Peter drilled the hole in the stud next to where he had put the junction box, then moved on to the next one. "I don't want to talk about it, Pop." He said for the fourteenth time.
"It is important," Caine said.
"Nope, not anymore," Peter answered, turning the drill on again, he could pretend that he didn't hear his father while it was running. Unfortunately, he had to pause to remove the wooden plug from the hole saw each time.
Caine took the drill from Peter's hands. "I do not want you to be angry with your mother just because I … lost my temper."
"Dad, I don't want to talk about it." He said. "But if it makes you feel any better I'm not upset with her because you are. I'm angry because… " He shook his head. "It doesn't matter."
"Yes, it does," Caine said gently.
"Because she knew," Peter said, after biting his anger back. It wasn't his father he was angry with. "She'd had us watched by a private investigator. So she knew …"
"About the orphanage." The source of his son's perpetual anger and angst was Pine Ridge, of which Caine had no doubt.
"What went on inside and everything? Cause I'm pretty sure an investigator wasn't going to just take pictures of the outside of the building and call it a day." Peter said. "She didn't even have to show up Pop, she could have sent the information to social services but she just left me there knowing what was going on the whole time." He took the drill back from his father "I know I need to let it go but I can't. Believe me, I've tried." He started the drill up again and resumed drilling the holes for the electrical wiring to be passed through.
Caine watched worriedly but didn't say anything more. He didn't know how to help his son with the past when he wouldn't tell him what had happened. He hoped that Peter could open up to Leanne. Peter must face his demons if he was ever going to defeat them.
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Laura sat dutifully in the courthouse while her husband was arraigned. She had tried to play the 'why are you doing this to me' card with Caine to get him to come and tell them he wasn't pressing charges. Unfortunately, that had backfired and she had for the first time in her life seen Kwai Chang Caine lose his temper. She'd seen him angry before, after all even Shaolin priests were human beings, but she had never once seen him that angry.
She watched on as Javier Navarro was presented before the judge. Damn his eyes he was arrogant even now. When was he going to learn that people would not respond to him here the same way they had in Paris? He didn't have the same power here as there. Foolish, foolish man.
"How does your client plead?" The judge asked in a bored tone.
"Not guilty, Your Honor," Collins said. "As this is Mr. Navarro's first offense, we request at this time that he be released on his own recognizance."
Hamilton Mercer, a relatively new Assistant District Attorney, spoke then " Your honor, The homes he broke into were that of his stepson and his wife's former husband. While no one was directly injured by Mr. Navarro it was never the less an act of aggression. He is a wealthy man, and has no ties to the community, and is a foreign national, We request that he be remanded."
"Split the difference counselor." The judge said. "Bail is set at 250,000 dollars, and as the police already have his passport, it's unlikely he'll be leaving the country any time soon. That being said I do find that there is sufficient evidence to go to trial." He looked at his calendar. We'll set the pre-trial hearing for two weeks from today."
"Thank you, your honor," Mercer said. "That date will be fine."
"That date works for me as well, Your Honor," Collins said. Once the judge had dismissed them he turned to Javier. "The bailiff will take you back to holding until your bail has been met."
"I've half a mind not to pay it," Laura said. "But I will." She was angry with him, so very angry.
"Of course, you will," Javier said. "Make arrangements for us to move to the penthouse suite at the hotel. If we are going to be here for weeks to come I will not be living out of a bedroom"
She nodded in agreement. "I'll send for the children." Julian wasn't a child anymore, not really, but Amelie was only 15. Laura wasn't comfortable leaving her with the housekeeper for as long as this was looking to take.
"I suppose that is unavoidable." He said.
"It's time to go." The bailiff said. He led Navarro out of the courtroom.
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Lo Si had been denying his weariness for the majority of the day. He had been sitting too long while performing his experiments. That was all. He was accustomed to a fairly active lifestyle. His immortality kept him energized beyond what was normal for people his apparent age. But too much sitting was taking its toll and he wasn't as strong as he had been.
"There is a village not far from here," Wukong said. "We should stop there." The old one might deny his weariness, but the much older Monkey still had perfectly good eyes in his head.
"I will go ahead and scout it out," Sparrow said and left when Sun Wukong gave a quick nod.
Lo Si looked over at his traveling companion. "Are all villages dangerous in Kunlun Shan?" He asked.
"No. But sometimes the tiger is the hunter and sometimes the tiger is the prey." He shrugged.
"You think he is hunting me as I am hunting him?" Lo Si asked.
Wukong shrugged. "I think it is possible. So we will be careful." He slowed his walking speed a little at a time until he thought it was a good speed for the Holy Priest. "And we will make certain you are safe."
"I am not as helpless as I may appear." Lo Si said.
"You are not as strong as you were when we met on the road," Wukong said honestly.
"Old bones are tired. That is all." He said. "I am eternal. A little walk in the countryside is not going to do me in."
