Night Blind (The Technicians #11)

Chapter 14 - Aim

Helen rose early to get in a bit of target practice before starting the day. While she walked the shooting lanes of the property, several rabbits decided to end their lives by stepping in front of the rifle she carried. In less than an hour, she secured four plump little bunnies that would make a great rabbit stew. Honestly, she’d never cared for the game. Until recently, she’d never cared for sex, but her life was changing on the daily, and if Mustang walked his sexy behind through the front door, the man was going to get got.

She found herself smiling as she approached the back decking of the home where her cousin lived with her husband and daughter. There was no surprise to see the man of the house on the porch as if he were awaiting her arrival. She presented the rabbits first.

“Morning, Michael,” she said, ensuring the weapon was pointed away from him.

“Helen,” he replied, passing her a steamy hot cup of coffee.

“I’ve never cared for rabbit stew, but I have to contribute to the food stores,” she said, thanking him for the hot cup of deliciousness.

“You have your own money now; did you think this was necessary?”

“This,” she said, pointing to the rabbits, “is always necessary, Mr. Neary. The Cherry on Top is on hiatus, bringing us down an income. If you get hurt or injured on assignment, then I must know how to maintain and provide for the family. You don’t have to do it all. We can carry our weight.”

“I have reserves, Helen,” he explained.

“I have to bring something to the table if I’m going to live here as a member of your family,” she explained, “and we have already set the boundary that my contribution would not come in the form of sharing your bed.”

“Well, it’s not coming in the form of your cooking either,” he said, chuckling at his own honesty. “Again, we have reserves for such emergencies.”

“As do we, but for once, it would be nice if my cousin could use some of those reserves to get nice things for herself,” she explained. “Abi deserves to be able to go to the closet to select from her collection of designer handbags to match with an expensive pair of shoes she bought just because. She deserves a fave pair of diamond earrings to match the tennis bracelet you will purchase for her next birthday. My cousin has sacrificed so much for us to live and eat; she needs a break. I want to make sure she is well rested this pregnancy.”

“Helen, I can take care of my family, you included.”

“I’m not questioning your ability to be head of the house, I’m simply letting you know that, as a family, we all must pull our weight. I’m making you aware that I am pulling mine,” she told him. “The family is growing. I don’t know what is next for me, but right now, I’m going to help where I can.”

“Your home is here with us.”

“For now,” she told him.

The silence between them hovered with unsaid words. He had things he needed and wanted to say to her, but the approach would need to be guided. When he looked up, she was staring at him. She was reading him. She’d learned to do that very well as if she knew his thoughts. Helen was also teaching his daughter to do the same thing. It was the reason she sat quietly around people she didn’t know. Like her aunt and mother, she assessed every person in the room, understanding, on a level he didn’t comprehend, how to approach each person. Instinctually, like Helen and even Cherry, Naomi knew how to handle Jay. She knew how to handle his father. Hell, his daughter even knew how to handle him. He looked at Helen with fresh eyes. She’d read the men, assessing the second man next to Karlton, and she’d acted, but he didn’t understand how she knew. An eyebrow arched and she offered a weak smile.

“The white belt and shoes,” she told him.

“Excuse me?”

“I dropped the second man because he wore a white belt and a pair of those white leather loafers and no socks,” she told him.

The expression on his face showed interest and confusion at the same time. He was thinking about the question, but afraid to ask. Mr. Slow wanted to understand what in her mind made her see the second man as a threat, taking it upon herself to take him down without an assigned order. He needed to know how she knew he was a bad man.

“Helen, you can’t expect me to believe you knew he was a bad man because he was wearing a white belt with white leather loafers,” he told her.

“The only grown men who should be wearing a white belt are starting a martial arts class,” she told him. “In my experience, ten times out of ten, men with those white belts, white shoes, and no socks are pervs. Every one of them my mother brought home, always, always, found a way to slither around me sucking on that front tooth like he’d gotten a piece of lettuce wedge in his incisor. Pervs. Plus, he was yanking on the girl child who was terrified of him. Hopefully, she is somewhere safe.”

“She is,” he said.

“Okay, what’s next in my training?”

He stood for a minute. The coffee in his mug had grown cold. His concerns for Helen were only warming up. He didn’t want to beat around the bush, therefore he forged ahead, head on.

“Mustang comes home twice a year,” he said, “and hopefully, things won’t be awkward for any of us moving forward.”

Helen cut her eyes at him. “Every tub must rest on its own bottom and in each shot, the aim must be true.”

“I don’t know what that means,” he answered.

