Disclaimers: See Chapter One If you have good or bad things to say feel free to email me at henleyac@yahoo.com.
Chapter Five
Vivian looked at the wide parlor door where Quin and Michael had disappeared to twenty minutes ago.
"So where did my daughter find you Vivian? Some squalid whore house perhaps?" Clara enjoyed the anger that brewed in the blonde's eyes. "The last one, what was her name Mother? Grace. Yes that's it. She was a crack whore Quin picked up somewhere along the river…"
"That's enough Clara!" Mary fumed.
Clara waved off her mother, "Nonsense, Vivian should know she isn't the first noble cause of Quin's."
Vivian was close to exploding. Nan placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and whispered in her ear. 'She's baiting you.' Vivian took a deep breath and relaxed her muscles. "Mrs. McKee…"
"O'Malley. Quin changed her name after we kicked her out. I think it was for spites sake. I actually was relieved that less people would associate her with me." Clara interrupted.
Vivian smiled insincerely, "Mrs. O'Malley, I doubt you're really interested in where Quin and I met. I doubt you're interested in anything about us. I think you wish to inflict pain on Quin for whatever imagined infraction she has set upon you." Vivian paused and had a sip of coffee, "I could give a rats ass what you think about me." She set the china coffee cup down gently upon the dark wood table in front of her. "Excuse me please." She stood and gracefully left the room to the sounds of Grams having a hearty chuckle.
Vivian walked the long halls of the grand house looking at everything but actually seeing nothing. Her mind was on her lover. How fortuitous that Quin had escaped her mother's evil clutches at an early age. Vivian smiled at her thoughts. It was like a fairy tale. A young maiden in the clutches of an evil witch escapes to a life filled with love and wonder. Vivian giggled at the image in her mind of Quin dressed in some poofy gown at a huge ball given in her honor for vanquishing the evil witch.
"What are you laughing about love?" Quin asked coming up behind the blonde and embracing her.
Vivian sighed and pulled Quin's arms tight around her. "You." She replied.
Quin frowned over her lover's shoulder. "I don't know if I should be insulted or not."
Vivian patted Quin's hands. "It was a mental image honey."
Quin shrugged, "Alright then." She brushed aside the long blonde locks and kissed Vivian's neck. "Have you had enough of Mother?"
"Absolutely. If your father is as bad I might end up in an Illinois correctional facility."
"There's no same sex conjugal visits in this state." Quin quipped and placed another kiss on Vivian's neck. She enjoyed the shiver and little goose bumps that rose up along the delicious flesh under her lips.
"Okay, I'll scratch doing harm to evil parents off the list of things to do." Vivian smiled. "I really am ready to go though."
"Me too." One last kiss. "I have a huge headache for some reason." Quin let Vivian turn out of her arms.
"A nap before dinner then." The blonde took up Quin's hand. "Let's go rescue Grams and let Nan off the hook."
"Chivalrous."
Vivian giggled again.
"What now?"
"Mental image thing honey."
"How did you meet Grace?" Vivian was snuggled against Quin's back in the soft feather bed. They had made for the bedroom immediately upon returning to the cottage. Mary had teased them relentlessly as they moved down the hall. They each laughed upon discovery of their shared blushes. Who knew an eighty-seven year old woman could reduce adults to blushing teenagers.
"I hate my mother." Quin groused then rolled over to face Vivian. "I was on an errand for my grandfather."
Vivian growled, "So help me Quin McKee, If you don't use some details I'm going to have to do something drastic!" The blonde extended her fingers toward the PI's middle.
Quin squealed and scooted back as she grabbed hold of Vivian's questing digits. "Okay, okay! No tickling!"
Vivian's eyebrows rose, "Details McKee."
Quin nodded and linked her fingers with Vivian's, "My grandfather was less than legitimate when it came to some of his business dealings. He was desperately trying to correct that the year I turned seventeen. There were times though when he needed to send me on an errand less than legal, knowing I was a minor and less likely to do any hard time. At the time I was excited to be included in his world."
"Wait." Vivian squeezed Quin's hands gently, "Your fortune is dirty money?"
Quin tilted her head, "Some of the dirtiest." She answered solemnly. "I really didn't know it then, well until that day anyway. That day I learned a lot."
"Does your mother know this?"
Quin chuckled, "She pretends that her father was a great industrialist."
Vivian thought on that a moment. Clara O'Malley was a real piece of work. Why would Quin want to keep feeding that particular monster? "Go on." She gently instructed her lover.
"Pop sent me to pick up a package for him. All I had to do was walk into a warehouse by the river, drop his name, receive the package and get my ass back home. Simple." Quin shook her head a little, "As you might have come to realize I do almost nothing simple."
Vivian smiled softly at the brunette. "You are a black hole for trouble."
