Blind Spot, page 9
Italy nodded her acceptance and he poured just enough into the glass for the women to get a taste. For Shenita, he poured a bit more, which she refused. Under the table, Mexicali nudged her, suggesting she drink more.
“Drink up, I have more alone time planned for us tonight, my Chocolate Queen. My cock is hard just looking at you,” he said. “When you cum, that snatch gets so tight, you nearly dragged me with you. I want some more, my dear.”
Shenita knew something her captor did not. She couldn’t eat Chinese food. It never agreed with her. Tonight, she ate seconds. Later, her new husband was going to take more shit from her than he could stand. She smiled at the table knowing that in less than an hour, things were going to get ugly.
Chapter 10- Red Riding Hood
The entire day had been ugly. One employee filed a grievance against the department he managed, another employee resigned, and one more requested the employee’s job who was resigning. The bad part of it all was he really didn’t know the person who resigned, let alone what they did for the organization, and quite honestly, he didn’t recall ever seeing the person do whatever it was they were hired to do.
Jerry Stanfield, his boss, tapped on the frame of his office door. “Hey, Neary! What do you want to do about Elisa’s position now that she’s decided to quit to go have babies? Toby Juarez would be perfect for the job. What do you think?”
He didn’t want to let on that he had no idea who Toby or Elisa was or what they did, so he used his father’s tactic of eliciting information. Sighing deeply, he leaned back in the chair, making eye contact with Jerry. Slow folded his hands inside each other and sighed again. He provided his boss with an ‘are you kidding me look’ which worked perfectly.
“You’re right,” Jerry said. “Elisa had a way with the women she had to take to the hospitals for exams. She is an excellent Personal Relations Manager, and even though Toby is fluent in the language, you’re right; women won’t be comfortable talking to him about their experiences with the Coyotes. Hell, the second he has to pass out a tampon he will probably freak out.”
“See, you answered your own question,” Slow told his boss. “And for the record, I admire Elisa for taking the time away from the stress to be a good mom. If you ask me, the country went to hell in a handbasket when the moms of the world started working the same if not longer hours than the men.”
“Says the man who suddenly became a father and has all the answers in the world towards the plight of men’s failures to be strong supportive role models,” Jerry said with a bit of attitude.
“No Jerry, you try shaving, getting yourself together, and putting a Shazam part perfectly in your daughter’s hair for two ponytails before having your morning coffee,” Slow said, “and don’t even get me started on trying to get on a pair of those stupid ass tights. I’m just saying, men, don’t appreciate enough of what a working mother has to do.”
Jerry stepped inside the office, pointing at one of the seldom used chairs in front of Slow’s desk. Slow nodded his approval for the man to take a seat, but before he did, he closed the door. This was the part he hated, the personal moment of sharing about life outside of the office. He didn’t care and didn’t want to hear it, but Jerry never could read a room, and nine times out of nine, the man would barrel through a long-winded diatribe on his assessment of the fairer sex.
“Neary, I don’t know if you’re aware, but last year, Wendy, my wife, left me,” he said. “The first three months, man, I was freer than a hooker on Bourbon Street with a clean bill of health and screwing everything that would hike up a dress and drop panties. I had a near heart attack with a 25-year-old named Amber, who wanted me to go rounds. Rounds, man! I was a one-and-done kinda guy, and I popped a blue pill, and that chick nearly killed me. It was embarrassing, laid up like that, knowing my ticker ain’t built for a dicker down. I called Wendy, apologized, and begged her to come home.”
Slow sighed deeply again, looking Jerry in the eye and wondering what was the fucking point of telling him something he didn’t give two shits about.
“Neary, if the child’s mother left you and the babe, you can talk to me,” he said softly.
“Jerry, I appreciate the offer; it means the world to me,” Slow lied, getting to his feet. He politely walked around his desk and opened the door.
“I wasn’t done,” Jerry said, rising.
“I’m sorry, I thought you had the meeting with HR in about five minutes or did the meeting time move?”
