The Vampire (THE VAMPIRE Book 1) (44 page)

Allen nodded, surprising himself at how calm and composed he was in Augere’s presence once again. Maybe, after all this time, he was finally getting to be just a little more comfortable around Augere.

“I did just as you asked. I got Jason to his family’s home safely. Those present witnessed him enter the house and he was left in the company of his family as we departed. I have nothing to add after that moment as far as we are concerned.”

Augere nodded; Allen took that as his way of expressing gratitude.

“We are all grateful for that,” James continued. “As to what went wrong—”

“I take responsibility,” Augere began, interrupting James.

James was shaking his head. “Certainly no one blames you. If you care to, you may tell us all of the details, from your perspective. Actually we need to record all of it for the Archives anyway…” James paused. The Archives were never a popular subject with Augere. He tried to give Augere an out for now. They would have to get as many details as possible from Jason himself too, but that would have to be at some point in the future. “Suffice it to say there was an encounter with things none of us would ever really want or expect to see. I have no doubt you handled this the best you could, under the circumstances, insuring Jason’s safety as well as maintaining the protection of your privacy.”

All of them were staring at Augere now, trying to imagine what horrors Jason Sterling must have witnessed.

Augere made no reply. His expression betrayed a rarely seen tension now in the form of a deep frown. In fact there seemed to be a general sense of unease, and though it did seem to emanate from Augere, James picked up on a general tension in the room. He had long since become used to such subtleties and had learned to pay attention. Augere did not appear to be inclined to make further comment.

James turned his attention to his brother.

“Allen, in your conversations with Jason—what did he say to you exactly? About what happened?”

“Is this necessary?” Augere asked, an unexpectedly sharp tone to his voice.

“Just to clarify his state of mind; so we can know what thoughts were occurring to him in all of this…”

“Suffice it to say,” Augere replied tersely.

James acknowledged the comment with a nod in Augere’s direction. He turned his attention to Allen. Augere was in rare form today. But then, events like those of the previous forty-eight hours hardly occurred often for him either and this incident had put him in a bad humor. As might well be expected, James would agree, though it seemed this was not usually the case, at least not historically per the Archives James had glanced through, cross referenced regarding previous such incidents: Augere generally took these things, rare or not, in stride.

“Overall, as I shared with you before, he seemed quite fearful,” Allen began. “Even beyond what he must have witnessed, I thought, and beyond what his reaction to that might have been. There was a sense he believed he was still going to come to great harm. Even after he was safely away from—from that event—and from that situation. He just about expressed as much to me.”

“Did he give any indication why he thought that? Why he was feeling that way?”

“I had informed him of the consequences of speaking about any of what had occurred,” Augere stated coolly after glancing up toward the ceiling briefly, and then folding his arms over his chest.

Allen nodded. “He did mention some of that to me. He just stated he wished to go home to his family. And he kept insisting he would tell no one. That we could trust him. I recall him stating, ‘you don’t have to do this.’ I had no idea what he was talking about.”

James seemed to be reflecting on that. “Yes…that doesn’t seem to fully reflect the fear he expressed, however…he was told not to tell anyone about anything he had seen, as well as nothing about Mr. Augere…which is protocol and would be the right thing to say to him. He insisted he would not tell…then why was he still so afraid? I agree when I spoke to him once he was safe back at the hotel he sounded both angry and distraught, even, it seemed, all out of proportion to what had occurred. It seemed as if things did not need to escalate to the outcome they did… Or—am I missing something?”

“It was puzzling to me as well. I just did not get a clear sense of what was going on in his mind. I still think he was in a state of shock; not thinking as rationally as he might, and I thought he would be fine, or at least calmer and more rational, after he had had time to absorb the shock, and hopefully be able to put everything into perspective,” Allen stated. “And he may do so yet.” He shot a quick nervous glance at Augere after he said this, adding “But then of course, he is already terminated, however.”

