Vengeance in Blood (Book 2): Tribulations (22 page)

He took her face in his hands. “You haven’t yet,” he told her calmly.
You can only hurt my heart,
she heard. Kenneth picked her up in his arms, holding her tight. “Seeing and feeling your remorse for something like that is more than I can take, baby. So let’s both stop and continue the day.”

Feeling and hearing how much Kenneth didn’t care about the pain of his body in his mind made Besseta shiver. “I don’t deserve you,” she mumbled. Looking up at Kenneth in anger, she growled, “Touch that knife. I dare you.”

Only hearing some of the argument and feeling helpless, Tiffany jumped up and shouted, “Stop it, both of you!”

Startled, Kenneth turned around with Besseta still in his arms. “Don’t do that,” Kenneth told her. “I’ve already got someone screaming at me.”

“Besseta!” Tiffany snapped. “Stop it right now!” Besseta just looked at Tiffany like she was crazy. “I mean it, both of you,” Tiffany said, stomping her foot. “Both of you, sit down now,” she said, pointing at the table. Not seeing Kenneth or Besseta move, she said, “I can make you.”

Kenneth ran over and put Besseta in a chair then sat beside her as Tiffany put the puppies on the floor. “Now,” Tiffany said, throwing her hair off her shoulders as she took a seat. “First, Besseta, Kenneth is a big boy. He knows you’re strong, so quit moping, and just try to be gentle. He loves you and knows it’s not intentional. If he doesn’t mind and asks you to stop, you should just enjoy being with him. Just try to think, ‘be gentle.’” Kenneth grinned with the reprimand.

“Kenneth!” Tiffany snapped, wiping the grin off his face. “It makes her feel bad knowing she hurt you. How would you feel if you hurt her?” Tiffany asked, and Kenneth hung his head. “I’ve known little Besseta a long time and have never seen her happier, and it’s because of you. She doesn’t like the idea of hurting what makes her world.”

Seeing she had both of their attentions, Tiffany let out a breath and started. “Guys, I’ve only seen one other vampire/human couple in love, and that was a long time ago. It is a difficult union and will take work from both of you. You two are so in love I have to admit sometimes it makes me sick. No more fighting,” she told them, and both just looked down at the table.

“You’re talking to each other in your minds, and it doesn’t look like it’s nice,” Tiffany grumbled. “Talk out loud around me, please, unless it’s the lovey dovey stuff.”

They looked up with sad eyes. “Okay,” they said in unison.

“Now, Kenneth, you saw a werewolf?” Tiffany asked, picking up the puppies as Bonnie and Clyde came in the kitchen.

“Yes,” Kenneth responded, and Tiffany raised her eyebrows, wanting more. “The afternoon you two left, there were people posting about really big animals running through the countryside. Since I was already headed to town, I picked up the surveillance system and mounted it when I got home. I took some bleach and stuff and sprayed down the dock and peed everywhere I could.”

“That’s why it smells like that?” Besseta asked, looking over at him.

“Besseta,” Tiffany snapped, “let him finish; then we can ask questions.” Shocked at Tiffany’s attitude, Besseta nodded.

“Well, it was the next night when a motion detector went off by the gate, and I saw a big animal at the gate. I thought it was a bear, but when it turned, I knew it wasn’t. It wasn’t there long, and I don’t know if it was the same one or a different one, but the camera at the dock showed one walking across the parking area.” Kenneth got up and walked over to the monitors. He put a flash drive in and pushed some buttons, and one of the screens showed them what he saw.

“It’s big, like seven and a half to eight feet tall, but I thought they would be bigger. Not that I want to wrap up with one, mind you,” Kenneth told them.

“Only the older ones, and one that size is stronger than I am,” Tiffany said, watching the few seconds of footage. “Nothing piqued their interest.”

Nodding as he walked back to the table, he said, “About what I figured.” Sitting down, he caught what Tiffany said. “Their? So it was two different ones?”

“Yes, the one by the gate was a female, and the other was a male,” Tiffany told him. “Now Besseta and I know why the docks smell like chlorine and urine.”

