by Alice Brown
She sat there for a moment rubbing the beautiful stone. It was almost the size of the diamond he had given her last year for her birthday. “Were you planning on waiting to give me these?”
“I hadn’t made up my mind as to when I was going to give them to you. I have quite a few stones like these that I am going to get our jeweler to put into jewelry for you. They are yours now. I’ll still take them to the jeweler for you and have them set, but the stones are yours. If you want something other than a necklace and earrings, just tell me. I’ll have them set into whatever you want.”
“Okay, can I think about that for a day or so?”
“Sure, take all the time you need,” Marshall replied. “Now, on to the important stuff.” He pulled out a large stack of papers in a folder and started separating them into piles. “I have several bank accounts set up in different locations. I have my own Swiss bank account,” he stated, and then paused to explain. “As a vampire, you don’t want a lot of money in bank accounts here in the States. The government pays too much attention to deposits and withdrawals, and we don’t want them knocking on our door.”
Each stack of paperwork had a cover sheet showing a net value or asset line. She skimmed over the six stacks he had set up on their bed. “This is all the paperwork for the different accounts I have set up all over the world.”
He thumbed through several stacks before returning his attention to her. “Most of the remaining documents are just a breakdown of the investments.”
She was starting to feel sick to her stomach. She pushed the food tray out of the way, suddenly a little lightheaded. Good thing he had warned her a little before showing her all of this. Here she had thought all along that he didn’t have very much. From the documents presented to her, she now knew that simply wasn’t the case. Her fiancé was a very well-off vampire. Then she suddenly felt stupid and childish for assuming he had very little money because he chose not to display it.
As Marshall began gathering up all of the paperwork, he glanced over her way. She was sitting up against the headboard with her arms crossed. He could almost see the steam coming out her ears. “What are you upset about?”
“You, you big lug! Before, I felt guilty because I was afraid you would think that because I grew up around money, I would expect it out of you, which I honestly would never do. I don’t really have expensive tastes and don’t need much. Now, I suddenly find myself feeling guilty for marrying a man who is as well off as you are. I know this makes no sense, and I am trying to figure out why I feel this way. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to have money to help others in the community when they need it, like now, but as for me personally, I simply don’t need a lot to keep me happy.”
Marshall put all of the paperwork back into the box, then stretched out beside her. “I didn’t mean to upset you. And I am well aware it doesn’t take money to make you happy; that is just one of the many reasons I love you. I honestly had been planning on sitting down with you and going over all this, but then we had the earthquake and you were so badly injured, and I just didn’t think of it.” He traced his fingertips down her cheek and then down the side of her neck. “You haven’t been in any shape and the timing has just been off since.” He sat up and gave her a gentle kiss. “I guess we have both just learned a good lesson in open communication,” he stated quietly, and brought her face down to his for a long, passionate kiss. He wasn’t about to let something like his finances become a problem between the two of them. He would give every penny he owned to charity if it would make her happy. “I love you for who you are, and, believe me, I have never thought for a moment you were driven by money. If you were, you and I would have never made it this far,” he said between his kisses.
“Let’s make each other a promise. Let’s promise to discuss anything and everything, even if we find the subject a little embarrassing or are unsure how the other one will react.” Holding her chin with his finger, he looked her in the eye. “Promise?”
“I promise.” Stirred by his potent kisses and the passion in his eyes, Stephanie would have promised him the moon at that moment.
“And I promise you,” he finished, and swooped back down to capture her lips.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Stephanie fell asleep in the late afternoon, and Marshall quietly left their apartment, carrying her lunch tray with him as he headed for the kitchen. Kevin met him there. “I hear my stubborn daughter was trying to pull one over on the two of us,” he grinned, shaking his head.
“I promise you, it would have been an easier afternoon if I had just stayed at work,” he groused.
“Well, at least when it comes to her health, we are on the same team. She’ll learn quickly enough that she might be able to pull one over on one of us, but she is outnumbered in this situation,” Kevin chuckled in reply.
“Yes, well, that was just one of the problems we had to get cleared up. Were you aware that she honestly thought I was one step away from the poorhouse?” Marshall inquired of his best friend.
Kevin slapped his hand on Marshall’s shoulder and replied with a grin, “You mean to tell me you’re not there yet? I’m proud of you, son!”
“Yeah, ha-ha. I asked her why she didn’t say anything to me about Mary’s problem before going to you about draining her own account last night. She pretty much told me she didn’t think I had the means of helping,” Marshall stated, shaking his head. He was still trying to figure out how Stephanie had come up with the idea that he was poor.
“So, I am curious, old friend. How much did you clarify things?” Kevin inquired.
“I came clean on all of it. I wasn’t sure if she could handle it, and I’m still not sure on that one. But, after asking her to be honest with me, I wasn’t going to lie to her.”
“Well, she has her mother’s blood running through her, so I’d guess it didn’t go over any better than when I did the same thing with her mother seven years ago,” Kevin said, smiling.
