The Remote Traveler (The Remote Series Book 1)

by Finian Blake

  “What happened to the people running the auction?”

  “They all died along with the bidders. We all figured that the bidders were paying to see someone killed and deserved to die too.” Victoria was on the verge of screaming. She sobbed losing control after her outburst and Nadia took her home. Her flat was next to Nadia’s over the garage. Nadia and Victoria were both still single after all of these years never having found a man that met their standards. They had access to everything that they could wish for at the Inn so ninety percent of their money was in investments with Lynn banking it for 25 years. Living at the Inn they wanted for nothing using only a fraction of their earnings. Alex and the ‘old men’ caused them to set the bar high.

  Edward and Layla went back to the guest house going directly to the bedroom. He lay down with her on the bed going to sleep quickly. They were standing at the bar in the Pub. Edward was surprised to see Terri walk in and stand between them. Edward walked around Terri and stood between her and Layla. When Terri tried to move between them, Edward put his hand on her arm and shook his head, no. “Haven’t we taken care of your business?”

  Terri shook her head, no. She pointed at the spot where Layla was standing. She wrote the name Susan on a bar napkin. The idea crashed through to Layla all at once. Edward was suddenly standing all by himself at the bar.

  Layla awoke and changed her clothes. She put on a purple button front dress and threw on Terri’s ankle boots walking directly to Susan’s house knocking on the door. Susan and Lynn were both dressed in soft terry cloth robes. Susan always preferred to have a call before anybody came over, but made the exception for Layla.

  “Come in Layla. What can we do for you?” Layla grabbed the belt on Lynn’s robe and pulled it off in one smooth motion. She spun Lynn around tying her hands behind her back pushing her to a kneeling position on the floor. Susan mentally welcomed another visit from Terri. The last time inspired her, so she reached the belt of her robe first and spun Layla around.

  “You caught me by surprise yesterday.” Susan quickly bound Layla with the belt of her robe. “It’s my turn today.” She started working the buttons in the front of Layla’s dress.

  Layla gave Susan a seductive look, “Take my boots off,” Susan bent down and started to unzip the boots. She put her hand around the heel and a spur raked the palm of her hand. She looked closely at the boots.

  “Where did you get these boots?”

  “They were in front of Terri’s desk.”

  “Terri was wearing these the night she died. I lent them to her for some reason. Lynn was on my ass for years, because I could not find them. She had them custom made with a groove for a gold jeweled spur for me. That was the last custom gift that Lynn ever gave me.” The realization came over Susan. “You mean this whole thing was because of the boots? That does not make any sense.”

  “It makes perfect sense,” Layla countered. “They caused trouble between you and Lynn. She borrowed the boots and she had not returned them. She loved you deeply.”

  Susan was not convinced, “That does not make any sense. Would she hang around for 25 years to return a pair of boots.”

  “I don’t think that she hung around. The boots were a trigger that called her when they were put on. The boots were kind of a door bell, if you will.”

  “It still doesn’t make sense to make all that fuss over a pair of boots.”

  “The boots were just an object. The fuss was because Lynn was pissed off at you for letting Terri wear her gift before you did. Terri loves you and Lynn across time no matter what the obstacle. She did not want to cause a rift between you and Lynn.”

  “Are you Terri or Layla?”

  “I am Layla. Terri didn’t take me over. She left her memories with me. My body remembers how to do things that she could do like shoot, spar, drive and draw plus I remember her education, and passions.” Susan pushed Layla back, unbuttoning the front of her dress as she went to the floor.

  “Speaking of passions I noticed that you remembered some of the other skills that Terri had. Lynn remembers the feathers in particular. How do you feel about us?”

  “I Love you. I’m just not sure about…?” Susan kissed her passionately.

  “Then we will leave you tied for a while.” Susan probed her body and was rewarded with a response so she reached for a feather.

