Conquered
Chapter 23
If they found a place, they would take what they could find and tell Alexis and Michael. They would go next, followed by Anderson and Martha.
Kate had left Libby in the care of everyone else save for Anderson and Martha who were still on their boat for now.
"What's first?" Kate was carrying Rick's laptop since that was the only map they had. GPS had become useless with no satellites.
"Kielzack Jewelers. It's almost due south from here just a couple of blocks away. Should be easy to find." Rick had done all the planning for their foray into the world of wedding rings.
O~O~O
Rick stopped outside of it, left the motor running, and got out to look it over. It was in this little strip mall with one front door that was still closed and a quick look told him it was locked. Yes, he had Alexis's tools, but he and everyone else was hoping for something easier and less risky.
He was back. "Locked and the glass and bars are intact. It didn't look like it mattered since I didn't see anything in any of the display cases."
"Whoever owned it was lucky. They had time to lock it all up to keep from being looted," Kate remarked. "What's next?"
"Jaylyn Jewelers," Rick replied since after this they had trouble.
"Stay on this road then, and go around the edge of the airport after going under route 17." Kate watched as Rick drove. She actually did see someone but he was far enough away to not present a problem, nor was he worth stopping for.
"This is different." Rick wasn't sure he was in the right place but it was the correct address. It just didn't look like there would be a jewelry store in this building. It looked like a cold gray commercial building, but the sign did show it had tenants. So he got out of the car and went in.
Kate watched Rick walk back and he didn't look happy. "No, just no," he told her after getting behind the wheel. Kate looked at his laptop and zoomed out on his map.
"There are 5 in Victoria itself that are about an hour away. Do we have gas for that?" That was the first problem.
"Half a tank. Alexis and Michael can bring a gas can with them. How do we get to the closest one?" Rick queried.
"Get on route 17, go south, and just keep going. And hope the road is clear. It was amazingly mostly clear for me all the way out here," Kate told him. "I didn't understand it, but I was happy for it. Made my trip that much easier."
O~O~O
"Peoples Jewelers is first." It was just off of 17 and easy to find.
"It's a mall." Rick shook his head. Getting inside a mall sounded like a bad idea to him.
"Anne Louise Jewelers is next and just around the corner somehow." Kate tried zooming in and they soon learned it was on the opposite end of the same mall.
"Strike four. How many strikes do we get?" Rick looked at her.
"Four more and two are kind of out there. Okay, so get back on 17 and go south. "Artina's Jewelry is next," Kate told him. Once they were close she had to tell him where to turn.
"There," Kate pointed and thought this one looked promising. It was part of a series of stores and it had a glass front and it looked to be intact.
Rick parked right out front and left the motor running. He could see everything through the glass. This place hadn't been touched yet. "Locked." Rick had tried the door. "Canadian Jewelry." He could read the sign.
"They don't sell just rings but necklaces, pottery, and there's even glassware. I think some of this might be handmade and one of a kind. The door's locked. Do we risk it? It looks like the power is on and that might mean a security alarm."
"It could be a silent alarm straight to the police station. If they don't respond we should be fine," Kate said since they only had 3 stores left to check.
"Turn the truck off and let me try the lock." Rick was soon down on one knee using Alexis's lock picking tools.
"Can you pick it? We're not breaking any glass to get in." She knew they couldn't do that.
"Who do you think taught Alexis?" Rick said indignantly and kept working on the lock.
Eventually Kate was ready to ask if he wanted her to give it a try. "Try it." Rick was still down on one knee and watched Kate open the door.
"I knew could you do it." Kate kissed his head. "We need to be fast just in case." She knew they would be leaving cash behind, so they weren't actually stealing; her conscience was clean.
"This cabinet looks like all rings." Rick found a way around to the back of the ring case. "What would the lady like to see?"
Kate bent down to look. She didn't want anything too big and expensive. They needed money for 6 rings after all, and ATM machines that still had cash were becoming hard to come by, though they hadn't tried one in Victoria itself.
"Three over and four down. Try that one." Kate watched him slide the glass panel to one side and reach in to select that ring.
"I think these are all men's rings, Kate." That wasn't what he wanted for her.
"It's for you, silly man," Kate grinned.
"OH!" He was thinking her ring, not his ring.
"Try it on and see if it fits. Then let's pay for it and get out of here." Kate looked around to see if they were still alone.
"Fits perfectly." Rick tried to take it off. "Maybe too perfectly." The white gold ring with a square cut diamond inset in it was stuck. He knew how to fix that, but Kate wanted out of here now.
"Two thousand eight hundred Canadian. Good thing I have that much." Kate pulled out all her cash, counted it, and laid the correct amount plus tax by the register. "Now let's go."
"What's next?" Rick started the truck and fastened his seat belt.
"Barclays Fine Jewelers. Way east of here, right through town." Kate looked at him since they had really wanted to avoid that.
