Cascade (32 page)

Jacob waved both of them from the
room.

“
Don’t you have a company to run?”
Mike asked.

“
Which company?” Jacob asked. His
face was set somewhere between angry and exhausted. “I was on my
way to a site when I received the weirdest phone call. I thought
I’d stop by to see what you thought.”

Mike nodded.

“
What happened, Jake?” Valerie
asked.

“
I got a phone call from an agent
selling Sandy’s father’s house,” Jacob said. “MLR properties is on
the realtor’s list for houses in need if a quick sale. The agent
said the owner needed money immediately. I was trying to figure out
where I’d heard the address before when she went into the whole
story. The Feds have frozen all of Sandy’s father’s assets except
for the house. Sandy’s father needs to get the money out of the
house to pay for legal fees. No lawyer will take his case without
payment up front and he doesn’t want to take a chance on a public
defender.”

“
Sounds like they’re going to
prosecute the bastard,” Valerie said.

“
Well, that’s my question,” Jacob
said. “That’s what I think we need to decide on.”

“
Crap, Jake, what do I know? You
just put my name on this company so I would have a stake in the
profit,” Mike said. “I don’t know anything about real estate. I
just go where you tell me to go; do what you tell me to
do.”

“
Wait a minute,” Valerie said. “If
Mike’s name is on this company, it’s part mine too. Let’s hear Jake
out.”

Shrugging, Mike gave a longing look toward
Katy’s room and his painting project.

“
What’s the issue?” Valerie
asked.

“
If we buy the house, we’re
supporting Sandy’s father’s defense,” Jacob said. “On the one hand,
this is a democracy. He has a right to defend himself. Blah, blah,
blah and all that civics stuff. On the other hand, he’s a complete
scumbag who should rot in prison after being tortured by Dick
Cheney’s goons. Why would we want to support someone like
that?”

“
If you don’t buy it, what
happens?” Valerie asked.

“
Someone else will,” Jacob said.
“There’s a lot of scrape and rebuild in that neighborhood right
now.”

“
Would you like to refurbish his
house?”

The gleam in Valerie’s eye made Jacob look her
up and down.

“
Not a chance, psychic boy. I
still know how to keep you out of my head,” Valerie said. “Use your
words.”

“
No, these houses were built by
the Air Force during or right after World War II. They have some
neat details – coved ceilings, red oak piece floors - and are
solidly constructed.”

“
But?” Valerie asked.

“
They don’t inspire me at all. And
we have plenty of rehab work. The phone’s been ringing off the hook
since Jill’s started working with us. We have a waiting list for
most of this year and some of next.”

“
That’s why it’s taken me so long
to get to Katy’s room,” Mike said to Valerie.

“
What happens if we don’t buy the
house?” Valerie asked.

“
Someone will buy it,” Jacob said.
“That’s the point. It’s a great deal. We could scrape the building
in two hours and resell the lot for double what we bought it for.
With the media attention and FBI presence, the house is tainted.
The agent said they won’t be able to sell the house to homeowners
after yesterday’s media coverage. I guess most of the pornography
was filmed in that house.”

Mike grunted with disgust.

“
So we could buy the
house…”

“
We?” Jacob asked.

“
Shush,” Valerie said. “We could
buy the house, scrape it, and hold onto it until the drama goes
away. When do they want the check?”

“
But Valerie, we’re supporting
this asshole’s defense! We’d be…”

“
Someone else will. Why not
us?”

Valerie clapped her hands together with glee.
Mike and Jacob looked at her as if she’d lost her mind.

“
How fast can you get ownership?”
Valerie asked.

“
The agent says she can provide a
detailed property search showing ownership and liability claims.
What if we do a quit claim? We can have possession by the end of
the day today. Then thirty days until all the paperwork is filed
through the courts.”

“
But you can modify the house on a
quit claim?”

“
Sure,” Jacob said. “Why? What are
you up to?”

“
We leave tomorrow at noon. Can
you do it before then?”

“
I…”

“
Don’t be a baby, Jake! Trust me!
This is going to be fun!”

Jacob glanced at Mike. Mike shrugged his
shoulders. They both looked at Valerie. She was counting something
on her fingers. When she caught their look, she dropped her fingers
and gave them her movie star smile.

“
I do have my own money, you know.
I could buy it myself…” Valerie’s voice mocked Jacob. “I mean, if
you’re too chicken.”

“
Very funny,” Jacob said. “You
need to come in to Lipson to work today and tomorrow before you
leave. We have to make decisions about what to do without
Aden.”

“
Fine,” Valerie said. “I will work
long and hard today and tomorrow. Anything else?”

“
What are you planning?” Mike
asked.

Valerie gave him a little girl smile and he
shook his head.

“
This is not going to be good,”
Mike said.

“
Go on, Jake. Make the call! We’ll
wait right here.”

While his eyes puzzled over Valerie’s face,
Jacob redialed the agent on his Blackberry.

