Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Part 25
Ashe, New York
"How come you're so tired?"
"I didn't get to bed until late, David," Jarod responded, yawning.
"You didn't get to bed until earlier this morning, you mean," Helen corrected with a laugh. "How's my boy."
"Good, Mommy." The boy hugged her legs and then looked up. "Louise!"
Helen knelt down and put the girl on the floor. "So you two do know each other."
"Yup." David beamed. "Angelo brought Louise to see me."
"Good, so will you be happy for her to live here too?"
"You mean it?"
"Absolutely."
"Wow, that's great!" Helen smiled as David hugged the girl before he glanced at her again. "Will she call you 'mommy' as well?"
"She's my auntie," Louise interrupted. "Not my mommy."
"That's right," Helen told her seriously. "But I'm not David's real mommy either; that's just what he calls me because I act like his mommy."
"How come he's here?"
"I got him from the same place I got you, baby. And it's the same as the place he was, too," Helen nodded in the direction of Jarod, who had buried his head under the pillow in an attempt to block out the noise.
"Who is it?"
"I'll show you." David took Louise's hand, pulling her over to the bed. Grabbing Jarod's hand, the boy pulled on it. When that didn't work, he took the pillow and, with a hard tug, pulled it away. The man sat up, grabbed the boy and tickled him until David was shrieking with laughter. Meanwhile, Louise had retreated to where her aunt was sitting, taking refuge in her lap and watching the scene silently.
"Jarod," Helen remarked sternly. "Are you trying to wake the whole house?"
"I'm trying to sleep," he answered, laughing. "If you had better control of your son, I wouldn't need to get revenge for losing my pillow."
"But then I would have missed that scene and it was too much fun," she laughed, standing up and holding out her hand to the boy. "Come on, David. Let's go downstairs and get up some breakfast while Jarod catches up on his much-needed beauty sleep."
"I think," commented the man as he rescued his pillow and lay down. "That I've just been insulted. Again."
Helen filled the kettle and turned it on before turning to where the girl was eating the last of her pancake.
"Is that nice, baby?"
"Uh huh." Picking up the glass of milk, she sipped it. "Much nicer than what I got there."
"I'm sure it was." She scooped the last spoonful of the melon pulp out of the bowl and fed it to the baby before wiping his face. "Isn't that better, Michael?"
Beaming, the child banged a spoon on the high chair before picking up his baby mug and drinking from it.
"Mommy?"
"What it is, David?"
"Can I take Louise down to play with my train?"
"No, honey, not yet. There’s still people asleep down there, and your train makes a lot of noise. We don't want to wake them up. We'll go into the living room; then you two can read some of your books, okay?"
Louise looked at David with wide eyes. "You have books?"
"Yup. Some of them are mine, and some of them belong to..." he looked at Helen, a small frown on his face. "What was the place called again?"
"You know what it was called. Try to say it, sweetheart."
"Liberry."
"Close, but not quite. Try again."
"Li-b-ra-ry," he finally pronounced, enunciating every letter, and Helen bent down to kiss the top of his head.
"Very good, David."
She took Michael out of his high chair and helped the other two children down to the floor. Filling a mug with hot water and mixing in some coffee, she carried it and the baby into the living room, putting the infant in the playpen that had been set up several days earlier. When the two children were settled into the corner where a number of beanbags were lying, with a pile of books, Helen started the computer and connected to the Centre. Glancing at her watch, Helen grinned, before tapping into the camera of her brother's office, watching him blink drowsily as he raised his head from the desk. A tiny window opened in the corner of her monitor, on which she could see Broots' face.
"Like I said, Helen, that's a nasty black eye."
"I'm just surprised that nobody's been in there to rouse him before now. Although this is the latest he would have slept, I'd have thought someone would have gone in to wake him."
"They thought about it. I've spent the last half hour listening to security but they're all too scared to go in there."
She giggled. "Well, that's his own stupid fault. If they were less scared, they might have already taken an ice pack in there for him."
The technician laughed. "When do you want to call him?"
"After what he said last night, I want Michelle and Nick to be there, so we have to wait until they get up." She watched her brother wince as he gingerly touched the bruised skin around his eye. "Somebody should have been nice and mentioned to him that that would hurt."
"Nearly as much as swimming with a broken leg," a voice behind her commented and Jarod sat next to her on the sofa. "Very impressive. How did he do it?"
"Broots, have you...?"
