by Finian Blake
Susan elbowed him in the ribs and laughed, “Well don’t let your monster devour you.”
Terri met Adam at Beth’s shop. Muriel was doing a fitting with Arleen. Terri was helping dial in the dress form she was no dress maker but Terri enjoyed watching Arlene work.
“Terri did not know what limits you wanted on materials. What limits do you want on the outfits?”
“As usual it is your choice. You do your best work when you have free reign.” Arleen smiled. She liked doing work for Adam and Terri, since she could really display her talents without restrictions and Arlene was a ‘Michael Angelo’ with cloth. Adam pulled Terri to the side.
“How is she doing?”
“She is coming along, but I think that it will be a while.”
“I would like her to stick around. Do you have any ideas?”
“She is a photographer and from what I hear she has talent.”
“I want her to choose to stay. It is worth the investment. Doing something nasty is totally out of the question,” Adam confirmed.
“I have the space above my workshop. We have been meaning to finish it off. It is seven thousand square feet. We could split it between a studio and an apartment. It would not be a big loss if she left, later. We were going to finish it anyway.” Terri did want Muriel to stay too.
Adam had to ask the question wanting to be sure Terri approved. “Do you want to try?”
“Give it a go we will see where it leads. I will meet you in the loft in an hour.”
Adam called a photo supply house ordering a selection of top Hasselblad cameras, eight millimeter and sixteen millimeter movie cameras and two thirty five millimeter still cameras along with some lenses. He told the salesman to throw in a solid selection of high end studio lighting and reflectors leaving the choice up to the salesman. Adam promised a COD cash payment and extra for delivery if they had it to the Inn before noon. He also promised to finish off buying the studio equipment with the supplier if he could deliver.
The tab came to ten thousand Pounds with the delivery. The salesman went crazy, wrote up the order and started pulling stock. He was on the road in twenty minutes wanting to be sure of the promised future purchases. It took Arleen longer to finish the fitting than she planned so Muriel did not make it up to the loft before noon. Adam called the service building for lunch and the kitchen sent up a large assortment of cold sandwiches. Terri brought Muriel to the loft walking around the area to give Muriel and idea of the space. Adam went downstairs and brought up some drinks. Muriel still had no idea of what Adam was going to suggest.
“We thought of starting a studio up here, and we were wondering if you would like to work with us on the project?” Muriel was about to say something when the delivery van pulled up to the gate. Security opened the gate telling the driver where to go. Adam went downstairs to meet the driver. It was just after noon. The driver started to explain about traffic. Adam held up his hand to stop him.
“Close enough, your bonus is safe. How much do I owe you? The final bill came to eleven thousand Pounds.” Adam pulled twelve thousand Pounds out of his money belt calling the change the driver’s bonus.
“Help me up the stairs with all of this.” As they walked up the stairs Muriel was explaining to Terri how all of her camera equipment was stolen out of the storage locker.
“Hold this please.” Adam put a Hasselblad thirty five millimeter camera in her hand with the delivery man putting the two movie cameras down next to her. She opened the boxes while the driver brought in the rest of the equipment that Adam had ordered. After the driver left, Muriel looked around.
“You are trying to bribe me into staying aren’t you?”
“We were thinking two thousand square feet for the apartment and five thousand square feet for the studio.”
“You are trying to bribe me!” Muriel squealed.
It was time to have some fun with her, “Well if you can’t be bribed I guess we can send all this back. I will have them pick it all up and you can leave.”
“Wait I can be bribed. A place to stay would have been good, the clothes more than covered it, but for this I will have sex with you in front of your wife.”
“Take the bribe back,” Terri laughed. “We are going to draw the line right there.”
“I will be happy to hang around. Can I have a bath like yours?” Adam backed off deciding to let the ladies finish the conversation. As he left he could hear Muriel ask Terri. “Isn’t sex in the shower slippery?”
