Tess Awakening

by Andres Mann

  “Tess, you know that Amir never gives up. He will be an incubus for the rest of your life until he gets what he wants. You know that what I say is true.”

  “I have made a mistake of not killing him, but it can be fixed. In the meantime, I will start with you.” Tess grabbed Fadime by the throat and tossed her across the room. Fadime slammed against a cabinet and fell on her back, waiting for the pain to start. Tess had broken her arm.

  Jake came in and saw the scene play out. “Tess, you have done enough. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  “We can’t yet. Fadime showed me a video they did about me and Amir. They are going to post it on the internet. I personally don’t care if they do, but I don’t want to put you and my father through what would happen afterward. We must find all the copies of the video and destroy them.

  “Tess, once the cat is out of the bag, it’s almost impossible to put it back in. We will take whatever video disks they have here, and Joe will figure out how to kill any broadcast of that video. Let’s take the kids and go.”

  Tess went to Fadime, who was still on the floor, writhing in pain. “Fadime, this is how it’s going to go. I will take the kids. If you attempt to release the video, I assure you that I will find and kill you after I break every one of your bones. If you don’t believe me, talk to Amir. Of course, it will be some time before he is able to utter a single word. Do you understand me?”

  Fadime nodded her head, for the first time in her life experiencing real pain.

  “Let’s get out of here, Jake,” Tess walked out the door. She picked up little Morgan in her arms and reached for Aara, but she was no longer there. She went around the corner and saw Carmen lying on the floor. Nicola rushed to her.

  “She got hit in the head. She passed out. Let’s get her out of here.” Nicola picked Carmen up and they headed for the exit; one of the men carried little Morgan. Tess stayed behind.

  Jake and Tess sent the team away and went looking for Aara. On the back of the house, they saw a concealed elevator to the beach below. Two women had boarded a motor boat and started the engine. They had Aara with them and sped off, leaving a wake in the water.

  Tess screamed in frustration. “No! Not again. I can’t leave Aara behind a second time!”

  “Jake looked at her. “Tess, there is nothing we can do now. We must leave before the Police come.”

  Back at the hotel, they called a doctor to look after Carmen. She had a large bump on her head but was otherwise okay. Carmen took Tess’s hand. “I am sorry, Tess. I didn’t see it coming.

  “We are all sorry, Tess,” said Nicola, “We did not anticipate that the other women would be a problem.”

  Tess hugged little Morgan with tears in her eyes. Her joy to have him back was overwhelming, but she was haunted again by the big sad eyes of Aara. “I let her down again,” she sobbed. “She will believe that I have abandoned her for a second time and will never trust anyone.”

  Jake sat next to her and put his arms around her shoulders. “We need to go, Tess; the police will be here soon.”

  They all went back to the hotel, packed and drove to the airport in Naples. General Turner’s plane picked them up and flew them to London. The team needed to put some distance between them and the Italian police that most certainly were already looking for them.

  The two couples checked into the Churchill Hotel. After an overnight in the British capital, the rest of the team boarded a commercial airliner back to the United States. The only exception was George Kimmel. He flew to Iraq to help implement Plan B.

  Tess couldn’t stop hugging and kissing little Morgan. She forgot her despair that she felt when she thought he was gone forever. Her happiness would be complete if she also had Aara with her.

  Chapter 63

  To Love Again

  The events at Fadime’s house had drained Tess emotionally. She was enormously relieved to have little Morgan back and heartbroken that she was not able to take Aara with her.

  Tess got in bed first. When Jake sat on the edge to remove his socks, Tess kissed him on the back of his neck. For the first time since the accident, her coma and the loss of her child, she needed to make love.

  Jake got into bed and kissed her. Tess took off her nightgown and lay on her back, waiting for Jake to caress her. Jake touched her breast lightly then stopped.

  “Tess, do you think of Amir when we make love? I am sorry. I need to know.”

  She sat on the bed, shocked. “Jake, how can you think of such a thing? Amir is evil and I hate him. You know that I almost killed him.”

  “Even so, you had a night of great passion with him, and they made a video of it. That bothers me a lot.”

  “Jake, I had no idea that they were filming us. I was even more shocked than you are when I saw part of it play out. It’s incredibly humiliating.”

  “Nevertheless, it’s obvious that Amir is a very skilled lover and that he made you delirious with pleasure.”

  “Jake, it happened and I can’t change things. I can’t lie, it was an incredible night, but Amir did nothing that you couldn’t do if I asked you to. The anger that I now feel against Amir and Fadime is so intense that I resolved to erase every vestige of that experience from my mind. I would die before I give in to Amir again. You know why I did it and you know that Amir set me up by withholding the fact that Aara was his daughter.”

  “You still have not answered my question. Is Amir with us on the bed every time we make love? Do you wish that I was more skilled? I am sorry for sounding insecure and for letting Amir under my skin with his taunts and sarcastic comments.”

