Sebastian shook his head as he looked away from him and back to the orb, “Would you want to find out when she can command such high prices?” He rolled the diamond between his two fingers enjoying the play of lights through its many facets.
The other man wanted to know more but something about his employer’s warning about Alice Weaver struck him as something he should obey. His curiosity about her was high, not just anyone could afford Sebastian’s work or supplies and from what he could see the amount she had just paid was astronomical. He thought about his next question but before he could even utter it Sebastian raised his hand.
“Just accept it, she is an enigma and will remain one. This place,” he indicated the expensive house that no one had found before, “Was our safe house and yet she entered it without so much as a door knocker. She is all-knowing and won’t hesitate to kill if she has to. She uses me but she pays well. You’d better see where the gate keeper and the guards in front have disappeared to. I don’t think she would kill them but they may be unconscious somewhere.”
The man nodded and rose from the comfortable chair hurrying out of the room.
Sebastian looked into the crystal thoughtfully realizing whatever the information he was going to find for Alice it was going to be very very dangerous and very very expensive apparently.
Her mind remembered the scene at the condo, the blood, the body, and the characters in the play. Her mind, while numb at the time also had noted discrete details that her well-ordered mind had filed away for future reference. It was now fingering through those files, creating impressions, filtering the data as Alice sorted and tabulated little incidental facts.
The coroner and his minions that had shown up had been wearing far too much jewelry for their jobs or station in life. There was no way they could afford such ostentatious shows of wealth. The gold alone on their fingers and wrists much less the chains around their necks was worth a lot of money. Absently Alice had taken note of it at the time but had also done nothing about it since she was so grief stricken over Kathy’s apparent death. Her well-ordered mind though had filed it away unconsciously until she was ready to tabulate, to compile such information.
Alice now went through her own collection of ‘evidence’ and visited the condo for the first time in over a year. She had allowed no one to clean the carpets or replace them. The place smelled musty and unused after all this time. Her boat had been taken out of the water and dry docked. The home that had given them so much love and pleasure was now an empty shell. At the sign of the dried blood now a dark brown she halted and felt the bile begin in her throat. It had been convincing, it had convinced a killer that her life, her wife, her soul mate had been brutally killed. Instead it had been a set up and she wondered what drug they had given Kathy to make her appear so absolutely lifeless and fool her. She hoped Kathy hadn’t suffered too much but from the videos she had seen, the spark was gone from her wife’s eyes. They may have extinguished that and she wondered how far gone Kathy was and if she could be brought back to what she once was. There would be hell to pay but Alice knew she needed to move carefully and plan this out completely.
She called her ‘source’ who had the information on the note Kathy had given her. “Yeah the fingerprints match your wife’s but the other fingerprints match that other set you sent me,” he told her.
“The other set?” she repeated stupidly as she analyzed the information in her head.
“Yeah, remember you sent the two sets in a few weeks ago?” and Alice realized the ones from Dr. Dan’s and Bonnie’s houses were what he was referring to.
“They match one of those?” she asked.
“Yes and they appear to be female,” her contact told her.
That clinched it for Alice; apparently Bonnie had been in on this a lot longer than she had originally thought. She realized the missing files she hadn’t accessed yet on the computer might show Bonnie in their training or breeding program and wondered what else she had ‘missed.’ Alice and Kathy had been set up for a while and with Eli Watson in the mix she wondered if he had been manipulating it for the years that they had been together. She now regretted allowing him to go to jail, allowing him the opportunity to strike back at her in such a big way. She realized she should have ‘finished’ him when she had the opportunity but even then she had hesitated, Kathy had been changing her for the better even then. She realized though that ‘better’ wasn’t necessarily a good thing after all, had she completed her initial urge he might not have threatened her family or caused such heartache for all of them. She shrugged, she couldn’t live on regrets and she had learned from her error, she would make sure it was corrected.
