by Arthur Rawl
“Let’s just put them in the deal files and act satisfied on this question. I’ll put what you just said in a file memo to put a lid on them.”
“Thanks. But, somehow I feel like I’m missing something. It’s the way the whole thing was set up.”
Robin dropped down in a chair and started grinning, “You really haven’t figured it out have you. Think about the deal we did in Hong Kong about eight years ago. Everyone was busy watching the money before the deal closed because of the new US laws on bribes. No one cared about the post-closing adjustment refund because it was funded out of the seller’s lawyer’s escrow account and went directly back to the buyer’s lawyer. Remember a few years later the Financial Times said the refund was part of a scheme aimed at buying necessary political support for the deal. The post-closing adjustment money sat for a few months with the buyer’s lawyer and then went on to several Swiss Bank accounts believed to be owned by Chinese big wigs. Nothing was ever proved but …”
“Thanks Robin, now I know why it felt familiar and probably why there was so much effort spent in setting up something as dumb and obvious.”
“What are you going to do boss?”
“Nothing Partner. I think we should let the document trail speak for itself. We are not being paid to be investigators. Our engagement letter calls for us to use professional standards and due care. We have asked all reasonable questions and read all reasonably relevant documents. We looked at the documents for both content and professionalism on the part of the preparers. Everything seems to hold together so there it would be foolish for us to go on a witch hunt. Our hands are clean and we shouldn’t have to worry.”
“I vote with you. It’s unanimous and carried. If my troops don’t come up with anything else in the review of the financials we can sign off, collect our money and get the hell out of here.”
“There’s more to do than just that before we head for the airport. On another topic, check with my lawyer’s assistant in New York tomorrow afternoon and be sure they got our signed documents. If they have, give it a day and then start checking our bank accounts to see when the money lands. Also, could you see if Alana is still downstairs and if she can come up. Thank you.”
Five minutes later Alana walked into my office bringing the sunshine with her. “Good afternoon. How do you manage a day’s work and still look like the most beautiful girl in the world?”
“My secret … How can I help you?”
“BrasTel sent over some support for the real estate deal that spanned the closing. I had copies made, translated and certified as true copies down stairs but I thought you might want to look over the originals before I give them back to BrasTel’s messenger who has been sitting waiting on his motorbike downstairs.”
“I was told about the copies but didn’t look at them. Yes, I would like to see the originals. Curiosity, I am sure you understand. Anything else?”
“Yes, I wanted to set a time to talk to the General about getting his blessing.”
“That will not be necessary.”
A chill ran through me, “Not necessary …?”
“No, if you read tomorrow’s Catholic newspaper you … but you do not read Portuguese. Have your driver buy one for you on the way to pick you up in the morning. There is a section for engagements and marriages. My Guardian has placed an announcement of our engagement in tomorrow’s paper. It is the modern form of posting marriage agreements replacing what was formally used in the past. He has also spoken with the Archbishop and we have a time at Nossa Senora do Brasil to be married. It is on Sunday the third of June at the close of the noon Mass. That is also in the announcement. It is the way parents in certain Brazilian families do this.”
“I … how long have you known he approved?”
“He told me when I went home at lunch time today. He called and said he had something to discuss with me and wanted me to come home. I thought it was business.”
“I’m shocked. How do you feel?”
“Very happy but there is so much to do and only a few months.”
“Well the first thing we have to do is go to New York and buy you an engagement ring. An emerald with diamonds on the sides. No the first thing for us to do is visit him and thank him for his blessing.”
“I told him you would want to thank him. He and his wife are expecting you at nine tonight. I will have dinner with them to have my new responsibilities explained. You are to come for coffee.”
“Robin, is Jóse Carlos here?”
“… downstairs in the garage.”
“Get him on the phone please. I need him tonight and Alana wants to give him some instructions for tomorrow morning.”
I looked out the window at eight-thirty and Jóse Carlos was in front of the building waiting for me. Turning from the window I saw a battered old car parked on the other side of the street just uphill from him. It looked out of place parked here on this part of Haddock Lobo. After an uncomfortable moment of reflection, I started to call Juan Batista but stopped when two men in dark suits approached the car from behind, one on the sidewalk next to the driver’s side and the other in the middle of the street closing on the passenger’s side door. I had forgotten my BrasTel minders.
A very long minute ticked by and a black sedan sped down the hill swerving in front of the parked car. Seconds later another screeched to a stop behind it. Once again the metallic taste of fear filled my mouth. Once again I pressed back against the wall next to the window unable to tear my eyes away while waiting for gun shots … but there were none. There was just an old man pulled from the car, roughly pressed against an adjacent building and questioned while his car was searched.
Within minutes the old man was pushed back into the car. It sputtered to life and immediately was pressed downhill as fast as gravity and its choking engine would take it. One of the black sedans followed escorting it out of the neighborhood. The other sedan pulled behind Jóse Carlos waiting to escort us to the Jardims, an uncomfortable quiet returned to the street and it was time for me to leave.
