Chapter 36

There was an enemy lurking in Stonebrook, and Kit was looking right at him.

He certainly didn't look all that dangerous. Jahal Mevas was a middle aged jackal with no hair, just fur on his head, which wasn't unusual for jackals. He wore round wire-framed glasses and looked quite mild and unassuming, and his white shirt and blue pants that were his Valiant Security uniform were pressed and neat, and he had a silver chain going from his epaulet to his right pocket, where was whistle was attached to it and hung from his pocket by a small hook. He looked quite normal, and didn't seem the slightest bit ruffled or out of sorts sitting on a folding chair and under a portable beach umbrella with a partner about halfway down the front drive, which gave them a full and commanding view of the front lawn. Their job, as Nick told them, was to ensure that guests did not wander the front lawn, and to act as a presence for those both entering in and leaving so they knew that the grounds were actively being watched.

The reality was, that post had three cameras on it. Barnett had set it up, pointing one camera at the site from the house, one from the woods, and an obvious patrol camera just behind the post that also kept the post covered. Jahal was only going to be on the manor grounds for one more day, after Nick completed training the Valiant guards in their duties, then they'd come back for two hours the day before for a "dress rehearsal" for the reception, then the reception itself.

In the one day since Nick had ferreted out Jahal, the panthers had really gone to work. They had his alias, John Richards, his address, his telephone number, and now he was the one being watched. The mercs had put a camera on his apartment, they'd tapped his phone, and the panthers had dug up his entire life history, all in one day. While Jahal was here sitting at his post, Barnett and Donny had gone to his house to bug it, and they'd already called in and reported they were on their way back.

"Donny said he kept his apartment pretty well defended," Nick chuckled as he closed the phone. "It took them nearly four hours to get in and set it up. He's definitely who we think he is."

"I wonder why he's here," Kit said grimly, looking at him on the monitor.

"We'll find out soon enough," Nick said calmly, leaning back in his chair. They'd set up the surveillance in one of the secret rooms on the first floor. Nobody could know about Jahal, so they put the surveillance equipment in a secret room on the first floor near the kitchen, one of the old wine rooms. It had ventilation and opened into a rarely-used hallway which itself had a camera on it to make sure nobody saw anyone come in or go out. There would be someone in here at all times while they ferreted out Jahal's intentions, as well as more working to find out who hired him. "We have him wired six ways to Sunday, Kit. Barnett's good, he'll have that apartment where Jahal can't fart without us knowing."

"I don't think I want to know about that," Kit said with a slight smile. "I'll leave you to it, Nick, I have something more important to do."

"What is that?"

"Taste Jessie's sweet and sour pork," he answered. "I can smell it from here."

"Another new recipe?"

"Carrie's been teaching her how to make some Chinese dishes," he nodded.

"Well, she makes good duck," Nick grinned.

Kit stood up, and he felt the holster for the Glock 29 pull a little on his shoulder. It was a special concealed holster that put the gun under his shirt and low on his left side, almost invisible under his baggy tee shirt. Nick had taken him down to the archery range that morning and thoroughly trained him in the use of the weapon, how to load it, how to use it, how to disassemble and clean it, and the tenets of safe gun ownership. It was a powerful weapon, firing a 10 millimeter round that was strong enough to stop just about anyone on the first shot, but the pistol was compact and easy to carry… but using, not so much. The small pistol had a strong recoil, and Nick worked with him all morning to teach him how to control that recoil. Kit was especially impressed with the Glock's safety trigger, which made it almost impossible for the weapon to discharge without a finger being on the trigger. Nick had him fire nearly two hundred rounds that morning, giving Kit a thorough feel for the weapon and its recoil, to where he was used to it bucking in his paw when firing and using Nick's teachings to smoothly and quickly return the pistol to aim. Nick even went so far as to have Kit unload an entire 10 round clip into a target quickly without missing the target, learning how to control the pistol and fire quickly despite its recoil. Kit was in good shape, but the gun had made his arm sore from trying to control its recoil. He rubbed his shoulder and rotated it, which made Nick chuckle.

"Trust me, if you ever have to use it, you'll kiss my feet for choosing that one for you," he said. "It has more recoil than the twenty, but the twenty's a big pistol and hard to hide. You shoot someone with that, they're not gonna get up."

"I feel like I did a thousand one-armed push-ups," he complained.

Nick laughed. "You won't have to do that again," he assured him. "You know exactly what to expect now."

"It feels… weird. I don't like it," he said.

"I know, but you're carrying that thing for a reason. To protect Jessie."

"That's the only reason I'm carrying it," he said seriously, remembering how Rick had saved his life because he had a concealed carry permit. He hated the idea of carrying a pistol, but he'd do it to protect his wife. She and their unborn daughter were the most precious things on this planet.

"At least you didn't shoot yourself in the foot," he grinned.

"I'll shoot you in the foot next time," Kit said with mock seriousness.

"Oh, go on with ya," he laughed.

Jessie was in the kitchen with all three chefs, and they were cooking sweet and sour pork. Jessie was humming to herself pleasantly, an apron tied over her large stomach as she put on a pot of rice. "Hey, pretty kitty," he cooed as he put his arms around her.

"Hey, handsome fox," she giggled as he nuzzled playfully at her neck. "Lunch will be ready in about twenty minutes."

"So you'll be up in the bedroom in twenty minutes?" he breathed huskily in her ear.

He felt her shiver. "Stop being mean, handsome fox," he told him. "Go finish your article while I cook."

"Meanie," he protested, putting his paws on her swollen stomach. "I'm sure Laura wouldn't run me out of the kitchen. I should ask her for permission."

Jessie laughed. "She knows who feeds her," he told him archly. "Don't look for her to let you get around proper discipline."

"Well, will you at least massage my shoulders?" he asked sweetly.

"After lunch," she told him.

"But I want a massage now," he whined, sounding almost exactly like Victor.

She laughed. "I'm gonna do more than give you a massage, you brat! Now let me finish cooking!"

"You heard her promise, you heard it!" Kit said triumphantly as he let go of her and started on his way out of the kitchen. Jessie threw the chopped-off top of an onion at him, which he evaded and caused him to beat a hasty retreat before he was assaulted with more decapitated vegetables. He did as she ordered, went up to the master bedroom and started editing the next article, which was an interview and detailed article about the MacArren family. Kit had interviewed all three MacArrens about what it was like to work in Stonebrook, from Clancy's almost encyclopedic knowledge of the Vulpan family and the manor to Stanley's perfectionist approach to keeping the manor running smoothly, to Bartholomew's more mellow yet no less meticulous approach to his duties. Kit wrote about what it meant to be a MacArren, the hereditary duty they felt to Stonebrook, which was as much their home as it was the Vulpans, the level of training and education they pursued to fulfill that duty, and the fierce sense of pride the family had in making sure everything in the lives of the Vulpans was smooth and predictable, and Kit ensured that the readers understood that the Vulpans would not be the Vulpans were it not for the MacArrens. Most of the readers would probably be surprised to know that Clancy had a Doctorate in English literature, Stanley had a Doctorate in economics, and Bartholomew had two Master's degrees, one in political science and one in economics, and was working on his dissertation for his Doctorate in economics. Kit knew that even his arrogant bastard father had often asked advice from Clancy, and then from Stanley when Clancy retired, and that advice was good advice. The MacArrens were highly educated, very capable, and the Vulpans would not be where they were today were it not for servant families like the MacArrens and the Higgins and the Smiths and the Longbridges there to both serve them and support them. "It's a communal effort," Kit wrote to summarize the article. "The MacArrens have worked both for and with the Vulpan family since 1907, when Clancy's father, James MacArren, was first employed by my great-great grandfather, Arthur Vulpan. That's over a century of service, but it's more than that. It's a century of the Vulpans and the MacArrens working together for success. Stonebrook was finished in 1936, and since the first day it was completed and the Vulpans moved in, a MacArren was here to greet them, since the MacArrens moved in before the Vulpans. This house, Stonebrook, is as much the home of servant families like the MacArrens as it is us Vulpans.

"You might think that most rich furs treat their servants like servants. Well, some do, and some in the Vulpan family do, like my uncle Zachary. He's one of those males who sees a servant as little more than a piece of furniture, a useful tool that's little more than background scenery unless he needs it. But here in Stonebrook, it's different, a difference so dramatic that not even my uncle Zachary would dare to change it. While he lived here, he had the ability to hire and fire any staff member, yet he made not a single staff change. That's because here, service to the family and to the house isn't just a job, it's a family tradition, a tradition the Vulpans are more than comfortable with continuing. The Vulpans continue it because it's always easier to hire the son or daughter of a servant, since they already know exactly what to expect and exactly what's expected of them. But the servant families continue it because Stonebrook is their home, they are paid well, they are treated well, and passing on the family tradition is almost the same as them passing on Stonebrook to their children.

"In the 72 years that Stonebrook has been here, there has been a Vulpan in the master bedroom, but it has been the MacArren down in the apartment right beside the kitchen, a four bedroom affair with its own patio, that truly owns this manor. Stanley runs this place like a general, not because it's his job or what he's paid to do, he does it because this is his home, and he has tremendous pride in his home. And at least one Vulpan appreciates all his hard work, and would feel totally lost without him. We could sell Stonebrook and it would still be Stonebrook, but if the MacArrens were to leave their employment and leave Stonebrook, then it wouldn't be Stonebrook anymore. It would be just another big mansion. A manor is just a building and a lawn. It is those inside it, both family and servants, that truly make a manor a unique place. The servants who work in the manor are the true essence of what I call Stonebrook, and no servant family represents that truth better than the four generations of MacArrens who have worked within this manor. Without them, this is just a building."

He finished it up and sent it to work along with several pictures he took of the servants, documenting the family lines in Stonebrook in pictures. Carrie's family, the Longbridges, would be the next article, for all three of her children also worked on the grounds. He then called Rick for the second time that day. "Article and some pictures are in your inbox, boss," Kit told him.

"Good, son, good," he answered. "I've made the new hires. And the assistant you wanted is hired," he added. "Julie Gardner, right?"

"That's her," he answered. "She was the best of the bunch. She'll work well with me and Pat."

"The two writers are the ones I told you about, and you should know one of them," he chuckled. "I hired Paula back as a writer."

"The twitchy cougar?"

He laughed. "That's her. But she's a good journalist, much better than the other intern. The other one I hired is RJ Childers. Turns out he goes by RJ because his parents named him Renault Jefferson."

