When he was done hours later, there was silence.
Phil Tolan, ex-Army Ranger, told Adam flat out and to his face that he was a liar and a fraud, was probably penniless and seeking to somehow get a hold of Bitsie’s trust funds. Marjorie Tolan was of the same opinion. Bitsie said nothing, stood up and just walked away, sitting several rows back by herself.
Adam was stunned.
He showed pictures of Eene before and after. “Makeup,” said Phil. “We’ll be deplaning in Madrid and flying back to the States commercially.”
When Adam sat by Bitsie, all she could say was, “Why?”
“Everything I said was true.”
“I’m sorry, but if Dad and Mom think it’s a lie, it probably is.”
“If you needed proof, who would you call? Barack Obama?”
“Sure, like you know him.”
Adam took Bitsie back to her parents. “Listen up.”
He dialed his cell phone, and a familiar voice came on.
“Adam? What now? Michelle and the girls are out. I thought we were talking next week from the Library about your project.”
“We were. We are but I need your help right now. They don’t believe me about Paraiso and all the rest.”
“That’s classified. They shouldn’t know.”
“Please sir, just talk to them.”
Mr. Tolan said, “Who the hell are you? Voice actor.”
“No. Barack Obama. And who the hell are you?”
“Phillip Tolan, former Army Ranger.”
“What’s your serial number?”
Phil gave it to him.
“Hold the line.” There was a pause. “You know who General James Chambers is, soldier?”
“Sure.”
“Well, let’s have a chat.”
Chambers said, “I have your service record on screen in front of me. Would you like me to read it to you and your family? The incident in Khe San, the one in which you were never charged? Not the one in ’68, but the last one as we were bugging out in ‘72. Your wife and daughter might find it interesting. I can vouch personally for Adam St. James; not so much for you. If you’ve had harsh words with him, you’re lucky to be alive.”
***
Bitsie said, “Adam, I’m so sorry. We didn’t know. None of us did.”
“You didn’t trust me. You sided immediately with your parents who called me a liar and a fraud. You sat there and said nothing. Then you moved away from me and asked me why I lied. Said if your parents thought I lied, you did too.”
Phil began, “Son, I cannot apologize enough. I … I don’t know where to begin my apology.”
“Don’t. None of you. I have work to do in London, then we’ll go to my Reserve. But, to be honest, I think I will just ask you two to go home and take your daughter with you. Seems like the best option. I think we’re done here. If you want to get a flight back today, get off in Madrid.”
They landed in Madrid and went their separate ways; one flight to Heathrow and one flight to Amman. Adam was not expecting to see the Tolans’ again. He sucked up his emotions and fantasies of family one more time. No matter, he had work ahead and he need to save Misti. Bitsie and her parents were now irrelevant and would have to wait.
Once he had Misti back, he’d seriously consider how, when and where to kill Edward, Anna and Crissy. He would disentangle from the Tolans and decide what to do in the future, and with whom. Only Eene had be true to her word; he would talk to her and see what she wanted to do. Alana was gone and he had no idea what to do with Noki.
***
The old flight plan was originally to London directly but they diverted in-flight to Madrid. Bitsie and her parents deplaned, boarded another charter jet as Adam walked away to speak to one of the ground crews. The Bitsie and her parents were flown separately to Amman, Jordan, where one of Adam’s old friends from Seattle met up with them on the tarmac. They were transported and registered to an upscale hotel to wait. Adam promised to meet them in Amman as soon as possible, but certainly within the next couple of days.
Adam called ahead to Amman and his Jordanian friends, telling that they were to watch the three, but say nothing. Get them into the hotel which they were not to leave unless it was to fly back to San Diego. He would be back later, God willing.
***
When Adam arrived at the designated spot in Hyde Park, Anna, Edward and Crissy met him alone.
“Where is she?”
“In the ambulance over there.”
Adam signaled and a man approached, a doctor, and Adam instructed him to go to the ambulance and examine Misti.
“If she’s drugged and insentient, I’ll kill all three of you right here and now, then take Misti with me.”
“You’ll be dead too.”
“Maybe, but I bet my men have already killed your men.”
“Perhaps,” said Edward slyly, as if he knew something Adam didn’t. He did not.
Adam turned to Crissy. “And you my lovely. I understand you enjoyed marking up Misti. I shall allow myself the pleasure of doing the same to you but, maybe instead, I shall flay your skin. Just how much depends on what you’ve done to her.”
Crissy moved in behind her mummy and daddy. She didn’t like threats like that. Especially from Adam who could carry them out.
The doctor approached. “She’s not fine, been abused very badly and very likely still drugged; she will recover physically with rest and quiet. There’s physical and mental trauma but she sounds strong. She’ll return to some form of new normal but it will take both time and treatment.”
Adam gave Edward the wire transfer instructions, the artifacts, and the GPS coordinates, the latter two both fake. Adam had no idea where the Cache was; Edward only wanted the money and knew the artifacts were likely good forgeries hastily assembled.
Edward said, “Our business is concluded. Good luck, and please take no offense, but I hope we never see you again.”
“Yes, I can see why that would appeal to you.”