“She now feels guilty for marrying someone who has money,” Marshall stated, running his fingers through his hair in exasperation. Now he understood why Kevin did it so often. “Women, I’ll be damned if I can figure them out.”
“Watch it, now,” Erica warned them as she entered the kitchen.
“Sorry, Erica,” Marshall offered with a sheepish smile. He knew he was already forgiven.
“It’s okay, Marshall. I suspect you have had your hands full this afternoon,” she replied as she gave her husband a big hug.
“There’s an understatement,” Marshall grumbled.
“Marshall was just telling me that he came clean about his financial situation today. Seems our daughter was under the impression she was marrying a pauper,” Kevin laughed as he told Erica.
“Oh,” Erica replied.
“Do you remember our trip to the beach, before we were married?” Kevin asked his wife, and continued without waiting for her reply. “Because I certainly do.” His attention was on Marshall as he spoke. “I needed her to buy a couple of ball gowns for formal events, and you would have thought I’d asked her to pull my fangs out. I threw Jennifer in the middle of it, knowing full well that Jennifer could steamroll over her any day when it came to shopping.” He stopped and chuckled at his memories. “But then when we did get home and I showed her everything, she couldn’t handle that, either. She was so afraid she was going to waste my money, and make me mad, like such a thing would ever happen.” He bent and gave Erica a playful kiss as Marshall watched him lightly swat her rear. “I do believe it took the better part of two years before she finally came to grips with everything.”
He glanced back over to Marshall, his expression serious again. “My advice to you is to let her process this in her own way. You have never considered having money any big deal, and if you keep going down that road, she’ll follow you, because it is what she is already accustomed to.”
“Thanks for the advice. Did I miss anything today?”
“Nothing you can’t be caught up on. Charles was abl
e to get in touch with an engineer in New Zealand who is one of us. He will be here next Monday to help us draw up the plans for our new underground. Charles is also working on the presentation for the board meeting on Friday. If you don’t mind sticking around, the jeweler is supposed to be here within the next few minutes. Charles is tied up right now, so I was hoping you could fill in for him since you have done business with him before.”
“Sure,” Marshall replied.
The jeweler, Max, arrived about ten minutes later, and since Kevin had never met him before, Marshall took over and made the introductions. Marshall knew his friend and soon-to-be father-in-law tended to be a bit on the cautious side when he didn’t know someone well, so they only showed Max a small portion of the stones they would eventually need to sell. Kevin had about two handfuls in a cloth bag, and carefully spread them out on the coffee table for Max.
Max eyed each piece individually, and at times he shook his head as if in disbelief. Marshall found himself holding his breath, waiting for the jeweler’s response. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally lifted his head to address his waiting clientele. “My dear people, I have no idea where you have come across gemstones of this quality. They are all worth a small fortune. I would love to get my hands on the entire collection, but with the disaster…” he shook his head and frowned.
“We need to get these sold, and the money is going straight to getting our underground development rebuilt,” Kevin told him. “Can you help us with getting these sold, and at a good price? We are drawing up plans to present to the board to rebuild the underground entirely, but at no cost to anyone who was already down there. These gems were left in our custody to help keep our society prosperous; rebuilding is the only way that can happen.”
“I have many contacts in the business. I feel certain I can obtain top dollar for each and every one of these stones,” Max replied. “I also have some contacts in the Middle East, and I know for a fact they would give top dollar for the entire collection.”
“There is more where those came from,” Kevin stated carefully. “Right now I am only interested in selling enough to put our underground society back together.”
“Understood,” Max answered. “Give me twenty-four hours, and I should have some figures for you.”
“I will need to ask for your trust in allowing me to take one stone with me, so I can provide proof of the quality to potential buyers,” Max requested. Marshall was somewhat surprised that he had only asked for one gem, and figured the jeweler must have picked up on Kevin’s caution.
“That seems fair,” Kevin replied. “Pick one of your choosing,” he nodded his head to the jewels on the table.
Max chose a medium-sized emerald to take with him, and promised Kevin he would be in touch by the following evening. On his way out, he said, “I am currently staying with the Bryan family, in case you need to reach me.”
“Well?” Marshall inquired of Kevin once the jeweler had left. “What did you think?”
“Seems like he knows what he is doing. I’ll be interested in hearing what he comes up with tomorrow evening,” Kevin replied.
The following morning, the team gathered in Charles’s office. “We have a situation,” Charles said. “Most of this state’s National Guard members have been deployed overseas. With so many people homeless, out of work, and with nothing left to lose, the local police are in over their heads. The crime rates are jumping daily, and it has taken the police force some time to swallow their pride and ask for help,” Charles continued. “Anyway, I received a call from the governor this morning asking if we could step in. Here’s the situation. The governor has set a tem p.m. curfew, and he wants it strictly enforced. I don’t think the ten of you are going to be enough to cover the entire city, especially when patrols are needed twenty-four hours a day to protect the citizens and prevent further looting. I was thinking about the CW program. I know a lot of our people have been affected by the earthquake, and that includes a lot of people without jobs right now. If we could get VCTF uniforms for them, and then activate them temporarily, I believe they could be of great assistance. They’ve already been trained for the most part, and we would just need to go over some basic issues of dealing with the human public.”