"If it's anything like you told me about Manhattan, then this place is deserted. Who lives in the middle of town?"
"I did, and so did you," Kate countered.
"Positive thinking, Kate, positive thinking." Rick drove where she told him to.
O~O~O
"Whoa! This place has taken a hell of a hit," Rick commented as both of them looked. It was shop in a series of shops and looked like it had a second floor along with all the rest of them. But this store looked like someone had driven a car or truck into it. They wiped out the entire front of the building.
Still Rick stopped and left the truck running. He went and took a look and was back in less than a minute. "Turn the truck off and let's go in."
Stepping inside, they saw it was indeed a mess. Not everything was damaged but it was a disaster in places.
"Kind of looks like they went after the big stuff," Rick commented.
"Yeah, they left the watches and the rings." Kate looked around until she found the case with engagement rings inside. Luckily for them all the glass was broken so reaching anything was easy.
"Careful." Rick saw her reaching into a case that had jagged broken glass everywhere.
"I am being careful!" Kate decided on a ring and took it out. "It says Noam Carver inside." Kate looked it over. She counted 17 diamonds, though most of them were small with the exception of the one in the middle.
"I have just under 10k to spend," Rick told her.
"This one is 2,625 Canadian. The wedding band is another 1,115 Canadian."
"See if they fit and let's get out of here." He was just as worried as Kate was. Granted anyone that had hostile intentions should already be dead, but why risk it?
Kate slid both of them on and started smiling. "Not perfect, but nice enough."
"Good." Rick counted out 5k and left it all on the counter.
"It's not that much, babe, even with sales tax." Kate didn't want him to spend too much.
"I'm not taking chances. Let's go." Rick was ready to leave. They both had rings and it was time to make their escape.
O~O~O
"You two have been gone forever," Alexis complained as soon as Rick pulled into the boathouse.
"We had to go all the way into downtown Victoria. It took us 5 stores to get all the rings." Kate held out her hand for Alexis to see.
"Very nice, Kate." Alexis liked what she saw. "So where do we go since we're next?" Alexis was ready to get this over with and get back. Anderson and Grams still needed to make the trip and it was almost lunch already.
Rick's laptop was almost dead so Kate drew maps to both places while it was plugged in and charging. "Here. The first place only had men's rings while the second had my rings. That one's been looted, so be very careful.
"If Victoria is like Manhattan, then it's deserted. But don't count on it. Get in and get out and please, don't stop for anyone," Kate asked the young couple.
"Perhaps I should come?" Rick offered.
"So you can get in a fight trying to defend my honor and end up dead? I don't think so, Dad. We'll be fine. Who's going to start a fight these days?" Alexis asked him.
"Alright, but I still think I should go." Rick still wasn't sure even if she was using her woman's logic on him.
"We'll be fine, Mr. Castle. I won't let anything happen to her." Michael was willing to give up his life for her.
O~O~O
Laura and Dean eventually found them and got to see the rings and listen to their tale about how they found them so they knew what Alexis and Michael were now doing.
Then Anderson and Martha showed up thinking it might be their turn, only to find out Alexis and Michael had just recently left.
Hours later, Martha and Anderson had Libby with them. Kate was sitting with Rick in the boathouse.
"How long has it been?" Rick asked as she strained to see even a hint of the boat coming back.
"Relax, babe. Nothing is going to happen to them. It's an hour down, another half hour to get to the second store, half an hour back, and an hour back to the marina. And that doesn't count the time it takes to sail each way. They still have…" Kate looked at her dad's watch. "An hour and a half left to go at the very least. They'll be fine." Kate kissed his cheek and sat with him and worried almost as much.
O~O~O
"This one? It looks smaller." Michael held up another one for Alexis to try on.
"My stupid fingers are too thin." Alexis had found one she liked but it didn't fit her finger.
"My fingers are almost as thin." He hadn't had great luck at the first store for his ring, either.
"I like your fingers. They fit inside me perfectly." Alexis slid on the next ring. "This one fits. Is there a wedding ring to go with it?" One down, one to go.
Alexis had two rings and they were a close match. They both had a rope design to them. The wedding band was all rose gold while the engagement ring was two tone using rose gold.
"Can we go now?" Michael was more than ready. He couldn't explain it, but the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up. This somehow felt like stealing and they were going to get caught.
Alexis pulled out the money her dad had given her and put down 4k right next to the 5k her dad had left for Kate's rings. "Now we can go."
O~O~O
"What time is it now?" Rick questioned Kate.
"They still have half an hour. Are you afflicted with Are we there yet syndrome, too?" Kate asked him since he kept asking what felt like every 15 minutes.
Rick clenched his teeth and took a deep breath. Then he said sharply, "You just wait till it's Libby's turn and ask me that question again." That shut Kate up. Of course, she was nowhere near ready for Libby to start talking about wedding rings. She was six and Kate wanted to keep her that way.
