and the christening.  The others were going to stay and take care of the boys and get things ready for the reception.

The wedding was very informal.  It was a simple exchange of vows and the exchange of rings.  The christening got a little more complicated.  Pastor Miller had me assist in the baptism, since I had been a deacon and an elder of the church.  Mrs. Howard was holding Tina and Mrs. Deluca was holding Nina.  After the services, I invited everyone back to the house for a celebration.”

As we were talking at the house, Pastor Miller came and took me aside, “Mike, why didn’t you tell me who Jacob was.  His father and I don’t see eye to eye on anything.”

“Dr. Miller, I can understand that.  Reverend Stocker has his own set of values and interpretations.  He isn’t Jacob’s blood relative.  He is a foster parent.  Jacob doesn’t like the man at all.  In fact the man is out of touch with reality.  His lawyer has subpoenaed me to tell which of the two girls you just baptized is Jacob’s daughter.”

Pastor Miller had the funniest look on his face, “You mean that both of the girls aren’t Jacob’s offspring.”

“No sir.  By a fluke, the two girls have different fathers.  That is the reason the Howards were involved tonight.”

Pastor Miller shook his head in disbelief, “That explains why the Stockers weren’t there tonight.”

“Mr. Stocker wasn’t invited and his wife had a previous engagement but will be stopping by the reception, if it’s not too late.”

I wanted to share what David and Jacob had put into the files but didn’t know who I could share them with.  I figured that I would talk to Todd after things settled down.  After we had the boys settled for the night, I handed the folders to Todd, “Here, go read these while I finish taking care of the cleanup.”

When I walked into the bedroom, Todd handed the folders to me. “Mike, I think that you should have Dad Majors represent you in this case.  It is apparent from reading these folders that they are targeting you for some reason.  Talk to Dad Majors in the morning and see what he thinks.  If the information in these folders is made public, both men are going to sink like a battleship that has suffered a direct hit by a number of torpedoes.”

After breakfast, I took Dad Majors aside, “Dad, read these folders.  These are the people who are taking me to court on Monday to get me to reveal which of the twins is actually Jacob’s daughter.”

“In heaven’s name, why should it matter?  Let me read the folders and then we can talk some more.”

It was about twenty minutes later, when Dad Majors came to where I was taking care of the triplets, “Mike, if the information in these folders is correct, these men are a menace to society.  If Mr. Hooper were to be appointed to the State Supreme Court, everyone’s constitutional rights would be disregarded.  The man is not only a bigot but a racist.”

“I cannot believe that the Reverend Stocker is the pastor of a large church, without a high school education.  I can better understand why Jacob dislikes the man so intensely.  The man must be intelligent enough to tell his parishioners what they want to hear or have been conditioned to hearing.”

The doorbell rang and Jacob’s father was standing there with Mr. Hooper.  Jacob’s father looked around, “We want to speak with my son.”

I grinned, “If you’re looking for Jacob, he and his wife and daughters are not here.”

“What do you mean his wife and daughters?”

“Mr. Stocker, Jacob and Antonia were married last night and Jacob was named the father of both of the girls when they were baptized.”

“I’ll get the wedding annulled.”

I handed each of the men a folder, “Before you do anything drastic, you might want to read these, so you know what we will be bringing up in court on Monday.  Mr. Hooper, a copy of this folder is being delivered to the Governor, this morning.  Mr. Stocker, you might want to rewrite your sermon for tomorrow, to be your farewell sermon, since it will probably be your last once the ruling elders read what is in this folder.”

“Oh, I forgot to mention that my two assistants are delivering or have delivered the folders already.”

To be continued...

 Editor's Notes: Boy those folders must contain some pretty potent information.  It amazes me how Stocker thinks he has so much power.  I think he is in for a bit of a shock.

I can hardly wait to see what happens next.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 01/21/11