Life as a New Hire Ch. 23

The kicker was the splotches of dried semen and vaginal fluid on Casper's face.

"Say 'hi' to Cáel," Anima pressed the issue.

"Hi," Casper waved as her body swayed. Hana was uncomfortable. Libra and Brooke were furious. Estere was...studious. Anima's eyes remained lock on mine.

I pulled out my phone and began taking pictures of the participants. By the time I made it to Brennan, he was laughing and joking at my efforts. Orlando had a different tack.

"What are you doing?" he menaced.

"Life should be about moral decisions, compassion and consequences," I related drolly. "You made your call last night. Live with it."

I finished the photo session while Orlando was still trying to figure out what was going on. I had to use my phone for a different function.

"Buffy, I'm sending you several pictures of people who think they are above the law. Those people raped, or facilitated the rape of the woman in the final picture," I told the First of House Ishara. "I cautioned those people about appropriate behavior last night."

"They chose to ignore me. The legal system can't touch them. I don't know what a proper punishment for such a horrendous act is, so I thought you might give me some council on this matter," I added. Long pause.

"Don't worry about it, Cáel," Buffy responded in a ghostly voice.

"Take care and I'll see you on Monday," I finished up. She hung up and that was it.

"That was spooky," Brennan chuckled. "How about I make a scary phone call and mention the words 'Cáel' and 'trash collection'?" I ignored him. "I could call the sheriff and have you charged with menacing." I continued to ignore him. "Stop serving him," he snapped at the server as she came to my plate.

"Serve him breakfast, Donna (the server)," Hana interrupted. "He's my guest, Brennan, so no longer your worry." I didn't acknowledge Hana's kindness as this was still part of a family feud and I wasn't family. I'd thank her later. The Vacuous Think Tank members weren't done yet. The privileged shit-heads began playing a video on their ultimate phone devices, sexually feeble soundtrack included.

Deep down in Casper's mind she began to put the current audio input to her recent nightmare. Tears fell down her cheeks. On the video, the name 'Casper' was used enough to move it past the throws of ecstasy into the realm of sorry-ass amateur date-rape porn.

"We may have broken Casper a teensy bit," Anima feigned sincere regret well.

"Oh," I chuckled, "it is too late for word play now, Anima. That train has left the station and the whole crew here missed it. I warned you about slithering horrors and the beautification of humanity. Here is the final lesson..."

"Fuck you and your bullshit," Brennan mocked me.

"Brennan - my guest," Hana insisted. His response was to blather some noise - nah, nah, nah - an act several of his playmates took up. It was a display more appropriate for 5 year olds than men and women above the age of consent. Estere tapped Brooke next to her, motioning with her fork to a melon ball in her bowl. After a momentarily confusion Brooke tossed the melon up.

Estere tossed the fork, skewering it with enough force to sail past me and land on Libra's plate. Two more exhibits, including the final one that had her spitting her thrown melon on a tumbling fork and Estere turned on Brennan, fork ready. The melons were nearly the size of eyeballs.

"Do it and go to jail for fucking ever," Brennan tried to 'man-up'.

"Diplomatic immunity," she smiled. "I doubt the government of Azerbaijan will give a rat's ass about you and your drug-consuming, alcohol-guzzling, whoring lifestyle. The worst that happens to me is that I have to go home for a few months. You will be blind forever." Estere revealed her second fork.

"Not this morning, Bitch," Orlando stood up. "I'm not afraid of forks and side-show tricks." I stood up as well, but went in a different direction. Brennan was at the top of the table - Hana was at the bottom. Casper and Anima were on the opposite side of the table and closer to Hana so that was the route I took.

Anima, Brennan and Orlando had a problem. Estere was threatening Brennan. I was clearly coming to retrieve Casper. The quandary was which way Orlando went - he couldn't both safeguard Brennan and stop me. I was pretty sure that Brennan was convinced Orlando would come his aid because of his role as paymaster.

Orlando Keyes wasn't a thug, or a dog. He was a tactician and he planned to win this fight. Contrary to my desires, that meant I came first. I was far closer and getting nearer all the time. Even if Estere managed to fork out one of Brennan's eyes, Estere couldn't contribute to the fight with me quickly enough to make a difference.

"Casper, you want to stay with your friends, don't you?" Anima cooed to her victim. Casper's head bobbled, making a tragic contrast to her tears. Hana had done as much as she dared at this juncture. Orlando came closer, snatching up an unused chair to counter my knife. I backed up. It was my only true choice.

