The Power: Building the Circle - Book 2 Read online

  I'm not going to get annoyed. I'm not. It's fine, Adrian thought. But it's fucking annoying that she keeps apologizing.

  "Uh, I started to. There's a car lot not far from here that has a couple of cars that are probably worth looking at," she said, distracted by his blatant dismissal of her apology.

  "What's the dealership? What make of cars?" He asked, still not looking at her.

  She's looking at used cars. I just know it. Why the fuck is she looking at used cars? I'm not going to get annoyed. I'm not. It's fine. The thought of having money hasn't sunk in yet.

  "There was a Ford Explorer that looked in good condition and a Chevy-"

  "Lucy. Are you looking at used cars?" He asked, eyebrows raised at his phone, sounding annoyed.

  "Well, yeah. They're more afford-"

  "Come here." His tone was sharp as the angry energy surged again without warning. "Please."

  She was moving before he finished speaking, eggs still cooking on the stove.

  "There's an app for everything," he said. "Including one to estimate your net worth across all your accounts and liquid investments. This is my personal net worth."

  "Oh, Adrian, I don't-"

  "Look at it, Lucy," he said, tone still sharp, voice heavy with the energy.

  Her eyes snapped to the phone and the number on the screen. "Uh, OK."

  "Would you please look at new cars? You're right that used cars are a smarter investment and more affordable, but we're way past that point," Adrian said as he got up to rescue the eggs.

  FUCK. I need food, and then I need to get out of here, Adrian thought. I'm losing control of it. It's been years and years since I lost control like this. Time to go.

  She was still standing by his chair, looking at his phone. FUCK.

  "Lucy?" He asked.

  "Yeah," she turned around to face him. "Sorry, zoned out. I'll look at the cars. Sorry. I didn't really think about it."

  "Nothing to worry about," Adrian said, tone gentle as he plated up the eggs. "Unless you really want to go, I suggest staying here today. There would be an alarming number of stares. It wouldn't bother me, but I suspect it'd wear on you."

  "Agree. I'll stay here if that's OK. Is there anything you need me to do?" Lucy asked, hopefully. "I can make dinner."

  "Would you order some groceries? The link is bookmarked. If you order by noon, they'll deliver by 4. Whatever you want, whatever you guys normally eat. The account's hooked up, just use the saved card. Ree and I will be back before you know it. Otherwise, order what you want or need? Did you do that yesterday?"

  "Ah, no. I put some stuff in the cart-"

  "There's a saved card on there, too. Whatever you want, alright? Don't worry about it. Your cards should be here today," he said. "We have to go soon, so I'll go wake Ree."

  "No! I'll get him. You eat. We'll be just a second," she said on her way out of the room.

  ✽✽✽

  "Henry, you OK back there?" Adrian called from the driver's seat, on the way to the hospital.

  "Just tired," he said, perking up.

  "You had a rough night. Do you remember your nightmare?" Adrian asked as he stopped at a light.

  When Adrian turned to look at him, Ree's eyes were welling with tears. "Buddy! It's OK. I'm sorry. We don't have to talk about it. I won't ask again."

  "Adrian, I don't want to go. Not yet. Please, not yet? Don't make us go yet? I'll be good," Ree promised

  "Henry, I'm not going to make you go anywhere. Your aunt and I talked last night. You're going to stay with me. At least until she's all better. OK?" Adrian said soothingly. "I'm sorry that upset you last night."

  "Aunt Lucy's going to stay, too?" he asked.

  "Of course, Ree. I wouldn't take you away from your aunt. Everything's OK, buddy."

  "When we were eating lunch, you said you were going to have the people take me away," Henry said, with a tone bordering on betrayal.

  It took a minute for Adrian to realize what he was talking about. "Yes, I did say that. When you called me over the weekend, I thought you were in trouble, that your aunt wasn't taking care of you-"

  "Aunt Lucy takes care of me! She takes good care of me!"

  "I know that now, Ree. I didn't know that when you called me on Saturday. But, when I got to you and saw you-"

  "Erika lied! She was supposed to stay. Aunt Lucy even told her!"

