The Power: Building the Circle - Book 2 Read online

  That was not Aunt Lucy's voice. The missing babysitter?

  "Henry! Open the door right now, you bad boy!" the voice snapped.

  "Hello," Adrian said as he threw the door open.

  "Holy fuck, man. Who are you?" a short Latina lady said.

  "I'm a friend of the family," Adrian said with deliberate calm. The woman smelled like beer and pot. "Who are you?"

  "Pst, shut it, man. Lucy ain't got no friends. Get out the way," the woman said as she tried to push around him. "You waitin' to bang her? I'd bang you. Lemme in. I gotta check on the kid."

  "Are you Erika?" Adrian asked tersely.

  "Yeah, man, get the fuck out the way," she said, still trying to push him.

  "You're not coming in. Go away before you wake Henry up. You're fired," Adrian said slowly, calmly.

  "Fuck you, man. I don't take no orders from you. Fired, my ass. I'm due money."

  "For what? You left." Adrian could feel the anger rising in him.

  "I was here. I just ran down to my apartment," she lied.

  "I've been here since 11:30," Adrian clarified.

  "Yeah, so that bitch owes me five hours. You ain't got nothing to do with this. Get out the way, dick!"

  "Adrian?" Henry said from the couch.

  "Everything's OK, Ree," Adrian said quietly.

  As Erika started yelling at Ree, Adrian let the anger out. Just a little bit. "Erika," he ground out.

  Her eyes snapped to his.

  "Go away."

  Then she was gone.

  ✽✽✽

  Lucy was starting to hyperventilate. "When? How?" She gasped out.

  Her face was drawn. Her eyes had big dark circles under them. She was visibly shaking.

  "Lucy, he's fine," Adrian said, back to his soothing voice. "I've been here since about 11:30. He did a good job of knowing the address and everything. He just transposed your phone number."

  Lucy squatted down, rested her elbows on her knees, and covered her face.

  Adrian couldn't tell if she was crying. He turned around to give her a minute, grabbing his car keys and going to the window that looked over the parking lot. He was pretty sure his car was still there.

  Well, that's a pleasant surprise, he thought.

  When he turned back, Lucy was still folded in on herself with her arms over her face.

  "Lucy, are you OK?" Adrian asked.

  "Why did you come here?" She asked, face still covered. "Thank you for staying with him, but what is it you want from me? It certainly isn't money."

  Adrian sighed. "I don't want anything from you, Lucy. I came because he called me for help. I thought he was in trouble, and I came to help."

  When she picked her head up, her blue eyes were spilling tears and makeup down her face. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I slapped your hand earlier and gave you grief, and I'm sorry he had to call you and that you had to sit here tonight. I'm so sorry. I'm so tired. I don't know what to do right now. I'm so sorry. He was here alone. He was here alone. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, Ree. Oh, God, what am I going to do?"

  Sigh.

  Adrian sat on the floor in front of Lucy and pulled her into a hug. She flinched when he touched her, like she thought he was going to hurt her. After a second, she realized it was just a hug and relaxed. Before long, she was curled up in his lap, being rocked and soothed.

  "You know, I sat with Henry like this for a while earlier, too," Adrian said through a chuckle.

  Lucy didn't respond.

  "Oh, come on. The circumstances are a little funny."

  She didn't respond.

  He tipped her head to the side to find her fast asleep.

  "Well, now I have to figure out how to get us off the floor…"

  Thirty minutes later, Lucy was in her bed, shoes off, sound asleep. The man passed out in the hallway was roused and helped to his door. Paramedics were treating a guy that was drunk and stoned when he fell down the stairs. The hypodermic was cleaned up. And Adrian was on his way home.

  When Lucy woke up six hours later, Adrian was long gone, and her keys had been slid under the locked apartment door.

  Chapter 3

  It was almost 6AM by the time Adrian was home again.

  "He's probably awake," he said out loud. To himself. Again. "He never sleeps. If he's sleeping now, he'll sleep through the call. I can call. It'll be fine. But, I'll feel like shit if I wake him up."

  Adrian's cell phone rang in his hand.

  "What?" His younger brother, Sam, asked.

  "I feel like you're getting weirder since Jake moved out," Adrian said.

