Inheritance Pt. 03

Inheritance part three

By

Soul71

Jesse Lyle Armstrong stared out the eight foot long, five foot wide window as he stood looking down at the people in their static-free suits. Watching the engineers going about their daily tasks as they built the rover to see if mining the moon for helium-3 was worth it. Something that, if he understood correctly, would create a clean energy source that could theoretically outplace the old forms of power generation. Also, to see if the isotope could be a power source for a new form of spacecraft. However, that was a long time down the road before they got to traveling through space. Still, it didn't hurt to plan ahead.

"Ms. Dell?" Jesse called out as he watched two people working on the brains of the rover.

"Yes, Mr. Armstrong?" Her soft, sweet voice filled the overlook room they, along with the lab's higher-ups, were standing in.

"You have thought about how you're going to get the samples back to Earth, correct?" Jesse asked, turning to look at her.

"We'll be sending two rockets to the moon, one a week before the rover is launched. Where it will be on the moon upon the rover's arrival. Given the limited storage space on the rover, and to maximize our mission there, we're sending a storage tank of sorts, you would call it," Brinda said, gesturing to her right, drawing Jesse's gaze to it. "This way, we have enough samples to test out designs, maybe learn how to make it ourselves."

"Why not just build a station, say halfway between the Moon and Earth, where we can cut the middle man out and get it straight from the source, if you and your scientists say this H3 is as game-changing as you claim it will be, then why not get it straight from the source and cut the middle man out," Jesse suggested, seeing Brinda's eyebrows rising along with the other scientists in the room.

"And why would you do that when the Moon is a stable platform to build our mining refinery."

"That might be true, but a space station is cheaper than building a base on the Moon if this is deemed to be profitable," Jesse said, waving out before him. "At least for the moment, and it's closer to Earth, so we can puzzle out how we would transport that kind of fuel back to Earth without the container breaking on reentry. Plus, if we're going to collect the solar winds, why not use all that hydrogen they're mostly made of, the solar winds, I mean, and why not make our own hydrogen-powered cars? No one said this was just about helium-3; given the cost of all of this, the future is still uncertain about this isotope. However, hydrogen has been proven to be a money maker."

"I assume you have an idea of how we're going to be making trips constantly to space?" Brinda asked, trying to trip Jesse up.

"I read somewhere that NASA has been looking into a Magnetic Launch Assist. The data I read was intriguing. If we're planning on changing the World's energy needs, why not how one gets into space?" Jesse asked with a coy smile on his lips as he peered at Brinda. "Now, I'm not saying this will happen overnight. It's going to take time to ensure that H3 is stable enough to outplace all the other energy sources out there. Then said items to maximize said energy potential and their testing before any of this will make the market. Plus, it's going to take decades to build an MLAS drive and the technology needed to create such a thing. But that all hinges on what you bring back from the Moon," Jesse said, returning his attention back to the people below him. "So, is the project still on schedule?" he asked, slipping his hands into his pockets. Trying to keep his mind off of what happened after the charity dinner he went to with his mother. Where he gave the people a million dollars to help those who needed a helping hand. Recounting how his mother had his cock down her throat on the ride home and how she rode him hard in his bed once they had reached the home he inherited from his grandaunt.

"Yes, Mr. Armstrong, we'll be ready to ship it out to the launch site in two weeks for the launch in a month," said the man who ran the laboratory complex.

"Good, now, show me how you plan on transferring the isotope to that," pointing to the device, "where the rover will store after separating it from the sand grains on the Moon," Jesse stated. So far, he was pleased with the work the people were doing.

"Certainly, Mr. Armstrong, please this way," the man said, directing them back to the hallway that would lead back to the main conference room of the main building of the complex. Where he would show them the video of their testing of the apparatus before it was sent to Florida.

