First Episode

The Cost of Power is set in an alternative universe from the main Martiniere Legacy series. In this book, I take a closer look at the mind control technology and…the relationship between Gabe and his father Philip ends up being different.

Additionally, Gabe tells Ruby who he really is much, much earlier than in the main Martiniere Legacy series.

Most of all, I’m freeforming this story. I somewhat know where it’s going to go, but how it unfolds depend on what happens with Gabe, Philip, Ruby, and Justine once they get on a roll in this particular setting.

Enjoy! This is part five of Chapter Three. There will be five parts to this chapter.

July, 2033

GABE

After Gabe texted both Vickie and Serg, he met Ron’s steady gaze.

“You’re pretty confident that trouble isn’t going to come from the back way.”

Gabe swiped through the screens on his phone until he reached the one that controlled the fence sensors he had set up but not activated—until now. “Taken care of. I installed sensors on the fence lines the first year I was here.” He studied the screen as the sensors came live. “Damn it, Homestead’s cranky. Figures. At least I’m pretty sure Jim Reed won’t let anyone through the shared property boundary. I swear, one of the first things I’ll do once I get my funds is fix that connectivity issue. Among other stuff—making this house more comfortable is another priority, along with building Ruby a decent lab to create her designs.” He forwarded Serg’s picture to Vickie and Mike Chandler.

“You sure you want to sink that much money into this ranch? Won’t you want to take Ruby somewhere less isolated? Raise kids somewhere else?”

“Absolutely fucking not. We aren’t leaving you, and honestly, if I can manage it? I’d just as soon be based at the Double R, unless Ruby wants to do something different. I’ve been happier here than I have been for years.” Gabe shrugged. “Money buys a lot of options, and I suspect that given the amount of travel we might have to do once the Family gets its claws back into me, hiring tutors is the best option. Kids will end up fluent in French and Spanish, probably Russian, as well as English, anyway. Have to be, in the Family. Why not bring them up here?”

Ron eyed him. “You don’t sound that enthusiastic about rejoining the Martinieres.”

“I’m not. I haven’t been happy in the Family since my parents and sister died. Oh, I like my cousins and miss some of them. If I could just get my funds and live a quiet life here designing biobots with Ruby, that would be my preference. Family politics are horrible.” Gabe sighed. “But given who my father was as the former Martiniere, I doubt anyone—even Philip—will let me do that.” He stretched. “Be right back. I need to get those documents.”

#

After he returned with the small safe, Gabe noticed that Ruby and Ron had staged the weapons in secure places around the kitchen. He exhaled and set the safe on the table. It was locked to his fingerprints and Serg’s.

“Ruby. I need to add you to this lock.” He keyed the reset. Once she had finished the verification process, he opened it.

His signet ring sat on the top of several envelopes, each marked with their contents. Gabe picked up the ring. It felt odd to hold the gold ring with the emerald stone, his initials inset in gold—he had set it aside before working with the Feds. Donna-gran, his grandmother, had presented it to him on his eighteenth birthday—something she had done for all of her grandchildren. He weighed it carefully, considering whether to offer it to Ruby until he could buy her an engagement ring.

Too big.

And he needed it to prove his identity to the Family, anyway. He slipped it onto his ring finger. He’d lost enough weight since the last time he had worn it that it was loose. But it fit on his index finger. That worked.

Gabe picked up the roll of cash next to the ring. “Mad money that I won’t need anymore.” He slipped off the rubber band—it snapped. He hadn’t touched it for five years. Then he split the money into two piles, pushing one to Ron, the other to Ruby. “Here. Call it an advance on our changed circumstances. Get whatever you need or want that you’ve been putting off for a while.”

“Are you sure?” Ron asked, picking up his share with a hand that quivered. “That’s a lot of cash, son.” He fingered through the money, lips moving as he counted it silently. “Five thousand dollars.”

“I still have cash from my last distribution. My credit cards should still be active—I’ll check with Don first. Won’t take much to renew them if they aren’t. I kept this for an emergency.”

A special emergency. Ten thousand dollars. Enough to buy his way into the Saldivar cartel, if necessary. Not an option he needed to consider now, thankfully.

“Spend it freely,” he added. “Please. It’s—please spend it. All of it.”

“Why?” Ruby arched her brows at him.

He exhaled. More disclosures. More than perhaps he wanted to share, but—no. Ron and Ruby needed to know everything. Especially since he’d hidden so much from them already.

“It’s cash I held back for a special emergency circumstance. In case I had no other option. You see, I’m not just a Martiniere. My abuela—maternal side—was a Saldivar. Jorge Saldivar of the Saldivar cartel is yet another of my cousins. If everything went to hell—Jorge told me, back before I testified, that ten thousand dollars would buy me a place in the cartel. Special price because of my Martiniere connections, which would give him some legitimacy. Not something I would choose to do unless—“ he let his voice trail off.

Ron winced. “Understand.” He eyed Gabe. “So are there any other surprises you have to spring on us?”

Gabe laughed, unable to stifle the nervous tone as he looked at Ruby. “Not that I know of. Well, there are the Bourbons.”

“Bourbons?” Ron grinned. “I assume you’re talking the people and not the alcohol. I didn’t think they were still around.”

