The Last 24 Hours Ch. 14

Mr. Laughlin spoke up, "You wouldn't be named after a relative would you, son?"

I looked at him for a moment debating whether or not to answer him, "My late grandfather, as it happens."

He smiled at me. "I thought so. You look a lot like him. I was sorry to learn about your grandmothers passing as well." He turned towards his companions and said, "I think we should hear what they have to say. I also think you need to keep your mouth shut while we do, Bill." This last was directed at Mr. Wright.

I looked at Betty and said, "This is more your story than mine."

Betty cleared her throat and began her tale. We sat and listened to it and so did the board. For nearly forty minutes they sat and listened. Lester and Josh occasionally interjecting points she had missed. The board members visibly blanched when she told them of my threat and who I was, "...and so Alex paid the note today. Mr. Davis refused to be anything resembling reasonable and now here we are."

All throughout the telling the members of the board sat in silence. "Good God! What is that idiot thinking." This came from Mr. Michaels.

Mr. Johnston picked up and extension and said, "Get Davis in here right now!"

I looked at Josh and said, "I need to get going. I have a lot of things to get replaced and I need to take my lady for some quiet time."

Josh asked them, "Why are you asking Mr. Davis in? He made it quite clear that he and you will be denying any claim my clients make."

Mr. Laughlin spoke. "Thatwas not andis not his decision to make.We will decide what is to be done. Mr. Taylor, if you would care to remain behind we will hammer out the basics of a settlement with you and Mr. Palmer can take his lovely lady and be about his business." He looked at me. "Several of us knew your grandparents, son; we don't do business this way and we will be fixing the problem as of now. I hope you change your mind about doing business with us in the future."

I looked at him soberly and said, "Until this week I've had no complaints with you. If you are willing to fix the problem and make things right for those injured, I have no problem in continuing to do business with you." I shook his hand and we left Josh to work out the details of the deal.

Yuki and Joyce stayed with Josh while the rest of us went back to the Toulon and had a light supper. Betty and George took their leave saying they both had work to finish. They were both ecstatic with their new silent partner.

I pulled Beth over for a kiss and said, "Let's go to your place; mine's a wreck."

Beth laughed and said, "Okay, but I charge three orgasms a night for lodging privileges; we'll talk about board later."