“That’s part of the fun…” Terri launched into an intimate discussion about her favorite shower games as Adam hurriedly left hearing ‘oh my god’ followed by lewd laughter as his foot hit the bottom step. He was never very comfortable with “woman talk’, so he was glad to be out of there.
Adam walked over to the green house heading straight to the Jacuzzi, stripping down naked as he went. The water felt good and the warmth started to release his tension. He started to shake as the visions of the last few days went through his mind with alternative outcomes flashing through his brain. He saw Terri being beaten by Ben and Miles, he saw himself being riddled by bullets as he burst through the door of the Boss’s house envisioning all of the negative outcomes that could have happened. Adam had no idea how long he had been soaking when he felt a hand slip around his neck bringing him crashing back to the real world. Adam grabbed the hand and bent over throwing a body over his shoulder grabbing the figure by the hair not looking to see who it was until he heard Terri gasp for air. He helped her to a seat in the Jacuzzi and sat back down continuing to shake.
“It comes over him from time to time.” Terri was talking back over her shoulder to a stunned Muriel. “He can stay steady as a rock during a crisis, and then it comes on a few days later.” She pulled his head to her chest and held him. Terri climbed out of the water and led him back to the house. Terri rinsed him off and put him to bed leaving her soaked clothes on the shower floor. She motioned Muriel to join them between the covers. Muriel stripped climbing in the opposite side of the bed from Terri making a sandwich out of Adam. The two women held him while he shook. Muriel paid attention to how she soothed him trying to mirror Terri’s actions. “He pays a price, but nobody sees him pay it.”
Muriel kissed his back, “Thank you.” In the morning Adam slipped out of bed turning on the water as warm as he could stand it. Muriel stood at the edge of the spray. “I could use a rinse.”
Adam mumbled, “I didn’t realize…” Muriel put an arm around his waist as he continued. “I could have seriously hurt her.” Adam could not take his eyes off the soggy pile of clothes that Terri had left on the floor. All of a sudden cold water sprayed across their backs. They both fell down on the floor in the rush to get away from the cold water.
“It works for dogs in heat.” Terri was standing out of the spray laughing.
Adam dressed and started the day. Muriel stopped him at the front door.
“You don’t have to bribe me. You did what I wished that I could do. I wanted to kill every one of those bastards. They had me convinced that I killed her.”
“Yes, they had you convinced, and no you did not kill her. I saw who did and he is dead. I know that you would not turn me in, and Terri knows it too.” Adam nodded to Terri who was standing over her shoulder.
“Do I have to get the hose again?” She pulled Muriel back and pushed Adam out the door. When the door was closed she whispered in Muriel’s ear.
“I am not going to tell you that he does not lie because he does, but he doesn’t lie about these things. Let’s get to work on those drawings.”
“If it is not a bribe, then why…”
“We decided that you need a fresh start.” Terri forgot herself and tapped Muriel on the butt causing Muriel to wince in pain, “Sorry.”
Adam ran down the hill to the security center to use the secure phone. California would be his first few calls. Adam dialed Jeff first. “Jeff I have found a special opportunity for you. Can you come out to the In
n for a week to have a look at it?”
“I haven’t taken a vacation in years,” Jeff knew that Adam’s special deals were always profitable.
He called the General and Anna inviting them to come out to the Inn at the same time.
“Gregory I need you out here to coordinate the deal. I don’t want to make a bunch of calls to your home that can be traced to where you live.”
“That would be a good idea. Anna want’s to check out that Inn of Susan’s.
“Good I think that we will need to make some calls from the Continent to keep them off of the scent. I will see if Frank and Francesca can fly you out. I don’t want to use commercial aircraft. Tickets are too easy to trace.” Adam wanted to keep exposure to a minimum.
Finally he called Francesca and her husband Frank asking them to fly everybody out next week.
“Francesca I need to charter your Lear 36 for next week, it will be a paid charter.”
“What do you want me to haul,” Francesca asked being suspicious of the reason for such an expensive charter.
