The Crystal Circle: A Paranormal Romance Novel

by L. Rosenman

  Orna nodded, her face pale. “It’s Raul’s mother’s maiden name.”

  “Well,” said the inspector, “from there on it was only a short while until we discovered the family connection. Your mother-in-law doesn’t understand finance and claims to have never opened an account of her own, because she completely trusts her son, Raul.”

  “I... I didn’t know anything about it.”

  “Perhaps, ma’am. However, the amounts have accumulated to about half a million shekels!” After a dramatic pause during which Tomas squinted and looked intently into her eyes, he continued. “It’s also probably significant that, just one day before the bank’s ten-year celebration in Tel Aviv, the account was emptied… Rosa Levy allegedly pulled all the money out. In addition, it turns out that your husband, Raul, opened a business of his own - under the table, of course, not under the supervision of the bank. In short,” continued Tomas with pursed lips, “he opened a competing investment bank. He sold his clients, anyone with some extra money - maybe a pension or a compensation lump sum – an investment in a private account that he managed, offering interest rates much higher than the norm for their money. It turns out, from the investigations we conducted, that your husband was very talented in the field of financial investments. His shareholders, those who agreed and there were plenty of them, have accumulated interest rates of between ten and even twenty percent per year for several years.”

  “Several years...” Orna was shocked. She was so amazed that she couldn’t swallow.

  “Unfortunately, and to their dismay, he didn’t work with strong and established people who know how to manage their money efficiently, but mostly elderly people, or immigrants, and they trusted him with their eyes closed. On the eve of the branch’s ten-year celebration, the fourteenth of June, your husband withdrew all the money deposited in the accounts he handled. We’re talking two million shekels here, no less!”

  Everyone in the room opened their eyes wide, and some whistled in admiration. Orna fell back in her chair.

  “Pension funds, life savings, severance pay... whatever, he took it all. Stole, you might say!” Tomas put his nose as close as he could to Orna’s nose without actually touching. “Where did your husband run off to with the money, ma’am? If you know, now’s the time to tell us and save your skin!”

  Orna swallowed hard and shook her head vigorously. She was unable to speak, rested her head on her hands, and closed her eyes. She trembled in her seat and looked very unhappy. Tomas had no doubt she wasn’t in on it; otherwise she’d have gone away as well and disappeared along with Raul.

  “It’s quite clear to us that he’s gone somewhere with the money. Try to think. Where could he go? Did he have a distant dream? Thailand? The Bahamas? A small hotel in

  Italy? If you remember, for everyone’s benefit and for the benefit of those poor people who trusted him, call us immediately.”

  He stood up, bowed his head, and said quietly, “I’m sorry that’s the way it worked out. I hope you and your kids can hang in there. And have a nice day.” He left the room, and the meeting ended.

  Orna stumbled into the hallway where she was met by her sister in a powerful embrace. She couldn’t cry, not in front of strangers. When they were finally alone in the parking lot, Orna’s phone rang.

  “Yes?” She listened at length. “Why?” she asked and finally said, “There was nothing there? Obviously. Keep it up, in the end they will! And update me every day at ten o’clock. Yes, I already said. Money’s not a problem.” She hung up and turned to her sister:

  “Let’s go get a coffee.”

  Outside, the sun blinded everyone equally - the victims, the policemen, and the evil thieves who were out there enjoying other people’s money.

  Chapter 8: Lynn

  06/27/2013 – Twelfth day of disappearance

  Lynn was an amazing success story on a local scale. At ten in the morning, people were already waiting to order cutlets and fritters, Dave was carrying crates of bread and boxes of frozen meat, and in the afternoon cries of pleasure came from all around, “Michal! Michal! Bring another one.”

  “You charmed them, Lynn,” sighed Dave as he dragged home the last vegetable crate.

  “Michal, not Lynn!” she scolded him. “Out here, I’m Michal.”

  He gave in, and they turned to count the money they’d earned in half a day. The proceeds equaled Lynn’s weekly salary at the schnitzel stand in the city. They smiled and shook hands. A spark of electricity passed between them, and they stared at each other. The looks they exchanged were hot and intimate. It’s forbidden! The thought ran through her mind. Lynn, it’s forbidden! But why?

