Chapter 8

Carson and Origin

Abe was angry and tried to pull Gloria into his arms. She pulled away, giving him a look that told him she felt used. It was going to be difficult to recover from this because she felt like he had taken advantage of her and didn't care enough to worry about her being killed. He watched her walk away, then turned his ire on Lu.

"Do you know what you just did?"

"Me? I just caught a stalker trying to take one of us prisoner," Lu replied.

"And while you were doing it, you destroyed my relationship. A relationship, I'll remind you, I had to work very hard to move forward. Now, I may not have a chance of ever getting her back. What do you have to say about that?"

"Flowers can work miracles."

After he dropped the statement, Lu walked away, unwilling to hear any more comments on what he had done. Abe knew what Lu was like. He should have been suspicious of his suggestion to have a romantic evening on the patio. It sounded reasonable that no one was stupid enough to come right up to the building in a well-lit area to attack someone. Maybe Lu didn't think they would do it but hoped they might. They had, and now he didn't know how to convince Gloria he would never have risked her had he thought there'd been a risk.

She must have been so frightened when that guy approached them. Then, once it was over, she turned her anger on him. Gloria expected him to protect her. Yet he put her out there where she could be attacked. Would she care if it had been an accident he had never meant to happen? What was he going to do to get her back? He might be mad at Lu, but he decided his suggestion of flowers was a good one to take. They would have a small flower shop once the hotel opened. They had a small flower shop that some young girls ran right now.

Abe went there the next morning, gave them the needed information, and paid for a nice bouquet. All he said was, 'I'm sorry.' He was sorry that any of that had ever happened, sorry that he had taken Lu's advice then. He had to do damage control because he wanted his woman back. They still had a long way to go in their relationship, and now he would be starting back at the beginning. It made him angry that his leader had done this to him. Abe was also angry at himself because he knew how manipulative Lu could be, and he had been so excited about trying to move the relationship forward that he hadn't paid the attention he should have.

Everyone gave him pitiful looks, but that wasn't what he wanted. He wanted his baby back. That's what she was, even if he'd never called her that in person. When it came to giving flowers, everyone agreed that you had to wait a little while to let it work. It was the last time, so he headed to the cafeteria. Abe wondered if Gloria had had breakfast yet. His answer was sitting in front of him at their table alone. He moved that way and asked if she would let him sit with her.

"May I sit with you?" Abe asked.

Gloria nodded and continued to eat. Abe put his plate on the table, sat, and ate. He wasn't sure what to say and was having trouble gauging her mood. Maybe when she finished eating, she would say anything to help him figure out where they would go.

"The flowers were beautiful. Thank you." Gloria said. "I'm not sure exactly what happened last night, but I will admit it scared me. Stef spoke to me and said you were unaware of any danger."

"I didn't think anyone would be stupid enough to attack us on the patio right next to the building with lights all over the place. I also knew security had picked up, and demons were making patrols from the building to the beach. I also knew that guy was stupid, but I never thought he'd make it to the point where he was in charge of anything."

"Did you find out anything about what happened with the dead guy?" Gloria asked.

"Yes, he told us a lot. He said the dead guy was Smith and really high in Origin. Carson said he wanted to move up and thought the best way was to kill Smith and say he died in an accident. That whole group is predatory. The problem is that when he killed Smith, he no longer had any backup or information on how the mission was supposed to play out. With no information and no backup, he was doomed to failure."

"That is absolutely horrible. Origins kills people just to get a promotion?"

"It wouldn't be the first time that happened. Those idiots figure if someone lets their guard down, they deserve to be taken out," Abe explained. "I think only two guys are higher in the leadership than Smith. Those are the two we want the most, but they will be the hardest to get."

"I don't think Lu knew that would happen. And he took appropriate caution in case it did. From what you tell me, there was no way to expect that. Sounds like the guy was going a little crazy."

Abe had to agree. No one in their right mind would have come right up to a building on a patio that was lit up like daylight and tried to take two people. The results were what anyone would expect. Carson was taken down quickly, and now he was being held for questioning, and he wasn't sure what else they might do with him. One thing was sure, he wasn't going to be released. The gods had a prison. Eventually, that was where he would go. He would be there with others like him who had worked for Origin.

He was beginning to feel hopeful they could take up where they had let off. Gloria was important to him, and he thought she would help him develop the same relationship that the other two gods had with their mates, and eventually, they could have a family. Was that too much to hope for? Abe wanted everything, and he wanted it with Gloria. They finished eating, and he returned to the office where he suspected Lu and Win would be working. Gloria was running a small business out of her suite, and he was sure that was where she had gone.

