by Finian Blake
Everyone had to agree that the new Liliana looked regal.
When they returned to the house Alex dropped the ladies off. The ladies continued to work through the clothes and other personal items. Anna found a run list in Laurita’s safe. Anna also found that some of the rhinestones in Laurita’s accessories were actually diamonds. Laurita had swapped out some of the rhinestones for diamonds in the shredder shoes. They went back through her things to verify whether the other accessories were rhinestones or diamonds. There were an additional thirty thousand dollars in her clothing and fifty thousand in her purses. Jewels and gold added two hundred twenty thousand Pounds more. Anna made a collection of guns and other weapons for disposal. Laurita was too cheap to throw anything away and there was a distinct possibility that some of the weapons may have been used in other crimes.
Alex came back to the house just after six.
“I have some good news. The Bishop will agree to bury Maria in hallowed ground at the Cathedral’s cemetery. His brother will prepare Maria’s remains and provide a proper container for her bones so she will be properly buried. The remains will be blessed by the Bishop, as will the ground. He will say a mass a week for the repose of her soul and all of the churches in Spain will pray for her by name on All Souls Day for the next twenty years.” Liliana broke down in tears and cried uncontrollably for a long time. Alex left Anna to console her and poured himself a drink in the kitchen. The shaking overcame him and did not stop for an hour when Anna came down and gave him a hug.
“Thank you, it meant a lot to her. How did you get the church to bury her without a death certificate?” Alex pointed to the table. “I made a $200,000 contribution to the church. They do not charge for these things but they do suggest a very healthy donation after which they do it out of the goodness of their heart ‘cash and carry’.”
The Bishop will arrange to find the proper paper work. There is a stone cutter out there somewhere burning the mid night oil right now. I kept the stone simple so that he can finish by morning. The funeral will be tomorrow evening at four with the bishop presiding. The Catholic relief agency will pick up whatever clothes and furnishings are ready to go. We will pack up all of the weapons and bondage equipment and dump them out of the plane over the Atlantic as we clear the Bay of Biscay. Juan always rented, so I have a rental agent coming by around ten tomorrow to look over the house for a return to the market. Juan owns the rental company, and Laurita will have an urge to see South America now that Juan is dead, so she will return the house in three days. Liliana will have her own life, and never to look back. There is enough money to make her independent for life.”
Anna had to ask the question, “Speaking of money, how do you want to handle what we find?”
Alex answered quickly, “I would not feel right taking any of it. You and Liliana can make that decision. I suggest you split it up two ways after expenses. You can give your half to our children. I want nothing to do with it. Don’t forget to include Adam and Noah.” Alex thought for a moment. “The Artist volunteered to tutor her, so give him a hefty fee that he can retire on. I want him to watch over her closely. They seem to get along well together.” Anna kissed him tenderly.
“Would you give all of that money to the children no matter what the total is?”
“Yes, they get the money no matter what the total is. After telling that story, I would like a share for my daughter Pam. That brings the count up to an eleven way split if we include Cassandra.”
Anna had to know, “How much do you think there is?”
“I am not sure how much. There were no dollar amounts on the notes for the stashes. I suspect that it will be substantial. Juan was the top and Laurita was second. You heard her say that she was getting cuts from financially solid operations like Dianne’s. God only knows who else they were pulling from. We are going to need the Twin Otter for at least a week longer. Let’s check with Roger to see if we can keep it. He did say that he had plans.” Francesca and Frank need to get back. Have them take Grace and Alice back with them. I would like Angela to go with them for protection. I have a strange feeling that ‘Mercury’ set us up with the Russians.”
“Then back out of this job.”
“I don’t think that they will give us the option. They are already looking for the girls. I believe that we are going to need protection for them all the way.”
“Alex, we paid the Generals for their loss. They don’t have a call on them.”
“We did not give them much of a choice and they were unhappy about losing their services. One of the generals settled in Los Angles, and the other two settled in Chicago. I believe that they are all people to worry about. I want to leave Edward with Susan and Lynn at the Inn since it is better protected than any place that I can think of.” Alex slipped into his protective mode. It was the state that he did his best work. “Anna, would you prefer to finish up here or head home?”
Anna was ready to go home. “I think that I will go back with the girls. I can take Edward back with me.”
“No, I would prefer that you leave Edward at the Inn. They do not know about him yet and I would like to keep it that way.”
Liliana, Anna and Alex picked up the papers from the Artist at two. As promised everything but the back ground was ready. The Artist added his warning.
“It will take 48 hours more to put things in the system. The history will be about two weeks additional. I have something special planned. My sister has a villa in the country north of Barcelona. I used her address for the paper work and that will make her history iron clad.” Liliana needed a place to stay and his sister’s villa needed several repairs the Artist was hoping that Liliana would help her new Aunt with this problem.
Alex made his offer, “You said that you would coach Liliana, and keep her close. I will make it worth your while.”
“Exactly, how worthwhile are we talking about?”
“I will put one million in your retirement fund.”
“Was that dollars or pesetas?”
“Let’s call it pounds.”
“Is she that special?”
