Page 51 of The Rebirth
I picked up the envelope from the top of a stack of letters I had ready to read next. The beginning paragraph read:
Dear Steven,
I’m in love with you and your son. It’s not just your looks but also your genuine concern for humanity. If you want to help humans, I suggest that you start with low-income housing and infusing some new blood into the welfare system. I work for the city of Atlanta and would be happy to take you on a tour of those neighborhoods in need of help.
I bet Ms. Lydia Erickson would love to do more with Steven than give him a tour, if the perfumed paper was any indication of her intent. I placed her note in the pile that I’d categorized as to be read again.
I continued going through letters, losing track of time as I yawned and checked my phone—ten p.m. I rubbed my neck, stretching. I tore open another envelope. I would read one more letter, then I would call it quits.
Dear Steven,
After watching your interview the other night, I’m quite impressed with you and your son. I still can’t wrap my mind around vampires and the reality of your kind. But having said that, I have seen quite a lot in my time on this earth. You remind me of my old senior chief in the Navy. He had a way of engaging his audience and commanding respect without slamming down the hammer. I applaud you and hope that you do help those families who’ve suffered at the hands of Adam Emery.
I’m a retired Navy SEAL, and I’ve been putting my skills to use to learn more about who Mr. Emery is. You may or may not know this, but Mr. Emery wants you to believe he’s not in Chicago. I know for a fact he’s been trying to set up shop in a new building in the city. However, the property isn’t in his name but that of his brother, Fred Emery. Adam’s hands are tied until his brother either signs the building over to him or Fred is released from your custody.
If you would like more information on Adam’s activity in the city of Chicago, you can reach me at the phone number listed below my signature. Thank you for your time.
Retired Navy SEAL Petty Officer First Class Grant Vega.
I was so absorbed in highlighting Grant’s contact information that I didn’t hear Steven come into the room until he cleared his throat.
“Layla, it’s late,” Steven said. “Surely, you have to be tired of reading letters by now.”
I closed my laptop. “Not at all. But I was about to pack up for the night.”
He sank into a chair across from me. “Have you found a topic, other than Adam Emery, that we need to focus on first?”
“I’ll summarize my suggestions in a report for you.”
He smirked, reminding me of Sam. Whereas my husband had two dimples, Steven had one. “You’re excited about your liaison role, aren’t you?”
“Very. I don’t know how I’ve gotten so lucky as to have you as my father-in-law. The first time I met you, I almost peed my pants.”
A hearty laugh escaped him. “If I recall, you didn’t back down, nor did you wet yourself. But you’re an Aberdeen. I haven’t met anyone in your family who ran from me.”
I relaxed in my chair. “We were brought up to not show fear, but facing off with a vampire certainly did a number on the nerves.”
“Your ability to hold your head high despite adversity is what will make you shine as my liaison,” he said. “I appreciate your efforts to collate a report for me, but can you give me the highlights while we’re here?”
I examined my organized stacks. “We need to focus on ensuring we follow through on helping the victims of Adam’s program. That’s priority number one. The second is figuring out how you can assure the people that a vampire won’t kill them. Those two topics are front and center. However, this letter is also worth addressing now.” I slid the correspondence from the retired Navy SEAL over to him.
While he read Grant’s message, I wrote down a few more issues to prioritize.
When he finished reading, he looked at me. “This is definitely worth checking out. We haven’t had any hot leads on Adam’s whereabouts. However, we now know why Adam is desperate for me to release Fred from our prison. Carly confirmed that Adam had Fred store a copy of Patrick’s genetic-engineering files in a safe location no one but Fred would know. Adam was afraid that if he was ever confronted by his competitors or enemies, they would try to torture him for the information. And Fred’s thumb drive has Carly’s data on it as well.”
“Does that mean Adam won’t be producing any more monsters?” I asked.
“Hard to say. He has a new scientist, and he also has a notebook with Carly’s notes that she’d left behind. I believe he will continue to try.”
“How is Carly doing, by the way?” I asked. We had so much on our plates that my cousin-in-law wasn’t on my priority list.
“The serum is affecting her at a slower rate than it did with Rianne and Noah. That’s all I know at this point.”
My phone vibrated. It was probably Sam. But when I saw Dr. Vieira’s name on the screen, my heart stopped.
“Dr. Vieira is calling.” I hurriedly answered. “Is Jordyn okay?”
“She’s awake,” Dr. Vieira said. “I’ve been slowly weaning her off the medication for the last several hours to bring her out of her coma.”
