Theron's Hope (Brides of Theron) (32 page)

Zane was the first to recover, “What in Gods names was that about?”  He wasn’t expecting to see Brylon barging in.

“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.

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 you 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.