"I converted the footage and it should be in your inbox already."
"Great, thanks." She sipped her coffee, watching as the head of the Triumvirate rose from his chair and walked into a room to one side. "Is there a camera in the bathroom?"
"Connection 82-B."
"Thanks." She tapped into the camera in time to see the room light up. The man stared at his reflection in horror and she laughed. "The best bit is that he won't be able to remember how it happened."
"Will you clarify the mystery?"
"If he asks, I might be nice enough to tell him, but we'll see."
She watched her brother eye the big bruise that had also begun to develop on his forehead where it had come into contact with the top of the desk and she laughed again as he turned, going back to his office to order an ice pack.
"Do you want Debbie and I to come around or can you manage?"
"I don't know where we'd put you if you did," Helen laughed. "No, stay there but if you can be near the computer, that would be convenient. That way, if we find that we need anything, we can give you a call. I'm going to send a few of this mob home today too, because there really isn't enough space here for an army."
"If you find anything relevant to us..."
"We'll let you know right away, Broots," Jarod finished. "Don't worry."
"Thanks. Have a good day."
"You too."
The window closed and Helen turned to the Pretender. "What happened to the beauty sleep?"
"I decided it wouldn't make enough of a difference," he grinned. "Besides, after all the tantalizing hints that you dropped last night - "
"Early this morning," Helen corrected with a smile.
"Yes, then. After all those hints, I decided I had to see it. Add to that the fact that I was able to smell Pop-tarts and it's a great reason to get up."
"With some people, it's coffee. With you, it's a cake coated in sugar that acts as a wake-up call." Helen rolled her eyes. "I’m impressed the only problem found in that of yours physical was slight anemia."
"I never checked his cholesterol," remarked a laughing voice from behind them, and both people turned. "Perhaps I should have."
"You'd have to reinvent the chart," Helen replied. "Still, Jarod would be one of the best people to have around in order for you to do it."
Sydney put his mug of coffee down on the table and sat in the armchair, his gaze traveling to the screen and eyeing the bruises. "That must be painful."
"It is. He's already unhappy and he hasn't opened any of the drawers yet." Helen looked from the face of her brother to his daughter. "Still, he deserves everything he gets."
"Did you read that folder?"
"No, but I did find out that he was only giving her one meal a day."
Sydney's eyes widened slightly. "One?"
"Breakfast, yes, and it was the same stuff that Jarod was fed." The doctor set her jaw angrily. "It's a wonder she survived to four."
"I survived thirty-three years on that," Jarod protested.
"Not on one meal a day," Helen snapped and Sydney altered the subject to try to restore peace.
"So as well as getting her used to the world..."
"I have to get her used to eating normal food, yes." She sighed. "I also want to run a few tests on her today, but I'll wait for those until I see what material was in that folder."
"Auntie?"
"Yes, my sweet?"
The girl raised her head so her mouth was near the woman's ear, nodding in the direction of the older man as she spoke. "Who's that?"
"That's Sydney, baby. He's a friend of mine and my aunt."
"Should I call him that, too?"
"Yes, honey. You can call him that."
"Okay." She snuggled down into the woman's lap. "Where's Angelo?"
"I think he's still in bed, Louise."
"Here."
The empath crept around the sofa and Helen laughed. "You're almost as good as Ethan at that." She watched Angelo pick up one of Michael's toys and begin to play with it. "Do you want to play, too, honey?"
"Can I?"
"Yes, sweetheart, of course you can." She let the girl slip down from her lap and sidle over to the corner where David had also begun to play with the toys. "We need to buy her some clothes too.”
"Tomorrow, Helen," Jarod stated softly. "We've got enough things to deal with for today, with all of the material we have to read and also finding a room for her."
"I've been thinking about that. David's room is quite big, but I want them to have a room each, so I was thinking we might split it into two, adding a second door. Luckily there's already two windows, and the dividing wall only needs to be thin, with one layer of insulation."
"Steve and I could knock do all that in a couple of hours, particularly if Dad was helping too, and maybe Sam and Ethan for extra muscle."
"Meanwhile the rest of us can make a start on reading the results of our theft."
"A start is right." Sydney glanced at the bags. "We could be at it for weeks." With another look at the children, he turned to Helen. "What would you do for furniture?"
"I have a cupboard in the attic that's hardly got anything in it and she can have it for her clothes. I also have all my old toys, including dolls and things, that both of them can have if David wants any of them."