  In the evening, over jazz music and a glass of wine, Dave told her of scenes he remembered from his past.

  “I told you I was trying to start a business when I was twenty-eight, but my story, which seems to run on the margins of life, began at the age of eighteen, when I was a sophomore in high school in Beer Sheba. My mother was already very ill. We only had each other.”

  He looked into the green eyes that gazed warmly into his own and added, “Her name was Violetta. She died of cancer on the first day of my senior year. Of course I didn’t get a high school diploma because I had to leave school to take care of her funeral and mourn her. Later, with much sweat, money, and patience, I went back to take the exams again. I knew all the material, but hadn’t taken the exams. You know why?”

  Lynn shook her head. Her eyes were fixed on his pupils.

  “For the same reason I was rejected by the army. I wanted to, but I couldn’t. I discovered I didn’t have an identity card. When I arrived at the recruiting office for my first interview, I had my birth certificate with me. Apparently, it was a fake. Another guy there had the exact same ID number, but his name was completely different. They decided to examine both of us, and I was told to submit my certificates within a few weeks. Mom had always claimed my birth certificate was ‘somewhere around the house,’ but she was bedridden by then, and I wasn’t really looking to get new identity papers before she died. When I came to sign the papers and deal with all the complex processes required for a person to bury his loved one...”

  Tears came to his eyes and he gave a small sob, took a sip of water, and bowed his head. Lynn gently placed her small hand on his tanned arm and waited. A few minutes later he continued. “I couldn’t find my papers and, for the authorities, it was as if I wasn’t my mother’s son. Horrible!” He clenched his teeth and shook his head. “When I wanted to get drafted, like my friends, I realized it was going to be difficult. I went to the Interior Ministry several times, but they couldn’t find my credentials. It was as if David Cortillio had never existed. Six-foot-nine-inches of me didn’t exist… I remember that as a child or teenager, this issue didn’t bother me at all. My mother always pampered me. There was really nothing I lacked. When I questioned her about my dad or the rest of the family, she said it would be better for me not to know because it would only upset me. I assumed my father was in prison, maybe even some kind of a murderer. I didn’t want to dig... it would’ve upset her. She never married and had no siblings. She was born in Argentina and immigrated alone as a student, and, as far as I know, she was also an only child. Her parents died there. I never knew my grandparents. You could say that I have no family, Lynn.” He looked around and then stroked Tom the cat, who purred with pleasure.

  Lynn replied in a choked voice, “A lonely childhood.”

  “My entire childhood, I was so lonely. The truth is that, during the day, I had many friends. I was great at games that didn’t require running. But when they invited me over... Mom wouldn’t let me go and wouldn’t let me have kids around. When I was in high school, I dared to go out without her permission, but it upset her so much, and she became sick and... So I let it be. She explained that I was the only one left in her world and she was afraid of losing me, and I accepted it as it was.”

  He brooded, and Lynn let him sink in his memories, only putting her hand on his
tanned arm. “So I couldn’t study in the traditional way or find a respectable job. I mean, if someone doesn’t have an ID number, he doesn’t exist. So I found myself working in construction, restaurants, hotels, and as a porter in the market, anything to get by. I had to leave the apartment we were renting. My mother’s pension from the hospital where she worked as a nurse ran out after a year. She had no life insurance, and I was left to face the harsh reality.”

  Lynn nodded and looked at him, not daring to make a sound.

  “But I’m an optimist.” Dave got up and stretched. His hands touched the low ceiling of the trailer. He laughed and hastily poured them both another glass of red wine. “I always have a lot of friends everywhere… friends who walk on two legs, friends who walk on all four and have a tail, and friends in binders on the shelves...” He gestured at the shelves nearly collapsing from the surplus of books.

  “And?” Lynn was lost, deep in the rich glass of Bordeaux. “What about girlfriends?”

