by Dave Daren
Sadly, sleep didn’t keep me company. I tossed and turned all night, and I could never seem to get comfortable. I caught a few snippets of rest here and there, but it always ended in a stress dream about running through the streets of a foreign country being chased by the mob. I stubbornly stayed in bed, though, and at some point managed to fall asleep because my alarm startled me awake at seven-thirty.
I snatched my phone up, turned off the blaring noise, and then laid my head back on my pillow for a few seconds. I was exhausted, but the flight to Andorra would take eight hours, and I could catch up on my sleep then. I threw off my blankets, forced myself out of bed, and then went to shower and get dressed before I joined the others.
The house smelled like the coffee that Liz had left me when I came out of the bedroom. I could hear the sound of people talking and checked my watch to make sure that I hadn’t taken too long to get ready.
“Good morning,” Tommaso said when I walked down the hallway into the living room. “The coffee just finished brewing. I brought a fruit plate and some muffins from the bakery down the street from my apartment. They make the best banana nut that I’ve ever tasted.”
“Sounds great,” I said.
My mouth watered as I looked over the spread. I made a plate of strawberries and pineapples with vanilla Greek yogurt, and then snagged one of the banana nut muffins.
“How do you like your coffee?” my paralegal asked.
“Uh, sweet?” I said around a yawn.
“Got it,” the young man said.
He mixed milk and creamer together, microwaved it, and then used a frothing stick to make a latte. He produced vanilla syrup from the cabinet, and I noted that there were several other food items that hadn’t been there before. I would have to reimburse him for everything he bought, and made a mental note to ask for receipts after I’d had my morning coffee.
Hank already sat at the small dining room table with a half-eaten plate of food in front of him and an empty coffee mug. He was dressed in his usual tailored black suit, but his hair still stuck up at odd angles and the caffeine hadn’t washed away the bags under his eyes.
Gabriele stumbled in from the shared bathroom in the hallway. His purple hair had been combed forward, and his eyeliner had been reapplied. He had on the same ripped pair of pants as he had the day before, but the black shirt he wore had a bunny dressed as the grim reaper.
“Morning,” the hacker mumbled.
He took the cup of black coffee that Tom offered him, drank a long swig that must’ve burned his mouth, and then perused the fruit platter. He made himself a bowl of vanilla Greek yogurt and topped it with blueberries, granola, and honey before he puttered over to the table to join us.
“Mr. Morgan, I have some paperwork for you to review before you leave this morning,” my paralegal said as he poured himself a cup of the strong brew.
“Sure,” I said. “Did you keep all of the receipts for everything you bought this morning?”
“I did,” he said with a blush. “But I didn’t want to assume that you would pay for it since we hadn’t talked about it beforehand.”
I waved a hand in the air as I shook my head.
“Anything that ends up in this house is a work expenditure,” I said. “I’ll reimburse you for the stuff this morning before I leave. How much of the paperwork were you able to go over last night?”
The strong coffee and the sweet fruit had started to dust away the last cobwebs of sleep, and my mind immediately focused on the work that needed to be reviewed before I left the country.
I took a bite of the banana nut muffin and was surprised at how delicious it was. I wasn’t usually a fan of muffins in general, but I’d have to have Tom bring me one at least once a week if I ended up keeping him.
“All of it,” the young man said.
I coughed on my second bite of banana nut. I had at least fifteen open cases that needed to be reviewed, and the office hadn’t exactly been the most organized it could’ve been.
“That must’ve taken you all night,” I said when I could speak again.
“Yes, sir,” Tom answered. “I wanted to make sure that you could review it before you leave this morning.”
“Show off,” Gabriele muttered into his coffee.
My paralegal shot the hacker an irritated glare that could only come from years of friendship before he gave me a bright smile.
“I guess I’ll go take a look at it right now, then,” I said as I grabbed my plate.
“I’ll load the car while you do that,” Hank said as he stood.
I made my way to the office to finish up the paperwork before my European adventure. I could hear the two younger men teasing each other and laughing in the kitchen, and my phone buzzed a few times as my bodyguard took all of our belongings out to his Chrysler 300.
I worked as quickly as I could, and within an hour I’d reviewed all of the cases and files. I signed the check that Tomasso had filled out for me after he’d tallied up all of the receipts. I didn’t even have to tell him to tape them to a sheet of paper and scan them into the computer for my records.
Soon, I was on the road with my two companions. I’d double and triple checked my passport and my liquid funds before I left, and I’d printed out a copy of the subpoena that Hisashi had finally sent me. I had called the FBI agent to let him know that I would be on a noon flight to Andorra, and he’d cussed under his breath before he made the necessary phone calls to speed up the subpoena. I had a copy of it in my email, just in case, but I wanted a physical copy to present as well.
Gabriele was right, and we breezed through security with hardly any stops. I was surprised that Hank hadn’t been pulled to the side for a random security check, but the TSA agents saw first class and just waved him through. I wasn’t sure if I trusted their selection process, especially since a terrorist could easily buy a first class ticket, but I decided not to look too closely as I boarded the plane.