  Layla returned to the cottage shortly after midnight. She crawled into bed with Edward and kissed him with a passion that he had not even dreamed that she possessed. Her love making was bold without restraint. Her experience with Terri had definitely changed her. He needed to see if it was for the better. They still had five more days to go at the Inn. Layla awoke the next morning and shook Edward.

  “She’s gone! Terri is gone.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Crowded, she left many of her memories with me. Not just her mental images, her physical memories too. I can shoot and spar at her level, minus the conditioning, but she has left.”

  “What other memories did you pick up?” Layla blushed furiously.

  “Oh, I see.”

  Layla was panicked with that comment, “Is this going to affect us?”

  Edward pulled Terri to him and hugged her.

  “I am not from what you would describe as the normal family. I treat them both as my mother, but Anna is my biological mother. I have four mothers including Terri even though she died before I was born. I know what Susan and Lynn’s preferences are and Anna has been to bed with them. My question is how does this affect you?” Layla answered without hesitation

  “Edward, I love you on all levels, and we share something beyond physical.” He had to acknowledge the pure truth of that statement.

  “I can work with that.” He pulled her close hugging her tightly. “I mean that we can work with that!” They were asleep in minutes.

  Edward and Layla were on the mesh deck of the Hobie Cat. He was sitting with his legs extended. She sat on his lap facing him. Layla was blocking his view. She was giving Edward sailing instructions and he was following them exactly. They were moving in and around the other boats on a complicated course. Layla had him take a short cut close around some rocks. They negotiated the passage successfully well ahead of the other boats. Edward let one hull come out of the water as they crossed the finish line with the hull slamming down hard on the water. They both had a shattering orgasm as the shock went through their bodies. When they awoke the orgasm was still pulsing through them. Layla didn’t have to ask if he had the same dream. She spoke to him as he nursed.

  “I guess that it will all shake out.” He bit her nipple playfully.

  “I hope not, I’m almost there.” They got out of bed playing grab ass all the way to the shower. Edward and Layla washed each other carefully making sure that every body part was washed thoroughly. They lay on the warm floor both thankful for Terri’s ingenuity.

  “Edward, how much did your father give to the victims.”

  Edward shrugged, “He gave them a million apiece. You met Connie and Lori. Cherry and Victoria are here, and the others are scattered throughout LA.” They grabbed some warm towels from the cabinet and dried each other tenderly.

  Layla pressed, “A million is a lot of money. Why was he so generous?

  “He had no interest in the general’s money his goal was to stop them. From what I understand, he said that they earned it with their misery. The money was the general’s money, so he gave it all away.” After dressing Edward and Layla stepped out on the porch of the cottage. They were across from the steeple chase area and had a clear view of Lynn and Susan jumping their horses. They walked over to the rail. Both Lynn and Susan were expert jumpers and were showing off their skills. They both jumped their horses to Edward and Layla’s side of the rail. It was a pleasure to watch them as they pulled their horses up on their side. Lynn blushed when she saw Layla. They both rode over to the couple. Edward stood between the horses with Layla slightly behind him.

  Susan turned
on her saddle, “Layla, are you a rider? I could offer you some riding lessons.”

  Edward answered first. “You did last night.”

  “Edward, we are a little touchy this morning.” Susan was not sure of where Edward stood on this issue.

  “Not we, she.” Edward spun Layla around and yanked her jeans down past her hips. “She has a carpet burn on her ass. If you are going to teach riding, you need to teach safety.” Edward broke a smile when he could not hold a straight face any longer. Susan looked relieved.

  “Lynn took some damage too. Open your blouse and show them your damage.” Lynn shook her head, no. “Well she has a carpet burn on her nipples.” Lynn turned beet red, and Edward laughed.

  “When are you going to act your age?”

  “Never darling, the answer is definitely, never.” Susan ran a gloved hand lovingly across his face in a soft caress. If your father can ambush, burn someone’s house down, and send twelve assassins to hell. I can still put a rug burn here and there.” Susan put her best pouty expression on her face. “Besides it was a bachelorette party. We didn’t have access to her before the wedding.”

