The abbreviated Clarity enchantment only took thirty seconds to engrave onto a pendant and after a drop of melted gold to cover it, it glowed for a few seconds. The protective steel plate I had on my workbench absorbed the over-enchantment effect and it was done. All in all, it took almost a full minute to make one pendant. I let the metal cool and enchanted the next and the next.

I worked the nearly the entire time that Crystal was in school, or about seven hours, and I made pendants for sale. I wasn't sure how much to charge for them, though. I would also need to buy more of them, which assumed that they were going to be a big seller. I didn't really need for them to be, since they were just a means to an end.

I was actually working backwards, since I could make the product already and had previously bought the materials, then I bought a supposed source of those materials. It was all just fluff to get me into the national and then the international market. Once I had my company known, that would open up so many options for me.

The alarm I had set for the right time, went off, and I turned off the small forge and stored the crucible of melted gold. I closed up my secret room and sealed it, then used the Cleaning Hands spell on myself and equipped a nice suit, minus the suit coat. I wanted to make it look like I was working in an office all day and left to go get Crystal.

I parked at the school and went inside to wait for her. The teachers that saw me gave me looks that were only slightly different from the looks they had given me that morning. It was progress, especially since no one came over to me and told me that I wasn't allowed there, so I was happy. To my surprise, a few minutes before the bell rang, the principal appeared and came over to me.

“Madam Principal, just a second.” I said and quickly stuffed two small pieces of gauze into my nose. “Okay, I can't really smell your wonderful scent now.”

She gave me a demure smile. “Please, call me Caroline. I just wanted you to know that a lawyer called a few minute ago. Not only did they confirm that Diane is in jail, they also told me...”

My phone rang and interrupted what she was going to say.

“You will want to answer that.” Caroline said.

I nodded. “Please, excuse me.” I took it out of my pocket and answered. “Hello?”

“Mr. Smith, this is Mr. Loughlin. I've successfully completed the first task you assigned me.”

“So quickly?” I asked, a little surprised.

“As soon as I told her that you were free and had hired me, she practically begged me to let her sign a temporary custody order.” Mr. Loughlin said. “It is tentative on my continued representation of her in court and the successful negotiation of a plea deal for her.”

“The retainer is being put to good use, then?” I asked and he chuckled.

“Don't worry. I've already talked to the District Attorney and he also jumped on the idea of a more favorable plea deal for his side of the bargain. Her ensured testimony should get her husband at least twenty years, maybe more. It all depends on if we can sneak in his previous criminal history. If we do, he'll be going away for a very long time.”

I smiled. “I'm pretty sure that he's going to claim that he is a moral and upstanding citizen, just to make himself look better than he really is. You can jump all over any kind of statement that's close to that.”

“That's what the DA is hoping for. Any reference at all to his character will open the floodgates for us.”

“I'll keep my fingers crossed.”

“I'll fax the papers right over. You can sign them and send them back later. There's no rush.”

“That's good. I'm at the school and picking Crystal up right now, actually.” I said.

“Then I'll let you go. Have a good day, Mr. Smith.”

“You too, Mr. Loughlin... and thank you.” I said and hung up.

“I've put your name back onto the 'approved to pick up' list.” Caroline said.

“Thank you.” I said and looked around.

“No, not here.” Caroline said. “When you drop Crystal off in the morning, we can...”

My cell phone beeped and she sighed as she waved to it. I checked it and it was the details for a chartered flight. To my surprise, it was actually cheaper to rent the plane for the day than it was to buy a flight on a popular airline, because it used smaller airports for travel. I quickly typed a response and agreed to it.

“It looks like my chartered flight is leaving first thing in the morning, and by first thing, I mean six in the morning.” I said and she looked sad. “Is my sister Jenny on the approved list?”

Caroline nodded.

“Great. Thank you.” I said and moved to give her a kiss and she stepped back.

“I said not here.” Caroline said just as the bell rang.

I pulled the pieces of gauze from my nose as the door in front of us opened.

“DAMON!” Crystal yelled as she ran out of the classroom.

“Hi, sweetie!” I said and bent down to pick her up. “How's my favorite girl? Did you have fun today?”

“No.” Crystal said. “Teddy wasn't with me.”

“That's because he's been sitting in the car all day waiting for you.” I said.

“NO! Teddy'll die!” Crystal nearly screamed.

I burst out laughing. “It's all right, sweetie. I left the windows down a little and he's got a couple of meals in his belly that are just waiting for you.”

“YAY!” Crystal yelled and squirmed to be put down.

“You have to take my hand.” I said and bent down to put her on the floor and she gripped my hand like a vise. “Let's go home.” I said and nodded to Caroline. “Madam Principal.”

Caroline's face went sad again. “Mr. Smith.”