“Yes, Liliana is probably the only innocent person in this whole mess.” The Artist smiled at Alex.
“Alright Alex she will become my niece twice removed. I know the Bishop, so he will enter her in the records of the Catedral De Barcelona. It is where all of my family have been baptized for generations.” He enjoyed the look on Alex’s face. “I did both Juan’s and Laurita’s papers. He was a man of honor, but she was a complete bitch. Everyone wondered what she was going to do after he died. She had several games of her own, none of which anybody wanted to see succeed. Nobody will miss her.”
“What do you mean miss her?” The Artist put his arm around Alex’s shoulder.
“I have been at this for several years. All of the right people know me especially the professionals. I would not be doing this if you had not intervened for Liliana. What I am telling you nobody will care unless you leave Laurita’s body on a street corner. Wanda has been looking for you for the past six months. You will need to call her as soon as possible.”
“Thank you I will do that as soon as I can find a secure line.” The Artist smiled and took Alex to the next room.
“This line is secure. You may use mine. Wanda sounded desperate.”
The artist dialed Wanda’s number. “I have ‘Hermes’ on the line. He has not forgotten you.” The Artist passed the phone to Alex.
“Wanda, how have you been? I am sorry that you have such a hard time contacting me.”
“I guess that I have done my job too well. You seem to have learned some new tricks. There are some Russians that have moved in on the north side who have been causing some major problems. Tony asked me to find you because they have been pushing hard out here.”
“I just found out about the problem from Juan before he died. He asked me to clean up my mess. As soon as I finish with a problem out here, I will be out there to talk with you in person, in a few days or a
week at most.”
“I hate to tell you this, but it looks like they have been getting help from your contact ‘Mercury’.”
“I have just found out that ‘Mercury’ has been doing a lot of things that were not intended. That is part of what I am cleaning up right now. I need to find out what has to be set right and then I will take action. This whole thing is really jacked up. I need to do some investigation. I don’t make a bigger mess. Then I am out of the business. Can I reach you at this number?”
“No, this number is exclusively for the Artist. I will give you another number that will be exclusively for you.” Wanda gave ‘Hermes’ the number. “This number will be exclusively for ‘Hermes’. Ask for Cassandra when you call. Let me talk to the Artist.” Alex passed the phone back to the Artist. Wanda gave him a fresh number. The name Cassandra was not wasted on Alex. She was a Greek goddess of great beauty cursed to tell the truth, also cursed by the fact that nobody would believe her.
Alex invited the Artist to Maria’s funeral. It was in the grave yard of the Cathedral. Liliana was greatly relieved to have her sister in hallowed ground and she was thrilled with the service. The Bishop personally presided over the small gathering saying a mass in the Cathedral for the four people. When they went to the grave the small handmade Oak casket lent a classic touch and the hand chiseled granite headstone was the crowning touch. As the others left the grave Alex sidetracked the Artist, “I need somebody to fly to Chile on Laurita’s passport and fly back on her own papers, so that it looks like Laurita is South of the Equator. I will allow twenty thousand for whoever you send to have a first class vacation covering as many countries as she wants. I will finish closing out the house in two days and it will be clean before we leave Barcelona.”
After two days of concentrated effort they loaded anything that was questionable in the Twin Otter in two D containers: one for disposal at sea and one for inspection at the Inn. Alex had Liliana and the Artist accompany them back to Manchester. He called ahead for Susan to arrange a meeting with all of their daughters. Two of the stashes were in London, so England was as good of a place as any to start. They closed up the house and went to the airport. Liliana was surprised to find out that Anna was the pilot. Anna asked her to sit up in the co-pilots seat, and Alex took a seat in back. The Artist came along, so that he could meet Sarah. He had done business with Sarah but never met her in person.
Liliana looked nervous, “When you said that you flew over I thought that you meant that you took a regular flight here.”
Anna answered in a serious voice, “I am a licensed pilot. I have logged thousands of hours in different types of aircraft. My late husband was a general in the army, so we flew together quite often. This little thing is a piece of cake.” Anna checked her weights and set her trim. Anna turned to Liliana, “When we get airborne you can try your hand at flying.”
“Oh no, I could not do that. I haven’t flown before.”
Anna smiled at her and made the takeoff roll, “It is like anything else, you have to learn.
Liliana was panicked, “I meant that I have never flown in an airplane before. I have been to other countries before, but on the train.”
“Good, then you will have two firsts today. You gentlemen in back keep your seat belts on we are going to do a flying lesson.” Anna pushed the throttles mounted in the ceiling forward. The plane surged forward and was quickly in the air. The flight was bumpy until they crossed the Pyrenees when the air became calmer. Anna did a few slow maneuvers over the Bay of Biscay to show Liliana the basic operation heading West North West until they were over the Atlantic Ocean. Anna gave Alex the ok and he slid the cardboard container out of the cabin door. With the two hundred mile an hour rush of air tore the boxes apart showering the contents over a mile. Alex closed the door and buckled up again.
