The Power: Building the Circle - Book 2 Read online

  Oh, fucking-a. She's going to play matchmaker? What's with this shit show?

  "Your cell number is not on that card. Put your cell number down," the woman coached.

  Adrian rolled his eyes.

  "Don't you roll your eyes at me!"

  "I wasn't rolling them at you. I was rolling them at me. My cell number is on the card front. It's just easier than arguing with her," he said, handing Lucy the card.

  "Uh, great. Thanks, I think. I'll call Martha on Monday," Lucy said as she put the card in her pocket.

  "He's a doctor," the woman said. "Pediatrician. Great with kids. Saves lives."

  "Um. OK. Thanks," Lucy said with a nod.

  "Alright, Mom, let's go see Matty. Bye, Lucy, bye Henry," the guy waved a coffee cup at them as he walked toward the elevator.

  "Do you have your graham crackers, Ree? You didn't leave them on the bench, did you?"

  "No, I finished them. The baggie is in my pocket," Ree said.

  "Good boy. Let's go back to the car. We can go home," Lucy said.

  "Aunt Lucy, do you think he'll help? He said he would talk to the money people. They got mad at him, though," Ree said.

  No, Ree, I don't think he'll help. I think he's scamming.

  "I hope so, baby. We'll see, I guess. How did you meet him? What did you talk about before you came into the money room by me?"

  "He sat down on the bench and asked if I was lost. I didn't talk to him because he was a stranger. He asked if we needed help, and then I nodded. He told me his name, and then I told him mine, and we shook hands. Then I told him about the money people, and then we went to the money room to find you. He's real nice, I like him," Ree said.

  "He didn't touch you or anything?"

  "I made him hold my hand walking to see you. I don't like money offices. The people are all mean," Ree replied.

  She pulled the card out of her pocket. Adrian Trellis, Executive Director of the Beloved Foundation. The name Trellis was vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place it.

  Over the last year, Lucy had applied to every nonprofit she could find that had anything to do with rare childhood cancers or diseases. She was still getting rejection letters. She didn't recall applying to anything called Beloved.

  "Henry, want to take a ride to the library? We can get new books, but I want to use the computer first, OK?"

  "OK!"

  As they walked through the hallways, Henry was skipping over the crack pattern in the tile.

  "Aunt Lucy?"

  "Henry Leap Frog?" Lucy said as she jumped with him.

  "Do we have to go back to the apartment?"

  "Not right now, but tonight Erika will come to stay with you. I have to work."

  "Oh." Henry clearly was not a fan of this.

  "What's wrong with hanging out with Erika? I thought you liked her?" Lucy asked.

  "I do. It's fine. I don't like it when she leaves, though."

  "Leaves? What do you mean?" Lucy asked.

  "Sometimes she leaves after bedtime, and then there are people in the hallway, and if they bang on the door, I hide," Henry said.

  Lucy paid the downstairs neighbor $12 an hour to watch Henry while she worked. She better not be leaving him alone.

  Henry climbed into his booster seat and buckled his belt. Lucy said her mental prayer to the god of working cars as she got behind the wheel of her 1992 Ford Escort. It was a good day. The car started on the second try.

  Twenty minutes later, Lucy and Henry were walking into their favorite public library branch. It didn't look crowded.

  "Well, there's my Henry! How's my best reader? Hi Lucy!" The librarian, Leti, greeted them.

  "Hi, Ms. Leti!" Henry said as he ran to give her a hug.

  "Hey Leti, is the computer working today?" Lucy asked.

  "I think so. More letter writing, huh? Henry, want to look at the new books with me? We'll be over here, Lucy. Good luck."

  "Thanks, Leti!"

  ✽✽✽

  Thirty minutes later, Lucy was still staring at the screen, dumbfounded. The Adrian guy. That Sam guy. The woman. The older guy. The pictures all matched. He wasn't scamming. These people had serious money. The not-going-to-be-weird Sam dude was worth billions.

  Ree might have actually found help. I shouldn't have slapped his fucking hand! Should I apologize? I didn't know. It'll be fine. It seemed like he would still help. He didn't seem mad, did he? I could call him? No, he said to call the lady on the back of the card. I'll talk to her about it. I really hope I didn't fuck this up.

