We both turned to look at the front door.
Cat stayed behind me with her hand on my shoulder, and we went to open the door.
A courier stood on the step. He looked down at the package then back up at us. “Mrs. Catherine Jaeger-Briggs?”
Cat stepped around me, pulling her robe tighter around herself. “Yes. That’s me.”
“Sign here please.” He said holding out the digital notepad.
She signed and accepted the package, thanking the man. We stepped back, closing the door.
“Who’s it from?” I asked.
“Mr. Wilder is all it says,” Cat replied, ripping open the package.
Three stacks of bills fell from the envelope.
“Oh. My Gawd!” Cat exclaimed, picking up the stacks of bills. “There’s thirty thousand dollars here.”
“Look there’s a note too,” I replied, seeing the page still in the envelope.
She pulled it out and read it out loud. “Dear Mrs. Jaeger-Briggs, Perhaps just Jaeger would be more appropriate. My name is Mr. Beverly George Wilder. I’ve had some dealings with your husband, most recently when I banished him from my establishments.
“I must regretfully say that the attack on your person was done by a person in my employ. I did not, however, order what he did to you. Had he survived the incident, I would have rectified that problem.”
Cat looked away from the page. She looked worried, but I nodded and silently urged her to continue reading.
“When your husband paid off his debts, he actually had more money than what was owed. Because of this, and the unwarranted attack on you, I am giving you the balance of what he had. I know money cannot remove that experience from your mind, but I hope it does help you out. Yours Truly, BGW.”
Cat walked away from me, still holding the page and money, and sat down on the sofa. I followed, sitting beside her.
“Are you okay, Cat?”
She looked over at me. “I– I guess so.” She looked down at the stacks of money in her hands. “I guess we don’t need to worry about money for a while.”
I chuckled. “Well, I don’t know about that. But like I said, I have a few things to research today, then if it all checks out, we’ll be set.”
She looked into my eyes again. She looked from one eye to the other. “You’re going to take care of me right? No matter what?”
I nodded and smiled, “No matter what.”
Her hand settled on her stomach, “Even if I’m pregnant with our incestious baby?”
I wrapped my arms around her, and hugged her tight. “Especially then. Cat, I’ve always loved you. But now my love for you has grown and changed. You are my woman. If you’d have me, my wife. I’ll do everything in my power to keep you and any and all of our children safe.”
She gave me a squeeze then released me. “Gawd I love you Kurt. Go wash up.”
I gave her a quick kiss, then did as I was told.
***
After having breakfast with Cat I dressed and headed out to conduct my research.
My first stop was the library. Once I collected all the information I could from there, I moved on to city hall. There, I found the names of a few people. I spent the first part of the afternoon calling those people. By two o’clock, I had the information I needed, and headed home.
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