Enduring Service

by Regina Morris

  Dixon looked around and saw Daniel at the table. Having both of them attend the meeting meant one thing — the fake presidential trip to Camp David was completed. Time really did fly by. It had been days since Dixon had entered Sulie’s bedroom, but since he never left the room, he had not gone back to his place for a change of clothes. He now wore a borrowed pair of pants and Sulie’s night shirt, which he could have sworn was similar to the one he had owned a long time ago.

  At the head of the table, he noticed Sulie holding a baby in her arms. Across from her sat Sterling with another babe in his arms. The twins. Dixon felt a bit ashamed for not visiting Sterling and Kate upon the birth of their sons, but brushed the thought aside as he walked over to where Sulie sat and looked at the little one.

  “Aren’t they beautiful?” Sulie cooed as she nuzzled the baby.

  Dixon smiled and touched the baby’s small hand. “What did you name them?”

  “Reece,” Sterling said, pointing to the boy in Sulie’s arms. He then gazed down at the baby smiling up at him. “This one is Conner. I was so worried that I wouldn’t be able to hold them.” He held out his bare hand, and Dixon noticed no glove. “They love my touch and Kate’s.” He now looked down at Conner. “Don’t you? Yes. Yes, you do.”

  Dixon stroked Reece’s cheek, which caused a coo to come from the baby. “They’re beautiful. How is Kate doing?”

  “Tired. We’re giving her a break right now so she can take a nap.” Sterling lifted Conner up and cleaned off some spit–up from the boy.

  Dixon walked around Sulie’s chair and realized, of course, a chair remained open for him to sit next to her. He understood now how the team had dropped hints, or had even given him opportunities, for him to fall in love with her. He really had been an idiot.

  He flashed a smile at her, which showed the slightest tips of his fangs as he took his place at her side. He suffered through the comments from the team members that he had finally woken up and smelled the roses. For him, the flowers would always be lavender.

  He held Sulie’s hand and realized over the last few days he had seen her smile more than he ever had before. No more scotch glasses existed, no more teary eyes, no more loneliness and sadness. Thirty years seemed such a long time to wait for someone you loved. He didn’t believe he would have had the patience, but was so glad she did.

  From the corner of his eye, Dixon noticed Raymond walk into the room, but he didn’t close the door.

  “Sorry to keep you waiting,” Raymond announced as he took his seat. “I just got off the phone with Liam,” Raymond started. He looked over to his sister. “He’s the human I told you about. His brother is a half–breed and he knows about our existence.” Raymond glanced away and now addressed the entire team. “I think he’ll make a fine ally for us among the humans. I just briefed him with some current information.” Raymond paused and looked around the room. “We need to be extra careful when we are around humans. Liam was able to identify half of us as vampires based solely on his observations. We will go over his report in more detail later, but suffice it to say, we all need to be more diligent and find ways we can blend in better when we are with the humans.”

  “So, no feedings in the White House in a public room?” William jokingly said.

  Raymond blushed. “Yes. No feedings out in public. There are many areas where we can be more careful.”

  Dixon stifled a chuckle as he remembered the first time William’s wife had met Raymond, who was down in one of the public sitting rooms of the White House, feeding from a syringe. It seemed so long ago now, about fifteen years. As the Colony Director, it would have been Dixon’s job to foresee any cleanup that may have been needed. Fortunately, Jackie was open–minded.

  Another vampire now entered the room and closed the door, excusing himself for being tardy. It was a vampire Dixon recognized. His body immediately stiffened as he watched the vampire take a seat at the table.

  “Dixon,” Raymond began, “This is Julian. He is a first cousin once removed from Charles.”

  Dixon watched as the vampire eyed him, giving him the same look he had given him in the restaurant. A look of recognition. “Do I know you?” Dixon asked.

  Julian glanced from Dixon to Sulie. “No.”

  “But you know who I am?”

