Charmed to the Tenth Ch. 03

"Why, what's up? I thought she was your Something or Other, or something like that?"

"Not funny Kate. We'll talk about it later.

"Oh come on Jeff. Don't lose your sense of humor over this. Let's meet at Baby's. We can eat, drink and be merry to celebrate my promotion. Then we can figure out what's going on with your Something." Kate laughed at her own joke; but heard no corresponding laugh from her brother.

"I'm just pissed and can't figure this thing out. And I'm pissed it's bothering me in the first place. I gotta get my mojo back."

"You never had mojo. Welcome to the wonderful world of pair bonding. It's what most of us have been doing for at least ten years now. Not always pleasant and hardly ever easy. But when it works, it's so worth it. Go find something to fix in my unit. Meet me at six; Baby's, got it?"

Several hours later, Kate and Jeff handed the waiter their menus and sat back to await the arrival of the best baby back ribs in the southern most part of the north.

"Cheers to your breaking into the big leagues." Jeff held up his ale glass, but then put it down again.

"Nervous much?" Kate grabbed a napkin and wiped up the spill Jeff's shaking hands had created.

"Okay, so Eva was upset and exhausted. If there was something wrong, don't you think she would have said something? Even with her fatigued mind, she would have, right?"

"Well, I guess. But you didn't feel how drained she was. It was horrible." Jeff rubbed his palms on his thighs.

"Listen to your own words, upset, exhausted, drained, fatigued, tired. Do those words sound like something horrible happened; something that would require immediate intervention?" Kate reached for her glass but stopped mid grasp. "Wait. Wait back up. You felt how drained she was?"

Jeff nodded and drank from his beer.

"Care to elaborate on how you could FEEL how drained she was? I mean, considering that up till now the only thing you could correctly interpret from a woman was her level of horniness?"

The right side of Jeff's mouth rose, as Jeff lowered his head and studied his beer. "Well, there are some physical signs that kind of give it away, you know."

"Don't change the subject. How the hell could you feel her?"

"You're the one changing the subject for Christ's sake. I don't know, okay? I have no fucking idea how this is happening or working or why. All I know is it is, and she was drained and not making sense. And I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do about it."

"Okay, okay, dial it back. So worst case scenario, possibly something emotionally draining happened to someone else. Not her. I say not her because if it had happened to her, there would be other emotions attached, right?"

Jeff nodded his head and looked at Kate, wanting to grasp the life line she was throwing at him.

Kate laid her hands on the table palm side up."Your worry is because you think you don't have enough information. But really, you do have enough. You know that she's safe; she's unharmed, and she's sleeping. Yes, unquestionably you'll feel so much better once you know what caused her to be so drained. But really Jeff, you don't know anything about her, it could be her job and that's all."

"What?"

"Maybe her job is something that can sometimes drain a person. Like a caterer, they get so fired up for jobs, run like mad during the job. I'm sure it's not uncommon to be completely drained after a big messy affair. You know?"

"A caterer? Just doesn't... I don't know. Doesn't seem right for her."

"Remember Marlene, last year, short brown hair, adorable pixie nose? She had just come out and kind of needed someone like me to show her it's okay to let people know. Anyway, she worked for a crazy bitch caterer and there were some jobs she'd worked that were so tense. What you described of Eva sounded like what Marlene was like after some jobs. Bitch slapped, just beaten down and bitch slapped."

Jeff nodded his head. He looked into his beer, took a sip, looked up to the ceiling then looked blankly at the table for a while.

"Sorry to take away your life line, but have you really given thought to how crazy all this is? Eva, you, that vision I had, your connection, the letter?" Kate rubbed her temples in a circular motion. "Jeff this is, I can't think of the word, but this is all so much more than freaky shit."

"Guess I'm just looking at the trees. Pretty, pretty, trees."