  He smiled and looked deep into her eyes. “Of course there were. Came and went. I

  probably haven’t yet found the one that would really touch my soul...”

  Her stomach revolved in an involuntary spasm. She sensed that there was something more than he was saying.

  “I don’t know what’s happening with me. With you, I feel like I need to tell it all. This never happens to me, this feeling that I must confess to something.”

  “Confess?” Her eyebrows rose. “To what?”

  “There weren’t only girlfriends...”

  She looked up with a question in mind. Suddenly, understanding permeated her consciousness. “A boyfriend... you had a boyfriend too?”

  “Yes, I had a very dear friend. I loved him very much. We were a couple.” Dave gave a small pause, took a breath, and continued. “Andrei.” Just the name brought a tear to his eye. “We were together for two years. Not here, in Beer Sheba. But, one day, he left abruptly without saying goodbye. He wrote to me from Belgium that he was dying of a rare blood disease. He’d known it all along and chose not to worry me and to let me go. He died four years ago.”

  There was a silence.

  “Since then, did you have more friends... men?”

  “I’m not really attracted to the same sex. On the contrary! I checked it. I was never drawn to men. I’m very attracted to women. It was just him, Andrei, an amazing, special person. I wear this earring in his honor.” He pointed to the small, glittering earring in his earlobe. “Women are wonderful. They have wisdom and courage and independence and... They’re everything.” He gave her a vague look. “I’m attracted to them.” Then he sighed a heartbreaking sigh. “But they’re not attracted to me. What can I do? Disability isn’t attractive. Certainly not on a first date.”

  Lynn hesitated to go one step further. She’d been intrigued by Dave’s disability from the moment they’d met. “So… how did you really get the leg injury? From birth?”

  “I’m not sure. I have no memories of early childhood. Almost like you. Anyway, Mom told me I had a degenerative leg disease that started when I hit my leg in preschool when I was two, but I don’t remember it.”

  “You never went to a doctor to get it checked?”

  “Why should I? After all, my mother was a nurse. She knew about such things. Besides, I’ve never been to a doctor. I’m healthy, thank God, and if there were something wrong with me, no doctor would see me without an HMO card. I told you... numbers set the rules in this country. I got used to it. I have one leg slightly shorter than the other. I have scars from surgery. That’s my reality and I’ve gotten used to, ever since I can remember.”

  She opened her mouth to ask another question, but Dave said, “Enough, Lynn, I’m asking you, that’s enough for today. I want to rest. Thank you for the wonderful listener that you are. Goodnight.” He removed the dirty dishes, rinsed them, and disappeared into his room.

  Lynn felt herself drawn to this amazing man. His limp didn’t bother her, and she felt he liked her. Nevertheless, she got a bitter feeling that fermented and bubbled in her gut whenever she thought she might be happy if they became a couple. She believed she could be happier if she had even a hint of the love and tenderness with which he spoke when he mentioned his dead boyfriend, Andrei.

  Dave turned over in bed. The moon was full and memories of his mother, Violetta, came flooding back to him. He thought about her, sometimes with affection and at other times with indifference. “Interesting,” he remarked to himself and rubbed his eyes as sleep threatened to sweep him over. “How did she react when I was injured as an infant?”

  The thought disturbed him. He turned over and still couldn’t sleep. The moon looked at him, framed in his window, and smiled his mysterious smile. Finally, Dave surrendered to his urge and got out of bed. He went to the box on the top shelf of the closet, a box he’d almost never opened in all the years since Violetta had departed to another world. By the light of the moon, he took out and examined the few belongings in the box. Finally, he removed the small address book that he hadn’t dared open for seventeen years.

  Under the letter ‘P’ was a name that had always intrigued him - Paula. On the rare occasions she would call around, usually on his mother’s birthday, she would look at him and wait for him to leave the room, then she’d murmur words in Spanish. By the end of the visit, he’d find his mother crying.

  “Mom, what happened?” She never told him and took the secret to her grave. Or... maybe she didn’t? He put the box back in its place and tucked the old booklet under his bed.

  “Tomorrow is a new day.”