“
Not good at all.”

~~~~~~~~

Thursday afternoon — 2:35
P.M.

The Castle

“
What about this one?” Honey asked
MJ. “Do you like this better than the other pantsuits Valerie
helped me buy?”

She wheeled out to look at her olive light
wool pantsuit in the full length mirror. MJ was sitting in a high
backed chair at their dining room table.

“
You’re beautiful,” he
said.

She buttoned then unbuttoned the jacket. She
tugged on the silk blouse underneath. She’d struggled to find
clothing that looked nice and professional while she sat in her
wheelchair. Most clothing was made for standing people.

“
You always
say
that,” Honey said. “I need to look
right.”

“
You need to…” MJ shook his head
as the words disappeared.

Honey wheeled over to where he was sitting.
His blue eyes held her pale blue eyes. He reached out to stroke her
hair.

“
I have to do this, MJ. I’m the
only one who can testify to what my sister was like as a child,”
Honey said. Imitating the assistant-DA’s voice, she added, “You’re
the only one who can put her away for life.”

MJ’s lips pursed. He opened his mouth then
shook his head.

“
No words?”

MJ nodded.

“
You must be upset,” Honey said.
“Please, please, please MJ. I can’t do this without you. Please
help me. Please try. Don’t leave me to do this by
myself.”

MJ ground his teeth together. He rubbed his
forehead, tapped certain calming points on his face, then blew out
a breath.

“
Th... th… the trial starts
tomorrow,” MJ said.

“
Jury selection starts tomorrow.
We won’t be in trial until next week sometime. The DA said we
should expect them to dilly dally around about jurors. They have to
select twelve jurors with three alternates.”

“
Wh…wh… Why do yu… yu… you have to
go?”

“
They think that having me there,
like this, will show the potential jurors what she’s capable
of.”

“
I wish we could just move on. I
hate that your sister has this power over us.”

“
I wish none of this happened. A
year ago, I could walk, dance, run, climb…” Honey shrugged. “I
could move my hands. I could do so many amazing things that… I
never appreciated. Simple things… walking to lunch, wiggling into a
pair of jeans, knitting, painting my toenails.”

“
You painted your toenails?” MJ’s
eyebrows pinched together.

“
Well, no.” Honey sighed. “You
just don’t get it.”

Flipping her wheelchair around, she zoomed
back into their bedroom. Near the door, MJ jumped in front of her
wheelchair. She ran into him with a solid ‘thump.’ He held firm.
Giving an exaggerated sigh, she crossed her arms over her
heart.

“
I get it,” MJ said.

“
You get what?”

“
I understand what you’re saying.
You’ve suffered a lot… a lot. There’s no question. I’m upset
because I don’t want you to suffer anymore.”

“
You mean the trial?”

MJ nodded.

“
Me too.”

“
What if all this never happened?”
MJ asked the question they often asked each other when they were
down.

“
MJ, I can’t do that today… I just
can’t.”

“
Come on, it’s not that hard,” MJ
said. “If all of this never happened, we’d never be
married.”

“
You wouldn’t even be in my
life.”

“
We’d never live in this beautiful
home,” he said.

“
I’d never have my great job with
Bambi.”

“
We’d never be planning to have a
baby,” he said.

“
We’d never be building a real,
whole life together.”

“
I’ve never been this happy,” he
said. “Ever.”

“
I’ve never been this
happy.”

“
Is it worth it? Giving up your
legs for all of this?” he asked.

Honey nodded.

“
You?” she asked.

“
Fuck yeah!” MJ said.

“
What do we have to do?” he asked.
“What’s it going to take to get this done and over
with?”

“
I have to go tomorrow and Monday
and every day after that until they put my sister away
forever.”

“
That’s my girl.” MJ
smiled.

“
So which outfit?”

“
Doesn’t matter,” MJ said. “You’re
beautiful in all of them.”

Honey smiled.

“
Didn’t you and Val buy something…
sexier?”

“
A couple of things. Some lingerie
and a pretty dress for celebrating when the trial’s over,” Honey
nodded. “Val said she’d try to come home to celebrate with
me.”

“
When do I get to see the sexy
stuff?”

“
After I pick out something to
wear tomorrow,” Honey said.

“
What you have on is perfect,” MJ
said. “I’d never lie about something this serious.”

Honey laughed.

~~~~~~~~

Thursday afternoon — 4:12
P.M

Rose Hospital

Standing near the entrance of Rose hospital,
they looked out at the photographers, videographers and press
waiting for the ‘abused girl.’ A nurse pushed her wheelchair while
Aden, Seth and Anjelika walked next to her. Sandy gulped at the
sight of the press.

“
I’ll go get the car,” Aden
said.

“
DPD has kept them away from the
entrance. The entrance cannot be blocked,” Seth said. “We can’t do
much more than that.”

“
Can I stand?” Sandy asked. “I’d
feel better if I could walk out.”

“
Just don’t overdo it okay,” the
nurse said. “I’ll stay with you until we get to the
car.”

With Anjelika’s hand on her elbow, Sandy
walked slowly toward the door.

“
Like Greta Garbo,” Anjelika
whispered.

Sandy threw her shoulders back and held her
head high. She was about to step out the door when they heard the
sound of a large vehicle near the door. Shocked, she watched three
excavators creep up in front of the door. The monstrous vehicles
effectively blocked her from the hoard of press.

Valerie Lipson waved to Sandy from the middle
excavator. She moved to the press side of the excavator to distract
the photographers. Jill’s Lexus pulled up in front of the huge
machines.

“
Come on!” Jill yelled from the
driver’s seat.

“
Your chariot, my dear.” Aden
appeared at her side.

“
Go on, Sandy. Greta Garbo
couldn’t have received a better offer!”

Aden swooped Sandy into his arms and carried
her to the SUV. Tanesha hopped out of the back seat so Aden could
set Sandy in. Sandy scooted next to Heather and Tanesha got in.
Aden ran around to the passenger seat. Once Sandy was safe inside,
the signal went up and the Lipson excavators moved out.

“
It’s good to have friends,” Seth
said to Anjelika as they watched the procession of excavators move
off.