Page 17

To preventme from murdering anyone due to my supreme annoyance over Bradley’s attempted kidnappings, I crawled into bed with him and took a nap, waking up a little after nine so I could order us breakfast. Bradley slept like the dead until ten, and he woke only because of room service knocking on the door. I waited for him to use the bathroom and stumble about his morning routine until he started eyeballing breakfast to stage my interrogation.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked, glancing at me.

“You’ve been almost kidnapped how many times, and you left Ren at home?”

His eyes widened. “How did you find out about that?”

“A songbird told me.” I pointed at the desk and snapped my fingers. “Eat.”

“You’re in bodyguard mode, I see.”

I foresaw a complete lack of bodyguard mode in my life in the future, as I’d evolved. Future-wife or irritated fiancée mode seemed more important than mere bodyguard mode. “No. I’m in highly irritated fiancée mode. That’s even worse. It’s like protective bodyguard mode, but regarding my future spouse, who apparently got almost kidnapped how many times?”

Bradley sat, turned in the chair so he could face me, and picked up a link of sausage, nibbling on it while eyeing me with a gratifying amount of wariness. Once he chewed and swallowed, he said, “More than once, less than ten. I think.”

“You aren’t sure if you were almost kidnapped more than ten times?” I grabbed my plate, sat on the edge of the bed, and took my frustrations out on a piece of bacon. “I want to hear a dramatized retelling of the one where you and Ren got knocked out and needed to be rescued by your father’s security team. Once you’re done, I want to know why you didn’t tell me.”

“Ren suggested I avoid telling you until he was present to defend my honor.”

A bark of laughter escaped before I could squelch it. “Okay. That’s fair. I can accept Ren wanting to play interference. He would know I wouldn’t handle the news well. I’m really not handling this news well, and I’m willing to acknowledge this.”

“I am impressed you didn’t drag me out of bed by my ear the instant you found out.”

“You were sleeping, and I needed a nap. I was even crankier before my nap. I stayed up all night reading awful legislation. I’m going to need another nap after I eat breakfast and hear your end of the story. After my nap, we need to get the bitch, Ren, Meridian, and Ajani from the airport.”

“Dad can handle getting them from the airport.”

“No. I need to see my fluffy goddess immediately.”

“And I guess we’re going to retrieve Ajani from the airport.”

“You may address her as our cat, but she’ll always be my fluffy goddess. That’s as far as I’m willing to compromise on this issue.”

Bradley laughed, and he relaxed. “All right. I’ll get my father to do the dramatized retelling for your enjoyment, but I’ll give you the basics. Honestly, I can’t give you a dramatized retelling because we were walking near my parents’ place for some fresh air when we got gas bombed. One minute, I was talking to Ren about scheduling. The next, I had an oxygen mask over my face while some doctor was trying to figure out what the hell we’d been sedated with. It acted fast, we both went down like rocks, and my father’s security people, who were practicing stealth observations, about shit their pants because the would-be kidnappers were just as good as they were.”

“Illusionist?”

“Probably. Since we were already out, Dad’s team opted to use some flash-bangs to scare off those in the area—and a powder bomb. Powder bombs are fun. It makes it really difficult for people, including illusionists, to hide. They spotted at least two figures, but they bolted once the various toys started going off. We were out cold, which freaked Dad out, but the sedatives only lasted for about thirty minutes before Ren came around. I was a little slower, but that didn’t really surprise anybody.”

“You’re smaller, and you have a good lung capacity. You probably got a big dose of the drug, and you metabolized it a little slower?”

“That’s what Dad thinks, yeah. Anyway, that was after a few other failed attempts. Somebody tried to grab me outside of your branch twice and once outside of the main branch. Ren handled two of those, and Beatrice took care of the third. Also, Beatrice is quite handy with an umbrella. Ren would have interfered, but Beatrice had the situation covered, and what she didn’t cover, I did.”

“Obviously, I owe the bitch a dinner at the very least. Were you actually apprehended for any length of time?”

