Eternal Service (22 page)

Sulie looked between the two of them. “I thought Alex would like a tour of Fang Manor.”

Both vampires looked over to Alex, as if waiting her answer. The moment with Raymond had already been spoiled, so she said, “That would be nice.”

Sulie stared at Raymond. “The house is big, so you and Raymond take your time.”

*******

The tour was just finishing when Raymond saw Sterling leaving by the front door. He excused himself and followed his son outside. “Sterling, where are you going?”

Sterling rolled his eyes. “Out”.

“I thought you’d stay and get to know Alex a little more. After all, she is our new director.”

“I did meet her. Remember, right over there in the living room we had an awkward moment together when we first met when your arms were around her; we bonded over my lie of a fake murder story. I think we’re good.”

“It’s early. Stay.”

Sterling took in a deep breath, as if anger were building inside. “I don’t like it when we talk about my sex life. You can only imagine how weird it is to talk about yours, so I’m only going to say this once.” Sterling looked his father squarely in the eyes. “I don’t fish off the company pier, but if you want to dabble with our new boss, so be it. But I’ll tell you what, this acorn sure didn’t fall far from the tree.”

Raymond could taste the fury in his throat. He fought back the bitter taste. “I wasn’t going to tell you this,” Sterling said, getting his father’s full attention. “You claim you just met her this past week, but she’s known you a whole hell of a lot longer.”

“Impossible,” Raymond challenged. “We met the other day in Dixon’s office.”

“Regardless. She has known you for months. It explains why a career professional woman, suddenly, is flirting like a little slut in front of her new team.”

Raymond furrowed his brow, and did his best to ignore the last remark. “How does she know me? We just met.”

Sterling smiled. “You really don’t know, do you?”

Raymond’s anger bubbled inside once again. His hands balled into fists. “Spit it out, Sterling!”

“Usually a human’s mind doesn’t notice us. We’re predators; we slip into the background and fade away. But that didn’t happen with her. Her subconscious mind remembers seeing you for months, possibly years.”

“That’s not possible. I never spoke with her before this past week.”

“Maybe you’re a little too hard to forget. Nonetheless, the psychic echo is there. But it’s even worse than that. When I met her and shook her hand, I read her skin.”

Raymond raised his voice, “You are not allowed to touch the director like that.”

“She isn’t the director until Dixon officially retires, so until then I can fuck with her mind all I want.”

Raymond’s slammed his son back into the wall. “Never again. Do you understand me?”

The wall gave way to Sterling’s smaller frame, and cracks appeared in the brick. Sterling tried to brush his father’s hands off him. “Be glad I read her this time, old man. Her subconscious mind even has a name for you. Seeing how you’ve been staring in all of her wet dreams for months, it's only fitting that she’s has given you a porn star name.”

Raymond’s eyes widened as he let go of his son.

“Oh, yes. Go ask her who ‘Butch Manly’ is, father. I’m sure all the blood will not only rush to her face in embarrassment, but she’ll be flushed elsewhere as well.”

Raymond took a step back. “I never touched her mind like that. I swear.”

“Obviously you didn’t need to. Since you’re so out of practice touching a woman in any way, I think she may as well just dream about ‘Butch’ in your stead. She probably would be more satisfied doing so.” Sterling took a good look at his father. “Honestly, here you are hoping for a first date, and emotionally she is on date fifty. Since women tend to sleep with men on the first date, at least in my experience, I’m guessing that she not only has names picked out for your children, I’m betting she has names for your grandkids as well.”

Raymond blinked, and then continued to stare at his son.

“Toss on the amount of wine she’s put away tonight, and I can’t even begin to tell you how entertaining it has been watching the floor show. She doesn’t even know how inappropriate she’s been behaving. I got to say, everyone thought it was odd until I explained it to them.”

Raymond’s eyes narrowed in anger. Gritting his teeth, he asked, “Everyone has been making fun of her all–night?”