"And a bed?"
"The one she slept on last night will do for tonight, too. We can buy her a real one when we go shopping. We might buy one for David, too, if he wants one, because his is intended for an adult, not a child."
"Have you got paint and things too?"
"Actually, yes. I did some work on the house when I bought it and repainted a few rooms about six months ago. As well as that, I've got a lot of sample pots, so you men can add some color to both rooms, if you want."
"Sounds good. As soon as the other wake up, we'll make a start." Jarod gleefully rubbed both his hands together. "I've always like building."
"Well, you can go and do the measuring, and maybe buy some of the materials, because I don't have insulation or timber here, funnily enough," Helen grinned. "And you can work off a little bit of that eagerness by emptying the rooms."
"Do you have a tape measure?"
"I've got a basic building kit in the top drawer of the dresser in the kitchen." Jarod jumped off the sofa before the sentence was finished, and she called the last of it after him as he exited the room, leaving Sydney and Helen laughing.
"The way he's going, it'll all be done before anybody else gets up."
"Who was stirring when you came upstairs?"
"Nobody." Sydney rose from his seat and went over to pick up one of the large backpacks. "Shall we make that start?"
The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
Trying not to wince at the pain from his eye, the man swung open the door of the room and went inside. The first thing he noticed was the empty bed; the second was the empty clip on the wall, in which the folder was usually stored. For a moment, the man stared blankly, before kneeling down to look under the bed. As he had expected, it was empty, and he got back to his feet, putting out one hand as he swayed slightly. Muttering under his breath, he left the room, slamming the door. Going into the office of his fellow Triumvirate members, his glare attracted their attention.
"What is it?"
"We were visited last night."
"By whom?"
"Surely you can guess," the man sneered. "I want the two of you two go through Raines' office as well as that of Mr. Parker. It's my belief that they were after the last of the files that weren't either swapped or stolen by my sister. Particularly check those spaces behind the filing cabinets. After what Raines said when she had him high on whatever that drug was, that's probably where they were looking."
"Would they have been in your office as well?"
The man's eyes narrowed and, without answering, he turned on his heel, running down the hall as if the thieves were still there and he could catch them. The other two men in the room left in similar haste, splitting up to enter the offices that were formerly assigned to the two men named. It was only a few moments before they met out in the hallway.
"Well?"
"Clean. Yours?"
"The same. This was thorough."
"Let's get a team in each room to lift prints."
He nodded at the sweeper who was standing behind them and the man went to the elevator. As he called it, the head of the Triumvirate returned.
"Well?"
"They took everything. Every hole, every cupboard, every drawer's been emptied of all the files and test results, including those of our most recent projects. We're going to have to start them all over, yet again."
"And who...?"
"If it wasn't my sister," the redhead growled, "I'll resign my position as head of the Triumvirate."
"Well," remarked one man softly to the other as their boss walked away. "Are you hoping as much as I am that it wasn't her?"
Ashe, New York
Helen finished the file she was reading and leaned forward to put it on the growing pile in front of her, looking up at where Sydney sat opposite her.
"Anything of interest?"
The man never responded and Helen leaned forward. "Sydney? Sydney, what is it? What did you find?"
Reaching further forward, she plucked the folder out of his hands. At the movement, the psychiatrist blinked and then looked up at her. The pain in his eyes was clear.
"Who was it, Sydney? Was it Mr. Parker?"
"Raines," the man responded in a harsh whisper. "At least, his signature was on the forms."
She flipped open the folder and looked through the paperwork, detailing the team to watch at the crash site. Her eyes traveled over the thin lines of the signature on the bottom line of the form and she flipped through the next pages, a look of sadness on her face as she saw the amount of planning that had gone into it. "Now at least you know for sure."
"The man's dead and I can't..."
"And you can imagine how much pain he died in, Sydney. He, like Lyle, must have known what was happening, step by step. He didn't escape unscathed by all of this either." She leaned forward again. "If the accident had happened where it was meant to, you would have been killed, too, and then Jarod would have been handed over to Raines." Helen hesitated. "At least, with it all happening the way it did, it all conspired against that fate for him."
"I never got a chance to repay him."
"Not even by the amount of pain he suffered from the burns after you blew up the oxygen tank? I think that was pretty bad, and he lived through it. Besides, instead of your brother dying a terrible death pinned under a car or shot by one of the sweepers, he was able to die peacefully in a place he loved, with you there to say goodbye."
