Reunion

Leonard

I sat at my desk, second-guessing my choices to meet Christian. Leaning back in the chair, I sighed. My office door opened as I looked to see Alice. But in her hands a silver pistol, her finger hugging the trigger. I looked at her. "What is this? You draw a gun on me, Alice?"

Alice glared at me. Her sweet persona completely gone from her features in its place was to kill, and her focus was on me. "Sorry, Leonard. It's nothing personal, it's business."

"Tell me, did Jarrod put you up to this? What is he dangling over your head against you? Threats of murder, why Alice?" I glared at her, seeing another female figure outside the door of my window. This woman I knew was on my side. "Was this Christian girl persona? Something you wanted to be, if so it's not too late."

She interrupted me. "You're funny Leonard. Jarrod has nothing to do with this. I told you a week ago you should have left me in France. That I wasn't good for you. You only cared about your dead girlfriend. You never cared about me. All you care about is a memory."

I looked at her. "You're wrong Alice, I cared for you. I have to admit your sweet, caring, study girl phase had me fooled. A mistake I won't let happen again. Tell me one thing before you pull that trigger. What will you gain out of killing me? You'll be back to step one. That broke bar hostess on the run from Jarrod. It was my idea that kept you from becoming hunted like an animal. Or is a caged animal, what you want to be?"

She looked at me. "I've moved on, to bigger opportunities. J. M Enterprise has offered me a higher position as CEO since you had taken Jarrod out of action. I no longer follow orders, I make them. My first order of action is finding and taking out the remaining Shepherd family. Now enough talk. Any last words, Leonard?"

"No." She looked at me as I stood up, catching her off guard. I grabbed the remote from my pocket, pressing the button. Alarms sounded as glass breaking filled the darkroom. Then the sound of a gunshot was followed by a sharp pain in my chest. Once the lights came back on, I looked around to see Graceona standing over Alice. "Grace."

The red-haired woman turned around, her eyes wide as she ran to me, catching me before I fell to the ground. I looked at her as she led me to the ground. "Grace, it's always been you." She looked at me, stroking my hair.

"Don't talk, Charmaine is on her way,"

I looked at her. "No, I'm done making things complicated between us. I was at my happiest when I was with you. Please give us one more chance, that's all I ask."

She looked at me. "I would give us 1,000 chances." My vision became blurred. "Don't talk, you'll be fine, I'll be with you when you wake up." I looked at her as she held my hand. With the strength I could muster, I squeezed her hand.

***

I opened my eyes, my surroundings not my home. Looking around, I heard a familiar voice. "Welcome back. You gave us a scare."

I looked to see Charmaine. "Grace, where is she?

Charmaine smiled. "She's asleep on the couch. She fell asleep a couple of hours ago."

I looked at the woman sleeping on the couch. "So you and Grace, are you going to make things uncomplicated now, brother? It took you being at death's door to realize what you have. Leonard, you're a foolish man, you know that?"

I looked to see Nicolae looking at me. "Alice, is this over?"

Nicolae sighed. "No, Alice got away. Graceona lost focus on the mission when she saw you in your condition. We have decided to lie low until you're healed, then we're going to move in and end this ridiculousness. But, Alice. She had left a letter on your desk. Do you want to read it, or do you want me to tell you what it says?"

"I don't care what her reasons were, she made them clear. She was jealous of Annette. She told me everything."

"I apologize, Leonard. But jealousy isn't the only reason for her motives. She and Jarrod have been exchanging emails for the past few weeks. We looked at her phone and there were no Christian visited websites in her history. She had been trying to move in and take your money for herself. Grace can witness that. We had been tracking her movement since Audra's funeral. A transaction of 500,000 dollars was taken from your account. The three of us knew you weren't in the desire for a spending spree. We knew that something was up. It was when Grace had an idea to pose as a high-ranked lawyer, to capture her in her lies. Alice, of course, took the bait. Grace's reason for being on Nantucket last night was to seal a deal with Alice. But after everything that happened, Graceona lost focus and Alice is aware of the game we tried to play. McGee is no longer broke. Graceona has seen various transactions that Alice was making to contribute to Jarrod. Using your money. Jarrod isn't as rich as he was, but he is anything but broke."

I sighed, "That liar. How much has she taken from my account?"

"Three million dollars. It would have been more. But Graceona had some friends that owed her favors. She had your accounts switched and protected. Three million dollars was all that she could get. Grace has all your information. It was the last thing she wanted to do was being in control of your money. But with the issues in your life, she saw it fitting. As we all three did. An email from Alice has stated that she planned on drawing more money to make you flat broke by the end of the month. Graceona set out to make sure that didn't happen. Alice wasn't going to leave you, but she was going to take your business, leaving you a broke, miserable man. We assume her information about your previous alcoholic addictions. Charmaine thinks that was her focus and when you were past going. Then she was going to make her move and drop you from the picture."