"This place is so amazing," Brianna whispered as she walked beside her cousin, wearing the best business attire she had picked up when Jesse had hired her. She wanted to appear the part and to do it well. "I knew Aunt Greta was into a lot of things, business-wise, with what my mom told me. I just didn't know she had this large compound built just for space things?! But isn't this going to be expensive?" she muttered low so as not to be overheard by the group they were following. Remembering fondly the special ride she had given him on the plane a mile up in the air when it was just them on the private jet, if you don't count the pilot and co-pilot. Given that Brinda was flying in from attending some family event back east. She didn't mind; she got to ride her cousin like she'd been yearning to all weekend since Jesse gave her the weekends off.

"Yeah, but this will be over years and years in the making, so the company shouldn't feel too much of a pinch in the pocketbook. This company was founded on airplanes and what went into them. Yet now we're on the cusp of a new age, where man either steps out and joins the rest of the cosmos or we slowly wither here on this planet while we consume everything we can get our hands on. Who knows, depending on how this venture goes, we could be colonizing the Moon by the time you are in your fifties," Jesse said, trying to put a positive spin on it.

"And you leading the way into this new era isn't for praise and whatnot, right?" Brianna mused with a coy smirk on her lips. Still tasting his cock on her lips, the smell of his cum when the leftovers that hadn't found their way to her stomach marred her lips when he pulled out from her mouth after dumping his hot, tasty load down her throat.

"Hey, what better way to get Greenworks' name out there in front of Snyder Enterprises," Jesse stated, knowing they were really his company's only competitor.

"That program you bought from that kid will help I would think," Briana mused with a bemused grin on her face.

"Yes, it has already been installed on the rover," Brinda joined in. "I have to say, Mr. Armstrong, without it, this mission would have been delayed for months due to the weight the rover would be given and the amount of hard drives we would need to install on it. With it, we were able to expand its onboard storage tank," she praised.

"Good, I'm glad to hear it," Jesse said; he had hoped that the program Spencer had made and sold to him would be beneficial to his company, given what it had cost them. Looking down and over at Briana when one of the numerous phones she carried with her rang in her purse. Nodding when she mouthed that it was her mother, and moved back down the hallway when they were nearing the conference room. Stopping and turning when Briana screamed out 'What!', watching how her face fell into her hand as she sobbed into it. Telling the others to give him a moment to see what this was about, startling Briana when he placed a hand on her shoulder and held out his hand to her for her phone. She gently laid into it before burying her face into his chest.

"Hello?" Jesse spoke once he had brought the phone to his ear.

"Jesse!" Linda screamed/sobbed as she was having troubled controlling her emotions at that moment. "It's gone?!"

"What's gone?" Jesse asked, confused, rubbing Briana's back as she wept against him.

"Everything!" Arching an eyebrow when that was the only thing he could understand out of her.

"Linda, I need you to take a breath and slowly tell me what you're talking about," Jesse stated; his heart started to beat faster as he listened to his aunt's sobs.

"Someone," speaking through her slowing heaves, "burned down," she inhaled came in three stutters, "the house," Linda wailed over the line.

"What?! No?! Tell me what you know?" Jesse asked as he comforted Briana at the loss of her home.

"All I know is when I left this morning to open the store two strange men pulled up in a van, the windows were heavily tinted. Their license plate blacked out and broke into my house, only to run out a few minutes later after setting fire to it."

"How bad is it?"

"Nothing is left; the fire department said an accelerant had to be used for the house to go up so quickly. I don't know what I'm going to do!"

"You're going to go to my house; tell Jarvis to get some petty cash out for you so you and Briana can start to replace your lost items and clothing."

"Thank you, Jesse," Linda said, sniffling over the line.

"You can stay at the house if you want; just tell Jarvis to get the two bedrooms in the west wing sorted for you if that interests you."

"Really?! You wouldn't mind?"

"No, why would I? We're family; what kind of man would I be if I didn't help out my cousin in her time of need," Jesse said, trying to bring some comfort to her.

"Thank you, Jesse; I promise I'll try not to be too much of a nuisance in your home."

"Linda, you just head there; it sounds like you aren't in the frame of mind to run your store at the moment. So when you get there, just relax and let the police and the fire department do their thing. Hopefully, they'll find out who did this act and for what reason."

"I hope so, too. Please take care of Bree for me, keep her safe."

