Picnic tables were rented and set up for dinner afterward. Ben arranged dinner as well.
While Ashburn Court 1 and 2 remained empty, Ben had a full house from every other resident.
Sara and Jayden King (from 6) were with Karen and Penny and Rain (from 12). Penny’s boyfriend Frank was there as well, as a non-voting guest. They picked the last row of seats and Ben caught Rain’s eye roll as she moved forward a row to sit with the Hernandez family and escape the frisky behavior of the young ones.
Luis and Jaclyn Hernandez (from 3) were with their son Ramon, his wife Bianca and her mother Rita Rojas (from 11). Ben was so pleased that he was able to assist the young couple. As Walter’s practice was going to be growing soon and Ramon was a paralegal, Ben was going to suggest that he might consider applying for a position in Walter’s firm.
Sitting just ahead of them were Dominic and Sophia Sellini (from 9) and their son Marcus and his wife Eve (from 4). If he got buy-in from everyone, Ben would speak with Dominic about rebuilding the two empty homes.
Jacob and Emma Brown (from 5) with their two daughters Natalie and Victoria who worked in the daycare, were conversing with Daphne and her daughters Lisa and Lori (from 10). Daphne’s vote was going to be critical for Ben as her new business might be affected the most. He wasn’t going to risk her future. On the flip side of that coin, his new foundation was going to need daycare operations at every office. He would be modeling them after Daphne’s business if she was amenable to the idea. Lisa and Lori’s childhood lesson plans would help the kids in these new daycare centers.
Just forward of the McKellans, Hannah (from 7) sat next to Beth Wilson (from 14), and Trish and Lily (from 8). Hannah was already aware of her role in the foundation, but Ben hadn’t yet mentioned to Trish that he wanted her as his marketing director. He hoped she wouldn’t feel pressured into it.
Next came Catherine and Chanel (from 15) and Cat’s three daughters, Sophie, Rachel and Megan sitting with Gabriella (from 17). Cat would be playing a huge role in his foundation, and Ben was considering offering a position to Chanel if she were so inclined.
Right up front, Ashley Beaumont (from 13) held her youngest in her arms as she talked with Tina and Lucy (from his place, 16) who were also holding their babies. Their smiles were the widest.
Every home on the court was being represented by the adults living there.
Ben moved to the front and smiled at the gathering of his family and friends. They smiled at him in return, and he saw the curiosity on their faces.
He’d had many calls with General Davis in the past few days, working out a definitive plan. The CIA was onboard with it, and more importantly for Ben, Liliya had agreed to the offer the General made to her. She’d hopefully be coming home to see Rose soon.
He hadn’t heard from Tatiana and was wondering if he would. He pushed that from his mind and gave his full attention to his friends before him.
“Thank you all for taking time out of your busy lives to meet with me tonight. I know it was short notice, but I truly appreciate it,” he began and received smiles and nods from the group, so he continued.
“As you may be aware, I’ve been doing some engineering work with the US Army. This recently led to a Colonel in the Russian Military attempting to kidnap me so I would work for them. He believed I was working on weapons design and he wasn’t willing to listen when I said I wasn’t. He passed along his belief to his superiors.”
There were some unsettled noises from his audience, and he smiled as he raised a hand. “Obviously, his attempt failed. As that was happening, there was a threat to the neighborhood by mercenaries sent by a corrupt Russian industrialist working with the Colonel. My friends in the US Military sent a team to protect Ashburn Court, and they did.” Seeing the unease in some eyes, he did his best to calm them. “The Russian Colonel and the Industrialist were both killed during my extraction, so the threat from them is over. Trish can confirm that.”
Eyes turned to the redhead who nodded seriously.
“I’ve recently experienced a number of… complications, all due to the inheritance I received from Rainor Hahn’s estate. He was a bad man and did business with even worse people. In New York, I was grabbed by criminals who were robbed by Rainor. During my extraction from that mess, the criminals didn’t survive. Once more I was assisted by the US Military.” He sighed as he looked into the shocked and worried expressions. He held up his hands, and the group settled.
“There’s a senior officer in the Army, General Davis, who’s taken notice of the work I’ve been doing with Captain Kendricks and has supported our community and myself during these events. He’s asked me to work on some projects for him. Not specifically designing weapons but potentially helping with engineering issues they have with them.”