"See, I mean you'd kind of have to be an imbecile to just believe right? That letter, can't get it out of my head. What was the deal with the singing? The chant will be our home? I've spent some time remembering, like on purpose kind of remembering. I didn't hear any singing when they died. But when I try to remember more stuff, it feels like something's off, like it's not working. I keep thinking and thinking but...Son of a bitch this is driving me crazy." Kate slapped the table loudly.

"Kate, there is a family sitting right behind you and every time you cuss the kids look at each other and giggle. The Mom, however, looks like she wants to, ah..."

"Give me strongly worded lecture?" Kate put huge effort into resisting the urge to turn around and see what Jeff was talking about.

"Something along those lines, yes. Uh, I'm guessing her lecture includes some props but very little audience participation." ____________________________________________________________________________________

Eva was rudely awakened not by one of her gang, but by the phone ringing. She climbed out of bed and pulled her cell out of her purse. The LCD displayed the time, 6:30p.m. and the number calling her, it was another cell number.

"Hello?"

"Eva LeMere? It's Janine Wainwright from DSS. I'm sorry for calling on a Saturday night, but I have a case here and I want your help."

"Janine? Oh right the Walters case. How are they? Whatever happened to those kids?"

"A rare happy for now ending. All four placed in the same foster home. Dad's in jail. He got ten to fifteen times three, concurrent, thanks to you getting the kids to talk. Mom's not so well though, still denying anything ever happened. No visitation while the younger ones process. The oldest refuses to see Mom anyway. Now there's some healthy, well directed, anger."

"So, Eva, I'm teaming up with Det Montgomery again. We're hoping you can work your magic and get the kids talking about what happened. Only, we don't have the luxury of time."

"Hang on a sec." Eva rummaged through her purse and pulled out her little note pad. "Tell me about the case."

"Anonymous report prompted a squad car to the home Friday morning. Two children brought to county general; a girl approximately twelve came in with a boy of probably four. Boy; covered in bruises, girl; malnourished but not a scratch. Both nonverbal. Parents in custody, but they're likely to make bail Monday...he said-she said and we've only got the physical evidence from the boy"

"Monday? Janine I'm not sure why you called me. Most of the workers from your office avoid me because I can't move to the time line of the courts. You know that too."

"Can't or won't? Look, I didn't call you to goad you, I called you because I want you on this case. These kids, they're nonverbal. You're the only one I know who will be able to get pictures and drawings allowed as testimony. We broke the ice on the Walters case, so with you on this case, the judge has to admit their drawings."

"Ha, yeah, if they draw anything other than a pony princess or a monster on a leash. Janine, you do realize I work within my own constraints. I don't care what you need to know or when you need to know it. Last time we had time. This time, we don't. I want to know why you're coming to me with this?"

"Three things. First, parents are going to make bail Monday. Monday is also the custody hearing and we are seeking temporary guardianship. We have enough to get the boy, but not the girl. She's not showing anything physical and we can't get her to talk. Second thing; the girl isn't biologically related to the boy, or to either parent. Mom claims it was an informal kinship placement, but she isn't giving up any names. We need the girl to tell us what happened to her or we're not going to be able to keep them from getting her back."

"Oh Janine, this isn't my type of work. I don't do fresh trauma."

"Look Eva, I wouldn't have called you if I wasn't convinced you were the best person for this job. We know nothing about these kids, and Mom's lawyered up. We're running out of time."

"What's the third thing?"

"She ... this case, it speaks to me. I know you're aware of my reputation. I've earned the iceberg rep. I keep myself detached because I want to sleep at night and live long enough to bother the hell out of my great grandchildren. But this one...? Can't get this girl out of my head. Please Eva, please."

"Alright, I'll give you four hours. That's the best I can do. Wait, where are they?"

"They're in County General until Wednesday. Tomorrow at ten works for me and Det. Montgomery."

"Okay see you at ten."

"Thank you Eva. I count this as a personal favor and I owe you one. We need to know what has happened to her, why she won't speak. We need to know how she came to live with that family."

