Chapter 12

The next three days were filled by experimenting with the various inks. Each free moment James had between their new home-school classes, working out and eating, he was in his room, researching and examining the various compounds.

He found that some seemed to be more responsive than others and, when he had Zoe ad Stacy in gestalt with him, he even found a couple that looked as if they would be ideal. The remaining problems were easily laid out, but the solutions were a bit harder to come by.

They didn't know how long the 'charge' would last, though they could all still feel a residual 'charge' in Zoe's bracelet. They didn't know if it would actually extend the range and, almost as important to James, he wanted to maintain their parents' good will, they needed a way for Zoe to get her tattoo without raising eyebrows.

After three days of research, they thought they had the answer to the last question at least. Luminous plants! There had been a push in the last couple of years by various scientific and commercial enterprises to produce easily duplicated bioluminescent products for uses as varied as street lighting to cancer research. One company had even crowd-funded an effort to produce glow-in-the-dark plants.

The process was difficult, but the research was paying off and much of it was publically available to anyone who wanted to try their hand at developing a new method. The most promising effort had combined the genes that created Luciferase with plant DNA to create growing plants. The problem in the first couple of generations was that the glow was not really visible to the naked eye, but by adding in other genetic markers like those of the Hawaiian bobtail squid had produced glows visible under ultra-violet light.

UV Ink tattoos were not a new thing, but bioluminescent UV was not something they could find in a catalog. If they could use those plants to produce an organic, UV ink, then a tattoo done with that substance would be, effectively, invisible once the actual tattoo healed.

Getting samples of the plant was as easy as making a phone call and, with more help from the internet, rendering a few of the leaves down created a clear fluid that they hoped would do the trick was hardly more difficult. How to test it was another question entirely. Zoe's insistence that he give her a small beauty mark with a sewing needle was just not going to happen, not if he had any say about it. Good thing he was the master in their relationship, he couldn't help but think.

They finally agreed that Angie would be the arbiter, the expert to make the call on if they should try it at all, and they would wait until Saturday.

Saturday morning they were all up early and, after their workout, were antsy to leave. Stewart Darcy, Zoe and Stacy's step-father, agreed to take them car shopping that morning. He had a friend from his school days who owned several car lots in town. They were going to treat him to breakfast and then go with him to find a car.

James was surprised when he opened the front door and a young lady was standing there, her eyes red, her face stained with tears and her hand raised to knock.

"Sally?"

"Hi James, is Zoe here?" Sally said, her voice low.

From behind James, Zoe pushed past him and wrapped her arms around her friend.

"SALLY! Oh my god, I can't believe you are here! I thought you weren't talking to me anymore!" Zoe pulled the girl inside, sitting beside her on the couch.

"Zoe, it wasn't our idea. Anna and Denise's parents got scared after the mall thing, and they blamed it on James, and since you were always with him, on you too. They talked to my parents and to Doris's parents and they said we couldn't hang around with you. Then, when you pulled out of school, it just made them even more sure that James was a bad influence." Sally was crying, her hands gripping Zoe's so tightly that her knuckles were white.

"Okay, I get it about Anna and Denise, they were never as close and you and I were, but I was sad that you hadn't come over. And Doris too, we three have been best friends our whole lives!"

"You know that your mom and mine never got along and my dad is such a spineless wimp that mom wears the pants in my family ... or did." Sally broke down, laying her head on Zoe's shoulders and weeping. "He's gone, Zoe. He packed a couple of bags and walked away. Mom has lost her mind, she spends all her time drinking and screaming, I just couldn't take it anymore and I had to get out, Zoe. I had to! All I could think about was seeing you, telling you."

"Oh, Sally, I am so sorry. You have always been welcome in our house and that isn't going to change now that I am living with James and Stacy." Zoe assured the weeping girl.

When Zoe had gotten Sally calmed somewhat, with some help from Stacy, they got the full story.

Sally's mother was an Investment Advisor for a big brokerage firm. She had been the youngest Officer and then the youngest Vice President in the firm's history and was on track to become the Corporate Sales Officer for the entire East coast. She had always been a powerful, driven woman who pushed herself, and those around her, to be the best, to work harder and smarter than the competition.

She had married her husband Marvin right out of college, and both parents had admitted that it had been a marriage of convenience as much as anything else. Marvin had been a lonely kid with an inheritance, a virgin through college, and Susan, Sally's mother, had been a hungry, career-obsessed young go-getter with a bright future.

In exchange for a beautiful wife, a family and a loving home, Marvin had given Susan the support she needed through the early, lean years. He had loved Susan, even as she became more and more shrewish, happy to be a house husband and take care of the family. Until recently.

She and her father had made dinner and were waiting for her mother to come home from a late meeting. Susan had come in, made some off-hand remark about having already eaten and being tired.

Marvin had gotten red-faced, pointed out that her blouse was buttoned incorrectly and that he could smell the alcohol and sex stench on her from across the room. He had said he had enough and simply ignored Susan's replies, her entreaties and, finally, her threats as he packed his bags, kissed Sally on the cheek, and left.

