Chapter 15: A Day in the Life

Jimmy

Waking up between Amber and Christine brought back fond memories of happier times — was it really only a year ago? — waking between Shannon and Allison, and I found myself wanting to skip my morning run, but I knew I'd regret it if I did. So, I carefully extricated myself from the tangle of arms and legs and started into my day. By the time I came back out of the bathroom, the girls had already moved to fill the gap I'd left, and Amber was once more spooned up behind Christine with one arm draped over her protectively. I don't know if she woke up or if it was unconscious, but Christine had captured the hand and was holding it as she slept.

I had a lot to think about, so I took my time and just let my legs go on their own while I thought about the events of the weekend and made plans for the future. We had less than three months to get the Church under control before they came for Rachel. I knew Samantha was counting on me, and somewhere in the past I had made a commitment to myself to save Amanda's little girl from that life. As I ran, the idea I had been working on for Samantha and Rachel began expanding itself as I sorted out the details of what it would take. The hard part would be doing all the groundwork while remaining under the radar. The final pieces of the puzzle seemed to be someone specializing in family law and a judge to handle finalizing the arrangements. I needed to make sure the paperwork would hold up if anyone challenged it. Sam and Rachel were going to have to be my test case. Even if it worked out with them, I would still have to work slowly on the rest to avoid anyone noticing, but — over the next few months — several families were going to feel the need to plan for the worst, and several others were going to find a desire to open their hearts and homes in the event that tragedy struck.

Then there was the question of what to do with Bastion. Killing him seemed like the easiest solution, but that could trigger a response I wasn't ready for. Besides, if it were that easy, I'm sure Atkins would have done it a long time ago. Actually, why hadn't she? Granted it wouldn't have solved the whole problem — based on what we knew or suspected now, it would have been a disaster, as it likely would have triggered a bloodbath — but she didn't know that. Why not just kill him?

"Maybe you should ask her?" Jamie suggested.

"Probably a good idea," I said. "How do you think she'd take it if I told her what we had in mind? Do you think she would be upset that we planned to let some of these people walk?"

"Hard to say," she replied. "I'm sure that on some level she's going to see it as them escaping justice, but if we explained the situation — that many of them were actually being blackmailed to participate — she may be willing to let it go as long as the abuse stopped and the major players were dealt with."

"I guess it's possible," I said. "I don't think we want to tell her about our plans for solving the problem though."

"Duh! Jimmy, I was being sarcastic, no way would she be cool with it. Allison was right; none of the adults will be forgiven for their involvement. Any prosecutor that gets his or her hands on one of them will totally ignore everything except the physical acts. No justification of any kind will be permitted to come out in court..."

A scene that looked like it had been pulled from an episode of "Law and Order" began to play out in my mind...

'So you would have died in prison, Doctor Hendricks; is that worse than what you did to those poor helpless girls?'

'It would have happened anyway. I thought I could help. I tried where I could.'

'Help, Doctor Hendricks? Don't you mean help yourself?'

'Tell me Samantha, did you enjoy having sex with Doctor Hendricks?'

'He was always kind and gentle to me, and to my sister, before she died. We were special to him.'

'Yes, I'm sure you were. And because you were special to him, you tried to make it special for him, didn't you? Did Doctor Hendricks enjoy having sex with you, Samantha?'

'Objection, your honor! Calls for conjecture on the part of the witness.'

"Okay, I get it," I said, cutting her off. Where was she getting this stuff? First romance novels and now television shows. I wondered if I should be keeping a better eye on her; that stuff will rot your brain.

"Sorry, but you see my point. Although she may be able to help with part of it, maybe help smooth over the legal stuff; if she knew what we wanted it for, she'd probably say no. She'll want to see them all burn just for being involved with Bastion, but at the same time — as long as nothing points back to her and her people — I think she might be willing to do almost anything to get him."

"No kidding. Sweet little Sandra is more than a little obsessive when it comes to him, but can we give her Bastion? The last thing she'd want to do is get involved in another PR disaster trying to prosecute the man, even for something as horrible as all this. Besides, he'd just tell the jury to let him off again."

"One thing at a time," She said.

We were just reaching the house again, and I went around through the side gate to the patio and started stretching. Usually, I follow up my run with laps in the pool, but I had run a lot farther today, so I skipped it. After a few minutes stretching, I headed in for a shower. On a whim, I stopped off in the kitchen and started coffee; one of those morning rituals I had grown up performing for my parents. The girls were awake when I went through the bedroom on my way to the shower, facing each other across the pillow and talking softly. Widget was curled at the foot of the bed ignoring them. The whispering stopped when I came in, and they both turned to watch me.

