The two men escorted Vince away from the table to a stretch limousine.
When the black car was out of sight, Allen pulled another cell phone from his pocket and told the waiting female the disappointing news.
“Daddy couldn’t stay. His wife went into labor, and they are expecting their second child any hour now.”
“I’ll add that to the profile we have of him,” a female voice said. “He has a wife, a child, and one due any time. We know so little about him, so all of this is good. Did he tell you his real name?” She asked.
“No. He was whisked out of here by two associates to attend to his wife. He’s going to telephone me tomorrow, so I’ll ask him then. We seem to be getting close, so I expect to not have any problem with that. I’ll even send him a baby gift once we find out who he really is and where he lives.” He laughed nervously, ambivalent about his role as the mole.
“Call me tomorrow as soon as you hear from him,” the female said.
“I will,” Allen replied and cut off the conversation. He began to think on his conversation with Daddy during their first meeting at Niagara. His focus was Daddy’s story of the driver and his loyalty to the Group, a contrast to his own actions. He was getting cold feet and thought that maybe he should have asked Daddy for the money needed for Barbara’s care instead of going to the government agency which was trying to bring them down.
While Allen was talking with his contact, Vince, too, was making a phone call.
“How’s it going, friend?” Vince asked.
“Great,” Benny replied. “Allen’s wife and daughter are at Niagara with him so we’re able to go through his home, top to bottom. I found all the files you gave him and copies of the pictures his accomplices had taken at your last visit with him at Niagara Falls. You look terrible in these. Nothing like yourself. The makeup artists did a superior job.”
“Yeah. Thanks. I think. When I look in the mirror, I don’t even recognize myself made up like this. What else is happening there?” Vince asked. He started to pull the fake scar off his nose while talking.
“Everything was well hidden, I’ve got to give him that,” Benny said. “One of our tekkies is cleaning out his computer right now. By the time he’s done, it will look like a computer virus wiped the files from his hard drive. Nothing will be retrievable. It will be a great loss for Allen, but he deserves it. It’s amazing what our guys can do now,” he said admiringly. “Someone is over at Allen’s daughter’s house right now checking her place out, too. We don’t want to miss anything.”
“Good,” Vince said. “Allen is going to find his whole life has been turned around once he gets home. I’ve gotta go. Call me when you’re finished.”
“Okay,” Benny said.
Vince peeled the false head covering off his hair and placed it on the seat beside him. He was glad to get the hot thing off. Besides that, he didn’t like the way he looked bald with only a halo of hair circling the base of his head. He pulled from under his shirt, the thick padding which made him look fifty pounds heavier than he was. Feeling so much better, he picked up his phone again.
“Hi, Baby,” Vince said. “How are you?”
“Almost ready to go,” Marla said. “How are you?”
“Just great. Relieved, and just great.”
“What do you mean?” Marla asked.
“I’ll tell you when we’re together. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“I’ll telephone you tonight.”
“I’ll wait to hear from you,” Marla answered. She punched the off button on her phone and disposed of it.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The day before vacation . . .
Packing for the trip was a good experience for Vince. It helped to take his mind off other things. He was almost finished, with only a few items remaining to be picked up before leaving the next day.
The Theater Group Plays were all completed for now, and future ones were on schedule to begin in five weeks. Vince felt comfortable delegating responsibility for overseeing the projects to Benny.
He retrieved a cell phone and punched in some numbers.
“Hi, Backer, how are you?” Vince asked.
“Good. Ready for your three weeks of nothing but fun and frolic?”
“You bet,” Vince said. “I have some business questions first. Have your heard anything about what has happened to Allen? I’m not concerned about that no good turncoat, but I am concerned about how all of this is going to affect his wife. She’s not a well woman.”