"Precisely. I get to the warehouse just fine. Drop the name without trouble. I even have the package in my hand walking out the door when it happened." Quin closed her eyes as the memory played in her mind. "I walked through the door into the alley between the warehouses. It was pretty well lit considering the activities taking place inside so it was easy enough to see. I heard a soft pleading 'no' just off to my left. Then a sharp thud and a whimper. I should have just walked the other way." Quin's eyes opened. "I should have minded my own damn business, but something pulled me around the corner."
"You were a do-gooder even then Quinlan McKee."
"I was young. I had that whole invincibility thing going. Death was not a creature I knew of at that point." Quin reflected. "What I saw around that corner changed me forever Viv. That was the one moment in my life that defined me. The man was huge. Over seven feet tall and as wide as a door. He was repeatedly beating someone in front of him. I couldn't see who because his bulk blocked my view. I moved further into the alley. I remember the smell of the air. It was summer, and the air was thick and humid. I smelled blood for the first time that night. As I shifted a bit more to see who this hulk of a man was beating for what ever reason, I noticed the blood. It was flying with each blow of his fist. Each contact made a wet squishing noise. A bit of blood splattered on my face as he pulled back his massive fist for another punch. That's when I saw her. Her eye's connected with mine for just that instance." Quin fell silent for a long moment. "I've never seen eyes so green before." Quin went quiet again. It had been a long time since she remembered the true color of Grace's eyes.
Vivian brushed Quin's cheek with the back of her hand, "It's okay to love her Quin."
"I have to look at her picture sometimes to remember what she looked like. I can't believe I forget."
Vivian cupped her lover's cheek, "She's moved from your mind a little but she still lives in you heart Quin." Vivian reassured the brunette.
Quin nodded then took a deep breath before continuing. "I didn't have a gun, but he did. I could see it in the small of his back. I grabbed for it and missed it, but he knew I was there then and stopped hitting her at least. I darted back behind him and made another grab for the gun this time with success. I pointed it at him." Quin examined her right hand, "I pointed it at him, straight in his face and pulled the trigger."
Vivian hadn't seen that one coming. Her blue eyes grew round at Quin's admission.
"I didn't know anything about guns, so when nothing happened I panicked. The girl on the ground moaned 'safety'." Quin's hand formed a fist, "I was really clueless." She chuckled sadly. "My hand was shaking so much I had to steady it with the other. I dropped the package tucked under my arm and it splashed in a puddle of who knows what at the man's feet. He looked down at it for a moment. That's when I thumbed off the safety on the gun. I think he must have read my Pop's initials on the paper bag cause he looked up at me and sneered something about me being one of Joe McKee's slags. He kicked out to his right and stuck the girl again. I closed my eyes and pulled the trigger. This time a shot went off and I heard the man fall. I didn't check to see if he was alive or dead. I didn't care. I had enough rational to shove the gun into my own waist band as I scooped up the package. I helped the girl up. Her face was badly cut and bruised. Her shirt was torn and she was bleeding all over the place. I knew she needed help but also knew that a hospital would bring to many questions. I practically dragged her to my car." Quin remembered how her grandfather ordered the Falcon to be burned because of all the blood inside the car. "I drove her to my grandparents house, and as they say the rest is history."
Vivian blinked. "How much trouble did this all cause your grandfather?"
Quin sat up in the bed and crossed her legs. The light had started to fade outside casting the room in a purplish shadow. "Let me just say that I never ran another errand for my grandfather."
"Where's your father?" Vivian asked rolling to her side.
"Somewhere in Brazil. Unlike my mother, he really is trying to keep a legitimate business running. I think he's relieved to be away from her. I don't hear from him except for a Christmas card from him every year."
"Your family is odd Quin McKee." Vivian propped her head up on her folded elbow. "I love you Quin." She smiled softly at the woman sitting beside her, "I knew you could string together more than ten words at a time."
Quin rolled her eyes. "I am not a talker."
"Ya' think!" Vivian extended her hand and let her fingers tickle Quin's stomach.
"No tickling!" Quin squeaked rolling away and right off the queen sized bed.
Vivian crawled to the edge and peered over at her lover. "Oops."
"Oops indeed Ms. Walsh." Quin smiled up at Vivian.
Vivian reached down and ran her hand through Quin's short hair. "Pretty."
Quin blushed. "Sweet talker."
"Come back to bed Quin." Vivian tugged gently on Quin's ear.
Quin rolled over and sat up. She held up a finger and pointed it at the blonde hanging over the edge of the bed. "No more tickling."
Vivian held up her right hand and swore. "No more tickling." Quin crawled back into the bed and let the blonde curl up behind her once again. "Until later." Vivian added with a little evil smile.
"Rat." Quin muttered, as she let her eyes close. She soaked up the warmth of the long body pressed behind her.
"Hush. Sleep." Vivian commanded as she let the days tension go an let her own heavy eyes close.
"Sleep." Quin repeated as she drifted away from the world.
End part five
Continued...