"Your girls are magnificent," said Larson. "The two of them are miracle workers."
Rob clenched his teeth at the choice of words, but said, "We couldn't be prouder of them."
"We need to get the approval through congress as soon as the plebiscites are done," said Jim.
"That won't be a problem." Larson stood. "If you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work. It's been good seeing you."
"Anytime, Nick," said Jim.
After he left, Rob said, "I just don't trust that slippery son of a bitch."
"He does one hell of a job delivering the votes we need, though."
"That he does."
RIO DE JANEIRO
DECEMBER 15th
Kemp awoke from his surgery with Pam and Sonya there waiting for him. The bandages remained in place and his throat felt raw from having been intubated, but otherwise he felt okay. And drugged out of his mind.
The nurse gave him more pain medication and he slept again. The next time he woke, he felt like his face had been beaten to a pulp. This time Lisa and Sandy were there. They squeezed his hands and asked how he felt. He said, "Not so bad for a punching bag."
They both laughed, relieved. Sandy said, "The doctor says you can go back to the boat as soon as you can swallow pills, or you can stay here for another couple of days if you would rather."
"He just wants me out of here before the bandages come off." They both laughed." I'd rather be at home, but I'm not looking to screw up his plan."
Lisa said, "How about if we go back to the boat and the doctor and nurses see you there. Sound good? Now drink some water."
He swallowed and the cold water felt wonderful on his throat. They brought some soft food and he made himself eat, even though he wasn't hungry. It was good; he just didn't have an appetite.
On the boat later, he was grateful to sleep in his own bed.
RIO
DECEMBER 30th
It took a full two weeks for the swelling to his face to go down and for him to get a good look at the face he would be seeing in the mirror till the end of his days. It would take some getting used to, but he was amazed at how good he looked. If I had to go through that much pain, making me look good is the least he could do, he thought. This is a lot more attractive than I've ever been. I'm not completely sure that's a good thing, but I'm sure the women will approve.
The surgeon was there for his final visit. Kemp thanked him for his work and said, "I know you keep your silence, but I just want to remind you anyway." Pam brought over a small physician's bag with a half million in cash, opened it for the doctor to see, closed it up and handed it to him.
Pam also pulled out another bag with a smaller amount of cash and handed it to the nurse. "Thank you as well. The nurse flipped through the bundles of hundred dollar bills and pocketed it.
Kemp asked, "May we send you more work in the future?"
The surgeon was only too happy to agree and was visibly relieved to leave with his nurse/body guard.
Pam asked, "Do you think anyone is fooled by the nursing uniform? She had at least two guns on her."
Lisa said, "More like three, but who's counting."
"I'm glad that's over," said Kemp. "I'd rather not ever do that again.
"How are the ID's coming?"
Pam said, "Just waiting for your picture. Let's get some makeup on you and we'll take care of that right now." She took the pictures against a backdrop that Kemp's contacts had provided, and loaded them onto a flash drive." She put this into a small envelope and walked it out to a boy who was waiting on the doc with his bicycle.
A few hours later, a restaurant deliveryman showed up at the dock with their new Brazilian passports and ID's as well as the flash drive Pam had given the boy earlier. They gave him a bag to take back and thanked him.
They dug into the documents and looked them over well.
"These look like the real thing, Skipper, excuse me, Mr. Gabriel Dias. They did a great job," said Maria.
Laughing, Kemp said, "Call me Gabe, and they are the real thing. Even the addresses are real with people there to forward mail to a trash can in Australia. You are now Brazilian citizens, just don't ever have both sets of ID in the same place at the same time, and the Slippery Slope is now a Brazilian vessel."
Sonya asked, "So where do we go from here?"
"Let's start with the living room."
They went to the living room and bar area and Kemp sat down with them. "It's time to come up with a better plan. The problem is that I made my plans for Brazil back when it was just me, and the plans I made then won't work now because I didn't plan for a family because I knew they wouldn't come. My wife took our kids and left me three years ago. They died in Israel.
"You are my family. I need you to be safe and happy. I want you to be comfortable and to have everything you need.
"We can stay in Brazil, but there's always going to be someone trying to take what we have or kidnap one of you just because they think we have more. We can hire an army of mercenaries, but we're always going to stand out. On the other hand, we can own a good chunk of the country.
"We can go to Argentina where we can blend in better, but the concerns will still be there for those who will steal everything as soon as they realize it's there.
"We can keep traveling all over the world. I speak fluent Portuguese so will keep my new identity. You can travel under your own names just as easily since no one will be looking for you.
"My new face makes it so we can go back to the States in reasonable safety, though I will always have to be careful and have to avoid fingerprinting."
Lisa said, "Let me stop you there. We're rich. We can make anyplace work. Personally, I like the idea of our own private island to raise our kids."
"Kids?!"
"Oh, you thought Pam was the only one with a bun in the oven?"
"Who?"
"Well, I have one working for starters."
"Me, too," said Maria.
Kemp was stunned. He asked, "Anything else I should know?"