She watched the first tear escape from his eye and begin to slide down his face as she continued.
"Sydney, now that you know for certain, you can realize it wasn't ever your fault that the accident happened. Yes, definitely be angry with Raines, but don't waste new anger. Take all your guilt from the past thirty years and channel that into your feelings. It'll be better than blaming yourself. It's easier to deal with, too. I think it's reasonable enough to say that you already got your revenge before you even knew it was being aimed at the right person."
"But why?" There was a sense of great incomprehension in his tones.
"To protect himself, and the organization for which he worked, until it killed him. That isn't a good enough reason, but it's the only reason. It won't be enough, but none of the reasons that might be true would be enough to make up for the death of your brother. There are never enough reasons to make up for the death of the people we love, even when they were natural and not caused by somebody else. It's worse when people are deliberately killed, especially if it's just to protect their own backs."
"Like Eddie was," Sydney stated softly, his eyes fixed on the baby.
"Yes, exactly. The situations are identical, except that you were able to make the rest of Jacob's life, after the accident, as good as it could be, and you were able to say goodbye, knowing that he knew you were there and that you loved him."
"Eddie knew that, too."
"But I was never able to tell him. I never wanted to, in case he took it as meaning more than it did. It doesn't matter to him, of course, because he knew how much his wife loved him, so I wasn't as important, but it would have eased some of my pain. Instead I had to find ways of dealing with it myself. You don't have a reason for that regret. Now that you know the accident wasn't your fault, you haven't got anything to reproach yourself for."
He nodded slowly, focusing on his face. "Does Sam know about Eddie?"
"Yes, we talked about it on the night after the treatment worked."
"And does he understand?"
"He understands my pain because of how well he understands me, but he never knew Eddie, so he doesn't know the way he thought or what kind of a person he was. Still, Sam's helping me with my last regrets." She smiled. "And I know of at least one person who could help you with yours."
"Oh, really?" Sydney eyed her, suppressing the urge to return her smile. "And who might it be?"
"Helen?"
The woman's head snapped up from the folder, hearing the excited tones in the man's voice.
"What is it, Broots?"
"Have you been watching your brother?"
"No, we've been a little busy." She glanced up at Miss Parker, who was sitting in a chair opposite, and grinned. "Why?"
"Because I suspect that, if you humiliate your brother in the way Ethan suggested, it might be enough to turn his fellow Triumvirate members against him."
"Really?" Helen leaned back against the sofa. "Well, when we add that to a thing I've just found, we could make life very interesting indeed."
"And that is?"
Picking up a sheet of paper, she waved it at the laptop. "A list of people who had shown interest in buying a lot of Centre property, and the bid they put it. Oh, yes," she added with a small smile, "and the property deeds themselves."
The technician began to laugh. "You're going to contact those groups and sell off all the property, aren't you?"
"Now what makes you think that?" Helen widened her eyes in mock-innocence. "That would be a horrible thing to do!"
"And that's precisely why you'll enjoy it so much." He grinned. "Of course, I'll just assume that you won't share the profits with your brother."
"Assumptions are dangerous."
"So you said to your brother. Has everybody else seen that yet?"
"No, there's still two people asleep. I'm going to have a grand show when they're up."
"Now that will be fun."
"Absolutely. I'll let you know when we do it. In the meantime, say hi to Debbie for me."
"This could be very useful," Miss Parker remarked as the connection with the people in Vermont was cut, and Helen looked over.
"What could?"
"Bank details for the Centre's accounts."
"Good, I was hoping to find those."
"You have a plan?" Miss Parker raised an eyebrow, crossing her legs and grinning. "I wait, with patient eagerness."
"I'll get Steve, Jarod and Broots to redirect them into a large number of accounts, with only a very small amount in each, so that the Centre can never find them all, thus removing any chance they have of getting them all back."
"And who will have access to these accounts?"
"All of us, of course." Helen shrugged. "It seems like a good form of reparation."
"So the Centre will be down to just the main building?"
"Exactly." She grinned. "I don't think my brother will be too happy about that."
"You're underestimating him again," commented Michelle, as she walked into the room. "But I agree with you."
"How's Sydney?"
"He's all right. Right now he's playing with the boys."
Helen looked down at the child who was asleep beside her. "I think David may be disappointed to find that girls don't like trains as much as boys do."
"Well, when Michael's a little older..."
