No Good Deed (Destiny Saga #5) - Chapter 9

We got the judge handed off with little problem. For now, at least, it seemed he and his wife would be safe. I promised them we’d do what we could to get the Syndicate out of his life, and mine, as fast as we could.

Any hesitancy he might have had about walking away from his life, even if only for a few days or weeks, pretty much vanished when armed men came into his home and threatened to take his wife with them to ensure he towed the line. Jawarski and I went back to my house and waited, occasionally turning on the news to see if there were any mention of a body found and a missing local judge. 

Jawarski said she could check at the precinct with people she knew there, but I nixed that idea. The Syndicate would be trying to find out what happened, and they’d have all their dirty cops and probably other civil servants we didn’t even know about yet, trying to get a line on who took Judge Davis and killed one of their men. Jawarski coming out and asking about it, especially with her known connection to me, would be a big red flag for them.

While they knew I was a pain in their ass, they mostly knew it from my connection to the company and the foiled attempt on my life. While it meant I definitely had their attention, it would be a stretch for them to make the leap to my being actively engaged in a plot against them. They’d figure that part out eventually, but the longer we could delay that, the better.

That didn’t save me from hearing the displeasure of both Mom and the girls, who didn’t like my taking risks, no matter the reason. Aside from that, nothing new happened on the Syndicate front for a week. There was a small story about the mysterious disappearance of Judge Davis, whose home was found locked up, but nothing out of place. No word about the body, or the mess left by both of the two Syndicate men or our confrontation with them, meaning the Syndicate cleaned up after themselves.

Carter had the Judge on lock-down, neither he nor his wife were being allowed outside. I could imagine they were going a little stir crazy, but considering the alternative, it didn’t seem like there was any other choice. 

By the end of the week, I had something new to worry about; which, as they always seemed to be, was heralded by a phone call. This time it was Jonathan. He said he needed to come by and talk to me, and wanted to make sure Mom, at the very least, was there. The process of calling Mom away from work somehow ended up as a signal for pretty much everyone from the household - except Judy and Tina - to be present when he showed up.

“Hey, Cas,” Jonathan said when I let him in, “Oh, I wasn’t expecting this many people.”

“Yeah, you asked for me to make sure Mom was here, and that got the rest of them curious. You know how nosy they all are.”

That last part I said staring at the girls, which was promptly ignored.

“So what’s up?”

“We finished up the paperwork with Mrs. Keen this morning, and she is pushing for us to start working with her daughter as soon as possible. I told her I’d have a timetable for her this afternoon.”

“That’s easy. She comes and stays with us, we give her the injection, she gets sick and then kicks the habit. Sure we have to make it look good, convince her what’s happening is more conventional than it is, but I’m not sure what the big deal is.”

“That isn’t going to work,” Mom said.

“Why? We’ll put her through the change, she’ll be clear of the drugs, and we won’t have to worry about her giving anything away.”

“Except, it isn’t that easy. Problem one, we can’t just give her an injection the moment she comes through the door. Even to a twenty-something junkie, that’d seem weird, and there’s the window between injection and when the loyalty part of the change takes effect. Are you suggesting we grab her and tie her down the minute she comes in the door? We need to go through steps to make our ‘procedure’ seem legitimate. You have argued that the change isn’t brainwashing. We agreed we weren’t going to tell her the whole truth, at least not for a while. She might be loyal to you after the change, but she will still have suspicions and, unless you specifically tell her not to talk to anyone about what happened, she’ll probably talk to someone about the suspicions.”

“Okay, I see that, but …”

“Two,” Mom said, rolling over my protest, “is the living conditions, here. How are you going to explain you sleeping in the master bedroom with four girls every night? Of whom two of the girls’ mothers live in the same house. Hell, I love you as my own son, and I know everything; but I still have to try and not think too hard about it, or I start to freak out.”

“Okay,” I said, realizing I wasn’t going to be able to say anything until she was done.

“Three, where the hell are you going to put her? We’re already packed in here pretty tight. So much so that you okayed spending a giant chunk of cash to build a new, much larger home to contain us all.”

I hadn’t considered that last part, and I should have. The first two were problems I thought we could deal with, but Mom was right, there was literally nowhere to put her.

“So what should we do?”

“Rent a place for her,” Vicki said.

