Love Loss Revenge

by Graysen Morgen

  "It's almost done. I needed a picture or her, but I googled her and sure enough a picture popped up. She has beautiful eyes."

  "Yes she does," Rian looked over at Ari and smiled.

  "Thanks to Photoshop she now has brown hair and brown eyes. Hopefully, she won't be recognized. Her name is Kristen Olsen."

  "Great. Where did you find that?"

  "An unclaimed from last month had a passport on her. I swiped it and rewrote the property log. I made a few changes to fit Ari's description and swapped the photos."

  "Be careful, Leann. You never know if you're being watched."

  "I keep looking for a tail, but so far nothing. I always talk to you outside of the building and there is nothing in my apartment but pictures and personal stuff. As far as they know I don't know you very well and you're dead."

  "I hope it stays that way. Anyway, when will the passport be ready?"

  "I'll have it in the mail today."

  "Good. I also need you to look up a flight for me," Rian said. She read her all of the information she copied from Walsh's notepad. "You should probably go to the library to use the computer so you can cover your tracks."

  "Okay. I'll go on my lunch break and overnight the passport and then stop by the library. I'll call you when I know something," Leann said.

  Rian hung up and walked over to Ari. "Your passport will be here tomorrow. We need to dye your hair brown again. Do you still have those brown contacts?"

  "Yes. When are we leaving?"

  "I don't know. Leann's going to get back to me this afternoon with the flight information. My guess is probably sooner than later."

  "I should probably color it tonight then," Ari said.

  "Leann thinks you have beautiful eyes by the way," Rian grinned. "I definitely agree with her, but I am a little biased since I'm head over heels in love with you."

  "You better watch out 007, you might have some competition," Ari joked.

  "Uh huh," Rian pulled Ari against her and kissed her tenderly.

  ~

  Rian watched Ari dye her beautiful natural blond hair to plain brown, thankfully the dye was temporary. It was still odd seeing her like that. She was so use to having her Ari back. This dark hair and dark eyed person felt like a stranger. She jumped as the cell phone on the table rang. She answered it quickly.

  "The information you gave me is for a flight from Washington, D.C. to Buenos Aires, Argentina leaving this Friday at six in the evening and arriving Saturday around one in the afternoon," Leann said.

  "Thanks."

  "Who's on that flight?"

  "Walsh."

  "How did you find that out?" Leann asked.

  "The old fashioned way," Rian said. "I need you to do one more thing. Go to a different library and book a one-way flight from Baltimore to Rosario, Province of Santa Fe, Argentina to arrive Friday. Two first class passengers, Kristen Olsen and Olivia Dawson," Rian said. She also gave her the number for the credit card she'd been using. "Also, book us a small SUV to be picked up at the airport and returned at the airport next Monday. Book it in Olivia Dawson's name. That's the name on the credit card I just gave you."

  "Are you sure about this?" Leann asked.

  "More than sure. It's time for this shit to end, one way or another," Rian said.

  "Please be careful," Leann paused. "Both of you."

  "Call me with our flight and rental car information as soon as you have it, then dump that phone."

  "How will I know if you're okay?"

  "When it's over I'll get word to you, I promise," Rian said.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Rian and Ari landed in Argentina after a long eighteen hour flight. They went through customs easily and grabbed their rented shoebox sized SUV. A quick trip around the large city led them back to a five star hotel close to the airport and a huge shopping district. They ate an early dinner and stopped at a few of the shops to prepare for the three hour drive to Buenos Aires. Ari had been fairly quiet since their arrival to her home country. Rian hoped it wasn't a mistake bringing her along. She wondered if her plans were going to be too much for Ari to handle. She watched her sleep as she drove through the country towards Ari's own personal hell.

