Stone Blind: The Technicians, #12

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DEDICATION

Discovering the power within yourself is powerful in itself.

"ask yourself:

Is the connection real if there

Is no space to be vulnerable?"

-Yung Pueblo

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To all the fans, friends, and supporters of the dream, as well as the Facebook community of writers and journaling junkies who keep me focused, inspired,

and moving forward.

Write On!

Contents

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Epilogue of Night Blind

Chapter 1 - Follow

Chapter 2 – Trail

Chapter 3- Trace

Chapter 4 - Pursue

Chapter 5 - Shadow

Chapter 6 - Static

Chapter 7- Stalk

Chapter 8- Spoor

Chapter 9 -Dog

Chapter 10 - Chase

Chapter 11- Hound

Chapter 12 - Course

Chapter 13 -Tail

Chapter 1- Chemistry

About the Author

​Epilogue of Night Blind

Shawnee Township, Indiana

The ride to Shawnee Township wasn’t a very pleasant drive. Cherry sat on the back seat of the Ford F-150, uncertain if it would have to be returned if she were deactivated, or if Helen were given her role in The Company if the lease of the vehicle would be transferred to her cousin. Either way, her foot hurt and she was nervous. She hated being nervous because then she got that funky sweat in her armpits that smelled like she’d been eating garlic knots all day followed by a jar of kimchi. Helen also sensed something was bothering her cousin.

That Bleu Neary is something, isn’t he? Helen said. Did I hear him say he would bring his crew back to do a room extension and build a nursery for Luke?

Yeah, ain’t that some shit? He is coming to build a living space for a person who is still developing into a little minion to fill diapers up with shit, Cherry said, looking down at her foot.

You don’t want the pregnancy, Abi?

Hell yeah, I want this child, but not really relishing the idea of being pregnant again, she told her. There should be pods, you know, like with peas. I drop in an egg, he comes behind me, and squirts in the pod, and nine months later, we have another Neary. I shouldn’t have to earn stretch marks and saggy tits for the job.

Helen didn’t like it when her cousin was like this. They had come so far, had been blessed with so much, and as always, the pretty girl was whining about her hunk of a man giving her everything she’d ever wanted in life. In the meantime, Helen lived in the backyard like the hired help. She wasn’t envious by any means, but her cousin could be an ungrateful bitch.

Well, at least this time you don’t have to work while you’re pregnant, Helen said. Remember the one job you took when you were seven months along because the deep freezer was nearly empty? Those days are behind you.

There is that, Cherry said, shifting. I don’t mean to be bitchy, but this meeting is unprecedented.

I think, having a nursery for a child born in our family is unprecedented, Helen said, changing the subject. This time, you will have a rocking chair, a changing table, a mini library, and stacks of disposable diapers. You don’t have to wash cloth diapers anymore. You also get to be a stay-at-home mother.

Yeah, also there’s that, Cherry said. I mean, what am I going to do being at home all day with a small child?

Take some online cooking classes, Helen said. Also, maybe it’s time to think about getting that real estate license you said you once wanted, or learn to paint, sketch, skeet ball shoot, whatever you want. This is a new life for you, for us. Are you afraid to be happy?

I am happy, but I’m scared. I’m scared of this meeting. I’m scared of waking up one day and he’s changed his mind and wants four more kids, Cherry confessed.

Was that your reluctance in telling him about Naomi?

Cherry shifted in the back seat. She leaned forward an inch as she spoke, No, there are a lot of rules to being a technician, Helen. One, you don’t have kids, and two, you don’t make kids with other technicians. We broke the rules and we could have lost our lives in doing so, therefore, take caution with Mustang. Yeah, he’s family, but he’s a Technician.

I can’t make kids with him.

Yes, but you can distract him and become his liability. If he has something to lose, then his effectiveness is hindered, she explained.

Noted. And your fear about this meeting?