Kit laughed. "And I thought I had a bad name," he said. "Is he as friendly in real life as he is on the phone?"

"So far, you bet," he answered. "But he's a tenacious reporter. He'll be good for investigative reporting."

"Sounds good. What time are you guys getting here on Wednesday?"

"Our flight arrives at one at Logan," he answered. "Vil already called to ask the same thing, she said she'll take care of getting us there. I can't wait to see the inside of your house live," he said eagerly. "The pool house was nice and all, but I want to see if the pictures do it justice."

"You'll find out in about nine days," Kit answered. "I'll let you guys run the house."

"I want to see that vault room in your bedroom," he said slyly.

"Why? There's another one just like it in the bedroom where you'll be staying," Kit said. "The two wing master bedrooms are exactly alike except for one thing, which I won't reveal because it's a secret. Your bedroom has its own vault room."

"Ah, so that's where you're keeping all those special toys you and Jessie own," he said lightly.

"Rick, don't be a Mike," Kit warned, which made him laugh. "Though I'm surprised Jessie still wants to be intimate so late in her pregnancy."

"That's not unusual, Kit," he said. "Martha got even more affectionate as she got closer to her date. In her case, she said she was having her fun before the couple of weeks afterward when she wouldn't be able to. Our doctor even told us that it's safe to make love almost right up to the delivery date."

Kit chuckled. "I hope Jessie feels the same way," he said. "The belly gets in the way a little, but working around that little problem is half the fun."

"I think we'll stop here before you assault my youthful impressionism," Rick said dryly.

Kit chuckled. "Yah, Jessie should be calling me down to lunch any minute."

"She still cookin'?"

"Cooking, cleaning our bedroom, and yesterday she completely scrubbed every inch of the bathroom. And that's a big bathroom," Kit grunted. "She's making sure she doesn't get used to being waited on paw and foot by doing for herself. I'm pretty proud of her for that. She'll let them bring her something from time to time or fetch something she forgot, but she cooks every meal we eat. I rather like it that way. I love her cooking."

"And I'm sure you're saying that because you heard me come in," Jessie said playfully from the door. "Lunchtime, handsome fox."

"Speak of the sexy little devil, and she saunters in through your door," Kit laughed into the phone. "I'll talk to you later, Rick."

"You'll call in about four hours," Rick chuckled.

"About that," he agreed.

Kit found that Jessie's sweet and sour pork was just as good as he'd get at a restaurant, and so did Muffy, who'd woke up just before lunch. After lunch, they decided to split up for their afternoon exercise, because Kit felt like swimming to rest his sore arm, and Jessie and Muffy wanted to practice driving. Both of them loved golf, and they were frittering away the prime Boston golf season stuck in Stonebrook. While that was a problem for Muffy, for Jessie it wasn't quite so bad. There were a couple of golf courses in Austin that stayed open until December, and there was one that was open all year round, they'd discovered. The front lawn was perfect for doubling as a driving range, since if they went to the edge of the woods near the helipad and drove them across the lawn towards the trap launcher, that was nearly 200 yards. Sally, Luann, Bartholomew, and Oliver, the youngest son of Carrie, both helped them by shagging balls and also did some driving themselves. Jessie's clubs were down in Austin, so she used Muffy's spare set brought from her house, the set she kept at her father's manor for when she was in Boston. While the girls were slicing balls towards the front wall, Kit was relaxing in a floating chair in the pool, enjoying the quintessential lazy day with a ginger ale in his paw, sunglasses over his eyes, and the water lapping pleasantly against his legs. Though he never felt very comfortable in the house, at least in the pool he could relax. It wasn't much smaller than the pool at the complex, twelve feet deep at the deep end and with both a diving board and a slide, but here he didn't have to share the pool with screaming kids or overly enthusiastic splashers jumping off the diving board. He did, however, have to share the pool at one, when servant's hours started, and Sally and the most junior butler, a 27 year old fox male named Walter, came padding out in their swim suits and towels.

"Oh, we didn't know you were here, Master Kit," Walter said apologetically. "We'll use the gym's pool."

"There's plenty of pool, Walt," Kit chuckled. "And I never mind sharing it. Pull up a piece of water." He noted Sally's slightly worried expression, then he chuckled. "Unless I'm bothering you, that is."

Walt laughed, and Sally's cheeks ruffled quite attractively. "I think we can stay here," Sally said, almost primly, claiming a lounge chair.

That was another feature of the servants that Kit had already written about in a prior article, his third one… the availability of the staff to certain attentions. Servants were nearly as available as their Vulpan employers, and there was also quite a bit of Vulpan-servant naughtiness that went on in most Vulpan households. Though his father had been unswervingly faithful to his mother when she was alive, after she died, his father partook of the servant femmes quite liberally. In the other houses, it was much the same story. Sarah was almost notorious for her aggressive attentions on her male servants, from her chief butler to the groundskeepers, and her husband, Harland Vance, was just as bandy with the femmes. Kit also knew for a fact that Zach's family had a rite of passage at thirteen where he ordered one of the house maids to spend the night with the birthday boy, for his first taste of true adulthood. Sheila had something of an ongoing casual sexual relationship with Higgins, turning to him for satisfaction when she failed to get it from her most recent conquest. And Vil was no angel in that regard either. She'd enjoyed several secretive dalliances with males on the staff when they were growing up, which were frowned upon by the elders because girls were supposed to at least pretend to save themselves for marriage, and he knew for a fact that she'd also had sex with her chief butler at least once. That, too, was considered part of the job description for a Vulpan servant, and it went for both the males and the females. They worked for the Vulpans fully knowing that a Vulpan may demand favors from them, and acceding to those demands was literally in the contract they signed to work for the family, though it was couched in fancy words that didn't make it sound quite so blatant. Kit knew for a fact that Muffy had already seduced Walter, sating herself with a male in the manor and available since she was seriously curtailing her usual clubbing activities, and those activities included taking some guy home with her and having sex with him. For the servants, dalliances were a part of the job and also part of the fun for both the males and the females, between the staff and the Vulpans and among the staff itself, and more than one marriage had resulted from a little inter-staff hanky-panky. And not just because of an unexpected pregnancy. Walter and Sally were clearly interested in each other, their trip to the pool was literally a date, Kit could see it as they talked and joked as they spread their towels on lounge chairs. Sally most likely knew that Muffy had seduced her boyfriend, but she had to accept that as just one of the complications of working for the Vulpans, that her boyfriend might be hijacked from her, but she would also know that the femme Vulpan who did it would have literally no interest in him afterwards. Sally would have to live with allowing a Vulpan to borrow her boyfriend's body, but she never had to worry about a Vulpan competing with her for her boyfriend's affection.

It was an interesting paradox in the family, and also in many other "old money" idle rich families, he had written in that article. The Vulpans were almost lavish with their servants when it came to salary and benefits, they opened their houses to the servants for them to use as the Vulpans used them, and the Vulpans were sincerely interested in the welfare and well being of their servants. The Vulpans took a great deal of pride in their servant staffs, which were the best in New England, paws down. But on the other side of that was what many would consider to be both illegal and immoral, the expectation that anyone who worked in the house had to submit to their sexual demands. But that was one of the aspects of the idle rich that "regular" furs just wouldn't be able to understand. Vulpans, and other rich families, saw servants as there to cater to their every need, and one of those needs was physical. In return for that very serious and considerable demand, the servants were very well paid and given exceptionally good benefits. It was just one of the ways that rich furs were different from normal ones, how they lived by a different set of rules and saw the world much differently than normal furs did.

Kit had been quite different. Kit didn't lose his virginity to a maid on the staff as most of his male cousins did, he lost it to Suzy. And he'd always been too angry with his father, and the maids too afraid of the wrath of his father, for him to "enjoy" the girls on the staff the way his male cousins did. That certainly didn't mean that he didn't have the occasional fling, but he'd done most of his oat sowing outside of the manor with the daughters of other families of the idle rich. That too was a form of rebellion, for both him and the girl, doing what they weren't supposed to be doing just to spite their parents. Suzy was the first, but she certainly wasn't the last. Kit had never touched a single servant femme in the manor, but he'd sampled five of the debutantes of Boston aristocracy before he was disowned, and had a few pretty fun affairs after he got into college with girls who didn't mind a one night stand. Then there was that farewell that Suzy gave him right before he graduated and left the apartment she'd arranged for him…

He shivered a little. That had been wild. Suzy had been the last femme he'd had in bed before he met Jessie, and in a way, that seemed… right. It was almost as if Suzy had given him away, set him down the road that led him to the love of his life. In a way, he felt almost embarrassed about his past exploits when compared to a paragon of purity like Jessie, who remained chaste even after she left home, waiting for the one with which she would share the rest of her life. But, they were from different backgrounds, and at least she wasn't anywhere near a paragon of purity now. She'd only shared her bed with him, but Jessie was not timid, shy, or passive when the bedroom door was closed.

Not that she was really like that now. A year of knowing Kit and her pregnancy had put steel in her backbone and made her much more confident and resilient, which he rather fancied. Then again, he'd fancy Jessie if she weighed two hundred pounds and had her ears surgically removed, because the mind and personality he so dearly loved would still be the same.

"So, Sally," Kit called, taking a sip of his drink. "What do you think of Jessie now?"

She laughed. "I can see why you married her, Master Kit," she admitted. "I thought you were very wrong to marry a cat, but she's just so adorable," she said wryly.

"She's a total sweetheart," Walter agreed as he slipped into the pool. "I've never had a Vulpan offer to bring me something before."

"Well, that totally vindicates me," he chuckled. "And Walt, go get me another glass of ginger ale, this one doesn't have a proper number of ice cubes in it!" he said in a thoroughly insincere haughty and arrogant voice, which made Walter laugh. "There must be exactly four ice cubes in this glass! I'm going to fire the entire staff for this!"

"Master Kit. Bite me," Walter said, which nearly made Kit fall out of his lounge chair laughing.