“It’s all I could think of,” Kenneth shrugged.

“Well, it seemed to work.” Tiffany nodded and looked at Besseta. “Now you may ask,” Tiffany said, “out loud.”

“Why didn’t you say something?” Besseta asked, glancing at him.

“Been a little busy here, babe.”

Besseta sighed. “That was important; they could’ve come after you.”

“Oh, so let me see.” Kenneth smiled, looking up as Besseta dropped her head on the table, hearing what he was going to say before he said it. “Like a serial killer in Mississippi was killed and two angels rescued a young woman,” Kenneth said. “I read that, and no one said anything to me about that.”

“Kenneth—” Tiffany started.

Raising his hand, Kenneth stopped her. “Tiffany, I’m not saying anything about it. But I am making a point in no one told me, and I’m not acting hostile.”

“It was only a human,” Besseta moaned, lifting her head to look at Kenneth then dropping it back down on the table.

“Ah, so the same night, locals report ‘rolling roars’ across the country. Another person reported a banshee fighting and recorded it. You can very clearly make out ‘whore,’ ‘bitch,’ ‘fuck,’ and ‘mine’ when you listen to the recording. If you met Maliki at the campground, the man who recorded that would’ve been eleven miles away, and I can tell you that ‘banshee’ was my Besseta.”

“Well…” Tiffany tried to come up with something then gave up. “I don’t know how to answer.”

“I’m not saying I’m mad, but I wasn’t told why my wife bellowed across the land; I was just waiting for someone to get around to it,” Kenneth replied, and Besseta kept her head on the table.

“Fine, I’m sorry, but that worries me,” she moaned with her face buried. Kenneth went to stand behind Besseta and dropped down, biting on her neck. She yelped, jumping up as Kenneth wrapped his arms around her then his legs but kept chewing. Squealing, Besseta dropped down on the floor not wanting to hurt Kenneth but wanted the chewing on her neck to stop tickling her.

Bonnie and Clyde ran in, offering aid by licking Besseta in the face. “Save Momma!” Besseta cried as Kenneth kept chewing. “Kenneth, stop, I’m going to pee!” she laughed, and Kenneth stopped and kissed the side of her face.

Tiffany laughed. “Well, what are we doing today?” she asked as they got up.

“I’m going to start work on the garage,” Kenneth said, looking at the overcast sky.

“Oh good.” Besseta smiled, jumping up and down and clapping. Tiffany just stood and smiled.

With the foundation poured out for the garage by the evening, they all were sitting on the couch, and Kenneth was beat. Not really from working but from showing the two everything. After driving all the heavy equipment, Kenneth showed them how to start the garage.

Once he showed them how and what needed to be done, they took off working. At times, Kenneth was scared to move, afraid of being run over by one of them. After seeing Besseta carry over a whole pallet of concrete bags, he started feeling really inadequate.

As they watched TV, Kenneth lay with Besseta behind him, rubbing his shoulders. “Baby, can I ask you something and you not get mad?” Kenneth said, glancing at Tiffany, who raised her eyebrows.

Besseta stopped Kenneth’s shoulder rub. “Yes, but I’m not promising anything,” she warned, and Tiffany shook her head. “I don’t know what he’s going to ask; he’s doing that blocking thing. All I can tell you he’s thinking of my—” Besseta stopped and looked away from Tiffany. “Go ahead, baby.”

“Uh…well…uh I was wondering if you could put me as your husband at your law firm so I can access the account. I hate asking, but we’re out of cash here,” Kenneth asked, embarrassed.

“Oh my, baby, I’m sorry. I should’ve done that already,” Besseta gasped. She leaned down, still apologizing, kissing the side of his face as he sat up.

“Baby doll, I hate asking, but we wanted some more property—” Kenneth stopped when Besseta covered his mouth with hers.

Breaking the kiss, she looked at him. “I’m sorry; I should’ve done that already. What’s mine is yours.”

“W—” Kenneth started again, and she covered his mouth with hers again.

“When we feel it’s okay, we will run to Boston and get it taken care of,” Besseta told him. Kenneth nodded, reaching up and rubbing her head.

