Let Me Help

Chapter Six

Alex walked out of his room and peeked into the living room. The blanket he had put on Katia was folded up, lying on the arm of the couch. There was a white square on top. He walked over and picked up the piece of paper.

Alex,

I went out in the back for a walk.

Katia

Alex smiled as he put the note down on the dining room table. Slipping his feet into his sandals he walked into the back. She wasn't in the yard so he decided to check the pond farther back. He walked down the road to find the trail that led directly to the pond.

~*~*~*~*~

Katia was lying on her back on a grassy hill by the pond. She closed her eyes feeling the warmth of the sun wash over as she listened to the ducks swimming around quacking.

"Hi!"

She opened her eyes and looked across the pond. A boy her age was standing there. She closed her eyes again.

"You staying with Alex?" he asked her.

Katia leaned up on her elbows and glared at the boy. "Shut up!"

The boy looked past her and smiled. "Hey Alex!"

Katia looked over her shoulder and quickly got up, scrambling over to him. He put his hands on her shoulders and massaged them. Her muscles were tight and she was clenching her jaw. It was the same way she had been when she had seen the cashier at the store, Eddie, Barry, Bob and himself.

"Hey Tony! What's up?" he greeted the boy. Looking down at Katia he asked, "What's wrong?"

The boy shrugged, "I don't know. I was just talking and she told me to shut up."

"Katia, what's wrong?" Alex asked her.

Katia looked up at him but quickly glanced away. Whispering she said, You know what's wrong."

Alex looked up at Tony. "Nothing's wrong! We have to go Tony! Say hi to your family for me. It was nice seeing you!"

"Yep! Bye Alex!" Tony called out before turning around and running off.
"Let's go for a walk. We can go to the diner, I know a short cut." Alex said and started walking. Katia followed.

"Sorry Alex," she said quietly.

Alex stopped walking and turned to face her. "Sorry for what?"

"For yelling at Tony. For being afraid of him."

Alex looked into her eyes and said, "Don't be sorry. It's not your fault. All the men you've known have hurt you in some way. It's been that way all your life. You're always going to be cautious around them. I'm going to try to help you through most of that fear. That way you can start trusting the men who aren't trying to hurt you."

"What if it takes awhile?" she asked, not believing that she could ever not be afraid of men.

"Then it will take awhile." Alex said and then held out his hand. "Let's go to the diner."

~*~*~*~*~

When they walked into the diner Eddie looked up. "Alex! The Lanto's are here! Tony said he ran into you and a girl down by the pond!"

"They're here now?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, in the back booth." Eddie said pointing. Alex looked back, sighed and looked at Katia. Katia was staring at Eddie. Her grip on Alex's had tightened. "Katia, do you mind eating here or should we go someplace else?"

"We can eat here." Katia told him relaxing her grip on his hand.

"Hi Katia." Eddie said smiling at her.

"Hi," she said.

Alex looked at the menu. "It's 11:30, would you like breakfast or lunch?"

"You two haven't had breakfast yet?" Eddie asked shocked.

"We've had a strange sleeping schedule the past few days." Alex told him, not saying anymore. Alex and Katia could both tell that Eddie was curious about it, but Katia was glad that he didn't ask anymore questions.

"I'll just have lunch," she said. "What do they have?"

Alex told her the lunch menu and she ordered a grilled chicken sandwich, French fries and soda.

"Go find a seat, I'll be there after I order and pay." Alex told her.

When Katia had left the counter Eddie leaned closer to Alex and whispered, "She spoke directly to me and she ordered a meal! You work wonders Alex."

Alex smiled and said, "There's still more work to be done. You know that. These cases are never solved in a little over a week."

Eddie was about to reply when they heard Maria coming up from behind the wall that separated the counter from the kitchen, "Who's here Eddie? You haven't completed the order yet." Maria stepped into view and smiled, "Alex! Hi! Are you here with Katia?"

"Yeah, she's at a booth. I should be going over there soon." Alex said looking at Katia who was sitting and staring out the window.

"What's her full name? She looks familiar?" Maria asked Alex gazing at her.

"Nikolei. Katerina Nikolei." Alex told her.

"Oh. No, I don't know her." Maria said. "Have you found out what's happened?"

"Abuse, that's all I'll say. I shouldn't even tell you that." Alex said and quickly ordered. Maria leaned against the counter staring at Katia. Alex noticed. "What's wrong Maria?"