“You may thank Ren for preventing that one. I got hit with an illusionist, and without him, I would’ve just happily gone into some stranger’s vehicle.”

“It looks like I owe Ren dinner, too.”

“I’m sure they’ll be happy to embarrass me at your leisure. They were definitely using an illusionist, though.”

“Which explains why you didn’t seem all that surprised. Because my kidnappers tried to get you, too.” I sighed. “Beatrice thinks I was becoming unmanageable, and they wanted to kidnap you to make me happy.”

“I have certain regrets regarding my status as kidnapping resistant right now. Had I known that was what was going on, I would’ve jumped in the vehicle rather willingly. However, we hadn’t known.”

“I would have been annoyed if you’d invited yourself to your kidnapping. However, being stuck in a room with you and a bunch of books seems like a very nice vacation, so I’m a little sad about that.”

Bradley grinned at me. “Would you like me to arrange for us to be locked in a room together with a nice, comfy bed, a bunch of books, and set feeding times?”

“With a connected bathroom. Like a hotel but with books.”

“Will this win me forgiveness for not telling you about the kidnapping attempts?”

“As long as I get a dramatized version of you having to be rescued while you were unconscious.”

Bradley laughed. “There are pictures. I find them to be embarrassing, but they exist, as my father’s team wears body cameras, so the whole thing was recorded. I’ll ask Ren to tell you about some of the attempts, and Dad would be happy to embarrass me about that time I almost got kidnapped at his house.”

“But you weren’t hurt?”

“Nobody was hurt. I was lethargic for the rest of the day due to the sedative, but we had a doctor come to the house and take a blood sample. Ren was woozy, too, so we got pampered. Mom even made us nice steaks after our rough day.”

“That poor woman must have been crying while cooking.”

“She had a new medicine to test. I’m pleased to report the steak did not rise up to kill her, and she’s on a new regime to control her dietary problems. She still has to be careful about her blood sugar, but she isn’t forced to be fully vegan anymore, although she does take care to limit how much meat she has.”

“That’s great!” I hesitated. “And your dad’s heart issues?”

“My mother will love you forever if you check him over.”

I sighed, scarfed down my breakfast in record time, and grabbed Bradley’s phone, summoning his father under the pretense of having a question.

“I’m going to get yelled at when he realizes he’s been tricked,” Bradley muttered, shaking his head and taking his time with this breakfast. “Now I just need to figure out a way to be able to have dairy.”

“I’m sure someone will figure out a medicine that actually works for you one day.”

“If only.”

Within a few minutes, Bradley’s father knocked on the door, and I grinned at the older man, waiting for him to step inside before bolting the door closed.

“I feel like I have been tricked into coming into this room, and I’m concerned.”

“Beatrice snitched.”

“About what, precisely?”

I laughed at how Mr. Hampton did a great job of preserving whatever other dirty secrets my friends and family kept from me. “A sedative bomb that hit him and his bodyguard. Also, we have to go to the airport later to pick up my cat.”

“I’m aware. Technically, we don’t need to, as they’re getting a rental of their own, but I assumed you would not be happy if I didn’t take you to see your fluffy goddess.”

“You are absolutely correct.”

“All right. I shall tell you about the day I almost had a heart attack because someone tried to kidnap my boy right from my yard.”

“You will tell me after I check to make sure you don’t have a heart attack.” I turned off the bracelet meant to control my abilities, removed it, and handed it over to Bradley. “That seems like a fair exchange. Story time for a functioning heart.”

Mr. Hampton chuckled, and he sat on the edge of the bed. “Which one got to you?”

I pointed at Bradley. “I would have gotten around to it when I checked everybody else, but when he’s worried and his mom is worried, that means I’m worried, and you do not want to wake the sleeping bodyguard beast.”

“She’s in highly irritated future-wife mode, and I’m finding this to my liking,” Bradley announced.