“It’s all taken care of. Allen has been recruited by a corporation to do some work for them in Paris. How about that? He took the offer since the task force that was investigating the Theater Group was disbanded. Nothing Allen gave them had any real value, and pressure came from somewhere higher up to pull the plug on the investigation. A gag order has been placed on anything connected to the Theater Group, and Allen has been ordered to keep quiet about it or risk losing his new position. All of the leads he provided went nowhere. Your fingerprints were a dead end. By the way, those photos of you they took at Niagara were horrible. Makes me wonder what any woman would see in you.”
“Hey, I think the makeup artists did a great job on me for those pictures,” Vince said, laughing.
“They sure did. You were one homely looking Agent,” the Backer said.
“What about Allen’s family? Will they be all right?”
“Yes, they’ll be fine. Barbara and their daughter will be traveling with him to Paris. Their daughter has transferred to a university there. He’s lucky that we care so much about his family. If it would have been just him, he’d have been sent to some desert country to work. Somewhere hot and barren. Or maybe somewhere just the opposite with lots of minus degrees. Like the South Pole. He deserved to go somewhere punishing after what he tried to do to the Theater Group. Allen is promised a good salary for his new position and should be all right as long as he keeps his mouth shut. He knows the problems that could find him should he mention anything about the Theater Group ever again. We shall see. He’s being watched, and he’s aware of it.”
“Thanks for letting me know,” Vince said. “I’ve been thinking about his wife and hoping she didn’t have to suffer further. I’m glad she’ll be okay through all of this.”
“You’re a good man,” the Backer said. “Not everyone would have been so concerned about an enemy’s family.”
“I’ve received a new request for a Play and want you to take a look at it,” Vince said. “It’s from a family whose daughter was murdered by one of the guns from the “Fast and Furious” gunrunning debacle. There’s plenty of documented evidence of that being the cause, both from witnesses and government papers. The cover up that was attempted is astonishing. Once you look it over and think we should move forward, I’ll start making plans for it.”
“Send it to me today,” the Backer said. “I’ll have Benny look at it with me, and we’ll let you know what we think. If it’s credible, I know exactly whom to contact in Washington about it. Now, get off the phone and finish getting ready for your vacation. I’ll talk to you soon.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Moored off the coast of Italy, the multi-tiered super-yacht, The Morning Star, lazily sloshed in the most beautiful waters that Marla had ever seen. She beheld blue seascape almost brighter and bluer than the brain can process - bluer and more beautiful than man could ever create. She adjusted her sunglasses to protect her eyes from the brilliance of the incandescent waves undulating across the Tyrrhenian Sea toward the beaches of the coastal Lazio region, her Italian destination of choice.
“Hi, Baby,” Vince said, holding a glass of freshly squeezed lemonade out for her to take. “I have something for you.” He sat down next to her, watching her every move.
Marla rolled over onto her back on the lounge chair, adjusted her bikini, and waved up at her lover. The tip of an Atala butterfly tattoo was visible above the skimpy bikini bottom. Marla retrieved the juice, to
ok a sip, and let out a sigh. She closed her eyes to enjoy it, then opened them again. She felt like she was in Paradise.
“Come to join me?” She put the glass of lemonade on a stand.
“Uh huh,” Vince said, bending over to kiss her.
They embraced gently, enjoying the tender kiss of a couple in love.
Vince whispered how much he loved her.
Marla returned the sentiments and thanked him for orchestrating the most beautiful vacation she had ever had. She gently touched his now-short dark hair.
“I had to cut my hair so I could wear the bald piece for the Niagara Falls meeting,” Vince said. “I kinda like it this way.” He brushed his hands back over the close crop.
“You look so handsome,” Marla said.
Vince seated himself in a deck chair next to her lounger. “Need me to rub some suntan lotion on you?” he asked hopefully.
“Anytime,” Marla said, rolling onto her stomach.
Vince butterflied the lotion across her body.
She rolled over so he could lotion her stomach.
Vince willingly obliged. He was gentle, making sure to cover every inch of exposed flesh so her pale skin would be protected from the sun’s damaging rays.
