MC: LaPonte (27 page)

"Ben and Steve want to
meet with us; they want a plan in place before the client gets
here. I told them we'd wait here for them." He tells me as he's
walking out to Anita. I smile for the first time since seeing Len
this morning. Where did he think I was going to go?

I call Danny letting him
know what's happening. He relaxes me saying Devan is at Millie's,
and the boys are with old ladies. Everyone is safe and he can be
here in ten. I love this man. I sit going over various scenarios
and the reactions we need to display for the outcome we want. I
call Len in. Before he can sit down my phone rings. I answer and
realize my day just got more complicated. Ben from Baxter’s tells
me mom is out but his doctor wants us to know the kids have Down
Syndrome they are small in stature but high functioning. I thank
him for the heads up and go to Anita giving her the info to pass
onto the old ladies shopping. Len gets a call heading back to his
desk.

Ben and Steve come in and
go right to the conference room. I grab my file and call Len and
Anita as I walk by them. Two huge guys walk into reception, Karen
is a little shaken so I call out telling them they are in the right
place and we’re meeting right now. They nod to me and follow. They
have guns on their hips which causes my workers to be a bit
jumpy.

I walk into the room and
turn at the door introducing myself, Ben, Steve, Doc, Anita and
Len. Jake and Zack smile and do fist bumps with Steve introducing
themselves to the rest of us. We all sit. Anita hands everyone what
we have so far. I look at Ben. “Baxter’s doctor gave us a heads-up.
Mom is out and the kids have Down Syndrome. They are small in
stature but high functioning.”

“Fuck!” Steve, Jake and
Zack say at the same time. Len covers his face.

Ben looks stricken. “After
hearing what happens in care I’m glad you took the client. It’s
going to make it a fuck of a lot more complicated but at least
they’re not in care.” I nod.

“Amen. Special needs kids
don’t need any more stress in their lives. These already have more
than their share.” Anita says.

“No one else would take
her. They didn’t tell me the kids were special needs. I told them
to call me back if they couldn’t find her a place. I thought
distancing her from Boston would be better than here. We’re only an
hour and a half away.” Len tells us.

“Do we have anything on
the husband yet?” Ben asks.

“I sent the info over to
Geek and Digs on our side and Ben on Baxter’s about half an hour
ago.” I tell him. Jake checks his phone, Steve calls Geek. I check
the iPad and see an email from Geek with Ben’s name on it. I slide
it over to him.

“Fuck! Anita, Len and Kate
do you have anything else we need to know?” Ben asks.

I look to Anita and Len,
they shake their heads no. “We don’t.”

He looks at me for a
minute like he’s contemplating something. “I’ll need you to step
out. Kate don’t go too far.” He looks up at the ceiling and tells
Dig’s to cut the video. I nod as I get up. Danny and Tiny come in
as we’re leaving. Ben introduces Jake and Zack to them as I close
the door. Holy Shit! This can’t be good.

“Kate I have to get to one
of the shelters. I promised the kids I’d take them shopping for
their mom today.” Len tells me.

“Go ahead. Nothing about
this case goes any further than me you and Anita.” I tell him. I
don’t want to add to the MC’s plate.

“Got that.” He says, with
a wave he’s out the door. Anita is watching me. I check on the
other workers. Where running light because of Christmas. We’re full
and my people took care of things earlier this week knowing
Christmas is a rough time of year and anything can happen. I go to
Karen and tell her she needs to get an ok from me before she takes
on anyone else. She gives me a funny look but nods. I can't give
her any details so I don't.

Ben calls me back in.
"Kate we have the lawyer and judge waiting again. We need temporary
custody in case mom is out for a while. Special needs kids may need
a doctor’s care and we’d have no rights." Fuck. This strikes too
close to home. "She's woken up once in transport but is out again."
He's waiting.

I look at Danny, he nods.
"You can put our name on it again."

He lets out a breath. "I
was hoping you'd say that. Mom is going to need extensive care." He
waits again.