"Don't suggest it." Helen rolled her eyes. "Let me deal with them as they are first."
Michelle laughed. "You haven't started to think about the future at all?"
"Not until it's guaranteed that we all have one."
"Bank accounts are set up." Jarod looked up with a grin. "Anything else?"
"No, you can go back to reconstructing my house, if you want to," Helen laughed, watching as he and Steve quickly made their way up the stairs again. When the loud banging started in the room overhead, the child awoke with a start, clinging to the woman.
"What is it?"
"It's okay, baby," Helen soothed, gently taking the girl in her arms. "They're doing a bit of building upstairs and it's making a lot of noise, that's all."
"What are they building?"
"They're making a room all for you, my darling, where you can have your own big cupboard full of new clothes that I'm going to buy for you tomorrow, and a bed for you to sleep in every night..."
"Is it near you, Auntie?"
"It's the very next room, sweetheart, and I'll know if you want me."
"Can I see it?"
"Not, yet, honey, because it's not finished, but when it is, then we'll go up."
"And will David be close, too?"
"He'll be on the other side of you, Louise. We're putting a wall into the room where he sleeps now so that you've got a room each, but you'll be very close."
"Good." The girl nestled into the woman's lap. "What are you doing?"
"We're looking through the papers that we brought with us last night, from where you were, baby."
The girl glanced at the computer and then froze, her eyes fixed on the screen, as she started to whimper. Helen glanced at Miss Parker, who put the lid down and moved the machine away.
"It's all right, Louise." The woman began to stroke the girl's hair, holding her lovingly. "He's a long way away and he won't find you here, not while you're with me. He can't hurt you now."
Tears appeared in the child's eyes as she buried her face in the woman's shoulder, sobbing softly in terror. "I don't like him. He hurts me and he yells at me..."
"It's okay, baby." Helen rocked her gently. "He can't do any of that ever again, and I promise you that I won't do it."
"Do I have to go back there?"
"No, darling, you can stay here with me and you don't have to go back there ever again."
"He scares me." The child's voice was a faint whisper as she pressed her face against Helen's neck, gradually quieter.
"I know he does, baby, but I won't let him near you again. We'll keep you safe from him, and that place." She gently eased the girl away and looked down at her with a smile. "Do you believe me, sweetheart?"
"Uh huh." Sniffing, the girl scrubbed her eyes on the gray material in which she was still dressed and leaned against her aunt. "You took me away."
"Exactly, Louise, and I'll do my best to always take you away from all bad situations, if I can." She gently brushed the girl's hair away from her face, leaning down to kiss her gently, and feeling the child's lips touch her cheek in return. "Don't worry about him anymore, my darling. Instead, I want you to think about learning all the good things we're going to teach you."
"P… promise?"
"It's a solemn promise, sweetheart. Try to forget about him and instead concentrate on having fun with David and Michael..."
"And Angelo?"
"Yes, and Steve, and Sam, too. And you can come to me for a hug, or if you're hungry, or if you just want to talk, okay?"
"Uh huh." The child looked up. "And can I watch you cook, too, like David said you do a lot?"
"You sure can, baby. And you can help me with it, too. Won't that be nice?"
"Yes." The word was still a whisper, but the tones were happier as the girl put her head down on the woman's shoulder once more.
"We're heading off now, Helen."
"Who's we?" She looked up with a grin. "How many of my hired builders are you absconding with, Charles?"
"Oh, they're getting paid?"
"I'm feeding them and putting a roof over their heads. That should be enough."
The man laughed. "I'm taking Ethan and his sister back with me. She told me you gave her a pile of things to look through."
"We looked through some of the folders and the material she has relates to all your family, except for a few things that are more to do with Jarod."
"He said he was going to stay for a few days."
She nodded. "Good. I suspect that there could be some issues that’ll need to be worked through, and I think he and Sydney will be the best for that."
"Where's Sam's mother?"
"She went back home the day I got better, and right now she's packing. Sam got a small apartment for her, a few blocks away, and she's moving there in a couple of days so the Centre doesn't know where she is. Your son can help with that as well."
"Sydney and the others?"
"They'll stay for a few days, but they're also going to try and find somewhere apart from Albany to live, at least for Sydney and Michelle. Nicholas can go back to his work at some stage."
"You've really been organizing things, haven't you?"
"Well," she shrugged with a smile. "I've been trying to. Besides, having this house splitting at the seams is not good for the cost of my food bills."