"Of course, you have my word."

"I'll see you two when you get back, and Jesse, you don't know how much this means to me."

"You're welcome, cousin," Jesse said before hanging up Briana's phone. "If you need time to gather yourself, Bree, just wait out here, okay," he spoke softly as Briana nodded her head as she used his handkerchief to dot her eyes and dry her cheeks. "Sorry about that, gentlemen. A family emergency has come up, so we'll have to cut this shorter than I would like," Jesse uttered as he closed the conference room door.

******

"Mom!" Briana cried out as she ran towards her mother with her arms outstretched when she and Jesse arrived back at his mansion a few hours after their phone call.

"Shh! It's going to be alright, baby," Linda said sweetly as she hugged her daughter tightly and rocked her at the same time.

"What are we going to do?" Briana asked, her voice muffled as her face was buried in her mother's chest.

"First, we're going to have to ask Jesse for his debit card," Linda said, slyly turning her head towards him as he stopped on his trek to the front door of his home.

"Huh?" Jesse muttered, confused.

"I'm sorry, Jesse, but Jarvis told me they used all the petty cash on hand to buy this week's groceries and cleaning supplies, along with replacing some of the bedding that had gotten too thread worn," Linda said, not letting go of her daughter.

"Oh... I didn't know that, here," pulling out one of the many cards that now lined his wallet with the many accounts he now had, "just charge whatever to it... within reason, don't go spending twenty grand on clothes," Jesse said, teasing his cousin.

"Thank you, Jesse; I promise we won't go too overboard," Linda said with a smile on her lips as she took his card from him.

"Did Jarvis get the rooms set up for you two?"

"He did, but if us living in the main house cramps your style any we can always move into the pool house; I don't want the two of us over staying our welcome," Linda said, trying to keep from rocking Jesse's boat too much while they waited for the police and fire department to finish their investigation. Then she knew she was going to have to wait on the insurance to payout for the house before she would start looking for a new place to live. "You wouldn't mind if I steal my daughter away for us to do some shopping, would you?"

"No, do what you two need to do; I just might not be here when you get..."

"Jesse!" Richard's voice thundered up the drive as his hands gripped the closed gate, furious that his code no longer worked.

"What is it, Richard?" Jesse asked, walking lazily down towards the gate. Ignoring how the woman behind him was trying to get his attention with her body. He didn't need another gold digger nipping at his heels. He already had his mother and aunt trying to get his money. He's kept a PI on them ever since Greta left him everything. So far, other than trying to fuck him to death, nothing sinister has come about from their plotting. If it ever did, his PI had orders to turn what they had caught over to the police.

"I need money!"

"Maybe you should have taken your mother's advice to live within your means instead of blowing millions of dollars on shit you don't need or on women that are only using you for your money," Jesse said coldly. "I'm not your piggy bank, Richard. I'm not your mother. I'm not going to give you a damn cent until I know for a fact it's not going to go towards whatever woman you're dating at any given month."

"It's my money!"

"No, Richard, it is not," Jesse said, glaring at his cousin. "Now, I'd advise you to get off my property before I call the police."

"But if Linda can be here, so can I!" Richard raged, his face turning a bright shade of red.

"She's here because her house just burnt down, and I'm helping her out, unlike you who swindled your own sister out of her trust fund. That's low even for you, Richard," Jesse said, wondering if the vein in his temple was going to pop any time soon. Also, seeing that news didn't really shock Richard like it did with the woman behind his cousin. "When you show me you can actually handle your money instead of spending it like it's going out of style, then and only then will we revisit this, and trust me, I know exactly how much you have. And if you're not careful, you'll be in the poor house by next summer," he stated, seeing how Richard's sugar baby did not like the sound of that.

"This isn't over, you ingrate!" Richard screamed when he wasn't getting his way like a spoiled child.

"Now see, you're just chipping away at what little feelings I have for you. Now get the fuck off my property; if you ever come here uninvited ever again, I will personally see that you see the inside of a jail cell," Jesse said, narrowing his eyes at the man. He had no idea how his grandaunt dealt with her son.