“Kenneth,” Tiffany said, moving her puppies so she could sit up. “You are much too worried about money. If I gave you a long ton of gold bullion, would that make you less so?”

Nearing panic heart rate levels, Kenneth just lay there in shock. “It doesn’t matter to him, Tiffany. I have twice that downstairs, but still, he worries,” Besseta said, looking over at her.

Tiffany furrowed her brow. “Weird,” she concluded, laying back down and pulling the puppies back on her chest.

Wanting to change the subject, Kenneth racked his brain. “When are you going to draw for me?” he asked, looking up at Besseta.

“Whenever you want; what do you want me to draw?” she asked.

“Ooh ooh!” Tiffany started bouncing. “Besseta, why don’t you paint a portrait of you and Kenneth?”

Besseta thought about it. “I’ll need some stuff.”

“You can paint as well?” Kenneth asked.

Tiffany laughed. “She’s good, but with teachers like Michelangelo and Leonardo, she better be.”

Jumping up, Kenneth spun around. “The real Michelangelo and Leonardo?” he asked, looking at Besseta.

Confused, she asked, “What, are there fakes?”

“Whoa,” Kenneth said, collapsing back on the couch.

Pointing at a painting on the wall, Besseta said, “Michelangelo did that one for me.”

Screaming, Kenneth levitated off the couch to his feet. “You’re hanging a Michelangelo on the wall!”

“Why wouldn’t I? Where do you hang pictures?” Besseta asked, wondering as Kenneth’s mind filled with gibberish. “I left the two Leonardo did in the closet, but I want to hang them up as well.”

Kenneth dropped to his knees. “In…a closet?” Besseta nodded, not understanding his reaction. “Besseta…” Kenneth searched for the words, “they are worth more than the Earth!”

“I knew money had to be involved,” Besseta scowled at him.

Reaching over, Tiffany grabbed Besseta’s arm. “Let’s take him out to stores and make him spend money till he gets over this,” Tiffany offered. “He worries too much about it, and that can’t be healthy.”

“Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni and Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci are considered two of the greatest masters of all time, and you just have one on the wall and some shoved in a closet. And I’m the one who’s acting weird,” Kenneth stated.

“Hey, you knew their whole names and said them right,” Besseta said, impressed.

Not even hearing her, he asked, “Can we at least put them in bulletproof cases?”

Tiffany raised her hand. “Who wants to shoot the pictures?”

Groaning, Kenneth collapsed to the floor. “No one; it’s to protect them from everything.”

“Well, I guess it couldn’t hurt,” Besseta offered, and Kenneth sat up.

“Thank you, really. I mean it. Thank you,” Kenneth said, bobbing his head.

Feeling how happy that made Kenneth, Besseta smiled. “We’ll get some for the other houses also,” she informed him and felt Kenneth’s panic come back. “What? That’s not all I got from them.”

Kenneth shook his head. “It doesn’t matter, but I like your idea about putting them in cases at the other houses.”

“I’m going to make him spend money till he gets over this,” Tiffany declared as she stood, still holding her puppies.

Kenneth looked up at Tiffany. “This coming from the woman who hasn’t even bought her dogs anything,” he accused.

Tiffany inhaled sharply. “We haven’t been anywhere, or I would’ve.”

“Tiffany, we have internet,” Kenneth pointed out, and Tiffany rolled her eyes. “And you have credit cards.”

A light turned on in Tiffany’s head. “I got credit cards!” she yelled and flashed upstairs.

Kenneth climbed back on the couch. “I’m sorry if I upset you,” he said, putting his head on Besseta’s lap.

“You didn’t, and I’m sorry about not putting you on the estate. It was a mistake on my part,” she told him, looking down at his face.

Feeling the anguish from Besseta, Kenneth smiled. “I know it was, baby; it’s not like you’re worried about me spending it.”

Laughter erupted from Besseta. “I would give it all to you if it would make you quit this unquenchable worry you have with money.” Besseta rubbed his head gently, putting Kenneth to sleep. Grabbing the remote, she started watching movies, hearing Kenneth’s dreams in her mind.

