Ruthless People
Prologue

She was feeling claustrophobic as she pushed her way through the crowds that were surrounding the area in front of the arrivals gate. She’d forgotten just how busy LAX Airport could be. Her palms were sweating and she could feel her heart rate rising as she got closer to her destination; under other circumstances she would be calm and ready to face whatever came her way, it was required in her line of work, but this was different.
This was personal.
Less than two steps behind her, a small boy followed, carrying a small toy plane, similar to the ones he could see outside the window. One day, he wanted to fly a real plane, just like his dad did. If he had things his way, he’d go with his dad every day, instead of day care. He looked away from the window to find his mother had stopped and was anxiously tapping her foot. He ran up to her and tugged on her hand, wanting to be up high to see his dad coming through the door.
She looked down when she felt him grasp her hand, and bent down to lift him up. She’d give anything not to have to do this in front of him, but her husband had to know what was going on. There was no way around it, she couldn’t contain it anymore.
Once the passengers had departed, and the crowd had gone, she stood there waiting. She didn’t care if she waited the rest of the damn day, she had to see him now. If it had been ten years earlier, she would’ve worked her way through an entire pack of cigarettes by now, but she’d quit so had to rely on the build up of adrenalin instead just to keep her standing there and be willing to do this publicly.
She’d almost given in and walked away. She closed her eyes and took a breath to calm herself, about to turn away, but the excited squealing of the boy in her arms and the way he fought to get down from her arms indicated her wait was over.
As she opened her eyes again, she could see him, but he obviously hadn’t seen her, so she held back. She watched her little boy run, dropping his toy on the way, and be scooped up into the arms of the man he regarded his hero; it broke her heart a little more than it was already.
Once her son was back on the ground and going to pick up his forgotten plane, she moved forward, finally ready to confront the sadness she felt instead of bottling it up. Her husband may have sensed her approaching, because he looked directly at her the second she started walking toward him, and smiled. She smiled back, warily, before the smile became a frown. She glanced at her son, to make sure he was nearby and suitably distracted before looking back at the man in front of her.
“Katie -”
He had barely said her name before her palm made contact with his face. He stumbled back with the force of her assault on him and held his hand to his face, cradling his cheek. Her own hand was stinging, but it was sure as hell nothing compared to what he would be feeling.
“You bastard!”
He looked up at her in shock, dropping his hand and revealing a blossoming red mark on his face. He acted as if he hadn’t no idea why she was suddenly attacking him in public, but his eyes displayed fear and realization. He watched her as she stood in front of him, shaking with anger and adrenaline and the piece all clicked into place; she knew.
“Kate…”
“Don’t, Dave. Just don’t.”
From the corner of her eye, she noticed her son was now watching them fighting, having lost all interest in the planes. Before he had the chance to cry or to even ask what was going on, she’d walked over and picked him up and then tried her damnedest not to run from the airport.
Her pace increased as the man behind her started calling out to her, telling her he was sorry, that it didn’t mean anything. She ignored him completely, focusing only on the child cradled against her body; her broken-hearted son whose tears had finally fallen.

