That ends tonight.
Catherine wasn’t exactly sure what any of the codes on the charts or labels meant, other than the ID number she already knew about. That’s where Jesse came in, a life long east coaster and her ex-husband’s roommate in college. Which was probably why he had been one of the first she screwed after leaving Richard, giving her ex a big F. U. that she hoped cut right to the thick of his heart in the same way it did her when that bastard told her baby girl that it was okay to give up. He was always siding with her, saying he understood completely, with his fake compassion and phony love.
Leaving me to be the callous one that thought she should fight with everything she had against what was slowly, but assuredly destroying her cell by cell from the inside out. I would have told her, and did, to make that damn disease drag her away kicking and screaming, never surrendering.
Catherine Greer did surrender though, not against the cancer consuming her daughter, of course, but gave up on her daughter herself. Leaving her husband Richard and daughter Kassie, was a cold calculated move to selfishly save her the torture from watching her daughter disintegrate before her very eyes. It was a move she kept trying to tell herself she would make again, even though each time it got harder and harder to believe.
Especially, when Catherine found out that although Kassie succumbed to the disease like she knew she would, her reason for not seeking treatment had been justified. The delivery had been too much for her body to endure after the months of battling Cancer, but her baby was able to come out seemingly unscathed. The reason she forfeited treatment knowing the chemo would irradiate the baby inside her just as much if not more than the cancer cells she was trying to burn out.
At the time of Catherine’s leaving her family, Mia had only been in Kassie’s womb for 4 months. She had been so certain that her little Kassie wouldn’t make it halfway to term in the state she was in much less all the way with out treatment.
If leaving her daughter as she was literally on her deathbed wasn’t despicable enough, the fact that she left her motherless granddaughter made her feel worse than worthless. That first year after her disappearing act was all but a blur of booze, drugs (mostly pharmaceutical but street narcotics sprinkled in for flavor), and sex trying to erase any and every memory of what she had done.
All the drink and drugs in the world though wouldn’t have been enough to erase her wretchedness. Including all the degrading times she came grovelling back, begging and then demanding Richard to forgive her and let her be part of Baby Mia’s life, promising to do better, be better, anything to make up for her vile mistake. Every plea was rebuffed and rejected, falling on not only deaf ears, but ears that would have been cut off, and ear drums poked out just to not hear another damn word come out of her mouth.
Deep down Catherine knew Richard was right, even shallowly she knew she deserved to be cast aside just as she had cast them aside before. Richard packed up everything that He and Catherine and Kassie built together when Mia was only 3 months old. Left without a single word about it said to Catherine. Thinking he could just erase her from his and his new granddaughter’s life like he was deleting an email, but she never gave up trying.
Did that fool honestly think he would be able to go anywhere without me finding him?
She mentally harrumphed trying to make her thoughts turn to what she was waiting on and not the reason she was here waiting on them now.
When Catherine found out she was pregnant herself near the end of that first year, just a few months after Mia was born and her daughter lost forever, she knew she could find a way back in. Of course it took a lot of years of living stealthily right under Richard’s nose, always a neighborhood or two away from him and Mia.
A frequent visitor of a coffee shop across the street from her daycare when she was younger, she would sit inside at the table next to the window and stare for hours hoping for a glance of Mia. All while her own daughter sat in a daycare across town.
As Mia grew older and began to walk home from school, Catherine always found a store or cafe somewhere along the way to spend twenty minutes on either side of the school bell. Many times forgetting to pick up her own daughter from a school in the next district over. When Ashley turned 12, after being primed her entire life to be her little whispering birdie, Catherine felt she could trust her enough to place her in Mia’s life.
She was to be her little bird and come running back to tweet the comings and goings of Mia’s actions. The fact that Mia was technically Ashley’s niece, a niece that was older than the Aunt by about 6 months never struck Catherine as weird. Catherine not once cared about the strain and manipulation on a growing girl’s psyche, only wanting the results.