  “Susan, this is my wife Layla not Terri. I know that you loved Terri, but she is gone and Layla is mine.” Susan and Lynn both started to weep. “We loved Terri and Layla acted so much like her that…” Edward stepped between their saddles and wrapped his arms around both of their legs.

  “I know, but Layla is my wife, so from now on you will both be behaving.”

  “Can you forgive us?” Edward kissed them each on the calf of their leg affectionately.

  “The whole incident has been surreal. Let’s have a fresh start and we will put this behind us, mom.” Edward put heavy emphasis on the word ‘mom’ causing Lynn and Susan each to reach down from their horses stroking his head.

  “Layla, can you forgive us?” Layla looked up and gave them both an impish smile without saying a word. Edward had his back to Layla and missed the answer.

  Susan pointed to the cart that was racing up to the rail. Her son, Noah was driving.

  “Sorry to interrupt. Sidney sent me to get the newlyweds. He arranged for the sniper range, but we have to leave now.”

  Sydney loaded up the van and drove out to the base. After everyone was properly signed-in, they were assigned to Ted who was the master instructor. Sidney opened the back of the van at the firing line. Ted was not surprised to see the four Barrett fifty caliber sniper rifles. Sidney waited for Ted to do his range safety lecture. Sidney had two large ammo cans with him opening the first can producing a shell almost six inches long. He did the full lecture about the weapon, and after the lecture he gave the range instructor the first shot. Practice on the Barrett fifty at the base was limited due to the expense of the rounds. While the students prepared to shoot, Ted looked in the other ammo can finding that it was full of anti-material rounds. These were extremely expensive for target practice. The group consisted of Layla, Anna, Alex, Edward, Noah, Nadia, and Adam, with Sidney making the eighth member of the party. Nadia was one of the first to shoot. Sidney just finished tuning the four Barrett fifty’s and he wanted to test out the anti-material rounds. Nadia setup her stand expertly placing her weapon. She selected a target at 1,000 meters. The instructor, Ted, thought she was being ambitious.

  “Sidney, Nadia seems competent but sighting the first target at 1,000 meters is a push.” Nadia looked through the spotter scope and picked a target at twelve hundred meters. She re-sighted for the distance and assumed a prone firing position. Watching the grass in between her and the target, Nadia waited for the wind to die down and squeezed the trigger. The shot hit the swing plate slightly off the center. Ted was impressed.

  “Where did you learn to shoot?”

  “I learned in sniper school.”

  “We don’t have women snipers. In which army did you serve?” Nadia looked at Sidney. He nodded his approval.

  “I served in Afghanistan as a sniper in the Russian Army.” Nadia said intentionally letting her Russian accent slip through.

  “Do you have any kills?”

  “I had eighteen confirmed and sixty probable kills sniping.”

  “Why do you have so many probable kills?”

  “I didn’t have a witness or the shot was at extreme long distance, like from hill top to hill top. I hit the target but could not confirm the kill. They sent us out against other snipers. There were two of us most of the time and there was a bounty on both of our heads. I never claimed a kill unless it was fully documented.” Nadia did three more shots the last one was at seventeen hundred meters. After that Nadia stood down. The others were nowhere near as proficient. Layla proved better than Ted anticipated. At five foot six and 135 pounds the recoil was a bit of a problem. They broke for lunch after which Ted had everybody come up to the firing line again. It was obvious that Ted had developed a strong interest in Nadia. Ted was a six foot seven Scotchman and weighed two hundred thirty pounds carrying a minimum of fat. His squared rugged features made him resemble a statue of a hero that Nadia had once seen in a park. She decided to invite him out to the Inn for dinner. For targets after the lunch session Sidney elected to do some fun shooting. In the morning before they left he arranged for three junk cars to be towed out to the range and Sidney was up for the next round of shooting.