  "Ree, I know that now. I didn't know that when I got to you. Once I understood, we just waited for your aunt to get home. I didn't call anyone. And I won't let anyone take you away. I'm not going to make you leave. We're OK just the way we are," Adrian soothed.

  "And you won't let the bad people hurt Aunt Lucy?" Ree asked.

  I shouldn't ask. The energy is already at an unsafe level. I won't ask. He's had enough upset for today. I'm not going to ask. I'm not going to ask. I'm not going to-

  "Who are the bad people, Ree? What's that about? Is someone trying to hurt you?"

  ✽✽✽

  "I know," Hennessy said as he looked out Adrian's office window.

  "You know?" Adrian asked, clearly startled.

  Hennessy's tough. I can beat the shit out of him and not feel bad about it. Why would he fucking know this and do nothing?

  "Yup. She's filed several police reports over the last eighteen months or so. It came back in the background check," he said, calm as could be.

  "Were you going to mention it?" Adrian asked. His tone sounded merely curious instead of enraged.

  "Nope."

  "Why not?" Adrian asked.

  "I didn't want to worry you. And you shouldn't worry. We're hunting them. And the kid's parents, too. Speaking of, where is Ree? I thought he came to the hospital with you this morning," Hennessy said, all casual.

  "How do you know he came to work with me?"

  "Because we're keeping tabs on the house. Who goes in and comes out."

  "You're spying on me?" Adrian asked, eyebrows raised.

  "No."

  "It sounds like you're spying on me," Adrian said.

  "I'm not."

  "What would you call it then?" Adrian asked.

  "I'd call it security. It's a security detail. You should all have security details. Except for Reap. He's his own security." Hennessy sighed.

  "I want to put a security system on your house and give her a panic button," Hennessy continued. "I thought they were going to a hotel, and staying with you was only for a night or two. I would have talked to her about this at the hotel because it's none of your fucking business," Hennessy shot Adrian a look. "But, if they're with you for a bit yet, or you know, forever. Whatever. I want to button up your house."

  "Someone is watching the house right now?" Adrian asked, ignoring the comments about Lucy and Ree staying at his house.

  "Four people are watching the house," Hennessy clarified. "Two pairs. One for each door. The security system helps monitor windows."

  "Do it," Adrian said. "And I want to read the file."

  "I want Beth to be gloriously happy, dating some guy that's not a pig. And I want Will to laugh like he used to. We don't always get what we want."

  "I'm not kidding, Hennessy. I want the file," Adrian said again.

  "I'm not kidding either, Adrian. No."

  "You'll never work for the Foundation again," Adrian threatened, just to see how Hennessy responded.

  Hennessy shrugged. "Life is hard."

  "Why are you so obstinate about this?" Adrian asked.

  "She deserves her privacy, Adrian. She's earned it."

  "I'm not asking to be nosey, Hennessy. I keep blundering into shit that's painful and hard - like this 'bad people' thing. Then I don't handle it well because I didn't see it coming. I just want to avoid making her uncomfortable," Adrian explained.

  "OK. You want to avoid painful shit? Talking about anything from Tuesday forward should be reasonably OK. The broken face thing doesn't register on her scale of bad," Hennessy offered.

  "Smartass comments aren't helpful, man,
" Adrian was beyond annoyed and seriously wondering if the mind mojo would work on Hennessy.

  "I'm not being funny, Adrian. Let's do it this way. Scale from one to ten where one is your childhood and ten is the worst childhood imaginable. You know my background pretty well. I'd rate it a seven. With me so far?"

  Adrian nodded, already sorry he pushed this hard. Hennessy didn't voluntarily talk about his childhood. This was too close to home for him.

  "Lou's childhood ranks a 9."

  Adrian rocked back in his chair as if Hennessy punched him. There were a couple seconds of silence before Adrian nodded.

  "You want to know? Ask her. Tell her you want to understand. I don't think she has any idea at all how friendship works. She is very alone in this world. Be a friend. I won't give you the file without her permission. Hard no, Adrian. She gets to share what she wants, not what you want. She gets to choose. She hasn't had a lot of choices. I ain't taking this one from her. Understand?"

  "I apologize, Hennessy. I didn't realize it hit so close to home. I thought you were just being a pain in the ass."