  Rian reached Buenos Aires and took the back roads to the farmlands on the other side of the city to a remote area just outside of the city limits near the coast that she remembered from her previous trip. After arriving at her destination she parked and turned the car off. Ari gently stirred, then opened her eyes. The sun had just set and there were no city lights to illuminate their surroundings and she struggled to see in the pitch black. Rian was looking out the windshield through a pair of secondhand night vision goggles that she'd picked up in the used surplus store near the military base a half hour away.

  "What do you have?" Ari said.

  "Binoculars. I stopped at the store while you were sleeping," Rian answered. She was watching for any signs of life on the other side of the woods.

  "Where are we?" Ari asked. Rian handed her the night vision goggles and adjusted them for her. Ari looked at the structure lit up with green light in the lenses. She quickly pushed the goggles off her head. "Rian!" she yelled. "Are you crazy? That's my father's compound."

  "I know that," Rian said as she took the goggles and put them back on.

  "What if they see us?"

  "They won't. It's quiet. I haven't seen anyone, not even the guard."

  "What are we doing here?"

  "I'm looking for a way in. Walsh's plane arrives early in the morning. I can safely assume he will come straight here. I have a very small window."

  "You're going in there? You've definitely lost your mind. They will kill you, Rian."

  "They won't even know I'm there. You have to trust me, Ari."

  "What are you going to do if your plan works and you get in?"

  Rian took the goggles off and looked at Ari. "What do you know about your mother?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "What happened to your mother? Where is she? What did your father tell you?"

  "Why are you asking me this, Rian?"

  "Just answer me, Ari. Please?"

  "I don't know," she paused to think about it. "I was pretty little when my father told me about her. He said she ran off to another country when I was a baby, she just left us."

  Rian looked back through the windshield into the darkness. "During my time investigating your father I ran across a piece of information that didn't quite fit in the puzzle so I came down here to research it. This was probably just before you left home. I never came anywhere near his compound. I was only here to search the city records," she hesitated. "I put the new information that I found together with my Intel when I got back home. Do you know your mother's name? Or how she knew your father? Did he tell you any of that?"

  "No. Well, once he did call her Marcella, which I assumed was her name. That topic was not discussed in the house. He told me she left us and that was the end of it. What do you know, Rian?"

  "She didn't leave you, Ari. She was a maid for your father's compound that he used in any way he felt like using her and she got pregnant with you. When you were only a couple of months old she tried to flee the country with you."

  "How do you know this? What happened to her?"

  "He killed her, Ari. I'm sorry," Rian pulled Ari against her and wiped the tears from her face. "We had most of the names of the present and past employees of Fiorino Canturri over the years and we traced each one as far as we could. Some of them actually spoke and gave us valuable information. When I found a gardener that retired from working at the compound, I tracked him all the way to France. He was the one that told me the story of your mother. He said she was young under twenty he thought with blond hair and blue eyes. She was from Uruguay. He said she tried to leave because she didn't want you growing up with that monster."

  "What did he do to her?" Ari sniffed and tried to dry the tears that kept falling.

  "Are you sure you want to know
all of this?"

  "Yes. Please tell me."

  "Do you know your Uncle Diego very well?" Rian asked.

  "He's my father's brother, his right-hand man. Of course, I know him. He lives on the compound."

  "Fiorino decided to test Diego's loyalty with orders to put your mother in the ocean with cement boots. When Diego finished the job Fiorino knew he could be trusted so he promoted him to the position he still holds today."

  "Oh my god, Rian."

  "I'm really sorry," Rian held her across the console and kissed the top of her head. "He must have a thing for water because the son of bitch put me in the middle of the damn ocean too, only he left me alive thinking I would die a slow agonizing death after his men beat the shit out of me."

  "I know," Ari said.

  Rian pulled back and looked at her. "What?"

  "I was there. I knew what was going on and there was nothing I could do to stop him. That's why I took off to the States to see if you survived. I had to know. When I saw you I was so relieved and so scared he would find out."

  "That's when you sent the letters?"

