L. Ann Marie (13 page)

I walk out of the MOMA gala laughing hysterically.  I add panty shopping to our list.

Amanda

Bob had a car drive us to the reservation.  This is where Cloud grew up; it's beautiful.  He's on his laptop when I come in.  "I found a beautiful lake."

He smiles up at me.  "Let me finish this up and we can take a walk together so I can see it."  I nod and sit pulling out my iPad from his bag.  I wake up as I'm being lifted.  "I must have dozed off."  I lay my head on his chest.  He carries me to bed and lies down on the side of me.  I roll onto his chest and close my eyes.

"Babe, I gotta get the door."  I roll off him.  He swears and jumps to the door.  Fuck, I should have got it.  I get up and pull my hair in a ponytail as I'm walking out to the living room.  "Mandy, this is Cloud's grandmother; she asked to talk to you.  She's a shaman, like a medicine woman."

How fuckin cool is that?  I put my hand out and she hugs me.  She's a little woman but she has a big presence.  "It is good to meet you, Mandy.  My CJ tells me good things about you."

I love her already; she's smiling at me like a grandmother would.  "They might even be true."  I tell, her making her laugh.

"The spirits tell me you have your own spirit helping to guide your way.  I wanted to meet you and see for myself.  Your guide loves you and wants you to be happy in your life, Mandy.  She says she will be with you always.  You call her when you need her."

Fuck!  Tears are running down my face.  "Meely?"

"Oh no, child, your sister is happy; this is not sad news.  She's here for you when you need her.  She will guide you in right with peace and love from a place of light.  You call on her when you need her.  Christian can help you if you lose your way but your sister is strong; she stands by you, Mandy, in all things."  She leans closer.  "She likes your man, too; she thinks he's good for you."

I laugh wiping my eyes, "Thank you."  She kisses my cheeks and walks out the door.  "I love you, Meely."  A breeze touches my arm and I know it's her.  I may be fuckin losing it but it feels good to think it's Meely.

Bob hugs me from behind.  "She's gone already?"

"Yeah.  Let's go check out the lake."  I wipe my face and pull him to the door.

Two days

Bob

"Was a fuckin great weekend.  Thanks."

Danny smiles, "Good.  So what day are we booking Ben?"

Fuckin Brothers.  "I haven't asked her yet.  I have some pictures coming today.  I'm waiting until she sees them."

He frowns, "What do fuckin pictures have to do with asking her to marry you?"

Fuck, I blow out a breath.  "She's a twin, her parents favored the twin over her; she was bookish, Mandy's artistic.  Amelia was her shield; she supported her and lifted her up when her parents cut her down.  When Amelia died, the parents couldn't look at Mandy.  She lost everything when her other half died.  When she’s scared she sits on the floor in the hallway with her head against the mirror so she can feel Amelia."  I take another breath because this is going to sound fucked up.  "When we went to New York, I had a photographer follow us.  I wanted him to get a picture of her and her reflection so she would have that with her now, knowing that her sister will always be a part of her.  We crossed off things on the bucket list that was her sister’s.  I wanted it to mean more."

He looks at me.  "That's the fuckin nicest thing I've ever heard.  Who the fuck knew you were so fuckin deep and smart?"

"Fuck off, Brother."  I wipe my face.  "I think what made a difference was Cloud's grandmother.  Since she met her she's not sad anymore.  She's always fuckin smiling."

"So why don't you ask her now?  You don't need the fuckin pictures."

I think about that.  "What if I'm totally wrong and she hates the pictures, then me.  I need to know she's the person I think she is.  I can't spend my life like Ben did.  Tracy was off but she was off so deep; no one but Jessie picked it up.  This is deep and should mean something.  If I'm right, I know it's right."

He nods, "The kids say it's right but if you need the pictures to settle you, I guess it's good they're here today.  Then you can ask her today."

"What the fuck is up with everyone trying to get us married?  Is there a bet going?"  He puts a blank look on his face.  "Fuckin Brothers betting when I ask her?  That's fuckin whacked."  I think about it then smile.  "Who has today, you?"  He smiles.  "Who has next weekend?"

"Fuckin Tiny.  He always fuckin wins."  He gets up taking his coffee.

I'm not saying a fuckin word.  He brings me to the shop so I can get my bike.  Dave did a great job on it.  I go in to pay Kelly and she says it’s paid but she won't say anything else.  Who the fuck paid for the bike?  I call Keith and ask if the MC paid, he says no.  I don't have time to figure it out, I need to get back to the house and meet the photographer.

I pull in right behind him at the gate; I get out and talk to Jax so he'll let him pass.  He follows me to the house and I help him carry the pictures in.  Fuck, this is more than I expected.