He watched as Sterling looked through the window in the living room. “Oh, please. Sulie had found every possible angle to get the two of you alone; the woman’s nearly giddy with joy. Ben has been adjusting Alex’s aura so she wouldn’t undress you in the living room. Jackie and William find it charming, which, to me, is nauseating. Daniel kept taking her wine goblet away every time she set it down. Moot point though, seeing how I kept refilling it and handing it back to her. Only Dixon was appalled. He kept trying to get her to eat Sulie’s nasty food all night.”

Raymond looked through the window at the team members. “Sounds to me like you were the only one not helping the situation.”

“Trust me. Getting women liquored up is always a big help.” He took a step away from the window and looked at his father. “What I don’t understand, is why a man who is as celibate as the Pope would be so willing to hit the sheets so quickly.” He held up his hand, “I mean, I can understand the physical need to tear into some female flesh before Mount Vesuvius explodes in your pants, but it isn’t like you’re the wham, bam, thank–you ma’am type of guy. So why are you in such a hurry with this one, when no other woman in your dry spell ever made you hot and sweaty?”

Raymond sighed and looked at his son, the oddest person in the world he would consider an ally in any discussions of romance. “When you meet someone special, you just know it. In less than two months, I had met your mother, gotten her pregnant, and we were man and wife.”

Sterling tilted his head, his mind obviously twisting around past known facts. “Wait, you and mom were married a year before she got pregnant. What’s the real truth?”

Raymond cleared his throat and said sheepishly, “It was the 1800s; you were too big to pass off as a premature baby. Your mother was dead. The least I could do was to give her the dignity of a proper timeline.”

Sterling shook his head and huffed. “I can see how you would find that totally acceptable. In loving memory and all.”

Raymond closed his eyes; his shoulders sagged. “Alex is special to me. But it’s not even me she’s interested in.” He let out a huge sigh. “The first woman I’ve liked since your mother, and it’s all fake.”

“Here’s a tip. If she yells out ‘Butch’ while you’re fucking her, you’ll know which one of you she really wants.”

Raymond cringed at his son’s crass remark, but he never considered a woman yelling out another man’s name during an intimate moment. He was the only man Wilma had ever been with. “I can’t even imagine the horror I’d feel if something like that were to happen.”

Sterling shirked his shoulders. “You get used to it. It’s not that big of a deal.”

Raymond’s jaw dropped to the floor. “It would matter to me!” He raked his hands through his hair. “This was a bad idea. I can’t pursue her … I just can’t.”

Sterling rolled his eyes. “Christ,” he swore. He put a hand on his father’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so blunt to such a choirboy.”

Raymond closed his eyes and shook his head. “It is what it is.”

Sterling’s expression softened. “Look, she may have this internal idea of who, and what, she’s looking for, but she’s still pursuing you. I’m guessing that whatever she has imagined for her fantasy lover … let’s just say, you are fulfilling her dreams. You must be, or she wouldn’t still be here and quite literally all over you. Her idea of Butch Manly may have opened the door for you, but she’s inviting
you
in.”

Raymond allowed that thought to sink in. “Perhaps.”

In a calmer tone, Sterling added, “Dad, have you noticed her body language? That living, breathing, here–and–available woman couldn’t keep her eyes off you. Her bedroom eyes undressed you all–night. Her heart beats faster when she’s near you and I can even smell her arousal. You’d be an idiot to miss the signs.”

“I did notice them.” Raymond smiled slightly as he glanced up at his son. Especially now, with the news that he had left some sort of psychic echo, how could he know her true feelings?

“And I don’t need Ben’s ability to see that you want her. Your aura must be red with lust, and you can’t deny it.”

Gazing through the window, Raymond noticed Alex, who had joined the others in the living room. When their eyes met, she gave him a smile that lit up the room. He responded with a smile that flushed his cheeks. “She’s different. I can’t put my finger on it Sterling, but she’s different to me.” He eyed her from top to bottom. “ … Yes, very, very different.”