Jerry looked at his watch. “A meeting with HR?”
“You know, the major meeting facing the complaint from a female employee about being treated unfairly as a woman in this department by the men, who force her to make coffee each morning,” he said to Jerry. “You know, the one who went on maternity leave and came back to find her desk covered in folders to be scanned and archived—that meeting.”
“Oh yeah, maybe you should go in my place,” Jerry suggested.
“Not my circus, not my elephant; my pooper scooper is put away,” he said, looking at his own watch. “I need to head out. I have a date tonight with a pretty lady.”
“You’re dating...what about the mother of the child? Hey, when do I get to meet your kid?”
Slow didn’t answer his boss as he closed his office door. For a minute, he thought about his circumstance and wondered if he could use the Family Medical Leave Act to stay home for a while. Immediately, the thought left him, knowing how much Naomi was enjoying her new school and her tiny little friends. Seeing her walk in and act like she owned the place with a ‘Hey, girl’ to her friend made him smile. It would be terrible to take her away from it, especially since she was coming out of her shell, opening up, and actually being more animated.
A tightness hit his chest at the thought of seeing her face light up when she learned something new.
“One, you need to take her by the dance studio tonight to see about getting her in the class. Two, see your sister about washing her hair because I sure as hell don’t want to do that,” he said, collecting his things. He didn’t notice the woman standing at his door until he looked up. Waving his hand, he bid the woman to enter.
“Mr. Neary, I’m not sure you’re aware of me tendering my resignation,” the woman stated.
“I am, Elisa,” he started, “I’m somewhat disappointed you never came to me to seek a new work solution before you decided to up and leave. Is that what you truly want?”
“Yes, Sir, it is,” she told him. “I’ve seen too much, heard too many stories, and held one too many hands while doctors stitched up women. This job is hard on a soul, and each day I felt I lost little of my own. It’s time for me to find something else to do.”
“Elisa, you do realize that if you wanted to rotate out of the field and into a desk job, there are options to giving up your paycheck, unless it’s really what you want.”
“I have some savings. We’ll be okay,” she said. “Thanks for being a cool boss.”
He nodded as she left his office. Slow still had no recollection of ever seeing the woman, and he didn’t know where she sat. An idea came to mind, and he grabbed his briefcase and moved at a clip toward Jerry’s office. Luca Jones from HR was at the small conference table looking bored by the speech Jerry was giving that had no real start, and usually, no clear ending.
The woman who filed the complaint was at the table as well, her name dangling on the tip of his tongue of Slow’s tongue. Can...Carol...Carlotte...Carlotta Boone. He tapped on the door, and Jerry waved his hand for Slow to enter.
“Neary, you came to save our hides?” Jerry asked, smirking at Carlotta.
“Maybe,” he said, looking at the woman. “Carlotta, you are aware that Elisa put in her notice?”
“I am, Mr. Neary,” she said.
“It means I have an opening on my team,” he said, stepping into the room and looking her in the eyes. She shifted in the seat, becoming a tad bit uncomfortable under his intense, direct gaze. He had to be easily the only attractive man on eleven floors in the twelve-story building.
“You want me working under you?” she asked in a way that didn’t bristle his feathers at her jab, which he got and ignored.
“No, beside me. I think being a new mother, you would possess a great deal of the needed qualities to step into Elisa’s job. Compassion can’t be instilled via on-the-job training,” he said. “Elisa was very good at what she did, and the job needs a person with empathy and a caring heart. Our job, is what it is. We must teach others how to handle what they see in the field. The file job was a load of crap; it was given to you not as a punishment, but to a person capable of getting the project done right and you did. You did the job well. I personally wanted to thank you. I have access to the files I need with the push of a button. You saved the department a great deal of time, resources, and energy being able to cross-reference information.”
“So, you want me to take Elisa’s job? That is three pay grades above where I am,” Carlotta said.
“Don’t you think you deserve the opportunity?”
