“Raven, Gabriel, these birds are the symbol of the freedom we have in this country. I would like you to each name one. As you do, it will become part of you. As they fly high above a part of you will be with them. They will be free, like you are, to love and enjoy life until you are both called home to our Creator.” He said. They looked at the birds for a moment. Gabriel pointed at one and said “I want this one called Francis.” Raven looked at the other and said “I want this one to known as Xavier.”
Once they were named Michael raised his arm letting both birds return to the freedom of the sky. In doing so he had let go of the pain of losing a member of his family. The bride and groom moved toward the house to change as the back yard was transformed into a reception area.
In the small bedroom Gabriel and Raven stood alone, both smiling, as they looked at each other. Gabriel moved in to kiss his bride. When their lips touched, a jolt of electricity shot through Raven as she pushed herself closer to her husband, longing to have his arms around her in honeymooners bliss. Finally, he ended the kiss, the regret showing clearly in his eyes. “We need to get changed.” With a grin Raven nodded. “I can hear the band starting up now.” she said moving to the bed where their clothes had been laid out earlier.
For the first time ever the two lovers stood naked before one another. Their expressions showed plainly that neither of them knew if they could make it through the reception and party. They seductively looked each other over. Gabriel pointed to the bed covered with clothes. Winking at her he said “Shall we?” She laughed at him “Not quite yet. I think we can hold out just a little longer.”
Dressing hurriedly they left the room. They were greeted by all the guests as they stepped out onto the back deck to join the family. Michael was dancing, okay it looked more like a seizure but it didn’t seem bother him. He was just having fun. When Theresa walked up to the new couple she handed each a box. “This is from our family to yours. Michael thought it would help bring you closer.” They opened the two boxes to find a single key in each. The keys were engraved with the date on one side, on the other side were the words “Where Eagles fly.” As they rounded the corner of the house looking towards their truck they saw two brand new Triumph Daytona 675 “crotch rockets” loaded in the back. Gabriel knew immediately that there was nothing stock about the bikes. Looking at Raven he asked her “Do you even know how to ride a motorcycle?” She smiled back at him as she kissed his cheek. “I think I can figure it out.” Each wearing a playful grin they returned to the party.
Fred walked over to them. “Where do you plan to honeymoon?” They looked at each other and Gabriel replied, “We are driving up to Cambria for a couple of weeks.” Fred looked at them like they were crazy. “Why there of all places you could go?” “Because that is where we want to go!” Gabriel replied quickly with a smile on his face as he slipped his arm around Ravens waist.
For the next few hours they combined the birthday party and reception went along wonderfully. Everyone was having a great time. When the clock chimed 10:00p.m., Michael walked out of the house; he had changed into a pair of black jeans and cowboy boots, his tuxedo shirt opened at the collar. Walking over to the band as they finished their song he took a microphone from a side stand and turned to his brother and new sister-in-law. “Guys, I haven’t picked up one of these in a few years, however, this is the one place and one song I think you should both hear as you start your life together. May the words be heard in your hearts.”
The band began to play the introduction as Michael took a hit from his smoke and sip from his beer and began to sing. Silence fell over the crowd as his voice rang out over the speakers. Raven and Gabriel began their dance as they heard Michael sing “All We Ever Find” by Tim McGraw.
When he finished the song Theresa was at his side kissing his cheek. They looked at Raven and Gabriel. It would have taken a nuclear bomb to get them to take their eyes off one another. Both had tears rolling down their cheeks. They just kept dancing, locked in each other’s arms. The guests began to clap when the guitar solo ended and they realized the song was over. Gabriel pulled his gaze from Raven and looked at his brother. Holding Raven by the hand they walked over.
The brothers looked at one another, knowing that life was writing a new chapter for both of them. Gabriel gave Michael a hug as he did he whispered, “You really should pick up that mic more often. Thank you man that was great!” Raven gave Michael and Theresa a hug as well. Stepping back, she smiled warmly at Theresa. “Thank you for getting him to sing that song. I've listened to it more times than I can count since moving into Lazarus South.” Theresa looked at her husband and his brother then back at Raven. “I didn’t do much. Michael has always wanted to sing that in front of his dearest friends and family.”