Since he was often busy, he was glad she was making the best of things and trying to earn money to put back for whatever needs might arise. Kiki's education was one of those needs she was concerned about, but if they stayed on the island, then that would probably be fully paid for. Under those circumstances, she would have the opportunity to buy things she had probably always wanted and never had the money for. Other relationships were developing, but some did their best to hide it. That wasn't easy. Abe had a good idea of at least two others involved in a relationship that might end up with mating.

"Are you still mad at me?" Lu asked.

"Not anymore. Gloria pointed out that there was no way you could be sure the guy was crazy enough to do something like that. We'll just ignore the fact that you were hoping he was," Abe admitted. "Have you found out anything more?"

"Only that Smith was the one that decided on this mission, and he definitely paid for it. Carson was off balance for quite some time. I think Smith worked so hard that he didn't know how to read people. For now, Carson will stay here while we thoroughly question him, and eventually, Zeus wants his shot at him," Win explained.

"You think they would share anything with Carson that would be helpful?" Abe asked.

"Not on purpose. We know how those guards snooped around and listened to conversations through closed doors. Anything is possible. Any information we can get is needed. I just want to eliminate those guys and drive them out of our lives forever," Lu admitted. "I'm sorry about that whole situation with Gloria. The only reason I had extra protection out there was just in case. Who would have imagined that he would go so far? But now that it's done, I can't deny that I feel relief that he won't be sneaking around the island and showing up at the worst possible moment."

"Are we sure no one else is out there? There's a whole island to hide on." Abe observed.

"We've gone through surveillance, and there's no sign that anyone else came to shore alive or dead. Several of the demons who were not assigned jobs planned to go out in groups and go through everything to see if anything jumped out at them," Win offered.

"I love the way you put that. I hope they have weapons, and if anything dangerous jumps out at them, they just kill it," Abe admitted.

"There are more dangerous animals on the island than we ever thought. Some suggested they be put in a zoo. Sometimes, I think it's better to be dead than to be locked away and think you'll never escape. Another suggestion was to set up part of the island as a wildlife preserve. I like the idea, but there are not enough animals to justify it unless we bring some in. Bringing in more dangerous animals sets us up to have issues, especially when we're bringing in a bunch of tourists, and they don't always know how to act around dangerous animals," Win explained.

"There are good and bad points about that. One good point is that the side of the island would be dangerous for anyone to come in and attempt to attack us. But you already pointed out that those animals are dangerous. They could get out and attack anyone. There would also be an expanse involved in fencing the area off, having guards on hand, and feeding the animals if it's a bad year and you don't want them to eat all the other animals on your island," Abe suggested.

"I guess we better decide what's the most important, the safety of the people on the island or safety from those who aren't," Win suggested.

"We need a little more information before we decide like that, don't we?" Abe asked.

"Maybe after the guys go all over the island looking for anything dangerous, they may have information to help us." Lu proposed.

It was a small island as far as islands went, but it was large based on the room they had had before buying the rest of the island. There were also a lot of security issues that needed to be dealt with. Abe thought they needed a security team to make those kinds of decisions based on knowledge they didn't have yet. The island needed to be mapped out, and any places where something or someone dangerous could hide needed to be marked. Those areas needed to be watched to see whether wild animals were loose and part of the island.

They also needed more security, and that was clear because Carson had gotten on the island and managed to make his way all over it. Security was also needed out in the ocean for miles around the island. Surveillance from the water could not be tolerated. It was true that they still had demons that had not found their niche yet, but jobs were coming up everywhere, and he didn't know if they would have enough to cover most of them. If some of the demons mated, those mates might have interests or abilities covering some jobs.

Abe was still sure the people would have to be hired to cover the motel and restaurant positions, not to mention the Amphitheatre. Lu had already mentioned that he planned to bring in small numbers of people for certain positions and was already advertising for some of those people. Security would have to run background checks, and then they would be interviewed to see if they were acceptable. One problem was that some jobs just didn't pay well, and those jobs were usually given to college students or even high school kids. They were getting a college going, but not that quickly. As far as high school went, any children on the island would homeschool and come in only for testing.

Not all kids could do well that way. Kiki loved it. She could go through some things quicker and some things slower. She was learning at her own pace. Leann was also doing well with that system. She had been using the system since she was born. There would be tutors available for those with issues with that system, but how many would they need? They would need someone to handle several different things to pull it together before opening the hotel and restaurant.

Abe already had plenty to do, and he didn't want anymore. When Lu started giving others some of the work that he had originally had, they had enough to do, too. Where would these managers come from, and how hard would it be to hide the fact that the demons were born with their accoutrements? They had also decided to add two new doctors. Samantha Harrington would be here tomorrow, and the following week, Julia Gilverny would come.