“I do, but are you doing this so I don’t sue this company?”
“You can try and sue the government and they will tie you up in court so long, your adult grandchildren will have to appear in person for you. What I’m saying is that I see your hard work and dedication to get even the crappiest job right, so think it over, and let me know,” he said.
To Luca and Jerry, he added, “Elisa pretty much outgrew her role on the team, and what I need moving forward is going to be slightly different. Jerry and Luca, I want us to put our heads together to rewrite the job description, so Carlotta can become my right hand. Is that doable?”
Jerry was impressed, “it’s doable. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts.”
He said to all at the table, “the training element should be developed to teach others what may be required, how to read the room, pick out the most vulnerable and serve them first kind of hands-on training. I think Carlotta can do that, Carlotta, as my right hand, can you help develop the curricula?”
“I will give it my all,” she said, feeling energized.
“Good enough,” he said, nodding and leaving them to talk amongst themselves.
Carlotta watched him walk away. Before she could stop her stupid mouth, she opened it and said aloud what she was thinking, “That is one sexy ass man. I would be happy to work under him.”
Luca Jones scowled at her inappropriate comment. He too watched Michael Neary walk away, realizing he knew nothing about the man. All the years Neary worked at the organization, never once was there a complaint filed against him or an employee with a gripe working with or for him. Carlotta was squirming in her seat.
“He has a child down in the daycare center,” Jerry volunteered. “Neary also doesn’t mess around with women who work for him, and based on what I’ve seen of him, he’s not interested in the men either.”
Carlotta and Luca both looked at Jerry, asking what they both wanted to know. Jerry shrugged, “I don’t know who the mother is, and he hasn’t brought the child up to meet us either.”
“The mother must be someone pretty awesome,” Carlotta said, feeling a sense of envy over a woman she never met. “So, what does the kid look like?”
Jerry and Luca Jones both jumped to their feet, rushing towards the elevator banks followed by Carlotta. She too wanted to see the child and find out what kind of woman turned on a man like Michael Neary. In her mind, she was prepared to see a child with red hair from a blond mother creating a child with a dark-haired brown-eyed man.
Silently, like agents undercover, they took a separate elevator downstairs, staying out of sight as the elevator reached the bottom floor. His rigid back was easily spotted in the crowd, the black jacket taut across the wide shoulders as he entered the childcare center. Hidden behind a potted plant, they watched carefully as the man only called Neary signed a clipboard. He spoke with the young woman at the counter, who watched him with hearts of admiration in her eyes as a small child wearing a red hooded cloak came around the counter.
The child was excited to see her father, who bent down to hear what she had to say, but the cloak shielded her hair and face.
“Leave it to Neary to have little red riding hood for a daughter, all cloaked and clandestine,” Jerry said.
“Whatever he said to the kid has made her hella happy, she’s almost dancing,” Carlotta commented.
“I bet that child’s mother is a redhead,” Luca Jones added, not moving fast enough as the door of the childcare center swung open, and all three tried to hide behind the plant.
“Seriously, all of you look ridiculous,” Slow said to them.
Jerry wasn’t going to be put off. “Well, we were curious. We also wanted to meet your little girl, right guys?”
“Yes. Yes.” They all nodded in agreement.
Slow hated this. However, if he made a big deal about it, they would only try again, then it would become a game or something. Naomi, in his arms, adjusted herself to peer from under the red hood. Slowly, he lowered the hood so the three nosy bodies could see his beautiful little angel.
“Naomi, this is Mr. Jerry, Mr. Luca, and Ms. Carlotta,” he said to his daughter. “Guys, this is my daughter, Naomi. Say hi, Bunny.”
“Hi, Bunny,” she said, staring directly at Carlotta as if she immediately distrusted the woman. “Daddy, are these your friends from your school upstairs?”
“No, Bunny, these are the bullies from the playground,” he said with a straight face.
