by Finian Blake
“Terri is pregnant!” Francesca jumped to hug Terri. “When did you find out?”
“It was official a few days ago. I am about a month along and everything looks good right now.”
“What do you think about all this?” Francesca swung her gaze at Adam.
“I think it is the best news I have ever heard.” Adam said sounding genuinely enthusiastic.
“So why do you need the General?” Francesca moved back to the subject.
“They need Russian arms. I told them that I would find out exactly what will be possible. I have to at least go through the motions. I will talk to the General, and when he tells me that it is not possible I will be off the hook.”
“Nothing is that simple,” Francesca was not happy. Terri nodded her head in agreement and pointed at Adam.
He started his explanation, “Russia is fighting Afghanistan, Iran is fighting Iraq, and the Kurds are revolting in Syria, Iran and Iraq. When they are not shooting each other, everybody is taking pot shots at the Israelis and they occasionally shoot at each other just to keep their skills up. I would have to go in through Sweden to get to Russia. It is like going in through your ass to take your tonsils out. It’s just not possible right now.” The Lear started its approach into Long Beach. Francesca went up front for the landing, since air traffic in the LA area was heavy all the time and two sets of eyes were advisable. Long beach was not as bad as LAX, but it was part of the LAX controlled area. The Lear Jet 36 landed doing a quick taxi up to the business terminal.
Francesca did not go to the terminal with them, “I have to do a pickup in Chicago in three days. Give me a call and we will try to work something out. Say hello to Gregory for me.” Adam gave Gregory a call.
“Gregory, I will be over as soon as I can rent a car.”
“Nonsense, Anna and I will be out as soon as she is out of the shower. The Hilton is nearby take the shuttle over there, and I will pick you up in the bar.” Adam did as instructed. He and Terri were on their second drink when Gregory and Anna walked in.” Anna was tan and dressed in shorts and a loose mid-rift top. Gregory wore shorts, polo shirt and sandals. At six foot two and two hundred and fifty pounds he looked like a football player. They fit right in with California life. Gregory and Anna were driving a red Mercedes convertible with the top down. They both looked like they had been born there.
“I have steaks for the grill and when we finish dinner we can take a short sail.” When they went in the townhouse Terri was pleased to see that Anna only added to the décor.
Anna had a smile ear to ear. “You did a marvelous job picking things out. I was amazed to see how you blended Persian and Spanish styles. We felt right at home on the first day. It was only necessary to add a few things. Alice loved her room. She is away at Stanford Medical School. The good news is that we finished the guest room and that is where you will be sleeping. Why don’t you change clothes and we can have drinks on the patio.
Anna and Terri pulled up a chair on the patio while Adam and Gregory poured the drinks inside.
“So what brings you to see me?”
“Mercury found me. They want me to do another arms deal.” Gregory said nothing, so Adam continued. “Mercury wants me to buy used Russian arms for Afghanistan.” Gregory made a sour face but said nothing. “They wanted me to locate you for the buy. I told them that you were somewhere in the Mediterranean and promised that I would look into the matter.”
Gregory did not like exposing his new life. “They have no idea of who I am or where I am at?”
“No, that is why I set you up myself. I was going to bump around Europe for a while and tell them that I could not find you.”
Gregory handed Adam a drink. “My country has declared me a traitor. I am not really Russian. I am Georgian, so is Anna and there are many problems in that area.” Gregory stopped his line of thought. “Our beautiful wives are waiting for us. We will talk of this later. Right now let us join our wives and enjoy the afternoon.”