"Don't let me interrupt," I said, walking over to the bed and kissing them both. Christine reached for me, but I pulled back quickly. "I'm all sweaty, and I smell like old socks. If we're going to have to wash those sheets, I want it to be for a better reason. Coffee will be done in a couple minutes. I'll be out a couple minutes after that. Amber, if you go out by the pool, leave your collar inside."

"Yes, Master," she replied.

"And considering what we did to the bed last night," Christine added, "that's a pretty lame excuse."

All I could think about while I was in the shower was that I wished it were big enough for all three of us. I really missed the shower at the Bellagio, or better yet, the tub! God, why was I so horny this morning?

"Maybe because you have two amazingly sexy women that you had incredible sex with last night waiting for you when you get done in here?"

"You're not helping."

It took a couple minutes of running the temperature up and down while thinking of kittens playing before it was safe to come out again. Slipping on a clean bathing suit and t-shirt, I went in search of the women.

I found Widget first; she was sitting up on the small table in front of the window, looking out. I glanced to see what she was so fascinated by and spotted the girls out on the patio having coffee with Doreen. There was a big glass of orange juice sitting in front of the empty chair, so I gave Widget a quick stroke, grabbed my phone, and went out to join them.

"Good morning, Doreen, how are you this morning?"

"I am having a blessed morning, Mr. Malcolm, thank you very much. Miss Christine was just introducing me to your friend, Amber." Something in the way she said the name made me stop and look at both of them.

"It's okay, Doreen, just not in front of anyone else," Amber said, then looked at me. "She recognized me."

Uh-oh.

"I'm impressed," I said, looking at Doreen. "You're the only one to see it so far. What gave it away?"

"Oh, you're going to love this part," Amber said. "She has a nephew in California, her sister's son, and his name is..."

I gave her the obligatory look and said, "You're kidding?"

Amber didn't answer, just smiled and shook her head.

"Ben Cotton is your nephew?" I asked, looking at Doreen.

"It's a small world, David, and I have watched this girl run my poor little Britney to tears too many times not to recognize her. I wasn't sure at first because of the hair, but those scars on her knee account for the difference in the walk, and she's still built like a runner."

"Not to mention walking out in boy-shorts and a tank top," Amber said.

Doreen chuckled. "No, that didn't hurt any either." Then she looked at me and said, "You saved her. Somehow you found her and got her back."

"But he got away," I said.

"Yes," she conceded, "but according to the papers you made up for that before he could hurt anyone else. David, you are a genuine hero, and I can't tell you how proud I am to know you."

We were interrupted by my phone ringing. I started to reach for it, but Christine slapped my hand and picked it up, sticking her tongue out at me

"Good morning; Finder's Incorporated," she answered, "this is Christine, how may I help you? Mr. Malcolm? Let me see if he is available, whom shall I say is calling? One moment please..."

She pressed the microphone against her thigh and said, "A 'Mrs. Spencer' calling for you?"

"Ooops!" Jamie said, echoing my own thoughts. "We forgot to check in."

I nodded and she pulled the phone back up. "One moment, Mrs. Spencer; Mr. Malcolm will be right with you."

She winked and handed me the phone. Doreen was giggling into her hand, and Amber was smiling over her coffee cup at me.

"Good morning, Mrs. Spencer, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"You didn't check in last night, and it's after eight o'clock. I would have called last night, but I knew you had company."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I completely forgot about it. Rod told me they got everybody back, so..."

She cut me off, "He what? When did this happen?"

"Late Friday, I think. He called me Saturday afternoon."

"I see, and did they find the Black Queen?"

"No," I answered.

"Then there is still a chance she'll show up here, so unless you want me to put people on you, I'll expect you to keep in touch as we agreed; is that clear?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. By the way, my landlady said if you want information you need to, let's see, how did she put it? 'Drag your lazy white ass down out of your ivory tower and come yourself because she doesn't answer questions from junior flunkies.'"

"Oh my God!" she said in one of those voices that was somewhere between pissed off and laughing. I could understand why she might feel that way; it was one of those comments. "Doreen Willets is your landlady? I knew that address looked familiar."

"She's right here; would you like to speak to her?"

I didn't wait for a reply, but just handed the phone to Doreen.