Charging forth against Orlando certainly would have been romantic. It would have also been futile. I couldn't beat the man - hurting him didn't equate to actually winning. Estere blinding Brennan accomplished nothing. When I had back-pedaled to Hana, Orlando relented. Once his bladder-weakening fear turned into post-survival euphoria, Brennan started laughing.

"Fucking dipshit," he sneered. The thump of helicopter blades began dominating perceptions. "I knew you didn't have it in you. You are a wimp and a chicken-shit coward." Brooke and Libra were worried and confused.

"He could not win against Mr. Keyes," Estere stated to them. "Getting pummeled would have been a wasteful gesture."

"Oh, now you are his apologist." a random fuck-nut snorted. The helicopter kept getting closer.

"What about Casper?" Brooke worried. Anima smirked at the show of heartfelt concern.

"They haven't gotten her out of the room yet," Estere pointed out. "Once they depart the table we will be able to double-team Mr. Keyes and break him. The aftermath is an absolute certainty."

"I don't think so," Orlando challenged.

"Oh yes," Estere grinned wolfishly. "Once we have you on the ground, I'm going to shatter your palms then tear off your fingers. Pull up, twist and snap - I've done it several times; it is quick and easy. If you think you can continue your career without fists, by all means, stay on your present course of action."

"What is it that you do again?" Hana asked Estere.

"I'm a...a freelance archivist, genealogist and an Olmec-tastic historical pioneer; according to Cáel anyway," she answered.

"From Azerbaijan?" Hana murmured.

"I never said I was from there, only that I have diplomatic status with their UN mission," Estere clarified. Hana said something in an unknown tongue to which Estere responded. Their conversation lasted about one minute.

"We both speak Farsi, though mine is 'schooled' and hers has a Tabriz accent," Hana enlightened us.

"I apologize for last night, Cáel," Hana nodded. "I mistook you for one of my little step-brother's normal crowd of useless nitwits. You appear to be both smart and know interesting people." 'And how', I muttered internally.

"I take it your daughter is with Philip," Brennan intervened. "Miss her?"

By this time, the helicopter had traversed the ocean-side view of the villa and was humming its way to the east end of the estate. Philip must have been Hana's divorced whatever who most likely had alternating weekends of child custody.

"Cáel, you mentioned something about a 'final lesson'," Hana turned to me.

"Only this: there was a woman who trusted a man. She decided to leave him; so he, and a few buddies, held her down and gang-raped her for two days. When they passed out, she didn't run away, or call the police. No, she took a baseball bat and knocked them into la-la land. She secured them with garbage ties, woke them up by stabbing them in non-vital areas and then proceeded to castrate each and every one with a dull kitchen knife.

She went to prison, got out and put her life back together. She eventually rose to a position of some importance and influence with various questionable characters at her command," I continued. "If confronted with a similar situation, especially when money renders justice mute, I'm not sure what this woman would do to assuage her haunted memories."

"Do you really want to put poor Casper up on the top twenty free porn sites, Cáel?" Anima pouted.

"Not my concern anymore," I sighed. "I put the facts out there. What other people make of that information is no longer under my control. From here on out, it doesn't matter what you do, Anima. You've chosen to act in a heinous manner, as have the rest of your crowd - Orlando and his lady included."

"If something happens..." Orlando rumbled.

"You will do nothing," Estere laughed. "You can do nothing. I know the person of whom Cáel speaks and there is nothing you can do, nowhere you can hide where she will not find all of you and balance karmic accounts."

"We didn't do anything," the fiancée proclaimed.

"Standing back and abetting a vile deed is hardly an effective defense," Estere stared with pitiless eyes. "Did you attempt to alter Mr. Keyes' course of actions - you clearly could have? You did not. Mr. Keyes safeguarded the perpetrators of the heinous deed, and thus both of you are condemned by that crime."

The boot was on the other foot now for Orlando. He couldn't come at me. He couldn't come at Estere. None of the 'men' on his side were going to stand up to any pain while Brooke and Libra, though unschooled, looked ready to be a serious nuisance. That meant Orlando would be fighting Estere and I simultaneously - and he would lose.

Worse, he would lose over a phone call that might not mean a thing. Oh, Estere and I were confident retribution was coming his way and that was unsettling. It wouldn't hold up in court and Hana's presence negated everyone else's legal immunity, except for Brennan who remained her family- the nut sack. Anima's gaze shifted from me to Libra, which my girl found unsettling.

