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#Post#: 2923--------------------------------------------------
Haunted by the Past - Chapter 16 - Wandering
By: RampageSports Date: March 2, 2016, 7:36 am
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Author's Note: The Spenser, Hawk and Susan Silverman characters
belong to mystery novelist Robert B. Parker. Mr. Parker is one
of my favorite authors, and his work is a major influence on the
the way I write. Whether I even come close to mimicking his
style is open to considerable debate, but I have chosen to use
his characters in this story as something of an homage. My goal
is to handle them as lightly as possible and to maintain them as
Mr. Parker created them. Any failure on that front is
completely my own.
[hr]
Haunted by the Past - Chapter 16 - Wandering
"So, who is that gorgeous hunk of man in the lobby?" asked
Elisha Cuthbert as we sat in my office early the next morning.
"My god... he's perfection," Britney Spears added. "Tall, dark
and beautiful... with just a hint of danger."
Just a hint? Hawk would be highly insulted.
"You both need a cold shower," I said.
"And you," I continued, singling out Elisha, "are a married
woman."
"That doesn't mean my eye can't wander a little," she countered.
"Men do it all the time."
Point, Elisha.
"What's he doing here?" Britney asked.
Though I knew this moment would come eventually, I had no
obfuscating response at the ready. I made the decision early on
that any attempt to mislead the masses would only end in
disaster. The women of RSI come in many flavors. Serious,
dedicated, aloof, whimsical... the list is almost unending. But
there is one adjective that simply doesn't apply. None of these
women are stupid. Not one of them would buy whatever excuses I
came up with for very long.
So, my approach was to be technically accurate, while
withholding the fine details.
"He's here as a favor to me," I said.
"It looks like he's guarding the lobby," Elisha said.
"That's a brilliant observation, shamus," I said sarcastically.
"There's no need to be snotty," Britney huffed.
"And who the f*ck is Shamus?" Elisha said.
Why does it always have to be these two?
"Look, guys... there's a problem I'm trying to deal with, and
he's here to help. I really can't talk about it, but it's under
control."
"A problem that needs someone standing guard?" Britney asked.
I sighed.
"Unfortunately, yes."
"Must be a pretty big problem," Britney said.
I spread my hands in front of me in a what can you do? gesture.
"You okay?" Elisha asked.
"So far."
"And Danni?" she asked.
Hawk and Danni were seen in frequent conversation, now. It was
not a big leap for Britney and Elisha to assume she was a part
of whatever was happening.
Danni, I thought to myself.
The okay-ness of Danni was was a subject I thought about a lot.
She was trying to roll with everything... to tough it out the
way she does with everything else. But every night when we
parted ways, I worried about her. Not so much about her
physical safety — I trusted Hawk to see to that — but about her
mental state. I could feel this crap wearing me down, and I
could see it was wearing her down, as well. When we were
together, I could be there for her. I could take her mind off
it and keep her busy. But, when we were apart...
"She's hanging in there," I said.
"If we can help..."
Britney left the thought unfinished.
"I know," I said softly. "Thanks."
They got up to leave, just as Spenser and Hawk entered.
Britney gave Spenser an appraising look and said, "Jesus."
"It's like they're growing on trees," Elisha said.
"Would you two get out of here?" I said.
After they left, I turned to Spenser.
"You guys are stirring up the natives."
"Alas," Spenser said, "this is the curse of fine men such as
we."
"Give your ego a rest there, Galahad," I said. "You're sucking
all the air out of the room."
For the first time since he'd arrived, I'd caught Spenser
off-guard.
"Wow," he said in genuine surprise.
"You right," Hawk said. "She different. She much quicker, this
time."
I smiled confidently. I was different, this time. I didn't
know what was making the difference, but I could feel it to my
core. Back then, I had been terrified... clutching at even the
faintest chance I would get out of that mess. Now... sure, I
was worried, but I was not afraid. And I wasn't just looking to
survive. I wanted this over — once and for all.
Having seen the men enter, Danni swung around the door jam and
into my office.
"What did the dynamic duo want?" she said, referencing Britney
and Elisha.
"To be nosy," I said.
She stared at me a moment, and I gave her a look that confirmed
the two women had been inquiring about what was going on.
She shook her head slowly.
"It won't be long before they're all asking," she said.
"I know," I said. "We're going to have to do something."
She nodded calmly, mostly because there was little worth
worrying about. We had already discussed our next move, and we
knew who we were going to rely on to help us.
After that, it would either work or it wouldn't.
We set the problem aside and the four of us took our usual
positions.
"What did your little foray unto the dark side turn up?" I asked
Spenser.
"Finnish," he said.
I don't know what I was expecting him to say, but that wasn't
it.
"I'm sorry," I said as I collected myself. "What?"
"Most of what I found was not of much interest. But, I did find
a folder full of paperwork that caught my attention... primarily
because it was written in Finnish."
"Any idea what it is?" Danni asked.
"Well, I couldn't read most of it, but the few items in English
seemed to pertain to a real estate transaction Powers has in the
works. I made copies so I could get it translated, then we
should know more."
I failed to see what was so interesting about Powers becoming an
international land baron, but hey... I'm not the detective,
right?
All in all, though, I was not happy. I had my hopes pinned on a
major breakthrough after Spenser's perusal of King's place of
business. Finnish real estate was not the kind of progress I'd
been counting on.
My dismay was obvious on my face.
"You don't look impressed," Spenser said.
"We're not getting anywhere," I said.
"Patience, young lady," he said. "Great works are performed not
by strength but by perseverance."
The quote did nothing for me, but it had been nearly two decades
since anyone had referred to me as young lady. So that helped.
But, still...
"Patience is not something I'm good at," I grumbled.
Danni suddenly found something very amusing.
[hr]
Character Reference
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Richelle_100x120.jpg
Name: Richelle Winterfeld
Nickname(s):
Background: Owner of the RSI stable, former underground fighter
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Danni_100x120.jpg
Name: Danneel Harris
Nickname(s): Danni
Background: RSI stable leader, reigning DEF welterweight
champion
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Britney_100x120.jpg
Name: Britney Spears
Nickname(s): Brit, Queen B
Background: Team leader of Britney's Brutal Beauties, DEF
middleweight contender, training partner and close friend of
Elisha Cuthbert
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Elisha_100x120.jpg
Name: Elisha Cuthbert
Nickname(s): Leesh
Background: Team leader of Leesh's Lethal Ladies, DEF
middleweight contender, training partner and close friend of
Britney Spears
#Post#: 2924--------------------------------------------------
Re: Haunted by the Past - Chapter 16 - Wandering
By: RampageSports Date: March 2, 2016, 7:39 am
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Another short one, but I've decided not to change the posting
schedule anymore. I said in the beginning I would post every
other day to give anyone who's interested a decent amount of
time to read each chapter. I should just stick with that plan
and stop messing around.
So, that's what I'll do. :)
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