MC: LaPonte (18 page)

"I'm fuckin pissed he made
that decision so young. How do you know that is what he truly wants
or if he was in fuckin hero worship and will regret it the first
job he's sent to do? I fought for the Brotherhood but I was old
enough to understand the consequences. He was a fuckin kid!" My
fuckin son out there with his head being fucked with?

He nods, "he's already
been on jobs, he's already done what you're hopin he won't. He's a
satellite for a team, learnin and workin alone, travelin with a
group. More adjusted than I was, happy with what he's doin. You
fuckin saw for yourself he's happy with the decision he made.
You're pissed he didn't talk to you first. I get that, but it was
not a decision anyone but Rich made. Smart enough he could have
gone to college and been an officer. He didn't want
that."

"Is he going to come back
like you? Love you Brother but you're fucked up." He may kill me,
my boy needs to be better than that when he gets back. It will
crush me if I didn't protect him like I should have.

He laughs. Fuckin laughs,
I want to hit him. "Sorry. It's not even close to what you're
thinkin. Everyone is tested to get to the trainin that will make
them SEALS and satellites. If this is ever repeated I'll fuckin
kill you in your sleep." I nod. "I was labeled with high functionin
autism then later on with Asperger’s. Fuckin government couldn't
decide what's in my fuckin brain just that I'm fucked up. Somethin
is fucked in my head that allows me to function doin the shit that
I do. I'm not proud nor sorry for what I do. I keep my family, my
club and my community safe and happy." Holy fuck. That is fucked
up. The government trained him knowing this. "I can tell you Rich
is highly focused, has a high IQ and is determined to learn
everythin the government is willin to teach him. I have contacts
and keep track of his progress." I let out a breath.

"I love my son. I don't
want him miserable living with PTSD and eating a bullet because I
didn't have his back when he was making a decision, he was too
fuckin young to be making." I turn my head blinking my eye. My
son.

"Danny, he made the
decision, if he couldn't cope he wouldn't have made it to BUDS.
Sure as fuck wouldn't have made satellite so fuckin young. He can't
tell you, his job it's classified. It wouldn't stop him if you
objected now. Would put worry in his head that could fuck with him
while he's on the job." He has a blank expression. How many times
have I seen that look.

I take a couple of deep
breaths. "I get it. This is what he wants; make sure he's trained
for fuckin everything. When he comes back here I don't want him
taken out by a fuckin strung out junkie."

He laughs. "He will be.
He's a smart boy Danny. He's part of my family. I wouldn't do
anythin different with him than with my own boy."

"Fuckin kids." I rub my
hand down my face. "Tell me we’re done here."

He stands so I do. He puts
his hand out surprising me, I take it and he pulls me into a man
hug. "Love Rich, wouldn't let him get hurt on my watch."

I nod and walk back to my
truck. Fuckin Steve. I need to get in touch with Rich. Just to see
he's ok. How fuckin nuts is that. I can't tell him I know but I can
let him know I love him.

This was the illegal side.
I hope the next fuckin meetings are easier to handle. Fuckin
Brothers.

Chapter Twenty
Three

Two days

"What do you mean we have
to move?" I'm a little lost here. Sitting at my first meeting after
missing the last because of my honeymoon I feel like I'm in the
twilight zone.

Len looks at me strange,
"the lease is up for renewal, landlord is doubling the rent.
There's nothing we can do but move. If we stay, we have to decide
what we're going to cut out. Our fearless leader isn't taking calls
right now. He's too busy."

"Fuck." I whisper. We
can't cut anything, another center closed just last quarter, we
have more area to serve and we're running tight as it is. "Let me
make some calls." I start a mental list while they continue with
the meeting. When they get to the clients now housed in the
shelters, I listen in again. Fuck, all but high security are
doubled up. Once the meeting is finished I start making my
calls.

"Babe, everything ok?" He
makes me smile.

"Not really honey. I just
got out of the meeting. We need to move the center. The lease is up
and the landlord is doubling the rent."