I left the school with Crystal and she squealed in delight at Teddy. I wasn't sure if she realized that he hadn't moved all day, though. I had been tempted to store him a few times, just so I could see out the back window. I decided it was safer to leave him exactly where he was, in case Crystal did notice things like him moving slightly.

We drove to a different part of town and it was a bit of a run down neighbourhood. I parked the car on the street near a pawn shop, without turning it off, and used Detect to find my two rings. I used Search to see that they were inside a large safe in the back of the place and smiled. They were within my storage range, so I stored them and drove away.

We were back home a short while later and Crystal insisted on carrying Teddy all by herself. I compromised and said I would carry him outside and she could carry him inside. She accepted that deal when I told her that he would get too dirty and might be hurt if she dragged him on the pavement or in the dirt. I carried him from the parking garage into the building. As soon as we crossed the threshold, I slung Teddy over her back and she laughed because his head completely blocked her view.

“Oops. Just a second.” I said and adjusted him so that he was more over her shoulder. “There you go.”

Crystal walked across the smooth floor of the lobby and half-dragged the giant teddy bear behind her. We rode up the elevator and went into the apartment, and Teddy and I helped Crystal do her homework. We played together for a bit after that and then I had Teddy throw up another kids meal for her while I ate some pizza that I still had in my inventory. We washed our hands and Crystal went to play with Teddy in the living room and I called Jenny. She was a little less than thrilled to hear from me so soon.

“I know it's a day early, and I'm sorry.” I said. “My flight leaves at six in the morning, which means I have to be there at five.”

Jenny was quiet for several moments. “Okay, I'll be there.”

“Actually, I was kind of hoping that you could come here to stay the night.” I said and she went quiet again. “I want to have you here before Crystal goes to bed, just so she knows you're here and won't see me in the morning.”

Jenny sighed. “How long are you going for?”

“Just for the day. It's just a quick trip and I'll be back by tomorrow night. You just have to drop Crystal off at school and pick her up again, then maybe make or buy a meal or two for the both of you.” I said. “I've filled the cupboards and the refrigerator with groceries, so there's lot to eat here if you want.”

“Did you get any munchies?” Jenny asked.

“They are in the last cupboard on the left, above the refrigerator.” I said and then whispered. “Cookies of all kinds, potato chips, microwave popcorn, and chocolate bars. The soda pop is in the fridge on the middle shelf.”

“What flavors?”

“The staples. Cola, orange, root beer, and cream soda.”

Jenny waited for several moments before speaking. “Did you call and fix the cable?”

“Ah, dammit. I knew I forgot something. I'll go through the papers that my old accountant had and I'll get the other bills straightened out, too.”

“Good.” Jenny said. “I'll be there just before eight tonight.”

“Thanks, Jenny. See you then.”

“Bye.” Jenny said and hung up.

Then the tedious work began. I went through the papers and found the bills that hadn't been paid, and played phone tag for about three hours. To my surprise, each and everyone one of them were hostile at the beginning and then they were downright chipper after I told them I would pay all arrears. A few of them even gave me a slightly better deal when I offered to prepay for another year.

I had to change over the banking information they had, to reflect the new bank, and I authorized the bill payments. It was pretty easy to become a valued customer again and I hung up the phone, my last minute work done, and I relaxed. I saw the cable box light flicker and smiled. I walked over to the television and turned off the movie player to test the cable signal.

Crystal paused in her playing and I thought she was going to complain, then one of her favorite cartoons came on and she and Teddy planted themselves firmly on the couch to watch it.

“You can thank Aunt Jenny for getting your shows back.” I whispered to her and she nodded without looking at me.

“Watch this part, Teddy!” Crystal said as she hugged him and then she laughed when the cartoon character jumped into the pool and splashed everyone around it with a tidal wave.

I went over to the fax machine and took out the papers for temporary custody, read them all the way through, so I knew exactly what I was getting myself into, and signed them. I faxed them back and relaxed, because now that worry was eased slightly, and I went to sit on the couch with Crystal and Teddy. I waited for a commercial before I spoke.

“I have to go on a little trip tomorrow.” I said. “I'll be leaving first thing and Jenny's going to get you to school and pick you up.”

“Okay.” Crystal said.

“I'll be back tomorrow night to tuck you into bed.”

“Okay.” Crystal said. The cartoon came back on and she gave that her full attention.

I went to the kitchen and prepared some food for supper, making sure to have extra for Jenny to have, if she wanted some. Crystal, Teddy, and I sat down to eat at the kitchen table and neither of them complained about the meal or that it wasn't fast food. Another quick hand washing later, Crystal and Teddy were back in front of the television. They were playing and barely paid any attention to it.

The fax machine beeped and I waited for several sheets to pop out. I checked them and it was from my broker. He had found several planes for sale, a few even had existing contracts with a nearby airport for storage and maintenance. It was a bit expensive, which was to be expected. It wasn't like a car that could be handled by almost any mechanic. It was a complicated flying machine and needed expert maintenance.

