Chapter 156: Building a Team

"Well come on in, I know you aren't in a bikini, but it's still cold out there," I said. "Are you a coffee drinker?"

"No, I don't like coffee," she said.

"I have iced tea and diet coke, you pick it," I suggested.

"Iced tea then," she said.

I went to the frig to remove the gallon milk jug thing filled with Helen's iced tea. Helen gave me a deal on it, but I still spent a lot of money on her tea. She offered to give it to me, but I refused. Everyday I had Cheryl bring me a gallon of what was left at the end of the sit down spot's day. If there wasn't anything left, I didn't get my tea fix for that afternoon and evening.

Once the tea was in her hand, I asked Sarah. "So what is it you wish to talk about?"

"The man today brought back some really bad memories," Sarah said.

I wanted to tell her to get a therapist, I didn't care about an 18 year old's bad memories. What I said was, "I'm sorry to hear that Sarah. If there is any way I can help, let me know." I wanted to, but did not follow that up by showing her the door. Instead I drank my coffee and waited for her to continue.

"I saw what you did to the man on the boat who tried to rape you, and I have heard the rumors about Cheryl. I feel ashamed that I didn't do anything. I didn't even tell anyone."

"How long ago was it?" I asked. By that time, I admit, that I was a little more interested.

"Two years, I was sixteen and in high school." she said.

"Was it a student at your school?" My interest was only slight, sixteen year old girls lose it all the time.

"No, it was my mother's boy friend," she said. Then she burst into tears. At that point I got seriously interested. I was sure that Gwen and Mike would be as well. They were going to have to get her permission to use the story. I was sure as hell going to verify everything before I made an ass of myself.

"You had to have kind reason for not telling your mom," I suggested.

"Mom knew he was flirting with me and did nothing. He was good looking and had money. She was willing to overlook a lot of things, I guess." Sarah was really shaken by that time.

"I can't believe she wouldn't have cut his ball off, or at least gone to the cops. Why didn't you tell her?" I was pushing her in a corner, but I needed to know the truth. I just couldn't buy into it somehow.

"He told me that if I told her, he would have to stop seeing her. If that happened, she would always blame me for it. Maybe not openly, but in her heart she would know that it was my fault. I had caused it by flirting with him. I told him that I never flirted, but he said to ask myself who mom would believe."

"So what ended it?" I asked.

"After he tried it again, I told grandpa that I hated him and mom loved him. I didn't tell him why I felt that way but I asked to come live with him and grandma. I had been living with them until I came here to live and go to school." she said.

"So where is the boyfriend now?' I asked.

"He and mom broke up a few months after I left. I don't know what happened to him."

I went to the desk. From it I removed a spiral notebook like the ones kids in school use. I found a blank page. I returned then I handed it to Sarah. "Go home and write down everything you know about your mom and the guy. I want both of their names, addresses and phone numbes, if you know them. I want to know where they both worked at the time and what their hobbies are. I want to know everything, and I mean right down to their favorite meals. After you have done that, forgive yourself. Whether you believe that you have anything to forgive or not, do it. Put this all behind you Then maybe I can even the karma thing a bit. That might help put it all behind you."

After Sarah left with the notebook, I began to think about my own life. What if at sixteen I had the same thing happen to me. Since I was screwing at fifteen, it might not have effected me as much. To be told that your mom loved him more. To have reason to believe that it was true, would have been heartbreaking for anyone. If the prick really did what she said, there should be a way to make him pay. Preferably pay legally, I could always resort to framing a guilty man. It wouldn't be the first time it had been done. Not even the first time by me.

My first problem was the TV show. Not just them following me around, because I could make damn sure they didn't get in the way. That was in our agreement. My problem was going to be that people everywhere suddenly seemed to recognize me.

If you had something to hide, and the star of Meet Max, took an interest in you, it might be a good idea to shut up and leave town for a while. That was going to be the problem. How to gather intelligence, if everyone recognized me. Without good intelligence it was all a waste of time.

Yeah, I knew someone who would be thrilled to help out, actually I knew two. If I asked them to help, I expected that they would drop everything, but at what cost to them. The word floating around was that Lucas was bored to tears. I had managed to keep him out of the more dangerous but exciting bounty hunting business. Ed told me he was ready to crawl, if I would let him go back to chasing skips. A contract was a contract, I no intention of letting him get killed by some mooch on crack. However a little part time investigating would be of interest to him, I was sure. I put him down as a resource with whom I needed to make contact.