Celia's Puppies (8 page)

Delphie cried in earnest at his words. Jacob
sat holding her hand and watching the fire. After a few moments,
her tears began to slow.

“
I usually feel so close
to her, but since you were injured... It’s like she’s mad at me
that I let you get injured or...”

“
She’s been with me,”
Jacob said. “I’m... Well, I’m not as well as I look.”

Embarrassed by her display of sadness,
Delphie wiped her eyes. She drained her tea cup.

“
Why don’t you go and talk
to her?” Jacob asked. “She’s right here.”

“
Thanks,” Delphie said.
“Can I get you more tea?”

“
I’d love some, but I can
get some myself. Go talk to Mom,” Jacob said. “I didn’t tell you
anything you don’t know.”

Delphie gave a slight nod.

“
Do you think of me as a
kind of parent?”

“
You’re my Delphie,” Jacob
said.

“
Sam said you and Val were
always our kids – mine, Celia’s and Sam’s. I...”

“
That’s true,” Jacob
said.

“
So Katy’s mine too? I’m
her...”

“
Grand-Delphie,” Jacob
said.

Delphie smiled.

“
Love you,
Jakey.”

“
Love you too.”

Delphie went to the door of the room. She
stopped for a moment at the door. Turning to look back into the
room, she was about to ask another question. Deciding against it,
she went to her room to ask Celia instead.

~~~~~~~~

Tuesday night — 7:30 P.M.

“
Uncle Mike? When does
Mommy come home?” Katy asked.

“
You just asked that,
sweetie,” Mike said.

He and Katy had spent the night playing
Legos, laughing and watching cartoons. He was giving her a
bath.

“
Before I go to sleep,”
Katy said. “Like always. Except when I stay with Aunt
Megan.”

“
Right,” Mike
said.

“
If I tell you something,
will you promise not to tell Mommy?” Katy took the wash cloth from
Mike to scrub her face while Mike washed her hair.

“
Nope,” Mike said.
“There’s nothing that you should ever keep from your
Mom.”

“
But if I tell her, she
will cry and cry and cry,” Katy said. “I hate it when Mommy
cries.”

“
Rinse.”

Katy closed her eyes so Mike could rinse her
with the hand held tub sprayer.

“
All done?” Mike
asked.

Katy nodded.

After letting the water out of the tub, Mike
wrapped Katy in a bath sheet. He carried her out into the sitting
area of his and Valerie’s apartment. Valerie waited for them with
mugs of hot chocolate.

“
You can tell us anything.
And we will always love you no matter what. But we won’t promise
not to tell your Mommy,” Mike said.

Valerie took Mike’s warm bundle of Katy and
rubbed her dry. While Katy weighed her options on her fingers,
Valerie helped her into her pajamas. Valerie had just finished
combing Katy’s wet hair when Katy sighed.

“
Ok, I’ll tell you,” Katy
said. “You know how I had another Daddy?”

“
Uh huh,” Mike
said.

He lifted Katy onto the couch then gave her
a mug of hot chocolate. Valerie smiled when he gave her a mug of
cocoa. He winked at Valerie.

“
Well, he’s going to take
me away from Mommy and make me live with him. I won’t ever SEE
Mommy again.”

“
Why do you say that,
honey?” Mike asked.

“
He told me.”

Chapter Thirty-one
No reason to freak out

Tuesday night — 7:30 P.M.

Mike’s face registered shock then hardened.
His look would terrify an adult let alone a small child. Valerie
pushed him away from Katy.

“
When did he tell you,
honey?” Ever the actress, Valerie kept her voice friendly and
almost happy.

“
Well, I have a Jill
doll,” Katy said. She looked over at her beautiful Auntie and
smiled. Valerie smiled in return. “You haven’t met her. Mommy got
me the doll when I was about one year old. She works some nights
and I stay with Aunt Megan. Have you met Aunt Megan?”

“
I have,” Valerie said.
She touched Katy’s wet hair. “I like your Aunt Megan.”

“
I like Aunt Megan too. A
lot. But she’s not Mommy,” Katy said. “I was really sad when Mommy
wasn’t with me. Mommy found a Jill doll. It looks sort of like
Mommy and it has her recorded voice. My Jill doll usually says,
‘Love you Katy-baby’ or ‘Sweet Katherine’ or this little poem Mommy
says before bed or ‘Mommy misses you’ or... I think that’s all. I
like the ‘Love you Katy-baby’ the best. I press past the other ones
so I can hear that the most when I’m sad.”

Valerie looked to Mike. He nodded. Katy and
her Jill doll were almost never apart.

“
But I haven’t been sad in
a long time.” Katy stared off into space. “Since before we went to
the zoo. My Jill doll was in my old room. When Mommy was in the
shower, I found my Jill doll.”

“
What did the Jill doll
have to say?” Valerie asked in her light happy voice.

“
It was my old Daddy. He
said he was coming to get me and I would live with him forever,”
Katy said. “Scooter growled and barked when the Jill doll talked
like that. Scooter was so mad that I hid the doll. I don’t want
Scooter to be mad.”

“
Did the Jill doll say
anything else?” Mike growled. Valerie scowled at him over Katy’s
head. He shrugged.

“
I didn’t hear, Uncle
Mike.”

“
Because of
Scooter?”

“
Uh huh.” Katy finished
her hot chocolate. “He’s coming to get me.”

Valerie reached around Katy to hold Mike’s
hand. Mike looked caught somewhere between rage and despair.

“
More cocoa?” Valerie
asked.

“
Yes please,” Katy
said.

Valerie took Katy and Mike’s mug and went
into the small apartment kitchen. Katy sighed.

“
Are you mad?” Katy asked
Mike.

“
Worried,” Mike
said.

“
Scares me. More than a
little bit,” Katy said. “I have a new Daddy. I haven’t seen the
other Daddy in forever. He didn’t want to ever BE my Daddy. Why
won’t he leave me alone!?”

“
I wish I knew, honey,”
Mike said. His face softened. “But I’ll tell you this. No one is
going to keep you away from your Mommy. Your old Daddy doesn’t know
who he’s dealing with.”

“
Oh,” Katy’s eyes welled
with tears. “I don’t want to live with him, Uncle Mike.”

Mike pulled Katy on his lap. Rocking her
back and forth while Katy cried, Mike made a plan. No one was going
to steal his Katy and hold her captive.

No one.