I didn't want one of those tiny planes, because that just wasn't viable for flying long distance. I also didn't want a huge one, because it would be ridiculous to fly across the country in a big plane all by myself, which was why I thought the cost of the last minute tickets for a flight were so expensive, because there was almost no one else taking the same flight and they needed to get their money's worth out of me.

I chuckled and looked at the two medium sized planes. They were jets that could seat twenty-four people. One needed a single pilot and that was it. The other had two pilots and a flight attendant. I thought it was odd that they were listing the people and not the jobs to be filled on the second one, then read the conditions on the bottom. They came with the plane.

I chuckled and read it again. Yep, they came with the plane. I thought. It was a condition of the sale that the current crew would continue to work for the new owner for at least a year. The plane was quite a bit cheaper than the other one, too. I had to assume that was an incentive to buy and read the extra details in full. It seemed too good to be true, so I called my broker to ask about it.

“It's true. The owner is retiring and won't need to constantly fly everywhere.” Derek said. “He's actually one of my associate's clients.”

“It really comes with three people?” I asked and he said yes. “Are they okay with that? Being bought and sold, I mean.”

Derek laughed. “The owner is a really nice guy and wanted to ensure them a year's salary, that way they can look for other work if they want.”

“Let me guess, his retirement was either forced or enforced.” I said.

“Yes, his wife literally told him that he was changing his lifestyle and staying home for a few years.”

I laughed. “Okay, yeah. I have to agree that is a quick and drastic change. Was she a new wife or just fed up with him flying around all the time?”

“Fed up. She wants to spend more time with him.”

“Ah, she didn't like being left behind so much.” I said.

“You got it. She did enjoy it for a while, then the odd hours and jet lag caught up to her and she said that was enough.”

“For the both of them.” I said. “All right, tell them I'll take it over for them and agree to their terms.”

“You don't want to negotiate on the price?” Derek asked.

“No, I saw the planted one you included as a base price, and it didn't come with a pilot.”

Derek chuckled. “If you knew the other one was a plant, why are you going with this one?”

“I thought the deal was too good to be true and had to call you about it. You must be doing your associate a favor or something.”

“I didn't know I needed to do a favor until I started asking around about planes for sale.” Derek said. “He's sitting here in my office and practically begging me to pawn it off on you.”

That made me laugh again. “Tell him not to worry and work it out. Take it out of the slush fund.”

“I'll need your signature on a few more things tomorrow.” Derek said.

“My charter flight is leaving at six in the morning, so I hope your office is open at seven.”

“It is. I'm sending you the other things for you to look through for the morning. See you then.”

“Bye, Derek.” I said and hung up. I looked down at the papers on the table and chuckled. “I just bought a plane.” I said and the fax machine started spitting out page after page of contracts, information about mines, corporations, tax laws, and a bunch of other things. “Dammit, Derek! I'm only one person! I can't read all of that crap!”

Crystal giggled and I laughed, too.

“Sorry, sweetie.” I said and looked at the time. I cast Detect and found Jenny coming out of the elevator. I got up and walked over to the door and waited for a few seconds, then opened the door. “Hello!”

Jenny had keys in her hand and was poised to unlock the door.

“It wasn't locked.” I said and held a hand out for her bag. “Thanks a lot for coming over so early. I really appreciate it.”

Jenny gave me an odd look as she handed me her bag.

“You can believe it.” I said and waved her inside and shut the door. I started to walk down the hallway and she grabbed my arm.

“Where are you going with my bag?” Jenny asked.

“I'm putting it in my room. You can sleep there and I'll sleep on the couch.”

Jenny opened her mouth to say something and then closed it.

I turned to her with a concerned look on my face. “What is it?”

“N-nothing.” Jenny said and let my arm go.

“No, something's up. I assumed you've been sleeping in my bed, since Crystal is in the spare room.” I said and her eyes shifted to not look directly at me. “All right, come on. Spill it, whatever it is.”

“I... well, I...” Jenny turned her head away. “I've always done that.”

“Done what?” I asked.

“Slept in your bed when you weren't around.” Jenny said, her face slightly red. “Always.”

“Wait, you mean when I went missing years ago, you...”

“Not just then.” Jenny said and looked back at me. “When you moved out of the condo, too.”

“Hold on.” I said and then thought about it. It took me a minute to realize what she meant, then I took in a sharp breath and my eyes were wide. “You... you mean...”

“I was sound asleep in your room at the condo that night.” Jenny said and took her bag from my hand. “Kathy was in my room with her boyfriend. The thing you saw, the image burned into your brain, was her having sex and not me.”

I stood there, completely stunned and unable to speak.

Jenny walked by me with a smug smile on her face. “Goodnight, big brother.” She said and went into my room and shut the door.