  Chapter 9: Lynn

  Rules of the Crystal Circle

  A challenging: A situation in which a member of the group creates, in the physical reality, an emotionally or physically difficult situation for another member, forcing the other member to go searching for qualities he didn’t know were in his possession. For example: cruelty, rape, hatred, alienation. A challenging must have the prior consent of all parties involved.

  The plan is premeditated before its manifestation in reality and signed by all members of the Circle. Papers of agreement and signatures will be secreted in the heavenly archive and available for review only to guides at Sapphire level and above. Disagreement with, or modification of, the plan is permitted, but requires the consent of the group and signature of the guide.

  06/28/2013 - Thirteenth day of disappearance

  Lynn got up early. She had a warm and safe feeling, as though she had always lived this way. She hurried down to the sea, before people arrived, swam for about ten minutes, and felt the blood throbbing powerfully through her temples.

  Dave rubbed his eyes. He rolled onto his stomach and hugged the pillow. His hand stumbled upon something. He sat up in bed and checked. It was Violetta’s address book. He’d completely forgotten about it. “It’s now or never,” he decided. It was time to overcome the sorrow and confusion and find out about his birth, who his father was, and what had happened to him at the age of two. He dialed, and the phone rang at the other end. Dave panicked and hung up immediately. Tom jumped onto his knees and rubbed his back against them. Dave laughed and dialed again.

  After eight rings, an older woman answered. “Hello. Who’s speaking?” The rolling Argentine intonation reminded him of the old days - the smell of empanadas, chorizo, of a chocolate scented tango.

  “Am I speaking to Paula?” Dave asked hesitantly.

  “Yes, this is Paula. Who is this?”

  He swallowed. “Dave… this is Dave. The son... Violetta’s son... may she rest in peace.”

  There was a pause and then a scream. “Dave! Dave! Where are you, “mijito”? I’ve been looking for you for years!”

  “You were looking for me?”

  “Yes, querido! Since you disappeared at the age of eighteen, I could not find you. Nor did my husband, who died five years ago.”

  “I’m sorry. I should have...”

  “It doesn’t matter!” Paula took charge of th
e conversation. “Tell me where you are and we’ll come pick you up, honey.”

  For a moment, Dave felt about ten years old. He regained his composure and continued. “It doesn’t matter where I am, Paula. I’m thirty-five already. I’m sorted, and everything is all right.” After making sure that she was in good health, Dave admitted he would like to shed light on hidden chapters in his past. He told her he’d found her phone number and thought she could help him.

  “What do you want to know, Dave mijito?”

  “Who was my father? Why did he leave? Where was I born? What accident happened to my leg at the age of two? Why don’t I have a birth certificate, and why am I not recognized by the Interior Ministry?” The questions were fired in bursts without planning, as if they had been sitting on the tip of his tongue all those years, waiting for the opportunity to come out.

  Paula sighed and said, “Look, Dave, we should speak about these things face to face, not over the phone.”

  “I can’t wait any longer, Paula. It’s really urgent for me. I’ll come visit another time, at a good time, but I’d love to hear it right now if you have some answers for me.”

  “At least for some of your questions, I have answers.” She sighed and took a deep breath, as if she was sick with asthma, fighting for every breath. “Dave, you are my late sister’s son, and God knows how much I loved her, but the relationship between us was not easy. I was very angry with her for years, but now... she’s dead. The anger is over. I wish she were alive to answer these questions. I wish I could give you better answers so as not to hurt you. But I can no longer hide the truth. Are you sure you want to know, Dave?” Dave’s sweaty palm gripped the phone, and he closed his eyes tightly.

  “Yes.”

  “We’ll start with the accident. When you were two years old, you ran into the road and a large car hit you and threw you into the air, crushing your shinbones. You were unconscious and were taken to the hospital with moderate injuries. There, you were hospitalized for emergency surgery on your foot, and they had no choice but to amputate part of the bone and reconnect it. That’s what caused your limp. After forty- eight hours you had a second surgery, and they moved you to the recovery ward. There, you were treated by a nice nurse named Violetta...”