Page 33 of The Lost Empress

“To stop whatever is coming,” Gen answered. “They were fired for a reason. We use them to fight the corruption that’s building. Someone terminated them because they were too good, so we use that to our advantage.”

“Yes!” Liv stated. “That’s brilliant. But you don’t know what they’ll be going after.”

“Not yet,” Gen stated. “But I will and with their help, I’ll figure it out. They are detectives and probably really good at their job. So, if I employ them, then they will figure out what we are fighting.”

“That’s a great idea. I can get you a full list of their names,” Mortimer offered, a reluctance in his voice. “But you can’t make them volunteer and even if we clean their houses, they need money. How are you going to employ a quarter of the Los Angeles police force to help you?”

Gen slumped with sudden defeat, not having considered this notion. But it was an important one. People had to be paid and she needed the good police force, but she didn’t know how to employ them.

“I think I might have a solution,” Liv said on the heels of her disappointment, making her perk up suddenly.

Gen straightened. “You do? What is it?”

“Well, it might not be straightforward, but I know someone who is pretty much in charge of money.”

“Oh, the Protector of Wealth?” Gen asked, thinking of Subner’s brother, Subfar.

Liv shook her head. “No, someone who knows how to make money in other ways and fast. My daughter, Paris who is Saint Valentine, the person in charge of Fairy Godmother Agency.”

“Oh, she’s in charge of money?” Gen asked, in surprise.

“Haven’t you heard, money is what makes the world go ‘round and what do you think makes it go ‘round?” Liv asked.

“Love,” Gen supplied, hesitantly.

“That’s right,” Liv stated. “And the person in charge of love will know of a surefire way to get money in both good and honorable ways.”

Gen grinned broadly. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Of course you wouldn’t,” Mortimer cheered, also smiling. “Because you’re a Beaufont and do things the right way.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

A MILLION DOLLAR DILEMMA

FGA Tower Plaza, New York City, New York, United States

Gen looked up at a structure that didn’t seem real. She had seen these things called skyscrapers in London and Los Angeles, but had never been in one or this close. As people strode into the huge building, Gen got a real sense of how small they were in comparison. It was hard to believe that the tower, which apparently had fifty stories, was full of people on every floor. But even harder to fathom was what the building was.

“This is the headquarters for love?” Gen asked, looking sideways at Liv, who had brought her to FGA, which stood for Fairy Godmother Agency. Apparently, not just anyone could see or step foot into the magically protected building. It was much like the Gullington and the House of Fourteen in that way. When Gen asked why the Rogue Rider mansion wasn’t hidden by the same security measures, Sophia said that was because no one in their right mind would try to trespass onto their location.

“Well, it’s the place where fairy godmothers, agents and Saint Valentine work,” Liv answered. “From here, they monitor levels of love worldwide, use special initiatives to generate more love, match people on a small scale and do huge global things to keep love circulating. It’s a pretty amazing place.” She waved Gen forward, encouraging her to follow her as she started for the entrance of the glass and metal building. “Come on, Paris is going to meet with you. She says she has some ideas to help you generate funds to pay the good cops.”

Gen marveled at the fact that she had such helpful and powerful family members willing to help her find the money for this project. Liv had said that although the Beaufonts had a lot of money, they didn’t have the kind she needed easily accessible. But really, Gen didn’t want to get her family tied up in this in that way or otherwise they’d be liable for what happened.

Also, Liv had said that although King Rudolf was very wealthy, going to him for such an amount of money would put her in debt to him in ways she wouldn’t want. It was apparently not a good idea to owe a fae anything major. They had strange ways of making people pay up.

Gen wasn’t sure exactly how much three hundred million dollars was in the context of the modern world, but that’s what she needed to pay the annual wages of the two-thousand police officers who had been fired for being “good.”

Liv reminded Gen that she didn’t need a whole year’s salary, just at least one month. Also, they didn’t need to hire all the honorable police officers, just enough to help them figure out what was going on in Los Angeles and intervene.

Although Gen was initially really overwhelmed by generating the funds to hire the good police force, Liv had helped her to boil it down to what she really needed. Instead of recruiting and paying all of the officers, they would get the top one hundred police and pay them their monthly salary. That meant that Gen only needed a little less than a million dollars. That wasn’t much, right?

If Gen was impressed by the outside of the shiny, sleek building, the inside was even more incredible. The main entrance was a huge space with black marble floors and walls to match. An intricate art installation composed of glass and metal hung from the high ceiling.

There were people bustling everywhere, talking excitedly or hurrying in different directions. Some of the women wore long, pale blue silk gowns, tied at the necks with pink ribbons. Liv explained as they passed that these were the traditional fairy godmothers who still wore the uniform from back in the day. Apparently, wearing the gown made the women’s hair gray, making them look older and therefore wise, like a nurturing godmother.

There were also men and women dressed in normal clothes of the modern age. Many also wore dark suits and were much more serious than the jovial and warm fairy godmothers. Liv said that these were the agents who oversaw the various FGA departments, assigning cases.

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