“Oh, they are. Royalty. Actual. Spain. They’re very distant cousins.”

“Huh.”

Meanwhile, Ruby hadn’t said anything, and that made Gabe nervous. Her expression was unreadable, face set in firm lines as she stared at the pile of cash in front of her that kept wanting to coil back up in that tight roll.

Dear God, had this revelation been one step too far? Was she regretting her decision to marry him? Ice clenched his gut.

Then her face softened. “Five thousand dollars. Out of the blue. With more to come.” A faint grin quirked her lips. “This is not something I expected. I—Gabe—I don’t know what to do with it.”

“Buy yourself something special. For you. Not for the ranch, not for research, not for the baby. For you.”

She kept looking at the money. “Maybe I’ll talk to Kirsten about that stud colt she has for sale.”

“Why not?” He kept his tone light. “I’m going to pay for the lab and materials so we can develop biobots together. This money is for you. Same goes for you, Ron. Spend the money on something that you’ve wanted.” He took a deep breath. “And now for the rest of it.”

The first envelope contained his passport and driver’s license. Both had been renewed before he went into witness protection and were still current—though he’d have to do something about the driver’s license, get an Oregon one in his own name instead of his California license. A matter to have the Trasks handle.

Next came the envelope holding his Social Security card, checkbooks and credit cards.

Ruby whistled at the sight of the black cards. “I’ve only seen those in pictures.”

“You’ll have some of your own soon enough.” He checked them—not past the expiration dates yet. He might have to activate some of them after not using them for years, but—

His hand trembled at the next item—the last formal portrait with his family. He set it on the table between Ruby and Ron.

“My family. Taken our last Christmas together. My father Saul, mother Angelica, sister Louisa.” God, it still hurt to realize they were gone, forever.

Ruby tilted her head. “You’re awfully cute in that uniform.”

“I hated it, but Papa insisted. Northview Military Academy’s formal wear.”

“I’m not sure I’d want my sons to be going someplace like that.”

“They won’t,” Gabe said firmly. Just one of the things he would do differently with his children.

Below that was the last item, a thick, sealed envelope with a notation in Russian on the front. Gabe recognized Piotr Vygotsky’s handwriting.

Gabriel. I certify that everything in here is correct and true. PV.

“What the fuck?” Gabe muttered. He hadn’t taken the time to look through what was in here when Piotr passed him the safe containing his personal records, once he had become Gabe Ramirez. Maybe he should have.

Ruby furrowed her brows, squinting at the Cyrillic characters. “What does it say?”

Gabe translated it for her.

“So what is in it?”

“It’s supposed to be my birth certificate. Why would Piotr make a big deal about it?” Icy claws raked his gut.

What’s going on now? The envelope was awfully thick to be just a birth certificate.

“Wouldn’t you have seen it when you applied for your driver’s license and passport?”

Gabe shook his head. “I had a passport from babyhood on, and I used it to get my driver’s license. I’ve never seen my actual birth certificate. Until now.”

He delicately opened the envelope, as if it would explode at any moment, and extracted the folded papers. A thick clump, several batches stapled together. Unfolded the papers, and stared at his birth certificate.

Father: Philip Joseph Martiniere.

“No!” He shot up, shaking and swearing, somehow ending up at the sink and grabbing it, hanging on for dear life to keep from reeling. Finally, he could say something that wasn’t an oath. “That can’t be true! Mama hated Philip. Unless he raped—”

That made him pause. Philip had courted his mother at the same time as Saul. The Martiniere twins had been notorious womanizers before Saul married Angelica, often vying for the same women. Philip’s late wife Renate had been another woman they had fought over.

But he had been born two years after Saul and Angelica’s wedding. No. He wasn’t the product of rape, not unless—no!

“Gabe.” Ruby’s voice steadied him, as it always did. He turned to face her, body tense as Ruby flipped through the documents. “These other papers are certification of in-vitro fertilization. Tracking papers for both semen and eggs, chain of custody of fertilized eggs, certification that the remaining oocytes were destroyed after your birth. Apparently, it took several attempts before you—implanted. There were two miscarriages before you. And the semen was gender-selected for male. Everything is notarized.” She reached for her phone. “Looking up the facility now.”

He blew hard. God.

I am Philip’s son. Damn it. That can’t be right.

“It’s a legitimate facility,” Ruby said. Her voice hardened. “And I think your family has one fuck of a lot to explain to you.” She rose and came to Gabe, taking him into her arms.

He sagged against her, shaking. This was the worst of all.

I am Philip’s son.

So what did that make Joey and Justine? And his sister Louisa, now in her grave? Were they also products of IVF?

“Why?” he finally moaned into Ruby’s shoulder. “Why? IVF—that’s not something casual.” At least it wasn’t rape.

But that meant that Mama—and Papa—had gone along with whatever Philip’s scheme had been.

If I’m his son, why does he hate me so much?

“I think we’d better call Justine and find out what the fuck is going on,” Ruby said, her voice grim.

Her phone chimed.

“Justine Martiniere-Atwood,” it announced.

Previous episode |

Share Martiniere Stories

Leave a comment