Page 43 of Night Blind

“Brand damned new,” she said, as the man passed her the keys and paperwork. He told her the insurance was paid for the year on both vehicles. The registration for both, in her name, was paid as well. “Thank you,” she told him.

He passed her an envelope with the documents. She looked inside because the package was uneven. She removed the thin black velvet box, opening it to find a necklace with a small angel with a brilliant diamond in the center of her chest. She looked at the certificate, a Ray of Light diamond. A second envelope inside the package had her name in bold block letters.

Helen slowly opened the envelope to find an open-ended plane ticket to Salem, Oregon. Also, inside was a business card, black, with the raised image of a Mustang and a phone number with a 541 area code. She reached into her pocket to grab her personal phone. Her hands shook as she dialed the number.

He answered on the third ring, “Jay Neary.”

“Mr. Neary, this is Helen McDaniel,” she said, trying to sound professional.

“Oh today, it’s Mr. Neary. Last week, it was faster, you rock-hard son of a bitch,” he said laughing.

She burst into a combination of laughter and tears. “This is too wonderful, all of it. I want to say I don’t deserve this, but I do. Thank you for seeing me. Thank you for these gifts.”

“And what about the plane ticket?”

“Anytime, anywhere, anything you need, Mr. Neary, I’ve got you,” she said.

“I always come through Helen; just say when you’re coming to me and I’ll do the rest,” he told her. “Cheers my lovely.”

“Cheers,” she said as he disconnected the call. She looked up to see Naomi on a pony with the man who arrived in one of the other vehicles. Slow and Cherry must have known who he was, so she didn’t want to make it her business, but she did head over to the house to join them for breakfast.

Naomi and the young man had also come inside the home.

“I tethered Ms. Sprinkles to the back deck while the barn is getting set up for her,” Jacob added.

Helen looked at Naomi and said, “Hey girl. I see you got yourself a pony.”

“Uncle Black Man sent it to me,” Naomi said, smiling.

“Uncle Jay,” Slow corrected. “Helen, this is my knot-headed cousin, Bleu Neary. That is his ward Jacob who will be coming three times a week to give Bunny her riding lessons on the pony Jay sent to her.”

“Well, he does always come through,” Helen said, grinning from ear to ear.

“Oh, dear God,” Slow said, feeling the bile rising in his throat.

“Ooh, there’s a story here. What happened between you and Jay? Ooh, you and Jay,” Bleu said, leaning forward. “Tell me more. I wasn’t aware he’d come home for something other than Thanksgiving and Aunt Ruthie’s birthday. He stopped in for dinner and a slice of pie?”

Slow was becoming more annoyed by the minute. “Don’t you have a set of toothless construction workers to oversee or something?”

“No, this is so much better! So very Ophelia and Laertes!” Bleu added, smiling. “Helen, are you and Ms. Abigail here related?”

“She’s my cousin,” Helen said, “and you are Zeke and Gabriel’s brother?”

“I am,” he said, looking at her closely. Helen was looking back at him with the same intensity and then Slow saw it. He saw the unflappable Bleu Neary flap. She could see him.

Helen could see the real Bleu Neary, and he was intrigued about what she would say to him next to reel the man into her web. He’d misread her on so many levels. What he’d thought was an innocent victim of circumstance had become a weapon of destruction, only she didn’t know yet. She didn’t know how to wield her power, but she was learning. Helen offered a soft smile, before speaking.

“It must be tough on you, Bleu, being the smartest one of the three brothers,” she said to the man. He sat and watched Bleu’s entire demeanor change. The man, who had a Doctorate in psychology and specialized in mind fucking suspects, had just, in fact, gotten into a game of wits with a woman far cleverer than she let on. She’d picked up on the Hamlet reference Bleu had used. “Tell me, it must have been a Shakespearian childhood growing up in the house with Zeke and Gabriel?”

“Well, now that you ask,” Bleu said, leaning back and expanding his chest.

Slow also leaned back in his chair. She was going to be just fine. They were all going to be just fine. Tomorrow would be the real test; if she could survive an interview with Jesús, she would make a great Technician. Everything about her read suburban housewife who would be seen driving about in her little Subaruor picking up flowers and plants in her pick-up truck, not knowing she was as deadly as they came.

He loved it.

He was loving every moment of his life. Helen had found a means to harness the anger. The thin tree in the yard which never seemed to get enough sun and often shed its leaves before the others was becoming healthier by the minute. A lone life he’d once led as a Technician, had been replaced with a family man who enjoyed spending time with the ones he loved.

For his wife, her time as a Technician was coming to a close. For Helen, her life as a Technician would now commence. It was his job to train her, to prepare her, to guide Helen on the rules of engagement for taking out the trash. It was his assignment. It was his job.

---