“It is what it is, Michael. He and I shared a moment that I asked to have, I initiated, and I wanted,” she told him. “As he said, he always comes through.”

“Hmmph,” he said as Cherry came to the back door holding his Technician phone. In her hand, she also held her own.

Michael took the phone from her hand, looking at the second device resting in Cherry’s palm. This was unusual. Technicians didn’t get phone calls.

He answered using his handle, “ Slow’s down .”

There was a quiet in between the deep breaths he took, looking at Helen. Reluctantly, he answered. “The training hasn’t officially begun. Her survival instincts are at a seven. Mustang evaluated her in the field and can attest to her holding her own. I have not worked beside her as of yet to make a formal assessment.”

Slow nodded his head and ended the call. The second he hung up, Cherry’s Technician phone rang. She answered using her handle, “ The Cherry on Top .”

The quiet returned as she listened to the voice on the line. “I can travel but will have to be driven. Yes. Yes. Shawnee Township. Tomorrow at eight.”

The call ended, and all eyes went to Helen. She asked, “What?”

Cherry’s lips were tight as she told her, “We have a come to Jesús meeting tomorrow.”

Slow’s eyes grew wide. “I’ve never met him; have you?”

Cherry shook her head no as she said, “I’ve never met him either.”

Helen’s eyes grew wide and she asked, “Is he going to kill me?”

“No,” they both said at the same time. “This should be interesting.”

The conversation went no further as the sound of vehicles arriving drew all of their attention. Slow lead the way through the home from the back porch deck to the front porch to see the arrival of four separate vehicles.

“What in the truck nuts is happening here,” he said, waiting at the edge of the porch for the vehicles to come to a stop.

The driver of the first vehicle was the one to emerge first. On the back of his truck were two additional vehicles, a Chevy Colorado in deep green and a Subaru Forester 4 x4 SUV also in forest green. Helen’s hand went to her breast. Green was her favorite color. She didn’t remember mentioning that to Mustang, but he’d heard her words.

“Got a delivery here for Helen McDaniel,” the driver said.

“For me?” she asked, coming off the porch.

The second driver of the next vehicle brought with him a metal carport. He too climbed down and walked over to meet Helen. Offering a wide smile and a lascivious grin, he gave her an inappropriate once-over before chiming in, “Hey, I guess what I have on the back of my rig is the carport for those two vehicles. Let me know where you want me to set it up to house your cars.”

“And like wow,” she said, grinning from ear to ear. “Follow me. I know exactly where that should go.”

As she walked around the side of the house, Slow and Cherry were busy looking at the remaining two vehicles. One had a partially put-together small building of some sort. The last vehicle had his cousin Bleu Neary in the driver’s seat with his ward Jacob on the passenger side. Jacob took care of Bleu Neary’s horses over at his farmhouse on the other side of Louisville.

“Bleu, is that a pony?” Slow shouted as his cousin.

“Yes, yes, it is,” Bleu said, climbing out of the truck. “Jacob, unload Ms. Sprinkles.”

“No, no, and no,” Slow said to him.

“Yes, yes, and sorry, but Ms. Sprinkles is bought and paid for by your brother, and I have orders to deliver this pony to one Ms. Naomi Ruth Neary,” Bleu said, trying not to laugh. He looked at Cherry, tipping the bib of his hat. Thinking better of it, he’d never met his cousin’s wife and corrected the error immediately.

“Good morning, Ms. Abigail. I regret not coming to meet you before now, but as I understand it, the past few months have been insane,” he said, offering his hand.

“What is shameful is you showing up before eight a.m. at my house with a got-damned pony,” Slow mumbled through gritted teeth.

“Well, if I ever received a got-damned invitation, I wouldn’t have to arrive at the order of someone else,” Bleu said. “Ms. Abigail, please let me know when you are free. I’d love to have you over to meet my DeShonda and my boy. I hear you’re going to add one more to the family. I am as well. Our second one is also a boy.”

He said the last part, looking at his cousin with a twinkle in his eye. The young man Jacob was unloading the pony just as Naomi came out of the house. She spotted it and squealed like a stuck pig making everyone jump.

“It’s a pony! Uncle Black Man got me a real-life pony! Oh, Daddy, I love that man so much,” she said, running off the porch.

Before Jay had left, she’d managed to finagle a story time out of her uncle, encouraging him to add in the special voices, which led to Jay’s signature whinny, which led to the talk of ponies, which led to his brother buying to daughter a got-damned pony.

The wispy curls whipped in the wind as she ran from the porch to see her new gift. Her tiny pajama bottoms twisted to one side of her hand full of boodie as she went over to meet her new friend. Cherry was outdone by her daughter, who immediately went to the back end of the horse to lift the tail. She bent looking underneath the carriage of the pony.

