Bitten (Book 1 - Book 4) novel Chapter 111

‘You lie down,’ Kate said. ‘You look like you’re in pain.’

‘I need to find Victoria,’ Natalia said.

‘If we all go running out of here, they’ll be on to us in a second,’ Bonnie said. ‘We can find her.’

‘Uri can’t be alone,’ she said, resisting Kate who was pushing her down.

‘I can handle that,’ Bonnie said.

‘In the bag,’ Mag said.

Bonnie pulled out cell phones.

‘This is yours. We’ll get Uri his. Only doctors and nurses will be checking in on him anyway.’

Natalia could smell the smoke residue on the phones.

Anpu stepped into the room. He held his hand out for the phone.

‘I can give it to him.’

There was some tension in the room.

‘Are you tilted? You’re under the command of the Council,’ Natalia said with force.

‘I’m under your command, Nattie. I know how to handle the Council.’

‘I’ll make sure,’ Bonnie said.

She pushed Anpu out of the room, and they both left.

‘Get that leg up,’ Kate said, adjusting the bed and putting a pillow under her leg.

‘It is pounding,’ Natalia said.

‘Even a Viperian would need to be off that leg for twenty-four hours,’ Kate said. ‘You’ve already been running around on it. It won’t do to have you immobilized. You have to do some healing first.’

Natalia had to agree. She needed to get off the leg. When Kate offered her a drink and some pain pills, she didn’t refuse. She closed her eyes as if she was sleeping, but her brain was speeding through ideas faster than a Viperian could wolf down meat. The Council needed to have more checks and balances: like the bank did.

She thought over what Anpu had said.

‘You are powerful.’

Power. Money is power.

‘You’ve pulled in the clout of Undent women that the Council never thought were worth it.’

Those women are worth it, she thought.

She knew she had to make a few phone calls, but she needed to do so in private. That was her new goal: to make a private call while in a hospital surrounded by people.

When she opened her eyes, she realized she must have slept. It was almost three in the afternoon. The other ladies were playing cards, except Rayna was gone. She rose.

‘Bathroom?’ Kate said.

She nodded, but when she came out of the bathroom, she headed out into the hall towards Uri’s room. Anpu was still standing out in the hall. No one followed her.

Uri’s eyes were closed, but she could still see his heartbeats and his breathing. She straightened the blankets around him to make sure he was covered. His hand was a little warmer when she touched it.

‘Uri,’ she said right by his ear in barely a whisper. ‘Did you get your phone?’

‘Other hand,’ he mouthed.

She lifted the cover to see the phone. The charger was connected up to it.

‘Use the word Tail as a code, so I know it’s you?’

‘Yes.’

‘Now I have a question. How do I open up a new bank?’

It felt like a long moment before he responded. He smiled and opened his eyes.

‘And is there a property in Hell I can use? Didn’t there use to be a bank?’

‘Yes.’

His eyes focused in on hers.

‘Who owns it? Someone we know I hope.’

‘Yes.’

‘Give me one more single word answer.’

‘Grazie,’ he said.

She kissed him on his cheek.

‘You are never alone,’ she said. ‘We have allies beyond what you would have ever dreamed of having.’

‘Yes.’

‘I have some work to do.’

‘I love you.’

She smiled.

‘I love you.’

She stepped away and brought out her phone, but she stepped into the bathroom of Uri’s room and shut the door. The room was dead quiet. She made her first phone call.

‘Hello.’

‘Grazie. I hear you own the bank in Hell.’

‘Nattie?’

‘Yes, this is Nattie.’

‘Nattie, there’s something I need to tell you. Hold on.’

She felt him muffle the phone.

‘I have another lease request. Excuse me a moment.’

She heard him walk. Then things became very quiet.

‘Yes, Nattie I own the bank.’

She jumped at his voice which made her realize how jumpy she was.

‘Can I rent it?’ she said, recovering.

‘Before you do anything drastic, let me tell you that I wish I could return the favor for rescuing Grace last year, but someone beat me to it.’

‘What are you talking about, Grazie?’

She wanted to get on with securing the bank property.

‘Victoria is safe.’

‘What?’

‘Don’t worry about Victoria. The Council doesn’t have her.’

‘Where?’

