This chapter operates in parallel with Chapter 60: Sleep of the Vigilante – Day 3 of my other story: Forsaken which should be read first . . .
The next day
Wednesday, July 30th, 2014
The following takes place between Midnight and 2:00 A.M.
Safehouse C, New York City
1:26 A.M.
"What the hell is all the damn giggling in aid of?" a very grumpy and tired looking Chloe exclaimed.
"Sorry, was I a bit loud?" Mindy replied, trying to stop giggling.
"A bit loud!" Chloe retorted. "I'm surprised they can't fucking hear you in London!"
The source of the voice causing the giggling was still saying sweet things into Mindy's ear which did not help the situation.
"Can't you two have phone sex quietly?" Chloe growled, before going back to her room and slamming the door.
"Dave, I love you, but I do need to sleep," Mindy said, somewhat reluctantly and with a giggle, into the cell.
"Just wanted to make sure that you were okay; I miss you," Dave replied.
"I miss you, too, lover."
The following takes place between 2:00 A.M. and 3:00 A.M.
Safehouse A, New York City
2:06 A.M.
Joshua awoke from a nasty nightmare.
He had had them regularly, since coming out of the coma. They really shook him up. Up until that moment, he had not had anybody to talk to, but. . . HeI took a deep breath and called Chloe.
"What the fuck do you want?" Chloe announced unhappily.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you, I . . . I'll call you tomorrow," he replied quickly.
"Hey, Josh, sorry . . . I err, got woken up by Mindy err, giggling. What's up?"
"It's nothing . . . I'm sorry I disturbed you," he said, chickening out.
What a fucking pussy, he thought!
"Joshua, I know you, and I can tell something is wrong. Talk to me," Chloe ordered.
"Ever since I came out of the coma, I've been having nightmares and up until now, I've had nobody to talk to. The only person in my life that I could ever talk to was gone, but now she's back," he explained, feeling shy and embarrassed.
Chloe did not reply immediately, and Joshua was sure that he had heard a small gasp.
"Can we meet, tomorrow; just the two of us?" the boy asked, tentatively.
"Yeah, I'll arrange something," Chloe replied.
The following takes place between 6:00 A.M. and 7:00 A.M.
Safehouse C, New York City
6:10 A.M.
Mindy woke up, feeling like she had not slept.
She felt crappy and soon realised why. Typical, the one week she did not need any more problems and she got her fucking period. Damn it! She buried her face in the pillow and screamed.
It did not make her feel any better.
The following takes place between 7:00 A.M. and 8:00 A.M.
Safehouse C, New York City
7:01 A.M.
Mindy could stay in bed, no longer.
She went through to Chloe's room, where Chloe was still asleep and dreaming. She was also talking in her sleep and she had an enormous grin on her face. The only word that Mindy could recognise was 'Josh'! Mindy laughed, it was funny and very sweet. But, she was hungry, so she gave Chloe a hard nudge with her foot and was unceremoniously dumped onto her backside when Chloe grabbed the foot and pulled.
"Oh, sorry Mindy."
"You thought it might have been Josh?" Mindy teased.
"Josh? No!" Chloe stammered, but the red face said otherwise.
"Move! I'm hungry. Let's go get something to eat," Mindy directed, and she went off to get a shower and some clothes.
7:50 A.M.
They cruised through early morning New York City, on the BMW, and they found a good place for a large breakfast. For some reason, Mindy needed pancakes and apparently Chloe did too.
The following takes place between 8:00 A.M. and 9:00 A.M.
New York City
8:10 A.M.
A 'Breaking News' report was on the television in the diner.
Chloe and Mindy were appalled at the devastation being depicted in Chicago. D'Amico had gone too fucking far; taking out a whole precinct headquarters. Was he fucking nuts?
No, just evil.
The following takes place between 10:00 A.M. and 11:00 A.M.
Safehouse C, New York City
10:10 A.M.