  “Jake, Amir will never measure up to you. You are a genuinely amazing man, brilliant, strong, gentle and loving. You respond to my needs; you make love to me with passion and gentleness; most importantly, I trust you because in your arms I feel warm and protected. I don’t need to ask you to improve your technique; you instinctively understand what I need and love me like I need to be loved. I know that you could replicate everything in the Kama Sutra if you chose to do it, but that’s not what I need from you. When I make love to you, I only want to feel you inside me and think only about the delight you bring me; I don’t need to imagine a monster on our bed. He is dead to me. I just want you, Jake. I tried to give you your own child because I wanted to. Amir killed her, and that is another insult to my body and to you that he will pay for, sooner or later.”

  Jake put his hand on her cheek and kissed her. “I love you Tess; I want to give you whatever you want.”

  “Jake, what I want now is you inside me. I need you to embrace me and to give me comfort. There is no one else in here but you and me.”

  Tess got on her back and opened her arms, welcoming him. Jake moved on top and kissed her. He touched her breasts, ran his fingers between them to her stomach and lightly ran his finger on her moist petals. Tess sighed and opened her legs wider for him. Jake slid inside her, feeling her warm center and moved inside, slowly and lovingly. She elevated her pelvis to accept his sweet invasion and achieved bliss. She held onto Jake for a long time.

  Chapter 64

  Treason

  Major Nizar Hamdani, General Turner’s inside man in Amir’s circle, had been collecting evidence of Amir’s scheming to take over Iraq and make himself into the head of state. In Amir’s absence, he had been invited into the group of officers who formed the central cadre of conspirators. Being on the inside enabled him to learn the details of the plot.

  The group consisted of a Major General, four Colonels of which Kemal was one and eight Majors, including Nizar. Their plan had been disrupted by Amir’s injuries and his temporary absence in Geneva for medical care.

  Amir sent them a secret message instructing the officers to keep working on the planned takeover of the government. He wanted everything ready for implementation as soon as he got back to Iraq.

  The takeover plan was elaborate. The officers were to provide advanced weapons to the soldiers under their command and make sure that they b
ecame proficient in their use. To obtain their loyalty, they made sure that the troops were well fed and housed in decent barracks. The head of a tank brigade was persuaded to come into the fold. The tanks would be needed if the conspirators met resistance from forces protecting the government. Considerable resources were dedicated to preventing the American military in Iraq from interfering. On the day of the coup, Amir’s troops would station themselves at strategic points outside American bases and try to bottle their soldiers inside.

  ***

  Amir was ready to leave the clinic in Geneva. He looked at his face in the mirror. The doctors did a reasonable job to repair the damage, but he would need further surgery down the line to minimize the scars on his face. He decided to postpone the cosmetic procedures because he needed to go back to Iraq and seize the opportunity to take over the government. The longer he waited, the harder it would be to maintain secrecy.

  He boarded his private jet and flew to Paris to meet his sister Fadime. She sported a cast on her broken arm and was shocked when she saw his face.

  “Amir, looks like you screwed up again; they took your son back and look at what Tess did to us. At least they didn’t take Aara.”

  “Where is she? I want to see her.”

  Fadime pushed a button to summon the nanny.

  Amir was hurting. He reached for the brandy and sat down with Fadime. The nanny brought Aara in the room. The child was crying. “I don’t want to go with Aunt Fadime; I want to be with Tess.”

  Amir opened his arms to her, and the child went to him without her usual enthusiasm. “Uncle Amir, where is Tess?”

  “I don’t know Aara. She did a wicked thing by walking away from you again.”

  Aara started to cry again, her sobs heartbreaking. Amir did what he could to console her and eventually returned the child to the nanny.

  “Amir, I hope that you are finally getting over Tess. She is lethal. I suggest that you steer clear of her from this time on.”

  “I can’t do that Fadime. She took my son from me and I will scour the earth to get him back.”

  “Let’s not forget that you took him away from her first. Stop rationalizing. This time you lost. You are lucky that you didn’t lose Aara this time. Give it up. You have more important things to do. By the way, your face looks awful.”

  Amir ignored her comment. “Fadime, you know that I never quit. If will get Tess and I will put her through so much pain that she will beg me to kill her, which I will do after I take my pleasure ravaging her.”

  “Amir, I am going to stay in Paris and mind my business from now on. Don’t ask me to do anything for you. I don’t want to get involved in your schemes anymore. Life is short and I don’t need to spend the rest of it fighting windmills.”

  Amir remained silent, staring into space. Fadime saw that Amir’s obsession was still ravaging his soul.

  “Amir, there is one more thing. I showed her the video that we made of you and Tess in bed. She assured me that she would kill me if that goes out. Now I am afraid.”

  “You did what? I thought I destroyed the tapes.”

  “Yes you did, but I saved a copy because those scenes gave me pleasure.”

  Fadime, what in the world were you thinking when you showed her the video? You are lucky she didn’t kill you on the spot.”

  “I did it to get leverage so we could keep your children.”

  “It didn’t work very well, did it? Now she knows that you have something to blackmail her with. This is too dangerous, you must forget about it.”

  “Amir, if your intent is to destroy her, then you have to destroy her family as well. Your revenge must be terrible.”

  “Very well, keep the video secured. Don’t do anything with it for now; I don’t think that Tess makes empty threats. I would hate to see you killed.

