Krasue (Vampin Book Series XIX)



  Krasue

  Vampin Book Series XIX

  Jamie Ott

  Copyright © Jamie Ott 2013. All rights reserved. No parts may be used without written permission. For more information, please use contact details at the end.

  Publication: September 19, 2013

  Daydreams

  Chapter 1

  Starr stared out of the window and wished she were somewhere else. Often, she contemplated just forgetting it all and going into hiding. Just the other night, she watched a French Indie Film. There was a story, a plot, but for the most part, it was just observing a simple woman going about her day. One moment, she was drinking coffee and having a smoke in a Paris café; the next, she was walking through the districts, looking serene. Her surroundings were always grey and drizzling.

  Since seeing the film, she fantasized about having days like that. She’d drink lattes in leisure while watching strangers walk by, and then zone out, reading her tablet. Then, taking walks through Champs Elysees, she’d contemplate life or the meaning of some writer’s words, or some musician’s wild. Maybe she’d even take up smoking. It looked so elegant in the movies.

  “Starr?”

  Shane had a terrible habit of walking in without knocking, lately.

  “Right,” she said, reading her mind. “If you’d answered when I knocked, I wouldn’t seem so rude.”

  “Sorry.”

  The sounds of her heels clopping echoed off the walls as she walked across the office floor. The chocolate brown leather chair, opposite Starr, made a puff noise as she sat.

  “No need to apologize, but realize that just because you don’t want to work, the day doesn’t stop.”

  Starr sighed and said, “Yeah, okay. What is it?”

  “The Fleet just got back from Bangkok. Anchali denies any responsibility for the missing women. She says she’ll give you her full cooperation, if you wish to come and investigate. I don’t understand why you called back the Fleet. They could have taken care of the investigation while they were there.”

  “Blakely needs them.”

  “For what?”

  “The company Christmas party and Winter Solstice Soiree is next week.”

  “And that’s more important than the deaths of pregnant women?”

  “Oh, come on, Shane! Since we’ve been here, people haven’t stopped dying! Every single day, it’s someone or some damned thing!”

  “This is your job.”

  “I know and I’m doing what I can. We’ll continue the investigation after next week. I know it sounds awful, but we won’t get anything solved by then anyway. We can’t have hundreds of people in the castle without security.”

  “When has the Fleet ever acted as security? They party just like everyone else. Last year, I caught Manuel having a good time with the Duchess in the pool room. Ethan brought some sort of powder that can get even us high. These are only two examples. Many of the other Fleet members were out of control, too, and hardly in a state to protect.”

  “I know how they can be. After all, I served with them for ten years. They can get out of control, but if anything should happen, they will be the first to respond. Besides, if you’d done a better job of recruiting, we wouldn’t have to rely on the Fleet. They could have a night off, for a change. Not that it matters because I’d still insist that they be here. You know how many have it in for us. Having a party makes us vulnerable and open to attack.”

  “Okay, okay.”

  “Any other news?”

  Shane tossed a folder on the desk.

  “You got a bill from the Romania Ministry. It’s for the Sighisoara property. It’s for 20.2 million euros, which you can’t afford to pay.”

  “What? Why is it so much?”

  Starr flipped open the file and found a few statements.

  “You haven’t paid your taxes in ten years. That would be how.”

  “Alex should be taking care of this,” she said as she flipped through the papers.

  “He has enough on his plate. Although it’s possible he didn’t know. After all the property you’ve inherited over the last decade, it’s amazing this is the only slip up.”

  “Where am I going to get that much money?”

  “You have to sell it. I have a few appraisals here. It looks like you could get quite a bit for it.”

  “I don’t want to sell it. I have too many memories of that place.”

  “You’re kidding, right? They’re not your memories. When are you going to learn to separate yourself from Credenza?”

  “Shane, there is no separation. You don’t understand, so stop judging me. Stop telling me how I should be, because you don’t know that.”

  “Then you should find something else to sell. If I might make a suggestion: What about Valhol? Surely, there’s something there that’s worth a lot.”

