Tortured Dreams

Chapter Nine

Chapter 9

My plane landed in Kansas City. Everything I owned was packed into seven large containers and three suitcases, the containers were mostly books. The suitcases were clothes, computer equipment, CDs and DVDs. Lucas had called Goodwill to have my furniture picked up.

Lucas and Xavier had flown most of my belongings back. It turned out the Serial Crimes Tracking Unit had their own plane. We had not flown back with them. I had a suitcase, Nyleena, an ID card and a set of keys.

In theory, I had a job to do before I went to my new apartment. I had to go furniture shopping. This was an easy fix. Nyleena stopped at a furniture outlet store on the way.

I ordered a bed, a couch, a two person dining room table and two chairs, a recliner, an end table and three book cases. Nyleena frowned at me as I handed them my debit card. I understood her frustration. But my somewhat odd and compulsive behavior triumphed over her disapproval. They made arrangements for delivery.

That was going to be a nightmare and a half. Nyleena called the apartment building to tell them about the delivery while I drove. We had one more stop to make.

"Aislinn! Nyleena! Thank god, you are both ok!" My mother squealed as we entered her living room.

"Hi mom," we both said in unison. It didn't seem to matter that she was actually Nyleena's aunt. She was "mom" to everyone. She was the mother that everyone loved and adored.

"What are you doing here?" My mom asked. Nyleena had moved her to KC when I had gone off to college. My father had a good pension and an even better life insurance policy. She worked two days a week now as a librarian at a local municipal library.

"I came to get my car," I told her.

"Your car?" She frowned for a second.

"Yep, I'm moving, no, moved back?" I made it a question.

"Where are you staying? Do you want your room?" She was suddenly in motion.

"Nope, I'm doing some consultant work for the Marshals mom, so I have an apartment in Nyleena's building for the next six months. That will give me plenty of time to find a place."

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Yep, I'm sure. If I don't find a place at the end of the six months, I may come back for a while, but..." I shrugged at her.

"Always so independent," my mother gave me a smile. "So, I heard about your latest adventure."

"Yeah, I'm sure you did," I told her.

"Malachi came and told me everything, including that you were all right and that the Marshal Service wanted to use you for a case."

"How's he treating you?" I asked her.

"Same ol' Malachi," even Malachi called my mom "Mom". I wasn't sure anyone except me knew her first name.

My mom disappeared into the kitchen and came out with a glass of tea, a glass of milk and two pieces of pie. She set the tray down in front of us. I got the glass of milk; Nyleena the tea. We both took them and the small plates of pie.

"Secure housing is probably a good idea for you," mom said as I forked in another chunk of the apple pie.

"That's what I think," Nyleena agreed.

"It will be interesting." I said.

"You aren't happy to be back?" Mom asked.

"Oh, I am. Washington wasn't working out either, but..." I shrugged.