  Fadime got up and kissed him on the mouth. “I would now love to go to bed with you Amir, but don’t think that either of us is in any shape to do it.”

  “Sad but true, Fadime. We have to heal first.”

  ***

  Amir flew to Baghdad. Two of his trusted officers met him and whisked him to his offices in the Army headquarters building.

  He looked like hell, and the staff tried not to stare at his scarred face. Amir didn’t care. He demanded a briefing and the officers brought him up to date on the preparations for the coup.

  The new Iraqi government was still dysfunctional. The Prime Minister seemed to be impervious to criticism, still systematically doling out power to Shiites and marginalizing the Sunnis. Each Sunni revolt was seen as a challenge to the government and an excuse to impose further sanctions. Insurgents continued bombing and killing civilians, with no sign of abating. The powers that be were safely ensconced in the secure area were hardly concerned about the needs of the people.

  Amir’s staff briefed him on the details of the planned coup. It would be couched in patriotic terms. The great General Amir al-Saadi, incensed about the impending disintegration of the country, will sweep the corrupt officials aside and establish an orderly regime that will protect all of our citizens. To help spread the message, his loyal troops will seize all media stations at the same time that they take the key government buildings. Should any of the ministers resist, they shall be arrested.

  Once the coup is a fait accompli, it will be hard for the American to interfere. At this point, they would want to go home anyway, and now they will be able to do so because the Iraqi government will again be stable and ruled by an iron hand.

  “Excellent,” said Amir. We will move in five days.”

  Major Nizar Hamdani took careful mental notes. It was time to provide an update to General Turner.

  Chapter 65

  Good for Business

  General Turner was in seventh heaven. Not only he had his grandson back, but his company was selling billions of dollars’ worth of weapons to every trouble spot in the world. The Middle East was particularly profitable. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the Emirates and Israel wanted to have the most state of the art fighter jets, helicopters, tanks, missiles and artillery pieces, cost no object. The Russians, Brits, and the French were also in the game, but the Americans got the lion’s share of the business. All of this equipment required extensive training, work which was performed by international military companies including SRD, the company headed by Jake and Tess.

  The Middle East nations had severe concerns about Iran, Saudi Arabia’s chief rival for hegemony in the area. The ruthless Ayatollahs that ran Iran were universally feared, hence the perceived need for nations in the area to arm themselves to the teeth. The Asian countries were also good customers since they were afraid of China’s aggressive military buildup and growing financial clout.

  Jake started to develop serious reservations about helping nations all over the world to train them on the use of jet planes costing 50 million apiece and an assortment of other advanced weapons. The cost outlay for modern weapons was staggering. Using that money to benefit the people would have probably have erased poverty forever.

  General Turner agreed with Jake’s analysis, but he was a pragmatist. If the Americans did not sell weapons to the eager buyers, the Russians, Chinese and the French would gladly fill the gap.

  General Turner, Jake, and Tess had a strategy session. They had to decide on whether it would be advisable for the two of them to go back to Iraq for the implementation of Plan B, the downfall of Amir al-Saadi.

  Their man planted with Amir’s staff kept feeding them information about his conspiracy to take over the government. It looked like the coup was imminent.

  Another curious factor was the complete lack of news about Amir’s getting injured. The Iraqi investigators were still looking for the terrorists that allegedly had kidnapped and hurt him. Apparently, Amir was still sticking to his story. There was no insinuation of involvement by Tess’s team. It appeared that Amir had better things to do than seek revenge, like engineering a military takeover.

  General Turner expresse
d his misgivings about the mission.

  “You two are the best people to lead the operation in Iraq, but I am concerned that you may attract al-Saadi’s wrath when he learns that you are back in Iraq. I have always suspected that sooner or later he might try again to get his revenge for the last encounter he had with you, not to mention the pummeling that Tess gave him and his sister. If you go to Iraq, it’s going to be difficult to keep a low profile because you will need to work with senior government ministers to avert a coup.”

  “We have to take a chance with this,” said Jake. If Amir succeeds in becoming the new Dictator of Iraq, he will gain significant power and he is likely to use it. He is very competent and experienced. If he has built a skilled and well-led organization and he could achieve results. Bringing the country back from chaos would gain him the following of the elites. Beyond that, I believe he might flex his muscles with the surrounding nations in the Middle East. Think about what a smarter Saddam would do.”

  “I agree with Jake,” Tess added. “We need to take the risk of going to Iraq with our team. Nobody knows Amir like we do. We might be able to stay a step ahead of him and help to put him away for good.”

  General Turner was pensive. “I don’t like the idea of the both of you going there and risk your lives in such a risky operation. Perhaps we can use your best operatives to do the job.”

  Tess disagreed. “Our people are excellent professionals, but I want them to know that I would not ask them to assume this kind of risk without our direct involvement. It’s simply a matter of leadership. We need to get rid of an evil man before he creates chaos.”

  “It’s up to you, guys,” the General said, “If you insist on going I can’t do much. I will make sure that little Morgan is taken care of until you return. Be safe.”

  Tess and Jake hugged him on the way out.

  Chapter 66