A firecracker went off.
Adam turned to the three as they walked away. “Your men are dead. I’d kill you now but have decided to savor that thrill for later and, besides, CCTV would capture my image on camera. You are fortunate that Misti will heal; I may just turn the three of you over to her. I doubt her ministrations will be as gentle as mine.”
***
On the flight to Jordan, Misti slowly began coming back to life. When she saw that she was with Adam, in flight on his jet, she broke down and began crying.
“You came back for me,” she sobbed. “I thought I was going to die. I’m so sorry about what we did to you; I don’t know why I did it. Please forgive me.”
“Forgive what? It’s all in the past. We either continue the journey or do something else. We can decide that when we get to our new home. I have surprises for you, Misti Suarez. You’re going to like them. But we have work to do if you want to remain with me in this new future.”
“I do. I swear I do. I will never let you down again.” Then she smiled her ‘I can get away with anything’ smile.
“Any hints?”
“Bigger than a breadbox. Pretty damn big, if fact. And maybe one surprise you probably won’t like as much as the others.”
Chapter 26
When Adam landed with Misti in Amman, the Tolan’s and their minders were already on the tarmac waiting. A new jet, not a charter, was ready to be boarded. As the teams readied to walk up the stairs, Adam asked them to pause for a moment while he made a last-minute adjustment on his computer.
The jet was a new toy; a nanite composite constructed aircraft, based on the nanite technology, engineering and materials developed by Maria and Agustin Suarez, and the software developed by Adam. The tech was already in extensive use in Paraiso, but little outside of the new territory. The new tech was now being used in making numerous products; the jet had been in development for some time. It was a pilotless plane most of the time, but could be modified for human manual control.<
br />
Adam could rearrange space within the jet with his computer, so he divided the passenger compartment into two sections; the Tolan’s were to be placed up front with Adam’s security guards, including Octavio Alarcon and the Paz twins, while the second compartment in back was set up for Misti, a doctor, a nurse and Adam.
The passageway between was sealed. Adam and Misti boarded the plane from the rear of the aircraft
Misti was heavily sedated due internal and external injuries; the attending physician was reluctant to leave Amman, preferring immediate transfer to a hospital and emergency care. Hecate was already resident in Adam’s mind, yet unable to attend to Misti due to the prohibition from her Lord; she would exit Adam and enter Misti along with her sister Fionna as soon as they arrived in Paraiso. Why their Lord insisted they wait until arriving in Paraiso was not understood but disobedience was currently out of the question. Misti needed their help and she might not get it if they disobeyed their Lord yet again.
Hecate waited, then quickly entered Misti in violation of her instructions. She would be punished for that transgression later. But as she re-entered Adam’ mind, she assured him that Misti would be fine as soon as they got to Adam’s new capital city, the City of Light.
“She’ll be fine but will have a long period of recuperation ahead of her, even with the ministrations of Fionna and me. The damage is severe and her psychological condition grave. But she never gave up on her hope that you would find her and rescue her. I believe clinging to that belief was the difference between life and death, so certain was she that you would find her.”
Hecate paused.
“She will be overjoyed at what she will soon discover.”
Adam said, “I suppose you’re in trouble again for disobeying our Lord. I’m truly sorry Hecate, this was my fault.”
“No worries, husband-to-be, our Lord has now solved his problem of my disobedience and that of Fionna’s. Since Hana and Kendra are the ‘good girls’ who never disobey, he has decided that, when I am wed to you, the responsibility for our discipline must afterward fall to you. He cares not what you do with us, only that you never discuss it with him. Since he feels unable to control us, nor to ably discipline us, he believes that the whole matter should be given over to you from our wedding day forward. Fionna and I much desire that we expedite Kendra’s, Hana’s and my wedding to you quickly; Hana and Kendra because they much desires congress with you, and Fionna and I because you are less of a disciplinarian than our Lord. You impose fewer rules that we won’t obey anyway.”
“And what punishments shall I dole out for transgressions?”
“Only those that we choose and only when we choose them.”
“Somehow, it’s not what I think he had in mind.”
“Actually, Fionna and I think it’s exactly what he had in mind.”
“Why should you both be miserable when he only needs you to be. Makes perfect sense. We explained all about delegation of authority to him and let him come up with this amazing solution.”
“Was it really that easy? He’s God.”
“He calls himself God every once in a while, but he really isn’t. Besides, he chose to be a male. He has to accept the consequences.”
“You mean being manipulated by the women we love.”
“Exactly. It’s not like you didn’t see it coming. Besides, you want us to be trouble. You expect us to be unmanageable. What fun would your life be without us?”
“You have a point. Sadly, but yes, you do have a point.”
“Then rejoice in our new lives together. If you don’t abuse the solution I have in mind, we may just get away with what Fionna, Hana, Kendra and I have in mind.”
“Which is?”
“We shall all misbehave at the same time, and he will punish us by making us come to Earth and serve you as your indentured servants. Length of servitude: indeterminant to forever. We will be no more trouble for him and he will call Hana and Kendra home to his realm whenever he needs them.”
“And you?”