Susan had gone into a rage, admitted that she had lovers, called her husband every name in the book and finally passed out drunk. Sally had hidden in her room, afraid to leave, until finally sneaking out this morning and heading for her friend's house.

"What am I going to do, Zoe? I love my father, we have always been close. Why couldn't he just take me with him?"

None of the trio had an answer for the hurting girl so James changed the subject, hoping to get her mind off her troubles, at least for a little while.

"Sally, we had some errands to run and were just on our way out..." James began, and was interrupted.

"Oh, I am so sorry, I can leave. I'll get out of your way!" Sally said, her face pale.

"No, Sally, let me finish. I was going to suggest that you come with us. Sounds like being out of the house for a little while would be a good thing for you, and I know Zoe missed having you around. I do think you should call and tell your mother so she doesn't worry." he added.

"It's ... it's okay, really?" She asked, looking from James, to Stacy and finally to Zoe.

"Oh course it is! James wouldn't invite you if we didn't want you to be with us." Zoe assured the girl, giving her another hug.

"Sally, I've seen the looks you have given James, tell me you don't want to hang out with our hunky man." Stacy teased, smiling at Sally.

"Well, there is supposed to be a silver lining, right?" Sally said, a little smile on her face. Then she giggled and hugged Zoe again. "Does this mean you'll share?"

"Ha! I already do!" Zoe quipped, snaking an arm around her sister and pulling Stacy close.

"What?" Sally asked, looking confused. Her eyes travelled between the trio and then opened wide, a surprised look on her face. "Oh! Wow ... um..." she said, breaking off and blushing furiously.

James tried to smother a laugh, but that got Stacy going and, of course, Zoe began laughing too. Before long, even Sally joined in and they were all glad to see her looking more like her old self.

"Stacy, maybe you should call Stewart while Zoe helps Sally? Let him know we are on our way back to your house, but we'll be a couple of minutes late." James suggested, giving her a kiss on a cheek.

Breakfast was at the International House of Waffles, and was surprisingly relaxed. James, Zoe and Stacy squeezed into one side of the booth while Sally sat next to Stewart. The conversation was light, with lots of joking around and Stewart seemed a lot more relaxed than he had been at home.

James had been concerned since they had yet to formally discuss Stacy's new relationship with him, and her sister. He knew that both sets of parents were aware, but he couldn't help but wonder what would happen when it was all brought out into the open. With the plan for the tattoos, he couldn't help but think it would be soon.

After breakfast, it was a quick ride to the dealership where Stewart's friend from school was waiting.

"Stew! Damn man, I never see you anymore. I haven't heard from you in over a year and then get a call from out of the blue. Come on in! How are you Stacy? Zoe? You two are growing up to be beautiful ladies!" Jimmy Mason was a rotund, cheerful man and he was talking a mile a minute, his hand and shaking an appendage he could grasp.

He led them into his office and had them all seated on a pair of couches in front of his desk. The office was opulent, but seemed to fit in with the dealership that sold high-end cars. The showroom floor had been full of exotics and James had been worried. They couldn't afford the maintenance on any of these cars, not even thinking about the purchase price!

"Jimmy, this is James, Zoe's fiancé and this other young lady is Sally, a friend." Stewart said, pausing for a minute as he took in the seating arrangement. Zoe was seated on one side of James and Stacy on the other, each was sitting so that they were touching, shoulder and hip with James. Sally had taken a seat next to Zoe and was beaming at everyone, apparently happy to just be there.

"Anyway, the kids need a car and you were the first person who came to mind when they said they wanted to go car shopping. They need something large enough to seat a family, so safe too. They are just starting out so a good used car is just the ticket."

"Fiancé? Wow, now I am feeling old, you two look so young!" Jimmy said, taking in the odd tableau on the couch without comment. "Stewart, you came to the right man. If I don't have a trade-in here on the lot, we'll check the computer and I am sure to have something they like on one of the other lots. So, kids, did you have a make or model in mind?"

"I think James would like a Corvette!" Stacy grinned, rocking sideways to give James a little shove. "But seriously, we were thinking an SUV or maybe a van? But not a minivan, those are way too soccer mom. Something like an Expedition or a Suburban would be good. Plenty of room." Stacy looked and James and Zoe for their opinion, but both were nodding.

"A Volvo station wagon would be okay, they have a good safety record." James thought aloud. "Not the sexiest thing on wheels, but there would be plenty of room."

"Got a budget in mind? Any of those are a possibility." Jimmy said, his mind unfocused as he reviewed the cars he had seen on the back lot that morning.

"We can't go above ten thousand, it just isn't in the budget. Of course, under that would be even better, but we want something dependable, something that is not going to require a lot of repairs soon." Stacy said. They had discussed this in depth and it seemed a good compromise. They would use the majority of the reward money they had gotten, leaving a little back for expenses and emergencies. They needed to get jobs!