He opens the biggest one; my breath gets caught in my throat.  I cough but can't take my eyes off it.  It's in front of the MOMA, she's looking up at me; her reflection is smiling at us.  "It's fuckin beautiful."  He keeps opening them.  Some are small and I put them around the house as he opens them.  He hangs the big one in the living room.  I fuckin love it.  He has two more decent sized ones with the reflection.  One of her alone at the Statue of Liberty and one of us at the Met Museum.  He also has the pictures I picked from the museum.  He hangs them where I point; I have no fuckin clue so I give the general direction.  He figures it out.

"You did fuckin good, Mark.  I love every one of them.  Thanks for coming out and hanging everything for me."

"No problem, Bob.  Can I get a couple of shots of you and your leg?  It's a fuckin work of art."  He moves me all over the place taking his shots and says he'll send me a copy.  I roll my eyes; I live with the leg every fuckin day.  I need a picture?

I clean up all the brown paper and call Mandy.  She answers on the first ring.  "I need you to come home now."

She laughs.  "What if I have an appointment?"

"You finished Mitch an hour ago.  You will have no appointments today because I made sure of it.  I need your sweet fuckin ass home now, it's important."

"Babe, are you alright?"  She's not smiling anymore.

"Are you walking out the door as you're talking to me?"

"Yeah, but your scaring me.  Hey!  What the fuck!  Let me go!"  Fuck.  I run to my helmet.  She's screaming but it's muffled.  What.the.fuck?!  My fuckin heart is beating wild.

"B3 on with MC Ops."

Rich: "LP2 on B3"

Me: "Watch Mandy's shop.  Someone just took her."

Rich: "On it."  He's talking to Digs.  "B3, the only thing showing is a dark green SUV leaving the lot.  There's a blind spot at the back corner.  Digs is looking for the SUV."

"I'm on Main, Rich.  Where am I going?"  Fuck!  I've never been so scared before.  This is fuckin bullshit; I need a fuckin direction.

"VP's coming in, I'm on my way.  Digs is hunting for the SUV, Brother.  We'll get her back."

Danny pulls up beside me handing me ammo and a holster.  I'm in fuckin shorts but they have the side pockets.  I put the holster on and slide my spare to the other side.  VP flies by heading to Security.

Rich: "Digs, get Cloud out of training and up in the air.  Call LB, get him on this too."

Digs: "Blackhawks on his way, VP called him.  I got LB on with Sticks, getting what we have."

Rich: "Roger, Digs.  Good job, Brother."

"She was taken while I was on the phone with her."  I tell Danny.

Digs: "Her phone is in the lot.  Her car is headed south but she's not in it.  I have HS2 following."  Fuck!

VP: "SUV registered to Calvin Mello, name mean somethin?"

Me: "Her fuckin ex?  It's been more than two years."

Cloud: "Blackhawk standing ready."

VP: "Need eyes headin north, dark green SUV."

Rich pulls up to us; I throw him chin.

VP: "HS stopped her car, she's not in it.  Guy was paid fifty at the Plank to take it for a ride."

I pull my helmet off.  Fuck!  Danny puts his hand on my shoulder.  "Put the fuckin helmet on.  Any bit of info can spark something for you.  We need that right now."  He's right; I throw chin and put my helmet on.

VP: "Security's at the address on the registration, it's cleared out."

Little Ben: "VP, we have emails from him, starting last week.  He plugged into a cafe in Barnstable to send the last one."

VP: "Roger, LB.  LP1, head to Barnstable, run through Dartmouth."

Danny: "Roger, VP."  We gun it doing 125 until we hit Dartmouth.  We travel Route 6 in fuckin traffic.  Danny starts passing cars and we follow single file.  When a car tries to block him in, he pulls his gun and drives by.  We follow with nothing coming from Ops the whole fuckin way.

We're just about at the Barnstable Bridge when VP comes back on.

VP: "Blackhawk has the SUV in Manomet.  Plate was verified."

Danny: "Roger, VP."  He spins around and heads the other way.  Horns are going off everywhere.  Rich rolls over a car and keeps going.  If I wasn't so fuckin pissed, I'd laugh.  Whatever it takes.

Digs: "Second left, LP1.  I have no feed down that road but my map says first left, house is on the right, 217."

Danny: "Roger, Digs."  Cloud is above us, hovering.  Danny goes to the SUV.  Rich goes to the back; I walk to the front door putting my headset on.  "SUV is empty."  Danny says.

I bang, then open the door; it's not fuckin locked.  I can feel it's empty.  Danny checks the basement, Rich starts at one end, I go to the other.  I almost missed it; she wrote in clear Chapstick.  Fuckin Mandy is smart.  "Rich!"

Me: "VP, there's a message on the mirror.  ‘Aunt in Maine’."

Rich comes in and takes a picture of the mirror.  I turn the hot water on so it steams up the mirror.  She has a web around a heart at the bottom; I missed that.  Fuckin Mandy.  Rich gets a better picture.  Danny comes in and I walk out.  Fuckin Maine.  What the fuck was her ex doing emailing her?  Why didn't she tell me?