"And that," he commented drily, with a laugh, "is the reason that you added another child to the family of course."
"Naturally." Helen laughed. "Besides, Sam and I always said that we wanted kids."
Jarod's father kissed her cheek. "I think it's lovely that you're giving all these children a new start at life."
"All they need is a stable, loving environment and they'll grow up on their own."
"They'll certainly get that from you." He hugged her. "We'll call you if we find anything of interest to any of you."
"And I'll let you know before we call my brother so that you can be entertained."
He laughed. "You'd better. That's something we're all looking forward to."
"It's quiet," Sydney commented as he came into the living room.
"I think they're up to the painting stage upstairs." She smiled down at the little girl in her lap, who looked up with an answering smile before continuing to read. "How's it all going downstairs?"
"They're having a lot of fun," he smiled, sitting on the chair opposite her. "Found anything useful?"
"Oh, a couple of things." She grinned. "I hope you weren't intending to go back to Angel Manor at any point, because you'll be trespassing if you do."
"So you sold it?"
"That and the Biodome, yes. Another group is considering the bid for the LaGrange airstrip, and may also take the Dragon House."
"Your brother is going to hate you."
"He already does." Her eyes danced. "Didn't you hear what he said last night?"
"And the accounts?"
"The Centre is now penniless. All they have left are their last few assets - and that'll be even more depleted before they find out about it."
"What will they have left?"
"Just the Centre itself - all twenty-seven sublevels. Of course, if they sell that and use the money for the projects then they've got nowhere to do them. If they keep the buildings, then they've got no money for the projects." She grinned. "I was always fond of vicious circles."
"And the wrong results?"
"They were sent off to the corporations this morning." She laughed. "Somehow I doubt the Centre will be a popular organization for a long time to come."
"How will we get work when this is over?"
"Sydney, don't you think you're getting beyond the stage of working?” she suggested. “I don’t want to be rude or anything, but I do see retirement looming on the not-so-distant horizon."
He laughed softly. "Well, that might be okay for me, but what about the others?"
"You don't think Broots would be able to get a job working for just about any large company? And I'm sure Miss Parker could find something to interest her."
"Has Steve begun to think of anything like that?"
"He's finding chemistry and working with chemicals something that he really enjoys doing, so we'll see what we can find for him in that field, maybe research scientist. Jarod said earlier that he might have an idea for a place where Steve could work."
"And what will they do for references?"
"What, we can't make them up? I'll vouch for Steve, and maybe you could do the same for Jarod if he decides that he wants to settle down to one thing, instead of moving around all the time."
"Has Steve thought about his family?"
"I think he's beginning to, although he hasn't said anything to me yet. I also think he's hoping to find something relating to him among this." Helen indicated all the bags with a wave of her hand.
"And is there anything?"
"Not as far as I've seen so far. Angelo gave me his file and that might have been everything, except for the DSAs that I've already found on the mainframe."
"And what will we do for money until these wonderful jobs materialize?"
Helen smirked. "Tomorrow, there will be a lot of shiny new bankcards delivered to this house, Connecticut and Vermont relating to all the accounts we set up. If any of them ever fall below a certain level, they'll automatically be topped up from the account into which the corporations are depositing the money they're paying for all of the Centre's ex-assets."
Sydney chuckled. "You've really done that thoroughly."
"I had expert help." She grinned. "It only took Jarod, Steve and Broots half an hour to arrange it all."
"And when will you call your brother?"
"As soon as the last sale goes through, unless dinner needs to be made first."
"Is that automatic, too?"
"Dinner?" she suggested innocently.
He tried not to laugh, glaring at her. "You know what I mean, Helen."
"When they make the decision, they pay money into an account, I fax off a copy of the property deeds and then a courier picks them up and takes them away."
"Which courier?"
"Well, Charles took several with him when he left, to be dropped off at the courier offices on the way, and I'll do the same with the others whenever the final details come through." The computer on the table beeped and Helen glanced at it with a smile.
"As they just did." Gently she raised Louise's head off her knee and went over to the fax machine that had been set up on a table against the wall. Taking up a file, she extracted several sheets of paper and put in a number, feeding the material into the machine. When it was sent, she slipped it into an envelope and sealed it, dropping it on the table in front of Sydney.
"Well, that's it. The last asset of the Centre has now been sold off - except, as I said, for the main building complex - and it's gone from a financial powerhouse to such a small-time organization that not even NuGenesis would help them, if they were in a position to help anybody."
