He decided he would be as open as he could. He started to realize that this vampire in front of him was nasty, scary, dangerous and a handful. But she was also honest, fun, a leader not afraid to dish out ass kickings and congratulations. She was what his team could get behind and she didn’t undermine her subordinates. In this case, him. “Let me know what you’re thinking and let’s see what we can work out.”
Bethany Anne sat down. She knew that getting Dan on her side was a pivotal step in making this half-baked plan come together. She didn’t have a Stephen here in America so she needed to pull together an organization that had the connections, the muscle and the manpower. Dan Bosse had been doing this for fifteen years. He was the one who had the background and experience she needed, desperately. She sat on the desk.
“I just bought this company here and a house in Smugglers Cove to start a base of operations.” Dan raised his eyebrows at that. She just claimed to have bought his annual budget easily many times over. “But, I need a core group of paramilitary men and women to create a strike force that can go on multiple simultaneous operations without a vampire. I’m not always going to be available and frankly I’m not sure who I can trust at the moment. In the vampire realm I can count that on one finger.”
“I’m wondering if you would accept a change in direction. Frank will still be the government contact or whoever comes after Frank, but I don’t want to only handle issues that Frank can help with. I want a worldwide organization that we can depend on. We’ll base it here and in the Keys to expand some of our capabilities.”
“Where would we get the manpower?”
“Well, when you have one problem it might be a pain to correct it, but if you have multiple problems they might cancel themselves out. What do you think?”
Dan’s mouth just opened. He wasn’t sure what to make of Bethany Anne’s plans. But if he could make this type of organization work he might finally feel like they not only had a chance against the forsaken, but could take the fight to them. Everywhere.
They decided to get Frank’s thoughts on the subject and let him ponder it for a little while. He agreed to help on the first operation to get her plan in motion and go from there. She said she would catch up with Dan and the two persons of interest out in the van in a moment.
He left and the pilot waved at him and headed for the office he just vacated. Dan had some thinking to do. He left the hangar and walked out into the light, getting John’s attention. “Grimes! Come here, I need a report. What happened in the building?”
Bill opened his own office door to find Bethany Anne sitting on his desk. He took the chair. “I see that you’re into something government related, do I need to know more?”
She smiled at him. “Better to not know if you get questioned, is that it?”
He smiled back. “No, I’m naturally curious so I’m trying to find out the limits right up front.”
She tried to decide how to explain that he was going to sell his business and become the employee of a vampire. Michael never covered this. She just tacked it on to the other thousand things that bastard had failed to mention. If he didn’t like the outcome, then he could kiss her ass.
“Bill, I’m a full-disclosure type of person. If you’re on the team, you’re on the team. The problem is there is no ‘off the team.’ Not because I or anyone on my team would do anything to you if you don’t talk. And trust me, we would find out if you talked. However, the ‘other’ team isn’t going to believe one word of your proclaimed innocence. They wouldn’t have any problems just grabbing you to see what you know if you aren’t under my protection anymore. So, you can walk away but you lose your protection, make sense?”
He scratched at his scruffy five o’clock shadow that was going on twelve-thirty. “Was what you did back in town related to this?”
“No, well, I’m not sure. It could be but it was pitched as a normal terrorist attack so I don’t think anybody who got involved on the spur of the moment is going to be targeted at all. So, you’re safe there. You can step out of this office with everything you started with this morning plus the money I promised you—which has already been deposited into your account, by the way. I don’t want you thinking that I would hold that money out on you.”
“What kind of upgrades were you thinking?”
“What can you fly?
“Almost anything military, except fighter jets and nuclear bombers. Those I could probably figure out if you aren’t in a rush to get off the tarmac.” He smiled when he said that. It sounded that it was plausible he might be in that situation so he should state a few boundaries up front. She smiled back.
She considered the future and where they needed to end up. “Would you consider learning new craft and perhaps teaching others if you’ve learned enough?”
“If they have the talent, sure. But I need to be the judge of the talent part. I don’t mind letting the pilot risk their own necks, but I won’t be responsible for rubber stamping someone so they can kill others with their piloting.”
“That’s fair and what I would expect. What’s your business worth?”
“Mostly debt. The lease on this space is up in six months and with your $50k I now have about $57,000 in the bank account and a car note that will make you blanch.”
She laughed at the car note comment. “Not if it means I get to keep you and that Black Hawk, Bobcat. OK. Our new base of operations is going to be out of the house I just bought.”
Bill barked a laugh. “You bought a house in Smugglers Cove and you’re going to run your base of operations out of it?”
“Sure, seemed appropriate that we can get some boats and leave out of there. Wait until you see the boat I’m going to buy. I’m going to send in the team if they have a minute and tell them to answer all questions truthfully. Make sure you feel you’re going to fit because I don’t handle anything but the best relationships on my team. You really don’t want me to kick your ass, so make sure you get along before you sign on the dotted line.”
“Kinda like signing in blood?” He smiled as he said it.
But she just cocked her head and said, “Yeah, that’s about right,” and left.
Bethany Anne was walking out of the hangar when her phone rang. It was Nathan.