Mindy's cell beeped.
It was a text from Marty, telling her that he had sent over the contents of the smartphone, by email. She dugout the Toughbook and she accessed her emails.
The one from Marty was enormous and it took quite a while to download.
The following takes place between 11:00 A.M. and 12:00 P.M.
One Police Plaza, New York City
11:05 A.M.
Marcus dropped off his bags at home, changed, and then went directly to his desk.
He had work to do, and a lot of it. First thing first, though, he called Mindy. He informed her about the bombings in Chicago and, not surprisingly, she was still shocked, having seen the news earlier that morning. She was also glad that he was back in New York. Marcus was pleased very pleased to hear that she and Chloe were both safe.
He suggested that the girls came over that evening and Mindy agreed.
The following takes place between 12:00 P.M. and 1:00 P.M.
Safehouse A, New York City
12:17 P.M.
There was a knock on the door.
Joshua was nervous, really nervous, and kind of excited. It would be the first time alone with Chloe, in months. He opened the door and he found Chloe, alone.
"Where's the other one?" he asked pointedly.
"I persuaded her to walk around the block a few times," Chloe said, shyly.
"Come in, sit down, you err, look good," Joshua tried, and he felt himself blush.
Chloe pushed her hair back behind an ear and she looked embarrassed. They both sat down on the couch where neither of them said anything for several minutes. Finally, Chloe broke the silence.
"You tell me about your nightmares and I'll tell you about mine. Fair trade?" Chloe said, holding Joshua's hand.
To the boy, her touch was electrifying.
He'd never experience such feelings before.
The following takes place between 1:00 P.M. and 2:00 P.M.
Safehouse A, New York City
13:05 P.M.
There was a knock on the door.
Joshua got up and he let Mindy in.
"You two finished fucking?" Mindy asked, facetiously, closing the door behind her.
Joshua saw Chloe's mouth drop open in shock and embarrassment.
"Mindy, we never. . ." they both started.
"Just fuckin' with ya!" Mindy laughed. "Your faces; what a picture."
"You're a bitch. You know that, don't you?" Chloe responded.
"I'm sorry. Seriously, you both okay?" Mindy asked, showing genuine concern.
"Yeah, we've just been talking over things," Joshua explained.
"You've both been talking over your nightmares," Mindy stated.
Chloe and Joshua both started to respond with denials, but Mindy cut them off.
"Cut the crap! Joshua has been through hell; I know what that's like, and I know Chloe gets nightmares, too; I've witnessed them. There is nothing wrong with talking about them, believe me. The main problem is finding somebody to talk to, especially somebody who can actually relate to what you have been through. I have Dave and Dave has me, Chloe has me and I have Chloe. Josh, you now have Chloe and Chloe has you," Mindy said. "If you need to talk, I will listen too."
"Thanks Mindy," Joshua replied. "I didn't think you actually even liked me."
"You're growin' on me. Just don't push it," Mindy replied, with a smile.
The following takes place between 5:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M.
Safehouse C, New York City
They both got cleaned up as they were going to see Marcus.
Mindy was really looking forward to it. They had enjoyed a reasonable afternoon at the other Safehouse. Joshua was indeed growing on Mindy, but for some reason she still could not bring herself to trust the boy, and she had no idea why.
Maybe, she was just suspicious after that whole Red Mist/Hawk debacle.
5:25 P.M.
"Come on, Chloe, we need to leave!" Mindy called.
"Coming!"
The following takes place between 6:00 P.M. and 8:00 P.M.
Marcus' House, New York City
Mindy and Chloe arrived soon after six.
"Marcus!" Mindy yelled, running to give her guardian a very tight hug, almost as soon as she came in the door.
"Did you miss me?" Marcus asked, grinning.
"Hell, yes!" Mindy replied, all smiles.