I smiled lasciviously and said, "I think we can work something out." I stood and we headed for the car.

~~~~~

We had left Rudy at the curb waiting for a taxi. Bill would drive Beth and me home and Paulee would wait for Yuki, Josh, and Joyce and take care of them. We all felt the threat had passed but we weren't being stupid about it and relaxing just yet.

Bill pulled into Beth' garage after Asa checked it to make sure it was safe. Unlike most garages Beth's looked like an organizational show piece. Everything was neatly stored and there was virtually no clutter to be found at all. Beth isn't what I'd call a neat freak, really, but she hates disorganization.

Bill had Beth open the door and deactivated the alarm and then Asa proceeded to check the premises. Moving quickly from room to room she cleared them to enter the house. After she had confirmed that the place was safe we all went in and relaxed in the living room. Beth went into the kitchen and brought out a pitcher of iced tea and a tray of glasses for us.

We sat for a little while and then Bill asked, "Would you mind terribly if Yuki or I bunked down in your spare bedroom for a bit, Beth? We are both short on sleep and will take turns on watch tonight."

Beth smiled and said, "Feel free. I appreciate the effort you guys have gone to in order to keep us safe."

She stood and showed Bill to the back bedroom and the attached bath. Beth didn't stint herself on her living space. Her apartment --while nowhere near as spacious as the hotel suite had been-- was still impressive with two bedrooms, two and a half baths and a full kitchen with dining area and breakfast nook. Her apartment wasn't far from the house I had shared with Lisa for the duration of our marriage, and I had only just realized that this was as close to me as she could get without making Lisa uncomfortable. I hung my head in shame for the grave injustice I felt I had done to my best friend.

I brought one hand up to rub the bridge of my nose. Beth had given up so much for me and I had been blind to it all. The melancholy settled over me for a moment as I contemplated my neglect of her. Asa noticed my mood and started to place her hand on my arm before halting. I looked up at her and gave her a wan smile. "It just hit me the things she has denied herself for me all these years. I'm not all that special. I really don't know why she loves me so much."

Asa perched on the coffee table in front of me and with a sadly wistful smile said, "Her heart saw, all those years ago, the other half of her soul. It told her the truth of her life. That truth was that she was yours. From the minute that this truth was known to her, she had no right to give her love to another. It would have been false and in the end would have poisoned her and the relationship she tried to build. Denial is an ugly thing. From what I have heard and read in your file I'll bet Lisa was your 'first love'." I was surprised and nodded.

"She kept you blinded and besotted so that you could not see what was happening. This man Dunne reminds me of the Japanese legends of the gaki: They were evil vampire spirits. However, they fed not on blood but on emotions. Those that survived were said to be husks, not really alive. I think that is what has happened to this Heather and it is what was happening more slowly to Lisa. He was not a spirit, merely an extremely evil man."

I nodded my agreement. I mean he was certainly sucking the life out of those women.Good riddance Dunne; may you rot in hell! "Thank you. You gave me the perspective I needed." I picked up my glass and drank some more iced tea. She smiled.

Her cell phone rang and she had a brief conversation. She hung up and said, "Melisande's assistant just confirmed both visually and by fingerprint that Dunne is indeed dead. Rudy spoke with her and said she also says that your hunch about the twins is correct; they are his daughters. Some of the files they seized from his safety deposit box had a paternity test dated three months after they were born. They expect the new tests to confirm this old one. I am sorry about that."

I sighed heavily. "It no more than I expected. It still hurts to hear it though."

At that moment Beth's arms wrapped around me from behind and she whispered in my ear, "Then it's my job to make you forget the pain." With that she slid over the back of the couch I was sitting on, into my lap, and planted a sound time-stopping kiss on me again.

Asa smiled and then moved to the kitchen to give us a little privacy. I asked, "How much of that did you hear?"

She smiled. "All of it. I love you because to me there is no one else. You complete me. Nobody else can do that. Only you can. I've known that ever since we met.

"She's right you know. Almost every relationship I've been in ended because of my feelings for you. They knew that you held the other half of my soul and they could never take it from you. So they got jealous or abusive or they just left. Out of all of my girlfriends only Maddi has ever accepted my feelings for you and she figured them out the first time she saw us together."

Beth laughed. "After that first time she said if I ever got you she'd be willing to share me with you. I thought she was joking but I just talked to her on the phone in my room and she said to tell you what she said and that she meant it. She threatened to spank me if I didn't."

I was completely shocked. I looked at her, "Would you wan..."

She kissed me quickly. "You are my fantasy come to life.You are all that I need. If you want to um... experiment... I'll play, as long asIalways have you. That is not to say I feel the need to. I have dreamed of you for all these years and now I have you.You are all I need. Understand me? Playing with others might be fun but all I need is you and if you are uncomfortable with sharing me with another woman then we won't do it. But understand me on this too: If we ever do play it will be with a girl, my spry fellow.You are the onlyman I will ever let near me,ever!"

I sat gawking at her like a tourist come to the city. She stroked my face and gave me another kiss. I hugged her tightly to me and said, "You are all I'll ever need." I felt the tears fall from my eyes as I buried my face in her luxurious hair. I pulled myself together and stood catching her off guard as I moved toward her bedroom. I cradled her in my arms and she whispered, "I keep forgetting how strong you are, how much stamina you have. I love you, my dear, sweet, lovely man."

I whispered back, "And I you, my sweet, sweet love. And I you."

I kicked the door closed behind us and shut out the world. I made slow gentle love to Beth that night. We were in no hurry and we were as safe as we could make ourselves. We fell asleep with my Beth cradled in my arms once more, her head upon my chest and her leg draped over mine. Tomorrow would indeed be a bright new day.