“Perhaps, in a few weeks, when he has had time to get past this, I can interview him over the phone and get a broader sense of what was going on with him then. If he is willing to speak to me.” James glanced up to see Augere shaking his head. “Or not.” He sighed. “Although it appears we can conclude what likely caused his decision to leave, we will wait until we have had an opportunity to discuss this with him further before we record any of that for the Archives.”

It seemed two of the principal people involved were able to reach a consensus while Augere declined to make any further comment or acknowledgement either way.

“As to what went right, I think it was a great idea Mr. Augere had, to secure the passport early on,” Allen stated. “And in taking such proactive measures, such as notifying me at the first sign there was the potential for a problem, I was able to be right there, at what turned out to be a crucial time.”

“And having a contingency plan worked out quite well, too, I think,” James stated. “The body guard EMT you retained was a good choice. It freed you up to attend to any other matters, while making sure someone was with Jason at all times. I think that went a long way toward preventing a more serious situation. It probably protected everyone’s safety.”

“And Mr. Augere’s decision to leave separately made a good deal of sense,” Allen added.

Augere nodded his agreement.

“Is there anything else we could have done differently? Any other comments on our actions?” James gazed at the faces around the table. “Does anyone have any questions about the procedures that were followed?” He paused for several moments. “We should plan to implement these steps in the event of future incidents such as this one. There is just one more thing if we have concluded with the debriefing then, before we can adjourn for brunch.”

James focused his attention on Augere. “Several unexpected expenses were incurred.” James recited from a list. “Additional hotel expenses-- the Airport Hilton, and Allen’s stay at the Richmond hotel; food expenses; plane tickets and change fees plus the additional cost for Allen and Nick’s flights; retaining Nick’s services; rental car in Minnesota, and the flight for Charles to deliver the papers to be signed and witnessed there.” James paused. “Seventy-five euros—at Harrods—?” He glanced up at Allen with a questioning look.

Allen quickly stated, “That’s mine, I’ll get that.”

Augere responded with a shake of his head. “I will cover that.”

Allen acknowledged Augere’s generosity with a smile and a nod at him. Then James mentioned Jason’s additional unplanned airfare to Minnesota, $560.

“I will not authorize it.” Augere shook his head. “That should be deducted from any monies owed.”

James nodded and made a notation, and then said to Augere, “And I do have some documents for you to sign, if you will wait once the others leave. Allen, will you stay briefly to witness the signatures, please?” Allen nodded assent. Augere had not yet acknowledged James’ request.

“Right. Well if our business is concluded for today then I guess it is time for brunch.”

Voices rose in excited chatter all around the table at the prospect of a lavish brunch at a local restaurant, to be paid for, as usual, by Augere and the Genier family. The brunches were customary after all meetings.

No one caught the movement, but suddenly Augere was standing too.

“I hardly think this situation is cause for a celebratory mood.” The sharp tone of his voice cut all of the chatter immediately. A deafening silence followed for several long moments.

“No. Of course it is not,” James stated in a quiet voice, meant to soothe. “No one meant any disrespect here.”

More heavy silence followed. Augere’s eyes were flashing ominously though his face was impassive.

“Maybe you could join us for once; we would welcome your company, certainly,” Charles was saying, with innocent sincerity. James winced and braced himself for what he sensed was coming as the words were spoken. Charles wasn’t used to attending these meetings as his presence wasn’t usually required. Nor was he much used to the presence of Augere. He didn’t know how these things usually went. And those were not the words one spoke in Augere’s presence. A palpable tension grew quickly and accompanied the heavy silence now.

“So I may observe all of you dining?” Augere’s voice was meant to inflict damage as he addressed the group as a whole. “Perhaps in turn I should insist all of you accompany me to a location of my choice so you may observe me during a meal.”

Among those present who knew the full truth about Augere, several faces tried to conceal involuntary expressions of horror as they imagined what that scenario would actually look like.

“Meeting adjourned,” James stated a little louder and more quickly than was necessary. All of the participants were already on their feet and scrambling for the door.