  Sam sighed. "I'm not getting weirder since Jake moved out. My weirdness is just more apparent. Jake did a good job muffling shit in and out. What do you want? I could hear your babbling five miles away. You live alone, Adrian. Stop talking to yourself."

  "You know that woman we met yesterday at-"

  "Lucy and Henry. Yes. Have you fixed that yet?" Sam asked.

  "Uh, no. That's why I'm calling-"

  "I called you. It's why we're talking though, I'll give you that," Sam said.

  "Do we have to do this, Sam? Really? So pedantic?" Adrian asked.

  "You're the one that wanted to talk before 8 AM on a Sunday," Sam bitched.

  "Were you sleeping?"

  "Of course not, but that's not the point. If I come over, will you make me eggs?" Sam asked.

  "Yeah, sure. Come on over."

  "Ugh, never mind. I don't want anger eggs. What's with Lucy?" Sam asked.

  "She lives in a truly awful, dangerous part of town-"

  "Why do you know where she lives?" Sam asked, curious.

  Adrian sighed. "The babysitter split on Ree last night. He found my card on the fridge and called for help."

  "The card that you gave Mom stink-eye over? The card she made you put your cell phone number on? That card?" Sam asked gleefully.

  "Is there a point?"

  "Just pointing out that Mom did that little nudge. Not me. I'm pretty sure Mom is why I'm weird," Sam said.

  "Well, I mean, psychology says-"

  "Back to the kid," Sam snapped.

  Adrian sighed. Every conversation he and Sam had went like this. Sam did it intentionally.

  "Terrible part of town. Like, old hypodermics in the stairwell part of town. I would like them to not live there. Acquiring property is outside the bounds of the Foundation. Would you acquire property and give it to the Foundation?" Adrian asked.

  "Well, is the building for sale? I hadn't really thought of that before, but-" Sam started.

  "No, I didn't mean to buy the building they are in. I meant buy somewhere else for them to be while he's going through chemo," Adrian clarified.

  "Oh. Well, we can do that, too. But what about everyone else that lives in that building? In that neighborhood?" Sam asked. "How do we make the neighborhood safer?"

  "You want to build a new neighborhood? What do we do with the people that live there right now?" Adrian asked.

  "I want to build it for them. They stay. But we help make it better. Drug rehabs and schools and career training initiatives. Stuff like that. Why can't we do that?" Sam asked.

  "There are all kinds of social works programs out there striving to do that now. We give them lots and lots of money. It takes time, though," Adrian explained.

  "Well, why aren't the social works programs working? Are the programs flawed? Could we do it better? Can we help make the programs better? Do they just need more money or people?" Sam asked.

  "Do you want the information on the social works programs for the greater Chicago area, Sam?" Adrian asked.

  "Will you be mad at me if I look at it?" Sam asked, concerned. "This is your thing, not mine."

  Adrian laughed. "Not at all, Midas. I'd love for you to pick a winner and make it a reality. There's no downside to you looking at it."

  "OK, send it over when you can. Thanks, Adrian," Sam said, sounding like he was about to hang up.

  "Wait. Don't hang up. Lucy
and Ree don't have time for the neighborhood to be rebuilt. He's going for chemo sooner rather than later, and it'd be good if he didn't live there," Adrian reminded him.

  "Oh. Oh yeah! That means I get to go buy property, right? Without getting in trouble?" Sam asked.

  "Yes, that's what I'm asking you to do," Adrian confirmed.

  "And you'll tell Dad that you asked me to do this so he doesn't freak about my OCD property buying behaviors?" Sam asked.

  "It's true. I will tell him I asked you to do it. Somewhere close to Lurie Children's Hospital, OK? They'll be spending a lot of time there."

  "What kind of house does she want?" Sam asked, sounding excited. Buying property was Sam's favorite hobby.

  "The kind that doesn't have heroin addicts next door," Adrian said.

  "Woo, that humor's a little dark for you. That was William level cynicism, Adrian. Not a good look on you. Go punch the bag some more," Sam said.

  "I'll do that later. Once we're done with this conversation, I'm going to call Lucy and see if I can get her out of there today."

  "No." Samuel's voice came through the line in a way that made the cell phone lose signal.

  "What? No, what?" Adrian asked.

