Page 33 of Stone Blind

“Whatever, Army Ranger, don’t you have something to hammer or nail? Never mind, ignore that,” Apple said, laughing. “I’m going to miss her.”

“Me too,” Ricky said. “How do you think the kids are going to handle her leaving?”

“They aren’t going to like it, especially Oscar,” Apple said, thinking about the last twelve hours.

The boy Kendrick was no longer in the home. His injuries were more than Apple could care for. She pulled Apple to the side to inquire about his well-being. Initially, he didn’t think the kid was going to make it at all, which is why he had sent Helen away. The last thing he wanted was for her to experience such a thing on her first training assignment.

“Helen, he needed more care than I could provide,” Apple said, staring her down, which meant she didn’t need to ask anything else, therefore she wouldn’t.

She called the boys downstairs to a full on, Southern breakfast to include the recipe Ms. Ruth Neary used to make her two step biscuits. She’d learned a number of recipes from the woman, which would come in handy later. Along with the handmade biscuits, were Ruth’s sweet potatoes hash with onions, crispy bacon and an egg bake with extra mushrooms.

“Wow, this is amazing,” Stephen said, “maybe you should be cooking instead of me.”

“The reason you were doing the cooking is that I have to head out,” she said, making them all look up at her. Oscar’s bottom lip began to tremble. “I got you set up to be comfortable here in your home. Take good care of each other.”

Jeffrey wanted to know if they would see her again. Stephen wanted to know if she would keep in touch. Oscar asked if he could come live with her which didn’t surprise or shock Apple in the least.

Her goodbyes to the boys were short. However, she handled it like a pro. In her notebook, she’d jotted down each of their birthdays. “I will send you postcards from wherever I am over the next year to keep in touch. When I get home, I will send you guys stamps to mail me back with photos so we can keep in touch. Make sure you address them to Aunt Helen.”

“Aunt Helen,” Jeffrey interjected, “will you come home for Thanksgiving?”

“If the Lord is willing and the Creek don’t rise,” she said, hugging each child and giving Oscar an affectionate kiss.

She provided a handshake to Apple and one to Ricky as she walked out the door. Helen didn’t look back because she was too excited looking forward. Inside the vehicle, she received a text from Azrael with the coordinates for Lemon’s location in Ohio. She would need to drive past an airport to get there two weeks from now, which meant, technically she could fly out of the airport, leave her car and come back into two weeks to claim it.

Logic would dictate she head home to connect with Cherry, but she was free to live as she wished. She drove for ten minutes into town and pulled over. An idea hit here that made her smile. She found herself almost giddy as she made plans for at least a couple of days if not the entire two weeks. A click here, a click there, and she was ready.

“This is going to be good,” she laughed, putting the car into gear. “This is going to be soo good.”

SALEM, OREGON

Trooper Neary sat on a lonely stretch of road, keeping an eye out for speeders trying to take a shortcut into Portland. His mind drifted as he thought of Helen marching off like a toddler on her first day at killer daycare. Several times he took out his phone to text her, but he wanted to wait. This evening he’d call, maybe check in with her to make sure she was okay. Thoughts of her over the past day had become so strong, he was tempted to take a few days off to make sure she had fared well with her decision or at least was safe. He’d just sat the phone down, picking it up again when a car sped by, setting off his radar.

“Good grief!” he said as the squad car rocked from the force of the wind of the speeder zooming past. He hit the lights on the cruiser and took off after the motorist who didn’t drive far but slowed down and pulled over. These sorts of stops made him nervous.

He stopped, grabbing his pad, preparing to write the ticket. On his radio, he called in the license plate, stating where he was on the road in case something went afoul. The car came back as a rental.

Exiting the cruiser slowly, he noticed the car windows had not been rolled down by the speeder. He tapped on the back rear light, making the driver look up, but he couldn’t see the face. Approaching the window, he gently tapped, asking the driver to roll the window down. He looked inside at the driver and stood frozen. He stared, not believing his eyes.

“Helen?”

“Hey there, Stallion,” she said. “I learned how to track people, and I used it to track you. Surprise!”

“Yes, I am,” Mustang said, removing his Smoky the Bear shades. “You tracked me? Why...I mean, is everything okay? Didsomething go wrong with Apple, with your training, wait, you’re in Oregon.”

“Calm down, Trooper. I did good and learned how to do some tracking with Mr. Yield, who says hi by the way, and I got two weeks off for shutting down three warehouses in Milwaukee that did yucky things to kids,” she told him. “I thought, maybe, of those fourteen days, you could benefit from my company and a few of them, I mean if you want them.”

“I want them, of course,” he said, smiling at her. “I can’t believe you’re here. You tracked me.”

She pointed at his phone. “I’m a technician trainee, but my instincts are sharp but not sharp enough. You’re getting off your shift in a little while. Want me to pick up some dinner from that little place you like by your house so you can come home and get off a lot with me?”

“Huh?”

“The Asian Fusion place by your house; you’ve been there twice in the last week. I mean, unless your girlfriend works there and I’m stepping on toes here,” she said.

“I don’t have a girlfriend. I am seeing this woman, though, not sure what we’re calling it, but for now, I guess it’s working for us both,” he said, finding himself blushing. “Hold on, you learned basic tracking and used it on me. Are you using your newfound skillsets for personal gain, Cranberry?”

“Yes, plus I thought you were missing this vagina. If you don’t want it, I can turn this vehicle around, take it back to Kentucky, and put it away,” she said, looking at him.

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