“Wouldn’t that also seem strange, putting her up by herself? Also, if we’re going to put in sometime between when we take her in and when we ‘treat’ her, to make it seem real, we’d be leaving a junkie by herself, completely unsupervised.”

“I wasn’t suggesting renting a one bedroom apartment. You’re right, she can’t be left alone, so we rent a two bedroom apartment and someone stays with her, or we take turns or something.”

“That might work. Could we rent a place quick?” I asked Jonathan.

“Sure, we’d have to pay a bit upfront, but I don’t see why not. We’d have to rent under either Next Step or Evolve since no one would rent to a minor.”

“We do it under Next Step, since, if this works, it might be something we end up doing again. Maybe. So who stays with her? It can’t be me. I have too many balls in the air right now with the Syndicate and some of the stuff at work for me to play babysitter. Probably not Zoe either, since she’s in charge of the building going on at the new center.”

“I’ll do it,” Mrs. Hollabrand said.

“Really?” I asked, surprised.

“Yeah. I’ve been living here, just kind of doing nothing since … since we moved in. I haven’t really been carrying my weight.”

“Mom,” Vicki said, in a concerned voice.

“Nora,” I said, waving Vicki back into her seat and sitting down next to her mom. I don’t think I’d ever used her first name before, but I hoped it would get her attention. “You aren’t expected to do anything but what you need to do. You are part of our family.”

“I know,” she said, patting my hand. “I appreciate it. You and everyone else have been so kind to Vicki and me since Richard passed. I’m not sure that if I’d known then what I know now I would have let you date Vicki, but I can honestly say I’m happy about how things are, even as strange as it is. I’m really happy to see my daughter with a purpose in her life, and I actually want a little bit of that. I can’t just sit around, I need to get life going again. I’ve been a rich housewife for so long, I’m not sure I could go out and get a job again. But this, I can help take care of a troubled girl. That I know how to do. And, it would be nice to feel like I’m contributing to something again.”

“I think it’s a great idea,” Mom said.

“Okay, so that’s the plan. We rent a two bedroom apartment, and Nora goes and stays with her. I’d like, as much as possible, for someone to be there with her. No telling where in her recovery Celia is. It might be more than one person can handle.”

“Do you think we should put someone on them, for safety's sake?” Jawarski asked.

“Do you think that’s necessary?”

“Not really. Just make sure anyone who’s staying with this girl has Levi's and my numbers, and know to call us if anything goes wrong. It should only be for a couple of days. Once the change takes hold, the only trouble would be external, which is true every time any of us leave the house.”

“Okay, so let's not put anyone armed with them. It might bring questions why a non-profit helping with drug rehabilitation needs armed security. So, how long until we can get her in for the change, to make it look good?”

“A few days. It’s not all for appearance's sake. We will need at least two days to bring her in, draw some blood, and run some tests to make sure she’s not a genetic negative. The last thing we want is to put her through the change and drive her insane. That will also work for appearance's sake since anything like this would need at least a standard physical and some blood work. Depending on what time she’s dropped off we’ll get her in that first day, or the next if it’s late. We'll be able to put her through the change two days after that. Another day for her body to process the change, when she’ll be down sick and not able to do much, and then we’ll be on the other side of it.”

“I hadn’t thought about checking her for being a negative. Okay, I think we’re set. Jonathan, can you get one of your people onto renting an apartment? Tami, would you and Emily mind doing some shopping, getting food and whatnot needed for the apartment for a couple of days, plus bedding and whatnot? Let’s plan on them not doing cooking there, at least not right away, someone will drop off their meals.”

“We’re on it.”

“Okay. I guess as soon as you have the apartment arranged for her to join us. Make sure my schedule is clear when she shows up. I want to meet her.”

Two days later I was meeting Jonathan at an apartment a mile and a half away from the house, to meet Celia, who was supposed to arrive anytime.

“So, that happened fast,” I said to Jonathan as we stood in the apartment complex parking lot.

“Yeah. Her grandmother has basically been keeping the girl locked up for a week and is pretty desperate. She’s been pushing for us to go faster since your meeting.”

