Helen heard a series of clicks and then static, and Yield was on the line.Helen spoke up, “The Bad Apple is at the table listening,” she said.“What did you find out?”
Yield growled into the phone, “You were right.We found a Field of Flowers outside of Pittsburgh in Sewickley Heights.The other, outside of Philadelphia in Bryn Mawr.Lots of activity.Hornworm is making a mint.”
“Can you rustle the resources to make a move?'Helen asked.
“No, on my own.These warehouses are pretty big, almost twice the size of the three we shut down,” Yield said.“From what I can see, the customer base is pretty well...connected, in a goodfellas kind of way as well as a few elected ties entering the buildings for the parties.”
“Boss?”Helen said, “Can we conference in The Archangel?”
“One moment,” Azrael said, interested, almost excited to hear what the Cranberry would ask for.There was static, and then the call was connected.Helen explained who was on the lines, Apple being present.Gabriel Neary, the Archangel for the Directions, listened carefully.
“Yield found the Fields of Flowers which are three times what we shut down in Milwaukee,” she said.“It's in your backyard, and I'm not trying to come play over there without some insight and guidance.”
Gabriel asked, “In an ideal world, what would be the outcome you’d want to see?”
“The men going inside, I want photos of their faces, like we got last night of the nasty women who like to lick little girls,” Helen said.“I am going to splatter their faces all over the dark web as kiddie diddlers, and I want the same for the men in the warehouses of horrors.I also want Hornworm’s money.All of it.Every single penny to be given to these children she's destroyed.”
“And the warehouses?”
“In Milwaukee, one was turned into a daycare center with after-school homework shops for the teens in the former classrooms,” Helen said.“Honestly, I don't know.I do know that the end of the Chrysalis is now.Kurtzwilde said he was going to retire.”
“Oh, he did?'asked Apple, the Archangel, and Yield all at the same time.
“Yes, he said if I could bring his children to the table to have dinner with him, he'd retire,” Helen said.“I am working on the wedding invites now to bring Elm, Thunder, Morgan, Passion Fruit, and The Mann to the wedding.”
Gabriel asked, “You met with Kurtzwilde alone?”
“Sir, I cooked breakfast for the Fer de Lance and made him coffee with his own beans,” Helen said.“I'm working on Swallowtail’s money trails, so any assistance on Hornworm will be appreciated.”
“You're scary,” Apple said.
“You don't know the half,” Helen said.“Do you need anything else from me tonight, Boss?'
“We're good,” Azrael said, ending the call for all.
Apple sat watching Helen as she watched the second phone, which, as if on cue, rang.She rolled her eyes, picked up the device, and answered the call.“Hey Mom,” she said.
This made Apple lean back in the seat.He watched her face as she toyed with the corner of the stack of bills as if it were her play money to buy a purse in the color of cerulean.Then she sighed loudly.
“Yes, the date is June 14th at the Galt Hotel in Louisville,” she told her mother.“The room block is good for the day after the wedding.I will get the invitations in the mail this week.Yes, the wedding is at five.”
She listened, apparently bored with the words on the other line.“No, you don't need to send me pics of the dress you plan to wear, Mom.No, no, I am thinking my wedding dress is going to be a soft pink, almost a pastel, and the bridesmaids’ dresses are going to be white.Yes, seriously.Sounds good.Talk soon.”
Helen ended the call and looked up at him.“The wedding is actually at four and she's going to come waltzing through the door at five twenty-five wearing a Pepto-Bismal pink nightmare resembling the curtains fromGone with the Wind, looking like an overdressed fool.”
Helen actually laughed, which was the first time he'd seen her do it.He smiled at her.
“That was a lot of information,” he said.“You met alone with Kurtzwilde, made breakfast for the Fer de Lance, who put out the word you were off limits, plus you know how to put on a cast.You intrigue me, Cranberry.”
“Dude, that is nothing.Passion Fruit made me learn how to insert a catheter in a man against my will,” Helen said, laughing.“This year, honestly, has been a bitch and a half.”
“The Donovan guy,” he said, “he’s the one who put the tracker on your car?”
“Yeah, he needed an arrow in his ass, but hey, he's going to get the message,” Helen said, watching his face.
“What is the message you want to convey, Cranberry?”
She paused for a minute, looking at him closely.“Women and children are the future of any civilization.Children should grow up remembering childhood games they played and the scents of freshly baked goods, not the smell of sour breath from some half-drunk lout climbing on top of them, ruining their lives.”