  “Yes.” Julian stammered. “Well, no.” Dixon noticed the vampire stare at him holding Sulie’s hand. “You were the human bait Charles found. I recognized you from the pictures in Sulie’s phone, but I didn’t know who you were.”

  Raymond rubbed his temple. “The two of you met at the restaurant.” He shook his head as though clearing his mind. “Dixon, your mental projections are very strong. A lot of detail.” He took a deep breath and looked over at Julian. He paused a moment and Dixon could tell Raymond was reading Julian’s thoughts.

  “Why didn’t you tell Charles about the pictures of Dixon on Sulie’s phone when you had a chance?” Raymond asked.

  “He was obviously someone important to Sulie.” Julian looked nervously from Raymond to Dixon and back again. “I didn’t want to hurt her.”

  Dixon noticed Raymond glance towards Ben, who nodded. Guessing that Ben read the vampire’s aura, he told the truth.

  Raymond obviously trusted Julian enough to allow him access to Fang Manor. The Colony protocol was very specific. No visitors were allowed in the mansion, only Colony members and their families. Dixon doubted that any of the single male vamps in the room had begun to date Julian, so he asked, “You joined the team?”

  “He did,” Raymond answered. “We’ve checked him out.” He pointed to Ben and Sterling as he dismissively waved his hand. “He’s trustworthy and has nowhere else to go. Plus, he’s eager to start fresh with another coven.”

  Julian looked around the table meekly. “I’ll help out any way I can. Sulie was always kind to me. In a way, seeing her again is like finding a lost relative.” He then added under his breath, “One you always wanted to spend time with again.”

  “You were always a good kid, Julian,” Sulie said.

  “Julian has been helping us,” Raymond began. “Over the last few days we reviewed the files stored on the computers we retrieved from the restaurant,” Raymond said as he opened his own computer and displayed its information on the smart wall across from the table. “With Julian’s help with guessing passwords, we have been able to piece together a few loose ends.”

  All eyes turned to the smart wall. “First, we have four urns filled with vampire ash,” Raymond said, as the image on the wall showed pictures of the slain vampires.

  Raymond moved a laser pointed over Millard’s image. “The first urn is filled with Millard Townsend’s ashes.” Raymond looked over to Julian. “Of course, you can do what you wish with your brother’s remains. We are sorry for your loss.” When Julian shrugged his shoulders, Raymond moved the laser pointed to a picture of Charles. “The second urn has the remains of Charles in it.”

  Dixon heard Sulie huff in disgust, but Raymond continued.

  “The last two urns are filled with the ashes of Emerson Simmons and Brent Hartzell. Emerson was the fake trainer at Camp David,” Raymond used the laser pointer to highlight the taller of the two vamps, “Both were sons of Charles. They were the ones who attacked Ben and I at the restaurant. According to Julian, their mothers were turned humans.” Raymond pointed over to Julian, “At the time, he thought the women had chosen to leave the relationship and move on.”

  “That’s what they told me,” Julian commented.

  “Since I have access to Council records,” Raymond continued, “I checked on Emerson and Brent’s family lines. Turns out, their mothers both had unfortunate accidents.”

  Julian closed his eyes and shook his head. “I thought they had abandoned their children and left. I never even questioned the matter. It’s stupid I know, especially since these two women weren’t the only ones. I wasn’t close to any of them, but Charles fathered dozens of children with several women who have disappeared one
way or another.”

  Dixon heard Sulie huff once again and he turned to face her.

  “That was certainly his plan for me,” she said, squeezing Dixon’s hand. He used his thumb to gently caress her hand in return.

  Raymond now looked at his sister. “There is a silver lining for you, Sulie,” Raymond said as he clicked on his keyboard. The screen now showed Sulie’s marriage contract with Charles. “This is a matter of public record.”

  “He would have killed Dixon had I not agreed to marry him,” she protested.

  Raymond smiled. “But I’m sure you noticed our mother’s signature on the document as the head of your family line.” Raymond pointed to the smart board. “This is an older contract. Drafted nearly two centuries ago, but still legally binding. It’s the fine print you’ll want to read Sulie.”

