The Vampire (THE VAMPIRE Book 1) (41 page)

That made Allen nervous. “I hope Jason is not going to do something foolish in there. Like lock himself in.”

Allen heard water running, but remained listening and wary. Meanwhile he set about collecting things around the room; most of these he packed into Jason’s suitcase.

To Allen’s relief, Jason emerged a short while later.

Jason mechanically began packing the rest of his stuff, not believing for a moment he was ever going to see his family again.

While Jason was occupied, Allen placed a call to his brother James. He walked to the other side of the room, to keep the phone conversation private.

“Allen, what is going on? I’ve been trying to call Augere. He told me there was a situation. Now he won’t answer.”

“It’s not good.” Allen tried to speak in a low voice. “We have been occupied with a difficult development. I’m not sure what is going on in Jason’s mind.” Allen glanced toward Jason then continued. “He seems very fearful. Even out of all proportion to this event. As if someone is still going to harm him. I know he has had a terrible shock though.”

“Is he at risk to himself, do you think?”

“I don’t believe so. But I am not going to take that chance and let him out of my sight. Augere and I will watch over him. We have to make sure to keep him safe. There is someone else I am going to bring in also to help out. I am going to need your help to make some of the arrangements. I’ll do what I can on this end.”

“Just let me know what you need. But what is Jason doing or saying? What is going on exactly?”

“I can only surmise it must be Mr. Augere he is so terrified of. He acts as if someone is trying to harm him. He is well out of danger from anything to do with what happened. There was a horrifying portal experience—I’ll tell you more later—Augere had the situation under control of course. Yet Jason still seems fearful for his life. I saw the way he was looking at Augere. I asked Mr. Augere to leave the room to help put Jason more at ease. He was reluctant but he did go. I thought maybe you could talk to Jason. I know you have a good rapport with him.”

“Yes, of course, let me talk to him.” Allen handed his cell phone to Jason, stating, “It’s James,” and stayed close to him, in case he tried to make any other call.

Jason seemed reluctant and ambivalent about taking the phone.

“I am so sorry to hear of your distress, Jason. Please, tell me what we can do to help you.”

Hearing the familiar, kind voice only made the whole matter worse. He had trusted Genier. He liked him immensely. He had been a source of comfort and support. And now he had to face the fact that Genier, that all of them, had known—all along—about all of this and they had knowingly kept it from him, putting him in great danger.

This act of betrayal deeply wounded him.

“When I started this job I understood it was at will, and that I was allowed to leave if I wanted to. Now it seems I can’t. My passport has been taken. I am being held here against my will. And I haven’t…” his voice nearly broke then. He had been about to say he had done nothing wrong, but in their eyes that wasn’t true. Whether this whole thing had happened accidentally or was some elaborately planned occurrence—the outcome was still the same. They could not let him live knowing the secret he had discovered. He set the phone down on the table and began to pace the room again. He would have tried for the door while Allen was on the phone, but he knew: Augere would be just outside. There was no escape.

Allen picked up the phone.

“This is much worse than I thought.” James was very concerned. “His voice…he sounds so distraught. I guess I can’t blame him though. Learning the truth about Augere and then seeing those portal things as well. All of it at once must have been too much for him. I really thought he was going to be able to handle this. And Mr. Augere said the same thing when he called me earlier; he said ‘he will be all right.’ I feel so terrible for Jason’s sake. For both of them actually.”

“Augere said he tried to get Jason to talk to him, and he refused.”

“I’m sure he will still come around. I think he probably just needs some rest and time to recover. To come to grips with this and then go on. You or I can talk to him, explain all that needs to be explained. We definitely don’t want another Landy situation—”

“No—and that is NOT going to happen.”