17
New York City, NY, USA
Ecaterina was working with Nathan to get Nancy down in Florida all of the information she needed to close the deal. Nathan had a real estate company set up with a huge number of cutouts to hide who owned it. He thought this might be something that Bethany Anne would be able to use, but he didn’t want to front her down payment on a $9 million acquisition.
“Bethany Anne? It’s Nathan. Do you have a minute?”
“Sure. I presume this is about the house?”
“Yes. One of my businesses has real estate and I use a bunch of cutouts to hide who owns it. Namely me in most cases. It takes a while to set up all of these shell corporations. Do you have any desire to work with me on this?”
“Really? That would be fantastic. Hell yeah, let’s do it. What do you need from me?”
“Oh, about $2.5 million to handle the down payment.” Nathan smiled.
“Why not just the whole amount?” Nathan’s smile turned into one of incredulity. He’d forgotten she was stupid rich. He didn’t even know how rich but Michael must have given her access to some serious money.
“Uh, yeah. We can do that.”
“Nathan, can we use those corporations to hide additional purchases?”
“Like what, ten thousand pairs of shoes?”
“Hey, I’m not Imelda Marcos you overrated mental amputee. I want to buy an aviation company that has debt from purchasing a Black Hawk, and I intend to spend a lot more as I get more toys and the upgrades I want on those toys.”
“Good god, Bethany Anne. These are serious toys you’re talking about.” He made a mental note to not joke about vast quantities of shoes.
“Yeah, well, the other side isn’t playing fair
and I don’t have a problem cheating either. It’s why I’m going to upgrade the toys.”
“I should say you don’t. What kind of money are we talking about?”
“Short term? Probably $150 million. Longer term? Probably six times that.”
Good god, Nathan thought, that’s a billion dollars. Hang on, world, this just got really serious.
“Yeah. I can make that happen. But I’m going to need to get your authorizations and signature ability on your accounts. Are you OK with this?”
“Sure. Just remember that the exit interview for misappropriation of funds is incredibly short and fatal, and we’re good.”
“Never doubted it.”
“Good to know. I’ll get with Kevin Berger over in Zurich to get you on board. I’ll see if he can make this happen or if I have to go back over there.”
“No, they should have someone here in New York. But you will have to be here to do it.”
“No problem. I’m coming up there with a team to deal with our recalcitrant puppies. Do you and Gerry have any ideas yet?”
“You mean ideas that don’t end in mass slaughter?”
“Yes, those are the kinds of ideas I mean.”
“Uh, no. This stuff has been percolating for decades and some just can’t see the danger because they can taste the change in the air.”
“Yeah, they might taste the change but it’s going to be my foot shoved down their throat if they don’t like it. Consider a way to get a conclave together of the biggest problem children that you think are at least open-minded enough to talk without doing something stupid. I’ll accept a flag of truce for the discussion and unless they do something completely stupid they’ll leave with their health intact.”
“What might be considered ‘completely stupid?’” He knew of a couple vampires who took very little to piss off.
“So long as they don’t act like they’ll physically harm me or my team then we’re good. If they have the strong and stupid types, they might want to leave them at home.”
“What kind of team is this? Do you have more vampires? I understand from Ecaterina that Ivan is working with Stephen.”
Damn, she should have mentioned to Ecaterina that she didn’t want everything shared with Nathan. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Nathan, but she didn’t want to share all of her actions with Gerry and Gerry’s contacts. Like Frank. “No, it’s my team that works with Frank.”
“So they already know about the UnknownWorld. OK. I hope they don’t get intimidated easily.”
“Shit, Nathan. My team took out two forsaken last night and a bunch of terrorists today. I don’t think they’re going to flinch because of a few mouthy meatheads with a bad attitude. One second.” She covered the phone with her hand. It wasn’t that she was going to stop Nathan from hearing anything but it gave the illusion of privacy. “Hey, Darrell. Are you and Scott available for a few minutes to talk with Bobcat? He’s the pilot, Bill. Yeah, a nickname. Let him ask you anything he wants and answer it all honestly or decline to answer it at all. Nothing is off the plate for me. Yeah, even that. I don’t care, your choice if you want to offer it up. I need you to vet him as the team’s primary pilot. Yup, I’m hiring or buying his company so make sure you boys can play together in the sandbox, thanks.”
She came back on the phone. “Sorry about that, needed to get some more meetings going while we talked. So, set up the meeting with the bank for us and with the hotheads too. I’ll have an additional four with me. They will all be armed with silver frangibles.”
“Bethany Anne, we both know you don’t need support. There isn’t a Were out there that can take you.”
“It isn’t about fear, it’s about perception, Nathan. I don’t want to scare them; I want them to want to join me. I won’t ignore them as I’m going to co-opt them.”
Nathan was speechless. This, he hadn’t figured on. No vampire had officially worked with Weres or any of the Wechselbalg in anything other than a very superior position but it sounded like Bethany Anne had different plans. She was bringing humans and calling them team members. Certainly she would do no less for Weres. Just what the fuck had Michael gotten them all into? He thought, not for the first time, that Michael was either a genius or a madman. Unlike the last time, he was smart enough to not say that out loud over the phone. While she couldn’t scare the crap out of him like she did last time, he knew she would remember it.