“That’s a rather unique way of expressing how much she loves you,” his father muttered. “Honestly, I thought the pictures did a better job.”

My eyes widened at the blatant verbal slaughtering of my dignity. It also made me wonder what the hell pictures he’d taken. Spluttering, I retrieved my phone, sat down on the other bed, and searched the internet for my name and Bradley’s, time filtered to be for the past week, and clicked on the image results.

Apparently, Bradley’s father had become obsessed with taking photographs of us, as there were a horrifying number of them, including some from when I’d been hiding behind him and Bradley had first caught sight of me. “You had security nearby?”

“Yep. I’d sent them ahead; I have a team in California, and it was fairly easy to get them to the beach to keep an eye out for you. They had spotted you playing on the beach, and I had them play tourists while making sure you didn’t slip off. We hadn’t even gotten in the air before I’d confirmed you were actually here.”

“Dad!”

Mr. Hampton chuckled. “What?”

“You had not told me that.”

“Why would I tell you? How could I get a good picture of you if I spoiled the surprise? I knew where she was the entire time, and she had protection. Of course, by the time she went hiding into the bushes, the security team was starting to get concerned. If we’d been delayed, they would have fetched her and given her water and basic care until we could arrive. I managed to convince them to just patiently hide out and wait for us.”

How ruthlessly sneaky. “That’s just fucking brilliant.”

“I certainly thought so. I’ve been getting pictures of you two since we picked you up, and the best of the lot has been going to the media. It’s doing a fine job of establishing you two are a genuine couple.”

“People think we’re not because of the bill?” I guessed.

“People think you’re the queen over all gold diggers. Jez has strictly limited how much her inheritance will be because she doesn’t want to unbalance anything with her attorney. We discussed the situation with both of them; they’re getting an equal inheritance, and it’s capped at a certain amount. Bradley gets the rest. Any other children we bring into our home will end up with the same deal—and they’ll be told exactly why. Bradley doesn’t even need the inheritance.”

“I plan on establishing stocks for Jez and her attorney once things settle down. I will claim we’re using the inheritance funds to seed it. In reality, it’ll be the amount of the inheritance funds, but it won’t be their actual inheritance. I’ll do the same for the other kids whenever they come home. It’s only an inheritance if our parents don’t spend it before they kick the bucket.”

I was surrounded by clever, sneaky men. “You have my approval. You know about the little job tonight, Mr. Hampton?”

“We’re already monitoring the home. Dr. Castor has not left as scheduled. The alarm is still disabled, and the motion detectors are picking up activity inside. I suspect she got wind we’re sniffing around her turf. I expect when we knock, she’ll be there to greet us and invite us in for a chat. Beatrice is convinced she’s flying out on the three o’clock.”

“But what about her talk? Won’t she miss that?”

“As of yesterday, it’s being rescheduled. It hasn’t been publicly announced, but the attendees have been notified. Two of the main speakers had medical emergencies, and they refused to endanger patients to attend a talk, and Dr. Castor stated she would reschedule with them. Once the three stars of the show announced rescheduling, everyone else did, too.” Mr. Hampton chuckled. “Since the attendees are all top medical researchers, everyone was fine with the rescheduling, apparently. The kind of people who are going to that talk are the kind to respect the patients and put them over a small loss of expenses. The expenses will get written off anyway; those who do still go will have access to the vendors, they just aren’t having the official talks. They’ll figure something out. I received an interesting call, too.”

“What call?”

“You’ve received an invitation to attend the rescheduled talk. Dr. Mansfield contacted me as she got an invitation to attend, and she wants to take you to showcase the first round of work to your foot.”

If Dr. Mansfield wanted me to go, I’d go without even a hint of complaint. “Are you seriously telling me that this whole thing was rescheduled, and just on some freak coincidence, Dr. Mansfield was invited?”

“I’m of the opinion there’s no coincidence. I’m fully convinced it was done entirely on purpose. More importantly, because they want you to attend, the entire shebang is probably being moved to the United States. They’re looking for a convention center to host it, and they’re going to make it even bigger than the first one.”

