Chapter 27
By mid afternoon the next day, the copies of the schematics were ready and Elena took her lunch break to swing by the copy center to pick them up. She dropped one in the overnight mailbox the copy center had on hand and took the other two back to the office with her. Back in the store she tucked them into the office and promptly forgot about them. Other than that her day was the normal mix of daily business worries. There were no phone calls from relatives not seen in years or drop bys made by military personnel. It was somewhat a relief to face the day surrounded only by normality.
After work she went grocery shopping, restocking her fridge and her coffee pot as well as running a couple of other errands. She checked her e-mail when she got home and received a reminder of a housewarming she had agreed to go to Friday night. She smiled smugly at the bottle of wine and flowerpot of miniature roses she picked up while she was out in anticipation of the event. She frowned at the fact that there were no e-mails from either Peter or her grandfather, but figured they were probably still pre-occupied with Ian. Idly she wondered what was happening to him. She wondered if Smith would ask when she met with him.
"Maybe someone will tell me by then?" she asked aloud. Elena bit her lip at the sound of her own voice and looked guiltily around. She was trying to remember not to talk to herself in case the apartment was bugged. In fact, she hadn't realized how much she normally did talk to herself until she tried to stop. Now without her own voice the apartment sounded too empty. She sighed, shut down her computer and walked over to her stereo. She ran her eyes down the stack of cds next to it and decided the Pixies would be an excellent way to fill the silence. She placed it in the stereo and let it play. She smiled at the sound.
"Silence all gone," she said softly, wondering if the music would cover up whispers. She decided to use the lull between all-encompassing events to once again restore order to her apartment. Elena put away the laundry she washed the day before and not yet gotten into the closet and tidied up the apartment. Papers were filed, sheets were folded, and dishes were washed. When the Pixies ended she replaced them with the Dead Kennedys and tackled the bathroom with a foaming scrub. By the time the last note clicked into silence her apartment was clean and she was ready for bed. She showered, slipped into her pajamas and slid into bed. She sighed, there really was nothing like a little normality after several days of whirlwind chaos.
Two more days of normality passed and instead of feeling relieved Elena was beginning to feel anxious. Had something happened? Was that why no one was calling her? Images of the Lorenzo being sunk by a torpedo swam through her vision. The man sent with Ian could have had a tracking device on him, probably did. Why wasn't he searched as well as blindfolded? She snorted at the stupidity and re-arranged a display that didn't actually need it. Perhaps the Council made a ruling the military didn't like. Mentally she replaced the sunken ship with a ship being swarmed by armed men intent on taking prisoners. Her grandfather could be hurt in the struggle, taken to a hospital or interrogated. Why wasn't anyone calling her?
"I'm sure they are going to love the business plan," Max said interrupting her thoughts of gloom and doom. "How could they not?"
"You didn't even see the business plan," she commented with a smile, letting thoughts of evil slide away. Max snorted.
"I don't have to; I remember when this place was just an abandoned wreck." Elena glanced around the store with a tender smile. It hadn't been much more then four bare walls when she took it over. Now it was a place of her own that filled her with pride.
"You are right Max," she said with a grin. "After all who wouldn't jump at the opportunity to sell mini slug monsters from the planet Krypton?" Max rolled his eyes.
"Superman was from Krypton, slug monsters are from Krull," he informed her.
"I thought conquerors were from Krull," she replied.
"No. Krull was a conqueror. I don't know what planet he was from."
"Well, it is good you were here to clear things up for me," she replied. "I'd hate to mis-mark the bill of sale." The coil inside Elena relaxed a bit with the by-play. No evil had befallen the Council. They just didn't consider her important enough to update. She wasn't due to meet with Smith and company until Monday evening. Tonight was only Friday. If they didn't call by the close of business Monday she would call one of the numbers Peter left to see what it was she needed to say to Smith about Ian's fate, should they ask. Besides, tonight was Bob and Lisa's housewarming.