"We should stay a day or two," Wukong said. "To plan where we will go next." He added the last quickly when the old one narrowed his eyes.
"Hm." Lo Si knew what the real reason was and it rankled. It rankled the most because he knew his friend was right and he needed more rest than he was at all comfortable with.
"You don't have to hide it from us. You can't hide it from us. We see things." Wukong shrugged.
"I do not like to seem weak." He liked feeling weak even less.
"Have you been here before?"
"In Kunlun Shan? Yes. A very long time ago." Lo Si said.
"Did you feel this way when you were here before?"
The Ancient shook his head. "No. But I was much younger then."
Wukong tilted his head. "You were not yet immortal when you came here?"
"No." He said. "I was not. I had just become a Shamballa master and was learning to travel the realms. It was long before I had even learned Kung Fu." He smiled a little. Being taught by Peter and his father in the first temple had become some of his fondest memories.
As they walked he told Sun Wukong the story of how the last of the line of Kwai Chang had traveled back in time to teach Kung Fu to the monks there and how that had saved the temple and also the nearby village.
"Do they know?" Wukong asked. "Do they know that it was you there?"
"Peter suspects." He answered. "It is hard to say what his father does or does not know. He keeps his own counsel much of the time. Often when he should not. I am guilty of this as well. Perhaps more so."
"You care for them deeply. It shows in your eyes when you speak of them."
"It is for their sake, for Peter's sake that I must make sure the elixir does not harm the immortal, only release the trapped souls."
"I do not know how to help you," Wukong said.
"I will sort it out. I have time." As long as she did not make Peter immortal with her grandfather's elixir, he had all the time in the world.
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Laura met with the bail bondsman and paid the $25,000 required to get Javier released on bail, putting up several pieces of jewelry appraised for far more than the remaining $225,ooo as collateral for the rest.
She was not best pleased with this situation, no not at all. She loved Javier but there were times that he was far more trouble than he was worth. She had let him get away with little things. A slap here, play dates with his assistant there. She smoothed things over with the powerful men that he antagonized, which occasionally cost her more than she was comfortable with. She was beginning to think that perhaps it was time to let him take his lumps now that they were somewhere where his influence was weak at best. He really should have stayed home.
She walked out of the bondsman's office and into her rental car. She took her cell phone from her purse and opened it. She dialed a number in France. One that she hadn't called in two years. "Etienne… this is Laura. Is your offer of help still good?"
"Has he hurt you?"
"No, but he has crossed a line that I will not tolerate." She said.
"Then my offer still stands. Where is he?"
"For a few minutes longer he is in jail." She gave him the location and details. "I had to make bail for him."
"I understand. I will take care of it."
"Thank you, my friend." Laura smiled as she hung up her phone.
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Peter sank to the floor, exhausted. "Well, that's done. Now we need to schedule an appointment with the inspector then we can move on to drywall."
Caine nodded. "It will go quickly then."
"Yeah, I'll be glad when we can move in here. I feel like I am living off of Leanne, maybe it will feel less so when the apartment is part of the mortgage on the building instead of a separate bill."
"Do you not teach classes here ?"
"I do. I know where you're going with this, Pop, I do, and I know you're right. It doesn't change how I feel."
"As long as you remember that feelings are not the same as reality."
"Easier said than done, Pop," Peter said. "I mean, what if it starts to bother her down the road? Just because she's okay with it now doesn't mean she will be later. What if she gets tired of carrying my weight."
"If she wanted a rich man she never would have allowed herself to fall in love with a priest," Caine said gently. "We all have this concern when we fall in love. A priest is never going to be a wealthy man. But remember, My Son, she comes from a much earlier time."
"I know. She says that and that she's honored to support my being a priest in any way she can. But I don't come from another time and I have some old-fashioned ideas about who takes care of whom in a marriage." Peter said.
"Peter, You have always had abandonment issues. With your mother's return, there is no way that you wouldn't have those feelings renewed. Is it not possible that this is the source of these feelings you are having?"
"I'm not worried that Leanne doesn't love me," Peter said. "I know she does. I also know that part of that is because she also loved my previous incarnation."
"There are souls who have always been entwined," Caine said.
"I know. But I also know that sometimes love just isn't enough."
"Part of abandonment issues are feelings of unworthiness. Feelings that they will leave you because you don't feel you deserve to have them in your life."
"Enough people leave and you start to realize that the only common denominator is you," Peter said.
"They were not the one you were meant to be with." Caine said "And your feelings may be connected to your mother's return."
Peter scowled.
"And perhaps by… cold feet."
Peter smiled a little. "No, Father, I do not have cold feet. I'm terrified she's going to see through me one day and realize I'm a mistake. But I don't have cold feet."
Caine laughed quietly. "She sees through you now. You are not difficult to read. You are not a mistake."
