“The one he was most trying to protect the most, whose life he saved, left and took our location with her. Collateral. Went rogue; has something she says is incredibly valuable. Adam’s been doing, you know Adam stuff. Good guy, trusts everyone. This was a bad choice and we didn’t do as he asked. It all turned to shit. We betrayed him. Hurt him. He left angry notes, then took the cigarette from the boat dock and left our Island. He said he wouldn’t be coming back and now I’m the only one left on the Island.”
“If he said get out, then get out.”
“A little late for that now. The police and some strange men just arrived at the boat dock. I won’t be going anywhere for a while. Doubt I’ll be here long; I’m their prisoner now.”
“Who are you talking about?”
“Edward, Anna and Crissy Chance. They want Adam to know who brought on this pain. It was them.”
***
Laura wanted to leave. Gaea thought she knew the location of the Marco Polo Cache, but she didn’t. The GPS coordinates in the safety deposit box were also bogus. The real coordinates were only known by Laura, or so she thought. And, though Adam’s heroics had saved her, she was not at all grateful. Laura wanted out of this dilemma but she also wanted money, fame and credit for the discovery of the Polo Cache, the journals and artifacts, so she decided against Adam’s advice to negotiate directly with Edward, Anna, Crissy, the Triads and the Yakuza. Laura had decided to call them to negotiate and told the women her plan to end this situation. She asked their help, or their silence, while she made her escape and negotiated a settlement. She promised to turn over the information to Edward and the others without conditions so everyone would just go away.
She had, in her own mind, formulated a complex and foolproof plan. It was not, however, the plan she told the ladies. She wanted more.
She would propose a new plan to her pursuers in exchange for the location of the Polo Cache. Anna and Edward would write an article, maybe two, peer reviewed, crediting Laura with the research and discovery. She would then be granted a lifetime tenure at the Vic Institute at an acceptable salary, a free home and a five-million-dollar bonus. Edward and Anna would call off the bad guys and all would be hunky dory.
Laura called the Vic Institute, who contacted Crissy’s office in New York who contacted Crissy and the St. James couple in London. She called Edward on her cell phone, unsecured on the Crete mainland.
“Those are my terms,” she said to Edward. “Meet them and the location you seek is yours.”
“And if we don’t. If we decide to chase you down instead like last time?”
“I’m safe with Adam. You’ll never find us.”
“Doubtful. No deal. You’ve left Adam, wherever he is, which means you’re on the run, no money and scared. I know my son. He saved you once, but if you betray him, as you obviously have, he won’t save you again. So, run little birdie, run. We’ll be finding you again, and this time it will be so much more fun. After we get all the information we need from you, you’ll be part of my new collection of brainy whores. My friends and I will use you until we tire of you. Then we’ll see how much you’re worth on the open market in Hong Kong or Macau. Pleasant dreams. Give us the exact coordinates of his new bat cave and the Polo Cache, and I’ll give you an extra week as a head start.”
Laura said she’d give those coordinates in a few days. But, she didn’t want her friends hurt.
Too late for that, Edward thought. But an acceptable, though fruitless, precaution.
“OK. Forty-eight hours. Call me on this number.”
Laura freaked. She had fucked everything and everyone up. Edward would surely discover, through process of elimination, where Adam was hiding.
Laura tried to calm herself and think. She called the Island later that day and got Misti.
“Everyone’s gone except me. I’m hoping Adam comes back for me, but I know he won’t; we’re all toast without him.
“I’m so sorry.”
“Too late for that. It’s all over now; you screwed us, you screwed me.”
A water taxi arrived but it wasn’t Andreas, the regular guy. Edward had traced the calls from Laura and now knew exactly where the Island was. Misti was handcuffed by Greek Federal Police and turned over to Edward’s men for transport to the UK. Money changed hands.
Misti was in London by midnight.
What happened next was hideous.