"You know I can't promise anything. I'll see what I can do." Eva slammed her cell phone shut and paced her room. Realizing she was working off someone else's anxiety, she went to her grotto and splashed some water on her face.

After checking on the pups, Eva took all the dogs to the basement to be let out for potty and play. Once she stepped on the carpet, thoughts of the new case were put on hold. She let the dogs out, ran back upstairs to rifle though some files, wrote down a set of phone numbers, then went back outside to toss some balls around for her dogs.

She balanced the cell phone between her ear and shoulder while talking to her insurance company about her little flood from the previous night. Then she left a message for her carpenter, Mr. Surgie. She brought the dogs back in and changed in to her running shoes. Just as she finished lacing up her cell rang.

"Hello?"

"Eva? Denny Surgie. I got your message, something about I was right all along? Or something about you should have listened to me in the first place? I couldn't exactly hear it all"

"Okay, okay, I admit it; you were right, I was wrong." Eva bowed her head even though she knew Mr. Surgie couldn't see her doing it. "But I'm still happy with my decision by the way. Um, so my window and door leaked and soaked the carpeting. I already called my insurance guy who said they'd pay but would need two estimates. I don't know how long it will take them to send out an estimator but I really need that basement dry as soon as possible. I was wondering if you had some free time in the next few days?"

"Yes, my dear I will fit you in. Can I come by tonight to take a look-see? Then I will have a better idea on what needs to be done. Do you have a fan? Never mind, I'll bring mine. Need to start drying the place out."

"That would be great, thanks. What time?"

"About half an hour? My wife and I are going to see a movie; I could stop by on the way out? Besides, if you don't mind, my wife is very curious to see your bathroom. I hope you don't mind, but I usually tell Gail about my jobs that seem ... ah ...not so common?"

"Sure, I think that will... oh wait, no that won't work. I mean yes stop in to see the basement tonight but the grotto isn't, um... I had another dog find me last night. She was in labor. She and her pups are in the grotto where they will stay nice and warm and contained. But I don't know what I'm going to do with this batch? I have to find someone who can take this litter and wean them. I can't, I just don't have the time and my place just isn't set up for this. Anyway, the grotto isn't exactly in show condition. Oops sorry, Mr. Surgie; that was more than you needed to know, eh?

"You and your foundlings..." Eva could hear him shaking his head. "Okay, that's understandable. See you in half an hour."

"Places everyone." All but Sammy and the new Mommy understood that those words, combined with Eva placing the dog bowls on the counter, meant they were getting fed. Eva learned from experience that having more than one dog meant feeding time had to be kept under control for harmony to rein. Ruffian, Bellyboy and Bingo, sat in the spot where Eva placed their bowls filled with food twice a day. Sammy stood guard in case anything fell, while the new Mommy cowered in the hallway.

Once she set all but two of the bowls down, she pulled Sammy to his eating spot, told him to sit, then stay, then placed his bowl down. Still in the hallway, Eva ignored the new Mommy and waited for Sammy to calm himself before she released everyone to their respective bowls.

"Take it." They all moved quickly to their bowls. Eva grabbed the Mommy's bowl and brought her back to the grotto to eat. She couldn't risk her gang getting into a tussle with the new one considering her post postpartum status.

Eva had just let her gang out for "after chow potty time," when the doorbell rang.

There stood Mr. Surgie, carrying a huge industrial fan, wearing pressed slacks and a button down shirt, not at all as she had always seen him in his work clothes. Standing next to him was a woman in her fifties, with salt and pepper hair cut short in a perfect bob. She was wearing huge gold earrings that seemed to highlight her Cheshire cat grin of barely contained excitement.

"My apologies, my dear. I made the mistake of telling my wife why she couldn't see your bathroom." Mr. Surgie looked down at the ground as he shook his head in resigned disapproval. "And about needing someone to take the litter."

