Debbie looked at Jessop in bewilderment. He had welcomed her back into the family, and now he was saying that she had to remain apart from them. She began to wonder if it was some kind of joke.
"It has to be this way, Debbie," her grandfather said. "For your own sake, and for the rest of the family." He reached over and patted her gently on the arm. "I will arrange for you to transfer to Johns Hopkins University so that you can complete your studies. You'll live as any other student, but I'll be watching over you. Nothing will ever hurt you again."
Debbie was stunned, and Jessop seemed genuinely sorry for what he had asked of her. After a moment, he shifted back to Alex.
"Alex, I'm counting on you to stay with Debbie and to watch over her. Naturally, I'll pay you for your trouble. One and a half million dollars a year should suffice. Just make sure never to reveal who she is to anyone."
Alex agreed. Even if Jessop hadn't paid him a cent, he would have stayed with Debbie anyway.
"Good!" Jessop said with a satisfied smile. "Now, let's have our meal. Debbie, please, have some more."
Then he reached for the nearest plate and put several pieces of meat onto all their plates. As they ate, Debbie was eager to try every dish on the table, and afterwards she felt very lucky to be having such a good meal with her close relatives.
But once they were finished, she felt that there was one last request she had to make. "Grandfather, I would like to visit my mother's grave."
"Of course," Jessop answered. "Rufus will take you this time, but you must promise not to go there by yourself after that." He turned to Rufus. "Son, be careful on the way there. Keep an eye out."
They all rose from the table, and Jessop went over and stood close to Alex. "Alex, I must ask something more of you, as well. Before you and Debbie are married, you must not overstep. Otherwise, you'll hurt Debbie and the family. I hope you'll remember that."
Debbie and Alex were embarrassed at such an overt implication that they might sleep together. "Don't worry, Mr. Clifton," Alex answered. "I know the rules."
"Debbie, you still have your mother's jade pendant, I assume?" Jessop asked, and Debbie nodded. "Good. It's yours, but you must be careful never to show it to anyone."
"Yes, grandfather," Debbie replied. "I promise." From the look the Jessop gave her, she understood how important the jade pendant must be to the family.
On their way back to the cars, Alex fetched the Moon girls and instructed them to find a hotel in the city. Then he and Debbie walked back out through the front door, and Rufus took them to the cemetery.
When they found Cynthia's grave, it was unkempt and overgrown. Debbie wiped the overgrowth away and cleaned the tombstone as best she could. She regretted that she had never been able to visit.
She began to cry as she stood over her mother's grave. Rufus was sympathetic, but he warned her quietly to try to contain her emotions until she was in private. If anyone was watching, an emotional scene might arouse suspicion.
**
They stayed at the cemetery for half an hour, and then Rufus drove them over to see the hotel that the four girls had booked for them. On the way, Rufus told Debbie that she should go straight to the university on the following morning.
Everything had been arranged for her. Of course, it had all been done with complete secrecy. Nobody at Johns Hopkins would know the connection between Debbie and the Cliftons.
For Alex's part, Rufus told him to go to the university and apply for a position as a campus security guard. As Rufus explained, it would be the perfect position for him to be at the university and watch over Debbie.
When they got to the hotel, they went straight up to their rooms. Debbie was very sad after the visit to her mother's grave, and she went straight to bed to rest. Alex didn't want to disturb her, so he let her rest until they went to have dinner in the hotel restaurant.
Debbie didn't say a single word throughout the whole meal, but Alex wasn't particularly worried. With the day she had had, it was no wonder she was in a solemn mood.
After dinner, Alex asked Celeste and Selene to help Debbie get ready for bed. Half an hour later, they knocked on his door. Luna and Callisto were already with him.
"How is she?" he asked them when he opened the door.
"Don't worry, Mr. Alex," Celeste answered. "We drew a bath for her and got her into bed. When we left, she had already fallen asleep."
"Good." Alex was relieved.
"Mr. Alex, you must also be very tired," Celeste continued. "You had that massive fight yesterday, and we never helped you relax your muscles. You should take a hot bath, and then we'll give you a massage."
"Okay, I'll take a bath." Alex felt a little sleepy. He got up, went into the bathroom, took a hot bath, and then came out wearing his bathrobe.
He lifted it off his back and lay down on the bed, and the girls rubbed and pressed on his body. He closed his eyes and felt extremely comfortable. He could barely remember how uncomfortable he had been with the massages in the beginning. It had become almost an addiction for him.
"By the way," he raised his head and said to the girls. "Debbie and I will be staying at Johns Hopkins University after tomorrow. I think it would be best if you bought a house in the city to live in, and then you should try to find something to do. When I have time, I'll come and see you."