  Hennessy nodded in acceptance. "Call and tell her I'm bringing lunch. I owe Lou a chat. And don't try to bully me again. You're bad at it. It ain't a good look on you. You're a better person than that, and we both know it."

  ✽✽✽

  Someone knocked on the front door. Shave and a haircut. Two bits. "It's me. Open the door, Lou," Hennessy called.

  "Holy fuck, your face is epic. I gotta take a picture. The guys from our old team post pics of the most interesting injuries we encounter. This is gonna win the month of June," he laughed as she pulled the door open.

  "Shut up, Hennessy. What's for lunch?" Lucy asked.

  Hennessy snorted. "Italian beef, chocolate shakes, and chocolate cake."

  "You're a god among men."

  "I know, right? Hungry?" He asked.

  "Adrian eats a lot more eggs than you'd anticipate," Lucy said.

  "Adrian eats almost nothing but eggs. Guy needs a life. And a wife. Care to apply?" He asked with a cheeky grin.

  "Haha. So funny," she said with an eye roll.

  "Not really kidding, Lou. Time to talk. Just you and me," he said.

  "What is it you need to know, Hennessy? I'm not lying to him."

  "Eh, let's eat. Here. Little bit of lunchtime reading for you," Hennessy said as he threw a folder on the kitchen table.

  "Background check?" She asked.

  A gasp escaped as she opened the file. It was definitely a background file, but it wasn't hers. There was a picture of a young boy on top of the pile of papers. His face was battered, his right eye swollen closed. Hennessy couldn't have been much older than Henry in the picture.

  "I figure I seen yours, you can see mine. You and me, we're a matched set of fucked up," Hennessy said.

  She flipped quickly as she ate. Dad died in jail. Removed from mom's care. Long series of foster homes, then the military. SEAL team.

  "How'd you end up here?" She asked.

  "Will and I went through training together. Didn't get along too well at first. He struck me as a pampered, spoiled momma's boy. And he is.

  "Our team's first mission out went bad. I fucked up. Got separated. Far out of position. Then I got shot. I was due for a bullet in the brain in short order. Not a fucking thing I could do, either. Just watched them come for me. Then Will jumps outta nowhere.

  "You saw him move. No hesitation. Faster than seems possible. He rained death down like the grim fucking reaper. Scooped my ass over his shoulder and hiked halfway down a mountain to rendezvous with the rest of the team."

  Hennessy took a big bite and chewed before he continued.

  "We've had each other's back since. I owe him my life. Figure he can make use of what I got left. So, I left the team when he did. Showed up for Sunday dinner.

  "All of a sudden, I joined the fucking Waltons. But God damn, they are the best fucking people on this planet. They make it real easy to walk away from the shit in that folder."

  "I thought SEALs were Navy? Water-based stuff. Were you swimming in a lake on the mountain?" Lucy asked.

  "That's adorable, Lou," Hennessy said through a laugh.

  "My turn?" He asked after chewing another bite of his sandwich.

  Lucy nodded. "OK," she said, dread pooling in her stomach. She stopped eating.

  Hennessy was right, though. They were a matched pair of fucked up. He'd understand.

  "Lucinda Lee Wallace. 23 years old. Born and raised in Chicago. Only child, removed from Dad's care at 11 due to an unspecified type of abuse. Cycled through foster care, removed from one home after your foster brother- David, right? - raped and tried to kill you. The last foster home had multiple kids, including Linda Jane Wright. At sixteen, you ran away with Linda and stayed off the grid until your eighteenth birthday. Why'd you run? Where'd you go?"

  Lucy shook her head. "Ah. Wow. That's sealed files, not public record."

  "I've known Adrian for years. He's a do-good kinda guy. Sees someone in trouble, wants to help. Always. Seen him dressing homeless people on the street and helping a random woman in a parking lot to leave a bad situation all at the same time.

  "He's like, 'Here man, it's freezing. You need a coat. Gotta stay warm.' Sees a guy dragging his wife and kid around by the fucking hair, screaming about how she's gonna learn her lesson. Adrian walks over, says something to the guy. The guy runs away. Literally, hauls ass, running away. Lady's crying. Doesn't know what to do. Adrian gives her all the cash in his pocket, the keys to his car, and tells her about a center in Ohio that'll help them start over.