They sat down for a large meal which Marcus had prepared. It felt good to be able to rest for a few minutes and he was sure that the girls felt the same way. He was also very glad that he had the time to sit with Mindy and Chloe. They both seemed pleased to be there, but he noticed that they both seemed very tired. Marcus hoped that they were not overdoing things, especially Mindy. Dave had said that she could be like the damn Energizer Bunny, at times, and he believed him. Marcus had prepared some steaks and the two girls dug in with barely concealed gusto, as if they had not eaten in a month; he was glad that I had picked large chunks of meat.
"How has the British kid been?" Marcus asked.
"Josh? He has his uses, I suppose," Chloe replied in between mouthfuls of food.
"He helped us out yesterday, and did you know that Chloe can pick pockets?" Mindy asked, smirking at Chloe.
"You bitch!" Chloe retorted, laughing. "You can't say that to a cop!"
"Picking pockets is okay; it's a great improvement on what Mindy's gotten up to in the past," Marcus commented dryly, smirking at Mindy and making her squirm.
Chloe gave Mindy a smug grin to which Mindy glared in return, then both girls went back to their food.
"You found him yet?" Marcus asked.
"D'Amico? I think so. I've a feeling he's buried in the D'Amico Penthouse or at his warehouse," Mindy replied.
"I think you may be right. D'Amico has been waving his check book around and certain people are pretending that the D'Amico building doesn't even exist. Same for that warehouse. Any cop goes near either and they'll lose their job. They would probably 'go missing' into the bargain," Marcus grimaced.
"Well, I have some ideas, but it'll require all of Hit Girl's ingenuity and skill," Mindy said, proudly.
"Hit Girl can't do it without her Shadow," Chloe added, with an evil grin at Mindy.
"I managed okay the last time!" Mindy retorted, with an equally evil grin.
"Yeah, right! Kick-Ass had to save your little, purple, ass!" Chloe stated. "This time I'll have to do it."
"Okay, let's ease down on the banter, before it turns violent," Marcus cautioned.
"I'd win," Chloe said, quietly.
"Is that a fact?" Mindy responded.
"Oh, yeah!" Chloe retorted.
Mindy started to respond.
"Mindy! Not one word!" Marcus laughed. "Hang on, you aren't both on . . . Dave warned me about that."
"Marcus, don't start. You don't want to antagonise us this week. No sleep and . . . female things . . . don't go together well," Mindy warned.
"Look Mindy, I can remember your very first period," he said, and he started laughing at the very thought of it.
"Not one more word, Marcus! I warned you; that story is never to be told," Mindy said, sounding panicky.
"This sounds good; tell me more," Chloe encouraged, with an evil grin.
"Was your first period full of happy memories, Chloe?" Mindy demanded, sarcastically.
"Not really, but then nothing weird happened," Chloe responded.
"Well . . ." Marcus started.
"Marcus, no!" Mindy almost screamed.
". . . You know that Mindy likes blood; in fact, she'd bathe in it, given half a chance," Marcus continued.
"I am not that bad!" Mindy exclaimed incredulously, with an, 'I can't believe you just said that' look.
"You are, actually," Chloe commented. "I've seen you."
"Okay, I'll leave it there," Marcus said, satisfied that he had wound Mindy up enough and that he had gotten her mind off other things.
"You can't . . ." Chloe started, before shutting up and looking depressed.
Mindy smiled her thanks at Marcus.
The following takes place between 8:00 P.M. and Midnight
Safehouse C, New York City
8:40 P.M.
They were back at the Safehouse, having enjoyed a wonderful time with Marcus, and the food was to die for. They spent the next couple of hours going through Marty's email.
There was a lot of shit to read through.
10:48 P.M.
They finally decided to call it a night and the two girls crawled into bed, very tired.
Author's Note: For those in Europe, who don't know about the 'Energizer Bunny', it's the same as the 'Duracell Bunny'.
You are advised to read Chapter 61: Sleep of the Vigilante – Day 4 of my other story: Forsaken next . . .
Updated: January 2018