The bride and groom looked to the crowd and waved their goodbyes, all presents had been loaded in the passenger area of huge truck What didn’t fit had been placed in a foot locker in the bed of the truck with their luggage. Fred and Denise gave the newlyweds the last hug before they left. Fred was choked up as he looked at the two and the love that just seemed to pour out of them. “What a great blessing has come from such a terrible dark period in our lives. Go start your life kids. You have a lot of learning and loving to do!”
With that Gabriel opened Ravens door waiting to help her get into the lifted truck. The rest of the family looked on as Raven turned her back to the crowd to throw her bouquet. She released it into the air, turning she saw it land in the arms of Maree…..
Chapter 29
As they drove up the 101 freeway to their honeymoon retreat they talked and laughed until they got to Santa Barbara. As they looked out the driver’s side window they could see the ocean glimmering in the moon light. Both felt a sense of romance surround them. “Can't you drive any faster?” With a grin he smashed the go peddle down a little more. They made it to their destination in less than hour after Raven made her request.
As they pulled down a winding dirt road they could see the lights from the retreat come into view. When they got closer Raven's breath was taken away by the elegance of the house. Even in the darkness she could see that it was HUGE. Built like a modern day log cabin with huge solid oak pillars that were individually lit to bring out the grains of the rich wood as the columns rose some twenty five feet to the roof overhang,. Then they tapered down as the A Frame style front entry reached ground level. When the dirt became the driveway she could feel the cobble stones make their music as the huge truck tires passed over them. Gabriel dialed a number on his cell phone and the garage door opened. He even said “wow” as the door opened to reveal a small hangar style garage. The entire back wall was etched glass.
He killed the motor of his truck as the garage door began to come down silently. He reached over and playfully pinched Ravens side. “Hey, what was that for?” she barked. “I am just making sure you are not a dream.” He said as he pulled her close. “You are going to be the best part of my life.” Raven melted as he kissed her lightly on her lips. “Welcome to the rest of your life! Shall we? ” He pointed to the entry way.
He climbed out of the truck full of energy even though the clock showed it was past midnight and they had had a very busy day. He opened the door for Raven then asked her “What should we take in with us?” “Just grab the small suitcase, that's all we'll need for the night. We can get the rest in the morning.” He grabbed the bag and the two crossed the marble floor to the door. Noticing a note taped to the door Gabriel took it down and handed it to Raven. “What does it say?” Raven cleared her throat and read “Hey Gabriel and Raven, please enjoy your honeymoon. We hope you like our place. We wish you the best in your life together. Hope to see you both when we are done with our tour. S/F Jeff” Raven looked at Gabriel. “Who is Jeff?” He is one of our friends. He's a Race car driver and let us use his house while he is out in the mid west re-building his life after suffering a bad wreck last year. You will meet him some day.”
They entered the house walki
ng down a softly lit hallway. It was even more spectacular on the inside Raven thought. They came to the only door and she noticed it was just like the doors back at home. As Gabriel opened the door he placed the suitcase inside to the right and turned and lifted her into his arms, carrying her over the threshold to their first night together.
The room was romantically exotic. The carpet was thick white shag; the bed in the middle of the room. On one wall was a nice size fireplace, the mantel and surrounding surface was shaved granite polished to a mirror like shine. As the door to the room closed the fireplace sprung to life, medium size flames danced sending shadows through the room. Gabriel let her down as he spun around looking at the room himself. He smiled at Raven. “What do you think?” “Wow” was the only thing she could say. Looking at her husband then around at the room at all the candle stands. All shapes and sizes, all made from brushed wrought iron. It was a spectacular scene and the candles haven’t even been lit yet! “I'm going to shower” she said as she made her way toward the bathroom.
