gentlemen,” Raule assured the Charleston officials.
She moved in on Raule and near whispered through gritted teeth, “What am I to do with Nia, Chief?”
“Hey, we’re all family here, Rae. Between your housekeeper and me, you know we’ll see she’s taken care of.”
“I don’t know, Raule. She’s still somewhat shell shocked from Phoenix, you know. She and Gene were close, and she’s had bad dreams, nightmares.”
The chief showed not the least response to this, his eyes glinting like steel spikes, his jaw set. He simply addressed the Charleston authorities. “Isn’t a mother’s love a wonderful thing?”
“You wouldn’t be patronizing me, would you, Raule?” she asked.
“We really do need you in Charleston,” said Orvison, his hands open to her.
“And maybe one day I’d love to come, but my daughter comes first.”
Aspreotini took her aside. “This is a great opportunity, Rae, to give you another chance.”
“Me or the remote CRAWL? You talked to Copernicus about this before me.”
“Yes, it’s an opportunity for both of you.”
“Copernicus has no responsibilities.”
“Look, I will see that Nia gets all the help she needs.”
“You, babysitting Nia? You’ll see she gets to school on time, to her practice on time, to her shrink on time?”
“Whatever it takes, yes. I’ll put a female agent on her. An SS agent. Can’t do any better than that?”
A halting laugh escaped Rae. “The president’s daughter was surrounded with SS agents in Argentina when her purse was stolen.”
“I promise no one’s going to steal Nia’s purse or harm her while you’re gone.”
She looked deeply and intently into his eyes. At one time they’d been romantically involved but never again. The chemistry between them had completely turned a 180. “All right. I guess between Enriquiana and an SS agent, Nia just might be safe, but she needs more than safety and an SS agent right now.”
“Enriqui is good with her, you told me, remember?” “Sarcasm is wasted on you, Raule.”
“But you said…”
“Nia twists Enriqui around her finger like a pretzel.”
“Have you considered a boarding school?”
“She needs me right now, needs an emotional support.”
“You’ve got cell phones,” came his instant reply accompanied by a frown. “Look, Rae, this is not a request. It’s an order. You’re going to West Virginia.”
She imagined someone quite influential, perhaps the Governor of West Virginia also had a cell phone and that he’d used it. She took a deep breath, looked from Raule to the Charleston men, turned and rushed the door. “Orders, huh? Guess I’ve got a few things to pack.” She slammed the door on her way out.
# # #
The other side of the door, Rae felt a rush of mixed emotions. Sure it was a high profile case, and sure she’d like to hit the ground running, but at the same time, she worried how Nia would take the news. They’d spoken about the fact this day would eventually come, but neither could have imagined it’d be so soon after Phoenix.
“Nia will just have to understand,” said her father’s voice in her ear.
“It’s your call, dear,” added her mother’s voice from within. “But the girl is young, and she could be traumatized if she thinks for one moment you don’t love her.”
“Big help,” Rae muttered. “Don’t you two have some cosmic golf tournament in the clouds to go to?”
NINE
Rae had called ahead to Enriquiana, asking her to pack a small travel bag and one small suitcase for the trip, saying, “I don’t plan to be in West Virginia long.” Rae then stopped at Nia’s new school where she’d yanked her daughter from her pre-calculus class, much to the chagrin of a prune-faced math teacher with a twitch in her left eye.
Mother and daughter now sat out on the common at the prestigious private
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