Chapter 13

by Margot Comstock

Halston Hammer, Stacy’s therapist, had had dreams of being a great and sexy detective, like a long ago one with who shared his name, and then, when he thought about the danger in detecting, he’d imagined himself a lawyer. He did okay in college and went on to law school. He did okay there too, he thought, but after failing thrice to pass the bar, and many sad nights and days of wondering what was the matter with him that he couldn’t succeed at anything, he went to a psychiatrist for help. He seemed to learn a lot from the man, almost entirely because the shrink was not terribly bright and Halston found he could analyze the shrink much better than the shrink could help him. That gave him courage. So he went back to school to become a psychotherapist. He was rather astonished when he found that he was pretty good at it.

Stacy was one of his early clients. But she didn’t want therapy; she wanted information, mostly about other people, their motivations, and how to manipulate them. Thanks to Stacy’s needs, he’d become good at these attributes in some kinds of people.

Stacy’s friend Cavanaugh had been tough, because Cav was very happy with himself, confident and easygoing. More of a problem was that Hal liked Cav, even though he didn’t clearly know why. It bothered him a bit that these days Stacy was looking to, well, get the better of Cav. But, Halston told himself it wasn’t his business to care.

Among Stacy’s colleagues, he became known as the guy who knows a guy. He didn’t quite know how that came about until he realized that he actually did know somebody whom Stacy would consider a valuable person to know. That person was Chet Beau-Zeau. The shrink didn’t know Beau-Zeau well (thank goodness), but they were acquainted.

Now Stacy wanted him to have his attorney set up an appointment for her with Beau-Zeau. Somehow out of the meeting, Stacy would get valuable land, convenient to her needs, which were vast and, Halston didn’t want to admit even to himself, probably not, um, kosher. He knew quickly that he didn’t want to do this, didn’t want any part of it. But what could he do? Sadly, he realized, Stacy was about his best client…. He had to do it.

On top of all this, he liked Cavanaugh (even if he wasn’t sure why), and he feared this deal would somehow be as bad for Cav as it was good for Stacy. Was there any way he could get out of it and not lose Stacy’s clientele?

________

Fair is fair, but only if it IS fair. The trouble with Stacy’s clever plan to take over the world with the help of Chet Beau-Zeau’s billions was that Beau-Zeau had already agreed to a plan for the use of his money, and on the very land that Stacy wanted for her project. Cavanaugh, thanks to his charming of Brooke Shields and her family, had met with the zillionaire and presented his plan for the land next to the drone site, his plan to create a new, large squash venue right there. There’d be room for other games too, even pickleball, all those smaller squash spinoffs. His enthusiasm, and the enthusiasm of his new Princeton alum friends, were winning. Stacy, disinterested in college loyalty, hadn’t bothered to learn that Beau-Zeau himself was a graduate of the New Jersey Ivy League orange, a school that had long ago boasted Albert Einstein among it’s staff.

______

Henry and Reid were slow waking from their drug-assisted wine naps. Neither was used to such a reaction to having a simple drink. Slowly, one after the other, they mumbled, “Stacy.” Why the hell would she do that? Reid looked at his watch: they’d slept through the night and well into the next morning. “Good grief.”

“What?” said Reid.

“Maybe she thought we wouldn’t remember,” said Hank.

Still a bit druggy, they just stood there.

“Shower,” Hank said. “You first; I’ll make coffee.”

Reid came out of the shower, refreshed, feeling better, but with his clothes a bit disheveled.

“You’re up,” he said with a kind of disheveled smile to match his garb.

Henry handed Reid a mug of coffee and dived into the shower; Reid smiled broadly. Then he took a seat and enjoyed the hot black until Henry came out.

“Feel better?” Reid asked.

“Much. How about you?”

“Sure, but I’ll feel a whole lot better when I understand just what’s going on.”

“Me too.”

Neither of them moved, except to drink coffee.

“I’m pretty annoyed,” Reid said.

“In spades,” said Henry.

They sipped.

“What do we do now?” they said nearly in unison, and with a dry laugh.

“Well,” said Reid, “Bow to the lady?”

“No chance,” said Henry.

Reid gave a sardonic smile. “I’ll bet,” he said.

“Shit,” said Henry, and poured more coffee for them both..

______

Cav is on his way to a big return—but he’s beginning to see the greed of Stacy. He recognizes that all the arrangements favor her pockets, not his. But Cav is no fool and no pansy. He knows how to claim his due, and the physically generous but financially greedy woman, however sexy, won’t fool him. She may try, but Cav knows the ropes, and the law, even in the USA, and he’ll ensure his rightful share and jump on the next plane to Maori land if necessary. No, he’s no Maori, but he’s a kiwi who knows his way around. Leaving California won’t be necessary. Not at all.

He’ll see this through, he thinks, have lots of fun, and take his due with him. Or keep it with him here in the States. No need to move on.

But not quite yet. Just now, though, he’s responsible for the immediate futures of Finn and Winnifred--who prefers to be known as Fred the Red. And he thoroughly enjoys working with the kids.

______

Finn wandered in where the GAL was, curious to see more of the Mars stuff. He was drawn to the idea of Mars, although actually taking a trip there was terrifying, even while it was fascinating, when it drew him in, thrilled in the excitement of the thought. “I’d never dare do it though,” he said to himself. But his eyes were bright, his breathing short and his vision far away.

He found his dad.

“What do you think about Mars, Dad?”

Henry, still recovering from the strange night and partially lost day, said, “Not a whole lot; I think I’d put off the trip for a day or two.”

Finn chuckled. “No, I mean it. Do you think we’ll go to Mars one day? In my lifetime even?”

Realizing Finn was serious, at least truly interested, Henry took his time.

“Yes, I think we will…. Yes, likely even in your lifetime.”

“Wow. That’s scary. But … Wow.”

“You thinking of going, kiddo?”

Finn looked at him very seriously. “Maybe. Maybe.”

“Finn, that would be amazing. There’s lots of time to decide, don’t worry about that, but if you keep your interest, you might enjoy learning more about it. More about space flight, all that stuff. And if you keep being interested, maybe we’ll take a vacation to visit NASA.”

“Dad! That would be great! Even if I don’t decide to be an astronaut!”

Henry was thrilled. Not about Mars or space travel: just for Finn. He was so proud of him.

Finn was on his way out of the room, off to wherever kids go when they’re done with grownups for the moment.

“Finn?”

The boy turned around.

“When you’re done with where you’re going, maybe you’d like to have a game of cards with me.”

“Cards?” Finn looked slightly aghast.

“Yeah. I was thinking you might like to learn to play Poker.”

“Really? Poker?” Big smile. “Sure, Dad. I’d like that! I wasn’t going anywhere special!”

“Let’s see what we’ve got for snacks in the kitchen, and we’ll have us an evening.”

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.