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Laura hung up her coat in the hotel suite closet. " Julian and Amelie will be here tomorrow night. So I got the three-bedroom suite." She told her husband. "We're going to have to arrange for her to go to school here or have a private tutor depending on how long this is going to take to clear up. We don't want her falling behind."
Javier stood scowling at the window, looking down on the city. The sky was as dark and thunderous and echoed his mood. "Then you should have left her in Spain." He said. "Mrs. Perez is a responsible woman. I think she could handle a fifteen-year-old girl for a few weeks."
"Weeks? This could take months to get to trial." Laura said. "Speedy trial is apparently a relative term and I don't want to be away from her that long."
"Hmm… Mother of the year." He said sarcastically. "Fairly certain Peter doesn't feel that way."
Laura sighed. "I used to think that it was Kwai Chang that you were jealous of… now I think it's Peter."
"Don't be ridiculous."
"Why else would you break into his home and tear it apart." She said, "And don't give me that nonsense about being set up by Martin Bradshaw and Kwai Chang Caine because that is exactly what it is, nonsense."
"I had my reasons," Javier said. "And they are not your concern. Your son was not harmed, his woman wasn't harmed and neither was your husband." He spat the last two words at her.
"Kwai Chang can take care of himself. He excels at it." She said, "And if Peter went through the same training to become a priest so can he. I wouldn't go after them directly if I were you." She said with pride.
"I wasn't going after them," Javier said and went to the bar where his favorite brand of whiskey was waiting and poured himself a glass. "Quit badgering me, Woman. This situation is of your making not mine."
She laughed derisively. "I wasn't the one arrested for breaking and entering."
"No, you're just a bigamist." He countered.
"I could always divorce you too."
"Good luck with that, my dear. You do remember that little prenup that you signed. Besides you can't divorce me. We were never legally married, to begin with."
A Grinch-like smile spread across her face. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Although I seem to recall you never wanted that to become common knowledge."
"Enough, woman." Javier barked.
"Oh, it's more than enough." She said.
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"I know that look." Mary Margaret said. "It tells me that you are a thousand miles away from here and wondering how to gracefully tell me to go home."
"You are half right," Caine said, giving an apologetic smile. "I do not wish you to leave."
"Alright. So tell me what's got you distracted. Maybe I can help." She said.
Caine refilled their wine glasses and sighed. "I feel that there are forces at play, powerful forces, and they are manipulating us like pawns on the chess board."
"If anyone but you was saying this, I'd be suggesting a few mental health professionals. But coming from you that scares me a little." She rested her hand over his. "Do you know who these forces might be?"
"I am positive one of them is Leanne's grandfather." He said.
"Well, that won't make things awkward at all." Mary Margaret said, "So talk me through how you got to that conclusion?" She took a drink of her wine and set the glass aside.
"He has, according to Laura, been manipulating Peter's life from the destruction of the temple forward."
"According to Laura." Mary Margaret repeated.
Caine nodded. "I am… considering the source." He said.
"Good. Because one of those manipulative factions could be Laura." She said "It is her pseudo-husband who broke into Peter's place and searched through things here. "
Caine sighed and nodded. "Yes, there is that. There is also the girl that claims to have come from Yulong Yeoh to claim the book and tried to kill Leanne." He said. "She believes that he did send her. Even though she says she does not."
"That must be painful." She said.
He nodded. "Yes. She and Peter are both feeling betrayed and abandoned by those who should have loved them."
"Those aren't emotions that couples need to share." Mary Margaret said. "Support each other through them sure, but feeling them at the same time is just not fair to either of them."
"No, it is not. Peter has come far in a short time, I worry that his mother will cause him to falter."
"Caine… Peter is Peter. Sure he's able to do all those things that we used to have to rely on you to do, but he's still Peter. He may flop around like a fish out of water sometimes, but he sorts himself out and he gets back in the water." She said. "Granted sometimes the water is hot, sometimes it's the deep end… but that's where he thrives."
"Something that has always worried me." He caressed her hand gently.
"So who do you think is behind the other faction?"
"There is a priest in Shamballa. Master Yuan. He seems predisposed to see Yulong Yeoh dead." He frowned. "I am not certain he doesn't feel the same about Leanne."
"Any idea why ?" She asked.
He shook his head "No. " He said, "And that is troubling."
"Could it just be hyperbole on his part?" Mary Margaret asked. "If I had a dollar for every investigation I was on where someone was a suspect simply because they said they wanted to kill the victim… and it wasn't them that did it…"
"It was more than just his words. It was the way he said them. There was something predatory about how he said it. A pleasure in the thought. People make empty threats in anger or pain, not in pleasure."
"Does he have the sort of connections to be a power player?"
"I do not know… I hope not." Because if he did, those connections would run all the way through Shamballa. He was growing even more worried about Lo Si. Was he really in Kunlun Shan? Or had something more sinister happened to him?
