Page 83 of Booked for Murder

“Lucky me. I’d never get out of military service under those rules.”

“It does appear like they wish for those magical ability types to be wiped out. Death through military service is a very patriotic way to murder those with unwanted abilities.” Bradley’s mother swooped in and snatched my papers, flipping through them until she found a few pages, which she offered to me. “This is the section I used as my foundation for the betrothal agreements. I’ve also implemented some of the loophole closures in Jezabella’s contract with Daniel. I’ll file addendums as needed to take advantage of more loopholes as legislation is passed and made into law. I’m keeping an eye on the votes, and I’ve started going through everything that’s been passed since the first murder. I’ve already found some disturbing things signed into law. It could be linked, although none of the victims were responsible for writing those specific pieces of legislature. They did vote in favor of it.”

“What legislature?”

“Mostly expansions on rights and limitations of those engaged in for life contracts, the minimum monetary value of for life contracts, and removals of some exit clauses of the contracts. For example, Janette’s contract would cost twice as much as we paid for her, and she would have zero options for leaving the contract once signed under the newer rules. Unfortunately for her, some of these laws do influence older contracts. We are not required to pay the difference in her contract value, but the limited options she did have for escaping the contract have been closed. That’s why we need paperwork verifying you had temporarily released her from service, else she would be guilty of several crimes—and our family would ultimately decide how she’d be punished for violating the contract.”

Crap. “Seriously?”

“I’m quite serious. I have a lot of legal documentation to review to confirm I’ve covered everything of importance, but I feel comfortable in saying that the United States has found a way to legalize slavery. Before the new laws, you had several options to escape your contract, although it would have been difficult and somewhat expensive. We also would have had the right to nullify the contract at any time. That is no longer the case. All contract holders are now responsible for any contracts they hold until death. This will inevitably screw over even some of the adept families, ones who tend to sever their contracts when they’re no longer needed. While marriage won’t precisely nullify the for life contract, it’s much harder to level certain accusations against the family.”

“And you are not common users of for life contracts,” I mentioned.

“One or two a generation, and that is it. We drew up paperwork for Daniel due to his personal situation, as his family is choosing to make some poor decisions regarding Jezabella.”

“And as he’s over eighteen, he can opt to engage in a for life contract, and he is the recipient of the funds for the contract,” I guessed.

“That is correct. Daniel becomes wealthy in his own right, he becomes a member of our household, and his family loses all rights to his person. He is not the eldest child. If he were prior to the signing of the contract, it would be an issue, but it is not.”

“Has the paperwork been fully signed?” Bradley asked.

“Yes, as of late last night. You were occupied. Please take Janette upstairs and settle her in the main library. Lenard wants to resume her practice tomorrow, as he’s concerned about injury and exertion. Janette, I brought some weights up from the gym for you to lift to work on rebuilding your strength. Tomorrow, the entire cell will be gathering at your parents’ home for dinner. We will start making plans in earnest then. Today, rest as much as you can and work with Bradley on making notes about that horror show of a document. I skimmed it, and what I’ve learned has been disturbing enough. Someone reading it carefully? I’m sure we’ll learn a lot about the true story behind these murders—and who might be behind these killings.”

I doubted I’d learn enough, but something was better than nothing. For a start, it would do.

Nineteen

Right. You’re hungry.

I went from reading to passed out. Ajani purring on my chest and beating my face with her tail did a good job of waking me up. Eating fur, while a morning ritual, never appealed, and I spit, muttering curses.

“Good job, kitty,” Bradley praised.

I could only hope he’d taken me to the library as ordered, although I wasn’t sure if I cared. Wherever I was, it was rather comfortable despite my foot being trapped in a cast. Delaying would do no good, so I cracked open an eye to discover either Bradley’s mother had a very strange belief of what a library was or I’d gotten dumped in a bedroom. Whose bedroom remained a mystery, although I spotted no sign of my car magazines. “This is not the library.”

“You’re correct. I did take you to the library, but you were done for the day. I tried to feed you dinner, but you had a few sips of soup and went right back to sleep. The doctor said to let you be, although I was told to keep an eye on you. As such, I brought you to my room, which has my favorite chair in it. I slept there while you and your cat took over my bed. I asked her nicely to wake you, as we need to get ready to go to your parents’ place, where you’ll get to enjoy some roast and pampering. I read through most of the paperwork while keeping an eye on you, and Ren took over when I was sleeping.”

“I assume I had no problems on the breathing front.”

“Your blood oxygen levels have improved compared to yesterday, so we’ll see how today goes. If you’re hungry, we’ll go pick something up on the way.”

My stomach gurgled, sparing me from having to say a word.

He laughed. “Right. You’re hungry. I shouldn’t have even asked. We’ll grab something on the way. I took some notes about the document you can review in the car so you’re on the same page with the rest of us. I already sent the notes to the rest of the team. Meridian has some interesting intel for us, Jezabella and Daniel are at the first murder scene today having a look at the site and taking photographs, Mickey has been putting together a list of abilities that might be able to imitate an exsanguinator, and Beatrice has been handling the cell’s paperwork, looking for ways we can bypass the shooter issue—or have an exemption for you due to medical reasons, as you have numerous qualifications on record with you exceeding their minimum requirements. Otherwise, we’ll adjust the cell makeup and have Lenard function as the shooter until you qualify. Beatrice has found sufficient loopholes for us to work with, so we could be registered within a week if we can get your exemption based on your old records.”

“That’s quite the loophole. What’s the point of having it so difficult to set up a cell if it’s that easy to get around the major hurdle?”

“Janette, we’re talking about adept society here. There are always loopholes for adepts—and our cell will have enough adepts in it to activate most of the loopholes.”

“I don’t want to hear that word again for at least a year. Every time I hear it, I get upset,” I grumbled. “Loophole is a dirty, terrible word.”

“Yeah, I’m a little tired of loopholes, too. My mother is fired up, so be ready for that. She’s going to talk our ears off on the drive over. Apparently, my father will be taking one car, my mother will be driving my new car and taking us to your parents’ place, and Ren is at the dealership dropping off my other car for repairs, as I refused to sell it. It will enjoy retirement in my garage and will be used for Sunday drives. I actually suggested I keep it so you can try it at the track.”

Right. Outside of color, it was the exact same vehicle involved in the crash. “It might be in the garage for a long time.”

“It’ll be there however long you need to work up the nerve to take it for a spin around the track. I’ll just take it out around the block and to its appointments to keep it maintained in the meantime. While you were sleeping, I was speaking to a psychologist about the accident, and I have been given a therapy program for you. It involves some older used cars, a field, and some driving exercises meant to imitate the same conditions of the crash. Honestly, I broke into a cold sweat just talking to the doctor about it, so I get to do the same damned exercises in case I’m driving when something similar happens.”

“That doesn’t sound like a good time, Bradley.”