“Daddy, my pony has a vagina! It’s a girl. Can I name her Princess Poppy?”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Slow mumbled. “The pony has a name, and it’s Ms. Sprinkles.”

“Ms. Sprinkles, oh my gosh. Wait until Michelle sees this. Daddy, can I call Michelle and tell her I got a pony? I want to tell her I got a pony,” she said. “When can I ride Ms. Sprinkles? Daddy, can you call Uncle Black Man so I can say thank you for the best present ever? I got a pony. I got a pony!”

His head hurt. His brother was a menace. His cousin was an asshole, and his wife seemed amused by it all.

Bleu didn’t miss a beat, laughing, he wanted to know, “She calls Jay, Uncle Black Man?”

Slow stayed right on track with him. “It gets worse. She asked Daddy, whom she calls the Grandpa Man, if my Mom had a black boyfriend so she could make a black baby.”

Bleu Neary burst into laughter. “Why have I never met this child? I think I love her already.”

A twinkle came to Slow’s eyes. “I think you should go over and give her a hug and get a kiss for delivering the pony to her.”

“I think I will do just that since I am her hero today, me and her Uncle Black Man,” Bleu said, walking towards Naomi with pride.

Slow said nothing as his cousin bent low, speaking to his daughter. He watched Bleu Neary lean in, going for a kiss. On cue, he watched Naomi ball up her fist and sock him in the mouth. He looked at his wife and winked.

“Children. I am going to spend my life surrounded by children,” Cherry said, appreciating her husband’s bold move.

Bleu looked back at him. “You knew that was going to happen, didn’t you?”

“Yep, pretty much,” he said. “What is that building for on the other truck?”

“It’s the barn for Ms. Sprinkles,” Bleu said, asking where it should be erected. “It seems Jay thought of everything.”

“Did he send any feed for the pony?”

“Actually, he did,” Bleu said, watching Jacob lift Naomi onto the pony. “He also paid for Jacob to come by three times a week for three months to teach her how to ride, brush the pony down, and take care of her.”

“Yeah, good old Jay,” he said, wanting to call Mustang, but that could wait for later.

Cherry offered Bleu and Jacob a cup of coffee and breakfast, which both gladly accepted. In the kitchen, she pulled her husband aside and asked, “Is your brother really rich or something?”

“Yeah, Jay bought a small defunct vineyard in Oregon, turned it around, and some wine company bought him out,” he said. “He still lives on the vineyard, but the wine is taken care of by the company who bought him out. The money from the vineyard, he invested in some app a weird dude wanted him to go in on, and that made him like a billionaire or some shit. I don’t ask.”

“Oh, okay then,” she said, watching her cousin run her fingers over her vehicles. The Subaru was new; the pick-up truck was not.

Never in her life had Helen had a new car. There were very few things in her life that had been new or not purchased at a discount or from a wholesale rack. However, she now had a new car. From the back window, Cherry observed Helen as the man passed her an envelope.

Whatever was in the envelope brought Helen to her knees. She took a seat on the front steps of her home, cradling the package to her chest. The back of her hand wiped away tears. Whatever Mustang sent to Helen must have touched her heart.

“Family,” Cherry said, turning to chat with her husband's cousin. “Okay, who is the oldest, Zeke or Gabriel?”

****

Helen couldn’t believe her eyes. The carport went up without hassle as the quick-drying cement was poured into holes for the braces of the carport. The man said to allow it to dry after placing weights on the edges to hold it in place. The two vehicles sat in front of her home, both belonging to her. The second vehicle, the Subaru, was brand new with 25 miles on the odometer.

“Brand damned new,” she said, as the man passed her the keys and paperwork. He told her the insurance was paid for the year on both vehicles. The registration for both, in her name, was paid as well. “Thank you,” she told him.

He passed her an envelope with the documents. She looked inside because the package was uneven. She removed the thin black velvet box, opening it to find a necklace with a small angel with a brilliant diamond in the center of her chest. She looked at the certificate, a Ray of Light diamond. A second envelope inside the package had her name in bold block letters.

Helen slowly opened the envelope to find an open-ended plane ticket to Salem, Oregon. Also, inside was a business card, black, with the raised image of a Mustang and a phone number with a 541 area code. She reached into her pocket to grab her personal phone. Her hands shook as she dialed the number.

He answered on the third ring, “Jay Neary.”

“Mr. Neary, this is Helen McDaniel,” she said, trying to sound professional.