Things would happen if only they could keep their enemies out of their business. Their hospital was making money and helping people heal. It was a perfect combination, and several demons wanted to enter the medical business. Louis, a demon freed recently, was good at business. He was making money but still helping people and ensuring they had the best possible environment. Risa was in charge of medical care, but Louis was her second and handled several areas independently. It was good they had a hospital to provide almost anything for anyone. If they had issues with a guest, they could get treatment at the hospital.

There were more areas that Lu intended to expand into. He was finally learning to delegate a bit, and many of the demons were excited about the new roles they would take on. His mind went to his lady. When they moved to the last step, what would she think about what he really was? The parts she thought had been added were real. There was no way to hide that. If anyone was involved with Dori, they would have a really hard time because she had put fake parts on somebody, thinking all the while that everyone's parts were fake. Funny? Not if you were Dori and had been very frustrated trying to match the work that was unmatchable.

It was lunchtime, and he was thrilled to meet Gloria. She wasn't mad at him anymore, and things were going smoothly. He was ready to move along in their relationship and hoped that she was, too.

"How is your day going?" She asked.

"We're going to hire two more doctors. One comes tomorrow and the other one in a week. Lu finally got involved and discovered that Cirrus hadn't been doing anything. Risa put him in charge of the lab, but he had the assistant doing all the work. He no longer has an assistant, and now all the work is on him."

"Why didn't Risa do something about that?" Gloria asked.

"He makes her skin crawl. It's taken care of now. He was perfectly capable of doing the work. He just didn't feel like it. I feel bad for her. Every time she sees him, you can tell she's uncomfortable."

"That's terrible."

"I don't think he'll be here much longer period. At least, I hope you won't be. I don't think he will if he doesn't give something up soon."

"So, what do you think about Tarot and Zepar?" Gloria asked.

"What about them?"

"I think they've been seeing each other. I caught them kissing the other day."

"I had no idea. Zepar can be very quiet. I hope they do well together. A demon's life can be lonely."

"I think Nita might be seeing someone too."

"What makes you think that?" Abe asked.

"She and her worthless boyfriend broke up. She got rid of everything and is living here. That's a big step to take if you don't have a plan."

"Who do you think it is?"

"I can't even guess. Maybe somebody in the band because she's around them a lot. It could also be somebody who hangs around the band she always talks to. I hope she finds a good guy because that jerk was terrible," Gloria admitted.

"What did he do?"

"He didn't have a job, so he lived off of her, and then he messed with her work because he was afraid she'd find someone else. He decided he would find somebody better. He broke it off with her but will find out he has no way of getting a hold of her when he changes his mind. I think that's hilarious. The new girlfriend isn't going to like what she's stepped into once she starts letting his true self show."

"Are you sure it's not just a bad broken relationship she's trying to escape? It's not like anyone could blame her," Abe asked.

"I'm pretty sure. She loved that apartment, but she put it up for sale. That's final."

"You've made me curious, and I'm going to have to watch and see what's going on."

"Don't get too nosy, or everyone will notice."

"Demons are curious. Now that I know there's something to look for, I won't be able to help myself. Maybe I should just ask Lu. He always knows everything that's going on."

"I wish Dori could find someone special. She's such a sweetheart, and her romances always go wrong," Gloria observed.

"She has. Homer was supposed to return to Olympus six months ago, but he's still hanging out here. Dori doesn't always have work here, but she's been staying."

"Do you think those two got together?"

"That would explain a few things," Abe observed.

"That's so exciting. I love happy endings."

"We'll just have to watch and see what happens."

"I know that being here on the island has been a really good influence on Kiki, and I have enjoyed it too," Gloria offered.

"Demons can be a lot of fun. We're really good guys once you get to know us."

Now that they had figured out what was happening with almost everyone on the island, he hoped they would get something going between them as well. He thought they made a very impressive couple, with Gloria being tall and blonde and him being slightly taller and blonde. When they were together away from the island, people watched them. Abe knew she was beautiful, and they would make beautiful children.

Maybe things would work out for the demons because it looked like many of them might be finding their mates. As happy as he was for his fellow demons, his attention was on Gloria right now.

"That's true. Is there any way that I can watch when the new doctor arrives and see what Cirrus' reaction is?"

"I hope so because I want to see it too, and they're supposed to arrive around breakfast time," Abe admitted. "We have to work through supper, so I'll see you in the morning."

"That's a date."

He assumed that Gloria had gone back to her room, and he had gone back to the room where the demon management had made all their plans. Lu intended to shake things up and see if he could get a reaction out of Cirrus. He had told them he had a daughter with a goddess, but they could find no sign anywhere that that was true. Since nothing else was working to get information out of him, they would try to shake him up by bringing in other doctors who had worked at Origin with him and had not been as evil as he had been.

No one knew how that was going to work. It worried Abe because the guy was on edge, and anything was possible. The demons were plotting and planning in the management room, but not all the plans were about Origin's downfall. They were also planning their future and the resort they intended to put on this island so they would all have the best life possible.