Chapter 14

It was two weeks later, and Kenneth was asleep in bed as Besseta came over. “Hey, baby,” she said, kissing his face. “You don’t have to dream about me; I’m right here.”

“I’m up,” Kenneth said, sitting up. He looked around and noticed it was bright outside. Lifting his arm, he scoffed, “Wow, noon. Haven’t slept that late in a long time.”

“I would’ve let you sleep, but another delivery is here,” Besseta told him.

“My God, there’s not much else that woman can buy for those puppies,” he said as he got out of bed and pulled on his pants.

“What movie are we watching tonight?” Besseta asked, bouncing on her knees.

Stopping and looking up as he dressed, he huffed, “Huh?”

“What movie tonight?” Besseta asked and stopped bouncing.

Kenneth shrugged. “I don’t know, baby, why don’t you two pick one?” he asked.

“The movies we pick out suck,” Besseta groaned. “Your movies are good—even the ones that don’t have shootings and car chases.”

“Those are called chick flicks,” Kenneth told her.

“The ones you chose don’t suck,” Besseta told him.

Sighing, he put on his shoes and said, “I don’t know, but I will pick us out a movie.”

Smiling, Besseta started bouncing on her knees again, shaking the bed. Seeing the game, Bonnie and Clyde jumped up to join her. “How about two movies?” Besseta asked, still bouncing.

Kenneth looked up at Besseta and the dogs bouncing on the bed and laughed. “I’ll do three if you paint your nails,” he offered.

Hearing that, Besseta stopped. “I told you; you want to see them painted, you do it.”

“Besseta, the only experience I have is painting Mickey’s girls’ finger and toe nails a few times when they spent the night.”

“Hey, that’s more than me.”

Walking to the closet, Kenneth pulled out a shirt. “Two movies and you do the popcorn,” he offered.

“Three movies, I’ll do the popcorn, and you’ll paint,” Besseta countered. Taking a breath, Kenneth heard the answers, so he just put his shirt on. “You really thought Tiffany would know how.”

“Let’s go see what she bought this time,” Kenneth said, holding out his arms as Besseta bounced over to him. Grabbing her, Kenneth carried Besseta downstairs with the dogs following, letting Kenneth know he forgot them.

“It was a big delivery, so I told them to put it in the garage,” Besseta said as Kenneth carried her down to the dock.

“She’s spent some money on those dogs,” Kenneth mumbled.

“Hush,” Besseta told him as she pulled herself up and kissed his cheek.

“You have Tiffany convinced dogs can read, and you need to tell her otherwise,” Kenneth said, stepping over to the powerboat. Sitting down, he looked back on the dock at Bonnie and Clyde staring at him, panting side by side, wanting to go. “Fine,” Kenneth said and grabbed them.

“Hey, babies,” Besseta said as they jumped in her lap.

“Why am I needed again?” Kenneth asked, starting the boat. “It damn sure isn’t to carry stuff.”

“Baby,” Besseta whined as Tiffany walked down to the boat carrying the puppies. “You have to put the stuff together. When she broke that bed, Tiffany cried all day.”

“A small canopy bed for puppies that will only use it for a month,” Kenneth pointed out. “If she ever puts them down.”

As Tiffany walked over, Kenneth held up his hand and helped her in as she balanced the puppies in her other arm. “I heard that, you know,” Tiffany told him as she sat.

“I know,” Kenneth said, backing the boat out.

“So you are going to put the new stuff together?” Tiffany gasped.

He put the boat in neutral and turned around. “You damn well know better than that,” he told her. “I’m more than happy to do anything for you, Tiffany, but I think it’s a waste of money.”

She smiled at him. “I have puppies!” she said proudly.

“Yes you do.” He smiled back. “Tell you what; to make up for my rude comments, I will make them some steps so they can get up and down from the couch.”

Tiffany bounced. “Oh, they would love that,” she beamed.

Laughing, Kenneth turned around, putting the boat in drive and easing the throttle toward the dock. He could see the new garage and was still amazed they were done in three days. Besseta and Tiffany had the cinderblock wall up in one night and the roof the next. Kenneth had stepped back, watching the wall rise brick by brick at an incredible pace.