"Cáel, what is going to happen...over this and getting Casper back?" Libra whispered. For starters, we hadn't rescued Casper yet, so there was no 'getting her back'.

"Libra, you've seen the scars crisscrossing my body - the bruises and sore ribs I've suffered through," I told her.

"Those were from the co-workers who hold deep and abiding affection toward me," I continued. "Imagine what they are capable of inflicting on those they do not like. Think about what they might do if they thought I was in danger and distressed. Couple that with the intimate knowledge of exactly what Casper has gone through ... is going through, and then draw your own conclusions." There was a pause while the others ate and Libra digested the information.

"Are we ever going to see Trent again?" she leaned in and whispered.

"It can be done, but that it isn't something either of you would enjoy," I whispered out of the side of my mouth. Sending Brooke and Libra on a one-way flight to Indonesia/Philippines definitely wasn't part of my life plan. It was the safest way to let her know Trent was alive.

"Does Brooke know?" Libra nudged me quietly. I shook my head. "Does Trent?" Another head shake. Pause. "That day in the office - when Trent dumped Brooke - you REALLY were trying to keep us from harm, weren't you?"

"Yes," I mouthed. "Now eat up."

The helicopter noises had a purpose and the consequences entered the dining room as breakfast was winding down. It was Jormo and Misty Sulkanen, aka Dad and Wife #3.

"Brennan," Jormo said in a neutral voice. We, Brennan's guests, barely rated a glance.

"Hana," Dad greeted his step-daughter with much more affection.

"Hey Dad," Brennan laughed. "You've almost missed Orlando here busting up Kibble," he waved a fork at me.

"Good Morning, Father," Hana waved, "Misty."

"Kibble?" Jormo sighed, distracted from his path further into the villa by his son's statement.

"That would be me, Mr. and Mrs. Sulkanen," I swallowed a piece of my omelet quickly and raised my hand, "though my fellow homo sapiens call me Cáel Nyilas."

"Mr. Nyilas, along with Brooke, Libra and Estere have agreed to be MY guests for the weekend," Hana added.

"Very well," her dad nodded. "Mr. Keyes, your endorsement contract with 'Fitness Tech' doesn't include you getting into fights on my behalf, or my son's." Mr. Sulkanen must have owned Fitness Tech, thus Brennan's believed power over an athlete endorsing some product.

"It also doesn't stop me from getting into unsanctioned bouts," Orlando glared at me. The tension was broken by Casper starting to sob loudly and uncontrollably.

We all did the standing-up game once more. This time Casper saw me coming back for her and stood up. Anima tried to calm the shaken woman. Orlando closed in.

"New target," Estere stated serenely. She had a fork at the ready and was staring at Orlando's fiancée. It gave me the opening I needed.

I took hold of Casper's left arm. Anima took Casper's right. This time she had misjudged the situation and I wasn't settling for a vocal educational moment. I pushed Casper aside, put both hands under Anima's arms and lifted her up.

"I told you this wasn't a game you wanted to play," I cautioned her right before I slammed her length-wise on the table.

Anima's head cracked-down hard and the breath was driven from her body.

"Mr. Nyilas!" Mr. Sulkanen shouted. "What do you think you are doing to Anima?"

"I'm not being an enabling bastard, Sir," I growled back. "Come on, Casper," I began leading her back to my seat.

"Why don't we see what security has to say about that," Jormo shot back angrily.

"Father, something has happened to the young lady - Casper - and neither Anima, nor Brennan, were adequately helping her," Hana stood up. "The last time Cáel tried, Mr. Keyes got in his way. This time, Anima discovered she wasn't the same level of deterrent."

"He slammed Anima into the table, Hana," the old wolf snarled. There was nothing wrong with this guy's macho. Anima shot me a treasured, smug glance as she rolled off the table. The spiraling tension was a super-cell caused by the Hana-Brennan poison and Jormo's displeasure with me. Hana decided to not abandon me, which allowed Brennan to go after her like a starving piranha.

"Hold on," Misty tried to calm the pseudo-sibling shouting match. She strode majestically over to me, Casper, and Libra to take a look at our charge. Within a meter there was no doubt what Casper had been put through. The smell of an orgy's aftermath, the tattered look, the listless smile belying her tears and her inability to focus, clearly chilled Misty.