The psychiatrist stared at her for a moment before laughing. "You cleared out all of the accounts of NuGenesis as well?"
"I didn't mention that?" Helen tried to look innocent and Sydney rolled his eyes.
"You've been trying the innocent act for long enough, Helen. Come up with a new idea."
"You haven't even known me for that long, Sydney. You should ask Nick one day how long I've been trying it on him for."
"Too long," the young man commented as he entered the room. "I agree with Dad. Come up with something new."
"It's a habit now," she laughed. "And I was never good at breaking those."
"I always got into trouble when I broke something," a small voice interrupted.
"No, baby." She looked down at the girl with a smile. "Breaking a habit is different and it's not bad to break those."
"What's a habit?"
"Something you do the same way for a long time. Some habits are bad, like when you drink a lot of alcohol or smoke cigarettes..."
"Or annoy people by attempting to sound innocent," her cousin grinned. "This is a good time for you to set an example to your children by not doing it anymore."
"I'll think about it." She got to her feet. "In the meantime, if either of you want food tonight, you'd better stop nagging and let me make it."
"That's blackmail," Sydney protested, his eyes twinkling with laughter.
"Correct." The doctor swung the girl up into her arms. "And I'm good at that."
"This is empty, auntie."
Helen looked around from stirring a pot. "The salt? Do you want to fill it for me?"
"Can I?"
"I'd be glad if you do. Go into the pantry and you'll see a white box with a blue stripe on it. Carry it carefully over to the table."
The girl retrieved the box and gently put it down before looking at her aunt. "Now what?"
"Now open the box and slowly pour the salt into the shaker."
"How much?"
"Until it's almost full."
Helen watched the girl pouring the white crystals into the glass container, stopping just before the container was full and righting the box.
"That was very good, sweetie. You're a big help."
The girl beamed. "I like helping you."
"And you're very good at obeying instructions." Moving the pot off the heat, Helen gave the girl a hug before helping her to put the top on and return the box to the pantry.
"What can I do now?"
"Do you remember all the things I told you about cutlery?"
"Uh huh. Knives and forks and spoons."
"Well, do you want to set the table? Michael's plastic cutlery is on top of the other things and you can put that on his high chair." Helen smiled, watching the girl try to reach the drawer. "Did you remember about the stool that's in the corner?"
"Oh, right." The child pushed the round object over and stood on it. "How many of each do we need?"
"Nine of each thing and also Michael's set. Get all of the knives, then the forks..."
"And then the spoons?"
"That's right. Very good."
"And should I set them out like you showed me at lunchtime as well?"
"Do you think you can remember?"
The girl paused for a moment. "Knife on the right and the fork goes on the left."
"And where does the spoon go?"
"On the top." She looked up at the woman doubtfully. "Is that right?"
"Absolutely correct." Helen smiled. "That's very good, honey."
With a smile, the girl rummaged through the drawer for a moment before carrying the first handful of shining silver over to the table. Going to the each seat, she put a knife at the right hand making sure that all the blades faced inwards as she had been taught during the earlier meal.
"Mommy?"
"What is it, David?"
"I haven't seen Jarod or Steve or Sam or Nicholas nearly all day. Where are they?"
"They're doing some work upstairs, sweetheart, so both you and Louise will have a room to sleep in tonight."
"Can we see it?"
"No, baby, not yet. We have to wait for all the paint to dry, so we'll go up later to see what they've been doing."
"Is that why the doors were all shut but when we went out to play ball with Angelo the windows were open?"
"Exactly, David. The paint will dry faster by having air moving in the room all the time."
"But isn't it too cold?"
"Hmm, good point." She looked down at him thoughtfully. "Why don’t you test Jarod's brain with that question? Mine's not that good."
"Are you admitting that I'm smarter than you?"
The voice from the doorway made Helen roll her eyes. "I admit nothing. I just don't feel like having my mind overtaxed with questions of an incredibly intelligent child when I'm also trying to cook."
The Pretender grinned. "So you can't do more than one thing at a time?"
"Not if one of those things could potentially become dangerous when I don't give it my complete concentration." She grinned at him. "Also, if I get distracted, I may never finish cooking this, and you'll have to starve."
"Not at all,” he grinned. “I'd eat..."
"We ran out of pop tarts yesterday morning," she reminded him. "I told you, you'd starve."