Pam said, "We bought an island while you were recuperating and we've already brought in a South African security team, along with their families. We're hiring teachers, chefs, medical, and general staff now."
"I thought you said you got the pill."
Maria said, "Oh, we bought them but were kind of jealous of Pam, so we didn't take them."
"What?"
Maria smiled, "I told you he'd be happy!"
Sandy said, "Let's show him the Island! I took mine by the way, so we won't all be fat at the same time."
Pam said, "He still thinks I'm sexy!" She opened a door to the deck and yelled, "Jack, time to go!"
She walked up to the bridge and started the engines. In a few moments, the boat was untied, their five person security team was on board, and Pam was pulling away from the dock.
Kemp said to the remaining crew, "Obviously, I'm not in control here."
Sandy said, "Sorry, you were out of commission and we had to improvise."
Pam steered the trawler out into the ocean at a steady six knots. He had to admit that she handled the boat like a pro. He really was starting to feel extraneous. With a sigh, he thought, It's probably a good thing.
Just out of sight of the city, Pam hit the horn as two speed boats full of men approached the boat with automatic weapons firing into the air. Kemp was reaching for his pistol when he heard two rocket propelled grenades launched off the deck and the two boats exploding shortly thereafter.
Lisa told him, "Relax, we told you we've got it covered."
They didn't bother to stop to check for survivors.
The trip to the island that they had purchased took three hours. The island itself was over 40 acres with an enclosed harbor and helicopter pads. Apparently it had been used as a resort over the past few years, until the market fell out after the virus. Kemp saw that there was a large mansion and several smaller buildings around the property, with more in the process of being built. It was b
eautiful.
"Okay, I'm impressed. What's the story with the South Africans?"
Sandy answered, "Twenty three of them were here under contract with a mining company that shut down after the world market collapsed, so they were stuck here. Several had their families with them, too. They would only hire on if we took their families, too."
"Perfect!"
"We've hired a local business manager, too. He's well known for helping foreigners during and after the virus and has a reputation for being more honest than most. He's also connected to the gills with the political scene here."
"What's his angle?"
"We're funding a real estate holding company for him with us keeping a 49% stake as a silent partner. It cost us three million. The guy is good and will probably make us some money, but the truth of the matter is that it's mostly just us paying to grease the wheels. We'll conveniently forget about the three million later unless he pisses us off."
Kemp thought about it and said, "Brilliant."
Sandy jumped in and said, "But what you'll really love is our chef, Berta. Let's go eat!"
How the hell did I manage to get this lucky, he thought, and when did they get so damn competent? He followed Sandy and Lisa into the dining room.
SAN FRANCISCO
FEBRUARY 13th
Julie and Helen were in at the Kunoichi Corp headquarters building working and hiding from the crowds trying to almost worship them.
They met with the mayor and other civic leaders in the morning to discuss further needs of the city. It was a productive meeting, but they handed the details over to the local team to be worked out.
Once they were alone, Helen said, "I don't know about you, but I'm wearing out."
"Me, too. These last couple of months has really taken a toll. Why don't we take a few days off," said Julia. "Let's go back to the Arizona house today. I'll set it up."
Julie called and let their assistant know that they would be leaving for Arizona. They slipped out an employee entrance door wearing scarves and dark glasses and stepped into a waiting passenger van with their security.
"Are you sure this is okay," asked Helen.
Julie answered, "Come on, we've earned it."
They were several blocks away when they heard a massive explosion.
"What the hell?"
Helen said, "We have to go back."
Julie paled and said, "John, get us to the airport, now!"
Helen looked like she was in shock. "But our people?"
Julie whispered, "Helen, we were the targets. There's nothing we can do back there except let the bad guys know they didn't get us and maybe give them another shot.
They arrived at the airport and security spent a half hour going over every inch of their plane before taking off. They flew over the city only to find that it was their building that was hit and it was completely destroyed.
Julie texted her father on the cell phone they kept for emergencies. "Bomb in SF. Assuming assassination attempt. Missed us by minutes. On our way to safe place."
Helen cried for the first hour of the flight home.
LAS VEGAS
The bombing in San Francisco was brutal. Jim sat with Rob and General Whitman listening to reports on the damage so far. The loss of life was staggering.
Rob said, "Thank God! The girls texted. They're okay and are going to ground, probably to their Arizona property."
"Let's keep that quiet for now," said Jim. "We can let our evil mastermind out there think he succeeded. Maybe he'll slip up. Tell them to stay dark."
Whitman said, "This wasn't Kemp. Israelis don't work this way."
Rob asked "Who do you think it is?"
"I'm thinking it's the leader of the conspiracy," said Whitman. "He's brutal and tends to overdo things. I'm betting he's up to his eyeballs in our government, too."
The monitor that was set to the national news was showing reports that the girls were believed to have been killed. Jim rubbed his chin and said, "It may be good for people to think the girls are dead for a while. I have no idea what this will do to the plebiscites, though."