  "How's book hunting going, Ree?"

  ✽✽✽

  There was a knock on the apartment door at 6:30 that evening.

  "Hey, Erika! He's all fed and bathed. He's coloring," Lucy said. Erika was wearing sweats and a t-shirt.

  Those aren't going out clothes. She's not going to leave him. It's fine. Maybe she ran down to her apartment for something once, and he got scared.

  "You working to 2 or 4 tonight?" Erika asked.

  "I'm working till 4," Lucy said. "You'll be staying here until I get home, right?"

  Erika paused and looked at Lucy like she was nuts. "Yeah."

  They'd never had a problem before. Erika wouldn't leave him alone. It was fine. She was worried about nothing. Erika had been babysitting for almost a year, they had no problems.

  "Alright, see ya in the wee hours then!"

  Chapter 2

  Adrian got home from the hospital a little after 7PM on Saturday evening. Matty was in good hands. Jake was calming down. They'd be fine. He wasn't helping anything by being there, just serving as the resident Trellis for ass-kissing.

  "Ugh," Adrian said out loud at the thought.

  No one responded because the house was empty. Adrian's house was always empty. He set the two large pizzas he brought home down on the dining room table, then walked through the house to make sure everything was as it should be.

  It was. Clean. Tidy. Empty.

  After grabbing a beer, he sat down and ate the entire large sausage, mushroom, onion, and green pepper pizza. The other pizza was for later.

  Letting his food settle, he wrote a quick email to Martha with what he knew about Lucy and Henry. He was pretty sure of the type of cancer from looking at what had been ordered on the paperwork Lucy had. Or, at least what he saw before she slapped at his hand.

  Adrian laughed out loud at the memory. He'd been startled by her reaction, not the slap. So few people were snappish with him. It was funny. Especially because the Foundation absolutely would help them with whatever Ree needed. Maybe Lucy, too. There were parts of the Foundation that dealt with adult education and career training.

  Thinking over it, he understood Lucy's reaction. She was absolutely gorgeous. Blonde hair, royal blue eyes, oval face, athletic build with understated curves in all the right places.

  Random assholes using the sick nephew to hit on her was probably a common thing. Ree was someone she cared about, a problem wanting a solution. She radiated fatigue and stress, too. Great fodder for assholes and abusers everywhere. She was right to be skeptical.

  "We'll set that to rights, it'll work out. I'll call Gretta on Monday, she'll see him quickly," Adrian said, again out loud.

  "There's no one here," he continued. "I'm talking to myself. As usual. I should get a dog."

  Adrian sighed. "Then the dog would be lonely because it's just me and I'm only here and awake for a couple hours each day. Maybe two dogs? Two dogs might be the way to go. They could keep each other company."

  Then, of its own accord, his mind drifted back to the curve of Lucy's neck as it joined her shoulder and the small amount of skin that showed in her v-neck t-shirt.

  "Oh, absolutely not. It's time to go beat the shit outta myself," he said with determination to the empty house.

  Adrian stuck the extra pizza in the fridge and headed to the basement for a workout. He'd be back upstairs to eat it in a few hours.

  ✽✽✽

  Bartending the late shift o
n Saturday nights was hard work. The bar was packed, no one was bussing tables. While Lucy was grabbing empty glasses off tables, some asshole tried to put his hand up her shirt while grabbing her ass.

  "Hot fucking damn, woman. You wanna ride my dick like a pogo stick?" He leered.

  Fuck this shit, Lucy thought as she kicked the guy in the shin.

  "Hands off, man. Next time, the kick will be higher," she warned.

  The guy bellowed something at her as he reached for her ponytail.

  Always with the damn hair, she internally sighed. I guess I didn't really need the job after all.

  Lucy dropped the tray of glasses on the table and slugged the guy in the face. He fell backward into the guy behind him, who took offense. Loudly and with violence.

  Lucy scooted back behind the bar, hoping no one noticed her role in the ongoing bar fight. Maybe she wouldn't get fired. Tonight. Maybe she wouldn't get fired tonight.