"Zepar, bring us up to date on construction and security," Lu instructed.

"We've improved security but still have a way to go. Construction is ahead of target."

"Very good," Lu approved. "Since none of the demons are interested in managing the restaurant, we've brought someone in. We have six demons who are training as chefs, over a dozen who are training to be waiters and four who are training to be bartenders. We also hired somebody to manage the hotel, twenty maids, and two demons who want to be janitors. Four more were hired outside for the same job. Four demons trained as maintenance men, and six wanted to cover the front desk. We'll adjust as the staff is training."

"Sounds like a good start," Abe offered.

"When is the training?" Zepar asked.

"Next week, we will be running a short number of guests. Demons will also be staying in the rooms and ordering into the restaurant to see how things go," Lu admitted. "Any suggestions?"

"I would suggest that we train some of our ladies to be waitresses if we run short. It would also be helpful to have a few ladies mixed in for those gentlemen that come and would prefer a lady waitress," Abe said.

"Would any of them be willing to do it?" Lu asked.

"I'm sure some of them would do it if you paid them. Gloria might, and there's always Kiki. You could ask your mate. I doubt that any of the doctors would want to do that, but a few others might. It wouldn't be a full-time job, just a day or two every week," Abe suggested.

"Everyone can ask those females that they are close to. If they are willing, let me know," Lu agreed.

Lu seemed to realize that extra help was never a bad thing. The hotel and restaurant were huge, and he wasn't sure Lu had enough help for when all the guests arrived. He also wasn't sure that a week was long enough to train people with no previous experience in anything like it. It would be an interesting week, and he hoped he didn't have to cook or be a waiter. Cooking was most likely where they would put him if they were short because he already had experience cooking.

It seemed like everything they tried, they always had to go about it the hard way. Abe had a feeling that next week would show them exactly how hard getting this going could be. Maybe the manager would give Lu some hints, and things would improve. Abe hoped the manager wasn't a single woman because she might be too busy checking out the demons to finish her work. That would be bad, and then they would start over as far as the manager went. Lu had said the manager would arrive in two days and begin to take over. That was when they would know what kind of manager he had hired.

They continued to plan and plot until supper time, and then Lu had a meal brought in so they could continue to talk while they ate. Maybe it was a mistake for them to do so much all at once, but the restaurant and hotel really needed to start together. Without a hotel, there would be no place for guests to stay, and without a restaurant, there would be no place for them to eat. Abe remembered there was also going to be a spa.

"Who did you hire for the spa?" Abe asked.

"An outside company will be renting the space and running it themselves. I thought that would be best with all the other things that we're trying to get going. There will also be a well-known fast-food place on the property that will be handling its own business and only paying rent. I'm hoping they will do well, and they are starting on the first of the week next week, too. Their areas are already ready for them to move in and start," Lu explained.

"That sounds like a good idea, Lu," Zepar offered.

"I've heard that many places like this are doing that. It gives them less to worry about," Lu admitted.

Abe had to admit that Lu seemed to have a better handle on things than he expected. Why was it he was still expecting a disaster? Maybe some demons that hadn't been interested would step up if things were going badly. The biggest concern was security because, during a big grand opening, there was so much excitement people could slip in. An Origin agent in the middle of things would be a terrible issue. They may be hard to recognize since they didn't know all the Origin agents. They would have a variety of demons covering the surveillance room, and he hoped that would be good enough.

All the worry was giving Abe a headache. He'd have felt better if he knew he would see Gloria tonight, but it was late, and he knew he wasn't going to. It was amazing how Lu could pull a plan together with so many holes in it and not worry at all. He wasn't sure if he wished he could do that or not. Abe was sure he wouldn't have the kind of luck that Lu managed to pull off. Part of his luck was that everyone else scrambled to try to cover any issues that came up that he hadn't considered. Abe had a feeling that there would be a lot of issues.

It was time to go to his room and get as much sleep as possible before he got up in the morning and met Gloria. Maybe it was bad to feel so excited about something happening, but he was excited, and he was sure Cirrus would be upset when he saw the other doctor. Maybe he would let something out that they needed to know. Even if he didn't, he might try to get a hold of the other people at Origin and tell them something that would be helpful.

Abe wasn't sure, but he was ready for something to happen, even if it was something bad. Yeah, that was ridiculous, and he knew that it was, but he didn't care. He would be with Gloria to protect her, and everyone else had their own defenses in line. It was hard to imagine that the man would be crazy enough to try to attack anyone. He wasn't sure what the new doctor would do. He'd heard she had balls, and they would soon find out if that was true. She would be shocked coming face to face with Cirrus, but he'd probably feel worse.