Jalan left the Paraclipse and followed Ningla to the man's favorite retreat, a log beside a small waterfall. For several moments he sat beside him, waiting for him to speak.
“What is wrong with you, Ningla? You have not been yourself lately.”
“Then who have I been?” Ningla asked curtly. “I am the one who led the movement for closing the Portal and stopping the hunts, and doing away with Jade Bears. And now what? Now what, I ask you?”
“Is what you've accomplished more important than what is correct according to the Life Principle? Would you leave Damash of Three in the area of no return?”
“This is not about Damash of Three!” Ningla knew he was loud, but the frustration made him too edgy. He slapped his legs and stood to kick at rocks. “And it is not about being stranded in the Intermediate area! I would not wish that on anyone!”
“Then what is it? Your strange behavior makes it difficult to understand you, my friend. I grow more concerned about you every day. Are you ill?”
Ningla snorted and then sighed. “I imagine you do.” He stood stationery a moment then chuckled softly. “Consider Amanda Matkins carefully. Consider her and tell me that Jade genetics are not a factor in her. How many outsiders have picked up the action and reason of the Paraclipse so quickly? She figured it out, unaided. One hundred percent of the others, including the best ones, even your mother had to be told.”
Jalan thought through the events of Amanda and the previous outsiders. “Maybe Damash.”
“Maybe Damash coached her in a dream sequence?” Ningla interrupted and stomped the ground. “No. No. No! He touched Jade Lines and displayed scenes of Jade City and Jade life, but he said nothing to her in them that has not been recorded. Review them for yourself if you do not believe me. Are you awake yet, Jalan? My gosh, I can’t believe this!”
Jalan blinked and his mind ran through the events again, and he discerned the implication. “That would mean that there has been a violation of the Jade Bear Code.”
“Damash of Three's presence in the Intermediate Area is a result of a Jade Bear Code violation. Yet no one on the council has said a word about it or condemned anyone for it. It has been a long time ago, well over thirty years since the last orphan rescue, so I guess that investigations are no longer required. Would we punish someone for leaving him there? Would we punish someone for any violation of the Jade Bear Code now?”
Jalan rubbed is chin and flipped the white beard. “Wait a minute. Wait a jade moment! That genetics in Amanda would be impossible. The genes and chromosomes do not permit female births here. That is the reason for the hunt and then the rescue.”
“Really? I didn't know that,” Ningla said.
“You can be an irritating as well as a comforting friend. Did you know that? I’d like to smack you about now!” Jalan shook himself and stared at Ningla. “This is confusing. I cannot be certain but I feel that what you are telling me is not as important as what you are NOT telling me.”
Ningla smiled and sat again. “You could be right, but I know that we will get to the truth of the matter. We have been a good team at solving problems and dilemmas over the years, have we not?”
Joseph woke to a swish of Joyce's hair across his face.
“Are you set for your big day?”
To that he sighed and sat up on the edge of the bed. “I'm as ready as I'll ever be. We're down to fifteen days now. What a relief that will be.”
“That's the spirit. How are the utilities coming?”
He dressed and followed her to the kitchen for coffee.
“I'll call you before I leave the office. All the utilities are back on except the phone and it won't be turned on until Monday. I'm going home from there and wait until time to go to Brandywine Park. I'll see you after that.”
He arrived at work and had two clients phone in to report encounters with the Dover Police Department. That did little to improve his mood. At nine o'clock, he went to Howard's office.
“How's it going?”
“As usual.” He grunted and sat stiffly in a chair. “Amanda wants to see me tonight, before we see the lawyers in court. I'm not looking forward to that.”
“I can understand that. And I hate to add to your problems, but it's necessary.” He opened a drawer and placed Joseph's bottle on the desk.
“In a way, this saved you. Denise took most of the heat in the DELJIS tampering, but I know you've been doing the same.”
“Howard, that's a crock and you know it!”
“Save it! If you want to get testy about this, I can call the FBI back and let them find it. Would you prefer that?”
Joseph shook his head and sank back in the chair. “No. I can’t believe any of the shit that's happened this month.”
“Neither can I.” He opened the drawer again and handed Joseph the envelope that Amanda sent him. “Take this and think about it. I don't want to be responsible for using this against you. Finding you drinking makes it easier on both of us, however, this is the last time, Joseph Matkins. I'm suspending you for three months, and during that time, I suggest you enroll yourself in a detox center, to help yourself.”
“Howard, please don’t do that.”
Howard hit the desk. “Either accept the suspension or it's the FBI for the DELJIS tampering, altering client's records and removing court records from files! I also got a call from Susan Nester about a pimping operation. I'm trying to be easy on you because we're friends, but you're pushing it. I've covered for you as much as I can and I have limited choices left without screwing myself also. What would you do?”