As she got ready Gabriel lit every candle in the room. Opening the huge French doors he felt the shore breeze blow and set the soft sheer white drapes fluttering. Looking out at the deck he saw a present had been left for him and his bride. Some freshly picked chocolate dipped strawberries and a bottle of the finest sparkling wine produced by the local wineries. Hurricane candles lined the railing of the deck. He went about lighting those as well, bathing the deck in a soft glow. Looking over the edge he could see down the sheer cliff to the turbulent ocean below. “God, you do some great work my friend.” he said aloud. “Why thank you” said Raven “I didn’t know you had eyes in the back of your head.”
He turned and was blown away by his stunningly beautiful wife dressed in a simple camisole, the material covering her chest was shear white turning into a deep luscious red that stopped just above her mid-thigh. Gabriel was awestruck by the site. He took her chilled hand and led her back into the bedroom, now quite warm from the low burning fireplace. Looking into her eyes he said “I wish there was some mood music.” Instantly, from the walls and floor, music began to play. The soft touches of fingers on piano keys with an undertone of stringed orchestra music surrounded them. Gabriel knew he had to thank Theresa. He had walked into their house a couple of times hearing this same music playing. Now he knew why!
“Start Over.” he said and the track began to play again. As the music started he brushed his hands over Ravens body. The music began to grow in rhythm as he took his bride in his arms and kissed her deeply. The piano playing again their first night as lovers would go down in their memories forever. As neither had ever loved another person so deeply. Exhausted from their first night of marital bliss, the two fell into each other’s arms. Raven laying her head on Gabriel’s chest, listening to his beating heart as she drifted off to dream. As they both fell asleep, they could here from the balcony the sounds of two Eagles singing their song as they flew above. Every candle in the room had been blown out by a gust of off shore wind sometime during the night. The two slept in near darkness until the sunset hit their room waking them from their slumber.
They woke slowly, finally rising to shower together. The bathroom here was just like the ones at the other house. “Hey Gabriel, who ever came up with this shower concept has to be rich beyond his wildest dreams!” Gabriel looked at the shower enclosure and remembered how Michael had thought of it when he was still working on pedophile patrol in Washington State. “Actually Michael came up with this. What you're seeing as tiles are actually plasma screen TV’s connected to a voice activated computer system. When you tell the shower what you want the screens change to display what you've asked for. And actually, I don’t think Michael has made a dime off any of these.” They showered together and got dressed. They decided on a quiet dinner out and watching the sunset together would be a perfect way to spend the evening.
Epilogue
Back at home Michael and Theresa sat watching the evening news. Some talking head was describing the take down of an entire motorcycle gang after evidence was brought forth implicating all members. The TV camera scrolled over the cache of bounty that had been recovered in various raids. All over the screen were automatic weapons, bundles upon bundles of drugs and cash including pallets that held over ten-thousand stacks of $100,000 bundles of cash. The reporter asked the FBI agent giving the news conference if they had found everything. The FBI agent looked into the camera as if he was looking directly at Michael. “Yes, I believe this all of it from what we can tell from our investigation.”
Michael let out a small laugh, taking his feet off of an oddly shaped table in front of him he stood to go have a smoke. “Go get a crow bar and hammer from the garage, then we're going to open some presents.” he said to his son as he walked out of the room.
Theresa went outside with Michael just to enjoy the early spring night. As she looked out at their view of Mt. Boney she smiled to herself and whispered “SoCal4ever”. This had long been the signature she used on her text messages when they lived so far from here. She turned to look at Michael, “Did you or the boys by any chance have anything to do with what's on the TV?” she asked. He looked back at her as he exhaled smoke and took another sip of beer. “Why Mrs. Theresa what would ever give you that idea?”
From inside the house they could hear wood breaking apart as Rose, Lisa and their son worked on the crates. Right before they opened the screen to walk back inside they heard Michael Jr. let out a “Holy Shit it must be Christmas!”
Under all the crating were three stacks of cash suspiciously like the ones just seen on the news--The amount more than they could ever spend? “M-2 can you help me get this into the safe house tomorrow?” he asked. M-2 looked at all the cash in front of him calculating all the skateboards, motorcycles and shoes he could get with just one stack. “Do I have too Dad?” Before he could reply Theresa said. “Yes son, you do.”