Alice gave her contact more instructions and arranged for some items to be sent over to be analyzed. She now wondered with the police investigation how far that had gone, how far was Eli Watson and now Alex Johansen’s reach actually extended. Had they stalled the investigation or what? Had they bribed the authorities? It made sense that there was someone on the inside covering tracks that their minions had made.
Alice had her answer a few days later as she looked over her new computers, she had to buy a second one to keep up on the information she was gathering, analyzing, and amassing. The blood from Kathy hadn’t been hers, it had been human but who’s no one knew right now as there was no DNA match up in any of the data bases. The police had dropped the case because supposedly there wasn’t enough evidence; it had been a random murder in Los Angeles. They had suspected Alice but that had turned out to be a dead end and she had the alibi of the paper and the fact that whoever attacked Kathy had made the mistake or was it of letting Kathy hit the alarm.
Alice was staying for the first time at her house in the valley. She didn’t want to reopen the house in Palos Verdes in case anyone was watching it, she hadn’t heard anything on the news about Dr. Dan or Bonnie but a source had told her that they had disappeared before a search warrant could be issued and executed. Alice was furious since they had had plans concerning both Kit and Kathy. She did get her Pathfinder out of the garage late one night and used it to get around town but only after carefully taking a taxi late one afternoon to her neighborhood, hiking to her own backyard, scaling the fence, and watching for a long time to see if the house was watched. She saw that the gardeners had been doing their jobs faithfully but she saw no one else and made sure she wasn’t seen. Only then did she remove the SUV from the garage and drive away. What Alice did not know at the time was that she had missed her ‘watchers’ by only a few minutes as they had gone to dinner. Word had gone out that Kit had disappeared and as a lot of psychological training and effort had gone into this individual she was a highly desired commodity. A lot of plans had been made for this young nubile white female. Now she was missing and the powers that be were looking for her.
Alice carefully worked out in the basement. She had a couple of new ‘toys’ in her armament. They were essentially crossbows but she had used her grinder and a specially designed set of arrows fit to these small handheld crossbows. You couldn’t hunt with crossbows unless you were handicapped in most states and she had to use her contacts to obtain these. A few trips to downtown Los Angeles and a few odd importers of knives and other paraphernalia and she had almost what she wanted. She had to buy from several importers to get the quantities she desired once she found what she was looking for, ground them to her specifications, and worked with them on the small crossbows, like a large handgun it took practice and time and she worried that time was running out for her wife. Her family’s disappearance, the hunt for Dr. Dan and Bonnie, and things she had been reading on the computer led her to believe that time was running out. They were panicking and the women were beginning to be moved. Alex had quite a harem, all of which he had tried and ‘mastered’ in his egomaniac way. A few were virgins and therefore, once ‘trained’ were auctioned off. His records showed he was so sure of himself and his operation that he had plans to move it to India and make it even larger where ‘white’ wom
en and their offspring were in higher demand to swarthy men whose cultures demanded perfect obedience and to whom they were nothing more than a piece of property. Alice was sickened by all this and practiced daily until she felt she was good enough for the plans she was making, conditioning her body and mind to what lay ahead.
She bought a pair of black hiking boots with thick soles, carefully she carved out distinctive patterns in the rubber grinding off the excess and practiced balancing on them as she broke them in and got used to them.
The information she got from Sebastian confirmed everything she already surmised. Eli had been very active in coded messages that were fairly easy for someone of Alice’s cunning intelligence to decode. She found where the FBI had missed vital clues but also where they had kept track, if she could find it so could Eli and his minions and had presumably kept the FBI on their toes and given them false leads. Prisoners these days were more sophisticated and someone of Eli’s tastes and intelligence would make sure that his interests were served; they were even talking about releasing him on good behavior. Alice sent a carefully worded set of requests to Sebastian, a shopping list as it were as well as a request for a particular visit to the prison where Eli could be found. Only another inmate with everything to gain would be able to access Eli and not arouse suspicions as a new inmate or a visitor would. She waited for more information and her supplies to be ready before she made a move.