“Only for visits and to see our children. He will expect you to accompany us and for you to be quite stern with us in his presence.”
“He cannot be deceived in this way. It isn’t possible.”
“You’re wrong. He sets an example for all other Immortals who do not wish to leave his realm. For most Immortals, life among mortals is unthinkable, unbearable. For them, he is truly being a cruel Master to send us away to be with you here on Earth. See? All good.”
“I’d like you to leave tomorrow to get the ball rolling.”
“But we cannot. We shall heal Misti first and when she is able to be her normal miserable, bossy self again, Fionna and I shall go back to his realm, plan our disobedience with Hana and Kendra, throw ourselves on his mercy, actually yours, and we will be banished. A report once every hundred years is all he’ll want. Maybe every thousand years. He expects it will take a very long time to rehabilitate such disobedient creatures as we four.”
“This was your idea, wasn’t it?”
“Of course. Who else? Fionna is too ‘Immortal’, Hana is too sweet and Kendra is too serious. That leaves only me to do the thinking and heavy lifting.”
“I suppose I should thank you.”
“Don’t worry, you will. I see now that Misti awakens. Not a word. We’ll be in Paraiso soon; Fionna and I will be waiting.”
***
Misti re-awoke in a brutal haze; she was still in a massive amount of pain, inside and out, though the opioids and Hecate’s handiwork did seem to check her fervent desire to scream at the top of her lungs. She flashed memory after memory, incapable of stemming the deluge of recollections of what had happened and what seemed to be real in her mind. She jostled about as if trying to flee from the instruments that would soon be used upon her, turning fear into torment, then back into fear again. In the midst of her madness, she saw everything and felt nothing. Her focus was on a man, a man she thought she knew, and the feeling was the absence of pain. She was returning to sentience, though she sensed she was not alone.
She tested for the customary restraints she had felt on her wrists and ankles in the past weeks, sensing only absence. She momentarily lost track of where she was and who this new ‘he’ was.
“It’s me, my love, Adam. I have come to bring you home. To our new home far away from the nightmare you just experienced. I have a doctor and nurse with me; you are quite safe now. I cannot know or feel what you have experienced; I can only assure you that I will never leave you alone again. What has happened to you was my fault; I was angry and lost sight of my purpose with you. To love and protect you. And in my anger, I let down my guard long enough for evil intrude into our happiness.”
He approached Misti and took he by her hand and kissed it softly. “I shall never turn my back on you again. I shall always be at your side where I have always belonged. When you recover sufficiently, I ask only that you think about my state of sorrow and find it in your heart to forgive me.”
Misti was in a fugue state and barely comprehending what Adam was trying to say. It didn’t matter, not the pain and anguish, nor the fear and merciless abuse. It was all over, and whatever had happened, it was not happening now.
Misti looked at Adam, tears glistening in the corner of her eyes. “You came for me. I knew you would.”
With that, she fell back into a newly induced deep sleep as the morphine drip began to course through her bloodstream, gently taking her mind away from a place it had never belonged.
***
When the plane arrived in Paraiso, on the high plateau above the Serengeti in the Great Rift Valley, Adam turned to Bitsie and her parents.
“Watch and believe.”
The jet they had just ridden in disappeared into a fine dust as Adam hit keystroke after keystroke on his tablet. The fine sand collected back into long rectangular blocks then rearranged themselves, row upon row.
“This isn’t magic; this is science. This isn’t deceit and fraud,
it’s truth. The existence of truth does not depend upon your belief in it. It either is or is not. You chose, chose to call me a fraud without witnessing what is true because your tiny, narrow minds are incapable of accepting all the wonders that exist under God. You are small, all of you. I have misjudged myself badly in what I wished I could have with you, but now understand I cannot. This is not your fault; it’s mine. It changes nothing, though, I suspect, but I shall think on what debt I owe you and how to make things right. Then we shall talk.”
Bitsie said, “I did not, could not, have known.”
“You are so much like your father and your mother. I wish I could say that was a good thing; I do not know; perhaps, for you, it is. I have mistaken skill and knowledge for wisdom. I am not unmindful of your compassion, but I do not know you, Bitsie Tolan. I thought I did but I will never make that mistake again.”
He turned to Phil Tolan. “I am a disciple of the Way and the Balance, a philosophy I learned in Tibet. It is the only reason you are still here. You have chosen your own fate until now; your future lies unresolved. You may leave or stay; that is your choice. You are welcome in my City, the City of Light. If you stay, you shall work with my engineers. Bitsie, if you stay, you shall work with Alana McCarthy and me. Work, that is all.”
“Are we not to wed?”
“Our marriage is unconsummated and so it will remain. You do not possess the qualities I desire; for failing to understand that, I am truly remorseful.”
“You cannot just throw me away. You’re not that kind of man.”
“I would never do such a thing, though, in truth, you have no concept of the man I am. Only a few short hours ago I was thrown away by you and your parents. Judged not on what was true but by a man who could not believe. And in rejecting me, you followed his judgment, and chose not to believe me. Or to believe in me. You may wish to follow him again. He may be your road to happiness; I am not.”
Crissy Chance Page 20