Ruthless People
Chapter I

Kate Todd held her head high and her eyes focused forward, but was all too aware, painfully so, of the stares and whispers as she walked through the terminal. Three months had passed since she’d publicly confronted Dave, and still they were the hot topic among the stewards and desk clerks. She wouldn’t be surprised if they had bribed security to copy videos of the entire thing, despite their fight being small as compared to what it could have been; it was something to keep them entertained for a while.
She was only grateful that her son, Kevin, didn’t ask too many question and wasn’t too traumatized by having witnessed it all. She didn’t really want her four year old son seeing his dad as anyone than his hero. Her daughter, Lucy, was different. She had been witness to far more than either Kate or Kevin had, and Kate hadn’t yet spoken to her about it. She’d have to do it soon, she realised, because Lucy was starting to shut her out.
Upping her pace a little, Kate made it to the arrivals gate just in time to see the person she was waiting for walking towards her; Gillian Murphy - best friend, confidante and older sister. Kate had called her first, after the confrontation with Dave, and told her everything. Gillian had offered to drop everything and fly out then and there, but Kate put her off. She thought she could keep on top of everything, and not completely wreck her children’s lives, but events in the last few weeks had made her seriously reconsider.
Kate could feel tears building up at just the sight of her sister. Gillian had always been the stronger one, more confident and now here she was, pulling her baby sister out of another mess which, for a change, was not her fault. When Gillian was within hugging distance, she dropped her luggage and pulled Kate tight against her. When Kate’s shoulders began to quake with her silent sobs, Gillian ran a hand through her hair and wished she could take away all her pain the way she used to when they were kids, but she knew this was something no band aid and cookie could heal.
“Katie, you‘ve got to hold it. Okay? You’ve got to keep it together, just hold it.”
“Gilly.”
“I know, honey. I know.”
They stood together in the middle of the terminal, forcing the crowds to move around them. Gillian could see some of the staff giving them the occasional glance and felt she had to get Kate out of there, because she didn’t want Dave hearing about this. But on the other hand felt he should, just to see how much damage he’d done.
When she felt calm enough, and her sobbing reduced to small hiccups, Kate pulled back from Gillian’s arms. She felt better now that she’d had a small emotional break, it was overdue and just what she needed. She’d had to maintain a cover of being strong for the sake of her children and forgo putting her emotions on the frontline. Work was a suitable distraction for her, what with a stabbing and a major road traffic accident coming through the hospital doors on the same day. Even if she had wanted to lock herself away, she was needed.
“Where are the kids?”
“Caro’s, getting some chocolate therapy and saying goodbye. Lucy packed up her room and I done Kevin’s this morning. All that’s left is everything else.”
“Ever helpful Saint Caro. What did she have to say about this?”
Kate laughed, brushing away the mascara she felt running down her cheeks, and remembered exactly how her sister-in-law had worded her opinion of her brothers actions. There were a few choice words that Kate would rather say in private than in front of witnesses.
“She’s not happy, put it that way.”
Gillian was pleased to see that her sister’s good humor hadn’t vanished and she was still able to laugh at the small things. But Kate’s happiness faded as fast as it had appeared and once again she was looking like the sad and lost little girl who just wanted to be loved. Her decision to move closer to her family was one of the better ones she had made in her life and Gillian was more than willing to help her get out of LA once and for all.
Picking up her bag, Gillian wrapped her arm around Kate’s waist and led her from the airport. They were still being given looks, and the idle gossip mongers were obviously waiting for the continuation of whatever Kate was going through, so they could pass it on, in all it’s twisted glory to Dave; despite everything he was still a favorite amongst his co-workers and obviously being kept in the loop by someone judging by some of the calls and emails Kate had received.
The thought that kept forcing itself to the top of Kate’s priorities, was her father, and what his feelings were. If she herself felt she’d screwed up her marriage and her kids lives, then god only knew what he thought. As they walked through the car-park, Kate finally gave voice to that niggling thought.
“Daddy must be so disappointed.”
“No, sweetie. He’s proud of you, always has been.”
***
It was very late in the night, or very early in the morning when Gillian was finally able to sit down and rest, the jetlag finally kicking in. Since they arrived at the house earlier that afternoon both she and Kate had been hard at work packing boxes, emptying cupboards and trying not to be too spiteful when working around Dave’s belongings. At least they hadn’t cut up his clothes, but they may have accidentally on purpose broke one or two of his sports trophies.
Kate carefully navigated her way around the boxes and suitcases cluttering the hall, carrying the last bottle of merlot and two glasses. They’d finished the first bottle earlier over a Chinese takeout and photo albums. The second bottle would surely be consumed under the pretence of celebrating Kate’s new job, but would really be an excuse for drowning her sorrows over her cheating rat of a husband.
Settling down next to her sister, Kate poured out the wine while Gillian wrapped herself up in the cashmere blanket she’d stolen from Kate’s bed. She knew she was cold through what her body thought was lack of sleep, so she was very grateful Kate was moving back home. It would take her days to get back into a regular sleep pattern and let her body clock settle, but by then she’d be back on the East coast and have to go through the whole rigmarole again; it wasn’t worth the hassle trying to get some sleep now. Even more worthless since Lucy’s Chihuahua pup, Nacho, decided to play tug of war with the tassels of what Gillian believed to be a very expensive blanket. Accepting the glass from Kate, Gillian threw the remainder of the blanket over her sisters legs and started getting into her business-like headspace.
“What are you doing with the house? I mean, it is your name on the mortgage after all.”
“Yeah. And I’m transferring it to his name, he can deal with it all now.”
“And what about the kids? What‘s going on with them?”
Kate took a fleeting glance at her sister, who knew fine well Kate hadn’t really taken the upheaval of their lives into account, before sipping her wine and finally making up her mind on where they would be while she fought her ass off with Dave.
“They’ll fly back with you on Monday while I clear things up here. They‘ve already seen too much as it is, I don‘t want them scarred for life.”
“That’s not what I meant, Katie.”
“What do you want to hear? Lucy walked in on her dad screwing that trollop in our bed, and I don’t know how to talk to her about that. Kevin…Kevin witnessed one of the worst things a child his age should have to, and that‘s my fault. They’re scared and confused, and right now I think it would be best for them if I try and get them settled in DC before making any other changes to their lives. They may hate being there, hell, they may even hate me, but it‘s the only choice I have.”
Gillian let the matter slide for the sake of saving her sister from anymore tears and herself from an injury. She could’ve pushed it but the last time she did, she’d ended up having to get their brother to hold her hellion of a sister off her, unless she wanted what would probably have been a cracker of a black eye.
As Kate was about to apologise for jumping off the deep end, she was silenced by a knock at the door. She looked to Gillian, who was as puzzled as she was as to why she’d be getting a visitor at two in the morning.
“I’ll go.”
***
Gillian couldn’t believe it when she opened the door to find the devil himself on the other side. Judging by his attire, he’d just come back from wherever it was he’d flown to, heard something from someone and went straight to Kate’s. She knew exactly how her sister would react to seeing him there, and decided to let Kate fight it out with him and only interfere when she thought some harm may come to her. She didn’t really care if Dave got more than a slap this time; he‘d been married to the woman for fifteen years, if he didn‘t know how volatile she was when backed into a corner it certainly wasn‘t Gillian‘s place to tell him.
“I want to see her, Gill.”
“Dave, just leave. She doesn’t want to see you and quite frankly, neither do I.”
She was about to close the door when Dave’s hand pushed against the glass pane, forcing the door open again. Gillian stepped back as he stormed down the hall, shouting for Kate to explain herself as to why she hadn’t told him of her imminent departure.
Kate was already on her feet by the time Dave entered the TV room at the back of the house and more than able, if slightly unsteady on her feet, for a fight. He may have been bigger and decidedly more stronger than she, but Kate had more fear of her mother than she did of her ex.
“What are you doing here?”
“I want to know why you think it’s okay for you to take my children, and move to the other side of the continent without talking to me first.”
Kate let out a whole-hearted throaty laugh at the idea of Dave coming over the doting father. It had been hard enough to get him to take an interest in the kids before all the scandal came to light, and now that she was leaving the state he had suddenly changed.
“That…is hilarious! So, because you had half a hand in creating our children, automatically means they’re your property? Let me remind you who it was that spent a grand total of 34 hours in labour with them, while her husband was flying halfway around the world on both occasions.”
Dave ran his hand through his hair, already seeing he’d get nowhere with Kate while she was in that kind of mood. She was being a bitch and refusing him the simplest of requests because he’d had a little fling. At least he’d forgiven her indiscretion and never left her. She wasn’t even giving him a chance.
“Let me also remind you, husband of mine, the court granted me sole custody since your sorry ass is never around this state long enough to even know how to raise a kid, let alone two.”
“Kate. You’re drunk.”
“Yes! I believe I am.”
He found she was frustrating enough when she was in this mood, but the alcohol only exacerbated it. Dave knew she’d reach her breaking point soon and he wanted to see just how far she would go. If it came to it, Gillian was always there to step in.
“Cut the crap and just tell me why you’re doing this to me? You can’t take my kids away!”
“Can’t I? You lost the right to tell me what to do when our fourteen year old daughter walked in on you fucking that..that whore. You‘re the one that needs to tell me why you done that.”
Dave smirked, and decided that if Kate wanted to play with fire the way she was currently doing, he was going to let her have it. The past few months had brought out a different side in her, and although he knew it existed on some level, he hadn’t realised just how vicious his wife could be.
“I went to Roxanne, Katie doll, because she gave me what I wasn’t getting at home. And unlike someone I could mention, she loved every minute.”
“You’re such a pig!”
Kate took a step forward, intending on hitting Dave, but he was too fast and had her arm pinned behind her back before she could blink. He held her with such force that she couldn’t even struggle enough to free herself. She’d never known him to be violent, not even when he was as angry as he was now, so obviously the divorce had affected him on a much deeper level than her. But in the end it was his own doing.
“Get your goddamn hands the hell off me!”
“Or what?”
Gillian moved into the room, realising the situation was escalating faster than she thought it would and somehow found the strength to pull Dave away from Kate. If his betrayal hadn’t made her hate him enough, then his attack on her sister definitely rooted the hatred deep. Behind her, Kate was breathing shallowly in an vain attempt to control the feeling of nausea that swept over her, but only a few minutes later she ran from the room and the sound of the bathroom door slamming shut echoed around the near empty house.
“Congratulations, Dave. Just when I think you can’t do much worse, you pull this from your sleeve.”
“Gillian, just stay out of this. She may be your sister, but this is my children’s lives were talking about; I’m never going to see them.”
“You should’ve thought about that before. You knew, last year, that Kate had been offered a position in Washington; she turned it down for you. She’s not stupid enough to let an opportunity like that pass twice. At least give her a reason for doing what you did, you owe her that much.”
“And I don’t deserve a reason for why she done it?”
Gillian looked at Dave as if he’d grown to heads. She couldn’t understand why he was dredging up things that had been resolved already. If it was for spite, he was doing a pretty good job and Kate wasn’t even in the room, but Gillian remembered how hard it had been for them to overcome that blip in their relationship.
“Once. One night, she slipped. At least she had the gumption to tell you when it happened. You were carrying on behind her back for a year and she had to hear it from her daughter. Think about that the next time you‘re with Roxanne.”
***
Having successfully removed Dave from the house with little hassle, Gillian went to check on Kate. She found her pale and crying, leaning against the bath with a washcloth wrapped around her wrist. Kate looked up at her with bloodshot eyes and sighed heavily, removing the washcloth to reveal dark purple bruising already appearing around her entire wrist.
“I always did bruise like a peach. Is he gone?”
Gillian nodded and sat down against the cabinets opposite Kate, who crawled over and lay down with her head in Gillian‘s lap. Taking the hint, she threaded her fingers through Kate’s hair, reverting again to their childhood comforting techniques.
“I sent him on his way with a few meaningful threats against his manhood. He amazingly agreed not to show up until you were gone.”
“Not that he keeps his promises, but thank you.”
Kate moved around until she found a more comfortable position against Gillian, who continued stroking her hair. She knew they would fall asleep there, and wake up in the morning with sore backs and whatever else, but it was apparent neither she nor Gillian had any energy left to make the move upstairs. Gillian had other ideas.
Pushing themselves off the floor, they slowly made their way upstairs followed by Nacho and had just enough energy left to change their clothes before falling getting into bed. Gillian thought it odd Kate was so willingly sleeping in the bed where “it” occurred, until it was explained that Kate had bought a brand new bed when she found out.
“I loved him so much, Gilly.”
Gillian wrapped Kate in her arms again, like she’d been doing throughout the day, as the walls crumbled and Kate cried herself to sleep.