"Fuck, you just took on
the clients from the last center closing." He is pissed on our
behalf; I can hear it in his voice. I love my husband.

"Yeah, that's only part of
it. All the shelter houses are doubled up except high security. I
was thinking of using my house but I wanted to talk to you first."
I think he'll say it’s up to me, but after our conversation about
talking to each other about the big things, I need to show him what
I mean. I didn’t care about the officer thing but still, I'm
talking about giving a house away.

"K it's your house." He
says simply.

"No it's part of our
assets. I want to do this, but I need to know you'll be ok with it.
I don't just want to use it. I want to give it to the center." I
explain.

"Got it." I hear the smile
in his voice. "I think it's the perfect thing to do. It won't hurt
us to lose it as an asset and it is a worthy cause. Go for it
baby."

I'm dancing in place.
"Thank you. Could you get the house ready for a family?"

"I was just thinking about
what I need. Can you coordinate the toys and house shit again. I'll
check the schedules and get the guys on it asap. Have them send the
bill to me."

"Yay! I'll get Doc on it
right away, thank you my awesome husband."

"Love you baby." He's
smiling again.

"I need to find us an
office big enough for classes and centrally located. I think it's
going to be a busy day."

"Don't do anything about
the office today. Let me talk to Ben, we have some buildings right
here that are empty and ready. I'll call you back."

"That would be perfect.
We'd be almost exactly in the center of the county. Thank you! I'll
wait for your call." I’m so excited I hang up. I bet he's holding
his face laughing. I go in and tell the rest of the office.
Everyone is back to smiling without this looming over our
heads.

I'm in the middle of a
class when our receptionist, Anita, comes in with a message. I
excuse myself and read the note. Ben set up a meeting in our
conference room for today at five. Holy crap! I hug Anita and turn
back to my class giddy with excitement. I bet we have an office and
if I know Ben it's being readied right now. As I'm finishing up
Anita comes in with an emergency. She doesn't want to hand it off,
it’s a bad one. Fuck! I race to the hospital in the next city.
Hoping I can make it back in time.

I'm stuck in traffic,
Fuck! I call Anita asking if she can set up the conference room
with coffee and the pastry the Bakery sent over. She's got it
covered. I love that woman. I make it to the office five minutes
late. Anita tells me everyone's already here. Shit!

I drop my briefcase on my
desk as I walk by it to the conference room. I stop short in the
doorway. The table is just about full. Ben, Danny and Doc are on
one side, Jamie, Mitch and Kevin Baxter on the other. There are two
men I don't know along with our chairman. "Wow, I didn't expect
this. I'm sorry I'm late." I say nervously. The men stand, Danny
pulls the chair on the side of him settling me in. Mitch introduces
her lawyer and Ben who will be my liaison at Baxter's.

The chairman, my boss
Jerry, starts, "Kate you know I'm retiring at the end of the year.
I’ve decided to move that up. The Baxter’s are appointing you
chair. I'll work until the office is moved and you're up to speed
on the director/chairman job, but you're new position starts
tomorrow." Holyfuckinshit! He gets up and leaves. I don’t think
he’s happy about this. My mouth falls open.

The table chuckles. Danny
rubs his hand down my back. "Am I qualified to do this?" I ask
anyone.

"Let me answer that for
you." Mitch says. "You were late today because you we're at the
hospital with a woman and her daughter. You stayed with the
daughter because she was terrified and in shock after being beaten
and raped by her father. Her mother was still unconscious, there
was no one to hold her and let her know she was safe. You pitched a
fit worthy of a mention on the local news because a male doctor
didn't understand your request for a female doctor. 'After all, she
was just a kid right?'" She does the finger movements with a frown.
"With you not budging through the whole rape kit and body exam
because she needed to hold your hand, you pitched another fit
because a male cop showed up. Finally getting out of the hospital
and settling mom and daughter in a house you had specially stocked
with presents and a cake for the girl's birthday tomorrow, you
wouldn't leave until the CNA you hired, with personal money, showed
up to spend the night. You are not only qualified, but in one day
you showed us why you're needed as the chair."