~~~~~~~~

Wednesday morning — 5:11 A.M.

“
What the hell is
that?”

A tractor trailer blew its horn again.
Jacob, Blane and Aden went to the window of the small office.
Indeed, there was a truck at the Castle gate. They heard someone
run to the door.

“
I’ll go,” Aden
said.

“
No,” Blane said. “Stay
with Jake. You’ve got to help Mac at Alameda. I’ll be right
back.”

Blane went out into the main Castle living
room where a group of people were... giggling?

“
May I help you with
something?” Blane asked.

“
Ooooh who are you?” A
slight Hispanic man swished across the living room. “You’re not the
brother and you’re dreamy gorgeous. You’re
definitely...”

“
Not interested,” Blane
said. “This is a private residence. Should I call the
police?”

“
No.” He dropped the
flamboyant act and was all business. “I’m Ramon, Valerie’s stylist.
I have a team here to set up for Oprah and get ready for the party.
Can you show me to the Ballroom? I need...”

“
OOOHHHH!!” Valerie
squealed. She ran across the Castle living room and into Ramon’s
open arms. “I was hoping...”

“
WAIT!” Blane
commanded.

Still hugging, Valerie and Ramon’s heads
turned to Blane.

“
We’re not going to be
able to work here today?” Blane asked.

“
Not unless you want to
help us set up,” Ramon said.

“
Valerie, did you tell
Jake?” Blane asked.

“
I forgot,” Valerie said.
“Sorry.”

Blane gave Valerie a dark look.

“
You know how sick he
is.”

Blane started a rant, but Valerie looked so
upset that he shut his mouth. Valerie would never do anything
intentionally to hurt Jacob. She was one of the few people who knew
that he was still very ill. He gave her dark look, then returned to
the small office.