We were thrust back into Sulkanen family politics. The purely human reaction was for Misty to lambast Anima and Brennan then call the cops. Except, Misty was wife number three, Hana was step-daughter from marriage number two - not even blood-relations with Jormo, and Brennan was a blood-heir for what little time he had left on Earth.

"Come with me," Misty curled an arm around Casper's waist.

"We are coming with you," Brooke announced.

"That won't be necessary," Misty smiled wanly.

"That wasn't a request," Brooke snapped angrily. "After this, I don't trust any of 'you' people."

That went over as well as a father realizing his son looked like the butler. Jormo's demeanor turned thunderous - he was being disrespected in his own home, Brennan looked happily vindictive and the rest didn't matter at the moment.

"Young lady..." the old wolf growled.

"Shut up!" Brooke screamed. "The fact that neither you, nor any of your people, are calling 9-1-1 speaks volumes about the lack of character and untrustworthiness of your clan, Mr. Sulkanen."

Brooke had just discovered her noblesse oblige. All that crap I'd been talking about the upper crust of society, the top 1% etc.; here was finally the 'face slap' that was married to the 'backhand' so many of us lower class schmucks experienced. Sulkanen was nouveau riche - a self-made man if you considered coming to America with three million in family assets to be a low enough starting point.

Brooke wasn't going to attack his credit rating, or bad-mouth him to his business associates. No, there were a ton of socially critical charities and committees that were about to be told by an impeccable source (Brooke) that Dad Sulkanen harbored his rapist son from criminal prosecution. No, this wasn't some 'nobody' being defended either. Casper wasn't known, but she was notable.

"You can certainly leave," the Old Man rumbled. "The young lady stays. I'm calling Security and my concierge physician."

"Go," I glanced to Estere and off she sprinted. A moment too slow, Brennan and Orlando clued into the threat. Orlando took after Estere.

"She's got a gun!" Brennan squealed. Jormo was busy dispensing orders over his phone as the situation spiraled. But then there was Hana.

"Mr. Nyilas, please exert some control over this situation," Hana urged.

"I'll try. Brooke, why don't you, Libra and Mrs. Sulkanen take Casper to a more comfortable setting," I suggested.

"What about your Azerbaijani friend?" Hana pressed.

"Oh," I chuckled. "Me giving Estere advice about conflict resolution is like me giving you advice on," I had to wrack my mind about something the Sulkanens were invested in, "natural gas exploration. She'll be fine."

"This way," Misty directed. I was so much more enamored and impressed with my two princesses than I had been during our initial meeting. They both shot me quick looks that said the same thing. They knew I was sending them out of harm's way, not exiling them from the decision-making process.

Only three of the remaining people weren't scared - myself (I'm an idiot), Anima (sick fuck) and Jormo Sulkanen, who seemed to know the difference between fear you could do something about, and the fear you ignored. We heard bellows from upstairs as Orlando finally discovered that he didn't know what room my group was staying in and that Estere had evaded him.

The hopeful-to-be Mrs. Keyes stood up and looked in the direction her fiancé had disappeared into.

"Don't worry," I said. "The moment Hana expressed the bonds of hospitality to Ms. Abed, you were protected from premeditated mischief." I wasn't 100% sure of that. Keeping the woman from racing after Estere was crucial.

The two security types showed up first. They must have had some part of the house dedicated to their use, because I had no idea they were about, yet here they were. They wore moderately expensive, off-the-rack suits, seemed to be in decent physical condition and had pistols and stun guns. One word from Jormo and the guns came out. They had the polished look of pretend-professionals.

Had I not worked at Havenstone and seen its malicious underbelly, I would have been impressed. As it was, how could things go more wrong? They split up; one going after Orlando and Estere and the other closing cautiously with me. He looked cool, but his gun was held too high and he blithely came within hand-to-hand combat range.

Oh please, EVERYONE I cared about had left the room. If this guy and I wrestled for his piece, I could have cared less who got shot while it was his damn job to see that no one besides me got a scratch. I was sure his corporate employer cautioned him about such mistakes a lot...because he still had the safety engaged on his firearm. I'm an idiot...I'm an idiot...I'm an idiot.

"Your bitch is going to get shot now, Cocksucker," Brennan sneered. The security guy was reaching for my arm to pull me away from the table. He hadn't bother to ask me, instead being engrossed in his ear piece chatter. I snatched his gun from his grasp, disengaged the safety and pointed it at the guy.