  Raymond magnified the image as the team members read the document.

  “As Charles’ widow, I get half of his entire estate?” Sulie asked.

  “Correct. And since we have this document and his ashes in lockup, you can appeal to the Council and take what is rightfully yours.”

  “Shit,” Julian blurted out. When all eyes crossed over to him, he explained. “Not just half, Sulie. You get all of his estate. Charles’ parents are now dead. He had been listed on his father’s family line and was the only one on it. Even though he has many sons, he never put any of them onto his bloodline.”

  “Why not?” Dixon asked.

  Julian glanced over to Sterling. “Some were half–breeds and he deemed them unworthy.” When Sterling rolled his eyes, Julian continued. “I suspect that the purebred ones weren’t placed because none of them had special abilities.”

  Sulie laughed. “So I now own his bloodline and all the accumulated wealth!”

  Raymond cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “According to the Council, Trudy has already claimed her brother to be dead. She needed to get the clock rolling since she can lay claim to his line in 90 days if his widow doesn’t come forward.” Raymond said, quoting Council rules. “My guess is that she hopes we don’t know of this stipulation.”

  Sulie’s eyes turned cold. “We’ll screw her over in more ways than just her brother’s wealth. Don’t worry, Raymond.”

  “Wait,” Brandon, the new Director, who had sat quietly until now, interrupted. “How can Charles be the only one in his bloodline? You all live forever unless you die of blood loss or fire.”

  Brandon waved his arms while he talked, and Dixon smelled the human scent even stronger. The beating of Brandon’s heart grew louder and Dixon’s fangs began to extend. He felt the gentle caress of Sulie as she held his hand and it gave him strength to dismiss the talking meal.

  “Charles’ father declared Letztes Leben years ago,” Julian explained. “He chose to live his last life and to die. His mother, the head of Trudy’s line, died in a plane crash. As did Trudy’s grandmother. Overall, I have always wondered if Trudy had eliminated some of the older relatives so she could have more control of the bloodline.”

  “Letztes Leben?” Brandon asked.

  “Charles’ father, whom I remember to be rather nice, was over six hundred years old when I knew him,” Sulie said. “It’s considered an honorable death to choose a last life. Many vampires do so because they are tired of living. Last Life is happening more often now with all the advances in technology. So many of them can’t keep up and choose to move on.”

  “Exactly,” Raymond said. “And that was one of the reasons behind the widow’s clause in the older marriage contract. You expect to live forever with your spouse, but marriages are often arranged with one individual considerably older than the other one.”

  “Charles was eighty when I turned sixteen and we were engaged. That was considered a very close match in terms of age.” Sulie smiled once again. “I’m absolutely going to file a claim as the grieving widow.”

  “You and I have an appointment with the Council tomorrow. I’ve also arranged for Julian to meet with them in regards to his family line.” Raymond reached into his back pocket and slid two bus tickets towards Sulie and one over to Julian, who smiled as he picked up the ticket.

  “We’re leaving by bus tonight. I figure Trudy may keep an eye on all airports and train stations, not expecting us to travel by bus.” Raymond explained. “Julian can claim his family line and you can get a hold of all of Charles’ wealth making sure Trudy can’t lay claim to it.”

  Sulie looked down at the tickets and handed one to Dixon. Dixon noticed his name on it. When he looked over to Raymond, Raymond smiled. “I’m not sitting on a ten hour bus ride listening to Sulie’s thoughts about how much she misses you. Plus, I can’t compel you to stay behind.”

  Dixon smiled. When he had borrowed the pants from Raymond, which were rather a tight fit, Raymond had tried to compel him. Even though Dixon heard the compelling, he had no intention of barking like a dog, so evidently the subroutine remained in place. He looked over at Sulie for reassurance. “A bus? Filled with humans for ten hours,” he whispered in a high pitched voice over to Sulie.

