Chapter 16

 

At that moment there came a rap on the door. "Mark?" Mrs. Fuller called from the other side.

"Come in, Mother," he replied.

Mrs. Fuller stepped into the room and, seeing the dark-clothed guest, quickly shut the door behind her. She bowed her head to Smith. "Good morning," she greeted him.

He bowed his head in return. "Good morning," was his stiff reply. The words were cordial, but the tones were strained.

Mrs. Fuller walked over to Mark. "Morgan's men were here earlier wishing to speak with you," she informed him.

"Did they say about what?" he asked her.

"No, but they wished also to see Danica," she added.

"And you disappointed them?" Mark guessed.

Her impish grin slipped onto her face. "Yes, and nearly had to throw them out. They were very persistent in trying to wait in the parlor for your return, and even went so far as to sit in there. I ordered a bouquet of wolf's bane to be placed as a centerpiece on the table and they were very quick to leave," his mom told us.

Mark smiled and gave him mom a quick hug. "What would I do without you?" he wondered.

She laughed and pushed him away. "No doubt get yourself into worse trouble, but this time I'm not so sure you can get into worse trouble," she commented as her eyes fell on Smith. "However did they convince you to come out in the daylight, Mr. Smith?" she asked him.

"Morgan," was his reply.

The corners of Mrs. Fuller's lips turned down. "I see. Don't allow revenge to hamper your ability to help my son," she commanded him. Smith bowed his head, but said nothing.

I glanced back and forth between the Fullers and Smith. I was missing something, some tantalizing back-story no doubt filled with intrigue, drama, and possibly murder. Then my stomach ruined the mood by growling like a hungry timber wolf. All eyes fell on me and I tried to shrink inside my fur coat.

"Sorry," I squeaked.

"No apology necessary. I'm sure the stress of enlisting Mr. Smith's help has made you quite hungry," Mrs. Fuller commented. "I expected that, and have prepared an early lunch."

"A moment, Mother. Did Morgan's men say if they would return?" Mark asked her.

"No, but from their general threats I would guess Morgan expects you no later than tonight," she replied.

"That will work fine for our plans. Now we need only wait for nightfall," Mark mused.

 

 

It was a long wait. Our undead friend sat in the library as quiet as a church-mouse, minus the ability to actually attend church, and Mark and I amused ourselves with food, idle chatter, and watching the hands on every clock face tick away the hours. We did have one interesting conversation concerning the pale Smith.

"So what's the story about Smith and Morgan?" I asked Mark when we were alone in our room snuggling. He liked the closeness of our bodies and I liked the feel of his body heat against me. Damn coldness without my fur.

"Morgan's father was an acquaintance of my father long before we were born. They-they were not fond of each other," Mark explained.

"Uh-huh, but how does a vampire come into the mix?" I wondered.

"About twenty years ago the elder Morgan, suspecting my father was keeping secrets from the Foundation, followed him to Smith's keep. He later confronted my father about Smith and threatened to tell the whole Foundation if my father didn't relinquish his control and refrain from interfering with Morgan's plans to rule the Foundation."

"So blackmail?" I guessed.

"Exactly. My father refused saying he had no proof. Morgan warned him he would capture his proof, and stormed from the house. My father guessed what Morgan intended and hurried to Smith's home. There he found Morgan and a few of his men removing Smith's coffin from the shed. When they saw my father they dropped the coffin, breaking the bottom. You noticed how Smith limped?" I nodded. "The sun bunrt his foot and the wound has yet to heal. Smith awoke and clawed hs way back into the shed while my father dealth with Morgan's men. Morgan himself followed Smith into the shed with a stake and was about to destroy him when my father, finished with killing Morgan's men, came up behind Morgan and killed him as he had the others, by knocking off his head."

I cringed. "That's a little nasty," I commented.

"Yes, but necessary. He couldn't risk a prolonged fight with any of them because he would have left more of his scent than he could wash off," Mark pointed out.

"So your dad killed Morgan's dad because he tried to use Smith to bring your dad down?" I summarized.

"Yes. When night fell Smith helped my father dispose of the bodies in the river to wash off the scents and they left Morgan's car nearby. When my mother learned to what risk my father had gone to protect Smith she blamed Smith for bringing the trouble, and I believe she still does hate him for being such a risk to our family," Mark finished.

"Wow, talk about a complicated web," I commented. "So Morgan hates us because he thinks your dad killed his dad?"

Mark snorted. "I don't believe Morgan ever had affection for his father. He dispises us because even though he is the leader our family still has more weight in the Foundation."

"Like father, like son,"I muttered.

"Yes, the apple doesn't drop far from the tree," Mark agreed.

"Like two peas in a pod."

Mark smiled. "How long can you manage this?" he wondered.

"Um, I'm kind of out of sayings," I admitted.

"Good, because we have work to do." As Mark finished his words he pointed at the window. The sun was low in the sky and warned us night was just a half hour away. Mark led me to the library and we opened it to find Smith just on the other side. "Ready?" Mark asked him.

"Yes," Smith replied.

"I'm not. I don't exactly know what the plan is or how I come in," I spoke up.

"Morgan is expecting us, but he doesn't know at what hour. We must hope that your friend is being kept in a room by himself in which Smith can enter and perform the mind-trick," Mark explained. "We will distract Morgan ourselves by speaking with him, and Roger will provide a distraction for the security which will hopefully help Smith through the building, and cut short our unpleasant conversation with Morgan."

"Roger? What's he going to do?" I wondered.

Mark grinned. "You'll see, but let's hurry. We mustn't keep Morgan waiting."