I’ve never been to one before. I don’t know the other Fruits, only by handles; this is new to all of us. Be on your toes and ready for anything, Cherry said. Do you have your knives?

Yes, she said. Ironically, the one night I didn’t have them on me was the night The Collector grabbed me. If I’d had my knives, the story would have been different.

Not by much; a man like that sets his cap, a man like that makes it fit, Cherry said.

The silence returned as they approached the exit in Shawnee. Helen, having learned to read her cousin better than she ever could any man, shifted the energy in the vehicle. She’d always been a calming balm for Cherry, who seldom relaxed and was often on edge. Being married to Michael smoothed her out around the edges. Helen took the time to soothe the beast.

Helen said, I think a soft sage green would be a pleasant color for the nursery. Where is it going to go again?

Bleu is going to knock out the closets between our bedroom and the guestroom to make a walkway. The nursery, or at least half of the space, will be the nursery, and the other part will serve as a playroom. Once Luke grows into a toddler, the nursery becomes his bedroom. I think Bleu mentioned adding a Jack and Jill bathroom, Cherry said, fidgeting in the back seat.

Listen at you sounding all suburban stay-at-home parent and shit, Helen said, laughing, as they arrived at the set location. Ooh, I hope they have snacks. I am kind of hungry.

Is that what’s on your mind? You’re about to meet Jesús. I don’t know many people who have ever met the man, Cherry said, feeling the sweat pooling in her pits.

Relax, cousin, at the end of the night, he is simply a man. He is going to look at me, think I am weak, and react based on his eyes, Helen said.

And what are you going to do when he does?

Teach the man a valuable lesson that I’m not one to mess with, Helen said, flashing a toothy smile.

She was a lovely woman with the look of a middle-income woman who belonged to a man who watched the Saturday college ball of his favorite team from a university he never attended. Helen looked as if she had the perfect casserole recipe for any occasion and made wonderful sweet and sour meatballs. The look was perfect for an undercover agent, but her job, if she were approved, would be determined by the man himself.

It was time to have a little talk with Jesús.

THE ROOM HELD A CONFERENCE table capable of seating twelve. Food lined the center of the table as if it were the last supper. At the head of the table, sat a man with dark hair, dark eyes, and a dark spirit. Cherry shuddered just looking at him. Helen had no reaction. Her eyes were on the food.

Around the table sat four others, along with Azrael, who commented that they were late. A black man with a look of boredom on his face was introduced as Bad Apple. Cherry had mentioned him once. He was an assassin assigned to Wisconsin.

A woman with ebony skin, hazel eyes, and a natural ponytail sat across from . In front of her, rested two vials of a liquid, viscous in appearance and cloudy. These were packaged and passed over to Bad Apple. She was Lemon, the poisons specialist covering Ohio.

Passion Fruit, an accident specialist, resided in Illinois. She sat with her fingers in her mouth as she nibbled on her nail beds. Helen passed her a carrot stick from the crudité tray as she would have for Naomi, she tapped at the woman’s hands, like a mother, shaking her finger at the nasty habit. Passion Fruit scowled at Helen, looking her up and down as if the woman asked to make out later in the bathroom. Helen took a seat in between Passion Fruit and a woman with a plateful of grapes in front of her.

I’m Sour Grapes, the woman said. I am a tracker.

I’m just here for the food, Helen said, looking down at the table at Jesús, she nodded. Sir.

Jesús got to his feet, quickly, and everyone at the table jumped, including Helen. His voice was deep and rumbled in his chest when he spoke. His words were aimed at the newcomer.

Azrael, you expect me to believe this wisp of a woman with no confidence is to join your team, as what, the mellow mushroom? Jesús bellowed.

Helen was expecting this and responded, as she reached for two grapes, A mushroom is a fungus, not a fruit.

You dare correct me; you shit stain on my time! he bellowed coming at Helen with fury in his eyes.