Ashley knew the rules, no actual contact. She was to be a mall security officer not a detective, just observe and report. Until Ashley took it upon herself at twelve years old to invite herself to a slumber party that she knew Mia would be going to as well. From that night on Ashley and Mia were tied at the hip, Ashley saw it to it.
Constantly being the first one to apologize for any disagreement, always being the first to volunteer herself for what ever Mia needed help with, which became increasingly easier as they grew with the backing of Catherine’s finances able to help out in any way needed.
She made sure to outfit Ashley in the newest clothes always buying extra sets in Mia’s size in case she liked it too. Catherine would buy Ashley a new car every year since the age of fifteen, knowing Ashley could drive Mia anywhere she needed or just wanted to go. Together Catherine and Ashley made an unstoppable force to find out what it was Mia needed and provide that need. Too bad for Ashley, however, that Catherine never asked or gave a damn about what she needed. It was Mia, all day, all the time, 24/7 on every channel. Focusing only on Mia in the vane, incredulous hopes of making up for what she did, even if it was from the shadows.
Here she was six years after the staged meeting, still manipulating everything from the shadows. Jesse Browerton, the first of many proverbial spits right into the eye of her ex, was now on the board of directors at a major hospital in New York with extremely close ties with the Red Cross. Now that her ex had been dead for almost two years, Jesse didn’t give a second thought to helping his pain in the ass ex. Of course, it wasn’t like he gave a second thought to screwing her in an elevator at Trump Tower at 3:30 in the morning seventeen years ago either.
Jesse was supposed to be supplying her with whatever information he could come up with from the donor identification number off the pints of blood and scanned labels used in Austin’s transfusions. Information which is usually strictly confidential and supposed to be kept private, but powerful people dealt in information. Doesn’t matter if that information is the deciphering of a thirteen digit code or a picture snapped off a security camera of a couple in an indecent position on an elevator from 1999.
Come on, Jesse…
She sat staring at her phone, fidgeting her hands and bouncing her knee.
It’s already 6:08 in New York get your ass in gear, you don’t want to test me.
Dr. Greer’s focus shifted between her unbuzzing phone and the ticking clock on the wall of her office for the 118th time since she woke. She got up from the couch and stridently moved to her desk and plopped down in her rolling office chair with plans to use the computer for a distraction as she waited.
Someone else might have hopped on to Facebook or Reddit or maybe CNN or Fox News to see what headlines were crossing the world’s various screens right now. Instead, she double clicked on a folder icon, pulling up one of the results she had yet to print out from a test earlier in the week. Just as the file opened on one of the two flat screen monitors, her cell rang.
Before she answered she glanced quickly over at the other monitor on her desk which was turned off, checking out her reflection and shook the uneasy night out of her hair and her brain. She then steeled herself for what she was about to do, picked up the phone and swiped the green answer button.
“I w
as about to give up on you,” she said.
“I said I could have it to you around midnight, you called me at 6 o’clock on Thanksgiving night for crying out loud, I did the best I could.”
“Well I guess we’re about to find out if your best is good enough.”
“Hey Cat, look I-” he said trying to coax her into a more forgiving mood but she was having none of it.
“Just get on with it. What were you able to find out?”
Letting out a super-peeved sigh he began “I was able to get everything you asked for. I got as much information that was in the system anyway, from every pint that was put into that kid’s body from the file you sent me. Names, addresses, donation frequency, you name it. I am sending you everything right now.”
She could hear a swishing sound coming from his end of the call, within two seconds her Inbox chimed alerting her to new mail.
He continued with an anxious quickness, “It’s all there,” pausing for moment to gathering his nuts up and make a point, “and if it isn’t then it can’t be found… not in 6 hours at least. Happy?”
“Well I won’t know for sure until I peruse it all, now will I?” She spoke slowly, controlling her words, pronouncing every syllable. Catherine Greer was doing well faking a calm and casual tone, as if this was an everyday transaction taking place.