“Keep Augere away from him for a while yet. And maybe delay the trip home for several—”

“I don’t think so, James. He is adamant, not just about going home, to Boston. He says he wants to go to Minnesota to be with his family. I offered him the option to spend some time there, a few weeks or a month, if he needs that, to put things in perspective; take time to sort things out and then come back to work. I have tried to reassure him. But—I just can’t seem to get through to him. He is saying he wants out altogether. He said he needs to end this.”

“Oh, no. As bad as that? This is just terrible. I am truly sorry to hear that. I really think he just needs some time…”

“I know. I agree. He is in no shape to make such a big decision right now. And I have said that to him. But if he doesn’t snap out of it by tomorrow when he has to get on that plane, there could be trouble. We can’t just let him go. This trip is not going to be easy. We have to figure out a way to do this. I’m already worried about getting through security and customs. And if this means an actual termination, he would have to abide by the confidentiality agreement that goes into effect with that. And I know he is just not in the right frame of mind to handle signing that additional document right now.”

Jason, pacing the room, strained to hear the conversation, and was able to overhear just fragments of what Allen was saying: “need to end this” and “let him go” and “termination” “figure out a way to do this.” They were clearly discussing him, and their plans for him. And it was just what he suspected. It made him feel physically sick with fresh fear and he was even more certain of his fate now. There seemed to be no hope for him.

“We would have to delay all of that protocol, of course and accept the risk, I guess. It could be dealt with at a later time. I am so sorry to hear this. I really had hoped he would work out. He seems like such a good choice.” James paused, upset at the thought of losing Jason. Then he thought of a bigger concern.

“Does Augere know he wants to leave?” he asked Allen.

“Not yet, no. Not in so many words.”

James sighed heavily. “I’ll try to reach him again after I talk to you. How do you think we should proceed right now?”

“Personally, I think we should send him home and just give him time to think things over. Even though he seems determined right now to end his employment he could change his mind and decide otherwise. But maybe for his peace of mind we might have to let him go, or at least let him think so, if that is really the only thing we can do to help him right now. We could go along with what he wants and act as if we have formally released him. If that will help his state of mind.”

“I see…yes. Go through the motions as if we have terminated him at his request, but not actually do so. I think that might be a good option. It would buy him, and us, some time.”

“If he does decide not to come back, we could always do the formalities later and terminate officially. Hopefully, it won’t come to that.”

“Okay, yes, agreed.” The two went on to discuss plane travel and the logistics of getting Jason safely to his chosen destination without incident.

With some of the arrangements made, and still several calls to be completed, Allen offered Jason some brandy. He was glad when Jason accepted and drank it. He needed a shot of brandy for himself, but didn’t dare just yet. There was tea and sandwiches, soup and fruit. Jason eyed all of it with no interest although he was actually quite hungry. He thought about eating a piece of fruit but could not.
Globus hystericus
. Even in his present tortured state he somehow recalled that piece of trivia. A lump sat in his throat.

After Allen had eaten a small meal, there was a knock at the door. Allen admitted a tall muscular young man, the kind of person one associated with bodyguard; bouncer; hit man. Allen told Jason “Nick” would be keeping them company tonight and traveling with them tomorrow. The sight of the man filled Jason with new dread and panic. He was almost certainly a hired killer. Of course, the Geniers might not be personally responsible for any crimes. Maybe they even managed to keep Augere out of it. They would hire someone else to do it. His situation was truly hopeless. On some deeper level, Jason felt maybe he was being irrational. Intellectually, he knew exhaustion, shock and paranoia were working on him. The slow but certain mental confirmation of Augere’s true existence had seemed less of a surprise somehow. A part of him had known it, but had still protected his conscious mind from accepting it as true. It had been just too hard to believe it. Now fear for his life had taken over as his main concern. He was being ruled by emotions he could not seem to keep in control. Every rational thought was pushed aside and replaced by an irrational one. He got up and continued to pace the room in a state of confusion and exhaustion; he just could not sit still. He couldn’t think straight anymore. He was so weary, so tired.

Allen continued making phone calls and arrangements.