Kit felt much better once Jahal was off the manor. They had their short day the next day as Nick finalized training the guards in their duties, and then they were released around lunchtime, and they wouldn't be back until the day before the wedding, the day of Jessie's shower. Nick, however, didn't give Kit a chance to rest. After he again listened in on the board meeting that morning, which lasted only fifteen minutes, Nick dragged him out to the range to practice with his pistol. This time, however, Muffy wasn't about to be left out, specifically getting up early just so she could catch them at the range. As Kit practiced with his Glock, she badgered Nick and Donny into letting her try to shoot a machine gun. She got an extensive safety lesson with Nick's MP7A1, and then Nick let her try with a five round clip. She fired all five rounds, and the gun ended up almost straight up in the air as Muffy panicked feeling the gun try to buck up and up and up, and she laughed ruefully about not doing a single thing Nick told her to do when he taught her. However, she got better as she practiced, and by the end of their shooting session she could keep the gun from rising too high. The Valiant guards were all gone by lunch, and after lunch, and Kit was about to remove his holster harness before Nick stopped him, warning him that the fact that Jahal was here in Boston at all was reason enough for him to continue wearing it.

Two days had shown nothing about Jahal's reason for being here, though. The night before, he'd gone home, made dinner, watched TV for a while, then went to bed. He received no calls, and he said not a single word in his apartment, clearly not the kind who talks to himself. He cooked in silence, ate in silenced, laughed a couple of times watching a sitcom on TV, then turned in at 10:24, after catching enough of the 10:00 news to see the weather. As soon as the weather was over, he went to bed.

He repeated that pattern the next night, going home early with bags of groceries from the local Wal-Mart at 1:19. He watched TV for an hour, then stopped to read a book. He ate a snack, then partook in what was clearly his hobby, playing six games of chess against a computer opponent that took nearly four hours. After that, he cooked dinner, ate, watched TV until the weather came on the 10:00 news, then went to bed.

What was even more curious was the panthers' bio on Jahal since he came to Boston. He wasn't a new arrival, it turned out. He'd been in Boston for four years, and had worked at Vanguard for two of them, according to the records, where he worked as a floater. A floater was someone who would work this post, then that post, on an on-call basis. When they needed someone to fill in for someone, they called Jahal. He had never failed to show up for a scheduled shift, and he had never turned down a call to work, no matter what time of the day or night. While working for Vanguard, he had been a model employee, and had even won an award for foiling an attempt to rob a barge facility, catching the thieves as they tried to cut through the fence and scaring them away.

"Very odd," Nick said with a frown as he read the information in the secret room, with Kit and Sylvia with him. Jessie was taking a nap upstairs, so Sylvia felt it was safe to leave her alone. Nick and Sylvia were very serious about Jessie not being unescorted for a single second until after the wedding. Anywhere Jessie went, Sylvia went with her. "It's almost like he's really who he pretends to be."

"Records are easy to fake," Kit noted.

"True, and that's something those nutty panthers are checking right now. It's almost creepy, this guy is. He never makes a sound in his own house unless he's laughing at the TV. He didn't even curse at the computer when it beat him in chess. Have you ever known anyone who does that?"

"Not really," Kit admitted. "Can he talk?"

"Of course he can," Nick answered. "Well, there's not much we can do about it until we learn more, so may as well worry about something else. Has Stanley even taken a breath today?"

Kit laughed. "I don't think he's slept since Vil told him we're having the reception here. I'm amazed he's letting anyone take any time off. He's having the staff thoroughly scrub and clean rooms that nobody's even going to use."

"But he'll know they're not clean, and that'll shame him," Nick chuckled.

"Even the attic?"

Nick exploded into laughter.

Despite the sore arm, Jessie invited him to shoot trap after lunch, and he could never deny his pretty kitty anything she wanted. "Well, this isn't as hard on my stomach and back as golf," she giggled as she loaded two shells into Nick's K80. "Laura did not like being twisted on the backswing."

"Who would?" Kit asked as he loaded the clays in the launcher. "So, you're done with golf?"

"For now, yeah, until this little pain in my butt gets out of here," she said, patting her stomach fondly. "I hope she has lots of time for hobbies," Jessie giggled. "The poor girl, she'll be run ragged keeping us with all the things we do. Golf, skeet, knitting, cooking, flying, all the toys Vil will undoubtedly throw at her as soon as she's born, she's gonna be one busy little girl."

"She's a Vulpan, she can multitask," Kit said as he laid out the foot switch. "Where's Muffy?"

"Not sure," she answered. "She said she was gonna lay down after lunch. Guess she's napping."

Kit was interrupted during his round by the phone. He saw that it was Austin and opened it. "Hello."

"Hey cousin," Bess called. "I'm checking in for all the girls."

"Okay, Bess. Do you have your flight set up for coming back for the wedding?"

"Yup, we do," she answered. "And after the wedding, I'll be leaving again."

"Back to Austin?"

"Nope. Vil gave me a job!" she said excitedly. "But, we both agreed that I just can't work in Boston for now, both because of what's going on and because I'm too notorious, so I'm going to go to work in New Orleans. I'll be working in Avondale as an assistant to Terry. He's going to teach me all about what the family does, and after I'm trained, Vil offered to let me run a division of one of the Boston repair docks if I want to come home, or run one of the small facilities we have all over if I want to try my paw on my own."

"Finally putting that business degree to good use, eh?" Kit chuckled.

"I hope I remember it all, college is kind of a haze," she said distantly, which made Kit laugh.

"What are the others going to do?"

"Mary and Lynn are coming back to Austin until everything settles up there. They're not interested in working, at least not right now," she said. "I think Mary's about ready to give up the party girl life and look for a husband. Lynn, well, I hate to say she'll be a party animal for life."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that, cousin," Kit told her. "When do Angie and Joy go back to school?"

"They leave here on Friday," she answered. "Their first day is Monday. I wanted to say thanks, cousin."

"For what?"

"For letting us come here," she answered. "Sheila's been awesome, and we really love your city and your friends. I'm glad I'll be in New Orleans, that way I can see you when you come over to see Terry."

"You're welcome, cousin. I'm gonna go ahead and go, you kinda interrupted something."

"Oh, and what did I interrupt? Is Little Lukey being a bad boy?"

"I'm about to take my shotgun and murder innocent little clay targets," he replied blandly.

"What?"

"Jessie got me into target shooting as a hobby," he told her. "That's what we're doing right now."

"Jessie's shooting a gun as pregnant as she is?"

"She was driving golf balls yesterday," he chuckled. "Jessie's very… energetic," he said, giving her a sly smile, which made her cheeks ruffle appealingly.

"Did Bess get the sweater I made for her?" Jessie asked.

"You made Bess a sweater?" Kit asked.

"She made me a sweater?" Bess repeated, then she laughed. "No, I haven't got anything yet."

"She didn't get it," Kit relayed.

"Well, it should be there any time, I sent it to Sheila so she could give it to Bess."

"Knowing Sheila, she kept it herself," Kit noted, which made Bess laugh. "Anyway, I'll talk to you later, cousin."

"Okay. Bye Luke. Kit," she said quickly.

"You're learning," Kit chuckled, then he hung up the phone."

"Well, Vil's already on the move," Kit said as he put up the phone. "Vil gave Bess a job."

"Really? That's great!" Jessie said with a smile.

"She'll go to work in New Orleans first and train with Terry," he told her. "That's only smart, because Bess slept and partied through her college. Technically she has a Bachelor's in business, but I doubt she remembers any of it. After that, she said Vil was gonna put her in a small facility off the beaten path and let her try to run it."

"Well, good for her!" Jessie said approvingly. "When does she start?"

"After the wedding," he answered. "She'll be in New Orleans I guess Friday night, and odds are Terry'll start her on Monday."

"Well, that's wonderful," Jessie smiled.

Kit laughed suddenly. "God, Uncle Zach is gonna blow a fuse. Vil hired Bess. But Maxine won't be able to complain about Bess being an embarrassment to the family. Vil has her claws in Bess now, and she'll make her behave by threatening her through her job."

"You know, I don't think that's gonna be a problem," Jessie said. "Bess reminded me a lot of Sheila, and all Sheila wanted was respect. She feels like she gets it back home, so she stayed instead of going back to Austin. We treat her kindly, Rick and Martha treat her with respect, and the guys love her. I think Bess is gonna be the same way. She'll find out that she suddenly has duties and responsibilities, but she'll also be respected and furs will listen to her, and that'll make her try hard to succeed. As long as Terry treats her fairly, I think Bess will be alright. What about your other cousins? Lynn, and, and…"

"Mary. Bess had the biggest reputation, but Lynn's the hardest of the hardcore party girls, Jessie. Bess said she doesn't want a job, she just wants to keep partying. Mary, well, Bess said that Mary's actually thinking about getting married, which should make Maxine overjoyed. It burns the fur off her ears that there are Vulpan girls who are unmarried past the age of eighteen, and Mary's a particular burr in her tail because Mary is her own daughter. She's thrown like ten different males at Mary, and Mary just blows them off. The one time she tried to put her foot down and threatened Mary to marry or else, Mary just moved to her parents' vacation house in Barbados for a month. Maxine coddles her kids, and she broke before Mary did, which really amuses me. Maxine bitches about the other girls being unmarried and nags her brothers and sister to make their daughters settle down, yet she can't even make her own daughter get married. Bridgette's the only married femme cousin, and that's because Bridgette is Zach's oldest. Bridgette was more or less forced to get married back when my father and the elders had absolute control of the family, just before I started fighting with my father."

"Well, your aunt needs to learn that if its not her own child, it's none of her business," Jessie said simply.

"Amen, pretty kitty, amen."


The mystery of Jahal remained as the days marched closer and closer to the wedding. Stanley was both almost psychotic with his preparations and had never been happier in his life. Under his almost tyrannical direction, the manor gleamed more than it had in years. Every room was immaculately clean, new drapes were present in many rooms, several rooms had been repainted, and the lawn looked absolutely spectacular. It was being mowed daily now to keep it perfect, and to mollify Stanley and keep him from having a nervous breakdown, Kit and Jessie allowed him to take down the trap launcher, because that corner of the lawn was starting to show some worn grass from them trampling it. Stanley would never ask for such a thing, but Kit knew that he wished the trap machine wasn't on the front lawn, and he spent nearly an hour over there with Brandon, the head groundskeeper, discussing how to repair the damage the day before the reception. When Kit got wind of that through the rumormill, he had Brandon and Nick pull the launcher and store it in the storage building until after the reception. They could live with not shooting trap for a few days, and besides, Nick still had him practice shooting the pistol every morning after his phone calls to Rick and to listen in on the board meeting. For him, that was enough shooting to last him the whole day. Besides, he had to admit, he was getting good with a pistol. After a week of practice, he was starting to develop decent aim, and Nick had even had him practice quick-draws from the holster, first with the gun empty, then with it loaded, taking it from holster and firing at the target.

