Chapter 8

 

Adam loved the old building that had been state of the art some decades ago. It had held up well over the years but would most assuredly need some upgrades. He and Evan walked through the kitchen area, the place that would be converted into a large open area where breakfast and some light dinners would be served.

They’d decided after looking things over that it wouldn’t be so much a hotel as it would be a place to relax with the family, and not have to worry about things like traffic near big highways. Nor that much in the way of crimes.

Adam walked to the counter that had served well as a front desk and sat in the only remaining chair in the place. Evan had taken the other one. Handing him his list and getting the one from his brother, they compared them to see what they were going to take care of and in what order.

“The pool can be fixed now. It’s a nice one, and I’ve had a couple of people that I know look at the heating system in it, as well as the way it’s looking. Danny and his team came out and said that the filtration system and the heater for the pool are in good shape and working. But he suggested that we might want to get the filtration part replaced soon rather than have it go out when it’s most needed.” Evan agreed, telling Adam that he’d take care of that first. “Good. I would also like to have the rooms enlarged. The place is nice if you only wanted to sleep here and not do anything else. The rooms are too small for even a couple, much less a family.”

“I agree. The last time that Dylan and I were staying in DC, the thing that we found the most irritating was the size of the rooms. And the fact that there would only be the one bathroom. If we cut the size of the place down by half, as I was thinking, we’d have two full baths in each room. Also, there should be a couple of them that have a kitchenette. That part we both loved when we had the boys with us.”

Adam wrote this down on his sheet. Evan did the same with his. Later, in a couple of days, the two of them would meet up again, this time with a more comprehensive list, and the order in which things needed to be done. This was going to be a lot of work, but in the end, both he and Evan were excited to be doing something together.

They’d bought the building several days ago. It had taken them this long to have the place cleared out of some of the more downtrodden that had taken up residency there. When they were moved on, neither one of them saw any reason to kick them to the curb. Instead, they found them a place in the shelter as well as got some of them jobs if they wanted them. Not that they’d be able to stay at the shelter for very long, not without trying to help themselves. Help was there for those that wanted it—the rest would be asked, politely, to find a job.

Evan was called out, so Adam moved around the spacious place alone. There really was a great deal that had to be done, but they both thought it was well worth the investment. Also, it would help a few people out around town. Creating jobs was one of the things that his family excelled in.

Just as he was entering the kitchen area again, Adam tried to think what would be the best way to make this area work. They had both agreed that the kitchen would be open to the public. Not to upset the diner in town. but to have more of an upper-class sort of place, where they served steaks as well as a few other items. That too would add revenue to the town. It was nice to have a place to go that didn’t have too many options on the menu. Not that the diner did. It served breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but that was all the menu said. The cook, whoever was working that day, would get to pick what they had to work with. It had worked well for years, but it would be nice to have a nice sit-down type of place to go when a celebration was in mind.

He was just locking up the place, having had new locks put on, when he saw a man in the shadows of the alley between the two buildings next to his and Evan’s. Not sure who it was, or for that matter what he was, Adam reached out to see if one of his family members were close when he got Sunny and David. They’d been shopping for Christmas already. He told him what he saw.

Stay right where you are. We’re no more than a few blocks from you. Adam asked David how he was supposed to do that when he knew the man was still watching him. Act like you’re clumsy or something. I don’t know, drop your keys and pretend to try out a few of them to lock the door.

I’m going to be very embarrassed if this turns out to be nothing more than a man out walking his dog. David asked him if he could smell a dog and he told him no. Actually, I don’t smell anything from him. What the hell does that mean?

Don’t know, but we’re coming up behind you. Turn toward me when I say your name. Sunny is coming in the other side with Carter. She was coming to see you anyway about something else. I can see you.

Adam was beginning to be nervous and he hadn’t any idea why. When David said his name, he turned toward him and waved back. Adam was really glad at that moment that the other man couldn’t see his face. He could taste his fear of the unknown like he could hear his heart rate going up.

The gunshot startled him badly enough that he jumped. Also, and he was glad for his brother’s quick thinking, he was tossed to the ground just as something streaked by him. Thinking that one of the women was hurt, he and David made their way to the alley to see what had happened.

“I didn’t get any more than a shot fired off when Tanner was there and gone with the man before I could figure out what was going on.” David asked Sunny if she’d been hurt. “Nah. I’m fine. But I wonder what the hell Tanner was doing here. Not to mention, out this time of the day. Do you know what his tolerance of the sun is like?”

“Pretty high. I mean, the man is as old as dirt if not more so.” The clearing of a throat had them all turning to see Tanner there. Again, Adam was embarrassed and apologized to the older man. “I just didn’t expect this, that’s all, and it has me a little mouthy. I’m sorry.”