“We’ll be situated off the coast of Rome tomorrow,” Vince said. “We were granted permission to enter Vatican City, where we will have an audience with the Pope. I know how much you wanted to go there. It was number one on your list, right above the thermal spas of Emilia-Romagna and the Egyptian Museum in Turin. We’ll be doing everything you wanted, Baby.” He got as much pleasure from telling her as she did from hearing it. Since eliminating her from his list as the mole, Vince felt closer to her than ever.
“How did you ever manage all this?” Marla said. “A three-week cruise on a 450-foot yacht, stops wherever we want, and an audience with the Pope! What King of the World do you know?” While she was kidding, she really wondered how he had arranged such seemingly impossible requests. Much of what they were going to do required a lot of resources and a powerful person to make it happen.
“The Morning Star’s owner made the arrangements,” Vince said. “He knows someone who knows someone who knows the Pope.” Vince laughed. “Actually, he knows everyone who is anyone who knows anyone.”
“Who is the owner?” Marla asked. “You never told me who this magnificent ship belongs to.”
Since boarding at the start of their vacation, she still hadn’t adjusted to its size and grandeur. Everything anyone could want was on board, with all of their needs met by a caring, although unobtrusive crew.
“The owner wishes to remain anonymous for now. I can tell you that he is the real benefactor of the Theater Group. He provided this vacation to us as a thank you for all we do to arrange and facilitate Plays. I call him the Backer. He is the man behind the name I gave to you recently. Marla, that name was not his real name. It was just a cover. Our Group survives not only due to our own hard work but also because of him. He’s the one who started the Theater Group.”
“When our vacation is over, I’ll write him a thank you note. Will you give it to him for me?” Marla asked. “He deserves it. And more.”
“I will,” Vince said. “He will appreciate that. Who knows. Maybe you‘ll get to give it to him yourself. A lot could happen in the three weeks we’re together.”
“I’d love that. Now, on a different topic. You know why I want to go to The Vatican, don’t you?” Marla said.
She wanted to share this part of her beliefs and life with the man she loved. Along with her love for him, her love of family was important, and her request to see the Pope was tied to them.
“I have an idea,” Vince said. “You want him to pray for your sister, Kelly. You will be Kelly’s proxy when he lays hands on you and petitions God for a miracle. Am I right?”
“You are right,” Marla said, amazed at his insight. “I have so much, and she is missing out on life. I want to do that for her. You didn’t know her before she was attacked. She was so beautiful and sweet. She had a lot of spunk, and everyone who met her, liked her. She was a great sister, too. We’re best friends.” She became quiet for a moment “Do you think I’m foolish for making that request?”
“Not at all. I think you are unselfish. And a wonderful sister. And beautiful. And,” before Vince could continue, the ship’s whistle began blaring.
He immediately became alarmed. “Don’t move, Marla.”
Upset by Vince’s order, she looked around at the half dozen bodyguards who seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Their weapons were drawn, and their eyes were focused on something out on the ocean.
“Who are these people, Vince?”
“I’ll explain later. Just do what they say.” He hugged her close and moved her toward two of the men for protection.
“What’s going on, Carlo?” Vince asked the group’s leader.
Carlo pointed to the water. “We’re being approached by another boat. It’s getting too close, and we don’t like it. The name on the side is ‘The Sabre.’ We pulled it up on our computer, and it’s a stolen fishing vessel. Some pirates got it a couple weeks ago. Everyone’s been trying to find the boat and the crew who were kidnapped when the boat was hijacked. This doesn’t look good.”
Carlo barked orders for the two men with Marla to escort her to the ship’s safe room.
“Vince,” Marla screamed. She broke loose and ran to him.
“Don’t worry, darling. You’ll be ok. You can trust these men.” He wrapped a beach towel around her, kissed her, and motioned for them to escort her away. “Take good care of her.”
