Free BackTrek by Kelvin Kelley Page A

lit up by the bright sun. It was one of
her favorite pictures. As she blinked back tears, her focus shifted
from the photo to the clock on the night stand.
    “Great! It’s six-forty-five and we’re still
not ready.” She said as she got up from the bed and turned back
towards the hallway. “Let’s go, guys! Right now!”
    It had taken an act of Congress, but Tracey
finally was able to get everyone washed up and dressed and to leave
the house with eight minutes left to drive over to the restaurant.
Five minutes later she pulled into the parking lot, parked, and
they walked through the door at exactly six-fifty-nine. A minute to
spare, she thought, as she glanced at her watch. She spoke briefly
to the hostess, and as she expected, Jack had not yet arrived. No
surprise there, she thought. She asked for a table for four, and
the hostess seated them in the main dining room. There was a small
debate over where Brandon and Bella were going to sit, as both
wanted to sit on their mother’s right, until Bella made a big deal
out of sitting on her left. Then, of course, that’s where Brandon
wanted to sit. Soon peace was once again negotiated. Everyone was
seated, and now it was five after seven. She refused to wait any
longer and placed their orders. By seven-fifteen, their food had
arrived, and Tracey suddenly realized how hungry she was.
    “Mommy, where’s Daddy?” Brandon asked as he
twisted his fork into his pile of spaghetti, red sauce smeared
around his mouth.
    “He’s not here yet, buddy. He’ll be here in a
minute.” Tracey looked at her watch. It was seven twenty. She knew
that she expected him to be late, but she had hoped that for once,
things would be different. It wasn’t fair to her, and it definitely
wasn’t fair to Bella and Brandon. Deep inside, she wondered if
there was any hope at all that Jack would ever change. She hoped
so. With all of her heart she hoped that this separation would make
him see how hard it was on her and the kids. How lonely it had
become, and how much more there was to life.
    “Bella, get your fingers out of his
plate.”
    “But he said I could have his meatball,
Mom.”
    “Yeah. It’s okay, Mom. I said she could have
it. I don’t like those. It’s got moose shrooms in it.” Tracey
smiled slightly at his pronunciation of mushrooms, and nodded her
acceptance. Bella scooped up the meatball and plopped it onto her
plate. Tracey looked at her watch again. The hands read
seven-twenty-five. Twenty-five minutes late, and they had almost
finished dinner. She made a firm decision. They would not wait for
Jack to show up, like they usually did. Not this time. At
seven-thirty, they would leave. Jack or no Jack. This separation
thing was supposed to be an opportunity for him to learn. She
reasoned that if she just sat back and waited for him to arrive,
that she would not help the situation. He had to learn that life
went on with or without him. It did not revolve around him and his
job. At some point he would have to learn that his participation
would be required. And if he wasn’t here by seven-thirty, she
thought, he would just have to find out the hard way.

Chapter 14
     
     
    “You going to stay here all night, King?”
Captain Howe stopped at Jack’s desk. His overcoat folded across his
arm, as his briefcase hung in the other hand.
    “No, sir. I’m just tying up some loose ends
before I go.”
    “Didn’t I hear you tell somebody earlier that
you were meeting your family for dinner?”
    “Yes, sir, but I’m almost through with this.”
Howe turned towards Jack and bent over his desk.
    “Let me tell you something, Detective King.
No matter bad this guy is that you’re trying to catch. No matter
how it long it takes to catch him. And no matter what I may say
about the job you’re doing. There’s only one thing that matters
when it’s all over.”
    “What’s that sir?”
    “Your family, Jack. They’ll always love you
Jack, no matter what else happens.”
    “Yes,