“No need. But the threat, and that was what it was, is no longer a problem.” Adam asked if he was the target. “No, it was me and my little fae that were the targets. Sadly, I will have to go to the council to tell them just what happened. The man, Randal is his name, he’d become quite the bother the way that he’s been sending his minions after me.”

“Are you all right then?” Tanner smiled, and Adam saw the drop of blood on his lip. Adam started to say something about it, quietly, when the old vamp licked his lip clean. Shivering once, Adam asked again if he was all right.

“I am. I promise you that I am. If not for Flora, I think that Randal might well have harmed you to make me do as he wished. The man was a fool if he thought me stupid enough not to have a good eye on him all the time.” Sunny asked what Randal might have been begging for. “Me to kill him. Not really, but that is what it ended up being. I think that it would take a great deal of stupidity on another’s part should they not be begging me if they tried this on whom I consider family, don’t you?”

They all laughed. Tanner was a good man. and Adam knew that should he find the need to kill someone, they might as well come to Tanner and beg to make their death quick. Adam had heard about his grandda and his issues with another vamp and had it in his head since then that Tanner would take care of it soon enough.

“I have given it some thought, and I should like to purchase some land and empty places here in town as well. It is not like I need the money, but like your grandda, I find myself bored with things, and Flora and I should like to invest some time into this place.” David asked him what he had in mind. “I’m not entirely sure. I do wish to help others, much as you have all helped me in one way or another. I will give that part more thought as I purchase the two buildings that are on the market by the town. Unless you have your eye on them.”

“I don’t think the family is in the market for anything right now. I do know that there are four houses, not very big ones, that are being shown by Josh right now. Not much in the way of buyers. He said that it was because of the winter months. I don’t know.”

“I’ll look into those as well. I was thinking of you, David, just the other day as a matter of fact. How is your book about the Decker house coming along? I have been excited about it for some time.” He told him that it was still at the editor’s office, and that he expected something back in a few days. “That’s wonderful. I’m sure that you did it a great deal of justice. I’m to understand that you have a great many pictures in it as well. Ollie, he told me that you have put something in the back of it to ask people if they knew anyone in the photos that you added. Brilliant idea.”

David flushed with embarrassment. Adam was glad that he wasn’t the only one that could be embarrassed at the drop of a hat. But as David got more confident about his work, the more alive he seemed to become. His brother was a very famous author, but Adam would bet that most people that knew David wouldn’t have any idea that it was the same man that wrote the things that he did.

“So, it’s going to be made into a movie? I congratulate you on that. It must be quite the feather in your family’s hat to have you being so famous.” David said he didn’t think he’d go that far. “Nay, I would think that you’d not. But I am very proud of you, young man. You deserve this. Very much so.”

“There was a gun fired.” Everyone turned to him when he blurted out what he’d been thinking about. “I’m sorry. I only just realized that there was a gunshot went off. Did you have to shoot him?”

“No. But it was tempting. Randal was just pulling out his own weapon, a long beautiful sword, when I saw Tanner. The blade, I think, was for threatening you, Adam. And the gun, it was to kill you should you not have done as he wished.” Adam asked Sunny how she knew that. “I touched the sword.”

Sunny could touch things and know the entire history of the item by doing so. And from there, she could “track” others that had touched the person wielding the item. She was scary good at it, and Adam knew that his family had used her talent whenever they needed answers. Sunny would have gotten not just the man’s intent from the blade, but also would have been able to tell who was helping him, as well as anyone that he’d killed to get what he wanted.

“Speaking of which, Tanner, there are a few others that you need to see to. Not kill—they’re as innocent as kids. But they need help. Two of them, the ones that he held captive in order to change them, have died. A few more are very close to it, a botched changing from which they’ll need a great deal. I don’t know that they’ll make it either. The will to die, it’s very strong in them.” Tanner said that he’d look into it now. That he needed to make arrangements to see the others of the kiss that he had inherited. “If you need assistance with them, just let us know. I can find what Dylan can’t—and we both know that’s not much. She’s a wizard when it comes to finding things and people.”

Parting from the others at the door of the hotel, Adam started for home. He had big plans for tomorrow and the next day. He was going to woo his wife. Adam loved Ivy with all his heart, and to show her how very much he did, he was going to make sure that she never regretted becoming his mate—starting with the night before they were to wed. Tomorrow night, he was going to propose to her as well, something that he should have done a while ago. Adam smiled all the way home and was thrilled when it started snowing enough to cover the ground.

Life was good. Very good, as a matter of fact.

~*~

Meghan had to wait for three more days before she’d know if she was qualified to adopt Nathan. The two of them had spent a lot of time together of late, and she loved him as much as she did her own sister. And the Whitfields had welcomed him into their leap already too.