There was one bed in the room, and Jason refused to lie down. Allen finally rested on the bed, still fully dressed for the most part while his hired accomplice kept watch over Jason. It was nearly 1 a.m. when Jason finally dozed briefly in one of the chairs. They had managed to make it through the night without incident.

In the morning, a full breakfast was sent to the room for all of them. Jason was mostly mute, refusing to engage with either man. He still could not eat or drink. Allen left to go to his own room to shower, change clothes, and check out, and then moved into Jason’s room. They secured the room past check out to be able to take a rescheduled late afternoon flight, now going to New York, a fact which Allen had not shared with Jason.

They would have to get to the airport two hours early. Allen wanted to cut it close, reasoning the less time spent in public the better. He was hoping Jason would not make a scene there. He had a contingency plan just in case. Nick was an EMT, who could administer via hypodermic some of the sedative medication he had brought with him if the situation called for it. Allen hated the thought of going that route, but he was prepared to do what was best for all of them. He tried to envision the worst case scenario so they could all be prepared. They had acquired a “doctor’s note” and prescription for the medication for the patient, whom it was explained in the documentation, was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, of undisclosed origin, but was safe to travel with “his attorney” and medical personnel, so they could get through customs and security without raising much suspicion. Basically they needed to keep Jason as calm as possible.

Just after breakfast, Allen received a phone call from Augere. He had learned from James what Allen had been reluctant to tell him: that Jason wanted to terminate his employment.

“If that is what he has decided,” Augere said brusquely, “then let him do so.”

Allen suspected what this meant. Augere’s tone had confirmed the finality of it: he had decided Jason was to be permanently released from his position. He was done.

Augere paused a few moments. The tone of his next words was less harsh: “I will depend on you to see to it that he arrives at his family’s home safely.”

“I plan to personally take him there to be certain of it,” Allen promised.

This was sad indeed. The two brothers had sought to give Jason the time and distance they felt he needed to pull himself together and then resume his employment with Augere.

Augere saw the situation differently.

This presented a complication. Once released from his position, Jason, as with any assistant who knew the truth about Augere, was required to sign a new confidentially agreement, one that would now reflect the fact he did know the truth. And part of that agreement was that it was understood, under penalty of death, the assistant would not reveal the secret he had learned. Now, Jason
did
have reason to fear for his life, if he attempted to tell anyone what he knew. In his present state of mind, the brothers worried this would put Jason further over the edge. They were loath to tell him the new circumstances.

But it seemed it could not be helped.

It was almost heartless, Jason thought, the way they were going out of their way to let him think, to let him believe, that they were allowing him to go home. He showered and put on fresh clothes, moving in slow motion, more numb than lethargic.

They sat with the TV on, the three of them, in Jason’s room, none of them really watching or paying attention to it. Jason still thought of escape; his body was slow to respond but his thoughts were still racing. He knew he probably could not get away from Augere. He considered that the airport, and going through security, would be his chance, maybe his only chance. He doubted Augere or the other guy would try to kill him in front of all those people. Maybe he could request asylum at the airport?

Where was Augere? Jason had not seen him since last evening. He felt such a deep pang of regret. Augere. He could not bear the thought of what was unfolding. The loss of all of it… Maybe dying would not be so bad after all.

Finally, it was time to go to the airport. And there was still no sign of Augere. Maybe he was already there, waiting. To avoid being seen with them. Yes, that must be it. A smart idea probably. Jason envisioned a scene where he pleaded with Augere for his life.

When they checked out of the hotel, Jason overheard Allen confirm airport transport for three people. So Augere would not be accompanying them to the airport. His curiosity temporarily overcame his fear.
I really just need to know exactly what is going on
. He asked Allen if Augere was flying with them.

“No. He checked out of the hotel yesterday, as soon as Nick arrived. He stayed at an airport hotel last night, and then he took an earlier flight today as had been decided.”