"Jesse," hanging his head, "I'm sorry, I know, I know how I sound, but I'm desperate here. Everything I touch turns into shit; all I'm asking is just a little helping hand. I promise if you help me out of this jam, I'll work on keeping my spending down to a minimum," Richard pleaded, hoping Jesse bought his little act.

"If you can keep you're spending down to five grand for a month, we'll revisit this," Jesse said, knowing Richard spent that in a day on his bimbos. "It's either that or the poor house for you; I'm not like your mother; I'm not going to keep padding your trust fund when you can't manage your own money like every grown man in existence. Show me you want to change; show me you aren't this wild spender that everyone knows you are then we'll talk. Until then, don't darken my doorstep again with this nonsense. And take your girlfriend with you," Jesse said, jutting his chin at the woman who was quickly pulling up her tube top back over her breast, seeing how he wasn't biting.

"Please, Jesse, just a little bit; I know you can spare it. I'm not going to make it to next summer. Too many of my ventures aren't paying out like they should be, and I've over-leveraged myself," Richard spoke, playing up his act.

"Fine, if only to get you to leave, I'll transfer two million to your trust. But if I see you spending it like you always do, then that's the last you'll ever get from me, understand?" Jesse intoned, seeing something playing behind Richard's eyes. "I wonder what granduncle Bill would think of his son if he could see you now," he said in disgust, shaking his head at Richard before turning on his heel to head back to his house. What Jesse didn't see was the rage in Richard's eyes when he spoke those words. "Now leave. I won't tell you again, or you will be spending the night with the police."

"We promise we won't make too much noise when we get back," Linda said, getting a nod out of Jesse as he walked past them. She and her brother stared at one another, shooting Richard a knowing smirk as he still stood there fuming before he stomped back to his car. She did hope Jesse knew what he was doing. She and Janice had already been to the police to report what they believed happened to her mother. Who had already started their investigation into her mother's death. Unbeknownst to her, or anyone else for that matter, during Greta's autopsy, a needle puncture was found between her right big toe and her pointer toe, leading the authorities to find that Greta was murdered by an air embolism. Once that was established, the case was sent up to the homicide division of the city's police department, landing on Ruth Grander's desk. Who had been secretly surveilling Jesse's family and digging into the family to see who had the means, motive, and opportunity.

******

"Good afternoon, Mr. Armstrong," Janice greeted as she met him in the lobby of her law office.

"Hello, Janice, I hear you have something for me," Jesse said, shaking the woman's hand. Keeping the fact that the blackness of her bra was bleeding through her cream-tone blouse to himself.

"I do," Janice said, smiling up at him as she led him towards her office. "Please have a seat," she gestured with a wave of her hand. Walking over to her desk, picking up the remote for the automatic blinds, hitting the button, watching its descent down the glass. "We worked quickly to set up the charities you asked us to do," handing him the folder containing the paperwork for them, "we just need your signature and the check to formally get it set up. While you will ultimately have the final say on the candidates, we'll weed out the ones who are just gaming the system and make sure only those who truly need the assistance are chosen. And this folder contains everything we could find out on the charities you asked me to do a deep dive into. All of them are on the up and up. The do good work from what I was able to find out," she stated, watching Jesse pulling out his checkbook book hearing his pen moving across it.

"That's to set up my charities, hire who you need to, to manage it properly," Jesse said, handing Janice the fifty million dollar check. Then signed off on the papers to formally create them before handing Janice the file back to her.

"I'll make sure this is safely secured in our vault," Janice said, dropping the check into her desk drawer and locking it so no one would be able to steal it. "Once we're done here, that is." Walking back around, leaning against the lip of her desk as Jesse went through the other folder, watching how he read over the report they compiled for him. Another four checks were filled out and handed to her once Jesse was finished again totaling another fifty million dollars. "I'll make sure this gets to them promptly and send you the forms for your taxes." Dropping the checks onto her desk, making sure he got a very good view of her body. "Jesse?"

"Hmm?" Jesse hummed, arching an eyebrow as he watched how Janice began to unbutton her blouse.