Her cell phone was ringing when she got out of the car with several bags of things for Nathan. Instead of answering it right away, she made her way into the house to greet her new staff and ask if they would bring in the last few items.

Ollie had been so wonderful to her. And when he’d found out that she was going to take Nathan into her home, the man had gone all out, even going so far as to tell her that he was as much her grandda as he was to any of the rest of them. He said that he already considered Nathan to be a great grandson as well.

Taking the phone out of her purse, Meghan looked at the unfamiliar number and decided that she’d not answer it. If they left her a message, she’d deal with it then. If not, then they’d never get in touch with her. Taking a few of the items that Nathan had requested into his room, the phone rang again.

Over the next two hours, her phone rang a total of forty times. She wasn’t going to answer it after them annoying her, but it was starting to get on her last nerve even as she sat down at the sewing machine to work.

Meghan had always enjoyed sewing. But it wasn’t until she had this home to go home to that she’d decided to try and make a quilt. It wasn’t nearly as difficult as she’d thought it would have been. And it was decidedly more relaxing than watching the snow drift down to the ground. Or worse yet, watching the clock until it was time for Nathan to come home.

When she’d had enough, fearful of turning off the phone in the event that it was important, Meghan wrote down the number and called Adrian. He’d gotten his law degree some time ago, but she knew that his primary job, consulting, was what he had enjoyed the most. Having the information ready for him when he answered, Meghan didn’t want to disrupt his day when he was sounding like he was in good humor. That was if his laughter was any indication. She started to hang up, to tell him that she butt dialed him, when he turned from humor to serious in a blink of an eye.

“What is it?” She said that it wasn’t important. “Of course, it is. Tell me what has you so upset. I’m here for you, Meghan. Tell me.”

She told him everything that she’d been dealing with, giving him the number when he asked as well as the times that whoever had called her. Adrian asked her a few questions. then told her that he was sending Dylan over.

“She has contacts that I can’t get you. I’m trying my best to stay on the good side of the law. Sometimes that isn’t as easy as it sounds, sadly.” Meghan told him that she was sorry again. “Don’t worry about it, my dear. I want you to call me when you’re unsure of something. And even if it’s harassment, I’m thinking that you aren’t comfortable with that notion either.”

“Why won’t they leave a message if they’re that hard up to talk to me? It’s been going on since I arrived home earlier today. I would love to just turn it off, but I’m afraid that Nathan might need me.” Adrian told her that if it had been Nathan, he would have left her a message. “True. But all I can think about is that someone has him and they want me to answer so they can tell me their demands. I don’t have any money to pay a ransom, but I’ll figure out something if he’s in trouble. I love that boy.”

“As we all do. I’m going to send Dylan your way. She’s in my office now, and I’ll tell her what is going on and see if she has any theories.” Meghan thanked him. “I’m sure that he’s all right. He has a couple of people watching him, and after we hang up, I’ll talk to them as well. All right?”

“You must think I’m a silly nilly, don’t you?” Adrian said that she’d been hanging out with his grandda too much and reassured her, once again, that he’d never think that of her. “Of course, you wouldn’t. You and the rest of your family are about as nice as anyone I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. I’ll talk to Dylan, and I’m sure that she’ll tell me that I’m jumping to conclusions. I’ll feel better once Nathan is home. too.”

Putting her phone away, she sat on Nathan’s bed and waited. She supposed that she could have called the school, asked if he’d shown up today. However, she didn’t want anyone to think that she was a worrywart. Nor did she want anyone to think that she’d lost him even before getting him permanently.

Going down to the living room again, she sat at the window. It was perhaps fifteen minutes later and five more calls to her cell phone when not just Dylan, but Sunny, Carter, as well as her sister and Eve arrived. They’d been going shopping.

“We had planned to come by here anyway, to see if you’d like to go.” Eve hugged her tightly, something that Meghan was beginning to enjoy very much. Her cell went off once more while she was greeting the others in much the same way. “My goodness is that this person again?”

Showing them her phone, Meghan suddenly felt drained, like she was just getting over a bad bout of flu and still needed to rest. After explaining to them what she’d been dealing with, Sunny asked if she could touch her phone. While she knew what Sunny could do, she’d never actually seen her do it. The moment that it touched her hand, Sunny swayed slightly then sat down on the couch.

Meghan wanted to cry. She’d hurt one of her friends and she felt horrific about it. Going to sit beside her, holding her hand when she asked, Meghan tried to comfort Sunny while she fought her own emotions.

“The person—or in this case, the people—that are calling you are Nathan’s biological parents. They’ve been notified of his impending adoption by you, as well as how you are related to the Whitfield family.” Meghan asked her what they wanted. “A great deal, as a matter of fact. First of all, they’re seeing an attorney to find out how to go about suing you. Not that they’ll ever have the chance to do so, but that’s not stopping them from trying.”