"Dominique Spencer, why are you bothering this nice young man? Don't you make me come all the way downtown now, because you know if I do, you're going to owe me lunch."

Then the giggling started.

I got the girls' attention, motioned towards the apartment with my head, and we left Doreen to renew old acquaintances. Widget met us at the door, practically tripping us as we came in. Christine bent to pick her up and nuzzled her neck while spouting baby talk at her.

"Good morning my little Widgie-poo, did you miss me? Yes, her's a good kitty..."

You could hear the purring from ten feet away as Widget bumped up against her chin repeatedly. I took my glass into the kitchen and brought the coffee pot back to re-fill the girls' cups and was rewarded with a kiss from each. As I was headed back to the kitchen, there was a knock at the door, and Amber got up to answer it. It was Doreen returning my phone.

"Thank you, David," she said, handing Amber the phone. "I have not talked to Dominique Spencer in ages."

"You're welcome," I said. "So is she going to take you up on lunch?"

"Even better, she's coming for dinner. Christine, would you put a note in David's calendar that we're having pot roast on Thursday? I'll be expecting you both promptly at six."

"Well, thank you, Doreen!" Christine said. "But are you sure you want us there? It sounds like you two have a lot of catching up to do."

"Well of course we do," Doreen said. "That's why I want you there. It wouldn't be any fun at all bringing up all those stories of things going wrong over the years without someone for her to be embarrassed in front of."

"Doreen, that's just mean," I said.

"Isn't that what friends are for? Now, you kids go on about your business, and I'll see you all later."

"So what's the plan?" I asked after she was gone.

"I need to head over to the school and get started on the registration process. What time does Amber need to be at the airport?"

"Her flight leaves at two, so probably noon."

"I don't know if I'll make it back by then, so I better say goodbye now." She reached for Amber's hand and pulled her up off of the couch, into a hug.

"Amber, it was nice meeting you, thank you for everything." She gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I'm looking forward to getting to know you, and I promise to do better next time. Have a safe trip, and give Lizzy a hug for me."

"I will," Amber replied. "It was nice meeting you too, Christine. Good luck with flight school."

They hugged again, and Christine headed for the shower to get ready. I fixed pancakes while she was getting dressed, and after breakfast we walked her to the car.

"Try to save a little something for me for tonight, okay?" she asked as I handed her into the car. She gave me a wink and drove away.

"I get the distinct impression she thinks we're going to have sex while she's gone," I said.

"Funny," Amber said, taking my hand as we headed back towards the apartment, "I got the same impression. I certainly hope she's right."

"You're a very naughty girl, Amber."

"I know," she said, shaking her head. "I should probably be punished." She hugged up against my arm. "Pretty please?"

Jasmine would have been very proud.

On the way to the airport, I took Amber by the shop where May and I had purchased her gifts before and let her pick out two new collars and some accessories. We had to be a little careful in our selections, though, since she was about to get on an airplane with only her carry-on bag. At Amber's request, I picked up a few things for the apartment as well. Then I stopped by Tony's office on the way home to see about a referral to someone dealing in family law. Tony was in court, but Janelle gave me information on a couple of people they had had dealings with in the past. Tony called me back after lunch.

"David, it's Tony; Janelle said you were by the office?"

"Yeah, I was sorry I missed you, I just needed some information."

"Yes, she told me. David is there a problem?" he asked.

"A problem?" I asked. "What do you mean?"

"David, you're my client. Not just my firm's client, but my client. When one of my clients asks to be referred to another attorney, I have to ask myself if we've done something wrong. I couldn't think of anything, so I'm asking you, is there a problem? Did we do something wrong?"

"What? No! No, absolutely not. Your people have been great right down the line. This has nothing to do with you or your firm, but it's not something I can discuss on the phone."

There was a pause.

"We could go shooting," Jamie suggested.

"Maybe it's time for me to visit your gun club," I suggested.

I could almost see him nodding. "I'll have Janelle get us a reservation and call you back."

Janelle called back to confirm we had 6:00 reservations at Tony's club. I spent a little time at Borders browsing through some firearms magazines and the latest edition of Psychology today — I should probably subscribe — before returning home. Christine got back about four and the second she came in I knew something was wrong. Widget and I were on the couch reading Kushiel's Chosen at the time. If you're not familiar with it, it's the second book in the series Bob had suggested when I was learning about Angela's ... dilemma.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"God, you are not going to believe this," she said angrily. "You'll never guess who I ran into at flight school?"