They were at the range on the Wednesday before the wedding, basically staying out of the way while the staff ran around like maniacs getting the manor ready for Vil's reception. Stanley was decorating the ballroom and main dining room today, and after lunch, Nick was picking up twelve more mercenaries that would patrol the off-limits sections of the manor during the reception to keep everyone out, two guards for each floor in the two wings. They would need very little formal training, not like the Valiant guards, so Nick was going to pick them up, give them a tour, give them assignments, then bunk them at a nearby hotel because there wasn't enough room for everyone at the manor… and since they couldn't house everyone at the manor, it was only fair that they house none of the newcomers.

The gang from Austin would be arriving today at 4:15pm at Logan. They had to reschedule their flight this morning because their original flight was canceled due to some maintenance problem with the plane, so they got a later flight. Kit wouldn't be meeting them at the airport, but Vil and Kendall would, then bring them here. Stanley had already assigned everyone to a room or cottage, and they were pretty much well filling the place up. Rick and Martha would get the west wing master bedroom, Savid and Nawa would take the pool house with their kids, and everyone else would be in bedrooms in the manor.

Jahal had yielded absolutely no information. The panthers couldn't tell if his records were fake, and he was almost boring in his off-duty life. He did nothing, almost never spoke, just ate, watched TV, played chess on a computer, and watched the 10:00 news until the weather came on before going to bed. He didn't receive a single phone call from anyone, he called no one, he got nothing but bills and junk mail in the mail, and so far as they could tell, he did absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. The only unusual part of the entire surveillance against him was the day he paid his bills, filling out six checks, putting stamps on the envelopes, and mailing them out the next morning. He confounded Nick, who was sure he was hired to be here, but for the life of them they couldn't figure out who hired him, or even why.

Things would be moving nice and smoothly from here. Tomorrow was the day of the baby shower, and also the day that Vil would be coming to Stonebrook to spend the night. She'd agreed not to evict Rick and Martha from the west wing master bedroom, and would instead be taking one of the guest master bedrooms on the second floor. She'd be getting ready for her wedding here at Stonebrook, getting dressed, and then they'd leave for the Cathedral of the Holy Cross at 11:00 and meet the Brightons there. The Brightons and Charlie were all staying over at Hart's Crossing, giving Kendall's brothers a chance to get to know Vil better, and they'd been coming over for dinner about every other day since they'd arrived.

Kit liked Kendall's family and friend. His father and brothers were intelligent but also very funny and engaging, and they were all very close, the way a family really should be. They joked with each other, pulled pranks on each other, even their father, and all of them loved to play golf, so Vil had taken them to some of the choice golf courses in Boston while she stayed in the golf cart. Charlie was, in a word, outrageous. He was bombastic, talkative, boastful, and fearless, but he was also intelligent and very amiable. What he lacked in size he more than made for with raw charisma, and he certainly never made any visit boring.

After firing nearly two hundred rounds, Kit and Nick decided to call it a day on the range. They stacked the targets in a line in front of the archery targets along the side, then released the patrols to resume around the range. Nick drove them back up to the house in a golf cart, and he went into the kitchen expecting to see Jessie there cooking lunch for them. But she wasn't there.

"Where's Jessie?"

"She was cleaning your room last I heard," Frannie answered, a bit unapprovingly.

Kit pulled his phone out and hit push to talk. "Jessie? Where are you?"

"I'm checking something out. You done?" she asked.

"Yeah, we're finished."

"Good. Come to the conservatory."

Nick tagged along as he ambled in that direction. The conservatory was the furthest room from the central house on the first floor in the east wing, where proper Vulpan children were supposed to practice playing piano or other musical instruments… but neither Kit nor Vil had ever done so. Vil had taken up the violin after leaving the house, and Kit had taken up the guitar after as well, because their father felt that frivolous pursuits like music were a waste of time and energy. Inside the conservatory was a grand piano and several musical instrument cases on a shelf near the back, filled with instruments that hadn't been opened for years. Kit closed the door and went over to what looked like an unassuming stretch of wall, then touched the corner of a large paining near it. Nick laughed when the wall swung inward, revealing the secret passage.

"Bonzer," Nick said as he looked in. "This house has everything, doesn't it?"

"Just about," Kit said with a chuckle. "I didn't show you all the secrets, Nick. Jessie!"

"Around the corner!" she called.

Kit went around the corner and saw her standing there, a kerchief holding her hair back and a broom in her paws, which made Kit laugh helplessly. "You're cleaning?" he asked in surprise.

"Well, it's all dusty," she told him. "And that's why I called you here. Look at this," she said, kneeling down and pointing at the floor.

Kit came over and bent down, and after his eyes adjusted to the gloom of the single naked light bulb in the short passage before it opened to the stairs, he saw a curious mar in the dust of the stone floor, that was almost perfectly three feet square, offset in the floor so one edge was on the edge of the wall. The dust was striated and disturbed in straight lines… almost as if something brushed over it. But only on that one section of the floor. "Did you sweep it?"

"No, it was like that when I got here," she said. "Look down. Remember when you showed me the passage, how it was all dusty? Well, where are our footprints on the floor? Nobody else has been in here since we were, else there would be prints in here from them."

"She's right," Nick said, looking around. "The only prints on this side are ours. Did you come all the way down?"

"Yeah, we came out through the conservatory when I showed her," Kit answered. "There wouldn't be so much dust it would cover our tracks after just a few weeks, would it?"

"Not without the tracks themselves being visible. Someone must have swept away both your tracks and theirs," he said seriously, then he keyed his radio. "Sylvia, Donny, come to the conservatory. Bring flashlights and come ready for business," he ordered. "If Jessie didn't sweep the floor, then the only reason this part of the floor is like this is because someone screwed up trying to cover their tracks. Or," he said, taking his pistol out, kneeling down, and striking the stone floor with the butt of his Glock.

There was a distinctly hollow sound.

"Or there's something under the floor," he said with a satisfied nod. "Is this another secret passage?"

"Not one I know," Kit said. "But it's possible that it is."

"Who else knows about this passage we're in?"

"Just me, Jessie, Vil, Clancy, Stan, and Bart. The other servants don't know about this passage. We don't advertise that there's a shortcut to the master bedroom from the first floor."

"Well, someone does know about it," Nick said, feeling around the edges of the disturbed section of floor. "Help me find the seams, we gotta get this open."

Donny and Sylvia arrived moments later, looking around in the secret passage with curious eyes, then they saw Kit and Nick feeling around on the floor. "What's up, boss?" Donny asked.

"We have a trap door here even Kit didn't know about," Nick told him. "Let's find how to open it and see where it goes."

They felt around the floor to find the seams, but they were so tight that Nick could barely get his knife blade between them. After about fifteen minutes of fiddling with it, it was Jessie that finally figured out how to open it. The stone was flat and level everywhere except for up against one wall, and she puzzled out that by stepping hard on that side, it lifted the other like a lever. Nick stomped it with his seven foot frame and got it up high enough for Kit and Donny to get their fingers under it, then the two of them lifted it up and lifted it to discover that the heavy stone slab was nearly a foot thick and was hinged, opening like a trapdoor. Sylvia shined her flashlight into the hole, and they saw a six foot ladder, a small landing, and another ladder leading down.

"Hello, nurse," Nick mused. "I do believe we found something interesting. Jessie, dove, can you be an absolute doll and run up to your room and get my spare MP seven? Oh, and make sure it's loaded."

"Uh, sure, hold on," she said, turning and hurrying up the stairs.

"It's been used recently," Sylvia noted, shining her flashlight. "Boot prints and the cobwebs are all cleared out."

"Yah, and it was used by someone getting in, not someone coming out. Soon as Jessie gets back with my PDW, we'll go see where it goes." He keyed his radio. "Barnett, Krichek, come to the conservatory. Bring your headcam, Barnett, we need it." He looked to Kit. "Barnett has a head-mounted minicam he uses to take video when he needs his paws free. It takes video of wherever his head's turned. He'll use that to give us some video of the place so we can refer to it."

"Well, let me get a head start," Donny said, slinging his mini-Uzi and climbing down onto the ladder. "I'm the smallest anyway, I'm best suited for point." He climbed down to the landing holding the flashlight, then dropped down, knelt by the second ladder, and shined his light down. "Looks like it goes down about ten meters," he reported. "Goes really deep."

"Sylvie, spotlight for him so he can go down with both paws," Nick ordered as Jessie ambled down the stairs carrying Nick's spare MP7A1 in her paws, carefully. Nick took it with a nod and slung it over his shoulder as Sylvia started down the ladder. Nick gave Kit a wild look when he started to climb down as well.

"What, you think I'm not curious enough to go with you?" Kit asked with a smile.

"I wish I could, but I don't think I want to try to climb a ladder with this," Jessie laughed, touching her stomach.

"Jessie, dove, be a dear and go to the kitchen." He keyed his radio again. "Grizz, meet Jessie in the kitchen and stay with her while Sylvie's busy helping us in the conservatory."

"On the way, boss," Grizz answered.

"You can always make lunch for us," Kit winked at her.

"Be careful down there," Jessie told him. "You fall off that ladder and break your arm, and I'll spank you."

"Don't tempt me," he winked, which made her cheeks ruffle as he climbed down to the landing with Sylvia and looked down as Donny climbed down the second ladder.

"It's all stone down here, and looks fairly old," Donny called from the ladder when he reached the bottom. "I'm in a small room, and there's a tunnel heading off, umm, I think to the north. It slopes down."

"Goes downhill inside the hill to maintain depth," Nick noted as he climbed down. "What's the roof like, Donny?"

"Reinforced, buttressed and arched," he called back. "It's about two meters high, Nick. You're gonna be hunched over."

"Won't be the first time," he called back as Krichek and Barnett arrived. Barnett was a curious mixed breed. Both of his parents were big cats, so he was all feline, but one of his parents was a lion and his other parent was a cheetah. He was tall and sleek, with tawny fur run through with black spots. His tail was tufted and had bands on it, and he had no mane. Barnett was also something of an oddity among the mercs in that he had a Master's degree in electrical engineering. He was a gadget male, the male they called when they needed tech, but Nick had been in actual combat with Barnett, some place in the middle east, and Nick praised Barnett's fighting skills. Barnett was a male who could set up your sophisticated electronic surveillance equipment, repair it, modify it, and also fight off the bad guys, all rolled up into one.