‘I’m not going to say. Just know she is safe.’

Natalia breathed in the new information, but found it didn’t change what she wanted to do.

‘Grazie, the Council went too far.’

‘Yes. Tia thinks so, too. As a community we’ve grown and matured. It’s time to stop these strong-arm tactics.’

‘Can I rent the bank?’

‘Are you going to do what I think you’re going to do?’

‘Yes. We’re going to add some checks and balances to the Council.’

‘I’m in. Do we need a Q5?’

‘I’m concerned about the other Council members.’

‘Tia is with us.’

‘I don’t want her in on this just yet.’

‘Okay, I understand. Yes, the bank property is yours forever and day for rescuing Grace.’

‘I’ll be coming over later today. I hope. If not me, then Bonnie or Zena.’

‘I understand. I’ll be here.’

‘Damn, I forgot about Lisa. I told her I would be over.’

‘I saw her today in the shop. She seems very happy.’

‘Maybe I can swing by.’

She paused to take a big breath.

‘I have no idea the condition of the house.’

She heard a noise outside.

‘Later.’

She ended the call and cracked open the door. The noise was just someone walking down the hall. She shut the door and made her next call.

“Sittel…”

Natalia thought this would be the hardest call. How do you convince the wife of a Bank President that the bank needs to lose some of its customers?

“Nattie, I’m behind you all the way,” Sittel said. “Even just among the ladies I have tea with I know of many who have been refused loans from the Bank. They had to go elsewhere and pay higher interest. I’ve told Ravi I don’t like the current direction the bank is going. He has mentioned he thinks it has gotten too big. Taking it down a notch might be helpful.”

“We need a bank for the people. The other people who really run all the small businesses that make up our city. We could use a few women as our board members.”

Sittle laughed.

“No woman will ever sit on the Bank’s board. Ravi tried to promote Ivy Beckwell a few years back, but he got shot out of the water on that one by all the other board members.”

“I’ve heard of her.”

“She owns over a dozen shops and restaurants. You should meet her.”

“We need to have a tea party.”

“I’ll make the arrangements,” Sittel said.

“Let me do some checking and perhaps we can host the party at the new bank.”

“That would be just the thing. Let me know.”

“Thank you, Sittel. I will talk with you soon.”

Natalia ended the call. She stepped out of the bathroom, glad to still find the room empty. The hall was dead quiet. She peeked out, but the only person in view was Anpu standing by her door.

‘Uri,’ she said, when she returned to his side. ‘I have to go.’

‘One last thing,’ he mouthed.

‘What?’

‘You can work towards being a bank, but it takes about a year of paperwork and approval. However, anyone can open a savings and loan company.’

‘How about The Neighborhood’s Savings and Loan. There is already a People’s Bank. I don’t want people to be confused.’

‘Good.’

‘Keep breathing. I have work to do.’

Her leg was throbbing again when she walked back to her room. Everyone was there, watching her.

‘I want to go home.’

They all nodded.

‘We need a household meeting,’ she said in a terse voice.

Kate picked up the cards and put them in the bag. Bonnie pushed Mag’s wheelchair out of the room. They headed for the elevator in silence. Anpu followed.

No one stopped them. In fact, they didn’t see a single person. They all piled into Kate’s car. Anpu followed in his.

There was no conversation during the drive home.

‘Oh, my word,’ Natalia said, when Kate pulled into the laneway.

The whole front of the house was black and almost looked gutted out. Every window was open.

When they approached the front door, it opened. Zena looked tired. There was soot on her face. She backed up to let them in.

Natalia did a slow spin. The living room was totally destroyed. She could see where the fire had been. The whole house smelled of smoke.

‘This is the plan,’ Natalia said, noticing that Anpu had stayed outside.

As far as she could see, he was still in his car.

‘We’re opening a bank in Hell. We’re going to take the Council and the Bank of A’ppollo down as many notches as we can. Everyone knows about the money we have hidden. We’re going to move it to the new bank. Uri said we won’t be a bank at first, but there is nothing stopping us from being a savings and loan company.’

She did a slow spin to look at all of them. Bonnie was helping Mag stand.

‘You’re all fired,’ she said. ‘And you’re all hired as employees of The Neighborhood’s Savings and Loan Company.’