  "I shit you not. The guy's always got a new car because he keeps giving them to people. He just signs the title now and leaves it in the glovebox for whoever ends up with the car.

  "Anyway, Adrian gives her the car, he walks back over to the guy that needs a coat. He starts digging through the pile to find one that's the right size while talking to the guy about a men's rehab that could help him put a life back together, that living on the street never ends well."

  Hennessy took a drink of his shake before continuing.

  "You know how many of the people he's helped have visited his house?" Hennessy held up his hand in a circle. "Zero. So, I dug deep on Wednesday. You can be offended. But you're still gonna answer me. Why'd you run? Where'd you go?" He asked again.

  Lucy took a deep breath and blew it out. Closing her eyes for a minute, she slouched back in the chair.

  "This is you and me talking. No one else gets to know through me," Hennessy said.

  She looked at him with raised eyebrows.

  He nodded at her.

  "One of the boys didn't respect boundaries. Linda had an aunt she thought would help us. It didn't work out. She… Linda started collecting boyfriends that would take care of her. That wasn't a solution for me, just more of why I ran in the first place.

  "I was homeless for a while, panhandling, and doing small jobs that I could find, avoiding people as much as possible. No shelters. No homeless camps. I didn't want to be found. Linda would help when she could.

  "The weather turned cold. A little old Polish lady found me trying to huddle in her alley to keep warm. Said she could hear my teeth chattering in the wind three blocks away. She let me stay with her. I cleaned. Shopped. Took care of her. She was dying of cancer. Her kids didn't spend much time with her. She died two months before I turned 18. By that time, no one was looking for me."

  "No prostitution? Drugs? I ain't judging, and neither would Adrian. If there's history, proof, I need to dig for it now, before it's in circulation."

  "No. No drugs. No selling. That would have been more of what I ran from."

  "You resurfaced. Got a job. A place to live. GED. Community college. Linda lived with you off and on. She got pregnant. You had a falling out. She calls one day, and what? What was the story when she dropped the kid off?"

  "She thought I was trying to steal her boyfriend. His family was well off, her ticket home
, she said. He made a pass at me. I declined; she took it badly. Didn't want to talk to me for a while. When she called, she said she was in trouble and needed to leave Henry somewhere safe for a day or two. I told her to come to stay, too. She said no.

  "I called the cops 4 days later. Took what money I had and hired a lawyer. Got guardianship of Ree."

  "Where did John come in?"

  "Wow. You were thorough," Lucy said as she took a drink of shake.

  Hennessy nodded.

  "I was tending bar. Two years ago, a little more. He was a regular. Not much of a drinker, but liked being out and about. He was nice. Interested in me. Interested in Ree. A kind ear when Ree was diagnosed when all this started.

  "I'd known him for most of a year before he asked me out. Dinner seemed innocent enough, and it was. The next day, he buzzed my apartment. I was surprised he knew where I lived but wasn't really alarmed. When I opened the apartment door, David was standing with him. I couldn't close the door fast enough. The guy that lived next door was a cop. He heard me fighting, yelling for help. Came running in his fucking underwear. He was dead asleep.

  "They weren't armed when they came into the apartment. They got off on a plea. John had never been in trouble before; David had no record as an adult. The cop next door helped me file for restraining orders.

  "Over the next few months, I would see David or John following me. Following Ree. I made reports. No one seemed to care.

  "About that time, Medicaid wrote Henry off as a lost cause. Everything I had and more went into treatments that didn't work. The state gave us rent assistance. We moved to that horrible apartment. On the upside, they couldn't stalk me there. They stood out worse than I did."

  "Have you seen either of them in the last couple of months?" Hennessy asked.

  "I thought I saw John last month in a hospital parking lot, but then he was gone. Do you know how they're related? I'm not sure what the connection is between them." Lucy said.

  "They were foster brothers when they were younger. Does Ree know you're not his biological aunt? Does Adrian?"

  "No. And it doesn't matter."

  "Pfft. You're telling me that? Fuck you too, Lou. Alright. You sure there's no dirt to dig?" Hennessy asked.