  ✽✽✽

  Henry woke up in his bed to the neighbors fighting and screaming bad words. He went out to the living room. No one was there. The people were in the hall again. Something was thrown against the door. Someone was groaning.

  Scared and shaking, he ran for the phone. Aunt Lucy!

  The call to Lucy's cell went to voicemail. Henry thought the phone number for the bar was on the fridge with Aunt Lucy's schedule, but the paper was gone. Henry called her cell number again.

  ✽✽✽

  Lucy was dead on her feet. She'd been up since 6 AM. She had made good tips, but it was hectic and busy. There were two more bar fights before the bar closed at 4. Cleaning up and balancing the register took time. It was now 4:30 in the morning. She'd been awake for more than twenty-two hours.

  Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Almost home. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep, she kept chanting to herself. She counted the minutes from the bar to the apartment to stay awake. She cranked the music up and sang along with songs she didn't know. She was almost home. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep.

  In total, she'd made $230 in tips. Half were credit, so she'd have taxes withheld. After paying Erika and taxes, she ended up clearing about a hundred bucks for nine hours of hard work.

  I should open a daycare.

  The apartment building door was busted again. Fuck this place, this building, this neighborhood. There was a used condom hanging off the door handle. At least it's not needles. She opened the door without touching it.

  Lucy headed up the stairs, climbing over someone who'd passed out on a landing. And there's that needle in the stairwell. We gotta get out of here. Their lease was up in four months. She'd start applying for other places that accepted rent assistance soon.

  Someone else passed out in her hall. He'd managed to piss himself.

  She put her key in the lock and opened her apartment door to find Adrian Trellis sitting on her couch.

  She yelped, completely startled. WHAT THE FUCK?!

  He was putting his finger over his lips to signal for her to be quiet.

  While she tried to catch her breath, he picked Henry up from the couch and walked toward the bedroom with him. He closed over the door on his way back to the living room.

  What the fuck is he doing here?! Is this some kind of trap, after all? Is he following us? Henry was breathing, right? I didn't see him move. But, he had to be breathing. If I start screaming, what kind of "help" will come? It's 4:30 in the fucking morning.

  "You put my card on the fridge," Adrian said quietly. "He called me a few hours ago, crying. The babysitter split. He couldn't find the number for where you work, and your cell went directly to voicemail. I've tried calling your cell several times."

  "Holy fuck! Holy fuck! Jesus! I don't have any missed calls. None. I check my phone," she stammered. She was shaking with fear. "You need to leave right now. Right now. Get the fuck out. You don't belong in my apartment. I don't know you. Please. Leave. Please. Please get out. GO-"

  She was backing away as he pulled a phone out of a pocket. "Is this the right number?"

  She didn't want to take her eyes off him. If she looked away, he was going to take a swing at her, and then she'd be down with no chance at fighting. She was starting to hyperventilate.

  Adrian sighed at her. "Lucy, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just trying to figure out why a terrified five-year-old called me at 11:30 on Saturday night, saying he was alone and scared in a dangerous part of town." He recited the number from his phone.

  Lucy blinked. "No, my number ends in 01. Is he OK? Oh my God, he was here alone?!"

  A different sort of terror was settling in on top of the existing terror. Henry was here alone?!?

  "He's fine, zonked out on the couch around 1:30. He woke up for a minute when the babysitter showed up around 3. Pretty sure I scared the crap out of her. I'm not really sorry about that."

  "Oh, my God. He was here alone!"

  ✽✽✽

  OK, Aunt Lucy's on her way to a panic attack. This is not normal for them, I guess, Adrian thought.

  Henry had seemed well-mannered, clean, well-cared for, and loved when they met earlier. He was alone on the bench at the hospital, though. Adrian understood that having Henry in the billing office would have been overwhelming for him. And, it was a hospital. In a good area. Not terribly dangerous. The bench was less than 15 feet from the office. Someone would have heard if he started yelling for help. Adrian was willing to overlook it at the time.

  When Ree called his cell phone earlier, crying and terrified, Adrian intended to get over here and then call the police. He'd get an emergency court injunction. He'd get Henry the hell out of here.

