“No, forget Starbucks,” said Ryan, shaking his head. “They have other managers. I’m hiring you as my personal assistant at four times your current wages, maybe more.” To Jack’s raised eyebrows, the big guy softened his tone. “I know it’s a good job, but we need you, desperately, and you’re the only one qualified for what we need, you know.”
“Sure.”
Eric saw that Jack wasn’t too happy, but was willing to do it anyway. He also knew the job wasn’t supposed to be forever anyway, as Jack was still trying to figure out what to do with his life, but it was a good gig in the meantime.
“You know,” he said, “we really appreciate everything you’ve already helped with, and this might be the most important thing of your life, just like with us. Many things are happening in the world now that weren’t before, and you’d be on the front lines, so to speak.”
Jack nodded. “Yeah, I know. I get it. Sorry if I don’t seem excited. I just hadn’t thought about it before. It’s just a piece of my life I’m giving up, but you guys are losing so much more.”
Ryan added, “Financially, you will not have to worry about anything in return for your help. I’m thinking to get you a credit card for you to use, so you can buy things we need. We seriously need you for so many things.”
Ryan called his attorney, letting Quincy know he needed a discreet way to access his money. He also told him to set up something to pay Jack a salary, a large “signing bonus,” and creating an expense account and credit card for his use. He made a point of all of it being as untraceable as possible.
Eric had been thinking of something else that usually took a while to arrange, so they needed it to start immediately. “I think we’re going to need somewhere to stay long term. We have to assume these quests are indefinite. I’m talking a house.”
Ryan offered, “I’ll pay for somewhere.”
“I want to focus on a home base to set up,” began Eric. “This is a priority. We can use this hotel room for a few days, but we need a long-term location, one we never have to leave, with Jack getting things for us, or delivery service. Jack can live there, too.”
“So we need five bedrooms,” mused Matt.
“We’re thinking too small,” said Ryan. “We need an estate, somewhere up on Route 28 near Sugarloaf Mountain, where all those large farms are. They have a bunch of land. Some have multiple buildings, like a guest house, or an older house before a new one was built. We need a barn where all of you can practice your riding. We need a martial arts training room like what we were setting up at the guest house. We need an archery range no one can see from the road. We can do swordsmanship in an indoor riding ring. We need a place where Matt can do magic, where no one sees it, if it’s really working here. Maybe we need a set of locks we all learn to pick, or a rock-climbing wall so we can get experience with that, too. We need to cross train each other and get private lessons when we can, though doing that with no one knowing it’s us might be an issue.”
Eric’s intense gaze fixated on him. “That was good. You are right. How much are those estates?”
Ryan shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.”
“How much?”
The big guy smirked at the insistence. “Two to four million.”
“How do we get your parents to do that without asking questions?”
Ryan lifted a beer bottle wryly. “That is a great question.”
“I think he’s right, though,” added Matt. “That would be ideal. We need good security but not so good that it looks like we’re fugitives or something.”
“Too late for that,” Jack joked. “But seriously, if no one knows about it, you’d be freer. Not looking over your shoulder all the time.”
“Right,” admitted Eric, “and it’s exactly why we need it all done discreetly, which is another problem. If your parents buy an estate up there, people will wonder why. Places like the FBI would know.”
A moment of silence followed that before Matt suggested, “Maybe there’s some sort of shell corporation your attorney can set up and they buy the estate. I don’t know how that works, though.”
The others seemed to agree, but no one said anything for a few minutes.
Ryan suggested, “Maybe in a few minutes, you can show me more sign language.”
Matt agreed and opened his mouth to respond, when a knock on the door stopped further conversation. They exchanged a look.
“Does anyone know we’re here?” Eric whispered.
“Shouldn’t,” said Jack. “Quincy?”
Ryan nodded. “I’ll check.”
“Peephole,” Eric suggested.
Ryan went up to the door and peered through the hole. Then he turned back with a scowl and motioned for Eric to come over. The others followed. “It’s a woman, about forty years old.”
Eric looked and stepped back. “I don’t know her.” Matt and Jack looked, too, but they didn’t either, so he thought a moment and then asked loudly, “Who is it?”
The woman answered, “Eriana of Coreth.”
Chapter 11 – A New Friend
Erin waited in the hall for a sound from beyond the door, her long skirt swaying with her fidgeting. She smoothed her blouse and tried to calm herself. She had good ears and heard furious whispering. She had to play this right or it might quickly go south, and she had a lot riding on the next several minutes. Many years of facing horrific danger had made her serene in the face of just about anything, but she was nervous for the first time in forever. All for a conversation.
But the information it might reveal was so devastatingly important to her that it had literally kept her up at night since the moment she’d seen that pretty girl—Anna was her
