Page 20

To seekout and learn the truth, Dr. Castor had a list of five names, including one senator and four representatives, all men who came from old, wealthy families. Like the Hamptons, they made use of contracts to continue the family line. Unlike the Hamptons, they stood to lose a lot should the government turn our country into a militant state.

Senator Thaddens of Michigan owned and operated numerous chains of retail stores, with the bulk of his business targeting lower and middle earning Americans. Representative Forsythe of Alabama owned an American-made automobile company supplying discounted but good parts to lower income families needing to maintain older vehicles. Representative Dareth of New York lived and breathed charitable causes, and he worked the stock market and investments, betting on the little guys to make a big fortune.

Without the little guys, his empire would inevitably fall.

Representative Dimitris of Texas had started life as a rancher, worked his way up to designer leather products, and believed in giving back to the public as often as possible, usually focusing his efforts on making other Texan ranches as successful as his, no matter which side of the fence the ranchers supported.

Last but not least, Representative Allany of Nevada built his empire on the lost fortunes of the poor and rich alike, operating one of the major casino chains in Las Vegas. According to Dr. Castor, Allany’s mission in life involved creating a utopia, one where everybody could afford to come to his casinos two weeks out of every year for luxury time in paradise.

It sounded crazy to me, but Representative Allany also believed in paying back to the community, and he held the Nevada record for having the highest number of employees, doing more than his fair share at keeping homeless rates down.

The homeless couldn’t gamble, and he wanted to build his empire on a foundation made of stone and success. As such, he took the money he scalped from the rich to lift up the poor so the poor might one day come into his establishment and gamble their excess money away before returning to their mundane, boring, but comfortable daily lives.

I tapped my finger to the profile sheet Dr. Castor had made of Representative Allany. “If you told me this guy likes public libraries, I might actually have some appreciation for a twisted politician.”

Dr. Castor nodded. “He loves libraries. He fully funded the Las Vegas library for a period of five years, including the renovations to all of its branch buildings. He also works to make certain the local government continues to fairly pay and support librarians. Educated people make better employees, and he’s in the business of making businesses. Whenever he has a business opportunity that lets him hire new employees, he takes it, as long as he can afford it. He bases these projects on a percentage of his profits, so the better he does, the more people he hires. Since he’s out to improve the bottom line, funding public libraries and other crucial public services is a huge part of his operations. He’s been doing a phenomenal job in Las Vegas, honestly. Crime rates have dropped, employment rates have gone up, new businesses are flourishing, and all of these things are driving tourism to his casinos.”

“Well, damn. Bradley? I like this politician, and that makes me feel dirty.”

“Well, you do have an unreasonable love of libraries.”

“Unreasonable?” I wrinkled my nose at him. “My love of libraries is not unreasonable.”

Ajani, as though sensing Bradley would earn a scolding if he kept it up, jumped onto my lap and purred in a bid for attention, which I immediately gave her. Bradley held out his hand to his mother, who produced a cat brush from her purse, thus sparing my hand from a mauling.

“It’s so unreasonable you used a kitten to gain entry,” he teased. “And then you allowed the kitten to ruthlessly take over.”

“But she’s such a good fluffy goddess. Look, she even missed me. I haven’t been horribly mauled over my absence. This is evidence that she loves me.”

“She is a good fluffy goddess,” Bradley agreed. “And yes, she does love you. But, just because a politician likes and support libraries does not mean they’re a good person.”

I faked sniffling, I pouted, and after a moment, I quivered my lip.

“That was a really good effort, but you can’t fool me, Janette.”

“But he likes libraries.”

“According to the donations Senator Westonhaus also likes libraries, but we have all come to the general conclusion that he is a dick.”

I laughed at Bradley’s choice of words. “I prefer to think of him as an asshole.”

“That’s fair,” he replied. “He is an asshole, in my not-so-humble opinion.”

“Beyond their altruism, what’s so special about these men, Dr. Castor?”

“Their altruism is what makes them so special, although all of them have stated, to certain people in the medical industry with a known concern for the state of the system, that they might have more information on the subject available. All of them, at least according to Mrs. Hampton, have sent cards following Senator Maybelle’s death, although you had disappeared by the time they arrived. Such interesting timing.”