Sebastian entered his new home, he felt expansive, he had enjoyed a long period of quiet and for a man in his business that was unheard of. He had purchased this home years ago but hadn’t thought he would need it. Alice entering the last safe home had proven to him it was time to move, he had become too complacent apparently, if she could find him, even with her excellent resources and her particular brand of intelligence, others might also. He liked this mini-mansion. It had a few extra’s he had installed over time that should ensure that no one should ever find it. There was nothing to suggest that someone of Sebastian’s stature and occupations would own it. He felt safe here; it was a home, not just a place to hide out. It was tastefully furnished and had been for the years when he didn’t live here; now that he did he was pleased with the result and by buying it years ago and not living in it immediately he had kept it off the radar of his possible enemies. Putting his brief case on the table by the front door he picked up the mail and looked through the various letters. Nothing of importance caught his eye and he put the stack back down. He wondered where the housekeeper was but she was probably making his dinner and he licked his lips in anticipation of a fine dinner that evening. He picked up his briefcase again and headed for this office. This office was his inner sanctum, something he tended to repeat in each house he owned. It had rich red colored cherry wood bookshelves, deep red leather chairs parked throughout the warm room, an absolutely huge far eastern carpet covering a wood floor with a hint of red tint to it to match the furnishings. There was a fireplace, totally unnecessary on this warm summer Southern California day. The floor to ceiling windows provided plenty of light showing off the collection of antique swords and ancient muskets that were crossed or under glass on the walls depending on their value. An impressive desk that matched the bookshelves was central to the room with a red sheen that reflected the beautiful sun rays coming in from the windows and in front of it stood a woman with a man kneeling before her in a submissive stance. The woman glanced up as Sebastian entered the room.
He stopped dead, not because he was afraid of the woman but he knew that the grip on the man’s neck with her hand meant she could snap it at any moment, one twist of her hand would do it. It was obvious he had trouble breathing from his odd color. He glanced at Sebastian on his entrance, his eyes pleading, begging for help. His hands were out at his sides pointing away, as he tried to lower them the woman’s hand squeezed marginally and he raised them again, they wavered from lack of blood and muscle control.
“Well Alice, this is a surprise as always, I thought we were going to meet elsewhere,” Sebastian said cautiously eyeing the situation and wondering at it.
She glanced at him again and nodded as she looked back down at her victim.
“Alice, please this is a priceless rug,” Sebastian said in a manner that injected humor into the situation.
Alice smiled a cold evil little smile that was not lost on her victim. She let him go and he gasped for air his arms coming down to grasp his neck and rub the hand hold she had kept on it. How could one woman, a petite woman such as she have brought him to his knees and keep him there with her hand? He didn’t care, he was gasping for much needed oxygen as he panted and gagged. Alice took a step back.
“Let me guess, you needed something?” Sebastian asked trying to still sound humorous.
Alice shook her head, “No, I wanted some information this time on a personal level.” She looked up at Sebastian with her odd yellow feline eyes and he took an involuntary step backwards. “Apparently someone was being nosy,” she informed him which told him more than the mere words that she used.
He nodded to show he understood. He wasn’t sure what to say. ‘I’m sorry’ would sound trite and stupid at this moment. He knew silence was probably his safest bet. He started to sweat profusely and desperately hoped that Alice still needed him and his skills or contacts.
Alice pulled herself together as she watched the other man gag and gasp for the necessary oxygen he had been deprived of. She then dismissed him and faced Sebastian again. “My supplies are inventoried?” she asked with a double meaning to her words.
Sebastian nodded as he answered, frozen in his spot by the door, “Of course,” he answered promptly.
