Chapter 18 - Brother
After Ezra and Willow left Indiana, Emma started taking Cat to the daycare at the district attorney's office. At first, Cat wasn't thrilled with the daycare, but after she had been there for a few days, she started making friends.
Emma was struggling financially without the help Ezra and Willow had given her, but she was making it work. She and Cat had a roof over their heads and food on the table. She was thankful for what they did have, but sometimes she wished she could do more for Cat.
Leo had started coming around occasionally, bringing Cat presents that Emma couldn't afford. She was still cautious around him, but he was the only person she and Cat had to talk to outside of work.
Emma and Cat were on their way home, and Emma was trying to think about what to make for dinner when she received a text on her phone. At the stoplight, she read it, and it was from Leo; he said he would bring them pizza tonight.
"Cat, your uncle Leo is bringing us pizza for dinner. Isn't that nice?" She looked in the rearview mirror at her daughter, who was staring back at her.
"Pizza, yay." Cat clapped her hands. Emma thought, if nothing else, Leo at least put a smile on Cat's face sometimes.
When they got home, Emma quickly changed out of her work clothes while Cat played with her toys. It had been almost a year since Ezra's stroke, and Cat had stopped asking for them over the last couple of months.
Willow still called from time to time, but Ezra wasn't doing well, so they had no plans to move back to Indiana. Emma missed them both; they were the only family she and Cat had. She didn't consider Leo family; he was more like a long-distance relative that Emma was still trying to get to know.
Almost immediately after she changed her clothes, there was a knock on the door. Cat jumped up and clapped her hands as Emma opened the door.
"Pizza delivery." Leo said as he walked into the apartment with a smile.
"Thanks, Leo, we love pizza. Don't we Cat?" Her daughter laughed and nodded her head.
"Good. Cat, I brought you something too." He pulled out a shopping bag and handed it to her. Cat sat on the floor and looked inside. She giggled in delight when she pulled out the pretty green dress.
"Look at the pretty dress, mommy." Cat showed her mom the dress, who looked at it with concern.
"Yes, it's a very pretty dress. Leo, how do you afford these things?" Emma looked at him and saw him look away.
"I work a lot. I'm single, so I don't do anything other than work when I'm not visiting my favorite sister and niece." Emma grabbed some plates and sat them on the small table. She poured Cat a cup of milk and poured her and Leo each a glass of Pepsi from the 2-liter he had brought.
As they ate, Cat entertained them with stories of things that happened at school. Emma was sure some of the things she said were made up. For instance, Cat said a boy in her class saw a man turn into a wolf.
"Well, that would be a wonderful talent to have. What animal would you like to turn into?" Emma asked Cat and saw her thinking hard.
"A tiger, lion, or panther, because my name is Cat." She said matter of factly before continuing to eat her pizza.
"I think I would like to be a bear so I can make sure nothing ever hurts my little Cat." Emma tickled Cat, who started giggling and trying to get away.
"Uncle Leo, what animal do you want to be?" Cat asked him with her big blue eyes staring at him.
"I think I would like to be a wolf so I can howl in the night at the full moon." Leo pretended to howl, and Cat shook her head.
"You don't sound like a wolf; you sound like a puppy." Neither Emma or Cat caught the look of fury in Leo's eyes. He couldn't wait until he had Cat to himself; he would show her how to talk with respect.
He kept coming around so Emma and Cat would get comfortable and start trusting him. Leo knew that his step-sister wasn't ready to leave Cat with him alone yet, but he would catch her at a time when she had no other choice.
He wanted to show her he could be trusted, so she would let him watch Cat more and more. Then when she least expected it, he would take Cat away, making it look like she was kidnapped. Leo would, of course, help Emma look for Cat to throw suspicion off himself. He almost laughed out loud, thinking of how devastated Emma would be.
"Leo?" Emma said, and he snapped out of his thoughts to look at her.
"Sorry, I was thinking about something." Leo took another bite of his pizza.
"Cat asked if you wanted to go to the zoo with us tomorrow." Emma looked at him, hoping he said no. She could only take so much of Leo. How he had treated her and Paula was still in the back of her mind.
"I wish I could, but I'm traveling to San Francisco tomorrow. Sometimes my work sends me there to make deals for them." Leo would never tell them what he was really doing. It was business related, but his own personal business.
"Well, maybe next time then. You're only twenty, Leo. How do you have so many responsibilities at your job?" Emma didn't know much about what happened to him after he went to foster care, except that he spent some time in juvenile detention. However, he must have learned some skills for his boss to trust him with big deals.
"My manager has complete faith in my abilities. I learned a lot over the last few years, and I now get to use that knowledge at my job." Leo quickly finished his pizza; he wanted to get out of there before she asked him more questions. He was a good liar, but Emma was better at spotting lies.
"That's good that you found something you're good at." Emma drank the last of her Pepsi but couldn't shake the feeling that Leo was hiding something from her.
"I think I'm going to take off so I can get my stuff packed for my trip. I'll see you guys when I get back." Leo patted Cat on the head and waved to Emma as he left the apartment.
Once outside, he got into his car and drove to his apartment on the other side of town. When Leo was inside, he took a deep breath. That conversation with Emma had been too close for comfort. He had to make sure to always keep the conversation off of his work.
Leo walked over to his computer and turned it on. He had everything ready to go for his trip tomorrow. There was new merchandise that his contact wanted him to see. Leo had only booked a one-way flight because if this deal worked out, he would need to drive back. He couldn't take his purchases on the plane; there was too big of a chance he would get caught.
Leo laughed as he looked at the pictures on his screen. Everyone thought they were smarter than him, but he was smarter than them all. They would all see that they should have never underestimated him.
Emma watched as Leo took off in a hurry. She could tell he was flustered about something, but she didn't know what. As she cleaned up the leftovers, she thought back on their conversation and realized it had something to do with her questions about his work.
She didn't know exactly what he did and never really cared, but now she was curious. She decided the next time he came over; she would try to question him about it.
"Mommy, help me." Emma looked at Cat and started laughing. She was trying to put on the new dress and had one of her legs sticking out an armhole.
"Honey, I think you have it upside down." Emma helped her take off the dress and put it on correctly. It was emerald green, short sleeved, and had a white pattern sewn into the front. It came just to Cat's knees.
"Mommy, how do I look?" Cat spun around giggling.
"You look beautiful, Cat." Emma held her hand to help her twirl around.
After Cat was done playing in the dress, Emma helped her take a bath, and then they went to bed. She thought again about the dinner conversation and decided she would let it go for now. As long as what Leo was doing didn't affect Cat, she would let it be. Emma fell asleep, thinking maybe she could learn to trust her brother again.