  "Yes. I couldn't let him hurt you anymore. I guess Walsh had someone watching you because as soon as he found out I was near you he told my father. I caught on very quickly when I spotted Val in Portland. I'm sure he was sent there to kill us both. Val is in line to take over one day and he thinks our father is some kind of god or something, he'd do anything for him. Including killing his own sister."

  "Why didn't you tell me?"

  "That's when I made the decision to reveal myself to you. I couldn't let him take you from me, not again."

  "Was he on the plane to D.C.?"

  "Yes. I don't think he knew the FBI agent that was following you though. My father works alone. I doubt he involved Walsh. He's more like a puppet for my father than the business partner he thinks he is. My father has no business partners. Everyone works for him, not with him. We must have lost Val in the airport when we ditched the FBI agent. I never saw him again."

  "I can't believe you're just now telling me this, Ari. Damn it we were in a far worse situation than I thought," Rian shook her head.

  "I thought if I told you about Val you might think I was working with him. You were barely speaking to me, Rian. You thought I betrayed you. I was so scared of losing you again, I couldn't say anything. Then, he disappeared so there was no reason to tell you."

  "Don't ever keep anything from me ever again, Ari. Your secrets are going to be the damn death of me. Is there anything else you're not telling me?"

  "No. I'm sorry, Rian. I didn't do any of it to hurt you. I was trying to protect you from my family."

  "I don't need protecting. You should know that by now."

  "I can definitely see that. I never knew this side of you, Rian. It intrigues me and scares me a little. You went to work and came home every day without talking about your job. You never brought work home. I had no idea what being an FBI agent really entailed. I was naive and so in love with you. I didn't care about anything else, not even the fact that you were an FBI agent and I was Fiorino Canturri's daughter. I didn't care. I don't care."

  "Do you care about your father? Or any of your family for that matter?"

  "No. Not anymore," Ari sighed. "They have taken so much from me. Hate isn't even a strong enough for word for what I feel for them. All of them."

  Rian kissed her softly and ran the back of her hand over Ari's cheek. "We better get going, we've been here longer than I wanted and I have another stop to make."

  "What are you going to do to them?"

  "What do you want me to do?" Rian said as she started the car and looked at Ari in the faint moonlight.

  "Kill them. Kill them all," Ari said.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  At midnight Rian parked the car a few miles from her destination and told Ari to take off in the opposite direction if she spotted anyone but Rian coming her way. Rian kissed her and took off in the darkness. She was dressed all in black with black face paint covering her entire face. She ran the short distance and crossed the wide ditch careful not to step in the muddy water. On the other side, she found the chain link fence and pulled a pair of wire cutters from her pocket. She quickly clipped enough links to peel the fence up enough to slip through the bottom. The fence moved back into place as she moved away from it.

  The Army base was small and most of the buildings were old and dilapidated. She took her penlight out of her pocket and put the cutters back. She maneuvered in the dark staying away from the spotlights, crawling under vehicles at a few points. She checked each building until she found the one marked Municiones, Munitions. She pulled the lock pick set from her other pocket and began working the locks. Seconds passed before she pulled the squeaky metal door open, slipped through, and closed it quickly behind her. She waited a minute to see if anyone heard the door before turning on her penlight and searching through each room in the small building. She collected bits and pieces of military armaments until the black backpack she was wearing was full. She zipped it closed and moved back towards the door.

  She cracked the door open and she noticed the guard walking near the building across from her. She held her breath and kept the door cracked just enough to see him. He disappeared around the corner and she swung the door open and slammed it closed. She dove for cover behind a truck parked nearby and watched as the guard came running across the asphalt towards the Munitions building. She backed away from the truck and circled around. She grabbed a small rock and hurled it in the opposite direction. It made a loud thud as it bounced off the metal building across from her. The guard drew his gun and turned around to run in the direction of the sound. Rian waited until he was gone. Quietly she followed the fence line running behind the buildings, careful to hide anytime she heard footsteps.