A black town car pulled up, and a man in a suit got out, coming around to open the rear passenger door. Out stepped Celia, who somehow managed to look styled and fancy, and like a complete mess, all at once. Her clothes, which even I could tell was probably pretty expensive, were neat and looked freshly pressed, with sharp creases down the pants legs and her hair was clean and neatly cut to shoulder level

But looking past the superficial things it was impossible to miss the signs of someone with a serious problem. There were bags under her eyes, which overall seemed almost sunken and her skin was grayish and sickly. On top of that were small lesions on her neck and the back of her hand. If she weren’t wearing pants and a long sleeve shirt, I’d bet money she had more of those. Her grandmother had tried her hardest to hide the signs of serious drug use, but all the makeup in the world wasn’t going to do the trick.

“Hi, Celia, I’m Caspi…”

“Wow, she must really be getting desperate. We’ve gone from the fancy, fenced in country club, to some skank apartment in East Bumblefuck. It’s cute you guys thought that sending someone’s kid to greet me would put me at ease, or whatever, but I couldn’t give a crap. Just show me where you’re locking me up.”

“We’re not planning on locking you up,” I said, trying to smile.

“Whatever. Just show me where I’m staying. I feel like shit and wanna lie down.”

I stepped aside and gestured up the stairs. Jonathan, thinking prudently, had gotten a third floor apartment. Odds were, if she could get out, this girl would make a try to get a fix. He’d pointed out we couldn’t very well put bars over windows without getting some questions asked, so a third-floor apartment would have to do as a deterrent from trying to go out a window.

I was already thinking about the fact that we’d probably have to get a third person to stay in the apartment, so someone was always there to block the front door as an exit when I was tapped on the shoulder.

“Megan,” I said in surprise. “How did you …”

“I followed their car. I know you said Vicki’s mom would stay and watch Celia, but I figured she could use some help. I have three weeks until classes start again. It’s my fault you’re in this fix, so I thought I could come out and help.”

“Well … great. That solves a problem I was just thinking about. It’s only a two bedroom, though.”

“I can sleep on the couch. It can’t be more uncomfortable than the bed in my dorm.”

“You know if you wanted to stay somewhere off campus …”

“I know, Mr. Moneybags, but I want to spend my first year in the dorms, get the whole college experience. Plus, I already take advantage of you too much.”

“Megan, you’re part of the family. All you have to do is ask. Plus, what high school kid doesn’t want to be able to say he’s keeping older women in an apartment out of town?”

“The high school kid whose girlfriends, plural, would neuter him with hedge clippers if they thought he was serious.”

“Psh … them. Seriously, though, if you need to get out of the dorm, just tell me.”

“What would I do without my little buddy,” she said, putting an arm around me.

“I’m taller than you, ya know?”

“Details, details. Anyway, you should head home. I’m betting Celia stays locked in her room as much as possible, but between Mrs. Hollabrand and me, we’ll make sure she gets settled and gets to the lab tomorrow to get blood drawn. We got this, Boss man.”

“Alright, well … call me if you guys need anything.”

I headed back to Jonathan’s car since I’d ridden over with him, working over what, if anything, we needed to get set to put Celia through the change when he broke through my train of thought.

“That’s something you need to get better at,” he said.

“What that?”

“Delegating,” he said as we got into his car, “It’s something most of us learn as we work our way up. You learn that if you try and do everything yourself, you burn out. You also learn that if you put good people into managing things for you, and then you step over them to do their job yourself, even if your intention is just to help, you make them feel unneeded and chase them away.”

“And you’re saying I’m bad at delegating?”

“Sometimes. Sometimes you pass off a project and let the other person run with it, but other times you have to double-check everything. You have to find a balance.”

“I guess,” I said, looking out the window.

“It’s not a criticism, Cas, just some helpful advice from someone who’s been through the trenches. You’ve been blessed, and your abilities have helped you move faster than maybe anyone ever has before, but there are downsides. You missed the learning and failing that most of us have to go through.”

“If you think I’ve skipped over the failing part, you haven’t been paying attention the last year.”

“Sure, you’ve had some stumbles, but you’ve always managed to pull things out, for the most part at least. You haven’t landed flat on your ass, at least not yet. Nothing teaches you better than abject failure. I honestly don’t want you to ever have to learn lessons like that, but until you do, you’re going to have to settle for lectures from those of us who have.”

“So you’re saying I should hand people tasks and walk away?”

“No, that leads to you missing things. But you do need to hand off portions and just check in on them, letting the person you delegated handle the details. The amount you let them handle depends on how much you trust them to get the job done. Some of this you’re going to have to just learn by doing. And handing off items to other people isn’t the worst part.”

