“What I was about to tell you was that my talk with Avery did not go well. She wanted to contact her family before we left to let them know she was alive. I told her there wasn’t time to do that. Needless to say, she is not happy right now with that specifically. So, I asked Brylon if there was anything that he could do in order for her to be able to speak with her aunts before we left. I am going to assume that he has found a way to do this. Come on. Let’s go see what he figured out."
Zane and Zeb quickly went to Zeb and Avery’s quarters to collect her. Zeb argued with Avery for several minutes and then Zeb threatened that if she didn’t come willingly, he was going to throw her over his shoulder kicking and screaming the entire way if need be. Since that moment she refused to talk to him and kept giving him the dirtiest of looks. In fact, if looks could have killed, he and Zane would have been dead the minute she laid eyes on them.
Once Avery looked like she would go willingly, Zane said to his friend, “I am going to get back to Gracie. I have been up here longer than I anticipated, and I am sure Ceran would like to return to Laura.”
“Thank you for all your help today,” Zeb told him.
“You are welcome my friend. I will see you in three days. You know how to get me if you need me.” Zane went to the clinic to pick up the box with the samples. He did a final check to make sure that everyone’s sample was accounted for. The only one left to collect was Grace. He would get hers when she woke up the next morning. He went to engineering and had the warriors there beam him down.
“Thanks Ceran for staying with Grace. I hope this detail did not put you out too much,” he said grateful to be in the apartment with Grace nearby. He placed the box of samples on the bar in the kitchen.
“She stayed in her room all night. It really was no trouble.” He looked at Zane, “Did you speak with Laura?” Ceran had to know what happened when Zane met with Laura. It was killing him to wait here not knowing what happened with his mate while he was away.
“She will most definitely be an asset to our clinic. I offered her a job and she will report when I return. Thank you for suggesting it Ceran.” He was ready to see Grace now and send Ceran on his way. “I am going to go to bed now Ceran, I am sure that Laura will be excited to tell you everything when you return. Thanks again.”
“You are welcome.” Ceran spoke into his transmitter. “I am ready to return to the ship.” Almost immediately he became transparent and then disappeared from the room.
Finally, he could go to Grace. He walked into the bedroom and she was sleeping. He quietly undressed and slipped under the covers, careful not to wake her. She rolled over and rested her head and her arm on his chest while in a deep sleep. He wrapped her in his arms as he quickly fell asleep with her.
Chapter 19
They woke up in a tangle of body parts, all warm from sharing each other’s body heat. She tried to get untangled from Zane and woke him up in the process. “Good Morning, what time did you get back last night?” She asked him as she began to stretch.
He watched her as she arched her back, waiting until she was finished so that he could pull her to him and linger in bed a bit longer. “I got back about 3am. It was a late night.”
She made herself comfortable in his arms and leaned into him a bit. She looked at the clock, startled. “It is 8:30 am. Michael is probably out there waiting for us. We better get up. We have a lot to accomplish today.” They got dressed and readied themselves for what was sure to be a busy day. Zane went into the kitchen to see Jo cooking breakfast and Michael was already served a plate. Grace came in right behind him holding some papers in her hand.
“Well, how goes it lovebirds?” He had a sly smile plastered on his face that said I know what you two were up to. “I don’t remember the last time I was able to sleep past 6:30 since the kids were born. You better enjoy it. It will be a long time coming in my case for sure. In about 6 months my whole world will turn upside down all over again.”
“Good morning Michael,” Zane said as he sat down. “I was out late last night securing the proof you needed for the trust.” He looked at Jo, “Good morning Jo. Breakfast smells delicious.”
Jo was in the process of making them each a mug of coffee and handed it to them. “Good morning, Dr. Zane, Miss Grace.” She gave the same knowing smile that Michael just gave them and said, “I trust you slept well. Your breakfast will be ready in just a minute.”
Grace sat next to Michael handing him the documents she printed last night describing the evidence. She was not going to let the knowing glances ruin her day. “I wrote this up last night, so you will need to review it and fix anything you see that might potentially cause problems in the future. I have e-mailed you a copy so you can work on it from there.” She took a sip of her coffee.
Jo served Grace and Zane their breakfast and left the room to take care of her other duties.
“The evidence is in that box there. The only one I have left to get is Gracie’s sample, and I have everything I need to collect it,” Zane added after Jo was out of the room.
“Alright, I will work on this after I finish eating and I will need the both of you to put the contents of that box in a locked box that is both fire and water proof. There is no telling what kind of natural and unnatural disasters could occur in the area so I would rather be safe than sorry. I will need all combinations and/or keys so I can reference them in the documents before we put it away for good. Once you get back, we will go and put it in a security deposit box in the firm’s safe for when it is needed. We will have the firm cover the cost of the box rental. You are a family member after all.”