They nodded.
Carlo tossed a protective vest to Vince and handed him an AK-47. “Hold tight. Put the vest on, stand back, and let us do our jobs. Use the gun if you have to.”
Vince donned the vest, clung to the weapon and did as he was told.
The fishing vessel maneuvered closer to The Morning Star.
Through binoculars, Carlo searched amongst the vessel’s crew. He shouted to his men. “I see 12 of them. Most look young. They have rocket launchers and AK-47’s. Lots of ammo.”
Grappling hooks and rope littered the deck of the The Sabre, and the rag-tag gang brazenly stood in the open, weapons ready. A flag crept up the flagpole; skull and crossbones and crossed swords outlined in black and white were waving in the wind.
“I think these clowns want a hijacking,” Carlo said, amazed. “I guess they don’t know who they’re dealing with.”
“Who are they dealing with?” Vince shouted, knowing full well what their reply would be.
“Heaven’s Door,” Carlo and his men shouted back, referring to the name they called themselves to show their determination to win or die trying.
One of the dirty, young pirates made his declaration in return, through an electronic megaphone. “We’re coming aboard. Don’t try to resist or you’ll regret it.”
“They have electronic megaphones, GPS systems, and rocket launchers,” Carlo said. “But they don’t have what we have.”
Two of the pirates grasped grappling hooks and made ready to toss them onto The Morning Star’s rail. Rounds of bullets from their crew raked the super-yacht’s hull. Smoke covered their vessel, and the stench of powder was strong. The pirates focused their weapons in anticipation of the bigger vessel’s cooperation.
The ship’s whistle sounded again, this time longer and more urgent.
Carlo barked back through his megaphone, “You have one chance and one chance only. Get away from our ship, or you will be the ones regretting it.”
Several of the pirates started laughing and poking each other. Their leader responded. “We want your ship and everything on it. And we’re not leaving here without it.”
“You’re not getting a thing,” Carlo yelled back. “Now get moving or face the consequences.”
“What is going on here?” Vince asked. “What do they want?”
“They want a ransom. Probably millions of dollars. And th
ey want the ship and everything on it.” Carlo said. “These uneducated low-life’s get paid very little for risking their lives to hijack ships and their crews. They give all that money and everything they steal, to their bosses. Whoever they are.”
“We’re coming aboard,” the pirate leader said. “And you can’t stop us.”
“Not gonna happen,” Carlo answered. “Who are you working for?”
The pirates laughed some more and answered, “Stop talking and give up. We’re coming aboard.” Bullets whizzed across the ship’s deck from the pirates’ weapons. Some of the stronger, younger ones readied grappling hooks for tossing onto the ship’s rail.
“Put these on,” Carlo said, tossing hearing protective headgear to Vince. He and the bodyguards donned theirs and stood their ground. “Get ready everyone.”
From somewhere on one of The Morning Star’s upper decks, weapons fired and the pirate flag was destroyed. Bits of the smoking, tattered cloth floated into the ocean. After more rounds were let loose, the mast of The Sabre was shot into pieces, cracking and splintering to the shattered deck below.
The pirates stared in disbelief. Two of them had assault weapons shot from their grips. Clutching hands and arms in pain, they tried to find protection. Their guns were retrieved by fellow pirates who positioned themselves to shoot back. Yelling and cursing, they ducked behind boxes and debris, tossing things about and readying for battle.
Before they had a chance to return fire for the boat damage and shootings of their men, a burst of painful ear-piercing sounds emitted from a Long Range Acoustic Device located on the super-yacht.
The unprepared pirates screamed and attempted to protect their ears by covering them with their hands. Some of the men fell to the ground, writhing around. Those who could do so, went below deck.
When the sound ceased, Carlo used the LRAD speaker, clearly warning the pirates, “Get out of here now, or we will sink your vessel and all of you will go down with it.”
Justice and Revenge Page 15