Jerry’s mouth was opened wide. “She is absolutely adorable. Oh my gosh, can I hold her, maybe sneak a little kiss.”
Before Slow could stop him, Jerry went for Naomi, his lips puckered to kiss her cheek only to receive her tiny fist in his mouth.
“Ow!” Jerry said, looking at her as Carlotta busted up laughing.
Naomi’s nose crinkled in disgust as she asked her father, “Daddy, why do these men keep trying to kiss me?”
“They are rude, insensitive, and don’t understand boundaries, Bunny,” he said to her. “I’m hungry. Want to go out to dinner tonight?”
“Yes, can we get cheese pizza?”
“Pizza it is,” he said, stepping around the three and heading for the door. “Have a good evening bullies.”
Still slightly wedged behind the potted plant, Carlotta said what they were thinking, “Well, that child’s mother is not blond, that is for damn certain.”
Jerry spoke next, “I seriously feel like I know nothing about that man.”
Luca was now truly intrigued by Michael Isaac Neary. He never would have thought a man as rigid and uptight as the former field agent, who came from a long line of Kentucky law enforcement officers, could be down with the swirl. Everything in him wanted to go digging, just out of curiosity to know what kind of woman Neary liked and who was the woman who had broken through his tough exterior to create a life with him. Thus far, no new paperwork had come through HR, at least not to his knowledge.
“Who is that child’s mother?” he asked softly.
CHERRY WAS TIRED. SHE wasn’t going to get much further tonight and decided to pull into a roadside hotel, which more than likely was infested with bed bugs or worse. Mustang didn’t agree with her choice of stops and made her drive two more exits to at least a name-brand chain hotel, versus a motel.
“I don’t feel like fighting tonight or having some fool burst through my motel door trying to score a few bucks,” he said, walking into the well-lit establishment. “Plus here, we can have a free breakfast in the morning.”
He checked in, securing rooms on a higher floor, across the hall from each other. He cautioned her to get some rest because tomorrow would be a long day.
Abigail Barnes, the woman nicknamed Cherry, for always being able to pop the brain stem out of a head with a splash of a cherry red color, didn’t like the handle. She didn’t like what she did for a living, but it had to be done. Deep down, she worried that Shenita could have been targeted because of her.
Word had spread about Mrs. Hump. Word spread about The Collector wanting to add Hump to his collection, but why Shenita was taken is a mystery. Further, as far as she could surmise, who knew her cousin would be in Detroit of all places or was it simply a chance encounter? None of those questions would be answered tonight, but she could call and check-in. She didn’t feel she needed to check on Naomi since her father wouldn’t ever let a hair be harmed on the child’s head. Deep down, she felt terrible for keeping Naomi from him, but she needed time to process her own emotions about how she felt about the man, let alone having to see him on a regular basis and not get naked each time he came through her front door. Slow had that effect on her. Cherry called his number and waited.
Her heart thudded in her chest as she listened to the rings. The deep voice came through the line after the third ring. He provided his trademark handle and she sighed from the comfort of only hearing his voice.
“How’s it going, Cherry?”
“Slow, no pun intended.”
“Are you being safe so you can come home to us?” he slid into the conversation early.
“Tomorrow will be a big day,” she replied, hearing his words but not knowing how to respond.
“Stay positive. Stay focused on getting to Shenita. Find her alive, get her out, then worry about the rest.”
“It is the rest I’m thinking about.”
“Nothing to think about,” he said. “I got you. If need be, I got you both.”
“There are three of us,” she gently reminded.
“My arms are strong; I can hold all three. Get some rest. Get it done. Get to me,” he said. “I’ll take care of the details.”
“Roger that, Slow,” she replied, taking a pause. “Naomi?”
“Sleeping; she had a big day and a really big slice of pizza, so she’s whipped,” he said, chuckling.
“Wow, did you just laugh?”
“Been doing that a lot lately. I’ve also changed a great deal over the past four years. I’m looking forward to you learning the real me,” he said softly.