“Do they know you were being a naughty doctor, Dr. Castor?” I asked, raising a brow.

“I am merely stating that at some point in time, money from their bank accounts may have wandered into one of my bank accounts, and as we are not complete and total idiots, these transactions were handled at banks in Switzerland on a long weekend where I gave a speech during your recovery. Dr. Yvon handled your care then, and he kept you amused with kittens.”

Damn it, I had missed a bunch of kittens? “You’ve broken my heart now. I can deal with forgetting about the pain and the agony and the suffering, but the kittens?”

“You didn’t think your fluffy goddess would handle sharing well,” the woman replied with laughter in her voice. “You were also the one who suggested against interacting with politicians, as they were dangerous entities, but it was too important a chance to ignore.”

“I love I was being sensible, but I hate I can’t remember being sensible,” I admitted. “And you’re right. Ajani probably wouldn’t like other cats. She must be the favorite cat with her choice of human servants. Then again, I could be wrong. Apparently, Ajani loves goats. I can’t really blame her. Goats are adorable.”

“Anyway, as it stands, I will be returning to Europe within the next few days. Some of my colleagues will use my home for a while before I sell it, as I do not see myself returning due to the current political climate. During the discussion phase of the research convention, I expect it will be moved to Canada or Mexico—safer choices, all things considered.”

“Assuming we can leave the country at all by then,” Meridian muttered.

“That is a concern, yes. Should any of your number wish to escape the United States while it’s possible, I can help with the process to move into Spain. The Spanish government has already begun implementing refugee protocols for citizens of the United States, as some of the documentation has been leaked abroad.”

I frowned and narrowed my eyes.

Bradley’s mother asked, “Why hasn’t that documentation made it to the United States media?”

“I wish I had an answer to that question, but I don’t. I recommend searching the internet for more details and using the media of other countries to get some of your news moving forward. Oh, and Bradley?”

“Yes, Dr. Castor?”

“Ten thousand steps a day keeps the angry doctors at bay.”

“Understood, ma’am.”

Sometime after the cocoa,I clocked out with my cat on a couch. I had a faint recollection of Bradley luring me to a vehicle with some form of hot beverage, but everything after was a blur. I regained the semblance of general coherency back at the hotel room, and Ajani attacked my hands beneath the covers, one of her ways of informing me she needed to be fed immediately but preferably sooner.

Fortunately for me, somebody had trimmed her claws, sparing the hotel from blood on their sheets.

“Good girl,” Bradley praised, and he pet my fluffy goddess.

I growled a few curses at my fiancé for waking me. As my cat had done her job, he got up and fed her wet food, and he got five strokes before she turned back an ear and hissed a warning.

“You taught her to warn?” I blurted.

“And she gives me extra strokes now, too. It’s time to get up and have breakfast. A new toy is going to be arriving in a few minutes, and I can’t wait to hear you cry and wail over it.”

“That doesn’t sound promising.”

“I’m going to enjoy it, but I suspect you will not.”

“Ah, so it’s a toy for you and a torture device for me. Probably in the form of portable exercise machine?” I wouldn’t enjoy the amount of walking I needed to do each day to keep my foot limber, nor would I enjoy the monthly checkups until it was certain my foot wouldn’t mystically redevelop a bone-deep infection. “I seem to have passed out at Dr. Castor’s home.”

“Yep. Dad conked out, too. I thought about conking out, but I got saddled with driving us back because you and Dad were both out for the night. I read a book for an hour afterwards before joining you in the land of good sleep. Dad’s doing great. His blood pressure is stable at the low but safe end of the spectrum. Dr. Castor is preparing to return to Europe, but I’ve been texting with her. After you crashed out on her couch, she told us more of the story—and how she’d convinced you to go along with the kidnapping and treatments. She said you were fully aware you’d be having your memory wiped and why.”

“Can I make a guess?”

“Of course.”

“Chronic pain and illness is really difficult to cope with, and she wanted to give me the best chances to be able to recover.”

“That’s pretty close to the truth. Wiping your memory daily let her accomplish a great deal more. Unfortunately, she underestimated how social you are despite having introverted tendencies, and while they were wiping the daily memories, you apparently had a somewhat innate ability to detect the passage of time. Every day, you became more despondent. Dr. Castor did the best she could to provide you with company, as did the rest of your medical staff, but you wanted to go home, and once they started the wipes, you lost the connection to why things were happening.”