Ruthless People
Chapter II

Lucy was woken by her bedroom door creaking open, allowing the light from the hall to spill into the room. She rolled onto her back and moved over in bed, patiently waiting for her little brother to run in and jump in with her. It had become something of a regular occurrence over the past few nights with Kevin, who was obviously feeling insecure about the massive changes the family was facing. Aunt Caro had tried her best to soothe his fears, but Kevin was a smart little guy, he knew it was something bad when he was allowed two bowls of ice-cream after dinner.
“Lucy…”
Lucy sat up and looked over to where the little voice had came from, and found Kevin standing in the doorway, clutching his blue bunny with the chewed up ears to his chest. He didn’t normally ask if he could sleep in her bed, he just did it, and for the most part she let him away with it. Ever since the night of what she was calling “the explosion”, Kevin had been more clingy with her, never leaving Kate’s side when he had half a chance, and had started wetting the bed on an almost nightly basis; a phase he had grown out of quite some time ago.
“Lucy, I had a accident.”
Sighing, Lucy pushed back the covers and turned on the bedside lamp before getting out of bed; this was a familiar routine between them when they weren’t in their own house. It was almost as if he was too shy to go to anyone but Lucy or their mother, as if he was afraid he’d get into trouble. Kneeling in front of her little brother, Lucy wondered if he’d ever get over his shyness and night time problems, or if it would continue on for a while. But he was only four, there was still plenty of time for him to overcome it all.
“Let’s tell Aunt Caro and get you cleaned up, huh.”
“’Kay.”
He grasped her hand tightly in his and stuck one bunny ear in his mouth with the other. Kevin knew he was lucky to have a sister like this, who didn’t pick on or fight with him, and he loved her more for that.
When they stepped into Caro’s en suite, Lucy took a look at Kevin’s tear stained face - which surprised Lucy as she hadn’t heard him, despite their rooms being next to each other - and wished she had never told her mother what she’d seen. But if she hadn’t, it would’ve hurt them all more if they’d found out later.
“Lucy, is momma happy?”
The question caught Lucy off guard, and for a moment she didn’t know how to answer it. She could lie and tell him that yes, she was happy or she could tell him the truth; that she didn’t know if their mother was happy or if she ever would be again. She was saved from answering when Caro came through.
“She will be. Kids…I know this is hard for you, but it‘s hard on your mom too. She just needs a little time to readjust.”
Seeing how dejected the kids were looking, Caro decided then and there that the remainder of their time with her in LA should be fun, starting now. Lucy was looking almost guilty as she helped Kevin change, and Caro knew it was because she felt their move was due to of her.
“Lucy, it’s not your fault.”
“But it feels like it is. If I hadn’t skipped band practice, I never would’ve seen dad and then mom wouldn’t have asked me what was wrong me, which meant I wouldn’t have told her.”
“You don’t know that. What if your mom had finished her shift early instead and gone home? She would‘ve walked in on your dad. But none of this is your fault; you did the right thing and you told the truth. Even though it hurt your mom, a lot, it would’ve been worse if you’d lied and kept your dads secret.”
“Momma says lyin’s bad.”
Looking at Kevin, who had managed to put his pyjama top on inside out and backwards, Lucy managed a small smile. Leave it to her occasional pain of brother to make her smile.
“And she’s right. Okay, why don’t we get Kevin dressed again, and then we’ll get some hot chocolate before bed. Sound like a plan?”
“Yeah.”
***
It was one of those mornings Kate wished she never had to work. She had a house to finish packing, two confused kids to talk to and a sister who was out for blood. Not to mention an ex-husband who probably felt the same way as Gillian, but for a whole different reason. But going to work today was a necessity, as she had to finalise some paperwork, say goodbye to her colleagues and finally say goodbye to her patients.
The clock by the bed said it was a little after six, which left her enough time to have a proper breakfast for a change and get a few more items packed away so Gillian didn’t have all that plus two kids to look after. She pushed herself off the mattress and winced at the pain she felt in her arm, remembering the altercation with Dave the night before which had left a pretty horrific bruise on her wrist; not something she could easily hide with makeup. She felt tears in her eyes again at the thought of Dave ever doing that to her and tried to stop them falling before she became an emotional wreck again; it was already going to be a hell of a day and she didn’t need the thought of her suddenly violent husband playing on her mind.
“You going to work?”
Kate turned round to look at Gillian, who had been woken by her movement, and nodded. With the kids staying with Kris and Caro for a few more hours, Gillian would have some time to catch up on the sleep Kate had made her lose out on.
“You gonna be okay? Cause you know they’re gonna ask about your wrist.”
“It’ll be fine, and it‘s only for four hours. If they ask, I’ll tell them I got into a fight with Dave, but you kicked his ass the hell out.”
“Sure, make me out to be the violent one between us, Katie.”
Kate simply smiled and got out of bed to get ready for work. Gillian watched her from the comfort of bed and considered going back to sleep for a while, before changing her mind and getting out of bed to follow Kate into the walk-in closet; something she was jealous of her baby sister for having.
“You do realise, you’re going to have to get a whole new wardrobe, as well as downsize tremendously. Where do find the time to wear half this stuff?”
“Honestly? I haven’t worn most of this in years, but I’ve hung onto it, in case Lucy ever decides she likes my taste in clothing. I know it’s wishful thinking, but you never know. Unless, you want to…?”
“Thought you’d never ask! I‘ve been dying to get my hands on your clothes since you renovated.”
Gillian instantly began rooting through all the drawers at the back of the closet, which contained casual tops and jeans, her face lighting up at everything she seen. Kate, however, was more organised and had her selection made before Gillian moved onto the dresses that were hanging up.
“I’ll be in the shower if you need me.”
“Uh-huh.”
“If Caro phones, remind her to take the kids to Vivi’s at twelve.”
“Sure.”
“And if my husband phones, tell him I’m having an affair with the gardener.”
“Shut up, Kate.”
Kate started laughing as she wandered off to the shower, leaving her sister to let out a relieved sigh now that she had accomplished in one morning what she’d set out to do in her time in LA.
***
Kate found that her last day at Cedars had flown by rather quickly. The few patients she’d seen had expressed their unhappiness of her departure, but wished her well all the same. In the time she’d been working there, Kate had formed strong connections to all her patients, so it was only natural they get upset she was leaving.
Standing at the nurses station filling out her last patient transfer order, Kate failed to notice one of her least favorite people walking up to her. Doctor Anthony Keegan was one of the few who came down on Kate’s case hard. Nothing she done ever seemed good enough to him, and he didn’t exactly consider her work as complex as brain surgery. In his eyes, for the past ten years at least, she was the little girl playing make-believe in the real world, but that’s only because Kate wouldn’t sleep with him.
Not after the first time, anyway.
Anthony James Keegan. Six foot, dark hair with green eyes and a doctor to boot, he was every woman’s dream. She knew he played women; not only played them, but played them off against each other just for fun. Once upon a time, she’d naively got caught in his web and it almost cost her her marriage. She was too young to know any better at the time, but thankfully it had only been a one time occurrence despite his attempts to get her again.
“I heard you’re leaving, Doctor Todd.”
“Happy news gets around fast. Yes, I transferred. It feels like the right thing to do.”
“Yeah, I’d say. Rumor has it…Dave was cheating on you.”
“Is that so? Well, you know what this hospital’s like. If I’m not mistaken, someone spread it around that we slept together.”
Kate put her final signature on the form and turned to face Anthony, whose eyes had widened at her bringing up the rumor he hadn’t known that she knew he’d started. Placing a hand on her hip, she watched him stumbling for an apology or a reason for why he done it in the first place.
“That was a mistake. You know that, Kate.”
“Us sleeping together, or you doing the kiss and tell routine?”
Anthony winced at Kate’s harsh tone and realised she hadn’t really forgiven him after all the time that had past since their one night together. He supposed it was only fair, since he hadn’t really been all that nice to her in the past few years. Maybe if he hadn’t opened his mouth about their little tryst, she might have been more of a friend to him than she had been, the way they had been in medical school.
“Kissing and telling was the mistake, CJ.”
Kate scoffed at Anthony’s use of his pet-name for her and walked away. He caught up to her and wrapped his hand around her arm and pulled her into the first empty room he came to. It had been quite a while since they’d actually spoken, and now he was doing his best to make up for all those wasted years when they could’ve had a really good friendship.
“CJ, I’m serious. I shouldn’t have told anyone, and I’m sorry I did. Sorry that it hurt you, and that it nearly fucked up your marriage. Not that that matters now, I suppose.”
“Why are you calling me CJ? I haven’t heard that name in years.”
“Old habits die hard? Come on, we went through med school together, we goofed off and screwed up. Are you really sure you want to leave what you have here and travel all the way across America because one asshole doesn‘t see what he has in front of him?”
Kate sighed and lowered her head. Without any thought to it, she walked up to Anthony and wrapped her arms around him. He was right. They had been friends for years and one little slip up caused them to drift apart.
“Don’t try to convince me to stay. I’ve made up my mind; being here just reminds me of everything. I don’t want to subject my children to anymore unhappiness than what they’ve already got.”
“I wouldn’t dare try.”
Tucking her body closer to his, Anthony felt he was finally forgiven for all the sins he’d ever committed against the woman who was once his best friend.
“I’m gonna miss you, Caitlin Jackson.”