Seven thirty rolled around and Elena locked up for the evening. Normally they were open later during the week, but no one was really out looking for her stores wares on a Friday night. Closer to the holidays they would extend the hours, but for now this was late enough to work on a Friday night. Elena waved a farewell to her departing employees and strode off briskly towards home. They hadn't gotten the snow Jonathan predicted, but she could feel it still in the air, waiting. With luck it would hold off until a bit later.
As she walked, Elena thought she saw someone out of the corner of her eye but decided not to turn. She didn't have time for plots tonight. With a quick pace and some good fortune she could manage a quick shower before jumping into her party dress and not be too late. Lisa knew Elena was going to be a little bit late as the party started at seven, but that didn't make her feel any better. She had too many years moving with the tides to feel comfortable being late.
"And it only matters to me anyway," she muttered as she tugged open the building door. She took the stairs two at a time. Once inside her apartment she stripped on her way to the bathroom, leaving a trail of clothes in her wake.
"Quickest shower in the west," she said. Still wrapped in a bath towel she called for a cab to come and pick her up. The dress was already laid out on the bed and she redressed, added a little make up to her face, and was downstairs with her bottle of wine and pot of roses in time to see the cab glide around the corner.
"Good thing too," she thought as the cab stopped in front of her. "Too long outside in these shoes and my toes would fall off." The strappy, open-toed heels were perfect with her dress, but not for winter weather. She was going to have to look into some serious shoe shopping for the holiday season. There were several parties she was already scheduled to attend and her feet would not last the season in her current footwear.
The cab already had the address and let her out in front of a well-lit high-rise. She glanced up at the long stretch of it and shook her head. The sleek glass was a far cry from her old brick apartment building and she would have been uncomfortable with it as her living space. It suited Bob and Lisa to a T. She paid the driver and stepped out, her evening bag clutched in her hand with the roses.
The doorman opened the glass doors for her and she took the elevator to the 10th floor. The entire building had a hushed quality too it and she imagined each of the apartments was heavily soundproofed. Her heels didn't make a sound on the carpeted hallway and after the sighs and creaks of her building she found it to be a little disconcerting. She knocked on the door to 1053 and the door opened spilling light and sound into the vacuum of the hallway. She smiled, signs of life at last.
"Elena," Lisa greeted her, enthusiastically pulling her into a one armed hug. "You made it."
"Of course," Elena said, handing over the wine and roses. Lisa smiled over the wine and cooed over the pale pink of the miniature roses, exactly as Elena knew she would. 'And that's why I avoided the more vibrant scarlet ones I preferred,' she thought with a smile. Lisa was barely half an inch over five feet and built with the bones of a ballet dancer. Everything about her was designed to be delicate. Rather than counter balance the image, she used it, embracing delicacy as Genghis Kahn would a battle-axe. 'And wielding it just as well.' Lisa was well known as one of the sharpest defense attorneys in the state. Lisa placed both the wine and the roses on the counter.
"We are just tossing the coats on the bed in the master bedroom right now,"
she said as Elena shrugged out of her coat. "Come on, I'll give you a brief tour of the place while we take it back." Lisa chatted about the apartment as they went. They were the first tenants in the space, which pleased Lisa, as she didn't have to overthrow a previous tenant's d?cor choices. "We got to modify it from the floor plans on," she said. Elena nodded and smiled, commenting in all the right places. As they passed through the living room she noticed the bulk of the party seemed to be comprised of men or women she didn't know. 'Bob's friends and their wives or dates,' she thought. 'Lisa must not have gotten to show off the place yet.'
"Thanks for letting me get that out of my system," Lisa said as they reached the master bedroom. "I know I can be an awful bore."
"Hardly," Elena assured her. "It is a great space and you've done so much with it." Lisa beamed.
"With several pieces from your shop," Lisa commented with a smile.
"Just the whipped cream on top of the sundae," Elena told her, tossing her coat onto the bed. Lisa laughed. Elena looked for a place to stash her purse without having it get lost in the mound of coats.