"I can take them. I've whelped litters many times and grew up on a farm." The woman was literally bouncing where she stood. "Oh my. Your eyes, they're really quite striking." Mrs. Surgie quickly glanced at her husband. As she did, something flickered across her expression and just as quickly it was gone.

But Eva noticed. She felt the shock, and then she felt the jealousy. Eva looked down and tried to keep her eyes half closed. She murmured a weak thank you and mentioned something about genetics.

"Back to the pups. I'm retired and have all the time to devote to them that they will need." She patted her husband on the shoulder and added. "Denny can never hide things from me. It's cute how he tries though."

"Oh great. What a relief, thank you." Eva stood back from the door and ushered them into her home. She made a grab for her sunglasses but pulled her hand back in time. Can't wear sunglasses in the house for God's sake, she mentally berated herself.

Mr. Surgie excused himself to go down the stairs while his wife and Eva went up the stairs to see the puppies.

"So, I can come by tomorrow at eight? Shouldn't take more than half an hour to get them all crated and ready for transport back to my house, right? You leave for work at 9:30, will that give you time enough?" Eva nodded. "Good, I just wish I could get Denny to come with me tomorrow, that way I could get this stinky Mommy cleaned up before we get back to my house."

Eva was glad to use the puppies as a plausible reason to keep her eyes cast low. She focused her line of sight on the pups, as if she were examining them for imperfections.

"Oh, you can. You can do that here. I had your husband install a bathing station next the washing machine. It was the first job he did for me. With four dogs it was killing my back to bathe them in the yard or in the shower bath. The station he put in is so perfect. You should see it." Eva pointed her nose at Mrs. Surgie's lap where a pup was being stroked. So far so good she thought.

Eva leaned down to replace the pup she was holding and tuck him comfortably back with his sleeping litter-mates. As she did, the charm on her necklace tumbled out of her shirt; damned lack of cleavage. Before she had a chance to tuck it back in, Eva heard a sharp intake of breath from Mrs. Surgie .

"What a pretty charm. My mother has one very similar. May I see yours a little closer?" Mrs. Surgie held out her hand, expectantly.

Eva felt the woman's curiosity and, not wanting to increase it by refusing; she pulled out her charm and placed it in her hand so the other woman could get a look at it.

"Oh my. This is exactly what my mother has. Where did you get yours?"

"It was my mother's. But I've no idea where she got it and she's been gone for a long time so there's no way I could even find out." Eva would have loved to ask, tell me every single little thing you know about your Mother's charm.

"Me neither. My mother never talks about hers and she never takes hers off. She is ninety years old, with terrible eye sight, but otherwise healthier than me. She used to paint, oh the beautiful scenes she would create, always the French country side. But now she sketches, just lines and curves and circles, really. But this charm, or this design, is in every drawing she makes." Mrs. Surgie released the charm and scooped up another pup to nuzzle.

"She's very secretive about it. I used to think it was given to her by a long lost lover, perhaps it was my father. She never married you see, back then it was a great crime, not at all like it is today. She never spoke of my father. I've given up wondering about him. Goodness, listen to me prattle."

"That's alright Mrs. Surgie. I tend to bring out the confessions people like to hide ... and the dogs people like to discard." Eva needed to change the subject. She was torn; she wanted to know more about Gail's mother and her charm. Yet she felt strongly the inevitable questions she'd face from Gail regarding her own family needed to be avoided.

"Call me Gail. So, see you tomorrow at eight?" Eva stood indicating it was time to move on. She waited for Mrs. Surgie, Gail, to put the pup she was nuzzling back down, and then herded her toward the stairs.

"Oh hooray, another littler; I love to wean and socialize puppies. You know, I'm too excited now to go to a movie. I'd rather go home and get everything ready." Gail bounced her way down the stairs.

"Why does this not surprise me?" Mr. Surgie had been standing in the living room waiting for the women to come back down the stairs. Bellyboy and Sammy were circling between his legs, enjoying the rough scratches and pats he was giving out.