They went out on the patio to catch up on the past. Gregory brought one hundred pounds of gold with him when he left Russia. Most of it was in gold Romanov coins. When gold hit one thousand dollars an ounce he went to sell the coins discovering that the coins were quite a collector’s item. He sold the coins for just over three million dollars. Adam’s friend Sean was able to procure the paperwork for both of their degrees. Gregory started a small investing firm and was doing quite well. Anna worked with him keeping in touch with Francesca following her tips. Occasionally Gregory and Anna would Contact some friends at a jewelry mart in downtown LA and move some of the Russian Diamonds that Gregory had brought with them. Anna who was extremely astute turned a nice profit on several transactions. Francesca had given Anna some tips leading to some huge profits. Their daughter Alice was able to get documentation for her college degree and was accepted to Stanford medical school deciding to be a doctor instead of a nurse. With the way things were going, Gregory and Anna would not have to work again for the rest of their lives. Gregory broke out the steaks and the women went in the kitchen to prepare the rest of the meal. Gregory’s grill was state of the art. One side of the grill was gas and the other side was set up for charcoal. It was more of an outdoor kitchen than it was a grill. The coals were just getting started when Anna came running out of the house. “Terri is pregnant.” She kissed Adam congratulating him. Gregory went inside and poured another round of drinks to toast the good news.
He offered to take everyone for a sail. He bought a small Cal 25, finding that it was perfect for the light winds of Southern California. Terri begged off because her stomach was queasy and Anna stayed home with her. Adam helped ready the boat and in twenty minutes they were using the out board motor to back out of the slip. Adam worked the tiller while Gregory launched the sails. When everything was set both men settled into the cockpit and Gregory shut off the motor.
“How did you come out here?”
“We flew out from Manchester to New York. I switched to the Noah ID and flew down to DC. After the meeting, I took the Metro to Baltimore and caught a train to New York. We flew to Chicago and I took a private jet to Long Beach, switching back to the Furst ID.”
“It is good to see that you are still being careful. Now tell me about Mercury?” Adam outlined the discussion with Hans to Gregory who listened in silence. “I have been dying of boredom in retirement. I have actually looked at doing another arms deal to keep from going crazy. What Hans suggests is not impossible. I only lack the transportation.” Gregory gave Adam a long stare. “I have an associate that can get the arms. The rest needs some planning but I can get the arms out of Russia.” Adam was getting that here we go again feeling.
“What does he want for this service?”
“He will want two million in gold and a set of papers for him and his family.”
“That should be workable. The Afghans want to pay in drugs. Can he take any of it in heroin?”
“No, he won’t have time to move it.”
“Can he wholesale it,” Adam asked.
“I can check on that.” Gregory said thoughtfully.
Gregory highlighted the political situation, “Russia is surrounded by Islamic states. Iran and Iraq are at war, Turkey and Iraq are fighting along the borders, Jordan is up to their eyeballs in Palestinian terrorists, Syria is pissed at the United States and Lebanon is totally up for grabs. When they are not shooting at each other, they are shooting at Israel. If they have nothing better to do, they take an occasional shot at Russia unless they are trying to buy arms from them in which case they shoot at the Americans. Internally all the republics taken over by Russia during World War One are not in love with Russia. You know that both Anna and my families are both from Georgia, so there is little love there.” Both men fell into quiet contemplation. Adam opened a couple of beers and they enjoyed the sunset.
Gregory pulled the boat in the slip just before it was full dark. By the time they squared away the boat and came back to the patio it was
ten PM. Both ladies were chatting half asleep in lounge chairs.
Anna took one look at Gregory’s face. It was fully animated. “You bastard, you figured it out.” Anna said as Terri broke out in tears. Anna spent too much time as Gregory’s confidant and knew that he was committed. He was a shell of a man without that shot of adrenalin and Gregory was full of life tonight.
Terri pouted, “Noah is back, isn’t he?” She detected the look of excitement in his eyes too. He seemed more alive than he had been in years.
“Popeye,” was all he could say. Anna shot a questioning look at Terri.
“He is saying. ‘I am what I am and that is all that I am’. That was our truce when we got married.” Terri visibly softened. “I take him for what he is and he does the same for me.” Terri took Adam by the hand and started walking down to the boat slip. “Anna, do you mind if we screw on your boat?”
“Yes, but don’t scare the neighbors.” Gregory and Anna went to sleep with their balcony door open. Periodically they could hear soft cries across the water.
Gregory knocked on the side of the boat with a pot of coffee in his hand.