“Won’t that just make you a bigger target for the Russians?” Dominic asked.
Ben nodded. “Maybe, but they already believe I am working on this stuff.” Dominic sat back as he thought about that.
“Are we going to see more attacks on the neighborhood?” Chanel asked as she took Catherine’s hand.
“I’ve been told that’s highly unlikely. That said, the General has a plan to increase our protection, making further attempts much less likely. I told him I wouldn’t consider anything until I spoke with all of you and got your acceptance of it,” Ben insisted.
“Is he going to put a wall around us?” Jayden called out.
Sara looked at her brother in frustration. “There already is a wall around the community, separating the properties from the woods!”
Jayden looked embarrassed as he’d forgotten. “Right, but that doesn’t go all the way around. There’s still the road and the public access way next to Ben’s place. Are they going to put gates there?”
Ben shook his head. “There will be no cosmetic changes to the neighborhood. There’s no need to turn it into a fortress. That draws attention and makes us all feel contained. No, the plan is only to renovate one of the houses, 1 Ashburn Court, to house a squad or two of soldiers so they can be on site in case of need. This allows them a much faster response time. Sergeant Killcade is living in the home I renovated for Karen and Penny. She keeps tabs on the East side of the court. The soldiers in 1 Ashburn Court would keep watch over the West entrance. They’d run patrols at night through the woods as training exercises and keep watch on the traffic moving into the court. Like a Neighborhood Watch, but with teeth.”
“Is there going to be armed soldiers walking around the court?” Daphne asked.
“No. I made that very clear. We wouldn’t accept a visible military presence. I mean, except for the night exercises in the woods which we wouldn’t see anyway. The court has to remain as it is, but having protection close by isn’t a bad thing.”
He watched their faces as they considered his words. He didn’t see any real opposition so far. He still had another item to bring up.
“I’ll also be renovating 2 Ashburn court to host Liliya and Rose Sokolov. Potentially, Tatiana Pushkin as well, if she comes in from the cold,” Ben said with a small smile.
“I assume Liliya is Rose’s mother but who is this Tatiana Pushkin?” Daphne asked.
Ben nodded to Daphne confirming her assumption about Liliya. “Tatiana is, was a… colleague of Liliya…” Ben stopped as he realized he had to be honest with his friends. “They were both trained to be assassins by the Colonel who tried to kidnap me. Both confessed that they had no choice but to work with him. That said, they were both highly successful in their work.”
“Why are they coming here?” Ashley gasped in shock.
“Now that the Colonel and the Russian military are no longer controlling them, they’ve come here to be free. However, the General couldn’t just forgive them for all the people they assassinated while working for the Colonel.” Ben took a deep breath as this is where his explanation might upset some. “I made it a condition for working with the General that Liliya and Tatiana remain free and have the option of working for me as personal security.”
“What?!?” Chanel snapped, surging to her feet. “You can’t be serious!”
Ben expected this response and assumed it would be the police officer in their midst who would have the most difficulty accepting professional killers into their community. She was going to be the hardest sell.
He nodded. “This wasn’t an occupation they chose. It was a case of becoming skilled at their new line of work or dying. They survived. Liliya fell in love with one of her targets, married him and had a child. She tried to keep that a secret. The Colonel sent in Tatiana to kill Liliya’s husband without telling her who he was to Liliya. He used that to control Tatiana. Then he took Rose as a means to control Liliya. Neither had any say in their destinies.” He sighed. “The Colonel is dead. Liliya has her daughter and wants to be with her. Tatiana… just wants to live without looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life.” He looked into the angry yet troubled eyes of the French beauty. “They just need a chance to have a normal life. As normal as it gets around here.”
“They’re killers!” Chanel hissed.
“So what they were forced to do defines who they are?” Ben asked and got a glare from the woman. Ben tried a different tack. “You’ve met Rose. She’s the product of Liliya and her husband’s love for each other. She’s a sweet child who’s full of love. She’s Liliya’s world. Doesn’t that define who she is as well? What she did may be called evil, but I wouldn’t be so quick to slap that label on the woman. I’ve seen the love she’s capable of too.”