What the hell? “That’s so weird. That’s not really how they do it, is it?”

“Apparently, the convention only had a hundred attendees in the first place, all prestigious researchers. From my understanding of the situation, they’re going to expand it to become an education convention, and they’re going to make some of the information accessible to the public.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Why?”

“It’ll be good money for the presenters, and a lot of doctors will come—or send assistants to gather information. I stopped trying to guess beyond that, but Dr. Mansfield seemed really excited about it.”

“Okay. I’ll go, but Bradley’s coming with me.”

“As if we’d realistically be able to separate you two for a while.” Mr. Hampton chuckled. “All right, Janette. Do your checks, fix what you think needs fixed, and scold me while you’re at it. And if you can’t fix something, I’ll schedule to go to a doctor as soon as we’re back in New York.”

I nodded, sat next to him on the bed, and took hold of his wrist, closing my eyes so I could concentrate better on the feel of his body. Despite my worries over not having used my magic much, it came to my call without issue, and I slipped into the old routine as though I’d been doing checkups on others the entirety of my disappearance. Within moments, I detected an oddity in the flow of his blood, something I’d witnessed time and time again in patients suffering from cholesterol or clots. It annoyed me that both problems often felt the same to my magic.

Heart disease caused by the buildup of cholesterol took a few minutes, a cut, and a cup to resolve until the plaque reformed, usually over a period of years. Clots needed the same sort of work, but done carefully, else I could kill him trying to help him. I tensed, seeking out the source of the blockages.

Sure enough, Bradley’s father had a severe cholesterol-induced heart disease problem, one I’d need about an hour to correct if everything went right and the plaque plaguing him wasn’t in every damned artery in his body. “I am going to have a serious talk with you about your cholesterol levels, Mr. Hampton!”

“Yes, I know I have heart disease. Yes, I meant what I’d said about only having you deal with it. It’s severe. I’ve been given the riot act by my doctors; it’s terminal within the next few years unless fixed, and you’re one of the few exsanguinators with the right skills and training to fix it.”

“I’m charging a fee of one fancy necklace and all the shiny things that goes with it to put up with this shit,” I announced. “In red. There. I’m officially a gold digger.”

“That’s not how being a gold digger works, Janette,” my fiancé said with laughter in his voice. “But if it makes you feel better about him buying what you liked in the store, my family would be happy to pay you in a fancy set of jewelry.”

I muttered curses over not having addressed the problem before I’d been kidnapped. “I’m going to need a very sharp knife, preferably a scalpel, a cup, and a first aid kit. Maybe a bucket. That’s a lot of plaque and cholesterol buildup. What have you been doing? Injecting cholesterol directly into your bloodstream?”

Bradley smiled. “I have another idea. A better one.”

“What better idea?”

“I think I’ll give a local doctor a call and make an inquiry.”

I raised a brow. “You’re going to call Dr. Castor?”

“Yep. She can supervise your work and provide supplies. And as Dr. Mansfield has been given an invitation, perhaps I can get the number.”

“I already have the number,” his father said. “I can call her, as Dr. Mansfield instructed me to call her regarding Janette’s attendance. It’s an easy tie-in. And, if we’re at the house, we can send Ren over with Ajani. If you can survive a slight delay reuniting with your fluffy goddess. They’ll come to the hotel first so she can stretch and use the litter box, though.”

He needed his heart addressed far more than I needed to hug my cat, although I would suffer through a meltdown if I didn’t get to hug my cat soon. “Call her. I will survive a delay reuniting with my fluffy goddess.”