I look around shocked. I
look at Danny, he's smiling at me but I can see the sadness in his
eyes. I look back at her. "How do you know all that? It just
happened."

Kevin answers. "This
center is important to Mitch, therefore, important to all of us at
Baxter's. When Jamie got the call from Ben James, I put eyes on the
staff."

Jamie picks up, "In order
to make a decision, we needed to see what a day looks like for the
staff. You are not only understaffed but you're filled to capacity
doubling up at the shelters. Anyone else would have scaled back.
With the clientele you serve, we understand why you turn very few
away." He looks at Ben.

"We watched all the staff
including the chair. Your staff are hard workers, we were surprised
by the level of commitment and compassion they display. There were
two people that stood out. You, and your chair. You are amazing;
you demand what is right and fix what is wrong. There is a
difference between you and the rest of the staff. You're fighting
for your clients as if they are your family, as well as, taking
calls from your coworkers to give advice and guidance.” He smiles
at me. It strikes me that these freakin guys are all unbelievably
handsome. And again, this shit just happened today. “Then there is
the chair, he played golf and spent the rest of the day at the club
bar. He wasn’t available to take calls from his people. He left
that to you." Ben says on a growl. Fuck, he always says he's so
busy.

The lawyer, Paul, speaks
up. "Mitch added five million dollars to the trust today. With
that, you're yearly budgets will be met by the annual
disbursements. I'll send over approximate disbursement amounts
tomorrow, the accountant is getting the numbers for us tonight. The
Baxter's have two houses within the gates of their compound that
are sitting empty. They are offering them up as shelters. Ben James
and the MC signed over an office building and four houses. The
landlords of the remaining houses will be met with. Ben assures us
he will get long term leases on each shelter. The paperwork will
all be recorded and ready before you open the new
office."

"Holy shit. We don’t have
to turn anyone away?" I look at Doc. "We can do this Doc, we can do
more, help more." He smiles and nods. I can’t believe
this.

Mitch cracks us up
bouncing and clapping her hand and robotic. "Yay! I would do a
happy dance but this is a serious meeting and I’m in a time
crunch." Everyone laughs. She has the most beautiful smile. "Kevin
will set the new offices up with computers and programs. Ben will
have furniture and solar panels in place. Our company doctor,
Steve, will set you up with rotating counselors. The MC has all
aspects of security being covered and the new shelters being
readied. Call my golden eyed Ben here if you need anything else.
I'm so happy for you Kate and can't wait to see the new offices."
She claps again. “Everyone deserves a future. We’re going to make
sure you give it to them.”

"Thank you. I feel like
I'm in a dream. I don't think that covers it but thank you." I'm
still in shock.

"I know just how you feel
Kate. I'm sorry we can't stay but my boys have a soccer game
tonight. This is definitely not a dream." She says while the guys
stand, I do too. Jamie holds his hand out to her. I go around and
give her a hug whispering a thank you to her. She squeezes me back
telling me I can do this. Jamie, Kevin and Ben hug me too. Ben
hands me a card telling me to call him tomorrow. The guys all shake
hands. Mitch hugs Ben telling him to give Jess a message about an
unveiling next month, saying she’ll know what to do. Then they're
all gone just like that.

Turning around I see the
guys looking at me. Danny smiles, "I'm so fuckin proud of you. We
saw the video of you ripping down that doctor and cop." Doc laughs,
Ben smiles. "I had no clue your job was so emotionally draining.
Thank you for what you do. I don't think many people could do it
daily and still give me that beautiful fuckin smile every night." I
walk around to him and give him a hug.

"He's right Kate. I can't
believe what your normal day consists of. Doc is ready to step in
on the MC side. For anything. He'll handle whatever you need and
coordinate with Ben at Baxter's." Ben says as he pulls me from
Danny and hugs me. “You are nothing short of amazing." He turns and
leaves.