"No!" Celeste protested. "We're supposed to serve you, Mr. Alex. Wherever you go, we'll follow. We've already thought about it. We'll also get into the university, and then we can see you every day."
Alex looked at them. When he saw the determination on their faces, he knew there was no use arguing. He was deeply moved. "It's not so simple to just 'get into' a university. How will you do it?"
"We'll spend a bunch of money to buy our way in," Celeste said with a smile. "It should be easy if we approach the right people."
"Okay," said Alex. "But you must do it yourself. If I do it, it'll look suspicious. Tomorrow, I'll go to campus and get a job as a security guard, and I'll contact you when I'm in. Then it's your turn. Thanks for the massage, girls. Now go back to bed."
The Moon girls stood up and covered him with a bedsheet, and then they left. His whole body felt completely relaxed. He closed his eyes and fell asleep immediately.
**
The next day, Alex and Debbie took a taxi to the university. When they got there, Debbie's eyes were filled with curiosity and excitement. She hadn't been sure what to expect, but the campus was teeming with activity and the atmosphere gave her a burst of energy.
"Are you excited?" Alex asked her with a smile. He was relieved to see that the Debbie's sadness seemed to have gone away.
"Actually, I'm nervous," Debbie answered. "With my grades, there's no way I could have gotten in on my own. It's only because of my grandfather that—"
Alex quickly put his hand over her mouth to stop her from saying anything more. He looked around to see if anyone was watching them, but nobody had seemed to notice. He looked at Debbie and said in a low voice, "Remember what he said. No one can know about your relationship to your family. Be careful what you say."
Alex had thought about it a lot. If Debbie's grandfather was so adamant that her identity be kept a secret, then there must be a very good reason.
"All right," Debbie nodded.
Alex stroked her cheek and noticed that she had put her wedding ring on her index finger. He smiled at her. "So you're a bachelorette again, I see!" Then he raised his own hand and showed her his ring. It was still on his ring finger. "Well, I'm never taking this off again."
They went to the Student's Administration office. Rufus had told Debbie that she only needed to report her name to the staff. Everything else had been taken care of.
When Debbie gave her name to the administrator, she checked her computer and found Debbie's information. When she had looked it over, she turned back to her with a stunned expression on her face. "Oh, you've been recommended by Professor Chalmers at Richmond. And you've won first prize in a singing competition organized by the Washington D.C. municipal government. Very impressive."
Debbie and Alex didn't know what she was talking about. As far as they knew, there was no Professor Chalmers at Richmond. And Debbie certainly had never won a prize in any singing competition. Rufus must have made it up to cover up Debbie's real identity.
The administrator asked Debbie to fill out a few forms, and then she handed her a couple of books.
"Right, we're all done. But you'll hit the ground running. You've transferred right in the middle of a semester, so there's no time to lose. Just stay on schedule, and you'll do fine."
"Take these materials and go to the music building. Ask for Jordan Greenfield. That's your music teacher. You'll be taken care of." The administrator handed Debbie a few more pieces of paper, and then she went back to her own business.
Alex accompanied Debbie out. "I'll go by myself," she said. "I noticed the campus security building earlier. Just back down the way we came. You should go and apply."
Alex agreed with her suggestion. As she disappeared around a corner on the way to her music teacher, he walked along the corridor of the administrative building. In just a couple of minutes, he came across the door to the security department. He straightened out his clothes and knocked on the door.
Rufus had told him that there was a vacancy among the campus security staff, and that he should go and apply for the job. If for some reason he didn't get it, Rufus would straighten it out for him When the door opened, Alex was met by the frowning face of a thirty-year-old man. "What do you want?" he asked.
"I'm here to apply for a job as a security guard," Alex said with a smile.
The man immediately stopped frowning and opened the door with an enthusiastic smile. "Come in!" he shouted giddily.
The room inside was very long and separated into an inner and other section by a glass door. In the area just inside the front door, six or seven uniformed men sat watching their phones. They all looked to be well above forty years old, and every one of them either ignored Alex or glanced disdainfully at him.
"Come with me! The chief's in the back," said the young man. He gently pulled Alex along and pointed to a door at the far end of the room.
Alex smiled and walked in beside him.
They went through the glass door and entered the inner section, where the whole wall was filled with monitors. It seemed to Alex that one person could see every inch of the university from this room. A few more men sat watching the monitors. There also looked to be in their forties.
Once Alex got a closer look at them, he found that they were not watching the monitors at all. In fact, they were all asleep. One of them was even snoring.
"This is the boss' office," the young man said as he brought Alex up the door in the back. It had "Security Chief's Office" written on it.
"Thanks," Alex said to the man. Then he knocked softly on the door, and a voice called out in answer. "Come in!"