Page 18 of Abraxas

“Are you sure this is the guy?” Abe asked. “That means they have been surveilling us and those leaving and coming from the island.”

“Doesn't that make sense?”

“It does, but we weren't aware of it.”

“What do you do about it?” Gloria asked.

“I'm not sure, but we will have to do something. Had the man not washed ashore, we would have never known this.”

That was scary. Someone could be watching the demons, and they had no idea who or how. There was no doubt that security would have to take a step up.

“What do you think they want? Do they want to capture some of you, or do they want to destroy everything you've built?”

“That's a good question. All we have is a dead man, so there is no way for us to find out anything from him. We must discover where he came from before he washed up on the shore and if anyone was with him. Sierra is checking outthe satellite views, if there are any, for the time range that we think he probably died. Louis did an autopsy because Risa was suffering from morning sickness. There was a bruise, which probably came from being shoved overboard. The cause of death is drowning under suspicious circumstances. If someone shoved him, then someone would be with him. Once Sierra gets us some information, we must track it down," Abe explained.

“Playing detective might be exciting if it wasn't so personal and if there was not so much at risk. Please be careful. From what you have told me and what I have seen, things could turn deadly quickly.”

“Don't worry about us because we have been at risk all our lives. What we have survived has been unbelievable. We will be careful. What do you think about having a special meal out on the patio? We will be close to the building, so it will be safe.” Abe asked.

“If you are sure we will be protected, it sounds wonderful.”

Abe just nodded, and she felt he was keeping something from her. It was hard to complain since he had told her more than usual, and she was beginning to understand the secrets behind the demons. They had lived through so much, and it seemed their problems still existed. Kiki was only allowed on the beach with others and during the day, so she did not worry about her. The concern was for others who liked to take moonlight walks. Many of them were disabled due to what Origin had done to them.

The beach was their escape, and she was sure they would not be allowed to go on the beach until this was dealt with. Otherwise, they would just be a target. Breakfast was done, and it was time for both of them to get back to work. Gloria found things she could do online to make extra money. She needed all the money that she could gather because she worried about whatwould happen if this job ended and about Kiki and the college and other things that the girl would need.

It was good of the demons to pay her a small salary for medical work because she was also getting college credit. She had discussed it with Stef, who explained that the hospital was taking paying patients from outside and making money. That meant that they could afford to pay those who assisted with the care of those patients. She also explained that Kiki was very good at the work, and she thought that she would make a great medical worker. It was hard to tell what level she would be good on, but right now, she was doing a great job, and many people had a hard time doing that work.

Maybe her sister had finally found her niche, and things would settle down. In a few years, she could take her own path in life and handle whatever came up. Gloria would never cut her sister loose but letting her take more responsibility for her own decisions and care would be good for her. Right now, she was doing so much better it was unbelievable. Kiki had decided to finish her high school work and take on a few courses and continue with her work at the hospital.

Gloria felt like that was the right decision. A few of the easier courses wouldn't be so hard on her, and when she started college, she would have a leg up. The work she was doing would help pay for her schooling, and right now, since she was staying with Gloria, she didn't have to pay any rent or utilities or groceries, for that matter. She could only hope that their missing parents wouldn't appear and decide that everything was wonderful and that they wanted her back. If they did that, she was sure it would ruin everything.

It was time for her to get on the computer and make money. She had a blog where she explained the work she did with the demon band. She listed some makeup and items she used to make them look their best on the website. These items wereadvertised, and they went to the website to buy them, and she got a small cut of the purchase price. She had not expected it to do so well, but the items sold like crazy. The demon band was popular. Everything they touched turned to gold. Now, if only they could get Origin out of their lives.

Abe had said nothing about lunch, but they normally ate it together, so she headed to the cafeteria at the right time and hoped he would be there. She was glad to see that he was. He already had two plates and drinks in their place and was waiting for her. The guy was perfect. She was ready to move forward, but everything seemed to interfere.

“How is business today?” Abe asked.

“Things just keep getting better. The world loves your band, and anything associated with it makes money. How is the other matter going?”

“Sierra sent us a picture of the boat and the person who pushed the other guy overboard. We sent the picture out to all law enforcement around the world. I'm not sure how much assistance we'll get.”

“I thought most of the governments in the world promised to help you when it came to Origin?” Gloria wondered.

“That was then, and many of them didn't help then. Now, unless it is something that helps them, I don't expect any help. They'll only help if the guy is wanted for something else, and it is in their best interest to grab him.”

She was beginning to understand what the demons had been through. Now she was understanding how little help they were getting. It seemed that they had to fight for what they needed and wanted every step of the way. That was probably why Lu had begun the band and seemed concerned about making the money to run the island properly. Gloria admitted she wondered why they were bothered by this unless they loved performing. It had been her opinion based on the things she heard and sawon the news that they had been given large amounts of money various governments had gotten from taking property from the big corporation who abused them.

Maybe she was guilty of believing everything she saw on the news. She knew from several times when she was close to the situation that sometimes they lied. Gloria remembered a news headline that hadn't been correct, and the gods had taken action and sued those who had posted it. Since then, she hadn't seen anything negative against the gods. That didn't mean some of the positive things weren't over-exaggerated. The money they were said to have received might not be nearly enough to handle the things they needed to handle.

She'd seen how seriously some of the demons had been damaged. Gloria had also seen how Risa had repaired some of that damage. That had cost a great deal of money. She also knew that while there were not many demons here, there were more of them with the gods, and there seemed to be more gods than she had been told. The cost of recovering these gods had to be high as well. Gloria felt she was beginning to understand some of the demons' and gods' issues. She still didn't believe that they were going to share their deepest, darkest secrets with her or anyone else who wasn't tied to one of their males. That might not matter soon because she felt she was about to be tied to Abe in a way that nothing could change.

If they hadn't found the dead body on the beach, they would already be tied together. Gloria tried to think of any way to help with this, but she wasn't much of a detective. Kiki had told her all of the kids were talking about the dead guy on the beach. Most of the demons were talking about it, too. Even some of her friends who worked with the band knew what had happened. This was something that they had not kept secret. Part of the reason was because they were concerned about the dangers that somebody showing up on the island, dead or not, could cause. The wildanimals had immediately begun feasting on the dead body, and they would protect their food the best way they could.

“So, was he really dead?” Kiki asked.

“Abe wouldn't let me get close to him, but he certainly looked that way. If he wasn't, I would expect him to scream the way those animals were going after him. I hope that clarifies that you shouldn't get out on the beach after dark.”

“I'm already not allowed on the beach after dark.”

---