I winced. “That sounds like a disaster.”

“Yeah. Dr. Castor didn’t enjoy having to introduce herself to you each morning, either. There is some bad news.”

I stiffened. “What bad news?”

“She was only responsible for a few of the attempted kidnappings. Two of them were not her or anyone associated with her. She had a list of dates marked to go over with us. The gas bomb incident was her, though, which made Mom feel better about it. It turns out they meant to grab me and Ren, and they’d release you into the wild through having us rescue you. We kept interfering with their plans, resulting in them letting you go and having you wander to the library. Knowing that, I have regrets my father’s security team interfered.”

“Okay. I can respect and understand that. But who else would want you and why?”

“Well, I’m rich and handsome. I’m sure those are two reasons why someone might want to kidnap me.”

I eyed him, as while he didn’t quite match society’s standards for a hot man, all he had to do was walk on by while wearing anything—or nothing—to rev my engine. “I couldn’t care less about the rich part, but I find myself unable to dispute the handsome part. I’m concerned your mother was willing to cut a thirty million dollar check, by the way.”

“Yeah, that was unexpected. I figured she’d lead the charge accusing Dr. Castor, but just asking to cut a check caught me by surprise. I figured Mom would pounce somehow, but how she pounced was ruthless even for her. No prisoners, Janette. And no damage to Dr. Castor’s wallet, either. However, I’m concerned that there are at least five politicians who were at least somewhat in on your disappearance and recovery.”

“Do you think they can be trusted?”

“I think Dr. Castor has put us in a position where we’re forced to find out. What we don’t know is why you’ve become such an important player in this game. Why would you, an exsanguinator best known for volunteering in a hospital, be barred from military service? Dr. Castor seems to think the barring, which we have in writing and notarized, might have been pushed forward by someone who isn’t actually aware of your record or personality.”

“Because in reality, I am suitable for the military and warfare, assuming you ignore my general tendency to want to save lives rather than take them.”

“Dr. Castor thinks your relentless drive to save lives would sink their ship, especially since everyone now knows you exist and will be following you to see what you do. I’m marrying quite the celebrity, and you’re a celebrity because you’re selfless, kind, and everything a knight in shining armor should be. I’m happy to play your damsel-in-distress, by the way. That said, I could live without the relentless crush of romance being flung my way.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Everyone knows you did everything in your power to make sure I walked away from that accident, even at the cost of your own life. Then I spent the next few years searching for you. Then we got engaged. We’re hot on the celebrity gossip rags right now. Handsome millionaire falls in love with his bodyguard. Then the bodyguard proves to be a repeat heroine. Handsome millionaire then pines for missing fiancée for months. And don’t get me started on those women who wanted to help me heal from your disappearance.”

“Don’t get me started on them, either,” I grumbled.

He chuckled, and a knock at the door put an end to the talk. Ajani confirmed no interlopers planned to steal either of us away before she took over a bed and went to work washing her face.

“Breakfast is served,” Bradley announced, bringing me a covered dish. “In my infinite wisdom, I ordered you pancakes and bacon, and I ordered extra bacon for your enjoyment. There’s even maple syrup, which you can steal from me. I resisted the urge to indulge in butter, however much I direly want it.”

Poor Bradley. “You wouldn’t like the next few hours if you had the butter.”

“It’s like I learned through bitter experience or something. So, I’ve been volunteered to face your wrath—or seduce you into a good mood. Honestly, I’m fine with both as long as we handle everything in that order.”

“Wait. I can rage for a bit, and then you’ll seduce me into a good mood?”

“That’s my current plan, yes.”

“Okay. Why do you think I’m going to rage?”

“I think you’re going to rage a bit because there are some hurt feelings you cooperated with your kidnappers.”

As I could understand that, I nodded. “I’m prepared to deal with the consequences of that. But honestly, I have thirty million reasons I cooperated, plus it was, from my understanding of the situation, my best chance of getting my life—and my foot—back. Now I can be a librarian who volunteers at the hospital because I want to, not because I’m a chickenshit who is trying to hide.”

“Honestly, I’m still a little annoyed you didn’t just come home, but I was mostly responsible for that. I foolishly challenged you. I should have just invited you home to be seduced.”