VP: "LB, find an aunt in Maine."

Little Ben: "Roger, VP."

"Why didn't she tell me about the emails?"  I ask Rich when he comes out.

He pulls his phone and hits speaker.  "LB, anything in the email giving this asswipe encouragement?"

Little Ben laughs.  "No.  They had us laughing; she told him to leave her alone, then to die and leave her alone, then she tells him she moved and didn't leave a forwarding address.  They're all funny though; she's got a mouth on her."

Rich smiles.  "LB, I'm on speaker and Bob is right here.  Thanks for the info, Brother."

"Sorry, Brothers."  Little Ben sounds embarrassed.

Danny is watching.  "I'd say she didn't think anything of them.  We need to get to the aunt's before he does.  VP, we need a plan."

VP: "Blackhawk's loaded for trainin, can't add three bikes.  Digs is on with Hammer to drop the weight and borrow two.  Need to take B3's.  Hold tight."  I pace the yard.

Digs: "LP1, you're going to the Barnstable Air Field, ten minutes east of you."

Danny: "Got it, Digs.  I know where it is."

Digs: "Blackhawk will meet you; they've agreed to secure the bikes and supplies."

Danny: "Roger, Digs.  We need uniforms, Digs.  Rich is the only one dressed."

Digs: "On it, LP1."

We get to the air field and get the bikes in a locked storage room.  Tiny and Danny get my bike in the chopper.  I'm starting to feel like a pain in the ass with always needing to add to the already stressful Ops plans.  I sit looking out the window.

"We'll get her back, Brother."  Rich says.

I look at him.  "Yeah."

He watches me; I turn back to the window.  "Not one fuckin Brother sees you as a problem, Brother."

"Get the fuck out of my head.  Now the Ops has to accommodate me.  It's a fuckin problem when I can't just get on a bike and ride."  I don't want to have this conversation with him, with fuckin any one.

He shakes his head.  "It needs to be said.  With the robotic you'll ride without the hand shifter.  We'll do whatever it takes to keep you on Ops because you’re that fuckin good.  You took a hit because you protect what's important to us.  You live 'we take care of our own' without questions or problems.  We're doing the same for you.  It's not a fuckin problem unless you make it one."

Fuck, he's right.  It's like Danny with the eye thing.  He nods.  I smile, fuckin Brother in my head.  I throw chin and think, 'Thanks, Brother.'  He slaps my shoulder.

Amanda

Fuckin bastard won't even untie me.  I have my head against the window, watching the lines pass.  I wonder for the millionth time if Bob found my message.  I've been leaving them whenever we stop.  He hasn't shut up since he took me.  For the life of me I can't figure out what I ever saw in him.  He wants us to live together again, probably so I can pay the bills for him.  Sleazy bastard.  He slaps me across the face, again.  I swear to Christ he's going to pay for that.  "You're not listening to me, Amanda."  He's whining.

"You haven't shut up for fuckin hours.  I'm tired and hungry and you want me to listen to your whining the whole fuckin way?"  He hits me so hard my head is ringing.

"Fuckin smart mouth is grating on my nerves.  Fuckin pussy is supposed to do what her man says."  He's got spit dripping on his chin.

"If my man was here, I'd listen to him.  What I got here is a whiny, cheating leech.  You put your hands on me again, I'll gladly watch you die, motherfucker!"  He punches me and I turn in the seat, kicking him with my back against the door.  He yells like a girl.  "Keep your fuckin sleazy hand off me!"  I scream back at him.  The car is all over the damn road.  Where the fuck are the police when you need them?

"Alright!  I'll keep my hands over here.  Fuckin bitch!  I don't know what I thought was so fuckin great about you."

"Good, then let me off at the next gas station!"  I scream at him.

He laughs with a sound that makes me nervous.  "Oh no, baby, that fuckin mouth can work for me again.  The one thing you did right was suck my cock."

"The first time you come near me, I'll fuckin bite your little dick off."

He punches me again and I start kicking again.  Fuckin guy went from slapping to punching me in the face; he isn't going to worry about hurting me when we're alone.  He screams, “Enough!” I stop after jamming my heel into his thigh.  Rat bastard, slime ball, cheating jerk!

I lean against the window and think about Bob.  I wonder what was important at home.  I hope his leg is working ok; I know the kids helped but it's still so new to him.  I should have told him about the emails; I thought the bastard would just take the hint and leave me the fuck alone.

I wake up and notice it's starting to get dark; this makes me nervous.  We must be close by now.  I keep my eyes closed and wait.  The road gets bumpy and I have to sit up or risk a concussion.  He hasn't said a word; this also makes me nervous.  He slows and I watch the road; as soon as I see level land on my side, I open the door and push myself out.