I had a window seat that stretched out into a pod that I could sleep in, and Gabriele decided to take the one next to me. Hank sat right behind me, and the large man immediately stretched out to go to bed. He was asleep in seconds, and the sound of snores drifted over me.
“He’ll be asleep most of the flight,” Gabriele said with a shrug. “He’s always been like that on long trips.”
“So you’ve traveled with him before?” I asked.
“Yeah,” the purple-haired man said with a nod. “To the home country. The Febbos are my cousins, and I’ve been to the vineyard a couple of times when I needed to avoid some heat.”
“A nice place to escape to,” I chuckled.
“The wifi sucks,” the hacker said with a grin. “But it does give me time to unplug. I don’t do that often, if you couldn’t tell.”
“I’m shocked,” I said in mock-surprise.
The young man laughed but then became serious as he twisted in his seat to look at me. He started to say something to me, paused, and then waited for a few minutes as the flight attendants explained that we were about to take off. As soon as we were in the air, he looked back at me, and I wondered what had made the hacker become somber so quickly.
“Did Anthony fill you in on the plan?” he asked.
I shook my head and readied myself for whatever explanation I was about to be given. I still wanted to do things the legal way, but if I couldn’t convince the magistrate to work with me, then we needed a backup.
“Alright,” the hacker said. “Well, if you can’t get into the servers in Andorra, then I’m going to find a back door and download everything to US servers.”
“A back door?” I asked.
“Yeah,” the young man said as his excitement returned. “Every system has a weakness. I just have to find it, exploit it, and then I can take whatever files I want. I’ll have to use some programs that I’ve personally designed so they don’t realize that I’m in there. But, I can get into any system and out without leaving a trace. The hard part is making sure that they can�
��t figure out what we took and where we put it.”
“Right,” I said as I nodded my head.
It sounded pretty straightforward, though I wasn’t versed in technology enough to understand how he’d manage it without anyone noticing. I trusted that the kid knew what he was doing, though, and I still planned to do things the legal way.
“You understood all of that?” Gabriele asked in an impressed tone.
“No,” I admitted. “But you do, and that’s what matters. I still want the subpoena to work, though. So don’t make a move until we’re absolutely sure that I can’t convince the magistrate to work with me.”
“Of course,” the hacker said with a shrug as he nestled down into his cocoon. “You should get some sleep. We’re going to be landing at like six a.m. their time.”
“Yeah,” I said. “We’ll have to get started right away.”
I glanced behind me to see my bodyguard covered in one of the thin airliner blankets. He’d pulled it up to his chin and donned the cheap headphones that they provided. His soft snores continued as I laid down, and they became the gentle noise that lulled me to sleep.
The last few days must have caught up to me, because one moment I was listening to Hank snore, and the next the beefy man was waking me up. I swatted at his hand when he shook my shoulder, and then jolted awake as I realized that we were no longer in the air.
“Damn, Hunter,” Hank laughed. “I didn’t realize you were such a grump in the morning.”
“Sorry,” I said as I wiped at the dried drool on my mouth. “I must’ve been out of it.”
“At least you didn’t snore,” Gabriele said with a pointed look at my bodyguard.
“I don’t snore,” the large Italian man responded while we filed off of the plane.
I checked my phone and saw that it had already updated to the local time zone. It was exactly six a.m., and I shook my head at the efficiency of the airline. I couldn’t remember a time when a plane had actually arrived when it was supposed to.
None of us had any checked bags, so I headed over to the car rental station as soon as we were through customs while the rest of the people from the flight were still standing around the baggage carousel. I was able to get us a car that would fit all of us comfortably that also had GPS so we wouldn’t get lost on unfamiliar roads. I typed in the address for the Hotel de L’Isard, waited until everyone was settled, and then started toward our home for the next week.
The Hotel de L’Isard was five stories high and made of pale bricks. The first level was primarily large glass windows that looked in on a bar and the front desk, and above it, the hotel rooms each had a balcony that overlooked the street.
I checked us in as quickly as I could, while Hank grabbed us some breakfast from the cafe, and Gabriele checked the wifi connection. I wasn’t entirely sure what he was muttering to himself about, but I figured he would tell me if there was a problem.
The city had already started to come to life by the time I had finished my breakfast, and I pulled out my phone to do a quick Google search. I looked for the local magistrate, found out how far he was from the hotel, and then tried to figure out where I would need to take the subpoena.
Gabriele and Hank stayed behind as I headed out at my request. I’d had to argue with my bodyguard, but in the end I’d managed to convince him that showing up with him behind me wouldn’t get us the results that we needed. I promised to have my phone on me at all times, and Gabriele installed an app that would alert him immediately if I pressed a specific button on my homescreen.
The fresh mountain air of Andorra de Vella woke me up the rest of the way, and I decided to roll down the windows as I drove to the station. I had expected the building to be majestic, but it was made of the same beige bricks that everything else seemed to be made out of, and if not for the sign out front, I probably would have mistaken it for another shop or a bar. I parked the car, grabbed my briefcase, and headed inside as I mentally reviewed what I wanted to say.