Maria shook her head and looked away from Katia. "Nothing. Nothing's wrong. I'm just trying to place her, that's all."

"You sure?" Alex asked wondering if he had seen tears in Maria's eyes for a second. "You looked like you were ready to cry."

"It's just sad about what's happened to her. I'll go prepare your order." Maria said and walked into the back.

"Women always get emotional over things." Eddie said shaking his head. Alex smiled at his friend.

"Yeah, well don't Maria here you say that! She'll have your head!" Alex shook his head. When Eddie and Maria had gotten married, she had been crying the whole time. Her parents, the last of her family, had been killed in a car crash while she was in high school.

"No one knows more than I do!" Eddie said. "I'll bring your order to you."

Alex turned to go sit with Katia. Linda Lanto got up from the booth and walked over to him. "Hi Alex. How are you?"

"I'm fine," he said giving her a hug. "How are you?"

"I'm doing well." Linda said nodding. "The girls miss you."

Alex laughed. "I miss them too. Are they here?"

"Yeah," Linda said and turned around. "Stacy! Lydia! Come here!"
Alex laughed as he saw the two girl's scramble out of the booth. He bent down and held his arms out. The three-year-old twins ran into them and he gave them both a hug.

"Hey guys! How are you?" Alex asked them.

"We're fine." They replied in unison.

Alex stood up and looked over at Katia. "Katia, this is Linda Lanto and her daughters Stacy and Lydia. Linda is also Tony's mother. Linda, Stace, Lydia, this is Katia. She's staying with me for awhile."

"Hi." The girls waved and then hurried back to their seats where their father and brother were sitting.

"So, you're the girl Tony saw at the pond." Linda said.

Katia blushed. "Yeah. I'm sorry about being rude to him."

Linda smiled, "Don�t worry about it. He wasn't upset."

Eddie came over with a tray of food. "Here is your food."

"I'll let you two eat now. See you later Alex. It was nice meeting you Katia." She said and then walked back to their booth.

"Bye!" Alex called out.

Eddie put their food in front of them and left. Before he walked away Katia said, "Thank you."

Alex smiled as he pulled a fry off his plate. "Linda and I are really good friends. We knew each other in high school."

"Oh." Katia said quietly taking a bite of her sandwich.

~*~*~*~*~

When they got back to Alex's Katia quickly went up to her room to change into some different clothes. Alex walked into his room and saw that the message light on his answering machine was blinking.

Pressing the play button he listened to the message. "Hi Alex, its Bob! I'm on my way to your place to pick up Katia. We have a foster home lined up and we're getting her out of there so we can get another kid in. See you in a couple of hours."

Alex stared at the answering machine in shock. Katia had just told Alex what had happened and just like that they were taking her away. They weren't giving him anytime to work with her, to help her heal from what happened.

He picked up the phone and dialed Bob's cell phone number. It rang twice before Bob answered.

"Yeah?" Bob shouted. He could barely be heard over the roar of the train.

"It's Alex. You're not taking Katia."

"What? Why?" Bob yelled.

"She just told me what happened! I need to work with her a little, help her get beyond the abuse she's suffered. You can't just take her away now! I promised her I'd help her, no matter how long it took!" Alex said.

"Alex, we've got calls coming in from all over. There are many kids who need help. Don't you care about them?" Bob asked.

"I care about Katia and making sure she gets better!" Alex exclaimed.

"Alex, I'll be there in about two hours. Have Katia packed and ready to go." Bob said and then hung up.

Alex stared at the phone and then slammed it down. Grabbing a backpack from his closet he stuffed clothes and his file on Katia in it. He ran upstairs and knocked on Katia's door.

"Come in." Katia called from the room.

Alex opened and said, "Get a bag of clothes together. We're leaving, and we have to leave as soon as possible."

Leaving the room he ran back downstairs and looked through the pantry getting some food and drinks together.

"Why?"

He turned around and saw Katia standing there. "Because, they want to take you back now, but we're not ready. We're leaving here."

Katia stood there for a minute and then ran back up to her room.

A half-hour later they were putting bags, pillows and blankets in the back of Alex's jeep. Katia jumped into the passenger seat and buckled up as Alex ran to the front door and put a note he had written there.

He ran back to the car, jumped in, started it and pulled out of the driveway. Racing down the street he turned onto the highway. He didn't know where they'd go, but he'd find a hotel along the way. He was going to work with Katia some more, whether Bob and the other's liked it or not.