"I'll get Anita to bring
in a CNA. We had two that volunteered for Christmas hours." I tell
him.

"We're thinking we should
keep mom and kids separated." He winces. He knows this is not
good.

"We can get two phones set
up. We leave one with the CNA and have the other on Security with
the kids. If it's set to video chat mom will be a little more
relaxed than just hearing their voices." I don't know what else to
do and it’s the quickest solution I can come up with.

He smiles. "I like that."
He looks at Tiny. "Get Security to set that set up for us." Tiny
walks out on his phone.

"Danny do you have any
experience with Down Syndrome?" I look over at him.

He seems surprised by the
question. "No but I helped with a trisomy 18 boy, it's an extra or
damaged chromosome on the 18th line but close to Down's." He knows
so much friggin shit he amazes me sometimes.

I nod. "I think we need to
keep someone that has some kind of experience with them. A woman
with lots of patience or Danny unless you know someone else with
experience."

Ben looks at me. "The idea
is to hide them in plain sight. Keep them on the delivery runs
through town then to your house. Keeping Danny with them isn't a
bad idea but we've got Darren to look after and I don't want all
the kids in danger by mixing them."

"Everyone in the club
signs Ben. Patches and Petey have the Little Brothers on deliveries
too. They have the west side. If you separate the twins from the
other kids you might as well put a target in them."

"She's right." Steve says
looking at him. "Need to keep them hidden or with the other
kids."

Ben looks at Steve then
me. "Can you get the CNA set up? I'll call you back in a couple of
minutes." I nod and go back to Anita.

She gets the CNA to come
to the office telling her we'll transport her. "I can't believe
she's willing to work the 24 on Christmas." I tell her.

"She's alone, Christmas
pays double. She wants New Year’s off so she can go to New York. I
think that's pretty smart." She smiles at me. I guess it is. Tiny
comes back in with a shoe box. He walks right to the conference
room. I look around.

"Where is everyone?" I
just noticed how quiet it is. Karen is at reception, no one else is
here.

"Delivering presents and
food. I thought if they delivered early they'd be away from here
for whatever is going on in there. People were getting curious."
She says looking a little tentative.

"Good idea. We don't want
anyone else knowing what is happening. This one has everyone
nervous." I wish I knew what Geek sent Ben. As if thinking his name
conjures him up he calls me back in.

"I think we have it this
time." He says with a smile. As he closes the door a shot is fired.
I freeze. Ben pushes me into the room. Steve is out the side door
Jake and Zack follow. Danny pulls me down and tells me to stay
under the table. Another shot. Fuck. Anita and Karen are out there,
I tell Danny quietly. He heads toward the side door. Tiny stands
and tells me to stay put.

Two shots fast then I hear
Steve yell, "Clear". Ben opens the door. He looks back and yells.
"Doc!" I climb up and walk out behind Tiny. Anita is on the floor.
Fuck!

I kneel by her. She opens
her eyes and smiles at me. "He winged me. SWAT my ass." She has me
cracking up. Jake laughs behind me.

"Is Karen ok?" I ask him.
He nods pointing to her. She's coming out of my office looking
scared. Danny has a hand at her elbow. "You doing ok Karen?" She
nods and sits in Len's chair. "Where is the guy? I'm guessing it
was the guy right?" I ask anyone that might answer.

"Steve got him, it's your
guy. Looks like you don't need a plan anymore." Zack smiles at
me.

"Well then, Merry
Christmas and I hope you can stay for the parties. There are a few
of them happening from the G rated Community Center to The Plank or
the Club House's purely adult kind of partying." I tell him with a
big smile.

The guys crack up. "You're
more than welcome to stay. The party at the Club starts at nine; we
have a couple of rooms you can crash in if you're drinking." Ben
tells them.

Anita is pushing Doc away
so she can get up. "Just wrap it up and let me be Doc. I'm not some
candy ass that can't take a hit." The entire room erupts in
laughter as two uniform police walk in.