“I thought I told you not to scare the neighbors. Anna woke me up last night and attacked me. One of the neighbors called me up this morning and asked if we were alright.” Terri walked up into the cockpit with Adam’s shirt on.
“We have a truce.” She stepped out on the dock and walked to the house with only Adam’s shirt on flashing a little tuft of hair as she stepped across to the dock. A neighbor was glaring at Terri. She flipped the neighbor off with the finger calling out. “If you had been screwing your husband I would not have awakened you.”
Gregory broke out in laughter, “She is quite a handful.”
“She is a double handful in all respects. That is why I love her. It is both love and lust. She does not want me to do this but Terri would never tell me not to.”
“Anna is my closest advisor,” Gregory said. “I trust her judgment more than anyone else. She is the one that advised me to trust you when we left.” Gregory waved his hand in a circle around him. “If she told me not to do something it would be that she believed it would fail.”
Adam recommended an extra set of papers for Anna and Gregory, deciding to visit Jeff. If they were going to move around anonymously they needed to protect their primary identity. Jeff was glad to see them. He recognized Anna and Gregory instantly. “I do not do that many sets of papers, so I keep all of my specials in my head with no written records.” Jeffery instantly warmed to Anna. “I can tell from a picture if I will like someone.” He went right into his spiel trying to talk Anna into posing naked for him. Gregory was starting to get pissed off.
“He does that to all the ladies unless he thinks they are dogs,” Adam said. Don’t take it personally it’s really a compliment.” Gregory backed down at Adam’s urging.
“What are you looking for?” Jeff was a consummate artist.
“We are looking for a set of papers for quick passage. We need something that will pass at customs but nothing in depth.”
“Do you want the standard checks?”
“Of course we do.”
“What names do you want to use?”
“We will leave that up to you.”
“I will need just the driver’s license and passport?”
“Yes,” Jeff took Anna first. He took one set of pictures, had her change her blouse and rearrange, her hair. “Nobody looks the same in their ID pictures. It is a dead giveaway.” Jeff did the same for all of the shots. Terri gave Jeff a charge by changing clothes in front of him. “I will run some names. Come back around three and you can pick what you need.”
The four friends went down to Marina Del Rey for the afternoon to walk around the marina. The four of them found a Mexican restaurant everybody approved of and ate a leisurely lunch. The group made it back to Jeff’s studio by 4 PM.
“I did Canadian papers.” Jeff seemed pleased with himself. “They will be of some help in a pinch. There are a lot of people that don’t like Americans but Canadians are pretty much regarded as acceptable worldwide. I don’t recommend that you be married according to your papers. It could be a handicap. If one gets stopped the other can pass.” Everyone saw the wisdom in that. Jeff ran all the names to be sure that nobody was on the wanted list for any of the law enforcement agencies. Picking the name of a terrorist was a bad idea. Gregory paid for all of the papers.
The group decided to stop at the Queen Mary in Long Beach for dinner. Adam called Francesca for her schedule while they were waiting to be seated. She had a commitment in Vancouver early in the morning, so he decided to take a two stop British Airways trip to Heathrow out of LAX. There was general agreement that they wanted to watch the sunset from the Queen. Everybody was in a quiet mood as the sun set. Anna and Gregory promised to visit the Inn, the week after next. Anna was looking forward to the change and Terri piqued her interest when she mentioned Beth and Arlene’s shop.
Returning to the townhouse, they adjourned to the patio. Gregory poured a round of drinks with everybody taking a lounger. The neighbor Grace got off her stair master and leaned over the wall. She was the same age as Anna and dressed in a halter top and a thin pair of nylon jogging shorts.
“I suppose you are going to keep me up all night again.” Anna walked up to the wall grabbing both of the neighbor’s wrists.
“Only if you come over,” Grace tried to pull away, but Anna held on. Grace was surprised at Anna’s strength. She nodded and climbed over the wall.