“Good morning,” an officer in a black uniform said in a thick accent when I entered the building. “How may I help you?”
Clearly, he’d pegged me as a tourist, and he’d decided to go with English because, well, everyone spoke English.
“Good morning,” I said with my best smile. “I need to submit a subpoena. Would you be able to direct me to someone?”
“Ah, American,” the man said with a nod of his head and a tight smile. “Let me make sure they are available.”
He said something into his radio that I didn’t understand, chuckled, and then nodded and motioned for me to follow after him. He led me through the corridors, and I couldn’t help but notice all of the stares that people gave me as I passed. The officer eventually led me to an office occupied by a worn-looking man in his fifties.
“The American?” the man asked.
He lifted his head from his paperwork and pushed his readers further up his nose. He had a black polo with the logo of the police department, gray hair that looked like he’d attempted to style it, and thin lips that were pressed together in a line as he studied me.
“Yes, sir,” the officer said.
“Thank you for bringing him to me,” the man said. “You may leave.”
The cop nodded his head, looked over at me one more time, and then went back to his work.
“Good morning,” I said as I crossed the office to offer my hand. “My name is Hunter Morgan. I’m an attorney from the US. I have a subpoena that I need to serve on a company that’s operating within your borders, and I was hoping that you may be able to help me.”
The gray-haired man looked at my hand, sniffed, and then leaned back in his chair as he folded his hands over his stomach.
“Who am I supposed to serve this subpoena to?” he asked.
I dropped my hand, took a deep breath in, and tried not to lose my temper. I needed the man to help me if I wanted to go the legal route, and that meant that I couldn’t curse him out for snubbing my handshake.
“The Gryffon Company,” I said. “I have the paperwork in my briefcase if you’d like to review it before we serve it.”
“There is no need,” the man said. “Because we will not be honoring it.”
“Sir,” I started with a pained smile. “This is part of a RICO case in New York City, and we would be grateful for any help that you can offer.”
“I can offer none,” the obstinate man said with a shrug. “Your RICO case means nothing here. I am sorry that you traveled all this way for nothing. May I suggest that you try some of our ski slopes before you leave? They are some of the best in the world. Bons dies.”
He sat forward in his chair then, picked up a sheet of paper, and began to study it.
I ground my teeth together as I stared at the man. I could find someone else, but that would take time, and if they all felt the same way about Americans, or the Gryffon Company, then I wouldn’t get anywhere with them anyway.
“Thank you for your time,” I managed to say.
I tried not to let my irritation show as I walked through the building. I knew that I was still under surveillance, and I wouldn’t be the American that stormed out or threw a fit like a child when things didn’t go his way. So I ignored the stares and looked straight ahead until I was back on the street and glaring at the happy-looking people who moved around me.
“Mr. Morgan,” a woman said as I stood on the steps of the building and tried to decide where to go next. “May I have a moment?”
She had a thick accent that reminded me of my French professor, though on her it was sexy. Her long legs were accentuated by the high heels and black dress that she wore, and her light-brown curls had been twisted up into a clip. Her bright blue eyes pinned me to the spot, and I couldn't help but look at her full lips as she ran her tongue over them. It didn’t even occur to me to ask how she knew my name.
“Sure,” I said as I stepped to the side with her. “What may I help you with, Ms.…”
“You can call me Arie
lle,” she said. “And it is I that wishes to help you.”
“Oh?” I asked. “And how would you like to do that?”
The beautiful woman looked around her as if she expected someone to be listening, but there was no one around but us and the constantly shifting crowd of people on their way to work.
“I’m an attorney for the Andorran government,” she explained.
I managed to keep my face neutral, but my heart leapt into my throat. I had almost resigned myself to letting Gabriele do his thing, but Arielle was exactly who I needed to help me serve the subpoena. I tamped down on my excitement and shifted from foot to foot as if I wasn’t chomping at the bit.
“And how will that help me?” I asked.
“I want to talk to you about your RICO case,” she said.
“Word travels fast around here,” I said.
It had barely been ten minutes since I’d tried to have the magistrate help me, and somehow this woman already knew about it. I wondered if she was a spy from Gryffon, but decided to let her explain before I completely ruled her out.
“It does when it’s about Gryffon,” the gorgeous attorney said in a hushed tone.
“Am I supposed to believe that you want to help me when your own magistrate wouldn’t?” I asked.
A man in a cop’s uniform walked by, and Arielle threw her head back laughing as if I’d just said something hilarious. She put her hand on my chest and leaned closer as if she was flirting with me, and for my part, I wrapped my hand around her waist and tugged her closer.
“Yes,” the government attorney said when we were alone again, though she didn’t move away. “Several agencies have already tried and failed, but I’m not giving up.”
She took a step back and ran a hand over her hair as her lips set into a determined burgundy line.
“I will bring Gryffon down,” she said. “And I need your help to do it.”