The building was much longer than wide with two large, automatic, roll-up doors. They could fit sixteen cars inside parked in neat rows. When Kenneth started pulling the cars inside, he watched Besseta jump on the bulldozer and Tiffany on the excavator and play.

When Besseta found out the company he rented the heavy equipment from was coming to pick them up, she called them and bought all the equipment. Kenneth’s head only hurt for a few hours after hitting it on the floor when he passed out upon hearing Besseta transfer the money.

Slowing down, Kenneth guided the cigarette boat into one of the berths and killed the engine. He jumped out and tied off the boat as the girls waited. They started indulging Kenneth by letting him do the stuff he felt he should be doing.

Walking back, he helped both out as Besseta put Bonnie and Clyde down, and Kenneth wondered if Jack and Jill could even walk considering how much Tiffany carried them. Hearing Kenneth’s thought, Besseta laughed and walked over, putting her arm around him.

As they walked over to the garage, Besseta pulled out the remote, hitting the button to raise the closest door. Kenneth leaned down and kissed the top of her head, wondering what he would be putting together today. Looking up, he froze as Besseta walked out from under his arm.

Laughing, she turned around. “Like it?” she asked, and Kenneth stood frozen in place, his mind blank. “Baby?” Besseta said, moving over. “Are you okay?”

“Eleanor,” he whispered, and Tiffany stomped her foot.

“Told you he would know,” Besseta said over her shoulder. “I couldn’t find a used ’67, and the man said this is what you really wanted. It’s completely rebuilt and brand new,” she told him, looking back.

“Eleanor,” he whispered, pointing.

“Yes,” Besseta said. “Where all these cars called that?”

“Gone in sixty seconds,” he whispered.

“So that’s how fast it goes?” Besseta asked. “The man kept saying that, so I figured it had to be out of sight in sixty seconds,” she explained.

“It’s a movie,” he said, moving over to get a better look at the car parked right inside the garage door.

Besseta looked over at Tiffany and nodded. “Well, that explains a lot about what the man was talking about.” Kenneth didn’t even touch the car as he walked around it. “It’s got everything to make it the fastest; that’s what I thought you would want.”

“I could never afford one,” Kenneth moaned, holding his hand over the hood. He could swear the car was vibrating with raw power.

“Hah,” Tiffany shouted, “less than fifteen minutes before he mentioned money. I win.”

“Huh,” Kenneth said but didn’t turn away from the car.

Letting out a disappointed sigh, Besseta said, “We made a bet; I thought you would be spellbound for at least an hour; Tiffany said fifteen minutes.”

Finally, Kenneth turned to look at Besseta. “What did she win?”

“She gets to drive the bulldozer,” Besseta pouted.

Tiffany stomped her foot. “You always get to drive it,” she whined. Kenneth laughed and turned back to the car, slowly walking around it. “So this Eleanor is from a movie?” Tiffany asked, putting the puppies down beside Bonnie and Clyde.

“Yep,” Kenneth said, looking up at her from the other side of the car. “The car is the real star, but the movie’s pretty good.” Tiffany smiled at him, and Kenneth started to laugh that the puppies were down but stopped.

“Where did that come from?” he said, walking around Eleanor and looking behind Tiffany.

Besseta lifted her wrist and smiled. “Seventeen minutes. I win.”

“Fine, I’ll quit wearing the ‘druid dress,’” Tiffany said, rolling her eyes.

Kenneth turned to look at Besseta as she grinned. “I told her you would notice a new car parked in with the others even with this ‘Eleanor’ here.”

“Besseta, that’s an S7,” Kenneth corrected. “That’s not just any car; it does stand out.”

“It looks like a car to me. Granted it’s more rounded and really low to the ground, but it has four wheels and doors, so it’s a car,” she reasoned.

“You bought both?” he asked, feeling his heart rate increase.

“No,” Besseta said, waving her hand at him. “I bought this one for you,” she said, and Kenneth smiled. “Tiffany bought that one for you,” she added, and the smile fell off.