“Stop dickin me around Cat, are you going to get rid of the picture or what?”
“Now why would you want me to do such a thing like that?” She said doing her best imitation of a femme fatale blackmailer from the movies. Dr. Greer thought she might be laying it on a little too thick but couldn’t help herself, she liked this version of herself more than she probably ought to. “If you ask me, it’s one of your more flattering sides,” she said not able to keep the beaming smile on her face from showing up in her words.
Jesse took a deep breath, tried and failed at calming himself not wanting to upset her outright and have her do God knows what with the evidence of their drunken fling, even if it was almost two decades ago.
He begged “Catherine, please… this isn’t a a movie or a joke or whatever the hell you think this is. This is my life.” Taking another breath, he continued the plea, “I don’t even know how you got that damn picture but it can not get out. Do you understand? If Sharon knew, she… Christ, she would take everything.”
“Oh calm down, consider it gotten rid of.”
And they call women Gold Diggers?
“How can I be sure?”
His desperation now bleeding through the crackling airwaves into her ear drum.
“Guess you’ll just have to take my word for it,” Catherine said in a smooth unhesitating voice like she had been doing this kind of dealing for years, and in a way she guessed she had.
“If you’re ever in Texas, look me up if you get lonely,” she added then began to pull the phone away from her ear, but not before she could hear a “crazy bi-” come out of the speaker as she hit the red button on the screen in her hand.
“Now,” she said aloud to herself, placing the phone face down on her desk and turning back to the monitor, “Let’s see what PencilDick was able to scrounge up.”
The Fallout
The very last thing Austin expected to happen tonight after telling Mia what he’d been feeling for quite some time now, was getting cussed at. Granted, he didn’t necessarily come out with it in the most romantic way possible, even if their surroundings provided at least the backdrop of romance. Just blurting it out like that, though, definitely wasn’t how he intended it to go.
He especially didn’t intend for it to start a fight and wind up sifting through the ruins of their relationship before he even had a chance to get the sand out of all the nooks and crannies. It had been ten minutes since he could last see the outline of Mia walking away back towards the car, and he still hadn’t moved. Austin was still in a form of shock at the whole ordeal and didn’t know what to do.
He started by finally getting up off the sand, wiping the dirt of his ass and trekking off to find the others. Maybe they would know what to do. He went off in the direction that his sister and her tag-along walked. Five minutes later, as he neared the top of a dune he could hear several voices all talking and laughing at once in a tangle of happiness, a feeling that right now was so far from anything he could touch he resented it instantly.
Austin wasn’t sure, but he thought he could also make out a hint of marijuana blowing into his face with the wind as he crested the hill. The fact that he recognized the voices and aroma were originating from the same place, passed right over his head with the cloud of smoke that did the same. He was too distraught to add two and two to make four. Until he was right on top of the group of four sprawled out on the sand looking up at the stars.
He got close enough to just make out that the four on the ground were the target he had been hunting. Arriving just in time to see his little sister taking a hit off of a joint that was now only half an inch long. Brooke was pinching it with her fingernails, expertly dragging in the smoke, the embers at the end glowing a bright orange lighting up her face even more. She coughed out the sweet and odorous smoke in a rapid fire at the same instant her eyes locked with her brother’s in surprise.
“What the hell are you doing, Brooke?”
Brooke was too far into her coughing fit to give a straight answer, just started waving the roach in her hand, shooing off what little smoke was still trailing off the dying cherry. Not getting anything from her, he turned to the stretched out figure on the far side of the group.
“Brian? Seriously dude? Getting my lil sister high, are you fuckin kiddin me?”
“Whoa, chill out Oz, I didn’t do anything. This is your sister’s stash, she’s been holdin out, bro.”
“Bullshit.”