Gracie brought her tablet out to the counter and plugged the words “Fire and water proof safe distributors, New York City” into the internet search engine. She printed the list of them and called William to come and get them in one hour. They finished off their breakfasts and went into the study. Grace still needed to have her sample added to the box. Zane repeated the collection process for Grace having her write the information on the tubes and the specimen bag. He finished by closing the bag with the evidence tape as Laura showed him. She excused herself and went to get ready, leaving Zane to explain the contents of the box.
Zane went through the bags and showed him the women and the men that were sampled. He also showed how they were identified. “I am going to go find Grace. It should be about the time to go now. Do you have any more questions for me?”
“No, I am good. I will get this all set up and ready for when you return.” Zane was putting the samples back into the box. “Zane, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, what do you want to know?” Zane stopped and turned around to look him in the eyes.
“All these women that your people took that are represented by a sample in this box. Are they just as willing to leave as Gracie is?” Michael asked.
“I don’t know about all of the other women, but I do know that the three that I have had direct contact with are excited to accompany us back to our planet. I can only hope the other women are as well. Grace knows that she is part of something greater than herself. She knows that she holds the entirety of Theron’s Hope in her hands.” Zane walked up to Michael and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I know that initially our directive was to take the women without any regard for their wishes because we exchanged technology and information and were given permission by your government. After we started to get to know them we adjusted our approach. With Grace’s help the council has approved for us to arrange for the women to collect their belongings from their homes and if they desire, to contact their families and tell them that they are safe. Michael, you should have seen her present her case to the council. I have never seen them so captivated. I hope this puts some of your concerns to rest.”
“It is a better explanation that I could have asked for. I hope that you know you are gaining one of this planets most wonderful people. I can tell you honestly that I am jealous that she picked you over us, but I can see why. The two of y
ou were made for one another.” He looked at Zane and said, “You had better get Grace and find a safe to fit the box. I gave Grace the dimensions of the largest box we had so she knows what to look for.”
Grace was dressed and ready to go. She had her purse slung across her shoulder as she called for Zane. Zane came to join her ready for another outing with his beautiful mate. “Are you ready to go?” She asked him with a smile.
“I am ready. Let’s go.” He took her hand as they walked out of the apartment.
They went to several stores on the list and didn’t find what they were looking for. Finally, when they went into the third one they found just what they were looking for. The other stores sold safes that were either too large or too small. This one was just right and it had a key unlike the others that used higher technology such as a finger print scan or a push button code. They really did not require that kind of technology as the safe would be locked in the firm’s vault. Zane carried the heavy box to the car and they instructed William to drive them home. They told him they would need him shortly and to not go too far. He decided he would park in the building’s garage and wait there for her call.
They went to her apartment and showed Michael the safe. “This is perfect,” he said. It would fit perfectly in one of the larger of the safety deposit boxes at the firm. They stashed all bags inside. The last thing to add to the safe was the documentation that required Gracie’s signature as well as the signature of two witnesses. Jo and Michael signed as the witnesses and they placed the papers in the box locking it with the key. They called William to meet them out front and with Michael accompanying them they all got into the car for the ride to the firm, Zane carrying the heavy safe.
Michael had set up a series of safety deposit boxes within the existing large walk in safe that the firm already had on the premises. It was another way that Michael added profitability to the firm. The combination had aspects of mechanical as well as an electronic mechanism to keep documents that pertained to cases they were working on protected. To add the boxes was really not that big of an expense. The one time large sum of money he put into adding the boxes was steadily creating money for the firm. There was no real overhead but for the man he had already employed to monitor the safe in the first place. This man watched the safe and checked items in and out of it during business hours and was on call on the weekends in the case of emergencies. Right now the vault’s security deposit boxes were nearly at capacity.
Michael made his way to where the vault was located in the basement of the office building. He pressed a button on the wall, looked into the camera near the door, and was buzzed into an anteroom. They walked into the room and Michael approached the man in a security uniform and said, “Hello George. How are you this afternoon?”
George looked to the door ensuring that the door clicked and locked properly behind them. “I am great Mr. Jameson. What can I help you with today?” He was a tall portly man with red hair and a mustache and little gold rimmed spectacles.
“We need to reserve a large security deposit box in the vault today. I think you remember Grace. This is her fiancée Dr. Zane Arden.” Michael introduced them around. “The box will be registered to Grace Abernathy but the firm will offer it to her at no charge.”
“Yes sir, I can set you up with what you need. Please fill out these forms Miss Abernathy and I will retrieve your key.” George opened a cabinet and retrieved a small bronze key with the number 802 stamped on it. “I will give you box #802, Miss Abernathy. You will need to put that information here.” He said as he pointed to the box on the form that identified the box number.