  "Not today. Don't call her today. Tuesday. Talk to her in person on Tuesday," Sam was breathing a little hard.

  "You OK?" Adrian asked. "Should I come over?"

  "I'm OK. Just caught off guard. Tuesday, though. Not today. Not tomorrow. Wait it out," Sam said.

  "Why?" Adrian asked.

  "Because I said so," Sam said, the annoyance clear.

  "Of course, that'd be the reason. Fine. Let me know on the house front."

  ✽✽✽

  When Adrian walked into the big room of his parent's house on Sunday afternoon, he was greeted with his father's scowl.

  "Did you tell him to go buy property?" Hank demanded.

  "I asked him to buy a house and give it to the Foundation, yes," Adrian admitted.

  "See!" Sam said, defensively.

  "He asked you to buy A HOUSE. Not three houses, Sam. We don't need three more houses in Chicago. You own 8 houses in a 10-mile radius. What are we going to do with these new houses?" Hank sounded defeated.

  "I figured Lucy could pick one and we'd do something else with the others. Maybe give them to the hospital or something. I don't know," Sam said, shrugging.

  "You have to stop doing this, Sam!" Hank yelled.

  Sam sighed. "Why? It's not like I don't have the money. It's not like I'm going to run out of money. I keep trying to give it away, and it's not working. I like buying property. Why can't I buy it when I feel like it?"

  "Because you can only live in one at a time, Sam! You own like 83 houses around the world and won't let anyone outside of the family use them because you don't want someone else sleeping in your bed. The bed that you don't even sleep in. That's weird, son," Hank said, resigned.

  "Well, I never claimed to be not-weird," Sam said defensively.

  The room was quiet for a moment while everyone acknowledged the reality of that statement.

  Sam smiled a full-fledged adoring smile of joy. A smile that would make any sane woman's heart melt into a puddle at his feet.

  That smile isn't for a woman. He's smiling like that about the houses. I just know it, Adrian thought.

  "They're good houses, Adrian. The frisky one is empty, and we'll close on it fast. Its upstairs bathroom is sad; it needs a new one. The impulsive one still has a large family in it. They had just listed it on Friday. The rebellious one is my favorite, though. There's a tree in the back that needs a swing. The old couple that lives there now doesn't have grandkids, though. So, the tree's lonely," Sam explained.

  Hank scrubbed his hands over his face.

  "Sam-?" Noah started.

  "NO, NOAH. NO. ABSOLUTELY NOT," Hank yelled.

  "What makes a house rebellious?" Noah finished with a grin.

  "I walked in the front door and said hello to it-" Sam started.

  "Wait," Hank interrupted. "Who was shopping with you? Andrea or the other person?"

  "Andrea," Sam said.

  "OK, we're fine. Go ahead," Hank said.

  "So, I said hi, and I thought the dining room would be to the right, but it was to the left, behind the living room. I didn't see that coming. And then I thought the kitchen would be a certain way, but it wasn't. The cabinets opened in the other direction, being contrary. I thought the house and I wouldn't be friends. But, the closets upstairs were just how I thought they'd be. The tree in the backyard said it wished it had a little boy. It was lonely. Then it occurred to me that the house was just rebellious. Going through a phase. It'll get over it."

  By the time Sam was done talking, everyone in the room, except Hank, was grinning. This was typical Sam behavior when evaluating properties and land.

  "At regular intervals throughout every day, I wonder what your mother and I did to make you like this, Sam. I can't even really complain about it, either. It's not like you're a failure-to-launch guy living in our basement, playing video games," Hank said through laughter.

  "Please get a girlfriend. You've gotten weirder since Jake moved out," Hank begged.

  Sam glared at Hank. "I can't find-!"

  "Get a real girlfriend. Like, one that exists. Not this dream woman. Give a real person a try. You might like it," Hank interrupted.

  "Ahem Mandy Baker!" Ethan fake cleared his throat, making everyone in the room, including Hank, smile.

  Sam dated Mandy Baker before he started his company. They were college friends. By the end of the third date, they agreed to just be friends. Sam started visibly glowing while they were making out on her couch. When he touched the bare skin of her shoulder, her skin burned, leaving a mark.