Steve looks at the
ceiling. "Need the video, put it on a flash drive and get it here
in ten." The first officer looks at the ceiling then at Steve.
"Justifiable homicide. Killed his wife's parents and assaulted a
crisis worker before he showed up here. He was Boston SWAT. Shot
Anita and was taking aim at Karen. Took him down with this." He
hands his gun to the officer. "It's registers to me, you've seen my
license. I want it back." The officer doesn't say a word. He hands
the gun to an officer behind him. "Other than getting this body out
of here, you're not needed inside." The guy nods at him and walks
out the door.

Jake and Zack crack up.
Jake looks at Steve. "They really going to wait outside?" When
Steve nods they laugh harder.

Danny puts his arm around
me. Holds his face with his other hand and tells Jake, "They’re
afraid of Steve. They never talk to him; just wait for him to tell
them what to do." When I put my arm around him I feel his gun. He
takes my hand and winks at me. Why the hell does he have a gun? I
look at the body on the floor. He came ready to protect me. I smile
and look up at him. I love this man.

Ben is on the phone with
Digs, telling Patches to come right to the yard. Doc stops fussing
with Anita, she sits at her desk to answer the phone. Tiny is
standing back watching everything. I'm watching everything but it
feels unreal.

"If you got some extra
bikes we'd like to hang out and help deliver with you. It will give
us something to do until nine. I'd like to see how this plays out
with the cops too." Jake says smiling.

"I'll get the bikes for
you. It's fuckin cold out and we got the east side. They gave us
the fuckin waterfront knowing we’re on bikes. The more help we
have, the less time I'm freezing my fuckin ass off." Tiny tells
them. Steve gives him a chin lift.

"Is anyone going to get
the dead guy out of my Center? He's got a hole in the center of his
friggin head and he's looking up at Digs." I look at Danny, "you
think Digs is freakin out with him lookin right at the camera?" The
guys laugh. Len tries to come in. An officer stops him.

Steve tells him to go to
the Bakery and wait there. "You have a bakery?" Zack
asks.

"I need a coffee. Let's go
over there. Bet they don't have a dead guy at the door." Anita says
getting her purse and coat. I crack up. It's like a bazar movie.
Danny buries his face in my hair laughing. Doc takes off to set up
the house for the mom.

Zack puts his arm out for
Anita. "Lead the way little momma." They step around the dead guy
and walk past the police with Jake following.

No one stops them. Their
guns are in full view. I just shake my head. Ben comes over to us
and looks down at the guy. "Fuck Brother, nice shot. I thought I
heard two shots." Ben looks at him.

Steve nods. "Was
practicing, the second shot was same hole." He says with a
smile.

"Fuck, Brother." Danny
says. "Bet Digs will have that one as his screen saver."

Ben looks at me. "Patches
will be here in twenty. You can get some coffee if you want to get
out of here for a while."

Karen jumps up. "I want to
get out of here."

"Why don't you get your
things and clock out. I think you've had enough excitement for one
day." She nods grabs her bag and rushes out the door trying not to
look at the dead guy. Danny waits until she's out to laugh. "She
didn't sign out." I go to Anita's desk and write Karen's time out.
Ben laughs at me. Freakin people. There's a dead guy on the floor,
police outside freezing their asses off and my people either shot
or in shock. This is not a typical day for me.

"I need some coffee but
someone needs to answer the phone." I tell them as I plop down in
the reception chair.

"I'll get you some." Danny
says walking out the door with a smile. He pokes his head back in
laughing. "Barney's here." Steve gives him the finger.

A Prospect comes in
looking at the dead guy then Steve. He hands him a flash drive and
walks out. Ben cracks up taking the drive and plugging it into
Anita's computer. He watches the video and pulls the flash out.
“Impressive from across the room Brother.” Steve gives him a chin
lift. Harris is talking to the uniforms outside. He looks in then
looks away fast. Jake comes back in with a coffee. "Danny said I
need to see Barney. Who's Barney?" I point to Harris as he walks
in.