I spent a few minutes considering that, eating my bacon and shooting him glares, debating what I would have done if he’d invited me home to be seduced instead of challenging me to return in my prime. “That would have stood a decent chance of working,” I admitted.

“Meridian thinks Dr. Castor is correct, especially since her uncle has indicated they’re all being more closely tracked. Their documents have all been altered now to be unique; they’ve been comparing their copies and tracking the differences, so she won’t be able to provide us with anything other than an overview now.”

“That’s not good.”

“Yeah. We’re going to have to start making better use of our status as an investigator cell before the status is revoked, and I think Dr. Castor is right, too. We need to look into these politicians—and liberate any documents we can to get a better idea of what’s going on. If we’re able to get multiple copies of the same documents, we might be able to mask who the document belongs to, protecting them while we expose what’s going on in our government. It’s clear our government has fallen prey to corruption and greed.”

“It fell prey a long time ago—when the contracting system was enacted and our society essentially legalized slavery.”

Bradley nodded his agreement. “And it’s been long enough since the system was implemented that we’ve forgotten just what we lost when they changed how the government worked. We’re going to have to study the United States before the aptitude system was implemented, who was responsible for the aptitude system, and how the aptitude system led to the contracting system. History might be able to help us figure out how to prevent the next stage of the government’s transition. Because I don’t think any Americans are going to be winning if the current rumored legislation slips through the President’s desk for signing. I mean, I guess the higher ups in the military win, since that’s the only goal that makes sense for what we know of the proposed changes so far.”

“Or population control,” I grumbled.

“Or population control, although wouldn’t it be just easier to brainwash the current kids that birth control and not having kids is life, with only certain families being pressured to reproduce?” With a shrug, he chomped on a piece of his bacon. “I feel like the more we learn, the less we actually know, and honestly, this is starting to seriously piss me off.”

“I’m not raging yet, Bradley.” I pointed a piece of my bacon at him, and he snapped his teeth at it. I dodged his first attempt, but as I found his attempts to steal my food amusing, I allowed him to catch the piece on his second try. “I mean, I don’t disagree with you. We need to know why the government would restrict my ability to get medical care, why Dr. Castor thinks I can really make a difference, and what our next step should be.”

“Our next step is simple. We meet with every damned politician who has sent you a card, where we learn what we can from them after we talk among ourselves to try to figure out what questions we need to ask. Once we’ve conducted the interviews, we’ll see what we’ve learned. If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to pilfer some of the documentation so we can make sense of this secret legislature Dr. Castor told us about. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine.”

“I guess something good did come of this,” I stated, rotating the ankle of my right foot and observing how the scars stretched. “I mean, beyond my foot being more than just a severe pain and a liability.”

“What good has come of this?”

“We have a direction and a cause. I dislike it comes with a clear and present danger to the American people. Now we know more about why we’re fighting, and without that, all we were doing was casting wishes into the ocean in hope of catching some fish.”

“Having a cause capable of unifying us is important,” he replied. “But more importantly, we have you back, and that’s the most important thing of all. My only regret is I wasn’t there for you when you needed me the most.”

“But you were,” I protested.

“Was I?”

“You were there when I needed you the most. You came when I called, and you didn’t give up on me.”

“Many did,” he warned.

“But they’re not you. I’m not marrying them, Bradley. I’m marrying you. But I kept my word. I didn’t run this time, and when I doubted I could handle things on my own, I emailed you.”

“Why didn’t you call, by the way? I’m sure the library would have let you call me.”

My face flushed. “I couldn’t remember your number, and by the time I got logged into my email, I figured I’d just email you. And I didn’t want to draw attention to myself.” I grimaced, and I bowed my head. “I may not have thought about just calling you, even if I could remember your number, which I don’t.”

“Okay. That’s fair. Please try to memorize my number later. In the meantime, I’m afraid I have you scheduled in for a seduction.”

“Don’t you threaten me with a good time, Bradley Hampton.”

“If I haven’t told you this already, it bears repeating. It’s not a threat. It’s a promise.”

I got up, grabbed a bathrobe, wrapped up in it, and went to the door to hang the do not disturb sign so nobody would interrupt us. “Tell me more.”

“I’d rather show you instead.”