“Just people, I have Gregory, Anna and Jeff coming out and I don’t want to use commercial transportation.” Adam reassured her.
“There will be no contraband?” Anna pressed.
“Absolutely not.”
All three calls took less than four minutes to complete. The line was secure, but Adam did not want to take any chances.
When he was finished with the California calls he called Hans in Washington DC. He dreaded this call because dealing with Government stooges always left him disappointed. They wanted to skirt the system but did not want to put their name on their handiwork. Adam was pleasantly surprised to find that Hans answered the phone. Adam was expecting the normal run around.
“Hans, this is Hermes. We can get about twice the weapons that you requested. The problem is moving them. How much help can we get from you?”
“Not much, what are you looking at.”
“We need some help with Turkey or Iran. Turkey is the best hope, Iran is still holding hostages. We had serious problems with Turkey on the last run we made to Nicaragua. Buck and Creed screwed everything up. With that kind of weight we are talking about six runs minimum. I am investigating payment, but so far the Russians are only interested in gold. You are looking at coming up with six million up front because the Afghans want to pay in opium. If they pay in opium we need to come up with twenty thousand kilos of opium. At the very least we need to get them to make the payment in heroin. If they do, all we must come up with is with four thousand pounds and that is at the two hundred thousand pound figure. Get me some relief, or it is a dead deal. I will call you back in fourteen days.”
When he caught up to Lynn and Muriel they were at the stable. Sheik Husayn had purchased two mares. Martin and the Sheik were riding the mares with Susan and Lynn who were both riding their own horses. Muriel was taking pictures with her new camera. Frank and Tom had Sheik Husayn’s security team at the Knoll reviewing the arsenal. Tom had shown Hamza some things that he could do to update the Sheik’s security team. Their arms were primarily Russian. Tom preferred British arms, but most of the countries except for Iran were using Russian weapons. Tom broke out some AK 74’s and they went to the basement for some target practice. Tom agreed to tune and fit suppressors to twenty units for the Sheiks guard. The swing out metal stock made for a compact unit for close work. Sheik Husayn rode up to Adam and dismounted.
“You have an amazing set up here. I thought you said that you were out of the arms business. Your security is quite advanced.” He looked around the property. “You could make a serious living setting up personal security forces. I wanted to talk to you about improving my own security force.”
“I have to be honest with you. Frank is the one responsible for the security here. He was a Sargent Major in the British SAS. All of our 'Old Men' are former instructors. They are the best that I have ever seen.
“Could I prevail on you to allow them to train my Security force?”
Adam wanted to be clear that he was out of the business, “I will have Frank talk directly with you. Thank you for asking. I appreciate your courtesy, but Frank is the expert.”
The Sheik asked the next question cautiously, “About the arms, can you accommodate me?”
“If we keep the amounts small, with quantities under fifty units it should not be a problem to supply up to date light arms. Frank will have them tuned before they are delivered.”
The Sheik pressed, “What about electronics?”
“You will be surprised by this. Suki is my electronics expert and Terri is my engineer.”
“Suki and your wife Terri are your experts!” A surprised look came over his face. He remembered last night quite clearly.
“I understand that you Westerners give women responsibilities, but this is a surprise. She is talented in many respects.”
“Suki is quite talented she enjoys sex and she also has a degree in electrical engineering. I will have Frank show you our security room. Suki designed the electronics and Terri designed the construction.” Adam needed to get home. “I will go see to your requests immediately, but I must leave you now.”
Muriel joined Adam and Terri for the trip up the hill. “I can’t wait to get these developed.” Muriel held up the camera. “I wish that I could do it myself.”
“I will give you a number, so that you can fill out the rest of the equipment list for the studio. I want first class production, editing and development facilities. Put in the order and keep Terri posted on the billing. We have more space if you need it.”
“I am already bribed. You don’t have to throw more at me.”
“I am not bribing you. I want a first class set up. I think that we can make some money at this.”
“Do you have a name that you would like to use?”