Ruthless People
Chapter III

“We need to talk about this. You can’t just walk away.”
“I want you out of this house, now!”
“You don’t even want me to explain?”
“I don’t even want to look at you right now. I can‘t believe you‘d do this.”
“Karma, baby.”
“You’re not seriously bringing that up?”
“Well, you were the one that started this game. ‘I’m so sorry, it was a mistake. It didn’t mean anything. We were drunk.’ Katie Jackson, never at fault, the perpetual good girl….”

Kate shook herself out of her reverie as she glanced over her patients chart. She’d been in DC for a little over two weeks, the kids were as settled as they could be and the house was mostly unpacked. Her parents had been more than willing to have her and the kids move in until Kate had completely sorted the house, but she’d decided that she was doing things her way, so now they were living out of boxes and suitcases in a three-bed townhouse in Glover Park which was a serious downsize from her five-bed house in LA.
And she didn’t even want to think about her closet space, or lack thereof.
Within a week of meeting with Beth Donovan, chief of staff at Georgetown, Kate had learned the floors of each department, as well as several of the nurses names; she always knew it was best to have the nurses on her side. It hadn’t been easy to settle into the new routine and responsibilities that came with the job; but then it wasn’t every day that your former mentor, who just happened to notice your name on the list of candidates, recommended you for the position of Chief of Orthopedics.
The patient she was on her way to see had a reputation, from what the nurses had told her, of being a more than slightly disagreeable person. Kate hadn’t had a patient yet she couldn’t cajole into working with her for their own good, so she figured she would give it a shot and if she couldn’t get the man to budge then she’d agree wholeheartedly with the nurses. She wouldn’t have entirely believed what she’d heard if it hadn’t been for the commotion she heard coming from her patients room.
“You need this surgery.”
“Like hell! I’ve lived for fifty-odd years with this knee, and dammit, I’m gonna die with it.”
“For god sake man, when are you going to realise that the longer you leave it, the worse it’ll get? Mom always said you were a stubborn bastard.”
“And when was she ever wrong?”
When Kate stepped into the room, the two men stopped their arguing and focused their attention on her, which was how she liked things. Lying in the bed, and looking for all the world like a pouty five year old, lay her patient. He was older, but not considerably so in her eyes, with the most gentle blue eyes she’d ever seen. He looked her over, gave her a smirk and turned his head, obviously not impressed. The same couldn’t be said for the man standing at the end of the bed.
“Jethro Gibbs? I’m Doctor Kate Todd.”
“Doctor Todd. This is my son, Tony. Would you tell him this is completely unnecessary?“
Kate chuckled and consulted her notes again before flipping to the back and removing the x-ray films. Jethro Gibbs was long overdue knee replacement surgery and she was looking forward to telling him the good news.
“I’m afraid, Mr Gibbs, I’ll be performing your surgery. Today.”
“I don’t need surgery.”
“According to your notes, yes, you do. So you can either cooperate with me today and we do the surgery…”
“Or?”
“Or you leave right now and I don’t see you again until your knee is so badly damaged that surgery would be pointless. What would you rather have? Being able to walk unaided for the rest of your life, or have to rely on a frame.”
The part she’d overheard about this Gibbs being a stubborn bastard certainly was true. He looked as though he was going to take the second option and get out of there, but then he seemed to have a change of heart.
“So how long have you been doing this, Doc?”
“Probably more years than you think. If I wasn‘t any good at my job, I wouldn‘t be here. And if you didn’t think I was, you would‘ve walked out already.”
He smirked again and Kate took it as a sign to take the titanium structure from her coat pocket and run through the procedure. Tony, who hadn’t done anything other than eye her up and glare at his father, suddenly became extremely interested in what Kate had to say regarding his fathers health; Kate figured it had to do with the fact she was sounding like she was creating the Bionic man.
“So you’ll be up and walking, unaided, in roughly four to six weeks. And I see from your notes that you’ve had the required tests done already today, which means we can wheel you in shortly. Do you have any questions?”
“Are you really putting that thing in me?”
“Yes. Anything else?”
“Nothing I can think of.”
“Okay. I’ll be back to see you in a while, and then we’ll take you in.”
Smiling, Kate shut the file and replaced the model in her pocket before turning and leaving the room. She hadn’t got very far down the hall before she heard the sound of footsteps behind her and gaining speed. She turned slightly to see who was following and realising it was Tony, she slowed down until they were walking side by side.
“Doctor Todd.”
“Yes, Mr Gibbs?”
“And this is where I realise how rude my father can be.”
Kate stopped, confused by his statement.
“I’m sorry?”
“We haven’t been properly introduced. I’m Anthony DiNozzo. Gibbs is my step-father.”
The name DiNozzo set off bells in Kate’s head. She was sure she’d heard the name before, perhaps in a passing conversation, but she knew it would be something that bothered her until she found out why it was so familiar.
“Oh, I just assumed.”
“I don’t mind. I do, however, have a question.”
“Certainly.”
“Have dinner with me?”
“I make it a point not to date patients.”
“I’m not a patient though.”
“You’re related to one; it’s the same in my book.”
Continuing her journey to her office, Kate sensed the man wasn’t going to give up, because what she’d seen in the eyes of her patient, she seen in his son; sheer determination. Focusing on getting through the next few hours without a hitch, she turned her attention to what she was making for dinner, and how the kids were getting on. Lucy would be going to a friends after school, so that just left herself and Kevin to worry about. And that’s when it hit her.
Anthony DiNozzo. Lucy’s prospective soccer coach.