Joseph sighed heavily, pressed hands against his queasy stomach and nodded. “Okay. I understand. Will I be back in three months, or is this simply a soft way of firing me?”
“You'll be back, but on probation. I promise that. If I wanted it otherwise, you'd have hit the road with Denise. Like I said, I'm doing you a favor. Don't blow it.”
Howard handed him a letter. “I'm giving Linda Lutz your case load, so clear your desk of personal items, read and sign this and mail it back. Use the time wisely, and don't screw yourself in the process. Do you understand?”
“Thanks, Howard. I'll see you later.”
Inside his office, he opened the envelope and looked at Amanda's bruised face. He put his head in his hands and sat still for fifteen minutes.
“Okay. I guess this makes things easier.”
Joseph parked his car in the parking lot and looked around him, but he did not see Amanda's car anywhere. He walked along the river, going north, just like she told him. It was near dusk, but he could still see clearly and he looked everywhere he could think she would be. The river turned away from the paved pathway and the environment grew quieter and his pace slowed accordingly.
Amanda watched him and smiled. She prepared herself and when he neared her, she dropped from the tree and swung the piece of rail car air hose that Brownie had given her. She shouted gleefully when it hit its intended mark, across his shoulder blades.
Joseph grunted loudly and fell face down on the ground. His right hand went for the handgun in the waist of his pants, but before he could get it clear, a handcuff snapped around the wrist and she pulled the arm around behind his back. She put most of her weight on the arm and wrist.
“Naughty, naughty,” she scolded him. She pried the gun from his hand and tossed it aside before he regained his senses. She leaned farther across him, grabbed his left sleeve and wrestled the arm around him also. She chuckled and moved away when she closed the left side of the handcuff.
“Stop this, Amanda! Stop it now. Let me go!”
“Whoa, darling. I don't think that someone who's handcuffed, face down on the ground and disarmed should make demands.”
“What do you want?”
“Nothing!” she shouted back. “When I'm finished, I want nothing from you. Not the house, not alimony, not one thing that I don't already have.”
He made no response and waited for her.
“Someone told me once that the muscles in the calves of the legs are peculiar.” She picked up the hose and hit him across the legs. “They say that when someone is hit like this that walking and standing is difficult and most painful the next few days. Be sure to let me know if it is.”
He screamed and cursed her. “Who are you? Why didn't you tell me that Amanda wasn't your real name? Why are you covering your real name, Jessica Holton?”
Amanda stepped back, startled at the outburst. She experienced chills along with gooseflesh.
“Whoa. Where did that come from? Who the hell's Jessica Holton?”
“You tell me. That's what your Social Security Number tells us. You're not Amanda Amy Blake, so who are you? Have you committed a crime and use Amanda as a cover?”
“Have you run a DELJIS check? What did it tell you?”
“Nothing.”
Amanda sighed as she felt her control slip back into place. “Then Amanda I am and I'll not worry about this Jessica woman. She's probably someone from your past, like Susan Nester. Did you or Joyce come up with that?”
“Joyce did some investigating and found it.”
“Have you set a court date yet?”
“Yes. It's fifteen days from today in Family Court.”
She stuck her hand in his left hip pocket. “This envelope has the card for my lawyer and five hundred dollars for you to give to Joyce for the retainer fee she provided. When we meet the first time in court, I'll sign the papers. I won't contest it, for I want nothing but freedom.”
“Then why are you doing this? You've already caused me to be suspended. Why?”
She considered his statement. “You caused your suspension. I didn't cause you to drink, and I damned sure didn't cause you to hit me the first time, or the last. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise. Maybe you'll do something about your problems before you ruin the relationship you have with Joyce.”
She paused a moment. “Do you know what celibacy is?”
“Yes.”
“Good. That is what you practice, starting tonight and for the next fifteen days. Spend that time away from Joyce and the pleasures of her body. Think about every time your fists or feet hit me. Think about every harsh word you spoke about me to your friends when you thought I couldn't hear straight. You can survive without her sex and touch for that long. Avoid it and consider the pain I suffered, because you had no tolerance.”
She sat on his legs and removed his shoes and socks. “That's the end of your intake interview and that's your probation. I'm done and you're free in fifteen days. Just do the right thing for once. Go to her house, tell her, and go home to serve your sentence. Okay?”
For a moment he said nothing and considered his options. “Okay.”
She gathered his shoes, the gun and the hose and moved them a few yards away. She returned to him and knelt beside him. “I must thank you for the last time you hit me. It pulled all the scrambled parts of me back together. I thank you for that, but nothing else during the last eight years.”
She unlocked the left side of the handcuffs, and held his hand a moment. “I'll leave your shoes at the car. You're enterprising enough to free yourself now.” She lay the key in front of him. “Ta-ta, darling. See you in court.”