Alana greeted me with a passionate kiss, “I have had my lecture so that’s our last real kiss until we are married.”
“You can’t be serious?”
“They are very serious. The General’s youngest sister has been honored with the duty of being my escort until we have taken our vows before God. Come, the three of them are waiting for us in the library.”
“We really can’t elope?”
“No Querido, it is out of the question.”
The General was in his customary crisp white linen and the two older women in black silk decorated with black lace and their hair pulled back tightly against their heads in a timeless old world style. Together they looked as if they had stepped from a period painting of a colonial grandee and his family.
“Good evening General; ladies.”
Aranni stepped forward and for the first time offered his hand, “I am delighted to see you Carl. For me this is a very special occasion.”
“… and for Alana and I.”
“I am sure the ladies will excuse us for a few minutes. I would like you to walk with me. There are things I should say, things you should know. Come …”
The house disappeared as we went deep into the garden beyond the stand of fruit trees to a small pond fed by a waterfall designed to fill the garden with the song of gently falling water. Aranni stopped in the isolated patio where the sound of water would drown the sound of our voices, “It pleases me greatly that you are the one Alana has chosen. I am sure you know she is not new to men but never found one she felt she could trust.”
“Thank you. She has been open with me about parts of her life but, respectfully, she has been closed, guarded about others. I believe time will eliminate what is unknown between us with perhaps only a few secrets buried deep in her heart as is true with most women.”
“I think you are right. Perhaps there will be more than a few secrets because I have burdened her with certain things to protect my f
amily. Alana is as my daughter. When you marry you will be as my son so you will share in the protection her knowledge provides. Years ago I saw great strength in her. More so than my sons possess. She has the strength of my wife who guided her growth during the early years after she came into our home. My intention was that Alana should be a comfort to my wife who missed God’s blessing of a daughter. Over time Alana has become a valued source of comfort to me and a great source of pride for my wife.” His eyes drifted to the sparkling water, “Let me finish by saying I have placed my complete trust in Alana and with it she has accepted untold worries and risks that will certainly become part of your life together.”
“I had surmised that was the case General. When I first met you, before I knew Alana was anything more than a simple employee, I invested time in learning what I could about you and what you have done for Brazil. I also learned about what you have provided for your sons. It is only recently the pieces of your plan for Alana began to come together for me and I began to understand how our lives could be affected. Feel comfortable my eyes are open tonight despite the almost blinding effect of your daughter’s beauty and grace.”
Aranni chuckled as only a proud father could, “I felt this was the case but my duty to you both requires me to speak, to caution you that it will not be easy. I am an old man and soon our Creator,” crossing himself with slow deliberate motions, “will gather me to Him. It is then Alana’s burdens will increase greatly. You will have to accommodate and share in those burdens at times and, as life has taught me, it will never be simple or easy for you both. I only pray for the best for my daughter and new son but I know there will be other less pleasant things you will need to face together to succeed and,” now his blue eyes blazing, “you will succeed.”
“Yes General, we will succeed. There is no other acceptable alternative.”
He put his hand on my shoulder, “Come my son, let us join the ladies for coffee.”
Donã Aranni took the chair to my left sitting down with a sense of purpose. I prepared myself for a stern lecture filled with tradition and responsibility. Instead her deeply wrinkled face was illuminated by an invitingly warm smile. “I am sure my husband told you of his happiness with our daughter’s choice. I fully share that happiness. It is as if fate had a grand plan to bring our families together even though its first step brought great unhappiness to you and great thankfulness to us.”
I nodded in acknowledgement and thanked her while pushing away a less gracious reply that had leaped from the past.
“My husband and I were worried time would hurry past and Alana would be left alone … alone without a husband and children to look after her. She will become the head of our family when my husband and I are gone. This frightens me because when it happens she will inherit certain power and duties. The kind of power and duties that would drive men away from her out of fear. Now I am at peace and for this you have my gratitude and blessings.”
“Thank you, Madam. I will do everything possible to be and remain worthy of them.”
“You are very kind to an old lady my son. My husband knows how I enjoy being spoiled. Alana told me of your plan to go to New York to pick out an engagement ring.”
“Yes, we plan to go after the assignment I have been working on finishes.”
“Do you intend the ring to match the earrings you brought from New York?”
“That is my plan but I am not sure we will find what I want in New York. Sometime I think all the good stones are buried in private vaults and we will be unable to find a suitable stone with the depth of color and intensity I want. I’ve called a friend in Hatton Garden and asked him to check with the local brokers. He said he thought what I want could be found in London but the price would be very high, perhaps too high.”
“You are right about the quality today. My family has been mining emeralds in Columbia for more than two hundred fifty years. When my husband and I were married almost sixty years ago my dowry included some stones taken from the earth more than a hundred years before. They were cut and polished before being given to me. There was an old superstition warning against giving a bride unpolished gems. The color of each of the ten stones is so intense they seem to glow when poured from their bag and they have such clarity looking into them is like looking into the clearest water.”