“Oh today, it’s Mr. Neary. Last week, it was faster, you rock-hard son of a bitch,” he said laughing.

She burst into a combination of laughter and tears. “This is too wonderful, all of it. I want to say I don’t deserve this, but I do. Thank you for seeing me. Thank you for these gifts.”

“And what about the plane ticket?”

“Anytime, anywhere, anything you need, Mr. Neary, I’ve got you,” she said.

“I always come through Helen; just say when you’re coming to me and I’ll do the rest,” he told her. “Cheers my lovely.”

“Cheers,” she said as he disconnected the call. She looked up to see Naomi on a pony with the man who arrived in one of the other vehicles. Slow and Cherry must have known who he was, so she didn’t want to make it her business, but she did head over to the house to join them for breakfast.

Naomi and the young man had also come inside the home.

“I tethered Ms. Sprinkles to the back deck while the barn is getting set up for her,” Jacob added.

Helen looked at Naomi and said, “Hey girl. I see you got yourself a pony.”

“Uncle Black Man sent it to me,” Naomi said, smiling.

“Uncle Jay,” Slow corrected. “Helen, this is my knot-headed cousin, Bleu Neary. That is his ward Jacob who will be coming three times a week to give Bunny her riding lessons on the pony Jay sent to her.”

“Well, he does always come through,” Helen said, grinning from ear to ear.

“Oh, dear God,” Slow said, feeling the bile rising in his throat.

“Ooh, there’s a story here. What happened between you and Jay? Ooh, you and Jay,” Bleu said, leaning forward. “Tell me more. I wasn’t aware he’d come home for something other than Thanksgiving and Aunt Ruthie’s birthday. He stopped in for dinner and a slice of pie?”

Slow was becoming more annoyed by the minute. “Don’t you have a set of toothless construction workers to oversee or something?”

“No, this is so much better! So very Ophelia and Laertes!” Bleu added, smiling. “Helen, are you and Ms. Abigail here related?”

“She’s my cousin,” Helen said, “and you are Zeke and Gabriel’s brother?”

“I am,” he said, looking at her closely. Helen was looking back at him with the same intensity and then Slow saw it. He saw the unflappable Bleu Neary flap. She could see him.

Helen could see the real Bleu Neary, and he was intrigued about what she would say to him next to reel the man into her web. He’d misread her on so many levels. What he’d thought was an innocent victim of circumstance had become a weapon of destruction, only she didn’t know yet. She didn’t know how to wield her power, but she was learning. Helen offered a soft smile, before speaking.

“It must be tough on you, Bleu, being the smartest one of the three brothers,” she said to the man. He sat and watched Bleu’s entire demeanor change. The man, who had a Doctorate in psychology and specialized in mind fucking suspects, had just, in fact, gotten into a game of wits with a woman far cleverer than she let on. She’d picked up on the Hamlet reference Bleu had used. “Tell me, it must have been a Shakespearian childhood growing up in the house with Zeke and Gabriel?”

“Well, now that you ask,” Bleu said, leaning back and expanding his chest.

Slow also leaned back in his chair. She was going to be just fine. They were all going to be just fine. Tomorrow would be the real test; if she could survive an interview with Jesús, she would make a great Technician. Everything about her read suburban housewife who would be seen driving about in her little Subaru or picking up flowers and plants in her pick-up truck, not knowing she was as deadly as they came.

He loved it.

He was loving every moment of his life. Helen had found a means to harness the anger. The thin tree in the yard which never seemed to get enough sun and often shed its leaves before the others was becoming healthier by the minute. A lone life he’d once led as a Technician, had been replaced with a family man who enjoyed spending time with the ones he loved.

For his wife, her time as a Technician was coming to a close. For Helen, her life as a Technician would now commence. It was his job to train her, to prepare her, to guide Helen on the rules of engagement for taking out the trash. It was his assignment. It was his job.

He was a great captain. He was Michael Isaac Neary, a Technician in the Southeast Directions, and known as Mr. Slow. A husband, a father, a brother, a brother-in-law, a son, and a friend. More than ever, he was a bringer of justice.

“I’m good with it,” he said, rising to make more waffles for breakfast for his family.

Cherry sat watching in amazement at the transformation in her family. The scared rabbit Helen always seemed to be the confident woman preparing for something new in her life. Everything she said she never wanted appeared to be exactly everything she needed to be happy. For the first time in her life, she was just that, happy.

“I’m good with it,” she said, watching her husband smiling as he went to the kitchen. She would have a great life. Well, after her come to Jesús meeting. However, that was tomorrow.

- Fin -