After the kids left the room Michael cut the seal on one of the stacks and took half of it into the bedroom, placing it in the safe. He looked at Theresa who just looked back and smiled. She knew, for his part in taking down the gang and the larger cartel, Lazarus house had just made thirty percent of the cash recovered in the raids. On the TV they both over heard the news caster say “In closing the government has seized over 975 million dollars in cash from the raids.”
Theresa just smiled as she said “I guess we don’t need to worry about college for a bit do we?” He looked at her and began laughing hysterically!
Stay tuned for the next Adventure
Excerpts from Rescuing the Past
The second book in the Diaries of Lazarus House
“I have taken the liberty of selecting the music for the first couple of laps we will take; you will hear it through your helmet once we get started.” Gabriel said. With that the couple mounted their bikes and headed out on the track.
As they started their first lap Raven began to hear “Ride the Wind” by Poison play. As the song intensified so did his pace on the track. She played along like she was just a beginner taking corners with a slight lean to her husband dragging his knees sending sparks flying back at her. After two laps she had the track memorized; now it was time for her to play her hand on her unsuspecting husband. The two rolled to the staggered starting line on the main straight away Gabriel being a smart ass rolled to his stop on his front tire doing about 100 mph as he tapped the front break bringing the back wheel down.
He was acting cocky as he looked over at her. That was when she let the cat out of the bag, she grabbed the front brake and lit her back tire up in a controlled burn out, and she brought the spin down and lifted her dark visor. The music now stopped. “Did I do that?” she said with a smile. “Oh by the way dear, I put a song on just for me. Try to keep up sweetie!!’ She closed her visor and revved up the bored out motor on her bike, sending out a primal scream from the White Brothers custom racing exhaust. He sat there in disbelief, she had played him good. He smiled to hims
elf as she got into a racers starting stance, she held the bike and herself like she was no rookie. He knew this was going to be an actual race.
Inside his helmet he could hear a classic Pat Benatar song start to play, as it did she was pulling out to start the race, As the words to “All Fired Up” grew louder he was riding behind her as they came into the Andretti Hairpin corner number two of the track She was hauling ass as she down shifted her bike from sixth gear to third hitting her mark at 140 mph she leaned her nimble body off the bike forcing the front end down into the corner!! He was shocked when she leaned onto her left knee dragging it through the corner. “Oh no she didn’t just do that.” He thought to himself. She was exiting the corner and coming back up through the gears as he began to close the gap between them as they ducked into the right hand corner of turn three he moved up on her inside. This is a move that separates the good from the best. They both came through the corner to start up the hill into turn four. Raven didn’t even flinch!! She held her line as Gabriel was now side by side with her, they flew through turn four staying neck and neck as they came up to turn five. He lifted early and she had his ass beat. With maybe an inch to spare she took over his racing line wiggling her ass at him as she hauled off into turn five accelerating even faster as she came into turn six. He was having his ass handed to him and his competitive nature began to get the best of him, he sucked into his bike taking it to full throttle. As they came out of turn six he knew he had to set her up for the cork screw corner coming at turns eight and eight “A” they both accelerated down the “Rahal Straight” taking their bikes to their full capacity. Their screaming bikes echoed over the music playing harshly in his head. It was a site to be seen as Raven came up on his draft to set him up for the “corkscrew corner” her riding was elegantly aggressive as she bumped into him at over 195 mph causing him to shake a little from the turbulence and the tap. The two were neck and neck nearing the end of the straight, Gabriel and Michael loved this corner with a passion that words could never explain. To them it was like sex to come through it throwing their bodies and bikes and the laws of physics out the door. At that instant out of kinetic memory he lifted his upper body into the wind to get the air braking effect as he down shifted to begin his approach, he could feel her at his side, then saw her come into his peripheral vision she wasn’t braking yet!! In an instant she schooled his ass again like his brother would do on this corner. She slammed the door on him into the corner taking the inside line going at least fifteen miles per hour faster than him she leaned her bike left into the corner as he moved up on the outside thinking he would take her line for the right hand side of the cork screw.
The Road to Lazarus (The First book in the diaries of Lazarus House) Page 17