"Woo, so we're exploring the secrets of Stonebrook, are we?" Barnett asked.

"This one's even a secret to Kit," Nick answered. "And it's been used recently."

"Ooh, well, let's see where it goes."

Kit found himself solidly in the center of the formation as they climbed down the ladder, then started down the narrow, cramped tunnel that sloped downhill. It was narrow enough to where Kit would have trouble trading places with someone, and Nick, Krichek, and Barnett had to hunch over to keep from banging their heads on the ceiling. Kit could feel the ceiling against his one good ear, the tip of it brushing the arched top, which forced him to walk right down the center. The walls around him were clearly old, dusty, damp, and eroded; it looked like this passage had been built at the same time as the house because the walls were lined with tan granite the same as the house, irregular blocks and pieces that were clearly the leftovers from the construction of the manor, but that tan granite yielded to what looked like gray stone blocks about a hundred feet in, where they must have used up the leftover granite and started using other materials. It had to be a secret escape tunnel, but it had been unused for so long that everyone forgot it was there. There were even some tiny limestone stalactites forming on the arched ceiling, arched for strength and probably the only reason the tunnel hadn't collapsed over the years. Clancy didn't even know about this tunnel, and Clancy knew everything about Stonebrook. Donny was in the lead with Barnett right behind him, and Kit was flanked by Sylvia in front and Nick behind, with Krichek bringing up the rear. The passage both sloped downhill and curved to the left, and while it was very dusty, it was also free of cobwebs and there were bootprints disturbing the dust and dirt that had caked on the floor over the decades. Not footprints, bootprints, which said something in and of itself. Few wore shoes in the summer, and there weren't many others who would wear boots.

It took them nearly five minutes to reach the end of the tunnel. It opened to a round pipe that was about two feet wide that was grated, looking like a long-abandoned water drainage pipe near the river. The grating was rusty and looked solid, but Kit could see the single hinge on the right side, and a very clever bolt lock that would be all but invisible from the outside, hidden behind the frame and crossbar of the grating. "Well, what have we here," Nick said as he unbolted the grating and crawled out first, his MP7 in paw.

"I think we're outside the wall," Sylvia said as she climbed out with him.

"Stay in there, Kit. Krichek, Donny, stay with him. Barnett, let's find out where we are, and look for cameras."

Kit waited in the small chamber just on the far side of the pipe for about ten minutes, waiting in almost tense anticipation until Nick's face appeared in the opening. "We're about twenty meters away from the wall, and the river's right over there," he pointed to the side. "We're on the northwest side of the manor, and about fifty meters from the back gate. What's out past here, Kit?"

"Umm, a bunch of forest. The closest building is my uncle's manor, Swan Cove, it's about a mile upriver. The family owns all the land for about a mile in every direction from Stonebrook, and Zach owns most of the land around his manor. That keeps anyone from building around here."

"Well, well," Nick said with a slow smile. "I do believe we just found out why Jahal is here. Barnett, I want two hidden cameras on the gate at different angles, and two cameras in the passage up in the house. One on the trap door, the other on the door leading into the master bedroom. After he sets that up, we'll just put everything back the way we found it except for one thing and see who wanders into the tunnel."

"And we keep strike team at back gate, da?" Krichek asked.

"I was thinking the very same thing," he said with an evil little smile. "If we can catch our little moles, we might find out who gave them their orders. Donny, when we get back, I want you to go into town and buy me two hydraulic jacks, the little potbelly ones. And we're gonna need some four by fours."

"What are those for?"

"That's how we're gonna seal off the entrance," Nick answered. "A jack at each load bearing corner, across from the hinges and we put posts on top of them that reach to the ceiling. We jack them just enough to hold the posts securely. That way, whoever comes along and tries to get in using that tunnel finds out they can't get in, and no amount of pushing is going to budge two jacks. We'll have Stanley rearrange the conservatory to put some heavy piece of furniture in front of the door to the passage, and we'll take care of the door up in your room by keeping your room locked and with someone at the door when you're not in it."

"Clever," Kit said approvingly.

"I am a professional," he grinned.

"After we catch our little tunnel rats, I suggest you have your maintenance furs come over here and seal off the gate, and maybe even brick off the tunnel," Nick suggested. "I wouldn't feel comfortable with something like this in my house. I'm sure it was built to be an escape tunnel back in the day, but as you noticed, someone's using it to get in now."

"I think that's a good idea," Kit nodded.

When they got back, Kit explained everything to Jessie, who was standing at the opening with Stanley, staring down into it with fascination. "They're going to seal off the trap door with jacks to keep anyone from opening it, put cameras on the entrance, and wait and see who tries to use it."

"Stanley, think you could put something nice and heavy in front of the door to the conservatory?" Nick asked as he climbed up and out.

"Yes, I have a nice shelf I can have brought in here and loaded with books," he answered.

"Sounds good. Sylvie, set up a sentry rotation for the master bedroom. Four hour shifts should do it."

"What about when they're sleeping?" Sylvia asked.

"Hmm. That's a point. Alright, instead we'll do this. We put the guard in the passage watching the trap door and the door to the conservatory," he said. "We can put a nice comfy chair in there. That way we keep both critical points covered, and we have camera backup just in case something happens."

"Do you still want me to block off the conservatory door?"

"No, we'll need to get in from there," he shook his head. "Sylvia. Someone's snooped in the house uninvited. I'd like you and Barnett to organize the mates to sweep the house from top to bottom and make sure they didn't leave anything behind. Barnett, check for microwave transmitters or broadbands, if they put cameras in the house they'll be remotes or they'll be piggybacking the manor's wireless network. Stanley, I think you should make sure all the valuable things are where they're supposed to be. Oh, and keep this quiet. Don't tell anyone else."

"I'll put Bart on it, and he'll get started immediately," Stanley said with a sober nod.

"I wonder how they built an arched ceiling underground," Kit said curiously. "That could not have been easy."

"Excavated over the arch, built the arch, filled in the gap," Nick answered brusquely. "Let's get moving. I want this house cleared by two."

Kit and Jessie stayed in the kitchen, and after she cooked lunch, they read in their bedroom as Muffy watched a move, and Nick went to work. After they were all done around two, Nick explained what they'd done. They'd thoroughly checked the house and found nothing left behind or out of place, and Bartholomew's check of the house found everything where it was supposed to be. Whoever had infiltrated the house had only looked around, maybe gone no further than the conservatory just to make sure they could get in, and then had left. There were no cameras, no bugs, no nasty little surprises anywhere, at least that they could find. Kit decided to check the secret room in their bedroom just to make sure, and found that was also empty and undisturbed. While they'd been doing that, Barnett had set up the remote cameras, putting two on the grate entrance and one in the passage focused on the trap door, and Krichek and Donny had sealed the trap door using two hydraulic jacks and 4x4 posts that were braced against the ceiling… and they got some funny looks from the staff trudging through the manor carrying them. By 4:00, the place was completely swept clean, the trap door blocked off, and they now had cameras watching the entrance and four mercs near the back gate ready to rush in and capture anyone who tried to use the tunnel.

But the excitement of the tunnel faded around 5:00 when the front gates opened and a procession of limousines rolled in, carrying everyone from Austin. Kit and Jessie met them out in the courtyard, shaking paws and hugging their way down the line of limos as their friends and family filed out of them. Kit shook Pat's paw and chuckled when he gawked at the house, the courtyard nestled in behind the west wing and with the main house bordering it on two sides and the pool, pool house, exterior garage, gym, and helipad all visible from the paved area. "Welcome to Stonebrook," Kit told him with a slight smile.

"Duuuude," he breathed, looking around. "The pictures don't do this place justice, Kit, they just don't," he proclaimed in a reverent voice.

"You want it? I'll sell it to you," Kit offered.

"Master Kit!" Stanley barked in protest, which made Kit laugh.

Kit shook Rick's paw and then hugged Martha as they got out of the last limo with Allison and Marty, then he dared give Allison a hug. "God, I've missed you guys," he said as he shook Lupe's paw.

"Austin ain't the same without you, honey," Marty told him. "Jessie! Holy crap, you're pregnant!" he declared, which made Jessie laugh helplessly as Martha hugged her.

"How have you been, dear?" Martha asked.

"I've been fine, Martha," she answered. "Doctor Mac came up and gave me a checkup just two days ago, and she said that I'm right on schedule."

"That's good, dear. Are you coming home to have your baby?"

"We're still not sure," she answered. "It's all going to depend on what happens up here. Odds are, I'll have the baby here, though. Kit can't leave Boston for another month and a half to keep Zach out of the house."

"A month and twelve days to be exact," he answered. "After that, Zach is permanently evicted from Stonebrook. And we'll be flying home the day afterward," he said fervently. "This is a nice place to visit, but I hate living here."

"Yah, who could live in such squalor," Mike teased as he waved towards the swimming pool.

"It's not the house, it's the baggage," Kit said seriously.

"Hey bro, I brought 'em," Vil said as she hobbled up without any kind of assistance. Kit could tell that walking on her cast wasn't without pain for her, but she wasn't about to go back to the cane or crutches. She was bound and determined to walk down the aisle in two days, and she'd do exactly what she meant to do. "Now let's get them all settled in. Stan!" she shouted.

Suddenly, Stonebrook seemed… welcoming. The old ghosts hiding in the walls seemed to be too afraid of the laughter and smiles within the house to lurk behind the paint and wallpaper as Kit and Jessie gave the gang and some friends from Austin the grand tour of the house. They showed them every room in the house, and got the expected oohs and ahhs when they showed them the billiards room, the home theater, and Stanley showed off the lavishly decorated ballroom, done in white and red roses, white silk buntings and tablecloths, and the manor's best china was laid out on the head table while some of the manor's formal china was laid out carefully on the eight 14 seat round tables set in perfect rows of two along the black and white checkerboard marble tiled floor, which had been polished to the point where it was almost mirrorlike. It had taken four furs nearly six hours with buffers to get the floor like that, and Stanley made sure nobody had shoes on before entering his gorgeous ballroom. They all wanted to see secret rooms, so Kit showed them the ones it was safe to show them, avoiding the room holding the surveillance equipment and the conservatory, but they did show the gang the secret vault room similar to the one in Kit's room that was in the west wing master bedroom. "Back in its heyday, this room would have had money, art, stocks, and the really valuable family jewelry in it," Kit told them. "The manor has two identical master bedrooms because my great-grandfather wanted someplace for his brother, but it turned out that my great uncle built another manor instead of living here. He built Still Waters, which is a couple of miles downriver, which is where my uncle Jake lives. My uncle Zach lives in a manor named Swan Cove, which is just a couple of miles from here in the other direction. In a way, I'm kinda surrounded here," he laughed.