Ruthless People
Chapter IV

Karen Miller’s house was somewhat like a mansion compared to where Lucy was living now. She hated DC, her house and her school. She hated her dad for doing what he done and she hated her mom for dragging them across the country and forcing her to start a new life; she liked her old life just fine.
At least she liked her teachers, even if some of them were a little strange. So far she‘d discovered she really liked studying any and all kinds of science, but that was only because her teacher, Ms Sciuto, made the whole subject fun. She supposed it was something her mother would be proud of, if Lucy ever decided to follow in her footsteps. Mr Sachs and Mr Kort, her geography and math teachers were creepy, but they got their point across when it came to what they taught. Everyone else on the teaching board seemed pretty down to earth and likeable.
In her first week at Hardy, Lucy had already signed up for band, the soccer team and joined several after school clubs. She wanted to be out there doing something, instead of being at home babysitting or with her grandparents. She wanted the life she had in LA, and although she knew it was never going to be the same, she was willing to try for her mom. This was why when Karen Miller, one of the popular girls in her school, asked her to sit with them at lunch the previous Wednesday, Lucy jumped at the chance.
Karen had been really nice, showing her around, introducing her to people and it was she who convinced Lucy to try out for the soccer team as they were looking for a new player for the season. At least one of the players was someone Lucy knew extremely well; her cousin Natalie. She had been surprised when she met Natalie in gym, not having realised she attended Hardy’s. Lucy had been thrilled to see a welcoming and familiar face amongst everyone. Up until Wednesday, Lucy had been sitting with Natalie and her friend Maxine, but recently she hadn’t really spoken to them much; not now she was a part of the ‘in’ crowd.
Natalie, having known Karen and her friends since kindergarten, tried to warn Lucy of what she was getting herself into, but Lucy being the headstrong girl she was didn’t take the advice of her cousin. Lucy wouldn’t be the only girl Natalie knew of to get sucked into Karen’s crowd; flattered by the acceptance of the group and how easily she fit in with everyone; attracted by the popularity of them.
Lucy felt Natalie was jealous because she wasn’t spending any time with her, the way they used to over holidays. And it wasn’t that she didn’t want to hang out with her cousin, because she did, it’s just that Natalie wasn’t exactly in the same league of people Lucy had been friends with in LA, and she simply wanted to recreate the lifestyle she had with people who shared her interests; Natalie unfortunately didn’t quite fit that criteria.
But she had noticed, over the time she’d known Karen, how nasty she could be. She was the typical type that was nice to your face, but slagged you off behind your back. Lucy had watched how Amanda Carmichael, one of the cheerleaders and Karen’s best friend, had torn a girl apart for the type of shoes she wore but was nice as pie to her the next day; and throughout all of this Karen was saying things that were just as bad.
Being around Karen now, having witnessed that, made Lucy feel uneasy and worried that she may have been a potential victim for them.
“Karen, I gotta go. I promised my mom I’d take Kevin to the park while she unpacked.”
“Oh, sure. I’ll call you later, hon, and you can tell me in detail what was going on between you and Patrick on the benches today, since you‘re totally bailing now.”
“Nothing was going on, honest. I’ll catch you later.”
It wasn’t in Lucy’s nature to lie; not to her parents, her teachers or her friends, but what Natalie had said was starting to ring true; something about Karen couldn’t be trusted. If she were honest, nothing about Hardy and DC really felt right to her and because of that, all she really wanted then and there was a hug from one person.
***
“Kevin, wash your hands.”
“I did, momma.”
“And I’m the Queen of Sheba. Come on, bathroom.”
As she was ushering Kevin upstairs, Kate heard the front door open and turned to find Lucy walking in. She hadn’t expected her home quite so early, as for the past few nights she’d been spending her free after school time getting to know her new friends. Kate couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong with her eldest child, beside the obvious unsettlement she’d gone through.
“Hey, kid. I just made dinner; I wasn’t expecting you back so soon.”
“I just thought I’d help you unpack some. I wasn’t really in the mood to hang out with anyone today.”
“Who are you and what have you done with my sad, angry, unhelpful daughter?”
“Mom…”
Sending Kevin on his way upstairs, telling him to use soap or she’d know, Kate focused on Lucy who was still hovering by the door. Dropping her rucksack by the coat stand, Lucy headed to the kitchen followed by Kate, who took a seat at the table and watched Lucy wash the apple she’d grabbed from the bowl on the way past.
“You have much homework?”
Shaking her head, Lucy set the apple down on the counter and went to stand by Kate before finally positioning herself as best she could on her lap and resting her head against Kate‘s shoulder. Wrapping her arms round her, Kate rocked them slightly, surprised by Lucy’s sudden willingness to come to her and possibly open up about her fears.
“You wanna tell me about it?”
“I miss LA, mom. I miss my friends and my school. I miss Caro and Nana Vivi. I just wish everything was normal, like it was; before dad done what he did to us.”
“Believe me, sweetie, I’d give anything for you and Kevin to have that life again; to be somewhere familiar. I wish he hadn’t done it either, but he did and here we are. I know it sucks, being in a new place where you don’t know anyone, but I’m feeling exactly the same way; confused, scared and a little bit alone sometimes. You just have to give it time.”
“But what if it doesn’t work out here for us?”
Moving Lucy to better see her face, Kate brushed the hair from her eyes and the tears from her cheeks. She wanted, needed, Lucy to see her truth; her honesty. Lucy needed assurance that they were in it for the long haul.
“We’ll make it work. I promise. Now I want you to forget all about what happened in LA, feed Nacho and then wash up for dinner, okay.”
“You sure there’s enough?”
“Course I’m sure; you know I always make too much. And…on Saturday, I’m not working so, I’ll take Kevin to Grams’ and we can have a day, just you and me; I’ll even make cookies.”
“Deal, mom.”