I had a suspicion, but she looked like she really needed to vent, so I just shrugged and gave her a questioning look.

"Brian!"

How did I know?

"That no good, sleazy, two-timing little ... Ugh! It just makes me so mad. And then, oh, the nerve of that guy ... the sleazy little prick has the nerve, the nerve! ... to walk up and ask me how I'm doing. Of course there are people all over the place, and I'm supposed to be a professional, so I can't just rip his balls off and stuff them down his throat. God, I just wanted to cut his heart out and grind it under my heel and say, 'That's how I am Brian; how does it feel to you?'"

"Is that how you feel," I asked. She started to respond, but I kept going. "Or is that how you felt? Do you really still feel that hurt, or are you still just angry and looking for closure? Stomping on his heart and asking him how it feels is wanting him to feel how much he hurt you. Ripping his balls off says, 'I'm over you, but I promised myself if I ever got the chance I was going to hurt you.' Which is it?"

Again she started to answer, but I held up my hand, "Be honest, Christine. If you can't be honest with me, it's because you're not being honest with yourself. Which is it really?"

She let out the breath she was holding and said, "I'm not sure. Both? Maybe."

"Good answer," I said. "You still want to hurt him, but you don't want him to think that you're still hurting over what he did?" I cocked my head and smiled. "Or do you want him to know that you want to hurt him, but you don't consider him worth the effort?"

"That one!" she exclaimed.

"Then this is perfect," I said, standing up and hugging her. "Because you are going to blow him out of the sky in this class. You're going to beat him in every category, I promise. Christine, they are not going to believe how fast you pick everything up. I guarantee you, by the time you leave this school, you will be the standard that everyone else is afraid to be measured against."

I couldn't blame her for looking dubious. "Trust me."

She laid her head on my shoulder and hugged me back. "I do."

"Good!" I said. "Listen, I'm meeting Tony at his gun club for a couple hours, so..."

She pulled back, and her face brightened. "You're going shooting?" she asked in a voice that hovered somewhere between 'chocolate' and 'meeting your favorite teenage heart-throb'. Excited really didn't cover it.

"Oh, I love this girl!" Jamie said in a tone that matched Christine's enthusiasm. Only with Jamie it was more about the violence and mayhem.

"Do you think it would be a problem if I came along?" Christine continued. "It's been a while since I shot, so I could use the practice, plus it will give me an excuse to clean my pistol. I don't mind shooting alone if you guys have business to discuss."

"I don't know. Let me call him and ask. We do have some things we need to discuss, but that won't take long. Would you like me to see if he can bring his wife, Tina?"

"Sure, that would be great. Maybe when you two are done, we can do a little 'boys against the girls' for score. Are you any good?"

"I've never actually fired a gun," I said. "I've done some studying, so I'm passably familiar with most of the hardware, but that's about all."

"Liar!" Jamie accused. "What about on the boat when we were rescuing Allison?"

"Technically that was you," I answered. "I was just playing lookout."

I called Tony, and he said Tina would love to come, but that if we brought her it was sure to turn into dinner.

"That will be fine," I said. "We'll see you there."

I put the phone up and said, "Bummer, looks like dinner out again."

"Okay," she said, "but we've got to stop going out, or I'm going to need a bigger plane. I'm not used to this much good food."

"We'll see if we can find some place with a good salad bar," I said.

"That's fine, but if we do, promise me that's all you'll let me eat."

"Be a good girl, and I'll save a special dessert for you," I said in a teasing voice.

"Mmm, yeah, a little exercise is good for the digestion, and a lot — is even better!"

She went into the bedroom and pulled a small lock box out of her suitcase. Reaching into a zippered compartment, she pulled out a small set of keys and opened the case. The box was pretty nondescript on the outside, but very nice inside. A Glock 26, 9mm automatic, was nestled in the blue velvet padded interior. Tucked in below the gun were a spare magazine and a box of ammunition. The 26 is a really nice gun for its size. It's classified as a subcompact, but it still sports a ten round double-stack magazine. According to Carter Malloy — the FBI trainer that I had studied with — the biggest complaint people have is the "two-finger" grip. If you have large hands, you can only get two fingers on the grip below the trigger. Some feel that depending on the situation it can lead to control issues. Malloy's rebuttal was that most people that used it professionally used it for concealed carry as an alternative to the model 17 or 19 used by many law enforcement agencies, and that if they were too stupid to spend adequate time getting used to the gun, then they deserved to have problems.