"On the vanity would be a good place," Lisa suggested. Elena nodded and walked over. As she set the purse down her phone rang. She could hear the muffled tune rattling her keys. She sighed.
"Never a dull moment hum?" Lisa commented. "Why don't I leave you to answer that and you can find your way back when you are done."
"Thanks Lisa."
"Don't take too long though. There are several cuties you just have to meet." Lisa stepped into the hallway before Elena could comment. She shook her head and pulled the cell phone from her purse. She flipped it open.
"Hello?" she said.
"Elena sorry I haven't had a chance to speak with you before now," Peter's voice rolled out of the phone. "Things are somewhat delicate here at the moment."
"I understand. When you get a moment though I would like someone to fill in the blanks for what I am supposed to say on Monday regarding Ian if I am asked."
"Ah yes, Ian," Peter replied. She could hear the tiredness in his voice. "We are still debating that actually. He had his hearing and, well to be completely honest half of the Council was automatically out for blood."
"That I could understand," she said. It wasn't really much of a surprise.
"Unfortunately with the military looking over our shoulders that has become something of an issue. We've decided that his actions do require a disciplinary hearing, but that is where we are stalled." Elena ran through what little she knew of this sort of thing it took little effort to see why they were stalled.
"If you pronounce judgment of a disciplinary hearing you have to release him to the Head of his family until then. You are afraid of an accident." Once Ian left the Lorenzo the Council would no longer protect him. Even his family might arrange for an accident to prevent loss of face within the Guild. And the Council would be held accountable by the military. A light snapped on in Elena's mind.
"Is there any reason you can't release him to the military until his hearing?" She asked. "It would go a long way towards helping them believe everything was on the up and up and they would then be responsible for his safety. I doubt they would just let him disappear when they have so much to gain by good relations." There was silence on the other end. "Peter?"
"Yes, I'm still here," he said. "You know that might not be a bad plan. You know you are almost devious enough to be Council Elena."
"But no desire to be," she pointed out quickly. He laughed.
"Of course not," he said. "And I have no desire to press you to be, especially when I stand to make a bundle off this new venture of ours."
"Does that mean you read over my proposal?"
"It does. Actually both Alexandro and I have read over it. I think it is brilliant and he is about to burst with pride. I'm sending over some paperwork for you to go over. We hashed out a good deal of the legalese over here. That is what took so long. It should be to you in the morning sometime before noon."
"My apartment or the store?"
"The store, we figured you wouldn't be home during the day. I liked your list of goods and the way you've presented them. Obviously they come from the Calebrese travels and
there are several from our end we would like to see incorporated."
"Of course, however that is going to have to wait, I'm afraid I am not in a place to discuss business." Lisa escorted another guest back to drop off a coat and Elena caught the sound of her friend Tina commenting on the d?cor.
"You are not at home?"
"No, I'm at a party. Is there a time maybe tomorrow evening or Sunday that would work for you?"
"Sunday would work, around 2 pm your time?"
"That would be great," Elena said as the two women entered the room. "I'll talk to you then." She hung up on Peter as Tina broke out into a grin.
"Please tell me that was the devilishly attractive man from the restaurant and not a business call."
"Can't it be both?" Elena asked with a laugh, giving her friend a hug. "You look great, love the dress."
"Uh huh, trying to change the subject," Tina commented to Lisa.
"So I see," Lisa said with an eyebrow waggle. "Must be juicy."
"Not juicy, Business." Elena said. "I have a new business venture."
"Really?" Lisa asked. "Details, we want details." The doorbell rang and Lisa rolled her eyes. "Okay, I want details later." The three of them walked back into the living room. Mentally Elena juggled facts and figures in her head. She could rejoin the Guild and still maintain a place in the non-guild oriented world. It would just take some serious word considerations. She accepted a glass of wine from one of Bob's friends who had been dragooned into playing bartender for the night. Elena smiled. She always had liked a challenge.