"That's why there's nothing but forest out here," Allison realized. "There's houses and apartments and stores everywhere, then bang, nothing but forest."

"That's the boundary of what my family owns," Kit nodded. "Which is about four miles up and down the river, and about two miles wide, centered around Stonebrook. There used to be houses and a couple of farms out here near the house, and some along Stonebrook Drive, but my father decided he didn't want anyone around the manor, so he bought everyone out and had their houses torn down. He even bought out the houses on the other side of the river, since he didn't want to go down to the dock and see someone else's house on the far side. There were some houses upriver of us too, but when Zach bought the land to build Swan Cove, he bought everyone around him out too to make his manor private, just like ours."

"Wow, he convinced everyone to sell their houses?"

"This is Boston, Pat," Kit said bluntly. "The Vulpans rule this city, and this state, for that matter. If Zach wanted that land, he'd get it. If they didn't sell, he'd just pull strings to have the county seize the land through eminent domain and sell it to him, or cause the holdouts so much grief they'd give up and sell just to make it stop. And if anyone complained about it, Zach would crush them like a bug, destroy their lives, and chase them to the west side of the Mississippi river. That's the extent that my family controls this area, and the regard many in my family have with normal furs, Pat."

"Nobody who's been here any amount of time would be insane enough to refuse to sell," Vil said simply.

"The land downriver of us was never developed. It's been part of Still Waters since my great uncle built it. You can still see some of the driveways out there on Stonebrook Drive, when you come in. They're overgrown, but they're there. There's nearly a square mile around Stonebrook that my uncles don't own."

"Do you own all that land?" Emmy asked.

He shook his head. "The land is deeded to Stonebrook, so that means it's owned by Vil primarily. I'm on the deed, but as a co-owner, but as far as the law's concerned, Vil owns it all."

"I always wondered what it'd be like to live in a place like this," Jeffrey mused, looking around the bedroom."

"For you guys, great. It's all the perks but none of the responsibilities. For me, it was great until my mom died, then this place was my own private hell," Kit said grimly. "Since some of you have never been here before, let me show you around out on the grounds."

Pat and Emmy were impressed by the pool, but they were awed by the gym and indoor pool that was just behind and beside the pool house, on the far side of the exterior garage. "It's a full gym, with free weights, weight machines, a rowing machine, stationary bikes, treadmills, and a stair climber. The indoor pool is heated, but it's not really used during the summer. The golf carts in the garage can take you all over the grounds so you can tour the cottages and houses that are scattered around out there. If it's locked, that means that it's in use, so don't go in it. The entire compound is walled in, so as long as you don't jump in the river, you can't leave the grounds without coming across a wall or the back gate. Just to warn you guys. Just before you get to the back gate, on the left, there's a track that leads to an outdoor shooting range. If you hear shooting, stay out of the woods on that side of the grounds. We usually make an announcement over the ground's radios and push to talk when the range is in use, so if you're in doubt, just ask. Don't blunder around in the woods without a manor phone, and make sure you're listening in case we open the range."

"We're getting manor phones?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, as long as you're here. We have plenty for everyone," Kit answered. "Stanley will give them out just before we let you guys go to trash the place," he grinned at Stanley.

"I'm making spaghetti for dinner," Jessie called. "It should be ready around seven."

"You're cooking? Don't you have chefs to do that?" Lilly teased.

"They help," Jessie giggled.

"Tomorrow morning we'll arrange a shopping trip for those slackers who haven't bought Jessie her shower gifts," Vil announced. "But the shower's gonna be held promptly at four, so we need to be done and be back by then."

"Just please remember two things," Stanley said, stepping forward. "First, the staff here at Stonebrook considers you guests. If you need anything, just ask for it. But more than that, if you want to do something and you're not quite sure how, say, to work the home theater system, just ask, and we'll be glad to show you. But also remember that the manor has been set up, decorated, and is prepared for Mistress Vil's wedding reception, so I ask you to please be careful in the rooms. Please don't rearrange or move anything without asking, and please minimize your visits to the ballroom and the main dining room, so we may preserve it in its prepared state."

"You're going to leave the dishes out for two days?" Martha asked, a bit sharply.

"We have sheer covers we place over the tables to keep the dishes from collecting dust," he answered calmly. "All we have to do is remove the glasses and floral arrangements. But given that it takes nearly two hours to set or clear the tables, and I wanted to set them early to make sure they looked proper, we decided to set them now and cover them until the reception."

"Clever," Savid said as he reined in one of his sons.

A golf cart rolled up holding Sally and Bartholomew. "Master Savid, if you'd follow my son Bartholomew, he'll take you to the pool house and help you settle in. Everyone else is in the house, your rooms are already assigned, and your luggage is in your rooms waiting for you. If you'll come back to the manor with me, the staff will escort you to your rooms. Dinner will be in the small dining room at seven."

"What he means is until then, have fun," Kit smiled.

Having the gang in the house almost made it feel like a home. Kit and Jessie weren't alone as they sat in the TV room, chatting with Lilly, Marty, and Jeffrey, then Martha went with Jessie when she went to go help make dinner. Allison and Lilly joined Muffy at the pool, Jeffrey took a golf cart and roamed the grounds, Barry, Emmy, Marty, Denise, Savid and his family explored the manor on their own, as Kit, Rick, Mike, and Pat went up to the billiards room, which held a regulation pool table and also a billiards table. Mike and Pat played on the pool table while Kit explained to Rick how to play billiards, which was an entirely different game, which gave them a chance to talk, catch up, and have a good time.

Dinner was a large affair, and Stanley decided to make a real big deal out of it. It was fully served by the staff, with six of them serving, attending, and ferrying basically what amounted to spaghetti with two types of sauce, meat sauce and marinara sauce with meatballs and home made garlic bread on the side. Muffy had surrounded herself with Kit's friends, chatting animatedly with them, getting to know them much better, and it seemed like Muffy had really hit it off with Lilly. The two of them were giggling together like little girls. Allison was sitting with Kit and Jessie, telling them all about what Sheila and his other cousins had been up to back home, but using selective language so they didn't upset Savid or Savid's kids. She also showed off her brand new IFR rating, her temporary license. "How did you do on your check ride?" he asked.

"The examiner said I aced it," she said with a grin. "Sheila's already looking at planes," she laughed. "We were thinking of a used King Air or a Cessna four hundred like yours. Both of them are pretty fast and are a comfortable flight. I wanted something cheaper, but Sheila has it in her head that she has to have the best."

"You rode in one?"

She nodded. "The salesmale took us on a flight in the King Air," she answered. "If we go for the King Air we have to get our multi first, so we're leaning towards the four hundred. We could be in the air with that faster."

"You could always get a Mooney," Kit urged. "It's just as fast and has retractable landing gear."

"I'd like something with a pressurized cabin," she said.

"Oxygen isn't that bad," Jessie told her. "We've used our oxygen a bunch of times. We use noseclamp style masks. The oxygen in the four hundred lasts six hours, and that's almost longer than the plane can fly before it has to refuel. The only part I hate about it is the popping ears," she giggled as she twirled pasta around her fork.

"Well, get what you feel best with, Ally, and don't let Sheila browbeat you into it," Kit told her. "Besides, to get to New Orleans, you don't really need to pressurize," he added with a smile. "You can do that at twelve thousand easy."

"We flew it in about ninety minutes in our plane from runway to runway," Jessie said. "That's not bad at all."

"Not bad at all for what, four hundred miles," Allison agreed as she took a bite of spaghetti.

"I don't really remember how far it is, I'd have to look it up," Kit admitted.

After dinner, they had a wonderful time. They decided to go watch a movie up in the home theater, which had a projection screen that took up most of the wall, a DVD to projection system, Dolby 5.1 sound, and stadium style seating for 16. There were also couches and chairs along the edges of the stadium seats, and a bar in the back where a servant could make drinks, popcorn, or other snacks and serve the family as it watched the movie. Walter served popcorn and drinks as everyone watched Iron Male, which just rocked on the big screen. After the movie, they all sat around in the TV room downstairs and talked until nearly midnight, as Kit, Jessie, and Muffy told them all about everything that had happened in Boston while the gang told them all about everything that had been happening down in Austin.

At about 1:00 in the morning, Kit and Jessie finally went to bed. They undressed and slid into bed, and Jessie snuggled up to him contentedly. "It's so nice to have all our friends here," she said.

"I know. This place feels more like a home when it's full of smiles and laughter. Those things were in very short supply around here when I was a kid. So, tomorrow's the shower," he noted. "I wonder why Sam decided not to come, since she's coming up with Sheila and Sheila won't be here 'til Friday."

"She will be up here tomorrow," Jessie corrected. "Sheila and the others are flying up tomorrow so they can be at the baby shower, and she volunteered to fly with the plane when it goes to Cincinnati to pick up my family on Friday. I guess so she has extra time with Ben," she giggled.

"She's still doing that all wrong, isn't she?"

"Totally," she answered with a giggle as he started to caress her back, which caused her to purr. "Ben said she calls almost every other day, and he likes her, but he just can't trust her."

"Well, we told her what she has to do. It's her fault if she can't do it."

"Mmm," she hummed, then her purring lulled him to sleep.


They slept in later than usual because they were awake longer than usual, and they awoke to a hurricane of activity.

As soon as they opened the door to the master bedroom, they found Sylvia standing outside with her MP-5 in her paws and loaded. She didn't even say good morning, she simply called Nick on the radio, and Nick responded that he was on his way up.

"What's going on, Sylvia?" Kit asked curiously as Jessie tied the waist of her sweatpants and came towards the door.

"Our trap caught a few rats last night," she answered with a slight smile.

"Really?" he gasped.

She nodded. "Nick will explain everything, Herr Kit."

Nick ran up the hallway from the central stairs and almost skidded to a halt in front of them. "Back in the room," he said, ushering Kit, Jessie, and Sylvia into the room. He then shut the door, turned, and smiled beatifically. "We got 'em," he announced.