"There!" Rick jumped up as he saw the boat come into view. He could see two people inside the boat, one with long orange hair, so he could begin breathing again.
The second Alexis stepped onto the dock Rick crushed her in a hug. "Can we not do that again?" Alexis really didn't want to have to do that again.
"That was a challenge. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing up since the first stop," Michael said. "That second store was the worst. Then we couldn't find a ring that would fit her finger."
Kate wanted to see the ring so she took Alexis's hand to look at it. "Two tone with twists, very nice. And 11 tiny diamonds on either side of the large one in the middle. It's beautiful, Alexis."
Alexis smiled. "Thanks, Kate. I really like it. It says Noam Carver on the inside."
"So does mine. Must be the main designer they had. You two are next if you want to try it. It takes about 4 hours total," Kate told Martha and Anderson.
"It'll be dark by the time we get back if we start now. Truck keys?" Anderson held out his hand and Michael handed him the keys. "Gas?"
"The boat has plenty, but the truck only has about a quarter tank," Michael told him. "Not enough." At least in his opinion.
"Gas cans." Rick gave him two-five gallon cans. "The funnel should already be in the truck."
"We'll be back, keep our dinner warm." Anderson wasn't afraid. If it was a fight, he would accept the blows knowing the person that hit him would die instantly. If it was a knife, he would block it and watch him die. If it was a gun, he had been shot before.
Kate had hold of Rick's arm. "It's going to be dark, Rick."
"Dad's CIA, he should be well-trained. He can handle anything that happens." Rick had faith in his training and skill.
O~O~O
"Do you like this one, Chris?" Martha chose one for him and just needed to know if it fit him.
"Works for me and it fits just fine." Chris put the money on the counter right next to the other two piles of cash, telling both of them that their family and friends had been here already.
They went to the next store and the second thing they both spotted was two piles of Canadian dollars all neatly stacked and left behind. They were in the right spot.
"What do you think? Looks like a triple band design and it crisscrosses. One large diamond and…" Anderson started counting. "I can't count that high. Maybe 40 something little diamonds. Try it on." Anderson handed it to her.
It took up space on her finger, but it actually did fit pretty well. It made Martha smile. For once this marriage felt final to her. "$2,538 plus 12% sales tax." Anderson left 4k in cash just to be safe and escorted Martha back out to the truck. It was dark by the time they boarded the boat.
"You do know how to get home?" She didn't see much.
"I have faith," Anderson responded, not really sure if he was going to see where he was going. Maybe waiting for tomorrow would have been better.
O~O~O
"Alexis is a genius, babe." Kate stood there next to Rick while Libby was in her bed after eating dinner. Together they were all watching Alexis and Michael sail out on the Catamaran with all the portable lights they had.
"She's a chip off the old block." Rick was proud of her. He didn't see Kate grin and shake her head.
"Chris – over there!" Martha pointed at something far out in front of them.
"I see it." To him it was like looking at a lighthouse. The lights were scanning out in the dark all over the place, so it wasn't an actual lighthouse.
"Michael, look!" Alexis saw a light that appeared to be bobbing up and down and it was small.
"Interior light of the boat, maybe?" Michael suggested. Now instead of flashing their lights all over the place they focused on that little light.
Eventually both of them were waving and swinging their lights as the boat passed right by them and headed into the bay. Alexis and Michael were slower, but they finally made it as well and found Anderson and Martha right up front.
"You are one smart young woman." Anderson hugged her and handed her over to Martha who hugged her tightly. "Thanks, son." Anderson shook his hand and then hugged him and slapped his back.
It wasn't until they were all in the dining room where there was more light that they could see Martha's and Anderson's rings.
"It says Norm Carver on the inside," Martha told them.
"So do ours." Kate even took off her rings to look again. It was engraved perfectly and they all looked the same. Everyone put their rings back on. The men would get them back before the ceremony. For now, though, the women were going to wear them.
Kate looked at Martha's rings. "Your rings are absolutely gorgeous, Martha. You made a wonderful choice."
Martha smiled. "Thank you, Katherine. I don't believe I've ever had such lovely rings."
Then Alexis spoke up. "So do we stick with the plan?"
"Wait till June. Take more gas to the truck. Drive out to the Gardens, and then drive back to pick up everyone else. Pay to get in and say our vows to each other, put rings on fingers, and then go tour the Gardens. Paperwork will just have to wait. We'll know we're married. If anyone else needs to know," Kate shrugged.
"We do it all over again. Simple," Rick said. That had all of the women sucking in breaths. Rick was talking about renewing their vows. Essentially marrying them all over again.
"Dean and I plan to renew our vows with you, so there'll be four weddings. We just won't be placing rings on our fingers," Laura announced.
Kate would hug her if she wasn't too far away.
"This is going to be EPIC!" Alexis beamed at them. "I'm getting something to drink. Water. I'm getting water." She saw the looks she was getting.