“What is?”

“Sometimes those people are going to drop the ball, and you’re going to have to be okay with that. Sure, if they screw up, you can jump on them, and get them straightened out; or, not hand over responsibility to them. But sometimes things come apart despite the person's best efforts, and you have to find a way to not blame them, and not blame yourself for giving them the job in the first place. You just have to accept that sometimes shit happens, and pick up the pieces as best you can.”

I kept looking out the window and lapsed into silence as I thought about what he’d said. He was right, of course, but I hadn’t really thought about how much micromanaging I’d done. Looking back, I could see it was probably too much. One example that jumped to mind was second-guessing, vocally, the decisions the girls had made about Next Step, even though I’d handed the project to them.

It was something I’d have to think about. Thankfully, I was saved from falling into one of my funks by the girls when I walked in the door.

“Cas, how’d you feel about a party tomorrow?” Zoe said when I walked through the door.

“What? What party?”

“Some kind of the end of winter party. One of the guys from the football team’s parents are out of town on a ski trip, and he’s throwing a party. Amanda called to make sure we knew about it.”

“Sure, I guess it’d be fun.”

“Yes,” Vicki said, pumping her fist.

“You know you guys don’t need my permission to go to parties, right?”

“Well, yeah, we know. But it’d be less fun if you weren’t there,” Tami said.

“Really? I’ve never been much of a party animal. I can’t see how I’d make the party more fun.”

“It gives us someone to make fun of at the party,” Emily said with a smirk.

“Ahh, okay, got it. Yeah, I’m on board I guess.”

The group of them ran upstairs, I was guessing to call Amanda and tell her we’d go. I went looking for something to eat.

The next day rolled around and, heeding Jonathan’s advice, I told Mrs. Hollabrand to take Celia to the appointment without me. Celia was a hundred pounds soaking wet, so I figured between Mrs. Hollabrand and Megan they could manage her. And Alex was just drawing blood and then doing a few other things to make it seem more complex than that. They didn’t need me to hover over them. Tomorrow we’d know the results, and we could go to the next step.

Instead, I spent the day hanging out with the girls, which was nice. I think I spent more time with them, collectively and singularly, over the winter break than I had during the previous several months combined. 

I did get a call after the appointment from both Alex and Megan. They confirmed that, except for some pointed insults at everyone in earshot, Celia put up with the poking and prodding. Alex had everything she needed and Mrs. Hollabrand and Megan successfully got Celia back to the apartment.

By nine, we were headed to the party. Thanks to the problems with CPS, the Syndicate’s go at grabbing me at the beginning of the year, and then the attempt on my life just a few months after that; the girls had all been forced to keep a lower profile than in the previous year. While I didn’t mind it so much since until last year I’d never been invited to parties, most of the girls, save Emily, had been popular and outgoing. This year had really crimped their style. While they’d never complained, it was obvious from how excited they were that they were looking forward to it.

Jawarski, however, wasn’t pleased at all. That, in and of itself, wouldn’t be so unusual, but her displeasure being focused on someone other than me was new. She knew going to a party wasn’t my idea and, although she chastised me for ‘not keeping my women in check,’ she left it at that, choosing to grumble about how it was a security nightmare.

She was doubly annoyed when Zoe told her she didn’t want Jawarski walking around the party. Considering there would almost certainly be underage drinking, bringing a cop, even an ex-cop, would be a huge party foul. They had it out, the night before when we told Jawarski our plans, and to my surprise, Zoe, with helpful backup from Vicki, managed to get Jawarski to cave. She agreed to stay outside the party, a discreet distance away. The concession she required was we each carry panic buttons that would let her know if something was wrong. She also said she was going to have Levi and at least two of Carter’s guys on side streets around the house, in case something happened.

So with that, the five of us rolled into the party, panic buttons in our pockets and babysitters waiting in the wings. Thankfully, the party was filled with people we knew and, for the most part, got along with. I was drinking soda and talking to one of the regulars from last years morning workout group when I noticed the first problem area.

“Scuse me a sec,” I said and got up moving quickly towards the kitchen, which I’d been able to see part of through an open door.

“You have a sec,” I whispered as I came up behind Vicki and leaned over.