I sighed. "We'll let you rest now, brother. After last night you need it."

"And it's time for me to make sure that you get it. I fall asleep for two hours and the three of you are plotting and not letting me in on the fun." I heard Graceona as I looked at her. She now stood beside me. As the couple in the room smiled.

"We'll leave you two lovebirds alone. Come on Nicolae, it's time to get breakfast ready." Charmaine smiled, leading Nicolae from the room. Once the door closed, I looked at Grace, who looked at me.

"So?" I looked at Graceona.

So." Graceona sighed. "I would apologize for my actions as of late but, I can't seem to think of anything I have done that needs apologizing for. Though they had tampered with your bank account, you are no penny less than when you last checked it. Everything is now as it should be."

"What do you mean, I'm three million dollars short?"

She looked at me. "You were three million dollars short. I have done a bit of tampering with the money myself. Did you think I would let Jarrod steal your earnings and sit back and take it? You forget what I was before I joined this rebellion, a hacker and former sniper. If I may say so myself, I was one of the best, and I've still got it, after three years. Jarrod has three million dollars. But it didn't come from your pocket. Jarrod and Alice will have to explain how three million had gone missing from the government. A task that neither of them can do, so I picture the two of them will be in prison for a while."

I looked at her with a laugh. "You still got it, love. I don't think you lost any practice over the past three years."

"I never left it. I guarded your money and me hacking to steal back what they stole I will not apologize for that either."

I smiled. "I don't want an apology for any of those things. If anyone has to apologize, I'm the one who should do that?"

"Apologize? For what?"

I looked at her. "For being foolish and not realizing what I had already. Also, for putting you on the back burner while I looked for everything that I didn't need."

Graceona looked at me. "Leonard, you're young. I'm older than you."

" By two years, Grace, that's not an enormous gap. Our mother was twelve years older than our father. I've concluded that age is a number. Nicolae is seven years older than Charmaine. Those two seem to be happy in love. They have the life they want. Why can't we be happy and have the life we want? Seems cruel to separate two people with the chemistry we got. Why do we even try?"

Graceona shook her head, looking at me. "Leonard, we both desire different things out of this relationship. You want a family with children. While I don't desire children, I'm more than willing for there to be something between us, but we."

I interrupted her. "Grace, who in the world told you I wanted children? That I wouldn't be happy in a relationship without them. If we don't have children, I won't lose any sleep. If we do, we do, if we don't, we don't. It won't be the end of the world. Besides, how could the two of us be happy raising life? I'll love Riley and Nicolae's child, but I won't mourn for anything if children aren't something we gain."

"You knew Nicolae and Charmaine are expecting?"

I looked at her. "Was I not supposed to? If that is the case, Charmaine had done a terrible job hiding it. You should have seen her through the entire conversation just now. The girl was glowing I never thought she could become more gentle than she was, but to top it all off, she was clutching her stomach like it was her security blanket. Why that girl is afraid of me I would like to know, so that I can fix it."

"She's not afraid of you. She worries about you. We all were Charmaine had stayed up most of the night making sure you were going to be alright. I don't think she had slept. She's fueled on coffee and mother hen vibes, rather it is you, Nicolae, or myself when one of us gets hurt, her mother hen self goes through the roof."

I sighed. "It's sad. My brother and I strive to protect what is ours, desire to see them happy. But the only thing we are doing is running them mad with worrier. Worried if we'll walk through the door or have to be carried in. Worried rather we'll even make it home alive or if they will receive an unpleasant phone call. We put not only ourselves through emotional battles, but our loved ones. How is that fair, Grace? Is this what Jarrod plans, why put you and Charmaine in the middle of our affairs?"

Grace looked at me, confused. "We chose this life. Jarrod didn't include us in this. We included ourselves. We waltz into this war the moment we fell in love with you and your brother. If Nicolae could, he would give his careers and money to the deities in exchange if Charmaine had waited longer to meet him. He loves her and if it meant her safety from this, I'd wager he would have paid for Charmaine's life to go on without him in it." I looked at her. "It'd surprise you what Nicolae will tell when he's hammered, not the one to trust military secrets to." She fixed my cover and pillow. "Try to get some sleep. I still owe you that hotel visit and that scotch." I laughed.

"You remember that, but you don't remember the combination to your high school locker."

She smiled. "I never said I had forgotten that. I remember it. However, I remember times that entertain me more. School wasn't a challenge nor entertaining. I enjoyed sleeping in class as much as anyone. The things I learned from school didn't travel to adulthood. Now rest well. I'll be here in an hour to check on you."

She turned the light off, walking from the room. I sighed, looking around the white marble room, Nicolae's guest room. I closed my eyes, soon drifting off to sleep.