***
Edward went first but Anna and Crissy took their turns too. Then all three had a go at Misti Suarez together. Misti had no new information they could use and they now knew it. After a while, they made no attempt to extract any information.
This was just sadism and torture. Francesca was brought in, and allowed to do her best.
It went on for over a week, never sharing Misti with anyone else. That would come later when special older more experienced British ladies would arrive with their music cases full of toys. Some would work alone, others in tandem. It would be unpleasant.
No other men, however, that was Edward’s rule. He did not want her spoiled. Not yet anyway.
Chapter 24
Adam awoke. At first, some of his words were disjointed ramblings, about people and places that did not exist. Bitsie was patient as his mind began to reassemble and within a few days he was completely coherent again. Still, he was unwell.
Bitsie decided to take off time from work at the office and work from home allowing her software engineers to take lead on their projects and designating one of them to take the lead with sales, marketing, and compliance. Bitsie was well off as were her loyal engineers. They all knew Adam, and when Bitsie said nothing was to leave the room, nothing did, such was their loyalty to her and their admiration for him.
Most of Bitsie’s projects were long term NSA or DOD projects, so there was no real need to augment the pipeline. Bitsie would still be engaged; even with Adam at half speed, he could still help. Sunday would be dinner with Bitsie’s folks; Mom loved her boy, as she called him. He cooked, cleaned and never complained.
He was quiet at home and this worried Bitsie. They sat on the couch in the evenings, wrapped against the sea chill and talked. He was reluctant to say much about his recent past but Bitsie knew he would tell her everything in his own time. She was not much of an effusive talker herself, so she understood that when the time was right, whatever was on his mind, he would share.
One morning Bitsie got up late, a Saturday. Adam was already up, showered and was working on one of Bitsie’s more complex problems. Actually, he had finished them hours ago. He was smiling, something absent from his face for the past few days and was cheerful. Not like the Adam she had recently met.
“Going somewhere?”
“Yes. I solved some of your biggest challenges this morning to clear some time for you to work with me. And have the time to do it without constraints.
“Am I traveling? With or without you?” Bitsie worried that he would just disappear again. Maybe something stupid like last time; maybe what Bitsie felt for Adam was not what Adam felt for her. Maybe it was just a close friendship and she was his safe harbor.
“You’re worried. Don’t be. It’s not at all what you think.”
Bitsie relaxed.
“I may be leaving for a while.”
“How long is a ‘while’?”
“Six months, maybe longer.”
“Oh.”
“Now, now Bitsie Tolan. Don’t be like that.”
“Like what?”
“All sad and peeved and worried that I don’t care about or love you. Thinking that I’m abandoning you.”
“Aren’t you?”
“No. This time you are so very, very wrong. This time I want you to come with me. The way it always should have been, before we did and said nonsensical things to each other.”
Bitsie fairly flew into his arms. “We won’t be apart ever again?”
“Nope. I was a dope then but never again; I spoke to your folks and they’re letting you off th
e tether while we travel. You don’t need to pack much. Our first stop is a distance away but I think you’ll like it. When we’re done there, which I don’t know how long that will be, we will travel the world together. In the end, though, we will finish up in Africa to meet some old friends. Six months, more or less.”
“After that?”
“Let’s decide that then. There will be surprises.”
“Hints?”
“Maybe a big rock, honeymoon. Lots of s-e-x. Everything we want when we are both ready.”
“Better be with me!”
“We should have done this a long time ago. I was looking all this time for something that didn’t exist, though I tried hard to cobble together a reasonable facsimile of it. It failed and failed miserably. In the process I trusted people I should not have trusted and now they have paid a price. Before we go, I need to set some things right and, though I wish you would not come with me, my promise is that we will never be separated again if you say so.”
“How bad is the danger?”
“Bad. There’s danger, real danger and I have been busy finding my scattered crew. I found Misti. She’s been captured by my parents, Edward and Anna, and I have to go collect her if she’s still alive. But there are others too. And I cannot have you in the line of fire.”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t help. I’m a genius, you know. Reputed to be smarter than Adam St. James.”