Alice glanced around and turned to his bookshelves walking to them with her cat like walk, her petite form graceful and yet like a coiled spring. Pressing a hidden lever a door slowly opened and a passageway was revealed. She stepped into it unhesitatingly and reaching up pressed another lever that closed the hidden passageway behind her never glancing back at the two men remaining in the room behind her as she disappeared.
Sebastian breathed a sigh of relief at her exit. That wasn’t the first time she could have killed him but this time it was not his fault. He glanced at the man still gasping on his knees as he pulled himself to a chair and attempted to crawl up into it. Walking across the library Sebastian put his briefcase on the desk. He ignored the man pulling himself into the chair for a moment as he glanced at what he had thought was a perfect escape passage, specially built for quick escape. Apparently his secrets weren’t so secret and this enraged him. In fact, his safe home was no longer safe, how did this woman do that? Why did she need him and his contacts when she obviously could do better herself? He was grateful she did need him for the money it generated but she could at any time turn on him and this worried him. He thoughtfully looked at the swords crossed over the coat of arms behind his desk and reached up for one to look at it closer examining the fine blade and its sharp edge. He then turned and gave his attention to the man who had stopped choking and gagging to get oxygen back into his lungs. The bruise on his neck was bright red and it was obvious it would be quite a sight when fully formed.
“Let me guess, you asked why?” he said quietly.
The man looked up and tried to talk, it took three tries, his throat was so uncharacteristically sore it came out raspy when he tried to speak, “All I did was look into the shopping list she gave you and try to run the ISP backwards.”
Sebastian closed his eyes momentarily and then shook his head. What an idiot. He had told him to fill the list and not to question it. His actions could have killed them all, cost him his entire operation, his life. “Did my warnings mean nothing to you?” he said quietly as he walked around the desk to walk behind the man.
Sebastian’s demeanor fooled the sore throated man; he thought he was just going to be yelled at by his employer. He opened his mouth to speak again, “I didn’t do any harm,” he said defensively.
Sebastian whirled with the grace of a dance
r; in fact it was dance that had taught him how to fence so stylishly, effortlessly, and systematically. The slice of the sword through the air was unheard as he took off the seated man’s head in a neat one handed maneuver. He watched as the head rolled off the sliced neck, the razor sharpness of the sword letting it set for a moment before it tumbled off the shoulders and onto the floor with a sickening plop. He shook his head as he watched the torso fall forward and down onto the rug and the blood begin to spurt all over it before the arteries ran out of liquid and slowed to a pumping gurgle as the heart realized the precious blood was not coming back to it and slowed. “Damn and that was a good rug too,” he said regretfully as he wiped the blade on the body and began to move the furniture back from the creeping blood to roll up the body in the expensive Oriental rug and dispose of it with the trash.
As Alice elbowed her way forward, inch by inch she wiggled close enough to get a view with her night binoculars. She was glad she had chosen this remote ridge to watch the property. She had started crawling well back and felt confident no one knew she was here. She watched for a very long time to keep track of the movements of the guards. Three, no four were around the compound, making marches that allowed them to overlap each other and still maintain eye contact, none were out of sight of the other for more than a few moments, but it was those few moments that Alice was timing. She gathered her information over the hours she observed and was getting ready to leave when she heard a crackle in the brush near her. She immediately froze. Slowly, so slowly that it timed with her heart beat she turned to glance towards where the sound had originated. Enough time had gone by that if it were an animal she might not know because it would be gone but she knew animals rarely made noise like that, they rarely stepped on a twig or something that would crack. She raised her binoculars to her eyes and scanned the area. She could make out the profile of a man but only because her equipment was superior to his. As she watched him he must have had a sixth sense about someone watching him and he began to scan the immediate vicinity. Alice knew she was nearly invisible. He would not be able to see her unless she moved. That was not going to happen. She wondered if she had been so intent on the compound below that he had come after she into this area or if he had already been there observing the compound. His night vision goggles returned to the valley below them after an exceedingly long scan of the immediate vicinity. Slowly he relaxed as he observed the valley below their observation point.
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