Ruthless People
Chapter V

“I had a great time; I wish we’d done it sooner.”
“Well, the first hundred times I asked, you turned me down.”
“And I realise now it was a mistake. Thank you, for tonight. I really needed this.”
“Glad to do it for you. But I said I’d have you home at a decent hour, and we may have gone over that.”
“My mom won’t mind. But I’d love to do this again soon.”
“And as soon as be both have conflict free schedules, we will. Promise. You better get inside; it’s cold out here.”
“Yes, I better. I’ll give you a call, and we can agree on a day and time.”
“Sure. See you later.”
“Bye.”
Kate waited until her date was driving down the road before she went inside. She couldn’t honestly remember the last time she’d had so much fun with someone her age instead of the kids. It was a refreshing change to have a conversation with an adult, instead of debating the pros and cons of various cartoons with her son.
Turning into the living room, she wasn’t surprised to find Kevin still wide awake and obviously high on a sugar buzz, watching some variation of cartoon. She knew that it would’ve been wiser to have Gillian baby-sit, because her mother let Kevin away with far too much; but he was her only grandson, spoiling came with the territory.
“Momma, Momma! Granma made cookies, and she let me ice ‘em and we ate ‘em and then we watched cartoons and Granma says Scooby-Doo is better!”
“Kevin, slow down. How many cookies did Granma give you tonight, huh?”
“No know.”
Picking Kevin up and settling him on her hip, Kate knew she’d have a hard time getting him calm enough for bed. It would be easier waiting until the sugar wore off, and he simply passed out with exhaustion, but she couldn’t do that; she‘d never get to bed herself. She walked through the house, Kevin still talking a mile a minute, until she found her mother who was finishing putting the baking supplies away.
“I’m back.”
“Honey, how was your night?”
“It was fun. How much sugar has my little guy had tonight, mom? He’s bouncing off the ceilings.”
“He had three cookies, but I suspect he sneaked a couple when I wasn’t looking.”
“Probably. Is Lucy back yet?”
Alice-Anne took Kevin from her daughter and gave him her best “strict Granma” look to quieten him and Kevin took it as his first and only warning. Kate had often wondered how her mother managed to get her children so hyper, yet managed to calm them with a simple look. To be fair, she had her own “glare of death” she perfected over the years which seemed to have a similar effect; but with men, however, they were falling at her feet more than they were obeying her orders.
“Lucy never left. I think you should talk to her.”
“What happened?”
“She wouldn’t tell me. She’s been in her room all night.”
The information sent a bolt of worry down Kate’s spine, as Lucy was never one to shut herself away from everyone. The dust had settled in the past two months, and everyone was finally in a routine that suited them. Lucy had her friends, Kevin was progressing well for his age and Kate had her work, which more often than not had more good days than bad; a definite change from LA. Lucy suddenly changing her attitude and becoming reclusive wasn’t exactly a great sign in Kate’s eyes.
Leaving her jacket and purse on the kitchen table, Kate grabbed the last remaining cookies from the plate on the counter and headed up to Lucy’s room. When she reached the door, Kate could just make out the beat of what was a very hard to listen to rock song; most likely of the Papa Roach type. When knocking on the door never got her anywhere, Kate tried her luck and walked in to Lucy’s room and found her sitting in the middle of the bed, apparently studying.
“I thought you were going to the movies with Karen?”
Lucy shook her head in favor of answering, and continued on with her homework.
“What happened?”
Again, Lucy held her tongue and shrugged her shoulders instead. Kate sighed and went to sit at the end of the bed, offering up a cookie in hopes of gaining a vocal response from her surly daughter.
“I can’t help if you don’t talk to me, Lou.”
“There’s nothing to help with and there’s nothing to talk about. Karen just decided that I wasn’t invited tonight after all, end of.”
“Hey! Attitude adjustment, please. I just wanna know what’s going on, that’s all. Is that such a crime these days?”
Saying nothing, Lucy got off the bed and stormed out the room, leaving Kate aghast at her daughter’s sudden change. Deciding it would be better to wait until Lucy came to her - with a hatchet, her mind supplied - Kate went into her room to change before heading back to the living room to try and calm her boisterous four-year old down.
***
She was either paranoid, or everyone really was whispering about her as she walked through the packed lunchroom. Lucy had spoken to Karen, Lori and Amanda that morning and the girls realised it had all been a huge misunderstanding; it wasn’t that Lucy wasn’t invited to the movies, it was just that they had changed the days. It was something they had all laughed over during math instead of focusing on their algebra equations.
Making her way to her table, she could see Karen and Lori laughing at something Amanda had said and Lucy felt as though the joke was on her. When she finally reached the table, the girls fell silent and made Lucy feel even more unwelcome than she already did. Lucy moved to take the last remaining chair at the table, just as Amanda put her rucksack on it; apparently claiming it.
“Excuse me.”
“There is no excuse for you.”
Amanda’s words felt worse than a slap to the face; Lucy was obviously out of the group. She backed away, setting her lunch tray on top of a nearby bin and walked as fast as she could from the lunchroom, hearing nothing but Amanda’s laughter and the whispers of her peers as she left. Natalie had watched everything from the other side of the room, and couldn’t help but think ‘I told you so’ as part of her wanted to run after Lucy and check she was alright; in the end her better nature won out and she followed Lucy.
***
“Someone will be here to pick you up shortly, Lucy. Just keep your leg elevated and the ice pack on your ankle.”
“Thanks, Doctor Hampton.”
Jordan Hampton left the sick bay, leaving Lucy to mull over what happened at soccer practice; regretting not having listened to Natalie in the first place. If she had, she probably wouldn’t be sitting in the nurses office with an ankle swollen to the size of a golf ball. She could call it a dirty tackle or she could call it evilness but whatever way she looked at it, it hurt like hell.
“You okay, Lou?”
Lucy looked up from her injury when Natalie popped her head round the door. She figured she should really apologise to her cousin, but something in Natalie’s eyes told her she didn’t have to.
“Yeah. Dr Hampton called someone to pick me up. I just wish it didn’t hurt so much, y’know.”
“Your ankle or the rejection? Either one is pretty painful. Lori shouldn’t have done that; she came right at you deliberately. Mr DiNozzo seen it too, so I’m pretty sure she’ll be in trouble.”
“Doubt it. Karen and everyone can do no wrong in the teachers eyes, and we have to pay the price for crossing them. The teachers can‘t do anything.”
The girls remained silent until Gillian arrived to collect Lucy, who was slightly unhappy that it wasn’t her mother who was there; the one who knew just how to make her feel better. Helping her mom get Lucy down to the car, Natalie made a promise to Gillian that she’d keep her eye out for Lucy and tell them when things were getting to this point again. It was either that or explain to Aunt Kate why she hadn’t done anything to prevent it in the first place.
As Gillian drove her home, for the first time in months Lucy wished she’d never told her mom what she’d seen and that they’d never moved to DC. Her life would’ve been a lot easier without Karen Miller in it.