“One sec,” she said, slamming down a red cup. “He’s on his last leg.”

The second string linebacker, whose name I wasn’t quite sure of, finished his cup, a line of beer trickling down his chin. Lewis’ eyes were already turning glassy as he poured two more.

“Now, please,” I said more firmly.

“Yeah, okay. One sec, boys.”

She followed me into an empty corner of the next room, where I leaned in close so we could talk without being able to be heard. Her hands snaked around my waist, and from a distance, it must have looked like we were flirting, what with my lips near her ear, and hers near mine.

“You need to back off on the drinking.”

“Why? We can drink forever and not get drunk.”

“Yeah, and what are people going to think when the hundred and ten-pound cheerleader drinks the linebacker under the table and walks away not even buzzed.”

“I didn’t think about that.”

“Well, people will notice. That’s why I’ve made it a point to drink only sodas.”

“Okay, I’ll back off. Sorry, Cas.”

“No harm was done. They probably won’t notice, and as hammered as he is, I don’t think he’ll remember. But, better safe than sorry.”

“Maybe give the others a heads up if you see them.”

“Will do.”

She leaned back and laid a kiss on me, her hands moving south to grip my ass. After almost a minute of that, of which I was happy to oblige, she pulled back, smacked me on the ass, and fake staggered back towards the kitchen. It wouldn’t win her any Oscars, but it’d probably be enough to convince the guys watching the drinking match, to see what they expected.

“I have no idea how you managed that,” Andy Simons said, coming up to me.

“Managed what?”

“Manage to pull off so many of girlfriends without one of them killing you or each other.”

“I have no idea. I know it’s weird, but it’s working, and we’re all happy.”

“Ohh, I don’t doubt that. My sister says she’s never seen Zoe or Vicki happier. It’s just, strange.”

“Yeah, I know. But, if you were me, would you say no if two girls both wanted to date you simultaneously?”

“Probably not.”

“There ya go. So, a rough season this year?”

The football team had started off well, their defense being so strong it made up for a lot of the weaknesses on the offense. But once Josh was bounced from the team for testing positive, the defense fell apart, and they got hammered the second half of the season.

“Yeah, it really sucked. I wish you’d reconsider being part of the team next year. I still remember some of those plays you pulled off last year before you dropped. I’m sure your injury is better now, at least good enough to come work out with us.”

Vicki and Zoe had convinced me last year to drop out of sports before my abilities, which we didn’t quite understand back then, got noticed. I’d used damage from the shooting early last year, which didn’t really exist, as a reason for giving up sports entirely.

“I don’t think so. I wish I could, but my doctor is worried about future permanent problems with the shoulder if I start getting hit there a lot.”

“That sucks. You were on your way to being the best on the team.”

“I don’t know abo …”

“Of course he was the best on the team,” Josh’s drunken voice broke in as he stumbled over. “I’da been the best, too, if I’d been allowed superpowers. But noooooo, you take a little help, and you get kicked off the team.”

“Josh, how about we …” I started to say, but he kept rolling on.

“How about we talk ‘bout how you never got thrown off the team. It'sss … bullshit”

“JOSH!,” Amanda’s voice broke in as she ran over.

She seemed pretty sober and gave me an apologetic look as she got to Josh and put her arm around him. 

“You’re hammered. Let’s get you outta here before you boot all over the floor.”

“No,” he said, anger starting to seep into his voice, “I wanna…”

“I wanna get out of here. You can come with me, or walk to your house by yourself.”

“Fine, whatever.”

He glared at me as they walked away, while Amanda next to him mouthed ‘I’m sorry.’

“He has really become an asshole,” Andy said.

Thankfully, he was blowing off what Josh had said as just drunk rambling, but I was starting to think we’d need to do something about Josh sooner or later. If he pulled this shit a bunch of times, he only needed one person to believe him.

“He’s just not dealing well with getting kicked off the team. Give him some time.”

“I guess,” he said, not sounding convinced.

“I think that's my cue to leave, too. People are starting to get rowdy, and I don’t wanna be here when the cops show up.”

“Good call. See ya at school, and think about what I said. We could really use you back on the team.”

“I will,” I lied and went to collect the girls, running into Zoe just as I headed to another room to find them.

“Josh is starting to…”

“Cas, Megan called. She went to check on Celia in her room, and she was gone.”