“Hey I’m not shittin ya, bro-tein shake, Ash and I must have walked in a circle cuz we ran right into these two hoodlums lighting up a spliff. So, ya know, we thought we would be responsible adults and help em out. Figured the more we smoked the less your sister could. So really-”
“Oh shut up Brian.”
Turning his ire back towards his sister he kept the rage going, aiming it at whoever was in his line of sight, “Great, Brooke, just friggin great. So what? You’re a pothead now?”
“Just relax Bubba,” Brooke start but hearing bubba again Brian wasn’t able to control himself this time and started laughing over her words, “No I’m not a pothead, we’re just havin some fun, chillax.” The rolling of her eyes demonstrating how big of a buzz kill he was being right now.
“Chillax? Chillax?”
Ashley not grasping the gravity of the situation butted in “Hey where’s Mia?”
This brought Austin out of his state of pissed off protective brother and back to grieving boyfriend with those three words.
It was just three words.
Looking in Ashley’s direction but not right at her he said with a heavy sigh “She’s back at the car, or should be by now at least.”
“What do you mean should be? What happened?”
“I don’t know what happened, she just freaked and went off about how I didn’t even know her and a bunch of other stuff and-”
“So you just left her?” Ashley said finally joining in the moment, pushing herself off the ground in a hurry after slapping Brian’s wandering hands away.
“No I didn’t leave her,” Austin said defiantly in an I’m not an idiot tone, “she left me.”
“Ugh, moron, I don’t care who left who. So she’s out there by herself right now?”
“Yeah, I guess, it’s not a big deal she can find her way back.”
“I’m not scared of her getting lost jack ass,” she said as she rushed by him, her elbow jabbing at his arm as she did.
“Well, what then? What am I not getting?” Austin asked sincerely but still angry.
Ashley didn’t bother stopping or turning around, she just kept on, while craning her head to the right calling back over her shoulder, �
�Everything.”
No one else in the remaining group really knew what she was talking about, but could tell she was serious. Brian and tag-a-long gathered themselves up off the ground and went treading along after her. Brooklyn raised a hand reaching out towards her brother for a helping hand off the sand. Once he pulled her up she asked in the same way she did when she was six and broke a lamp while showing him a dance routine she made for only him, “You’re not gonna tell Mom, are you?”
“No, I’m not gonna tell her or dad…” he said looking for a way to clear the air and added, “Obvy.”
This garnered a snort of laughter from Brooke and Austin nodded his head in a motion to the right and said “Come on, let’s go home.” Austin and his sister brought up the rear of the group all following Ashley, trying to keep up.
Seeing the worry in Ashley’s eyes, and recognizing the lack of it in his own, Austin still wasn’t sure what the big deal was. It was a short walk back to the car, and Mia had a better sense of direction than he did.
Hell if anyone in this group was to get lost it would most likely be me even if I was the local.
So it obviously didn’t have anything to do with her getting lost.
Not to mention it was thanksgiving night and colder than a witch’s tit out, so she wouldn’t have to worry about anyone else being stupid enough to come out here. What am I not seeing? Seems to be the question du jour.
With the black behemoth of mom’s suburban now in sight, Austin’s heart tinged at not being able to find any sign of Mia waiting on them, at least not from this distance. Ashley had been the one leading the group back across the desert to the suburban. Austin was unable to tell whether or not Mia was there, and he became the frantic one running towards it, screaming out Mia’s name.
The tears now resurfacing in his eyes, he was in a full on sprint, which was made difficult in the powdery sand, making it seem he was only going half as fast as he could but using twice the energy. Once he made it to his mom’s car he couldn’t catch his breath, or yell out anymore, the only thing he could do was bury his head in hands and try to think of the next move, where to look, who to send for help? Ashley arrived a few seconds later with Brian and the younger girls just behind her in a jog, all of them huffing out white clouds of warm breath into the cold night air.
The Heart of It All (HeartSick Series Book 1) Page 22