“Reputed, no. Fact, yes. I’ll fill you in on everything tonight after I make a few calls.”
“Where to?”
“Seattle. I need my cousins and they need adrenalin work, except Rafi. He needs a girl.”
“Would one of my programmers do?”
“Does she have a Passport?”
“Of course.”
“Then she’s our gal.”
“The plan is we talk tonight and we speak with my folks tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t wait. Tell me now!”
“Make me.”
“You know I can.”
“So far, all talk and no action. You may be brilliant, but I’m not that impressed with your strong-arm tactics.”
“We’ll see about that, cowboy.”
***
Both Mr. and Mrs. Tolan were engineers, still operating, but winding down their small firm. Adam offered to buy it, sell it to the employees and have his proposed in-laws work for him on a new above top-secret project. Bitsie would join them in six months or so, maybe a little longer.
Bitsie and Adam spoke to her Mom and Dad at Sunday dinner.
“As an inducement, I’ve asked Bitsie to come with me and she said ‘no way’ unless you were both involved too. All family.”
Mrs. Tolan said, “Was that a ‘yes’ from her?”
“I think so. But I’m not sure. The work will be somewhere foreign.”
Mr. Tolan asked, “There’s good reason, I suppose?”
“There is. It’s not safe to be around me right now. That would include both of you.”
“Getting us out of harms way?”
“Partly and but mostly I need your help. You’ll be helping construct the most advanced, energy independent sophisticated city on the planet. All new technology. We’ll go there first and introduce you around, then Bitsie and I have somewhere else we can only go alone. We’ll be married when the danger passes, so no worries there. Her honor is intact.”
Mr. Tolan said, “I think my kid is pretty smart, so why would she be a slow learner about sex. I didn’t think you two were playing cards all night when you were dating.”
Adam looked at Bitsie, “She made me do it. She threatened me.”
“Yes, with my tits. He folded like a cheap tent.”
Mrs. Tolan looked at Adam and Bitsie. “When do we leave?
“Tomorrow early. We will have someone pack your things here at the house and bring them to you if you want. Your house will be well guarded and your yard maintained. This is for the best.”
Mrs. Tolan looked at he husband.
“It’s OK Kate. It’ll be fine.”
***
The phone rang in the London flat two weeks later; Edward St. James answered the phone.
“Ah, Adam, I wondered when you’d track me down looking for your little sweet tart. I know you’d like to have had her back intact, but mother and Crissy and I just couldn’t wait to unwrap that delicious package and have a round or two with her. We have been enjoying that sweet package every day when she feels up to it. Or is conscious. Sometimes we just wear her out. Poor thing”
“You’re a sick fuck, Dad. You know I’m going to kill you and Mom, right?”
“Maybe.”
“You know this is wrong.”
“Well, I try to do what’s right. And in line with that news, you should know we haven’t shared her with the wider deviant population yet. She’s still fresh as a daisy and fights like a tomcat. I like the physical part of teaching her a lesson but the ladies like her compliant, so we have a little roofie combination that makes he compliant and forgetful. Good thing; you know what a monster I can be. I believe you have first hand knowledge.”
“What do you want?”
“For her back or for her back intact?”
“What - do - you - want?”
“One hundred million dollars and the GPS coordinates. I’d like that Laura woman too but I understand she’s off the grid.”
“Can’t help with that but the other stuff I have. We can trade, but I need proof of life. And I need proof that she’s not a mental mess. I can transfer the money today to a safe intermediary but, if Misti is damaged, the deal is off.”
“Well, let’s define our terms, shall we? Crissy likes to ‘damage’ physically, so too late for that. But permanently, mentally, no. Mentally she’s fine but we did enjoy using her, so all the moving and stationary parts are still functional. She may need a lengthy rehab but she’ll come back to physical health within a reasonable amount of time. She’ll need a good cleanse; her bloodstream is overloaded with chemicals.”