  Ree knew his own address and could tell Adrian the numbers for the building and apartment. He knew the street name, but couldn't spell it correctly. Still, Henry got it close enough for Adrian to find him. Pretty good for a five-year-old.

  While driving into the neighborhood, Adrian wondered if he should have called his brother, Will, to go with him. It was one of the worst areas in Chicago; police would be slow to respond.

  The main apartment building door was kicked in, so he didn't have to worry about getting buzzed into the building itself. The hall stunk of piss. There was a hypodermic on the stairs. This wasn't safe for anyone, let alone a woman raising a sick kid. Henry was about to go to a new home. Aunt Lucy might get some visitation, but this couldn't continue.

  The door opened before Adrian could knock. Henry had been standing on a kitchen chair, looking out the door peephole to watch for him. Adrian was surprised to find him in superhero pajamas in a spotlessly clean, rundown apartment. Given the rest of the building, he was expecting the place to be a pit.

  The apartment was small. Adrian walked through it to make sure everything was OK and that there was nothing dangerous lying around. There wasn't much. A living area that barely fit a sagging old couch and a TV that wasn't a flat panel. A tiny table for two along one wall. Around the corner, there was a kitchen so small it didn't look like the oven door could be opened all the way. One bedroom with two twin-sized beds and a bathroom. Everything was clean and orderly, the beds were made, the bathroom smelled of cleaner.

  "What happened, Ree? Where's your aunt?" Adrian asked as he returned to the living room. Ree was checking all the locks on the door. The door was the only thing in the place that looked new. It appeared to be reinforced, too.

  "Erika left! She was supposed to stay. Aunt Lucy even asked to make sure. Erika was supposed to stay, but then she left! Adrian, she left. She's not supposed to leave!" Ree babbled, starting to break down in tears. "She's supposed to stay!"

  "OK. It's OK, buddy. When did Erika leave? Where's your aunt?" Adrian said quietly, calmly. Henry hadn't been crying when Adrian arrived. He'd been brave by himself. Now that he wasn't alone, he was done being brave.

  "I don't know when she left. I was asleep. But then there was a big bang, and I woke up, and it was loud, and then I came out here, and she wasn't here. The door wasn't even locked. The door is always supposed to be locked. It's the rule. The door stays
locked. Erika knows the rule," Ree continued to cry.

  "Henry, where's your aunt?" Adrian asked again.

  "Work! She's at work! I don't like it here, Adrian. I want Aunt Lucy. Can we go to Aunt Lucy? Will you take me to Aunt Lucy?"

  "Where does she work, Ree?" Adrian asked.

  "The bar," Ree sobbed.

  "Which bar? What's the bar's name?" Adrian asked.

  "I don't know. I'm not allowed to go there. I don't know what it is. There was a paper on the fridge with the phone number, but I don't know where it went. It was there earlier."

  "Does Aunt Lucy have a cell phone, Ree? Is that number somewhere?" Adrian picked him up off the chair he was standing on and put him on his feet.

  He recited Lucy's cell number with confidence while Adrian put the chair back at the little table for two.

  "I've been calling her, Adrian. I've been calling. She always answers. What if something's wrong? What if Aunt Lucy got hurt? I want Aunt Lucy!"

  "OK, buddy. It's OK. Everything is going to be fine." Adrian sat cross-legged on the floor next to Henry.

  Without hesitation, Henry climbed into Adrian's lap, wrapped his arms around Adrian's neck, and sobbed.

  "Henry, it's OK, buddy. Everything is fine. Aunt Lucy is fine. OK? I'm here. It's fine. We'll be fine." Adrian repeated while rocking and soothing the little boy.

  OK, not the police. I won't call the police. I'll wait for Lucy to get home, get the story, and then help her work with Family Services. This is a childcare thing, not a neglect thing, Adrian thought, relieved.

  Lucy seemed like a caregiver willing to go to bat for the kid. Adrian hated the idea of that not being true. Poor with terrible options was one thing. Intentionally leaving the kid alone and terrified was another thing altogether.

  ✽✽✽

  Around 3:15, someone started jiggling and pushing on the door. The door was locked. When the pushing didn't work, a voice started calling from the hallway.

  "Ree? Did you wake up? I'm right here, Ree. Open the door, Henry."