“As a matter of fact I do have a name in mind. I was thinking that we could call it Knoll Productions.” He looked questioningly at Terri.
“It sounds good to me. What kind of a cap do you want to put on it?”
Terri wanted her budget, “No more than two hundred thousand. We already have the buildings. We just need to do some finishing.”
“What do you propose we produce with Muriel?”
“Advertising, art, and documents…”
“You mean documentaries.” Muriel interrupted.
“No, I meant documents.” Adam smiled at Terri, “Did I tell you that Jeff is coming out from LA? I thought he might like to meet Muriel.”
Muriel was instantly on alert, “Who is Jeff? And why does Terri sound so annoyed?” Muriel looked concerned. Adam pulled up to the garage.
“Terri will explain it to you. I have to talk to Frank.”
Adam opened the door to the basement. He could hear the gun fire below. They made a firing range in the lowest level of the basement. From there they could walk out to the lower slope of the Knoll. With a little influence from MI 5, Frank obtained a license for a shooting club, since he promised them that he would contract work. Tom was showing Hamza the tuning that he had been doing on the AK 74’s. Adam excused himself and went up to the gym with Frank. They pulled two pints off the tap and sat down for a talk. Adam presented him with Husayn’s request.
“Frank, you know enough retired instructors. You could put together a nice private force and could even clear it through MI 5. Sell it as an unofficial way to gather intelligence and generate good will in that corner of the world. The Sheik asked me about purchases of small arms. That could help get some information on who is buying, like the IRA. As long as we are not supporting any revolutions it could earn a blind eye to some of your needs.”
“Let me give it some thought there is some merit there.”
“I told the Sheik that you would talk to him personally. You need positive control if your neck is on the line. I will back your decision with cash for a startup.”
“There are a lot of 'Old Men' out there looking for something to do.” Frank was reall
y starting to think, “We do have one problem.”
“Susan,” Adam smiled at Frank.
Adam and Frank caught up with Susan in the stable. She was using her special saddle. Lynn quit riding early and gone had ahead to the house to prepare for the intimate session that she knew would follow. They knew this was a bad time right away.
Susan was in a full sweat, “You could have picked a better time to ask me about Frank starting a consulting service.” They both stared at each other. “I knew it was coming. Frank has serious talent. One peek at the Sheik’s crew and I knew that this was the time.” Susan’s clothes were soaked through from sweat. “Give me the plan.” Frank ran through what they discussed in the gym. “Have you discussed this with Sheik Husayn?”
“No I wanted to discuss it with you first.” Frank was prepared for a negative response.
“Try to keep it as far away from the Inn as possible and don’t get yourself shot full of holes. If you cannot keep your business away from the Inn, keep it up on the Knoll.” Susan grabbed Frank’s shirt sleeve. “And Frank I am sure that Terri would appreciate it if you didn’t bust Adam up.” Frank hung his head sheepishly with that comment. Susan knew that it would ruin their relationship if she tried to stop him. She could not hang on, and yet she could not let go. Susan sat down on a hay bale and started to cry. “I wanted to keep our little world neat and uncluttered. Considering the nature of the beast that was never possible. Good luck Frank I hate to lose you.”
“You won’t lose me. I was planning on consulting not leaving. This is my home and you are my family. You are worth much more than a bit of adventure.”
“I do love you.” Susan kissed him on the cheek. “I need to have a few words with Adam. Would you mind?” Frank kissed her and slid the door of the stable shut noticing the red light coming on over the door as he walked away.
Susan hit Adam flat handed on the chest with both hands. “I know it’s not you. You can’t help it. It’s all of us. Can you picture me as an Inn keeper changing beds and fawning over guests or Lynn sitting in a back room squinting at entries in her account book? Help me off with these damn things.” She was trying unsuccessfully to kick off her riding boots. He turned his back to her and started working on a boot. “I can’t imagine you trotting around the world collecting signatures for goods.” Adam started pulling off her other boot.