“Do you scream during sex?” Grace shook her head no. “You will.” Anna escorted Grace up stairs keeping a firm grip on her waist. “Terri, I will need your help.”
“You men can stay down here and discuss your deals. We will entertain the neighbor tonight.” Terri said it with a great deal of sarcasm in her voice. The do not disturb sign was out.
Terri’s voice drifted over the railing of the balcony and Gregory said, “Anna supervised the discipline of the women on the base. She hates sarcasm.” They heard muffled protests as the balcony door close.
Gregory drove Adam and Terri to LAX in the morning. Anna stayed behind to keep her promise of keeping Grace up all night. The British Airways flight that they took back stopped in New York before heading to Heathrow. They were the only passengers in first class for the LAX to New York segment. Terri was dressed in Beth’s fashions. She wore a linen shawl to ward off the chill from the air conditioner. The stewardess Jennifer greeted them at the door and escorted them to the upper deck. She offered to take Terri’s fine linen shawl noting the feel and quality of the garment. “This is very nice where do you buy your clothes?”
“I have them made for me.”
“How nice.” The answer sounded flat. Jennifer just split up with her boyfriend. She had just found out that her boyfriend was screwing her best friend whenever she was out of town. Everybody on the crew knew about it and with Jennifer’s attitude the other attendants were happy to stay on the main level and let her take care of the two first class passengers by herself up in the dome. Jennifer took Terri’s answer to be snobbish and she was not looking forward to a good five hours with her.
Terri was still pumped up from the night before. Grace was recently divorced from her husband who ran off with his twenty year old secretary, so she was completely down on the whole male sex. Anna and Terri were still pissed off that the men would even think about another arms deal for Mercury. The evening regressed to male bashing and personal entertainment. After the flight took off, Terri tried to take off her high heels finding that she could not undo the straps from her seat. She started to get up and Jennifer walked back to tell her the seat belt sign was still on.
“I’m pregnant and I can’t quite make it to the little buckles.”
“Let me help you with them.” Jennifer took hold of her ankle and started to undo the straps. She noted the quality of Terri’s shoes and hose. “I suppose that these are custom made too?” Jennifer’s comm
ent sounded snooty.
“Yes, they are custom made. The hose cost fifteen pounds a pair, and my lingerie is custom made too. My husband spoils the hell out of me, and it feels good.” Terri looked at the arrogant young lady. “Which side of the bed did you wake up on this morning?” Just then the seat belt sign was turned off. Jennifer went to the galley drawing the curtains. She had gone too far and would clearly receive a complaint.
Terri got up and followed Jennifer to the galley and stepped behind the curtain. She slipped off her shawl placing it over Jennifer’s shoulders. Terri moved the loose ends behind Jennifer’s back and looped the loose ends around Jennifer’s arms immobilizing her arms. “Look I am not trying to be snobbish. I did very well and I am enjoying it.” Terri realized she had overstepped her bounds. “Can we just start over again?” After a little thought Jennifer nodded her head. She could call the flight crew, and they would have to file an incident report or she could call a truce.
“We are both wrong. Let’s start over.” Terri released the shawl but left it on Jennifer’s shoulders. Jennifer stroked the shawl.
“This is nice. I am heading back home to kick my boyfriend out. I guess that I let it carry into my job. I have to start service now.”
“Let’s talk afterward.” Terri said returning to her seat.
“I thought we were going to have a brawl up there,” Adam said. “Did you get things settled?”
“Yes she is just having a bad day.” Terri was doing extremely well, but she remembered leaner times.
Jennifer completed the service and brought the pilots their breakfasts going into the galley to eat her breakfast. Terri came in carrying her shoes. Your feet appear to be a size seven. Try these on. The shoes fit perfectly. Jennifer walked up and down the aisle to try them out. The cockpit buzzed for tea and she went forward with the tea after ten minutes Jennifer came back red in the face.
“One of the fly boys reached up my skirt for a feel. I was hoping to quit this, but with my boyfriend moving out I am stuck.” Terri told Jennifer about the Inn, the elite clientele and the sexual services offered there.