  Mandy was the third non-related person Sam hired into Trellis Industries. She ran the legal department and had long since been wealthy in her own right. She kept working because the company did good things for the world. As far as anyone could tell, she had never once said a word against Sam, but they weren't really friends anymore.

  Sam had not tried dating anyone in almost ten years. Before Mandy, attempts at dating were awkward and strange. Being physically intimate with a woman made him ill. After Mandy, he wasn't even willing to try. Sam had been truly fond of her; he had a rough time when she started avoiding him.

  At Ethan's mention of her, Sam smiled, but it was a sad smile. Bittersweet.

  "OK. Back on track," Adrian said after a pause. "I'm going to have Martha talk to her about the house tomorrow-"

  "I said no, Adrian. Tuesday. Why are you ignoring me?" All traces of humor gone from Sam's face.

  Will and Hennessy walked into the room together. "Woo, what'd we miss? Why's he pissed off?" Will asked.

  "Cliff notes: Adrian is helping a woman and kid through the Foundation. He asked Sam to buy property because they live in a bad part of town. Adrian just said he was going to have Martha talk to the woman tomorrow even though Sam told him to talk to the woman on Tuesday," Ethan summarized.

  "What? I'm not ignoring you. You told me not to call-" Adrian started.

  "I TOLD YOU TO TALK TO HER ON TUESDAY. Do as I say. First, the appointment, help her be calm, let the kid swing his feet, tell her about the house, and then do the car," Sam instructed. The air crackled with a little bit of energy, though his voice didn't echo.

  Adrian blinked. "I have no idea at all what you're talking about. I will do whatever it is you want me to do, but I'm going to need a little bit more information. I'm not trying to be contrary. Tell me what you want me to do."

  Sam seemed to calm down. "I want you to meet her at the hospital on Tuesday and talk to her. It has to be you, not Martha. And it has to be in person."

  "It has to be Tuesday? I can't take Will and go down there right now?" Adrian clarified.

  "Tuesday," Sam confirmed.

  "Why would I go with you?" Will asked.

  "She lives in Englewood," Adrian said.

  "Oh, you got th
at wrong, little brother. You aren't going down there at all. Hennessy and I will go. You get to stay home." Will said without humor.

  "I was down there on Saturday night. It was fine. Just not a place for a kid on chemo," Adrian muttered.

  Hennessy cleared his throat. "Why would you go there, Adrian?"

  "Because a small child called me alone and afraid," Adrian said, forcing himself to be calm. "The building was not good. The apartment had a war proof door, though. And, let's be honest. If the young blonde lady and her little nephew can live there, I should be able to visit for an evening, don't you think?"

  "This is Lucy? You're talking about the woman from the hospital?" Darla asked, coming into the room.

  "Yeah, Mom."

  Darla started to look happy. "She called you? That didn't take long."

  "No, Mother. She didn't call me. Henry called me at 11:30 at night. The babysitter split, leaving him alone and terrified in the apartment while Lucy was at work. So, I went down and stayed with him," Adrian explained.

  "Well, now I'm delighted I made you write your number on that card. Poor baby. He can come to stay with me when she works. We'll have fun. Tell her," Darla instructed.

  Will's face was a mask of irritation. "Let's go back to the part where you went to Englewood in the middle of the fucking night."

  "Let's not," Adrian snapped. "It's fine. I'm fine. I'll talk to her on Tuesday. Moving on. How's Matty doing?"

  ✽✽✽

  After three rings, an older woman's voice answered, "This is Martha."

  "Uh, hi. Hi Martha, my name is Lucy Wallace and on-"

  "Oh, hi, Lucy! One minute, one minute. OK. How's Henry feeling? We need to go to Lurie Children's Hospital. It's AML, right? Acute myeloid leukemia? That's what Adrian thought it was, but he wasn't sure. Wait. Wait. What's that say? Tom! What's this here?" The woman moved the phone.

  Well, he said Martha would be expecting my call, I guess. Lucy almost laughed.

  "OK, Lucy, I'm back. Sorry about that. Can you bring him to Lurie tomorrow morning? Like 9:30 or 10:00, somewhere in there?" Martha asked.

  "Yes, yes, of course. What kind of paperwork do you need me to fill out? I'll fill out anything you need," Lucy said, startled. "It's tomorrow? Not next week?"