Then it was just James and Augere, with Allen standing near the doorway.

“Laurent…”

“What.” The word was spoken more sharply than Augere had intended. The two of them might occasionally bicker, but he was rarely so harsh with James.

James sighed. “Unless it is me that you are angry with, please stop,” he announced with a stern expression. After a moment’s pause his facial expression softened. “I want to express how very sorry all of us are about this turn of events. I want you to know I am especially sorry to see Jason go. Not that what I think really matters, I realize, but I really did like him.” James added with quiet sincerity, “We had all hoped for a different outcome.”

Augere did not speak nor look at James for several awkward moments. Allen’s posture shifted slightly as he waited uncertainly in the doorway. He too kept his eyes focused on Augere.

Then Augere shrugged one shoulder and without making eye contact he stated casually, dismissively, “Nothing gold can stay.” Then he gave James a brief, tense smile.

James studied him for several more moments. Though he knew him very well, maybe better than anyone else, Augere could still be quite hard to read at times. He had lost other assistants under awkward scenarios before, though none within James’ personal memory. Whether it was an amicable parting or the result of extremely unpleasant circumstances, it seemed Augere had maintained the same placid attitude. It had been noted by Genier ancestors he truly had not cared either way.

Now, under the calm acceptance James witnessed, he sensed an uncharacteristic response, an as yet indefinable emotion. It seemed this situation might have been particularly unpleasant for him.

James expressed a mental sigh at the thought this might mean months—years—of withdrawn brooding on Augere’s part. The less time he spent in human company, the less he wanted of it. The possibility was strong that Augere was going to be difficult for an extended period of time in the foreseeable future.

And they still had other business to conclude today. James hoped to get the remainder of it done as quickly as possible.

He removed some documents from a folder on the table and brought these to where Augere stood a few feet away.

“Here is the resignation form, and the newly prepared termination confidentiality statement. He already signed this TCS; it is the one Charles and Allen witnessed; you and I need to sign it as well.”

James was watching Augere’s facial expression closely. Augere had made the decision to terminate Jason, though Allen and he had been in favor of giving Jason time to think things through. They had held out hope that after a brief interval Jason would be okay with all of this again and would chose to return to work. But once Jason had expressed a desire to be free from his job, Augere had abruptly decided to give Jason exactly what he asked for, and he had determined the decision was to be final. Augere was highly unlikely to have second thoughts. It was useless to try to move Augere once he had made a decision. Jason Sterling was done.

“If you will just sign the resignation form, and the TCS, then Allen and I can sign the letters of reference, unless you want to sign those as well.” He paused, for effect, before stating, “And then we can put this matter to rest.” The sooner closure was reached, the better for all concerned.

He placed the several documents requiring signatures on the table in front of Augere and placed a pen alongside them.

“What is this?” Augere asked with disdain.

“Oh. Sorry.” James stood waiting for several moments after removing the offending ballpoint pen. “Don’t you have your fountain pen?”

“No. I do not.”

James wasn’t sure Augere was telling him the truth just then. It was possible of course, but very unlikely he didn’t have at least one of his fountain pens with him. He always carried one.

“Can’t you just sign these, please, just this one time, with the regular pen?”

“There is nothing regular about it. I cannot write with—that.”

“Laurent, please…”

He was shaking his head. “It will just have to wait until I have a proper writing instrument.” The irritation in his voice signaled the end of the discussion.

James sighed heavily as he gathered up the papers and replaced them into the folder. He wouldn’t win this. Augere took no notice of the small smile that appeared on James’ face briefly as he shook his head though. Then his expression turned solemn again. “Are you returning to Boston now?”

“No.” Augere’s soft tone of voice had returned.

“Good. You know I very much like having you here.” James paused. He glanced at Allen, still waiting patiently in the doorway and gave him a dismissive nod. Allen responded with a nod and quietly left. “Do you know when you will be returning to Boston?”