He did some political calculations. Except for a couple of people on the council who thought that it was time to ‘rise above it all and proclaim themselves superior,’ this might work. He needed to talk with Gerry. He was the one that this could seriously threaten.
“OK, let me know if you need anything else and I’ll get with Gerry on this. Anything special Gerry should know?”
Bethany Anne considered this question. “No. Tell him nothing changes with the council setup. I’m just going to have a new organization that needs men and women who won’t take any shit from anyone that isn’t on my team. The council will still stay in place for everyone else. That should cover most of those that need an outlet for their more aggressive tendencies.”
“OK, I’ll let him know.”
“Great. My team and I will be up there tomorrow. Make sure you take care of Ecaterina as I’m going to pick her up and come back to Florida after the meeting.”
“Will do, see you tomorrow.”
They both said goodbye and hung up. He got on his laptop and went to sign in to the main database that showed where he had real estate in the Miami area. If he didn’t already own any, he was going online house hunting. If the girl of your dreams had to live in Miami, then it seemed prudent to be able to visit her. He might like Bethany Anne and he was sure he could visit her home anytime. He just didn’t want to stay there and have her super-hearing listening in all of the time.
Miami, FL USA
Bethany Anne went out to the van where Dan and John were still together talking. They turned to her as she came up. John asked her, pointing with his head over to the hangar, “What are the guys doing?”
“I’m having them talk with Bobcat, our pilot, vetting him. I still need you to do that if you have a minute after Dan?”
Dan answered her. “No, we’re finished. Nice piece of work. I have a team picking up that van you left over in south Miami. Don’t want that left behind. Other than that there wasn’t much left for the FBI, and what you did to the team guarding the hostages wasn’t seen very clearly at all. The only person I think got a good view was a mom that was watching her son as he was about to get beaten by that one terrorist. The one who lost his head?”
Bethany Anne nodded affirmatively. “Yup. He was about to slam his gun butt into the little kid. Fortunately, he was closest when I exited the stairs.”
“Well, the stories coming from the hostages are that there were at least two members on each side. One for each group of three terrorists.”
“Are they still claiming that it was terrorists?”
“The news isn’t changing the story, so easier to call them that at the moment.”
John interjected, “You guys need me? I’m going to talk with Bill and get this going. I’d be happy to have access to a Black Hawk and pilot all the time.”
Both said no and he took off to join the rest of the team talking with Bobcat in the office.
“So, you were talking about the mom?”
Dan continued, “Yes. She saw you because she was already looking at that guy when you showed up and backhanded his head off of his shoulders.”
“Pretty much.”
“OK, well she isn’t talking. She has her son and she just wants to forget the whole experience. She’s clammed up so tight you would think someone threatened her.”
“Hey, it wasn’t me! I didn’t stop to talk with anyone. We had three minutes to get the op finished so there was no lollygagging.”
Dan snorted. “It took you guys maybe, maybe, one minute to take everyone down. Now I’m finding out from
Eric that John seems to have excelled in the past twenty-four hours? Not to mention that he came back to me in perfect health with a massive knife wound and blood all over him last night? Want to talk about that while I think about your earlier offer?”
Bethany Anne considered the situation. She wanted Dan on board, but she really didn’t want this info leaked out. “Yes, I’ll share but it will be on your honor that it never goes further than you without my permission. That includes Frank as well, do you understand?” As she watched Dan consider her ultimatum, she realized that she just used that damn phrase ‘on your honor’ that had started everything back with her dad at his base. She really hoped she wasn’t turning into Michael.
“Agreed.”
“OK, take a walk with me.” They started across the tarmac and she didn’t say anything for the first hundred yards. “How much do you know about how a vampire is transformed?”
“Not much. Bill didn’t explain the situation except to say it’s painful as hell and it’s not easy to accomplish. The problem is that if you can’t survive the transformation, you turn into a Nosferatu and you’re little more than a hungry pile of vampire flesh that doesn’t have much intelligence. Cunning, yes. But not intelligent.”
“True enough I suppose, but the problem is that the way Michael and his children create vampires isn’t the correct method. I won’t go into the how and why of it right now. I can tell you the first stage in the transformation is to correct any problems with the body at a cellular level. Nothing moves forward until that happens.”
She waited to see if Dan could put it together.
“So, you’re saying that you had to give John your blood last night? Is that why you raided the blood stores last night before you left so fast to help them?”
“Not really. I needed the blood myself. My body converts it to a type of energy. When I got to the guys they had taken out two forsaken and John was bleeding horribly with his own knife stuck through his Kevlar jacket and a sucking wound in his lungs. I asked him if he would trust me. We had no time. He agreed and I slit my wrist to feed him the healing properties in my blood. While I did this, Eric pulled the jacket and shirts out of the way.
Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Set One: Books 1-7, Death Becomes Her, Queen Bitch, Love Lost, Bite This, Never Forsaken, Under My Heel, Kneel or Die (Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Sets) Page 37