“And that’s a good thing, future boss or not. You don’t need me and the others hanging around. You should get her alone and talk to her.” He leaned in, tugged his father’s arm, and whispered, “Hell, you should take her up to your room and have her fuck your brains out.”

Raymond pulled away. “She’s not some easy floozy without any self–respect.”

Sterling’s facial features hardened at the remark. “Women today are just as aggressive as men. After she finishes that goblet of wine, and you are alone with her, she’ll probably jump your ass. My advice to you is to enjoy the night, then erase her memory before Dixon steps down.”

“I don’t use women, Sterling,” Raymond said, with emphasis on the word ‘I’.

Sterling stared coldly at his father. “I guess between the two of us, we lick the plate clean.” He jingled his keys in his hand. “I’m going out. Have a good evening with her, and try not to disappoint her in bed.”

Raymond watched as his son walked towards his car which was parked just off the street. He worried that his son might be right. Would he disappoint Alex? Had sex changed? He figured sex was the same as riding a bike, you never forget.

Raymond had just entered the living room when he spotted Alex approaching, her cell phone in hand. From the corner of his eye, Raymond also saw Dixon busy with his iPhone and heading his way.

“The President’s Chief of Staff just texted, Raymond,” Alex said as she made her way to him. There’s been a change of orders. The President moved up the scheduled ‘Storm Stop’ for the hurricane that hit Florida earlier. We need to tell the team of the change of plans.”

Dixon stood by the two of them. “We knew this emergency was coming.” He looked down at his text. “Mission 09298 T–10 hours.” He glanced over to Alex, “Damn good thing we put your bags on the docket in preparation for you accepting the promotion.”

Raymond gave a curt node. All bags were already screened for explosives a good three days before departure. Having her bags already prepared was a good move on Dixon’s part, especially now with T minus ten hours remaining. Raymond knew all the Colony bags were already on board, as well as blood for them. “Mason needs to prepare.” He gestured towards his eyes and nose suggesting the disguise Mason would need to put on to pass as the President’s doppelganger.

“Does Mason really look just like the President?” Alex asked.

Nodding yes, Raymond added, “Usually the Advance Team doesn’t have much time to ensure the President’s safety in natural disasters. They can’t do a complete threat assessment, so most Presidents just do a flyover with Marine One. But since Mason is the President’s twin …”

Alex gasped, her hand moving quickly to her mouth to hide her surprise. “No way!” Her eyes widened as she thought. “The President is known as the ‘Peoples’ President’ because he is very open to the public. He is known for shaking hands up on the rope line.”

“Mason wears gloves when he shakes their hands.”

She let out a small laugh. “He gets full credit, and it’s Mason who does all the work.”

Dixon’s lips curled in a half smile. “The President is safely secured in a hotel, watching the event on television. He’ll do the fly over, and we’ll have one of our team members flanking his side the entire time. Whoever is on call will flank him, and then stay with him at the hotel while Mason greets the public.”

Wide–eyed, Alex asked, “But the human team never knows this?”

“The inner circle does, but that’s all. Of course, they think we’re human.” Raymond shook his head. “I hate emergency trips with the President. The Secret Service will be busy securing the area. Debris usually lays everywhere, and adds to potential dangers. Keyhole satellites are repositioned, federal mailboxes are removed, manhole covers are welded shut, counter snipers are placed on rooftops …” Raymond sighed, “… well, given time.” He began the text to Mason and added, “Mason is super busy. The rest of the team remains in the motorcade out of sight.”

Alex looked around the room. “Is any Colony member a part of the Advance team?”

“No,” both Dixon and Raymond answered. Dixon continued, “There aren’t that many Colony members to spread that thin. If there is a vampire threat, then that would come when the President is available, therefore the team stays close to him at all times.”

Raymond felt more sympathy for the humans in these situations. The vampires just had to show up and be on alert. The Secret Service was already securing the University of Texas for the President’s visit in a few days. They were being stretched thin with this Storm Stop and it would require the humans to pull an all–nighter on this one.