“Stay buckled up back there Liliana is going to take the controls.” The plane wobbled a little until she got a feel for the plane. Anna held herself ready to take control back, but Liliana did well on the straight and level. After a few minor maneuvers, Anna took the controls back. They exchanged control a few more times, until it was time to land. Anna brought the plane in smoothly and taxied to the customs area. After a quick customs inspection Anna taxied over to the private terminal. Roger was standing on the apron waiting for his baby, not at all happy to see a stranger in the cockpit. The Artist was more than happy to have his feet on solid ground. Frank was out of the country so Nadia preformed the livery with the Bentley Mulsanne. The Artist was captivated by the six-foot-six woman chauffer especially, when she greeted him in perfect Castilian Spanish. Alex made the introductions.
“This is Nadia my daughter. She is…”
“Amazing,” the Artist finished his sentence for him. He was five foot six and she towered over him by almost a foot.
“Nadia will be your bodyguard and driver while you are here.”
“Then I shall never leave!” He gently took her hand kissing it. Nadia seated him in the front seat and the others in the rear. “I have always felt that I would need protection in my old age.” Alex elected to drive back to the Inn with Roger. He could hear the laughter in the car as they drove off. He turned to Roger.
“We are two days late, but I pulled all of the maintenance you had on your list, plus I had it polished. Your baby is in better shape than when you lent her to us. We only put ten hours on her.” Roger looked the Otter over critically.
“Ralph took the run down to Oman. Frank and Suki went down with him. I don’t have anything planned for the next few days.”
“Good I am going to need some private transportation, for several days. The pay will be ten thousand pounds, plus expenses.”
“I am your man. You were always a smooth talker. What is the cargo?”
“Money and the lady that you were staring at, we need to make several stops. I want to keep her in sight at all times. Anna gave her the first flying lesson. If you could help her out while we are traveling. I would appreciate it.”
“You never introduced me,” Roger said. “Your grandfather hijacked her before I could blink.”
“He is one of the most in wanted artists in Europe. Even the police want him.”
Roger laughed, “What do they want him for stealing wheel chairs?”
“Let’s go to the studio I believe that they will be there. He wanted to see our artist, Sarah.” Roger threw the car in gear and pointed it in the direction of the Inn. After a few miles, Alex’s play on words dawned on him.
“Oh, that kind of an artist, is he any good?”
“He is ‘The Artist’.”
Roger stepped on the gas, “With the interest he showed Nadia, I hope he has a strong heart.” They drove directly to the studio finding the Mulsanne parked in front. When he opened the door, Alex could hear rapidly spoken Spanish and loud laughter. All four women spoke fluent Spanish. The Artist walked up to Alex.
“These women are highly intelligent. You are in charge of them, yes?” Alex looked over his shoulder and smiled.
“If I am very polite, they will allow me to think that I am in charge, as long as I don’t say it out loud or too often, plus I must take them out to dinner afterward.” His comment drew a smile from the ladies.
Sarah took the Artist by the arm. “The most interesting part of my operation is in another location.” She led him out of the studio, and down to the basement. “This is my editing area. I have seven thousand square feet of editing equipment and I can process anything from motion picture film to documents. I have also found that the film studios need fake IDs for their movies. I do work for MI too. Going through channels can be a real pain in the ass especially if you are doing other countries, so they help me by getting my raw materials.”
“You actually make fake IDs for the government! If I had this equipment, I might have done something legal.”
Sarah laughed at his joke, “Then, you would not be the ‘Artist’. We have much to talk about. May I buy you dinner?”
“Where shall we go?”
“We have an excellent chef. He has become quite adept at cooking Russian dishes, although he can do extremely well on most cuisines. If you say that you have heard of him, he will do something very special for us.” The Artist took Nadia by the hand.
“May I take my bodyguard with us?”
“Of course you may, she is my niece.”
“You and Anna are sisters?” A devilish smile crossed his face. He already knew the answer but he loved to play. “Did I ever tell you that I am a romantic? Are you married? I am too old to duel with a husband, and that makes Anna somewhat undesirable.”
“You need to meet the rest of the ladies. Alice, Angela, Cassandra, Lilia, Filipa, Nina and Irina are our daughters, but then there are Susan, Lynn, Jennifer, Beth and Arlene. Suki is away on business.” Alex interrupted Sarah. “I need to take Liliana to meet Lynn. Why don’t you show the Artist...?”
“Why don’t you use his name?” Sarah’s annoyance was evident.
Alex blushed, “I don’t know his name!”
The Artist spoke softly, “Please call me Ramon? I have always liked that name. When said properly it has a romantic tone to it.”
“What is the name on your driver’s license?”
“Ramon, it is a name that I have always liked. You are talking to the person, not the name.” Ramon punctuated the statement with a wide wave of his arm and a half bow.
Alex escorted Liliana to the security center and went to Lynn’s office.
“Liliana, I would like you to meet our financial genius Lynn. Lynn is the main reason for our success. She deals with millions of Pounds every day. She will move all of your funds, and make them work for you. If you don’t want them, tell her how to dispose of them. I will leave you with her, and you can make a start.” He knew that Lynn would be considerate of Liliana’s feelings and help her with any residual trauma.