  When she reached the opening in the fence she pulled it back and pushed the backpack through, slid under, and pulled the fence back into place. She ran to the ditch, ducked down inside the drainpipe, and waited. She couldn't believe how easy it was to infiltrate the base. Their security was obviously severely lacking. After a few minutes she popped her head up and was surprised to see nothing had changed. Apparently the guard never went back to check the door. She shook her head and took off running towards the car parked a mile away.

  Reaching the car, she placed the backpack on the back floorboard, slipped into the driver's seat and started the car.

  "Where have you been?" Ari asked

  "Ari, have you ever heard of don't ask, don't tell?"

  Ari shrugged. "Yes."

  "Good, you don't ask and I won't have to tell you," Rian said as she put the car in gear and sped off in the opposite direction.

  ~

  They drove in silence towards the farmlands a half hour away. Rian parked the car in the same spot she had been in only hours before overlooking the compound. She turned the car off and left the keys in the ignition as she turned towards Ari.

  "I want you to get in the driver's seat, lock the doors, keep the windows up, and wait for me. I'm going to be gone for a little while. If I haven't returned in two hours, or you see anyone coming towards you start the car and drive off as fast as you can."

  "I'm not leaving you there, Rian. No."

  "Damn it, Ari. Just do it."

  "Promise me you'll come back," she said.

  "I promise. I love you, Ari." Rian kissed her soft lips and got out of the car. She grabbed the backpack from the back seat, added a couple of remaining items, and a few more tools.

  "There's a gate on the South corner that leads from the gardens to a secret exit from the compound. That's how I always snuck out. Just follow the wall until you come to a thin metal panel. That's the gate. Pull it towards you to open it. You'll be in the middle of the gardens a few hundred yards from the main house," Ari rolled the window back up and watched her as far as she could in the darkness. Rian quickly disappeared in the middle of the woods.

  ~

  Rian f
ollowed the path towards the south corner of the compound. She stayed in the shadow of the fence out of the moonlight. It took her close to twenty minutes to reach the gate. It was after three a.m. and she was sure most of the house was asleep. She pulled the gate open and stepped inside. She had an eerie feeling that caused her skin to crawl. She took a deep breath and pulled the gate shut. The only guard on duty was at the main gate. She hadn't seen anyone walking the perimeter when she sat in the car watching the compound. She bent down and pulled the night vision goggles from the backpack. The entire compound lit up in a green glowing light in front of her.

  She ran towards the main house and hid next to the pool house. She pulled a spool of thin wire from the bag and a brick of C4 explosive putty. She rolled the putty into multiple thin strips and began placing it in the window seals and door jams close by. She pulled a blasting cap from the bag and cut the wire into two small strips. She attached the two wires to the blasting cap and pulled one of the throw away cell phones from the bag that she'd picked up at a small store on their way back to the hotel. She took the back cover off and attached the opposite end of the wire to the battery leads.

  She buried the phone in the dirt next to the bushes and continued around to the next side of the house where she started the process all over again. Once she had all four sides of the house rigged she took the rest of the putty and rolled it into clumps and tossed it up on the low hanging areas of each roof of the two smaller buildings. Rian went to the three cars parked in the circular driveway and put rolls of putty up under each car inside the frame and rigged a blasting cap and cell phone to the car in the middle. The entire procedure took over an hour. She checked her watch. She had less than twenty minutes to get back to Ari before she drove off without her and she was over a mile away.

  Rian closed up the backpack and ran as fast as she could through the garden towards the gate in the corner. She moved through it quickly and took off running again towards the car on the other side of the thick woods. She tripped over a root and flew through the air landing on her knee and held in the loud scream she wanted to let out. Her knee was in excruciating pain as she started running again at a slightly slower pace. She checked her watch again. Her two hour window had come and gone. She finally reached the edge of the woods close to fifteen minutes late. She shook her head and said a prayer when she saw the car a few feet away. She limped towards it as Ari jumped out and rushed to her.