"He has someone in congress or he may even be in congress. He's playing the long game." Rob hit the table with the palm of his hand. "We have to get out of here now!" He pushed the intercom and said, "Evac now!"
Secret Service agents exploded into the room, grabbing all three men and running them to the waiting limousine, then to Air Force one. As soon as the men were aboard, the plane left the runway at full speed.
Fifteen minutes later, the base they had just left was hit by a large explosion.
"Jesus, Rob! How the hell did you know?"
Rob just sat there in shock. Nellis Air Force Base was gone.
Jim looked at him and realized that all three of their wives had been there. "Oh my God!"
Whitman said, "We'll deal with that later. For now we need to run the country."
"Get me a camera in here," said Jim. "I need to make an announcement to the country."
Once the camera was there, Jim started his address. "My fellow Americans, today a weapon of mass destruction was detonated in Las Vegas. The damage is catastrophic, but we will find those responsible and bring justice to them. I am in control of the country and will remain so.
"Keep your courage up and please pray for the innocent victims of this vile act."
He had the cameraman turn off the recording and said, "Get that out now."
"Rob, tell me, how did you know?"
"It was Whitman's comment about the leader of the conspiracy overdoing things and being up to his eyeballs in government. I realized that our mystery scumbag is in government and congress is on recess this week."
Whitman said, "Of course! If our conspirator is in congress, he has access to everything we tell them. He's certainly not going to blow himself up, but otherwise, he'll be as close to us as he can be."
Jim said, "We need to kill this bastard."
Rob said, "We need to identify him first."
"He's a sneaky son of a bitch and this will have to be quiet," said Jim.
Rob said, "I'll get my team on it."
"Good hunting," said Jim.
ARIZONA HOUSE
Julie said, "Dad just texted and said to go dark. Something big is happening, apparently." She opened the small window and dropped the phone out of the plane.
"That sounds good because right now I just want to crawl into bed and stay there for a few weeks," said Helen.
"You're not kidding."
A few hours later they were landing at their Arizona property. They were both thrilled to get out of the plane. "Next time we buy a plane with a bathroom," said Julie.
One of their house staff came running up to them and said, "Las Vegas was hit with a scramjet missile! The news is reporting you two as killed in San Francisco."
Julie said to him, "Tell everyone, no information goes out about us being here. We could easily get the next one if anyone figures out that we're here."
They went into the house and spent the next few hours getting up to speed via the military communications equipment. What was immediately clear was that the attack on Las Vegas was devastating.
Just before midnight, one of their bodyguards woke them about a car pulling up the private road. Julie and Helen dressed quickly. After a couple of moments wait, security called back an all clear.
Both Julie and Helen were shocked to see each of their mothers and Aunt Susan walk into the kitchen. After quick hugs, Susan walked straight over to the liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle of Southern Comfort. She said, "Sorry kiddos, but Aunt Susan needs a good stiff drink. Anybody else?" She poured several small glasses and passed them around.
Helen asked, "What happened?"
Emiko said, "We went out to Boulder city for lunch. Our security detail took one look at the situation and started to drive to Phoenix. I diverted them here and insisted that they keep things quiet."
Denise asked, "Have we heard from Matt and Luke?"
<
br /> Julie said, "Dad says they're okay and keeping a low profile. Whoever did this was after all of us, though."
Susan said, "Hopefully we'll know more tomorrow. We'll crash here tonight if you don't mind, and take things from there tomorrow morning."
"Maybe we can figure things out," said Helen. "Whoever it was sure as hell wasn't subtle. No one knows that we're alive except for the immediate family. That could be an advantage."
Denise looked into her glass and said, "Tomorrow we kick some ass."
Everyone agreed completely.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA
FEBRUARY 14th
Rob met with his team at Luke Air Force Base. "We're working on the assumption that our perpetrator is up to his eyeballs in at least some aspect of the government and has people in congress if he's not in congress himself. We've entered the final stages of the game and he's playing for all the marbles now. Thoughts?"
Green said, "Sir, if it's his end game, he's positioned to take over. Who is in place to take charge if the principles are taken out? One of those folks will be our conspirator or will lead us to him."
Will said, "Then Speaker Larson should be our first suspect, then the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Senator Rollins. After that the chain of succession goes to the various secretaries, and they're all our people."
"Look at them anyway," said Rob. "I don't think there would be anything there, but we need to make sure."
Matt asked, "What about the missile launch?"
Dave said, "It was launched off of a mobile platform in Idaho, but it could have been driven there from anywhere."
"Larson is out of Wyoming, and Rollins is out of Louisiana," said Ann.
"We know what we've taken out, but do we know how large the conspiracy had to be to have been viable," asked Green? "How big was it?"
Ann answered, "We've taken out enough to account for the minimum size. There could be another large base that wasn't in Simmons' databases. There would almost certainly be several smaller groups still out there. There wouldn't be enough to take over without being able to step in and taking over existing institutions."
The Forgiven The Fallen The Forsaken Page 33