Michael looked over the form to make sure that all the questions were answered and said to George. “Make sure you send a copy of these forms to my secretary Beth for my files. Can you open the vault now George?”
“Of course, sir. You will need to wait out here while I open the door. I will call you when I am ready.” He got up out of his chair and went behind the wall protecting the combination from the view of those waiting in the other room. Cameras were placed in the four corners of the anteroom with monitors near the vault entrance. A large red button set behind a Plexiglas case would start an alarm and lock potential robbers in the room if anything were to go wrong, a time delay would be put in effect on the safe door not allowing access for several hours, and George would be safe behind the cage that would drop down around him. Only the people of building security with an officer of the NYPD could open the door leading out to the basement. A robbery would obviously not be happening today but the guard was always ever watchful.
George called them to join him behind the wall, showing them into the spacious vault. The standard procedure was not being followed today as a courtesy to the boss. Normally, George would remove the box from the vault and bring it into a small room with a table and chairs for the client to review until he was called to return the box to its position in the vault.
It had been a long time since Grace had set foot in here. The last time she came here was when Michael was proposing the addition of the safety deposit boxes to the board. There was a four foot clearance between the boxes arranged on the wall and the solid collapsible security fence that protected the firm’s most precious files from prying eyes. Mounted in every corner of the basement were security cameras just like the ones that were in the vault. “Wow Michael, I do not believe I have had the opportunity to see the boxes after they were installed. This was a great idea.”
Michael opened the door to the large box closest to the floor and Zane slid the safe into the space. They locked the door to the safety deposit box and Michael put the key into his coat pocket. “Well, I guess that is it. We can go back to your place now Grace.”
As William drove them back to the penthouse, Zane was thinking about how well things were going on this mission. It was moving at the pace he hoped it would. Grace told him yesterday that all the pieces and parts of the mission would be completed in time for their return on Thursday due to the tireless efforts of her cousin Michael. He was glad that Michael knew everything about what was actually going on. The decision to take him to the ship was definitely the right one. Grace was certainly happier with him knowing the truth.
Chapter 20
Grace was looking forward to the kids sleeping over tonight. She was in the kitchen with Jo making cookie dough for tonight as well as adding color to some frosting for the cookies they would make tonight. She had told Emily to bring the movie “Monster’s vs. Alien’s” for the feature movie of the night. She had Jo go and get some cookie cutters that resembled aliens and toppings like coconut and chocolate chips so that they could make alien cookies to go with the movie. Michael had left several hours ago to get ready for the date with his wife. She could tell that Michael was looking forward to a night out with her alone. He told her of what he planned and she knew that Emily would love it.
On his way out, she cornered him by the door while Zane was otherwise occupied and asked him if he was successful in getting the opera tickets she had asked him to get for her. He told her that he would have tickets for tomorrow night’s sold out show and that she should thank her lucky stars that he was able to get them. They were excellent seats too, he added. Located in the Center parterre box, the best in the house, they would have the whole box to themselves. He told her he paid a fortune for them and that it was his wedding gift to the both of them.
She was sure that this would be a wonderful experience for Zane. She loved the opera and the sing song dialogue. This performance would be in Italian but it didn’t matter if you didn’t speak the language. The music as well as the actor’s movements would carry the emotions and feelings hidden behind the words. She couldn’t wait to see how he would react to the experience. Opera was one of those things that you either loved it or hated it.
She had Zane moving furniture and pulling mattresses out of the spare bedrooms to place them on the living room floor. Grace planned for them all to sleep in the living room tonight. It
would be like a big slumber party. When Emily arrived, she told Grace that the children had been bathed before she left the house. She also let her in on what to expect from the children and reassured her more times than necessary that she was only a phone call away, and if Grace needed her she would drop everything and return as quickly as possible.
It took Michael several minutes to pry her away from the children. Jacob was crying and making his mother upset, but Michael knew that once he was settled that the alligator tears would stop as quickly as they started. He reminded Emily that they would be late for their reservations if they delayed any longer, reminding her that all of his well thought plans for the night that he kept as a surprise, would be all for naught. This was what finally convinced her that she needed to leave and she reluctantly left with her husband, leaving the children in Grace’s capable hands.
Grace was so excited tonight and as she spoke she transferred this energy into the children. She called Francesco’s Pizzeria and ordered a cheese, a combination, and a pepperoni pizza. She added breadsticks as an afterthought because the kids really loved them. After dinner they started to make their alien cookies. This was the most fun for them. Jacob’s cookies tended to look like a gooey mess, Gianna’s were artistic, and Chelsey’s were just practical. Each one of the children had their own little quirks and personalities. It was amazing just how much they changed in a matter of days and the difference in their behavior and actions when their parents weren’t around.
Theron's Hope (Brides of Theron) Page 22