Helen pushed back from the table, trying to get away. Cherry didn’t make a move to protect her cousin; although their entire lives had been built as symbiotic beings, this one time she couldn’t help. She sat still as her cousin recoiled into a ball. Jesús barreled down on her, hovering over Helen in the chair. His eyes were filled with rage. His breathing was ragged. His fists were balled into knots.

Then he froze.

He leaned over her, but his entire posture changed as he up righted himself. There was the glint of the knife against his throat. Bad Apple, Lemon, and Passion Fruit moved to aid him as three small knives flew through the air, landing at the feet of each courtesy of Helen’s side pocket cache.

One nick and you will bleed out, if, and this is a big if, the venom from the copperhead I found and laced this with don’t get you first, she said, pressing the blade to his throat.

You would cut me?

Bitch, I will end you, Helen said to Jesús. The problem with men is that you think every woman you see is going to be intimidated by you, bend to your whims, and then service you like an out-of-work hooker on her last hump. Should I show you how wrong you are?

Jesús said, No need.

He backed away, taking a wet cloth handed to him by Azrael. You’re an angry little thing, aren’t you?

I have no home for my anger. Are you offering a position to house it?

Maybe, Jesús said, looking down the table. You aiming to be the next Cherry on Top?

No, she earned that name. I have no rights to it, Helen said, pointing at the chicken fingers. Mind if we get a bite of this food?

Azrael said she could help herself. She sat watching the woman make a plate of food for a linebacker and one for her cousin. The cousin was the real reason they were here. Azrael focused her attention on Cherry as Jesús returned to his seat at the head of the table. He looked back at Helen several times. His gaze fixed. His interest piqued.

The Cherry on Top, we are here for you, Azrael said. Your foot is broken and you are unable to work for two months.

I’m also pregnant again, three months along, Cherry said. By the time the cast is off, my belly is going to be too large for me to shimmy up and down rooftops.

Everyone at the table looked at her, everyone but Helen, who had moved on to the watermelon slices. Azrael kept half an eye on Helen while being angry at Cherry, although she was expecting the outcome.

Jesús asked, Are you asking to be retired?

I am, Cherry said. I lost my taste for this years ago. I don’t know what’s next, but it's not this, not anymore.

Jesús’ eyes were on Helen, who now nibbled on squares of cheddar. She finished the cheddar and moved on to a chicken finger, plunging it into a small container of barbeque sauce. Helen nibbled on it, grabbed a dinner roll, shoving a shaving of ham into it with a bit of cheese. She bit that as well.

Jesús shouted at her, Damn, have you eaten this week at all, woman?

I couldn’t hold anything this morning because Cherry was nervous, and I was worried that you were going to lay hands on me, and we would have to fight, she said. Now that I see that’s not the case, and you don’t plan to kill my cousin, or me, then we’re good... Ooh, is that brie?

He looked at Azrael, uncertain what was happening. This is the woman who took down Karlton and Ramon Santos? And why did you shoot Ramon Santos with no order or assignment to do so?

Helen put down the cheese. He wore a white belt with black pants and a pair of those white leather loafers with no socks. The girl child was terrified of him as he pulled on her skinny little malnourished arms, and the two little boys were in shock. The shoes...mainly the shoes and white belt.

Bad Apple actually smiled. He leaned forward, picking up a carrot. He nodded his head, I would have shot that fucker too.

Helen pointed at Bad Apple with a knowing head nod. Jesús felt like he was in an alternate universe of an assassin therapy session. He asked for an explanation, looking down the table at Helen.

Perverts. Always the perverts who wear those kinds of clothes, Bad Apple said. I’ve never run across one that didn’t have a young’un they were preying upon with sexual deviancy. She did right.

Thank you, plus the little girl was terrified of him, meaning he’d already done a bad thing, Helen said. Is she safe? Hey, what about the boy The Collector had taken, is he safe as well?

He is. He’s with me, Bad Apple commented. "You did a good thing for that one. It was about to go bad for that kid.