“I don’t understand. They abandoned him, basically stripping him of his right to be in a healthy and safe environment.” Sunny asked her how much she knew about the Whitfields. “Nothing much. It’s not like they’re any relation to me or Nathan. I mean, yes, Ollie set me up with this home. I figured that they have money. How much? I don’t know. It’s none of my business.”

The women all looked at each other. Meghan glanced at Ivy and asked her what was going on. Of all the people in the room, she knew that her sister would tell her the truth, even if she didn’t want to hear it.

“All right. The Whitfields are wealthy. I don’t mean like I am, which I am a millionaire, but they have several billion dollars. Each.” Meghan shook her head. “They do, Meghan. They’ve been investing well and taking care of their money all the way back to—I guess forever. As I said, they’ve invested well, bought cheap and sold high. You name it, and I’m pretty sure that they’ve had their hand in it concerning the market and money.”

“Okay, I’m still having a hard time putting the money with these people. Not that I don’t believe you. But you have to admit, they look less like billionaires than anyone I’ve ever seen. Not that I have a lot to do with—” She shook her head again. “I’m babbling. Another thing that I rarely do that I’ve only just started doing. Billionaires? Are you...and you’re a millionaire? Christ, Ivy, I’m so very proud of you.”

Sunny laughed, then Eve joined her. Meghan didn’t know what was going on. Were they making fun of her, or were they just—?

“They’re after money. These people, they’ve found out that Nathan is staying with me, me adopting him, and they want me to...well, the only thing that I can think of is that they want me to pay them. For, I don’t know, keeping him?” Dylan told her that it was more than that, probably. “Can’t we just tell them that I’m not a Whitfield? And that I don’t have access to any kind of money that they’re hoping that I’ll give them?”

“Two things—first, they’d never believe you. Secondly, you do have access to any amount of money that you want. I don’t mean for this, but for anything that you wish. The moment that Ivy became a part of the family, so did you.” Meghan told her that Ollie had told her the same thing. “Then you should believe him and us. They’d drain you dry if they thought that you’d give it to them. Which, we will not.”

“I’m assuming that you don’t believe that they’ll just give up if I don’t connect with them. What will they do, kidnap Nathan and hold him until I agree to their terms? If so, then you have to know that I’d never give in to them. And if they touch one hair on his head, even to ruffle it up, then I will kick their ass all the way to the fucking rock that they slipped out from under.” Sunny laughed first, then Eve. It wasn’t long before they were all laughing, and it took Meghan a few minutes to figure out that they’d not been making fun of her, but of what she’d said. “What do I have to do to make them give up? I’m willing to do just about anything.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that. Because I have a plan, and it’ll take all of us to make it work.” Meghan had always thought that Dylan was scary. All of them, as a matter of fact. But she wanted these people to realize that she wasn’t one to fuck with either. “First thing you have to do is find out from Nathan what he wants to do. I honestly don’t think that he’d want to go back with them, not the way that they treated them, but he has to be made aware that they’re going to fight you on you adopting him. This is a decision that he must make on his own.”

“I agree. And I’ll talk to him as soon as he gets home. But what do I do about these calls they’re making?” Carter told her that she’d have to talk to Nathan. “You think that he’ll want to speak to them? Or worse yet, that he wants to go with them?”

“I don’t know. I’d like to say there isn’t any way, but I just don’t know. Even with the fact that he doesn’t know them, hardly at all as a matter of fact, there is also the fact that they are his parents.” Meghan nodded, and the phone rang again. “I’d not answer any of the calls until you’ve talked to Nathan, as I said. Even after that, I’d not talk to them until they leave you a message. But if he wants to talk to them, I’d allow him to do so.”

She didn’t want to do that. It worried her to no end that they’d be able, as his parents, to talk him into whatever they wanted. Meghan was sure that her heart would shatter if he were to leave her and the rest of them. Having the little man in her life had given her more hope and happiness than she’d had in a very long time.

Meghan had decided that she’d tell him what she knew, not showing any emotion at all, and let him come to his own decision. As soon as he got off the bus, it was all planned out. She had written and destroyed several ways to tell him about his parents.

But, as usual, nothing worked out the way she wanted it to. As soon as she saw him, Meghan lost control of her tightly held sorrow. Babbling it all to him, what they knew for sure and what that would do to him should he have his parents back in his life, Nathan held her tightly as he too cried.

“I’ll let you do as you wish. I’m not saying that I won’t miss you terribly, but they’re your parents, and that’s all that you should think about. I won’t ask or beg you to stay. This is for you to decide, not me.” Nodding, Nathan held her, not saying anything. “I’ll let you think on it. And I want you to know, I will support you in anything you wish to do.”