He spun around. “Why did you do that, and how the hell did you come up with a Saleen S7?” he asked.

Tiffany shrugged. “I asked the man Besseta talked to, what would be a cool car for a guy who really likes cars, and that’s what he told me. I asked if he could get one of the best of what he told me, and he said he could, and here it is.”

“So you dropped—” Kenneth started, and Tiffany stomped her foot and held up her hand.

“Say something about money, and I’ll call that man again and have half a dozen of them here,” she threatened.

Kenneth stepped back. “Wow, I’m not sure how to proceed after that?” he admitted and was tempted to continue his rant but felt bad for even thinking of that.

“I’ll be damned,” Besseta stated. “It worked. You really thought about it.”

“He did?” Tiffany shouted. She ran over and hugged Kenneth. “What other car do you want?”

Kenneth stood frozen. “I think we overloaded his brain,” Besseta said, walking over.

Tiffany looked at Kenneth’s blank face. “Well, fix him,” she said, waving her hand.

“How?” Besseta asked.

“Take off your clothes. That always gets a reaction from him.”

“What?” Kenneth said, shaking his head.

“See? Just hearing that is enough to get him back,” Tiffany laughed as the puppies came over, jumping on her shoes.

Kenneth looked between the two cars. “Tiffany, you bought me an S7 just to make a statement about me and money?” he asked, amazed and touched.

“No, I wanted to do something nice for you for the puppies,” she admitted.

Kenneth looked down at the puppies and then over at the S7. “You gave me a hug.”

“Where’s my damn phone?” she said, patting her pockets but didn’t find it. She looked up and saw Besseta holding out her cellphone. Tiffany walked over and took it.

Kenneth walked over, grabbing her hand. “I mean, thank you, but please don’t buy another one,” he begged as Tiffany turned the phone on. “I just got two; let me play with them before you get me another one,” he pleaded. “They might get jealous,” he added in a low tone.

“What?” Tiffany asked in disbelief as Kenneth stepped away.

Besseta moved over. “Kenneth thinks some cars are alive and talks to them,” she whispered.

Tiffany looked around at all the cars then down at Besseta. “I do not understand; I know some cars talk, but that’s a computer.”

“I don’t either, but he talked to some of his cars; I’ve seen him do it. The only one here he talks to is his Jeep,” Besseta told her.

“Besseta, they’re cars,” Tiffany said, wanting a better explanation.

Motioning back with her head, Besseta smiled. “He’s doing it now; it’s in his mind, but give it time,” Besseta smiled.

Tiffany looked up, and Kenneth had his head on the roof of Eleanor and was rubbing his hand over it with a content smile. “And he thinks I’m weird with my babies.”

“I think it’s an American guy thing,” Besseta offered.

Shaking her head, Tiffany declared, “Well I’m glad I’m female and only had to learn to drive to be an American. If I would’ve had to talk to my car, I think I would’ve drawn the line there.”

Soft words started reaching their ears. “See, told you.” Besseta smiled. “Before the end of the day, the car you bought him will tell him its name, according to Kenneth. He says only cars you bond with will do it, and girl cars are the best.”

“So not only will it have a name but they have a sex?” Tiffany asked, feeling lost but trying real hard to understand.

Besseta nodded. “Yeah, Kenneth said boy cars don’t work worth crap and have a lot of problems.”

“Just how in the hell do you know if it’s a boy or girl when you buy it?” Tiffany asked, feeling a headache coming.

“I don’t know,” Besseta admitted, shrugging.

“What if I bought him a boy car? I didn’t tell the man to send a girl car,” Tiffany protested. “Your car was named Eleanor, so that was easy and not fair.”

“We’ll find out,” Besseta told her.

Picking up the whining puppies, Tiffany asked, “What’s the Jeep’s name?”

“Ginger,” Besseta answered as Kenneth moved over to the S7. Besseta smiled. “It’s a girl, and its name is Tina.”

Tiffany sighed in relief. “Oh shit am I glad,” she said. “I would’ve bought him another one if it would’ve been a boy,” she admitted. “He never looked it over; how does he know?”