“I have a lifetime of distrust of men.Met one, didn't trust him, and he gave me the ickywillies.I learned years ago to listen to my instincts,” she said softly.“I need to roll so I can be home by dinner.”
Apple stood there.He looked at her as if he had something on his mind.She told him to spit it out.
He shrugged, “Yet you trust me?”
“You give off big brother vibes and treat me like your little sister.The protector in you is strong.I feel it.I welcome it, and as you see, when I am scared, you are closest.I came to you,” Helen said, offering him a smile.“Talk soon, Big Brother, and thanks.”
“Cranberry?Anything you want to add on Sour Grapes?Your assessment of her?”
“Nothing to add you probably don't already know,” she said.“Later.”
He helped her load her luggage, and she changed course for Chicago.It didn't take her long to discover the monstrosity of a nightclub owned by Kurtzwilde once she reached the city limits following the navigation dictated in the vehicle.Even in the middle of the day, cars were loaded in the parking lot.She pulled into a space and grinned like a maniac when she saw a Range Rover pull in and the man himself step out of the vehicle.
“God loves me,” Helen said, as the driver parked and both men went inside.
She walked past the vehicle, bending quickly and placing the tracker on the underside of the SUV.Happily, she returned to her own vehicle and headed home.A call was required.Helen placed the earpiece in her ear and pressed one on her Technician phone.
“State your need,” the voice said.
“My gut was right.Pulled into Bad Apple's for a sweep of my vehicle and found a tracker on it,” Helen said.“I know my man didn't put it there, and this was only my third time driving the Cranberry mobile.”
“Where is the tracker now?”
Helen giggled.The voice on the line sighed.“Well, I am returning home and decided to swing through Chicago.I went by the Velvet Room and guess who I saw getting out his vehicle?”
The voice expressed surprised in her speech, “Cranberry, you didn't?”
“Sure the fuck did,” she said laughing.“So, if Mr.Blonde Man was tracking me for that man, he's going to track himself right to Kurtzwilde’s driver's house or to the man's personal home.”
Azrael did what she hadn't done in years.She found herself laughing.“You are absolutely insane, Cranberry.”
“Perhaps, but I have an idea,” she said.“If Mr.Turnbull said he found Sour Grapes by tracking her money, then I should be able to find the Chrysalis by tracking theirs.”
Cranberry had the attention of the Boss, who asked, “How so?”
“Simple, I start with the properties.Kurtzwilde owns the Velvet Room, and I can match any shell or parent companies to the warehouses I shut down that he co-owns.Then look for partners, patterns, and other facilities,” she said proudly.“I connect with my Seraphim, see what they are watching in my backyard, and we follow the money.”
“Okay.How do you want to handle Turnbull?”the voice asked.
“He's doing a job he was paid to do,” Helen said.“He's also lonely and potentially a well-educated, neatly groomed, Pinochle playing upper middle-class sleazebag, but whoever the woman is that was making his life miserable, I think he deserved it.”
“Is he a danger to Sour Grapes or the person in her home?”
“Isn't she licensed to kill?”
“She is,” the voice said.
“Then perhaps he should have truly learned who he was screwing with before he decided to wrap himself in those vines,” Helen said, laughing.“He's not going to get off as Scott free as he thinks.She's going to exact a toll on him that he's not prepared to deal with.”
The voice was interested in the odd woman’s train of thought.“Clarify, please.”
“These Technicians, honestly, aren't quite right in the head, which is what makes them good at what they do,” Helen said.“She's been in a bad place in her head for many years.He waltzes in playing hero, and she may decide...dunno.Seriously Boss, watching them together was like seeing the birth of two super villains.”
“In your assessment of the situation, do you think it is going to be bad?”
“I tell you what.I shall text you the license plate of the truck he said belonged to his dad.Put a BOLO on it to see when he leaves her place and where he goes next,” Helen said.“He said he came out of Amarillo.If I knew how, I would check with Ariel on what Storm covers that part of Texas since I'm sure it takes more than one for that state.Hell, it takes 24 hours of driving to get from Shelbyville to El Paso across I-20, so I know they have more than one Technician.Perhaps we can find out if that Turnbull guy is on any of their radars?”
“And if he is?”