Ruthless People
Chapter VI

The sound of her computer signalling a new instant message sent a shiver down Lucy’s spine. She was sat in the middle of her bed, blinds drawn, holding a pillow to her chest like it was her only salvation; her only comfort. She wished she had somehow managed not to go to school, and that everything in the lunchroom had never happened. It was bad enough all her classmates had seen it, but to put it on the school network was just cruel.
Why had she suddenly become a target for everyone’s teasing?
After seeing the stupid animation of herself on Lori’s computer, and running off to the bathroom, Lucy had been followed. She didn’t know how many had been lead by Amanda, but she figured it had to be half the female population who were in allegiance with Karen were standing in the cramped bathroom.
Hiding in the stall, all she’d been able to see were their shadows hovering by the door; hearing their taunts and their jokes; how they’d laughed about the things she‘d told Karen in confidence. She listened to every word they said, and tried her best to forget it; but when someone who was once a friend says those types of things, it’s not easy to forget.
Moving from the bed to the computer, Lucy figured it was better to know what was going on now, than having to walk into school tomorrow and having god knows what said about her; or done to her. The message box on the screen stated it was a message from an unknown contact, but Lucy decided to accept it anyway, and was greeted by a brief message suggesting she check out a website.
As she moved the mouse over the link, her phone rang. Grabbing the phone, she clicked on the link and was greeted with silence on one end and horror on the other. On the screen in front of her was a comments page from part of a larger community; the topics and replies didn’t bear thinking about, but Lucy read through them all, each one more vile than the last. Then she heard the muffled sound of laughter.
“Who is this?”
The caller hung up, leaving Lucy staring at a page filled with hatred, and listening to the dial tone. Without a second thought, she printed off the pages and shut the computer down.
***
Kate was in the middle of updating her half of patient records, when there was a knock on the door. Without looking away from the computer, knowing she’d lose her train of thought if she did, she granted entry and continued on. Even on her day off she couldn’t get break.
“Is this a bad time?”
The voice came as a surprise, as Kate hadn’t expected to hear it for quite some time and didn’t know if it was a good or bad thing that she was hearing it now. Finally looking away from her work, she was greeted by the sight of a shaggy haired, green eyed man she knew all to well.
“What are you doing here?”
Smiling as charmingly as possible, her visitor moved his hands from behind his back, producing a tray holding two coffee cups, and what Kate suspected was a double chocolate chip cookie. Damn the man for knowing how to tempt her.
“Taking you away from here, because a little birdie told me it’s your day off.”
“Just let me give these to Jenny, and I’m all yours.”
***
As Ms. David droned on about different verbs and pronouns and their correct usage in Spanish, Lucy found herself drifting; thoughts about Karen and how nasty she was being, thoughts about her parents, her family. The soccer team winning the game next week. Everything but her schoolwork. When Ms David called on her to answer a question, she surprised herself by not only hearing her, but also giving the correct answer. Lucy relaxed into her seat when Ms David turned back to the board and continued on with the lesson, allowing her to work out just how much information on Spanish pronouns she’d missed.
Hearing and feeling the vibration of the phone on her hip, Lucy discreetly slipped it from her pocket. Not expecting anyone to be calling her, she thought it odd her phone would be going off in the middle of class; opening it to find she had a new message. Looking around her to see if anyone in particular had their phones out, Lucy opened the message and wasn’t pleased with what she read; more of the same from the webpage from a few nights ago. It was beginning to get unbelievable.
She knew that Natalie was keeping an eye on her, and Gillian knew some of what was going on, but no one knew to what extent it had reached. Disregarding the message, but saving it on her memory card for future reference, Lucy turned her phone off and returned her attention back to the lecture.
Listening to Ms David was better than having to listen to the immature giggling around her.
***
“He told us so many stories, I can barely remember them all.”
“But every story had a relation to what he started talking about at least. I can’t believe you’re working with Ducky again.”
“Well, it was his recommendation that got me to Washington in the first place, don’t forget.”
Anthony leaned back in his chair, looking Kate over and seeing how healthy and happy she looked. It had obviously been a good choice leaving LA because it was certainly showing on her. He been in DC for little over a day, done the tourist thing and decided it wasn’t for him, and decided to look up Kate; see how she was settling in. Over their coffee, she never asked about Dave, and he never told, despite knowing some things he felt she should know.
But his Kate was a smart girl - woman, he amended - and she’d figure out something was wrong, because he wouldn’t just show up without reason.
“Tell me.”
“Tell you what?”
“Ant, come on. I can see it in your eyes; you’re hiding something. And you better believe I’m not letting you get away without telling me, so spill it.”
“Roxanne’s pregnant.”
Pushing her coffee cup aside, Kate remained silent as she let the information sink in. Of course he got her pregnant; he couldn’t just cheat and leave it at that, Dave had to add one more complication to their lives.
“How long?”
“What?”
“How long have you known? How long were you going to keep it from me? How long until I have to break the news to my children they’re going have a step-sibling?”
“You got six months to work up the courage. I wanted to tell you before now, but do you realise how hard it is having to tell a friend; a close, personal friend, that her ex-husband’s bit on the side is having a kid? It’s not easy. And after seeing you take down two grown men in a workout, I wanted to test the waters first; see if you were any gentler now than in med school.”
Anthony was right, of course, Kate could see this. If he’d made attempts to tell her earlier, when the wounds were still fresh, it would’ve been like pouring salt on them. At least now the rawness of it all had faded some, and she was more accepting of some things; like the fact her husband was a no good, lying bastard.
“I appreciate you telling me to my face, and not over the phone.”
“Well, if I’d done that, it would be like the kissing and telling all over again. Painful.”
Digging her thumbnail into the rim of the polystyrene cup, Kate smiled slightly and nodded her head in agreement. Closing her eyes and taking a breath, a single tear rolled down her cheek at the realization of what all these changes would mean. Seeing the tension settle in Kate’s shoulders, that clearly hadn’t been there in some time, Anthony laid his hand over hers on the cup and let himself be her anchor until she found her center again.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Being one of the truly honest people in my life right now.”

Ruthless People
Chapter VII

Family dinners were at the top of both Kate and Gillian’s worst things to do lists, next to school reunions, death and taxes; they were completely and utterly unavoidable. No matter what the occasion, there was always a fight or a moment of awkwardness that seemed to last throughout the night when someone brought up a taboo subject. Alice-Anne always tried her best to make sure nothing like that happened, but her efforts didn’t go far. Whether it was their father, Peter, picking a fight with Mark, their younger brother, about his lack of motivation or Stephen questioning Martin and Izzy’s parenting methods; someone always ended up in tears at Jackson family gatherings.
It was no surprise when Lucy stated she simply wasn’t going, and Kate couldn‘t exactly fault her for it because she felt the same way, knowing her divorce would be talk of the table. The only person she’d have to fight her corner, since Anthony flew back to LA a few nights ago, would be Gillian who’d already done more than enough.
Having the choice of fighting with Lucy and forcing her to attend, or leaving her to her own devices while she bit her tongue and listened to what her brother said, Kate chose the latter and went in search of Kevin; requesting only that Lucy practice the saxophone and not veg out in front of the TV.
***
Fulfilling her promise to Kate about her music, and going so far as to do the little housework there was, Lucy settled down with Nacho and went about seeing what offerings cable had for her already knowing she’d be trawling through the DVD collection for something that grabbed her attention.
It was now she reconsidered not having gone with her mom.
With no movies catching her eye and nothing remotely interesting on TV, it came down to a choice of reading her moms medical journals and textbooks or battling her way through ‘Othello’ for Ms. Lee’s quiz on Friday; neither of which were very appealing, but it gave her something to do. Standing, Lucy made her way to the large oak bookcase and selected the largest of the true crime novels she could find, having decided not to tackle Shakespearean tragedies or confusing medical jargon when she wasn’t really in the mood.
Settling herself once more, with Nacho creeping closer to her for the heat, Lucy began reading about the serial killers and psychos of the real world. Her mom, who hated Lucy reading her true crime novels, was due back about eight and she hoped to at least get halfway through the book before she was once again banned from reading them. Before she had the chance to get lost in the worlds of Dahmer, Gein and Bundy, Lucy was interrupted by the phone ringing.
***
“Dammit. Where is it?”
The discordant sound of her cell phone, which had thankfully pulled Kate away from the dinner table and her brothers harsh remarks, continued ringing somewhere in the black suede bag she held in her hands. She was half wishing there was an emergency at work which she was required to go to, but there never seemed to be emergencies for orthopedic surgeons, making Kate wish she’d gone into neurosurgery like Anthony.
“Where the hell is it?”
“Lose something?”
Kate dropped her bag as Mark wrapped his arm around her shoulders, handing her a beer in the process. The ringing cell had stopped, only to immediately start again, causing Kate to throw her hands up in defeat.
“I can‘t find my damn phone, and you creeping up on me like that isn‘t helping.”
“Hang cool, teddy bear. You need to chill, have a smoke.”
“I quit.”
“Liar.”
Kate glared at Mark who was smirking and watching how her eyes never quite made contact with his; an obvious giveaway. Moving his foot toward the fallen bag, he kicked it slightly but hard enough that Kate’s hidden packet of Morley’s fell out, along with the missing cell phone. Bending to retrieve the items, Mark handed over the cigarettes to a still glaring Kate, but held onto the phone once he‘d seen the name on the screen.
“I really think you should drink that and smoke one of them, before you answer this.”
“Give me my phone.”
“Kate, listen. The family fucked with your head tonight, and although I am grateful the heat was taken off my back, you really don’t need that. I really don’t think you’re in a place to answer this call without losing whatever scrap of calm you have left.”
“Then tell me who’s calling.”
Knowing, like a well-informed brother should, that she’d eventually get her way, Mark handed over the phone. Being able to see the blue LED screen for herself, Kate realised her brothers reasons for withholding the phone, but wasn’t going to apologize for being bitchy. Instead she pushed past him and lit a cigarette as he’d suggested before she opened the door and stepped out onto the front porch.
Setting the phone and beer bottle on the railing, Kate began pacing back and forth on the porch trying to work out in her mind why he’d be calling her after months of silence on his behalf. It wasn’t as if they had anything new to say to each other, or anything to say at all. He was such a frustrating man.
It was his fault she was smoking again.
Kate stopped pacing and stood by the railing simply watching his name flash on and off the screen. Picking up the bottle, she swallowed half the beer down before replacing the bottle and having worked up the nerve to talk to him, picked up the phone.
“What do you want, Dave?”
***
Lucy jumped when the front door slammed shut and her mother came storming into the living room. She should’ve called her first instead of her dad, it would’ve saved a lot of stress her mom didn’t need. She looked up when Kate came and stood in front of her, neither saying a word to the other, but obviously wanting to. Pushing herself further into the cushions, as if trying to drown in cream fabric, Lucy felt the tears building in her eyes.
“Dad called. What’s going on, Lou?”
With Lucy’s reluctance to talk, Kate sat down and pulled her daughter into her instead and wrapped her arms around her. When Dave had finally stopped his rant about her neglecting his children and finally got to the point of his call, Kate had realised just how much she’d been excluded from Lucy’s life in the past few months.
“Baby, you have to talk to me. Please.”
“Don‘t leave me.”
“I’m not going anywhere, baby.”