"Details, male, details!" Kit pressed.

"It's a bit complicated," he said, ushering them over to the living area, and they sat down as Sylvia went back to the door and brought in a pot of tea and a plate of scones which had been left for them. "Alright, here's what happened. At about four this morning, the cameras caught four males enter the pipe. Donny was pulling camera duty, so he called it out. We scrambled a team to the entrance and took up a position to keep them from getting out alive and allowed them to advance up to the trap door. They tried it, naturally, and when they found it blocked off, they panicked. They ran back to the entrance, but then they found out they were pinned inside by six heavily armed males carrying automatic weapons, so they surrendered."

"That's the dusty report part of it," Sylvia said quietly.

"Yah. We're still questioning them, but we've already got more or less what we wanted. We used… direct methods to get them to talk."

"You beat them up?"

"Oh please, furs expect that," he snorted. "Sometimes the threat is far better than the act. We told them that if they didn't talk, we'd kill them one by one. They didn't believe us and stonewalled, so Sylvie and Krichek dragged one of them out and they pulled the old fake murder gag. Krichek spattered Sylvie with blood drained from the meat in the refrigerator, she fired a few shots of her pistol into the ground, and Krichek dragged the muffled prisoner away as Sylvie came back, sprayed with blood, and pointed to another prisoner and said he was next. The other three started talking real fast about then," he noted dryly. "Sylvie's such a good actress."

"All Germans are good at acting," she murmured.

"What were they going to do?"

Nick looked right at him. "Kill you," he answered flatly. "You and Jessica. Their plan was actually pretty clever," he said with a grim nod. "They waited until you had all your friends and guests in the house, and what they were going to do was sneak up here through the secret passage and murder both of you in your bed. Then they just sneak right back out, clear their tracks, close the trap door, and nobody knows they were ever here. The next morning, they find you dead, all our cameras show that nobody came on or off the grounds all night, and the police spend the next five years trying to figure out which of the thirty-some furs in this house was the one that killed you, because they'd be convinced that it would have to be someone that was in the house the night of the murders."

Jessie's face became horrified, and she put both paws protectively around her stomach. Kit immediately put his arm around her, and she leaned against him and held onto him, almost painfully tight.

"Now here's where it gets interesting, mate," Nick told him. "They aren't mercs. They're PPC. They're Paladins."

The PPC. The Protect Purity Crusade, the original terrorist organization against not just mixed breeds, but also "inferior" breeds which weren't European in origin. They'd been around since the late 1800's, and they'd started right here in Boston. Kit couldn't prove it, but he was fairly certain that his family had helped start the PPC, and it was Vulpan money that funded many of their operations over the years. He knew for a fact that his father was a member of the PPC, he'd grown up listening to his father spew purist diatribe… but there was no public record anywhere that any Vulpan was in any way connected to a radical and unpopular organization like the PPC. The Paladins were a radical wing of the PPC, and they were the ones most responsible for the lynchings and murders of mixed breeds, sympathizers, and inferiors. They believed that there was a war coming against the pure by the mongrels, so many of them had paramilitary training. An operation like this, infiltrating the Vulpan house and murdering a breed traitor and his mongrel wife, would be something most of them would drool over.

"Paladins," Kit growled. "Did you find out who ordered it?"

"They won't say. The one thing they do say is that it wasn't the Paladins that sent them, they all say that they were hired by someone else. Some guy paid them ten thousand each, told them about the tunnel, and told them when and how to do it. Their screw-up was coming early to make sure the information was good, which left evidence that Jessie discovered. But, since they'd get to kill a breed traitor and a mixed, they were all for it."

"I thought the Paladins were all thrown in jail twenty years ago," Jessie said fearfully.

"Oh, they're still around, but now they're all militia wingnuts, training out in the woods for the Breed Wars they say are coming."

"I don't believe they tried to kill us. They tried to kill my baby," Jessie said weakly, then she burst into tears.

Kit held her close and rocked her gently, but his eyes were cold and ominous when he stared at Nick over Jessie's head. "Call Vil."

"I already did. She's on her way. I didn't give her specifics, I just told her that something serious happened and she needed to come right away."

"I want to know who did this. And I want their heads hanging on my wall by dinnertime," he said in a deadly voice.

"We're working on it, mate, we're working on it."

"Are those Paladins still here?"

He nodded. "We have 'em handcuffed to the back gate with six guards on them," he answered. "Now that we've milked all the information we could get out of them, we were about to call the police and have them come arrest them."

"Don't do that until Vil gets here," he said. "Who else knows what happened?"

"Nobody I know of," Nick answered. "We've kept them all back at the back gate, and nobody's been down there." He looked down. "Think we'll give you two a few minutes," he said, nodding towards Sylvia. The two of them left the room and closed the door, and that allowed Kit to comfort Jessie as only he knew how.

So close. It was almost frightening how close they came, and how close that scheme came to working. If it hadn't been for Jessie's compulsive neatness, that secret tunnel would have been undiscovered, and odds were they'd both be dead. They would have never known what hit them, and whoever came up with the scheme was right. With the cameras locking down the entrances, the police would have been absolutely convinced that the murderer was someone in the manor overnight, and right now that was some 40 or so when one added up the staff, the guards, and the guests. It would have been like some twisted real-life game of Clue, the police scouring one of the largest manors in New England to try to discover who killed the Vulpans and how it was done. They'd spend years trying to figure out who killed Kit and Jessie Vulpan, and would either abandon the case or railroad an innocent fur to save face. And it was all stopped because of dumb luck, because Jessie decided to sweep the floor of the secret passage.

Kit let Jessie cry it out for a little bit, rocking her and stroking her hair, then he held her close and kissed her on the top of her head, between her ears. "You saved us, baby," he told her quietly. "You saved our lives, and you saved Laura. Thank you."

She laughed wryly, then sniffed. "I certainly didn't mean to do it," she told him.

"That doesn't make me any less thankful. You saved my life by getting me off the streets, and now you save us all. You truly are my guardian angel, Jessica Desdemona Vulpan, and I love you."

"I love you too Kit, and I won't leave you, no matter how scared I am," she told him.

"It'll never happen again, Jessie. That is my solemn promise to you. I'm about tired of my family. It's about time to do something about this, once and for all."

"I won't say no, Kit," she said quaveringly, still clutching to him with her claws dug into his back and side.

Just about when she got back most of her composure, Vil stormed into the room awkwardly on her casted leg. "Dear God, are you two okay?" she asked as they stood up and folded her into a group hug.

"We're alright, sis," Kit answered, holding both her and Jessie tightly. "I'm glad you're here. It's time to put a stop to this."

"Oh, that's exactly what's going to happen," Vil said darkly. "I was mildly amused when I thought they took a shot at me, but they undeniably tried to kill you, brother. And that's the one thing they never should have done!" she declared hotly. "I think it's time to stop playing games and go right for the throat. I was hoping we could work this out and return the family to normal after we punished the elders, but no way now. There's no chance in hell the family can stay unified after this, so the gloves are off."

"That's what I was thinking," Kit agreed. "Have your lawyers draw up the papers, and also draw me up a will that gives everything to Jessie and stipulates that Jessie has the right to assume all the privileges I have in our agreement. That means that Jessie can take the family fortune if I die. The sheer threat of that should be too much for them."

"I have a different idea, brother," she told him. "I guarantee you, they'll never bother you again. I'm afraid me and Kit are going to be out for a while, sis. We have to go out and do a few things, and unfortunately they have to be done right now. We can't wait. I promise I'll have him home as quick as I can."

"That's alright," Jessie said, taking in a deep, cleansing breath. "I think I'll go sit with Rick and Martha for a while. They always make me feel safe."

"Nick," Vil barked.

"Yah, Miss Vil?"

"Take those four down to the sheriff's office and explain what happened," she ordered. "I'm not going to need them. But, if they're Paladins, that means they have the shield. Take them from them and bring them to me. I'm going to need them."

"I already took 'em. I'll bring 'em to you right now."

"Good. Make it very public, Nick. I want everyone in the world to know that someone tried to kill my brother's family."

"I can do that," he said with a nod.

"What about that Jahal fur?" Jessie asked suddenly. "Maybe that's why he's here, to find out what happened after those, those males tried to kill us."

"That's entirely possible," Nick nodded. "Sylvie, stay with Jessie at all times."

"Ja," she nodded.

Nick brought the shields to them, which were four very small silver shields with a PC etched in the face on two sides of a sword, which stood for the Paladins of the Crusade. Vil clutched them in her paw with a dark expression, then stood up. "Excuse us for a while, Jessie dear, we're going to go kick our uncle's ass."

"Let me get dressed," Kit said. "I don't think I want to show up wearing a bathrobe."

"You have five minutes," she said tersely.

Kit threw on jeans and a tee shirt, and Vil hustled him out of the manor and into her limo. Stav and Marcus were with them, Stav out of his cast already and driving as they pulled out. "Where are we going?" Kit asked curiously.

"Swan Cove," she answered shortly, her face still pinched with barely contained fury.

"I had a feeling you were going to say that," he breathed.

It took them about five minutes to get to Swan Cove from Stonebrook, even though the two manors were only about a mile apart. Swan Cove, unlike Stonebrook, was only about a quarter mile from the main road, but there was nothing else on that road, just like Stonebrook Drive. They reached the gates of Swan Cove, which were almost identical to the gates of Stonebrook instead they were made of black metal, and the guard stopped them outside. "I'm afraid nobody's being permitted inside right now, madam," he said apologetically.

"If you don't open that gate right now, I'll have one of my panthers open it for you," Vil said in a tone so cold that it even made Kit shiver.

"Miss Vulpan!" the guard gasped in shock.

"Marcus, open the gate. If Danvers tries to stop you, break his arms," Vil commanded.

The guard Danvers was honestly at a loss, standing there in confusion as Marcus got out of the car, came around it, and bodily took the remote for the gate from the guard's belt. He pressed the button, and the gates of Swan Cove began to open smoothly.

"We'll keep the remote for now, Danvers, because I don't want anyone disturbing us. We'll give it back to you when we leave."

"C-Can I at least warn the house you're coming?"

"Oh, you do that," she said in a dangerous hiss. "I want them to know I'm coming."

