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“I’m not sure I really understand. Do you make guns there?” she asked. Sophia Ann smiled.

“We don’t actually make guns. We improve them. We improve weapons of all kinds, hoping to make them safer and create technologies that will protect our service men and women. We have contracts with the federal government, but they are unaware that we were connected to RP and, of course, now to Voodoo Guardians.”

“That’s just amazing,” she whispered, staring up at the fortress. As they reached the dock, Magnus was on duty today, smiling at them.

“I bet that was a cold ride,” he grinned, looking at the open windows. “Want me to lower the protectors?”

“Do you mind, Magnus? It was freezing out there,” said Ajei.

“I don’t mind at all, sweetie. Y’all go on in, and I’ll have this ready for you when you leave.” Ajei kissed Magnus’s cheek and led the group inside.

“There’s my first tour of the day,” smiled Doug.

Although Doug was getting up in age like many of the other seniors, he still looked as handsome as the day he walked onto Belle Fleur. His blonde hair was laced with fine strands of silver, the wrinkles around his eyes giving him a distinguished, worldly appearance. His keen gaze seemed to take everything in, and Dylan couldn’t help but notice his lean, muscular, well-manicured hands.

“Dylan, I came to this group of beauties a long time ago when my partner died. He was one of the original REAPER members.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said with a heartfelt expression.

“It was a long time ago,” he smiled. “His name was Grip.”

“Wait! I met him. He’s one of the ghosts!” Doug laughed, shaking his head.

“Yep. That’s him. He still guides my life in many ways. He made sure that Miguel and I found one another. Miguel is Katrina’s father and one of the major investors in our little group here.”

“I didn’t know you had investors,” said Dylan.

“Well, not outwardly. We don’t accept outside investments, but many of us were fortunate. We inherited large sums, sold companies, and in Miguel’s case, had a former life that was, let’s just say, colorful. We’ve been extremely fortunate. Plus, Matthew and the Robicheaux family own thousands of acres of oil and gas-rich property.”

“I had no clue,” she said, shaking her head.

“Well, let’s start here in the big bay,” smiled Doug. “This is where we develop our larger equipment. What we’re working on right now is an off-breed of the Osprey that we currently use. We developed a technology that allows our helicopters, drones, and planes to fly undetected. We even have something called whisper-mode that ensures they’re not heard.”

“I feel so stupid right now,” she said, staring at the big bird. Doug laughed, shaking his head.

“No, no. Don’t feel stupid. I can’t cook to save my life, so if we were in your kitchen, I’d feel stupid. Some of the things we design are small, like listening devices or tracking devices. We’ve had a few unfortunate incidences where some of our family members were taken or kidnapped. That only had to happen once for us to realize we had to change things.

“With our tech team, we developed these,” he said, pulling out a large drawer lined with velvet. Inside were necklaces, bracelets, and earrings.

“Jewelry? But I don’t understand. They’re beautiful. Is that turquoise?”

“Synthetic turquoise, but yes,” he smiled. “Each of these items has a tracking and communication device in it. If you were taken, you could depress the button on the back, and we would not only know your exact location, but we would be able to hear any conversations occurring. You couldn’t hear us, but you’d know that we were there.”

“I’m so blown away right now, I don’t even know what to say.”

“Well, the good news is,” smiled Ajei, “you get to choose your own jewelry. Pick two pieces. Anything you really like because you’re going to be wearing it all the time.”

She stared at the women, slightly in shock, then nodded. The drawer was full of beautiful pieces.

“Who designed these?” she asked.

“We’ve been fortunate to get some help from Harper, Shay, and Ela. They design their own jewelry that we sell at the general store, but they’ve been very helpful in making these look like designer pieces.”

“I love this one,” she said, pointing to the solitary pearl necklace. It was sitting in what appeared to be a gold oyster shell.

“That’s one of the newest,” said Kate. “I love it because it speaks to where we are. There’s the matching bracelet.” Ajei took the pieces and helped to secure them on Dylan. Looking in the mirror, she nodded at the women.

“I can’t believe I get more jewelry out of this deal,” she laughed. “I thought getting this wedding ring was going to be the height of my experience, but this is just beautiful.”

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