  “The allure of fresh human blood does wear off, Dixon,” Alex said from across the table in the same high pitch that only vampires and dogs could hear. “I remember my first time around a human after my turning. All I could hear was their heartbeat and all I could think about was feeding. It’s just the newness of it all. You’ll get used to guarding your needs.”

  Dixon lowered his head and looked away. He had forgotten about the vampire sense of hearing. He glanced over at Brandon, thankful he had not heard either of the remarks.

  Raymond spun in his chair so he now faced Alex, Ben, William and Sterling. “If you don’t mind, I’ll need you to work a few extra shifts with the president to make up for our absence. We should be back in a few days and Brandon will coordinate the schedule with you.” When the team agreed, he thanked them and then continued, “We pulled an address for a warehouse off of one of the computer drives, what did you all find?” he asked.

  “Empty,” Ben replied.

  Alex added, “No signs of refrigeration units, medical supplies, or anything else remained.”

  “The warehouse was rented by Charles, but the account was closed,” William added.

  Raymond looked deep in thought. “What about the cell phones we got off of Emerson and Brent? Were there any valid phone numbers or contacts in it?”

  William shook his head. “They may have been in service at some point, but they’re all dead numbers and addresses now.”

  “Were there any pictures, videos, saved browser bookmarks, or anything useful?” Brandon asked.

  “There are some pictures and videos of Sulie taken before her abduction. My guess is they were doing surveillance on her for a few weeks. But other than that, there was nothing on either of the phones,” William said.

  Dixon looked over to Julian. “How close were Charles and Trudy?”

  “She was controlling. Always ordered everyone around, but Charles seemed to be her favorite. She would always say he was the least stupid of all of us.”

  Raymond tapped the table with his fingers, as though considering what had been said. After a brief moment, he asked, “From what I’ve read about Charles from the Council, he wasn’t an idiot. If anything, I would guess he withheld information from her. Would he have moved the blood to keep it from her?”

  Julian shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not sure. Probably. They never allowed me to have it, so I’d guess as long as Trudy had plenty, she wouldn’t have kept close tabs on all of it. Charles was tasked with collections and storage.”

  Dixon let out a chuckle. “He was skimming easily ten percent off the top,” he said, and all eyes turned towards him. “After one collection I heard Trudy ask if he met his quota. I’m guessing he always came in short or lied about the amounts. He also claimed poor transportation accounted for a loss of their haul.”

  “Sounds like the Charles I knew,” Sulie commented. “He probably hid the blood
so he and his children could have it. But where?”

  “The only children he was ever close to died in that restaurant,” Julian said. “My guess is that if he did hide the blood, only he knew where he stored it. The blood could be a leverage point for him if he ever needed one in the future.”

  “Think back to what you know about Charles,” Raymond said, as he glanced from Julian to Sulie. “Any observation you may have had could give us a clue.”

  Dixon thought back to the car ride he had taken with Charles. His car had been messy with a lot of paperwork and even a patient file laying about. The parking garage tickets all came from Baltimore, Maryland. Dixon thought back with a piqued interest in the patient’s file. When he had first seen the file, he assumed it to be a random patient’s file. But what if it were something else? Signed contracts? Legal documents of some kind?

  He thought back to the writing on the outside of the file and remembered a name written in heavy dark black ink. “Check on the name W. Minster Fynwent,” Dixon said, looking over at Raymond. “Is he a patient at the hospital Sulie worked in?”

  “Why?” Raymond asked.

  “Just a hunch,” Dixon replied.

  Raymond typed on his computer, but didn’t find any patient by that name.

  Looking over at Julian, Dixon asked, “Does he have a child by that name?”

  Julian shrugged his shoulders. “He has a lot of children. But that name doesn’t sound familiar.”

  “Dad,” Sterling interrupted. “What about a vampire?”

  Raymond again typed on the computer and momentarily pulled the image off the smart wall. “No vampire by that name is registered in the American Vampire Council database. I just put in a request for a check on the European one.”