Kit had never been to Swan Cove before, and he hoped he never would again. It was a large mansion comprised of a single three story house without wings that had about fifteen bedrooms in it, as well as many of the perks and luxuries one would expect on a manor of a male worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The manor had a grand front entrance and a smaller side entrance with a drive-through garage, much like Stonebrook's, built on the west side of the house. That was where Stav drove them, into the garage, where a black-suited fox was running up from the door to the house as he stopped the limo. Vil didn't even wait for Stav to get out and open the door for her, she opened it herself and swung her legs out, then stood up. "Mistress Vil, we had no idea you were coming!" the male said, who was the chief butler of Swan Cove whose name Kit couldn't recall. He used to work at Stonebrook, though, Kit remembered his face from his childhood.

"I'd be surprised if you did," Vil growled. "Get my uncle. If he's not awake, wake him up. I want to see him in the parlor right now."

"Master Vulpan is in the sun room eating breakfast," the butler said uncertainly.

"That's fine, I'll go there," she said, hobbling towards the door as Kit got out of the limo, and he and the panthers hurried after the surprisingly fast vixen.

The sun room was an extension built into the back of the house, facing south, that was three walls of glass. It held a table and a sitting area for eating or relaxing, and Uncle Zach was there eating dinner with his wife, Alicia, and their three teenage children, David, Joshua, and Crystal. Zach looked quite shocked to see Vil, then he took on a dark scowl when he saw Kit come in behind her, throwing down his fork and moving to stand. But Vil got to the table before he managed it, and as he put both paws down on the table to stand up, Vil tossed the four shields down onto the table, a vicious look on her face.

"They failed," she hissed. "And now you have pissed me off beyond any form or measure, uncle. I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt when my chopper crashed, I waited to see what the investigation said before pinning any blame to you, but there is no doubt about this one."

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" he said indignantly.

"It's just too bad for you that Kit knows Stonebrook even better than you do, Uncle, he set a trap for your little Paladin assassins and he caught them. They're being shipped off to the sheriff's office right now. We interrogated them, they confessed, and as soon as I track them back to you, you can kiss every penny you have goodbye."

"Now see here, Vil, I have no idea what you're talking about!" he said in outrage, jumping to his feet.

"I'm sure you don't," Vil hissed. "I'll make this very short and very plain, because every second I look at you, I have to resist the urge to order Marcus take his gun out and shoot you like a dog. Before I go on my honeymoon, I expect your resignation on my desk and a notarized deed showing that you have signed over your share of Stonebrook to Kit," she grated coldly. "If you fail to do that, when I get back from my honeymoon, I will destroy you. I'll take every penny you have and throw you out the front gate of Swan Cove naked, you and your entire family," she promised with burning eyes. "I'll enjoy every minute of it, too. Kit was too soft-hearted when he gave you back your money after the trial, but I'm going to rectify that little problem. When you're flipping burgers at McDonald's to scrape up enough money to pay for a one room hovel down in the projects, you won't cause us any more problems." She crossed her arms beneath her breasts and glared at Zach. "And if you do obey me, I might be inclined to be merciful and leave you with ten million dollars. I figure if you invest it right, you can live without any needs for the rest of your life and not have to work, but you won't have enough money to cause any mischief. But the rest of your hundred million, uncle? Your houses, your cars, your private jet, your yacht? Gone. I will break you over my knee, and when this is over, you'll regret trying to kill my brother, sister-in-law, and their unborn daughter every day for the rest of your life."

She collected up the four shields from the table and gripped them in her closed fist. "Your reckoning is here, Uncle. Take a good look around, because you won't be in this house by this time next month."

She then turned and did as good as job as she could to storm out of the room, given she was hobbling on her walking cast. Kit gave Zach and his family, who were all staring with open-mouthed shock, a cold glare, then he turned and swept from the room with the panthers following him.

"Well, that was brief," Kit said quietly to her.

"I wasn't joking. I almost ordered Marcus to shoot Zach."

"We can go back in there," he urged.

She laughed darkly. "No, I need answers, and now Zach will be a good boy and help get them for me," she told him. "If he did it, he'll clear out his bank accounts and run like hell, which just means I get to entertain myself with tracking him down and ruining him the way I'm ruining Cybil. If he really didn't do it, which is always a possibility given he didn't sabotage my chopper either, he'll be hell-bound and determined to find out who did, to clear his name and prevent me from coming down on him like the sword of Damocles. But when I find out who did this," she said, still clutching the shields in her paw, so tightly that her paw was trembling. "I may do to them what they tried to do to you."

When they were back in the limo, Marcus looked back at them. "Where to, Miss Vil?" he asked.

"Take us to the office," she declared, picking up her Blackberry from the tray in the back of the car. "I'm going to have the legal team there to meet us."

"Let's not stay out too long, Vil, I don't want to leave Jessie alone," Kit reminded her.

"Well, we'll do what you need to do and I'll send you back," she said. "You're going to sign a few papers and let me get busy." She dialed the phone and put it up to her face. "Uncle Brian. Someone tried to kill Kit and Jessie," she declared bluntly. "No, they didn't manage anything. Are you in the office? Good. Call the legal department and have them send Smith and Jensen up to my office. Alright, see you there." She killed the call and looked up. "Marcus, when we get to the office, I want you to take pictures of the shields, then take them down to the sheriff's office and turn them in. If they ask why, just tell them that I needed them and that's the end of it. He won't dare gainsay me."

"I'll handle it, Miss Vil," he nodded. "I take it you want me to look into these would-be assassins?"

"I want to know what their grandmothers made them for breakfast when they visited them," she said darkly.

"I'll have it ready for you by tomorrow morning," he promised.

Inside the Vulpan compound, it was both busy and standing still. Kit could see from the shocked and fearful expressions of those around them as they moved through the building that the attack had become public knowledge, and Vil's dark scowl kept anyone from approaching or do anything except look very, very busy. They went to Vil's office, which was a large and warmly decorated suite with an office with a glass desk overlooking the bay, and a kind of one room apartment off from it where Vil could take a nap, rest, watch TV, or whatever she wanted to do. A male fox and a gray fox vixen were standing by the office door when they arrived, and the two followed them in when Vil's secretary opened the door for her. "Alright, let's get down to business," Vil said curtly as she hobbled towards her desk. "I want you two to draw up a deed transfer and courier it to my uncle Zach, which signs over his part of Stonebrook. Make simple, but iron-clad," she told them as she got around her desk and eased down into her chair. While you're at it, draft a letter of resignation for Zach and deliver it with the deed."

"Then it's true?" the vixen said in surprise and a little fear.

"I'm not sure what you heard, but someone tried to kill Kit," she told them. "They hired purist Paladin bastards to try to invade Stonebrook and murder them. I will find out who did it, and when I do, they'll regret it," she growled.

"Are, are you going through with your plans for the wedding?" the male asked.

She nodded. "I'm still going on my honeymoon as well. I can take care of everything over the phone. Which is why we're here. I want you two to draw up a memo stating that while I'm gone, Kit will serve as the temporary chairman. I want to give him proxy to vote for me, and the ability to call meetings. Uncle Zach's suspension is over next week, while I'm on my honeymoon, and if he doesn't resign I want him to be so afraid to show up he won't even bother. Putting Kit in my chair while I'm on my honeymoon will do that nicely."

"But I'm not leaving Stonebrook," he protested.

"You don't have to leave Stonebrook. There are no board meetings scheduled while I'm on my honeymoon, hell, four board members are going on vacation at the same time, and as long as you're sitting in the chair, nobody else can call them either. Only you will have that power. But, you'll have that option if I think it's necessary. You can call a meeting and just listen in over the phone." She looked at the two foxes. "I want that proxy statement on my desk in ten minutes," she demanded. "Kit needs to go back to Stonebrook, and he can't leave until he signs that proxy."

"Give us fifteen minutes," the male said.

Kit could do nothing but pace back and forth across her Oriental carpet, still trying to calm down. It hadn't quite sunk in yet that someone had tried to kill him, but he wasn't worried about himself. All his worry was for Jessie. She was upset and distraught over this, and he wanted to be at home, caring for her, tending her, comforting her. She was his life, and he couldn't stand the idea that she was unhappy. But, this also had to be done. If Vil really was going to go on with her plans, which he knew was necessary and he didn't blame her, then she had to have someone she could trust completely with the proxy power of CEO.

"Relax, bro," she told him, then she grunted. "Though you certainly have every reason to be upset."

"I knew this would happen," he blurted. "The second I came up here, I knew this would happen. I knew someone would take a shot at me, and I feel sick that Jessie had to see it. See my family at its worst. God, why wouldn't she go home!"

"Because she can't live without you, bro," Vil said calmly. "She loves you. Now sit down."

He sighed and did as she asked, sitting in the chair in front of her desk. "I hope she's not too upset."

"She'll feel much better when you get home. And tell her that the baby shower will be held right on schedule. We're not letting those bastards scare us into doing anything differently. We're having the shower, and tomorrow, I'm getting married."

The door opened, and Kendall's entire family rushed in, as well as their friend Charlie. Instead of coming to Vil, however, they all came to Kit and offered him paws, patted him on the back. "Are you and your wife alright, son?" Winston asked in sincere concern.

"Shaken, but alright," he answered. "Thank you."

"We Brightons don't take kindly to someone taking a swipe at our family. And you are our family now, son. What are you doing about this, Vil?"

"I have furs working on it now," she answered. "I'm going to find out who did this, and when I do," she said, trailing off ominously.

"If you need any help, dovey, we're here," Winston told her seriously. "We have some furs here in America, and they're at your disposal."

"I might take you up on that, old male," she answered. "There is one thing you can do for me."

"What is that?"

"When my lawyers get back with some papers Kit's gonna sign, he needs to go home. Can you take him? I don't want him to be alone."

"Harry, Mike, you two and Charlie take care of it. Assure little Jessie that she's well cared for, and while you're at Stonebrook, talk to the guards and get an idea of what happened."

"Sure thing, old male," Harry nodded.

"No problem, Mister B," Charlie nodded, his ears bobbing in a slightly funny manner. "I like being where the femmes are anyway, and there are a few lookers at Stonebrook."

"Don't make me send you home, Charlie."

"I'll behave. Mostly," he grinned.

The two lawyers hurried back in with a folder. "We have it all, Miss Vulpan," the male said.

"Alright, bro, let's get you back home."

"Back to Stonebrook, at any rate," he grunted.

Chapter 37