“How fortunate you are to have them. They are part of your family’s history and they must be beyond beautiful as are Alana’s eyes.”
She chuckled and the bright soul of the young woman she had once been transformed her face. “Yes, I am fortunate.” Then, in a small almost conspiratorial little girl’s voice, “I have one with me if you would like to see it. It is one of the smaller ones only fifteen carats but it has so much life it seems to grow before your eyes. Should I take it out?”
“Certainly, how often in life does one get to see and touch such a treasure.”
She pulled a black leather bag from the tiny silk minaudiere that hadn’t left her hand since sitting down. Slowly she pulled open the leather bag and poured its contents into her closed hand. Then she reached for my hand, covered the palm with a black lace edged handkerchief and slowly opened her other hand closely over mine. I felt the stone fall into my hand. When she moved her hand away a green fire burned in my palm. It was as if the stone had instantly collected all the light in the room and stored it inside.
“Amazing … I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“I think it is what you wanted for Alana.”
“Yes … and no. I never imagined a stone with such intensity.”
“Few people have. It is the kind of stones destined for only the Queen of Spain when it was mined. Yes, for the Queen of Spain and the granddaughter of the Don who owned the mine and wanted some of the best to remain in his family.”
“The others are like this one?”
“No, this is the humblest of the ten stones. I would like my daughter to have it now. When I join my husband for eternity she will have them all.”
“I could not take it from you.”
Her face softened and her lips formed a pout that would put the most coquettish French beauty to shame. “You would deny an old lady a very small favor?”
“Donã Aranni, you make it impossible to say no.”
“I have been told that before dear Carl. Most often by my husband.”
I looked down at the stone blazing cold green fire in my hand, “It is really beautiful. Thank you.”
“How will you set it?”
“I hadn’t thought about it. In New York, a friend who works at Tiffany would help me.”
“Could you accept advice from a sentimental someone who has carried this stone every day since it was given to her so many years ago?”
“I feel guilty about taking it from you. Are you sure?”
Ignoring my question, “If I were setting the stone there would be emerald cut diamonds of a soft white color on each side of the emerald. The diamonds would be about one third smaller than the emerald in size but not weight. Like these two.”
She pulled another small bag from the small hand bag lying in her lap and emptied into her hand. Then, one by one, she carefully placed the diamonds on either side of the emerald. “The diamonds are from my husband’s mine in western Amazonia. Like all the best Brazilian diamonds their color is soft perhaps ‘I’ or ‘J’ on the international scale. Do you like the way the stones fit together?”
“Yes, I am overwhelmed by your gift.”
“I am pleased Carl, thank you. I have Alana’s ring size and if you will come with me to my jeweler tomorrow you will have the ring the next day.” Taking a small piece of paper from her bag, “The address is here, will you meet me at ten o’clock?”
“I will be delighted, wait, this address is Congonhas Airport.”
“We will use my husband’s airplane it will be faster. It will be only twenty minutes to Rio. We should be back before lunch.”
“Rio?”
“Yes, H Sterns best workroom
s are there. They have been making things for me since Sr. Stern came to Brasil running from problems in Europe before the war. He is gone now but his son is kind enough to send a car for me as his father always did.”
“You brought the stones tonight and the address. I think you had everything planned before we spoke.”
A big smile, “Naturally, you men need to be gently managed. Is it not true?”
“I’ve heard that before from other women including my business partner except she left out the ‘gently’.”
When all had been said, the coffee pots drained and it was time to leave the General’s sister walked with Alana and I to the elevator and remained at a discreet distance as we ‘said’ goodnight. It had been explained earlier she would accompany Alana everywhere until we were married. It was to protect the honor of both families as has been the tradition for hundreds of years.
“This feels strange. Saying goodnight at an arm’s length certainly leaves a lot to be desired.”
“I told you my Guardian was a very traditional man. We’re lucky, he is just nodding to tradition. It usually was done for no less than a period of ten months to ensure any children belong to the married couple. It was never presented that way. If you think about it what other reason could there be for the supervised separation of the couple just longer than it takes a baby to develop and get born.”
“I love your powers of analysis Alana. I never would have thought of that. Maybe I’ve seen too many movies where they hold up the wedding night sheet to prove virginity.”
“Maybe my Guardian understood I could not pass such a test.” Offering her hand, “Good night my love.”
Chapter 34
We landed in Rio at ten twenty-five the next morning. Donã Aranni, her three body guards and I were escorted through the private aviation terminal by heavily armed airport security and out into a pair of military green armored GMC vans waiting at the curb. Efficient military precision perfectly executed and carefully watched and appraised by the gentle smiling face of the diminutive lady dressed in black who was never exposed to the public eye as she was swiftly moved between airplane and auto then to be lost behind heavily tinted armored glass.