  “You’re right, but it doesn’t seem ethical.”

  “Well, you might not have a choice. If you don’t sell or pay the bill in full in thirty days, Parliament will acquire it. Michael Gabor – he’s the Minister of Culture and National Patrimony – has been notified. ”

  “What in the world is that?”

  “A government office; part of their job is to keep track of historical properties and landmarks, like your castle.”

  “Is that for real?”

  “Check their website. Yes, it’s real. They feel Sighisoara should belong to the government. Plus, you haven’t lived there, not once, so you don’t have homeownership consideration. It just sits there, so it’s not really considered a home or commercial property. They’ve already made a proposal.”

  Shane leaned across the desk and flipped the papers in the folder over until she reached a document at the back.

  “They’re offering to wipe out your tax debt completely, and give you a credit for five-million euro, if you sign it over to them within the next thirty days. Here’s the address. You must bring any and all deeds or historical documents regarding ownership of the property. Further, you must leave everything that originally came with the castle; rather anything historical or significant. Now, you could try to sell it and get way more money, but if you go over the thirty days, the interest will double and accumulate. Wait too long, and they’ll start invading your life. And it’s not like in the United States where you have rights and must be given notice and time. If they want, they can simply take your property and still leave you with the bill.”

  “I can’t come to a decision right at this moment. I’ll think about it and get back to you. In the meantime, get Marla out here. I want a full audit. Alex is to do everything she tells him.”

  “But Starr, you know she hates to fly.”

  “I don’t care. If she tries to refuse, I’ll drag her here myself. After everything I’ve done for her, she can do me this favor.”

  Starr grabbed the file and leapt up onto the stone window sill.

  “Where are you going? We have a meeting in an hour. You’re not seriously gonna fly in the middle of the day?”

  “Don’t worry, Shane. One day, I’ll be gone and you won’t have to deal with me anymore.”

  Starr almost took off, but then turned and said, “I’m sorry that I’m difficult to work with. I’m unhappy; that’s all.”

  Then she flew out toward the peaks of the mountain, toward the Castel de Negru and onward to Sibiu.

  Lately, she’d taken to long walks in the park en pointe, overlooking the clock tower. Sometimes, she even liked to rest on the tower, itself. From there, she could see the sea reflecting into the sky.

  Today, it was the park again.

  She landed on the soft grass and walked to her favorite secluded spot. In the middle of a ring of tree
s, the sun was completely blocked out, lending her shade and cool salted air.

  She sat on the bench and tried to make sense of the paperwork. Just one charge per year labeled “assessment.” After, interest charges levied four times per year plus late fees.

  Her phone vibrated in her pocket.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, I just spoke to Shane,” Alex said. “Listen, I think you should sell a couple properties to pay for the tax bill. You have several magnificent houses. When can we talk about it more in detail? I was hoping to see you today, but she says you’ve gone.”

  “Don’t do anything yet. I’m having a friend of mine flown in from New York. She’s gonna do an audit.”

  “What? You don’t trust me? It wasn’t my fault, and I can prove it.”

  “My friend’s a specialist. I want her to negotiate any deals with the ministry. It’s nothing personal, but I want her to do it American style.”

  “So you’re not gonna sign over the castle?”

  “No, I’m gonna try and settle with them.”

  “Oh, well, I guess that means you’ll be leaving us, then?”

  “What?”

  “I thought Shane explained everything. By law, even if you pay the tax bill, you can still lose the property if you don’t reside there. The government can do so for items of historical or cultural significance.”

  “Shane, naturally,” she mumbled to herself.

  “What’s that?”

  “Nothing. Look, if that’s what I have to do, then that’s what I’ll do. It’s my father’s house. How can I let it go to Parliament? How long do I have to be there, in order to establish residency?”

  “At least six months of each year.”

  “Okay, set up a meeting, first thing next week, with Minister Gabor.”

  “Will do.”

  Six months at home. She’d dreamt about getting away, but what was she going to do in Sighisoara? And not even in the city, but in the sticks outside it?