Kevin sat back in his chair, thinking. “You might be on to something, Dad. It would put some of our kind back to work, at least temporarily, which would give us time to rebuild our society. When does the governor want us to start, and I assume you named a hefty price for this job since we are looking at bringing in extra help?” Kevin questioned his father.
Charles grinned over to his son. “Kevin, I am surprised you even asked that last part. I named a figure that would be enough to pay half our society to uphold law and order for the next three months.”
“As to when the job starts, as soon as we can. I thought you and Marshall could start this afternoon by paying our chief of police a visit. I’ll look into how fast we can get uniforms made. The remainder of the team can start checking with our CW crew, and get a list with contact information of those interested in working.”
“Are their earpieces not activated?” Kevin asked his father.
“No, that is one of the systems that took heavy damage during the quake. I am going to need to rewrite the software, and then install it on a new system. I just haven’t had the time yet,” Charles answered.
“Okay, well, if they are going to be with us, can we get their earpieces switched to our frequency?” Kevin asked.
“Oh, yes, that will be easy to do. I can have that done in about ten minutes, once I know everyone who will be working with you,” Charles replied.
“Okay, let’s move on.” Charles continued, addressing the group as a whole. “I am drawing up the plans for the new underground society. Erica and Stephanie did a fine job yesterday researching ways to build structures that will last through an earthquake. I am putting all of these suggestions in the plans, and the report will be ready for the Friday meeting. Unfortunately, our engineer from New Zealand, Mac, will not be here until Monday, but I hope to convince the board that we have enough to get started. Perhaps the board will be able to meet with Mac before the next scheduled meeting. Kevin, how did your meeting go last evening?”
“Good. I should have some figures by tonight; you and I can get together after I hear from him and go over everything.”
“Okay, team, that’s all I have for today. Kevin, do you have anything to add?” Charles inquired.
“No, that will cover things for today,” Kevin replied, as the meeting ended and everyone filed out of the office.
Kevin and Marshall found themselves in front of a frustrated, overworked, sleep-deprived police chief an hour later. Normally, Kevin and the team had a great relationship with him due to the work the team had done in the past. Today, it would seem that it had never happened.
Kevin had tried talking politely with the chief. Within minutes, it became clear that this was not going to work. Their first ten minutes had been filled with interruptions, problems coming at the chief faster than he could handle. “Look, I am going to give it to you straight. We have orders from the governor,” Kevin stated to the chief’s “thanks-but-no-thanks” attitude toward their help. “Chief, I am not here to make additional work for you. We are on the same side. I am here to offer you and your team some help that appears to be much-needed. I am just trying to find out from you where the hot spots are, so we can be of service where we’re most needed.”
The chief ran his hand through his hair, obviously frustrated. He got up from his desk and shut the door to the office. “Look, we are up to our eyeballs. Stores are being broken into and people are stealing anything they can carry off: electronics, jewelry, watches, clothing, food, you name it. I’ve never seen this city in such a mess. The tem p.m. to seven a.m. curfew isn’t even beginning to touch it. At this point, the public knows there are just too few of us to enforce much of anything. You boys want to get out there and stop some of this, go for
it. Just don’t go making any more work for my team, got it?” he spouted off, past any ability to be reasonable.
“Okay, I am going to assume down town is a hot spot. Any place else in general?” Kevin pursued.
“Take your pick!” the chief shouted as he steamed back to his desk. “It’s all over!”
They left the chief’s office to form their own plan of attack. Arriving back at Charles’s office, they discussed splitting the teams up into pairs and working the curfew hours. “There are eleven of us. Split up, that makes five teams with one extra until the CW team can be brought on board. Once we have CW help, our teams will be bigger and we’ll be able to cover more ground. If each team takes a sector of the city, maybe we can get on top of this mess,” Kevin said as he eyed the large map of the city on his father’s wall.
Since they had several hours before patrol time would begin, the men left and headed down to the underground development. The construction crews were still working hard at cleaning everything up, and Marshall was amazed to see how much progress had been made.
The men headed straight for the old VCTF office, still being used as a makeshift hospital. Once there, they wasted little time in gathering all uniforms they could find, along with ammunition, weapon belts, and sidearms. Then they grabbed every available pair of handcuffs they could find. Kevin went into the storage room and pulled out several bundles of rope.
“Planning on tying someone up?” Marshall inquired with a grin.
“Yes, as a matter of fact. I know if I use my handcuffs I will never get them back from the police force, and I am as capable of tying someone to a light pole or tree as I am of handcuffing them,” he replied smoothly.
By mid-afternoon, the remainder of the team was back with a list of participants from the CW program. They had a total of eleven who were interested in helping out. Charles had contacted the company from which they had purchased their uniforms, and a shipment was being sent via overnight express. Two female vampires who were excellent seamstresses were also on standby, ready to sew on the patches and names as soon as the uniforms came in.