“The others? What do you want for them?”
“Which others?”
“Eene, Gaea, Alana and Noki?”
“Eene and Alana we didn’t care about, but thought you did, so we kept track of them just for fun. Leverage.”
“Sad to report that Eene is dead. No details, but someone was looking for her and Alana, and found them back in the States. Who knew?”
“Alana?”
“Turning tricks in Silicon Valley for all I know. She should be quite in demand with the nerds; she can talk shop and dirty all at the same time.”
“Gaea?”
“Suicide. Thrown out by you and abandoned by Laura. No family, just a rag tag collection of losers to pin her hopes on. Wrong choice, wouldn’t you say? Heard it was a bullet but also that it was a heroin overdose. No matter. Cremated her body and Eene’s. No one to pay for a funeral, so ashes spread somewhere.”
“Noki?”
“Went back to the Triads, as far as we can tell. Back to old familiar ways.”
“You have anything to do with any of this?”
“Wish I had, but no. After you kicked them out, they scattered and did their own thing. If you want this one here back, send money and GPS coordinates.”
Adam said, “We exchange in person in a public space in London. Hyde Park. I’ll have artifacts to show you.”
“We have to verify first.”
“No chance. Tomorrow at Hyde Park, nine in the morning. Bring her and I’ll bring a box and you’ll bring bank routing instructions.”
“How do I know I can trust you?”
“One hundred million reasons, plus we’re family.”
Chapter 25
The four family members sat on two soft benches in Adam’s jet, facing each other, a table in between. Bitsie said, “It’s not exactly the life I always dreamed of as a little girl growing up, but given that you’re a dangerous and hunted man, I guess I should at least be happy that w
e’re still together.”
Adam said, “I promise that I will make this right and something you will always remember as soon as all this mystery and misery is over. I want to make an honest woman out of you officially when it’s safe.”
“I’ll take it,” said Bitsie. “Big, small, micro wedding or anything in between. You’re mine now. You’re my responsibility from here on out.”
Mrs. Tolan asked, just as the champagne arrived, “So will you be officially Bitsie Tolan, a married woman, Bitsie St. James, or Mrs. Smith?”
“Bitsie Smith? I do like it. Husband-to-be?”
“I like whatever you like. And as for my name, I’m changing my surname officially to ‘You’; first name ‘Hey’. As in ‘Hey You’. I’ll respond to almost anything.”
There was an awkward silence for a moment.
Then Adam said, “I guess I should tell Mom and Dad where they are going, where we are going afterward and what this is all about. Some of it you’ll doubt, some you won’t believe and the rest of it you’ll just have to wait and see for yourself.”
All eyes were glued to the young billionaire.
“Where would you like me to begin?”
Mr. Tolan said, “In the beginning. As far back as you think we need to know. And the Missus and I would like to know where you’re going with our daughter after your trip to London. I understand you’re going alone to the UK to collect a friend and then join us in Amman.”
“Correct. After we leave Jordan, we will all go to my private Reserve in Africa; Bitsie and I will then depart for Nepal. We’ll be there a few weeks, then come back to our new home.”
“Is it safe there? Nepal, I mean.”
“I spent a year in Nepal and where we’re going is entirely safe.”
“She’s our only daughter; our only child.”
“I’ll take good care of her and protect her every day. You know my background. You’re a former Ranger; she’ll be safe with me. I think you know that already. When we get back from Nepal, you’ll understand why.”
***
Adam took his new family back to the beginning, high school, his friends and especially his parents. He told them about Crissy Chance, New York, the Marco Polo Cache and what had happened with Laura. He told them about the OT list and Eene, his deadly encounters with abusers, what was in Africa awaiting them, his experiences in Nepal and the existence of Immortals. He told them of the engineering marvel he was creating in Kenya, the new materials and software he and others had created and his run-in with authorities.
Crissy Chance Page 19