“
No work today,” Blane
said. “Back to bed for you, Mr. Marlowe.”

“
I have to go to the
sites,” Jacob said. “Mac said there’s a rumor that I’m dead. He
said his crews freaked that the sale’s off the table. I have to get
out there.”

Blane felt his stomach drop.

“
You and Aden can go into
the office,” Jacob said. “Set up a route for me. I’ll rest for a
while then maybe Dad and I can go around.”

“
I’ll go with you,” Jill
said. She came in the door in a tank top and sweats. She was
carrying a crying Katy. “I’m sorry. Katy had a nightmare. She’s
very upset. She wanted to see you. You said I should bring her if
she was upset. Do you mind?”

Blane took Katy from Jill and hugged
her.

“
What happened, kiddo?”
Blane asked.

Blane carried her over to Jacob. He set Katy
in Jacob’s lap. Jacob held her tight with his left arm. Katy rested
her head on his shoulder.

“
I got scared,” Katy said.
“Can I spend the day with you and Mommy?”

“
I think that settles it,”
Jacob said. “We can take Jill’s Lexus. She can drive. If I need to
sleep I can sleep in the car between sites.”

“
Jacob.” Sam Lipson came
in the room. “I’m sorry but we have a big problem.”

“
Everyone thinks I’m
dead?” Jacob asked.

“
Someone sent the original
sale plans to the press,” Sam said.

“
Your plan to sell the
company to our competitor?” Jacob asked.

“
The one the board
approved before you bought majority,” Sam said.

“
God damn it!” Blane
started.

“
Child,” Jacob said. He
looked down at Katy to see that she was sound asleep.

“
Who released the
documents?” Aden asked.

“
Honestly? I think it’s
Tiffanie’s oldest,” Sam said.

“
The step-whore,” Blane
snarled.

Ignoring Blane, Sam continued, “The Rocky
Mountain News emailed me the fax. It’s a copy of what we had agreed
to four years ago. They were alert enough to notice the dates.
2004.”

“
Oh God, Jacob. I’m so
sorry,” Jill said.

“
Would you mind driving me
today?” Jacob asked.

“
Not at all,” Jill
said.

“
Great. I’m going to rest
for an hour or so.” He looked from Aden to Blane. “I’ll hit as many
sites as I can today. But we’re going to have to go public tonight.
Are we ready?”

Aden’s face went ashen. Going public meant
telling the world that scumbag, loser, dropout Aden Norsen was
going to run Lipson Construction.

“
We’re ready, Jake,” Blane
said. “Or we will be. I’ll set up a press conference tonight. Say
six o’clock?”

Jacob nodded.

“
She did this to destroy
me,” Aden said. “Nuala’s still in jail. Social Services is coming
at ten. I...”

“
As always, she destroyed
herself. She’s on probation for stealing a set of documents that
includes this one. We’ve been waiting for this one to show up,”
Jacob said. “This is bad for her.”

Aden nodded but didn’t look convinced. The
phone rang. To avoid thinking, Aden answered the phone.

Jill lifted Katy from Jacob’s lap. They were
almost out the door when Aden said, “Jake?”

“
Did you close the school
today?” Aden asked. “An email went out last night that the school
is closed today in memoriam for you. It’s on the website
too.”

“
She really is an idiot,”
Blane laughed. He went around to sit at a computer. His fingers
flew across the keyboard.

“
What?” Aden
asked.

“
Hacking a website is a
federal offense,” Blane said.

“
Well, the parents are
freaked out. The staff is freaked out...”

“
How long will it take you
to fix the website, Blane?”

“
Three minutes,” Blane
said. “I’ll send an email that the site was hacked and the ‘in
memoriam’ was a prank.”

“
I’ll go to the school,”
Sam said.

“
She gets satisfaction in
creating misery,” Jacob said. “This is stupid bullshit drama.
There’s no reason for us to freak out about any of
this.”

Aden blew out a breath then nodded. Jacob
was right.

“
I’ll get to the office,”
Aden said. “We have sites that need our attention.”