  “We will be using the anti-material rounds,” Ted took the first shot. He aimed at the differential of the first vehicle even though he couldn’t see it just figuring out where it should be. Next Nadia took a shot at the transmission. Everybody picked an area of the car and fired. After the last shot the group went down to look at their handy work. The car had been torn apart. The entrance hole looked more or less normal but the exit hole took out large chunks of metal. The far side of the engine block was nonexistent and the transmission was completely destroyed. They shot up the second car in a similar manner. On the last car they did a simultaneous shot. Four shooters picked their targets and did a countdown. On zero they fired at the same time with the impact actually moving the car sideways and the next four did the same. There was still half a can of anti-material rounds left. Ted picked one car and gave orders to dismantle it. They worked as teams to remove doors and other body parts. Switching positions, they shot longitudinally through the engine block. By the time the ammo was expended, the car was ready to disintegrate moving with the slightest breeze.

  Sidney decided to call it a day. While the others cleaned the weapons and the range, he invited Ted to check out the setup at the Inn.

  “We have a nice pub back at the Inn. You can have a few pints on us and inspect our little range.”

  “Thanks Sidney but I have a few things to catch up on.”

  Nadia took Ted by the arm, “I think that we may have a few things that you may be interested in seeing. I will give you a personal tour. Just bring a change of clothes and you can shower there. I can ride with you so there won’t be a chance of you getting lost.”

  Ted smiled warmly, “I have a few days of leave time, that sounds great.”

  Sidney started out with the others and Nadia rode with Ted in his car after picking up a change of clothing at his flat. Ted was fifty as was Nadia. Nadia kept her knee next to the gear shift so that first and second gear required Ted to brush her knee.

  “Ted, I forgot to ask you if you wanted to bring your wife.”

  “No problem I’m not married. I was briefly married, but military life was not for her. Hostage rescue makes it necessary to spend a lot of time away from home. I was a team leader so when the call came I had to go. She left me with a note while I was on a mission.”

  “Ted, how many years do you have in with the army?”

  “I enlisted at eighteen. I have 32 years in, 5 with the regular army and 27 with the SAS. I have been a Master Instructor for the last five.”

  “Thirty-two years is a long time. Have you ever thought about retiring?”

  “Hell the CO keeps asking me the same question, but I’m only fifty, and I w
ould have to find something else. Can you see me as a store clerk?”

  “All of our ‘Old Men’ are instructors from the SAS or the Royal Marines.”

  “Old Men…?” Ted bristled.

  “It is an affectionate term. That is what they were called by the troops before they retired. You may pretend that you never hear them, but you know what they call you. We frequently have guests that require security and my boss Suki runs a company that trains security forces all over the world.”

  “I have heard something about that setup, but could never track it down.”

  “Well you just have. I think that Suki may have room for one more trainer. The pay is good, occasionally you get some action and from time to time you might even get to shoot some bad guys.” Ted’s curiosity was piqued.

  “How long have you been doing this?”

  “Twenty-five years, this is a place that you never want to leave.” Nadia had him turn into the entrance by Russian Hill. He pulled up the drive passing three goodly sized cottages, and into to the oversized garage. The van was backed in and already unloaded. Nadia showed Ted up to her apartment over the garage. He noticed the door as he walked in. It was an eight-foot door. Ted was six foot seven and frequently had to duck as he entered rooms especially in civilian housing. He looked around Nadia’s flat and found that everything was setup for a tall person. The bedroom was connected to the bath and was almost the same size as Ted’s bedroom at his apartment and all of the counters were about six inches taller than normal, and Ted noticed that the bed had a foot of extra length.

  “Where did you find the extra-long mattresses? I looked but was always disappointed.”

  “Living in the standard world, I have to put up with the way that everybody does things,” Nadia said with a smile. This is my little corner of the world, so I made it to fit me. Come on, I have something to show you.” Nadia pointed to the shower. The shower head was eight feet above the floor. “I can stand under the shower without having to bow down. The whole place is heated with radiant heat, so all of the floors are warm. The towels are in a heated linen closet and I have a guest robe that should fit you in the linen closet. Grab your shower and we can hit the pub.” Ted was ready in ten minutes, and Nadia jumped in the shower after he was finished.