Ruthless People
Chapter VIII

Kate could do nothing but hold Lucy and stroke her hair as she fought back her own tears through listening to Lucy’s turmoil, hearing how her daughters so called friends were ignoring her, spreading rumors; about the website that had been set up in order to spread vicious lies and leave comments about Lucy, and then sending links for her to see. The text messages. Learning how her soccer team were deliberately tackling her whenever they had a chance. And then there was the name calling and phone pranks. Kate had never been so disgusted as she was then.
“They’ve been calling me, all the time. They never talk, they just listen and then they laugh.”
“Is that what happened tonight?”
“No.”
“Lucy…”
“Amanda called, said she was watching me; that she’d been watching me all night, knew you were out, and that I was alone in the house. Told me that she’d get me, so I better watch my back; that it didn’t matter if I was alone or not.”
Having heard enough, Kate reached over to the coffee table for her bag and pulled out her cell phone. The first person she thought to call was Gillian, but didn’t want to burden her with this minor problem that was happening. It dawned on Kate then that Gillian must have known some of what was happening, judging by her questions at dinner about Lucy.
“Does Aunt Gilly know any of this?”
“Some. I think Natalie told her after the soccer thing. I‘m sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m the one who should be sorry, for not being around as much as I should.”
Sitting up, Lucy wrapped her arms around her knees and watched as Kate stood up, only to begin pacing round the living room in an attempt to dispel some of her nervous energy. Kate knew she was way out of her depth, and had no idea how to handle the situation. Passing the cell phone between her hands, she considered calling Dave and getting his opinion, but that would only lead to an argument which would then lead to Kate hanging up and not getting anywhere.
There was only one thing for it, but knowing their luck of late, it would only lead to more problems for Lucy, and that‘s the last thing Kate wanted. Deciding it best to sleep on it and work it all out in her mind, Kate pulled Lucy up from the sofa and after locking up the house for the night, climbed into bed next to her daughter where at least she could pretend she was able to protect her.
“I’m gonna fix this, Lucy. I promise.”
***
Kate couldn’t ignore the way her father was watching her as she stroked Kevin’s hair from his forehead as he slept. This was just another problem to add to the already catastrophic morning she’d had. Having slept in due to being up most of the night with Lucy, who was having horrific nightmares, Kate was running late for work and while doing the school run had to pull over and ease Lucy out of a panic attack. Once she got to her parents house and found Kevin fast asleep on the sofa, she was ready to give up.
“I think he and Chelsea were up past their bedtime last night watching ‘The Jungle Book‘.”
“That’s fine. Hollis called and it turns out a pipe burst last night, so I need you and mom to have the kids today.”
“Not a problem, sweetpea.”
“Thank you. I have to run, I’m already late.”
Standing simultaneously, Peter linked his arm with Kate’s and led her into the hall, so he could talk to her somewhat privately without little ears listening. He’d seen when she arrived with Lucy in tow that something was wrong, and as father and grandfather, he felt it his right to know; if Kate told him was another matter.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing, daddy. I just had a late night.”
“Caitlin, I know when you’re keeping things from me; remember Lucky?“
“How could I forget you publicly announcing that you’re daughter had herself branded. How did you even know about the tattoo?”
“Your eyes. I could see you were holding something back then, just like you are now.”
Sighing, which she realised she was doing a lot of lately, Kate took a seat on the stairs with her father following suit. Once they were both seated, she laid her head on his shoulder, not caring anymore if she was late, and began spilling her most recent worries.
“Daddy, were we ever bullied or picked on at school?”
“Not that I can think of. You and Gillian certainly fitted in. The boys, well, there were the occasional schoolyard scraps; but nothing that ever got me or your mother this worried.”
“Lucy’s been having some trouble at school, and I am so out of my depth here. I don’t know what to do.”
“You do the best you can do, Katie. That’s all there is. That’s why she’s not a school?”
“She had a panic attack on the way there. I honestly thought things would be better for us here; that we‘d be able to have a happy, normal existence.”
“You will. You just have to let these bullies know, that Mama Bear isn’t very happy and they‘ll learn not to mess with her or the family.”
“Dad…”
They sat together on the stairs in silence, Kate contemplating exactly what her father meant and how to go about it, until the alarm on Kate’s phone went off, signalling that she should seriously consider getting a move on.
On the drive to work, Peter phoned to let her know Alice-Anne had taken Lucy to school after convincing her to go in, and Kate had worked out a plan of action to go about the bullying without making Lucy’s situation worse.
Trust her father to come up with the best ideas.
***
“Doctor Kate.”
“Coach Tony. What brings you to my neck of the woods?”
“I seem to have had a minor mishap.”
Looking at the angle in which Tony DiNozzo’s foot lay, Kate could safely say it was more than a minor mishap. But at least having him as a patient gave Kate the chance to find out what was going with Lucy, from a teachers point of view.
“I won’t ask how you done this, cause I don’t think I want to know.”
“Well, when you’re coaching an all girls soccer team, and the girls may or may not have a crush on you, you tend to move fast. I just happened to have moved a little too fast and here I am.”
“Here you are. I‘ll book you in for an x-ray, and we‘ll see what the damage is.”
“I’m guessing since I am actually a patient now, dinner is really out of the question?”
“You got that right.”
Leaving Tony looking rather sorry for himself, whether it was over his injury or the fact she turned him down again she wasn’t sure, Kate was met by a nurse informing her she had an urgent call in her office. The only thought that came to Kate’s mind was that something had happened to Lucy and those thoughts didn’t bear thinking about. Taking the back stairs to her office, she was greeted by a large bouquet of flowers on her desk which reminded her, though it was rather hard to forget, that in the midst of all the chaos, she was trying to be largely involved in a relationship. She’d call him later to thank him, right now she had bigger worries.
“Doctor Todd.”
“Doctor Todd, this is Paula Cassidy.”
“Paula…”
“Lucy’s guidance counsellor.”
“Of course, yes. Is everything okay?”
“I was just calling to find out when Lucy would be returning to school, as she has a marked amount of absences for the past few days.”
“Lucy’s not been ill. And her grandmother drove her to school this morning.”
“I’m afraid she hasn’t attended any of her classes today, or for the past three days.”
“I don’t believe this. Thank you, Ms. Cassidy, I’ll make sure she’s in school tomorrow.”
Replacing the receiver, Kate placed her head in her hands and groaned. Obviously the school had no idea about what was going on and Lucy was lying to all of them. Grabbing the phone again, she called Ducky to ask if he’d cover her shift for a few hours before grabbing the bouquet and heading out to the parking lot.
Trying her best to keep a lid on her anger, Kate knew it wasn’t entirely Lucy’s fault, but that she had better have a good reason for cutting school all this time.