She was examined thoroughly by several top doctors and was indeed pregnant and in perfect health. I was very excited at the thought of having another child. Auggie was somewhat less thrilled, although I knew she would warm to it over time. She was just completely tapped out.
On Christmas Eve, I chartered a private jet and Auggie, Ford, Walter, Mother, Bernie, his friend and I headed for the warm weather. We went down to the Keys of Florida and found a huge bungalow we were lucky enough was not yet rented. We spent the entire holiday with our toes dug into the sand and our skin cooled by the waters of the Gulf.
It was a somber holiday, but there definitely was relief in the idea that Linc could no longer rise from the dead. There were too many witnesses and I had him cremated to be on the safe side. There was, however, collateral damage.
The gentlemen in Chicago were put out by the fact that they’d missed their reward and their revenge. I sent them their reward, despite the circumstances, as a donation to their favorite charity. Of course, it was their own coffers and that seemed to be enough to offset their desire for blood revenge. Before Linc was cremated, prints were taken and Brandon promised he would see to it that the bodies in my family plot and the one from the car with Jessie Klinger would be appropriately identified. The world had far too many dead Linc LaVieres.
Bill and his men were heavily rewarded, as was Earl Kinsey. I heard a rumor that he had moved north and perhaps his family’s ties were not yet completed severed. I wished him good luck.
Betsy was holding down the fort at home for us and I had a feeling she might be moving before too long. I had plans of buying a house or condo here in Florida. I wanted one large enough that Mother and Walter could live there and the rest of us could drop in when the mood struck us. Betsy and her sister would be treasured as staff there, but it would ultimately be up to them.
I used my contacts to have Brandon invited to run as state attorney general. My contacts assured me he was a shoe-in, particularly with my financial and personal endorsements.
This left decisions to be made for Auggie, Ford and myself. I would hold off a bit on these. I wanted to buy that condo in the meantime.
I rented us a limo bus and we were driven north along the Gulf Coast to Naples, Florida. I knew several people who had winter places here and I understood why. The temperature was pleasantly warm; in the upper seventies and the sun glittered across the Gulf waters. It was a quiet and very private community, catering to the very wealthy. The shops were brand names, leading the area to be known as 5th Avenue South. The city boasted no fewer than a dozen art galleries or museums and more than thirty restaurants that featured local seafood and exquisite cuisine.
I had an agent waiting for us when we disembarked and she began our tour in a set of condo towers that overlooked the Gulf. While it had a private beach, there were four pools with the condos themselves; two in and two outside. I looked at the penthouse floor which was currently available. It featured eight bedrooms with baths plus servants’ quarters, two kitchens — one inside and one on the massive patio. There was also an office, private gym, a massive great room with vaulted ceilings, the only such ceilings in the building due to it being on the top floor. We had an unobstructed view of the Gulf from more than half of the rooms.
While the building was certified hurricane-proof, it was only about ten years old but had recently been completely remodeled. Groceries could be delivered to your doorstep and there was a private physician who only took care of the residents in that building. Ownership included membership in the yacht club and a slip large enough to accommodate a hundred-foot yacht.
It was luxury living at its finest and well within my budget. What I particularly liked was that families lived there, not just retirees. This provided the chance of Ford making some friends, something I sincerely felt he badly needed. The condo had been completely decorated by a famous Miami interior designer and Auggie seemed enchanted with it. I made an offer on the spot and we closed the next day.
The condo became our home for the next month. I’d spoken to Ford’s military commandant and arranged for home tutoring, explaining the trauma that happened over the holidays. He did not, for some reason, seem particularly upset and I wondered whether there were things that Ford hadn’t shared with Auggie and me. I made a mental note to visit the man at some point and get a better idea of my son’s behavior.
Walter and I went shopping for a sea-worthy vessel and I bought a brand new yacht with five staterooms and three decks. It was large enough to travel to Europe, although I doubted whether Auggie would want to go any further than Alabama. It seemed, however, to be the thing to have.
Auggie found her heart, though. Florida was a growing thoroughbred breeding state, coming close to Kentucky and Maryland. She shopped horses and found a boarding farm where she promptly bought three horses, boarding them there. It was less than an hour from the condo and she spent most of her time there, taking refuge in the familiar sights and smells of her world. The doctors certified she was in excellent health, so I let her go. Sometimes she took Ford with her and he had become an excellent horseman. I, on the other hand, was less enthusiastic but joined in occasionally in the spirit of family togetherness.
We still had decisions to make about our future. Auggie and I had decided, after the Christmas incident, that Ford had shown some tendencies that had us concerned, and we would need to make some hard decisions on his behalf until at least he was older. He had seemed completely unaffected by killing Linc. We consulted with Tyler, who agreed with us and suggested that we remove him from the school and keep a closer eye on him.
Once spring began to approach, Auggie was beginning to show in her pregnancy and I wanted to get her back to Louisville before she could possibly have any issues with flying. So we left Mother and Walter with the condo and staff and headed back north.