After retrieving his phone, Mr. Hampton tapped on the screen and held the device to his ear. “Ah, hello? Is this Dr. Castor? Excellent. My name is Paul Hampton. Dr. Mansfield gave me your number regarding a rescheduled convention?” He listened, and he grinned at what the woman said. “I think I have a suggestion that is the best of both worlds. If you could text the address to your home to my phone, I’ll see how long it takes to reach you. I’m currently in the California area with my son and his fiancée, and she wishes to do a procedure on me. I would appreciate a temporary escape from her schemes, as she doesn’t have a scalpel or other medical—” His grin widened. “Ah, it’s heart disease, and she wishes to purge the cholesterol causing it and handle anything else associated with the problem.”

Clever, clever man. I waited, joining him in grinning.

“Ah, yes. I’ve had a diagnosis for a while. It’s fairly severe, I’m afraid, but it’s nothing little Janette can’t handle. Oh. That? Yes, I’ve known her since she was a little girl.”

Well, close enough. I’d let him have it, although I hadn’t been that little when the Hamptons had barreled into my life.

Mr. Hampton laughed. “I’ve learned doctors are simply fascinated with other talents. Hold on. I’ll ask her. Which town do you live in?” After a pause, he said, “Janette, how do you feel about a drive to the ocean today? Dr. Castor would like to observe the procedure, and she promises she has anything you might need in her home. She has a lab in her basement to work on her research.”

Of course she did. I bet there was an ICU in there somewhere, too. Or at least an operating table.

“I’m okay with that, as long as Bradley or I are driving. I don’t want you to get cut off and have a heart attack on me.”

“I have been driving here just fine. You will not have an anxiety attack over me driving some more tonight.”

“I absolutely will!”

“You will not, young lady. Bradley, put your woman in a corner until she behaves herself. She’s in bodyguard and nurse mode at the same time, and she needs to remember I’m not actively in process of having a heart attack, and even if I were in process of having a heart attack, she could stop it because she’s an exsanguinator.”

Right. “Can we leave now?”

“We can leave now, although I would like to know how long it would take for us to get there before we decide to drive right this minute.” Mr. Hampton listened to Dr. Castor, and he chuckled. “All right. I’ll herd the children out the door. Please text me the full address. Thank you.” He hung up. “Dr. Castor asked if she should acquire a prescription for an anti-anxiety medication for you, as you seem to be rather twitchy.”

“I’m not twitchy, I just don’t want to have a heart attack because you have a heart attack, and you’re a walking heart attack risk.”

“I take my medication on time daily. I’m sure it’ll be fine for an hour and a half.”

I glared at him. “I could just find some scissors and fix this problem now.”

“No. We are going to go meet Dr. Castor, and you will just have to cope with having a backup doctor who probably has a fully functional ICU in her basement.”

I hesitated at that, and then I narrowed my eyes and held out my hands. “Keys.”

Mr. Hampton laughed, and to my astonishment, he handed me the fob for the rental. “If you have a single symptom of PTSD while behind the wheel, you will immediately pull over, and I will drive the car. I will sit in the front seat with you so I can take hold of the wheel if necessary, and you will tolerate this assault to your delicate sensibilities.”

I scowled, but after a moment of consideration, I bobbed my head. “Okay. I can work with that.”

“Go make yourself pretty. Bradley, wear your suit. I’ll sit here and relax so your little lady doesn’t finish having a meltdown because she forgot I had heart disease and have had it for years.”

“She really doesn’t like heart disease, Dad.”

“Of course not. And she particularly hates she forgot I have it, so she’s upset she hasn’t dealt with this already. Remember. We’re pretending we have no idea Dr. Castor is our top suspect in Janette’s kidnapping. I want to see what cards this doctor plays.”

As I did, too, I went to my clothes, which hung up in the room’s small closet, and browsed the selection until I found a silk blouse, a blazer, and a skirt, the most formal of my new clothes. “You know what the best part of Bradley wearing a suit is, Mr. Hampton?”

“I’ve heard this question before. If you want to enjoy stripping him out of his suits, that’s your business and not mine. Just try to leave his suit somewhat intact. He likes his clothes just like his cars: ridiculously expensive.”

“Buy cheap suits I can destroy at my whim, Bradley,” I ordered.

“As you wish.”