Plans for the Future

Leonard

The sounds of thunder awoke me. With a sigh, I looked around the room. Seeing that I was the only soul in the room. The open window blew the cool winds and the fierce rain onto the floor beside the bed. Drowning the floor and myself. Standing to my feet. I made my way to the window, reaching up only for the sharp pain to cause my vision to get blurred. Feeling light-headed. "Leonard, dude, what in the world. Lay back down." I heard Charmaine say from somewhere in the room, feeling myself being led from the window. Once I was lying down, I heard the rushing wind stop as the faint click of the lock came to my ears.

"I'm sorry, Charmaine. I thought I could do something as easy as closing the window."

The young woman sighed. "Nicolae warned me you were a stubborn old goat. At least you are well. If you weren't after a stunt like this, Grace would have your head." She laughed. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to have her angry at me again. She can be all kinds of crazy when she's mad enough." The room was coming back into view. "I came to wake you up and tell you that breakfast was ready."

"Nice… did you cook or did Nicolae?"

Another laugh filled the room. "Don't worry, I cooked Nicolae gave me kitchen duty for a while. I suppose he missed a woman's cooking instead of eating sandwiches."

"Sandwiches? Is he slowing down on the cooking? Nicolae is a decent cook, the only one of us that doesn't burn water." It got quiet as I looked at her to see she was looking at the ground. "Is something wrong, Charmaine?"

She looked at me with a gentle smile. "No, I was thinking. Nicolae had something he had to do a few weeks ago. I suppose we're kind of getting the feel of this life of peaceful times after the past few years has been chaotic. It's going to take some time for everyone to get used to it, I guess.

"You and Nicolae had a lovely wedding. How was the honeymoon?"

She looked at me with a frown. "I'm sure it would have been lovely. We haven't been able to have one. This mess started before we could even plan on it."

I looked at her as she looked at me with a smile. "You stay put. I'll bring you a plate. You and Grace can catch up. You two deserve this time. Believe me, I've been talking to her and praying that she can find someone to call her own. She deserves it. She would make someone an amazing wife and a wonderful mother to a child."

"She would be an amazing wife. However, children aren't something that neither of us wants. I respect her enough to give her that. I honestly wouldn't mind either way. If children come in our future, they do. If not, that's fine as well."

"But is that how you feel about having children, you agree with her because you respect her? Don't you want a family of your own?" The woman looked at me.

"Charmaine, Grace, and I are alike on that topic. I don't want children. I never did. I will love Riley and your child, but I can do without them. I could spend my whole life with Grace without having children running around."

She smiled. "Let me go make you a plate, we're having gravy, sausage links, fried potatoes, and biscuits. Was there anything that you wanted extra?"

"No, that sounds fine."

She walked from the room, closing the door behind her with a soft click. I got comfortable looking out the window. Moments later, the door opened once more, then Grace stepped into the room. I looked as she had paperwork in her hands; she sat down in the chair beside the bed, placing the papers on the table. She looked at me as I looked at her. "Charmaine will be back in a moment. I thought I'd take this time to hand your assets back over to you, your statements, and the passwords to your accounts."

"I'm not in a hurry to get that back, Grace. It's probably safer with you at the moment anyhow. I'm not really in the position to defend money if someone tries to rob me again."

She laughed, "Leonard, your money is still in the bank. This is just the information where it is and the associate to talk to about it. Your money is under lock and keep. Even you will need identification to gain access to it. Reginald won't allow any of the clients that I give him to access their money without proof of who they are. Jarrod and Alice will have to perform an impossible miracle to gain access to your money now. And I don't even think that would give them what they want."

"What is this guy, the FBI? He seems like someone I should have hired before when I was getting my money stolen. Where do you meet these people? What other occupation did you have before joining our group, love?" She looked at me, leaning back in her seat. "You have that look, Grace."

"What look?"

"Well, love. I've known you for a long time and I know that you have something planned. You have that glint in your eye. You're planning something fun and exciting. "

She looked at me. "I have my resources, though I've been active in this small little group. I have others who are watching Jarrod and Alice around the clock. Jarrod may have J.M Enterprises, but you three have really no clue what and who I have at my disposal. I'm just waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike Jarrod and bring every secret to light, and have him executed. I have the means and the will to watch him wither like the pathetic worm he is. This is just a cat-and-mouse game for me right now. I'm just inviting you three to see the carnage I create to the McGee name. For what he did to Rosalyn, that alone has sparked this little game, the other souls are just extra." She sat back in her seat, folding her arms with a smile.

"What are you then? A cop?" I looked at her as she shook her head.

"Let's just say that I have the power to get things done. This game is almost over. Jarrod has given me the satisfaction that I need to make him fry. Alice as well, speaking of the harlot." She gathered a small stack of papers, laying them on my lap. "The dialogue between Jarrod and herself, and their plans to eliminate you from the picture and her inside source on your past issues, Charmaine, is correct, to a degree. Getting you to become a drunk, and lonely man was a part of the plan, as well as eliminating you. All that was true. However, they were going to make your death appear as a suicide. Telling the police that you killed yourself because of the guilt you suffered for years after you had killed your mother, and killing Audra. They had planned to frame you as the murderer in both deaths so the police would turn their sights on your family and have the Shepherd name slandered into the mud. Yes, I do my research. Alice. I have dug some interesting things that would put her in the grave in this little game. You had been housing a murderer, the very woman that killed the woman you loved. Jarrod played some parts in Audra's death, but it was Alice that pulled the trigger. Jarrod offered special favors to Alice for the life of his daughter, Alice, however, had little to no remorse. Thinking she was getting a good time and rich happily took the life of the only person who had leads on the killings of Virginia, Audra knew of her mother's death and had been planning to come clean and reveal everything she knew about her father to the police. However, her death didn't shut up the truth. Alice had no clue about Audra and me exchanging phone calls. Every day, the girl would tell me a little more information about the things she knew. Even of how your father met his death. Every murder on this list is linked to Jarrod McGee. She had even shared her fear of the things her father had planned for her, and Alice was always stalking her."

I sighed. "Alice tried hiding this betrayal with an innocent Christian girl persona. She really had me fooled. I was considering the lifestyle. Is the religious lifestyle, such a fake, hypocritical path, or is it just a random few?"

She looked at me. "You can't place blame on all the Christians in the world. There are always rotten apples in every group of people. You can't think that Charmaine is a false teacher for your experience. There are those who appear legit, like the real deal. Charmaine, I place my confidence in the girl. She has often talked to me about God, she has given me a few Bibles, however, I'm not much for reading. But I have read a little here and there when I have trouble falling asleep."

"What do you think of the lifestyle? Have you ever considered church, getting things right with someone you know nothing about?" I looked at her.

"I have thought about it. I'm always willing to try something new at least once. Perhaps we should join Charmaine and Nicolae. What have the two of us got to lose? You seem interested as well. I've never known you to be a man to pray about anything. I saw a list in your drawer. At first, it left me dumbfounded until I realized why you had written the list. Then it kind of became clear what it was."

"Perhaps we should go to a service with them. It would make Charmaine happy, and I want to see her happy. It's the least I can do for her, after she stayed up all night nursing me, not really worrying about her own health. How bad can it bed, we may actually enjoy ourselves?"

"Agreed. When you're healed, we will attend church, then move on from there."

The door came open as Charmaine walked in carrying two plates of food; she sat one down on my lap then placed the other one on the table. "Nicolae is coming with the coffee. I will retreat your wounds after you eat, then you're going to get on some fresh clothes on, then you're going to rest." She put her hands on her hips.

"Yes, ma'am." I looked at her as she smiled, walking from the room.