Cantata - finishing the story

[joegoda]

This is the continued story of a semi retired Indigo Black Operative, who has had so many names he's only mostly sure of what his real one is.

With the aid of his Artificially Intelligent assistant, Sarah, he tracks down his former lover Laura and his daughter Kaylee, who are living in Italy. He also discovers what he believes to be a plot to assassinate Kaylee during a benefit performance of the Italian Chamber Orchestra in Catanzaro, Italy. His journey to stop the assassination and meet the daughter he never knew he had takes him half way across the world to Italy, and then to Zadar, a not so sleepy village in Croatia.

Herbert Wells gets embroiled in the dirty world of Human Slave Traffic when he discovers that Kaylee was a victim of it. Captured during a mission for the Yugoslavian Underground, she and two slaves, Besi and Bleri Carnasi, managed to escape. After a brief and bittersweet reunion with Laura, Wells decides to put an end to the slave trafficker in Zadar.

When we were last with him in the story he had just left Zadar, after enacting his revenge upon Martin Grobchik, ex-Bosnian Military, and brother to Murchek Grobchik, the man who ran the Slavery trade in Zadar, and brother to Well's best friend, Martin Gonzalez, an ex-border patrol cop who changed his name when he left the Bosnian Military and fled to the United States.

My apologies to those of you who have no earthly idea what this story is all about. The previous chapters are all tagged under the books title, "Cantata". This is a process I need to do before I can start a new book. There are three or four others, not quite completed either, that are standing in line for me to pick them back up again.



As Wells left Zadar, driving over the bridge to the main land, sirens could be heard far behind him. The newspapers would report that four fires had started under mysterious circumstances and at apparently the same time. The police report will list them as arson, and it will report that in all, eighteen people died in the fires. What will be absent from the police report will be that the people had all died before the fires, nor will it list that one of those people, one Murchek Grobchik, had eight slim needles stuck in him, and he perished with his eyes wide open.

"Sarah, would you say I look like an accountant?"

"I'm not sure of your reference, Herbert." Sarah's voice rose from the laptop. "What does an accountant look like?"

Wells smiled thinly. "I suppose an accountant looks like me. Or so I've been told."

A few seconds passed before Sarah replied. "I've accessed three hundred forty thousand images of accountants, Herbert, and none of them look like you. There appears to be no set pattern to the images, so there is no reference point I can use to answer you accurately."

"That's all right, Sarah. It was a rhetorical question, anyway." He glanced to the laptop's screen. They were approximately 140 miles from the Cantera Cafe. "One day. One day to get to Catanzaro. Two hours to Sistiana, thirty minutes to Trieste, and then eleven more to Catanzaro." He glanced at his watch. Nearly five o'clock. "Let's put a bit of speed on, Sarah. I've got a lot to do, a long way to go, and not a lot of time to get things done."

His foot gently pressed the accelerator and the little car surged forward.

-*-

About fifty miles away from the Cantera Cafe in Sistiana, just past the border checkpoint, Wells asked Sarah how many messages had been received. He didn't ask if there were any. He knew there would be.

"There are four, Herbert."

"Four?" Surprised, Wells raised his eyebrows. "Only four?"

"There is one voice message from the Director Hamilton, two email messages from Laura, and an encoded email message from an unknown source."

"Hmmmm. An Unknown source?" Wells moved competently around a slow moving Mercedes. "Somehow I suspect an unknown source is rather an oxymoron with you, Sarah. What does it say?"

"The message was sent through one hundred and fifty two servers and the message was encrypted five times. The original is still rather hard to track down, but it appears to have come from a small cafe in Cairo, Egypt." Sarah's voice paused. "That is quite likely incorrect, however, considering the contents."

"And those contents are?"

"It is from Jorj Helki, and contains two words. Those words are 'Thank you.'"

Wells grunted. "It appears the Jorj does a bit more than run the bar at a cafe." He thought for a moment. "Sarah, is it possible to send a reply so that it would reach him?"

"I believe so, Herbert. What would you like to say?"

"Tell him that the next round of drinks are on me. From one soldier to another."

"Very good, Herbert." There was a pause. "It has been sent." There was another pause. "Do you intend to return to Zadar, Herbert?"

"I'm considering it, Sarah." Wells said. "The air is good, the crime rate has suddenly dropped, and it's only one days drive from Trieste."

"I understand, Herbert." The voice coming from the laptop sounded pensive, which is unusual for a computer. "I'm concerned if that may be the wisest action."

"And why would you say that, Sarah?" Wells asked.

"Zadar is a location that Director Hamilton knows about. If you are there, are you not concerned about him finding you?"

"He's known where I have been for the last week, Sarah." Wells nodded. "If he had wanted to find me, he would have. I suspect that, secretly, Hamilton was hoping that I would be successful. If I was unsuccessful, or worse, dead, he has something that would keep him and the government safe. Plausible deniability."

"But you were successful, as I understand it, Herbert. You accomplished your goal there."

"Yes, Sarah. I accomplished my goal there. I still have some loose ends to take care of, however. I want to get to the Cafe and tell the Carnesis that they are safe. I have a package to give to Bleri to give to Kaylee." He reached over and patted a brown wrapped parcel about the size of a small briefcase.

"Once that is done, I want to go to Catanzaro. I'm going to camp out in the Soverato hotel, check out the environment, and see what is what and who is who." He sighed. "I don't know, Sarah. I may not be able to stop the assassination attempt." He blew out through his lips, a quiet raspberry. "You know... if I don't stop the attempt, I'll at least know who is attempting it. The shooter would lead to the order to shoot."

"Herbert, would that not mean that Kaylee would be shot and killed?" Sarah asked.

"Not necessarily killed, but shot, definitely. There's always the possibility that the shooter will fail. Perhaps Hamilton will discover who is behind it and stop it." He was quiet for a bit, and then said, "I hope not though. If he does, I'll never know who sent the order."

"And that's important to you, Herbert?"

"Yes, Sarah. It's very important to me." Wells lapsed into quiet thinking. He glanced into the mirror, and noticed that the Mercedes had kept pace with him all the way to the border. "I think we have company, Sarah. A black Citroen has been following us for the last forty miles, since we crossed the border. It had plenty of chances to turn off, but kept pace with us the entire way."

Sarah said nothing, as there was nothing to say.

Wells pulled off onto the shoulder of the E70 highway and got out of his rental car. He waited and sure enough the Citroen pulled off behind him. Two men, dressed in black suits and dark glasses got out and walked to him. One, a tall man with reddish blond hair, walked with a bit of a limp. The other was shorter, darker and a bit heavier and had his hands in his pockets. That was all right. Wells could see the bulge in the pocket that indicated that this was not a friendly Samaritan.

"Are you having trouble, Senor?" One of them, the taller asked.

"No, no trouble." Wells said, smiling. He kept his hands where they could be seen. "I just needed to stop for a moment."

The tall one translated what Wells had said to his partner, in Croatian. Wells nodded.

"I figured that if you were going to be following me, I ought to find out why." He slapped at his neck. "Darn mosquitoes!" he said. He reached into his jacket pocket and produced a cigarette.

"Senor," asked the tall one. "What makes you think we were following you?"

Wells exhaled twice, quickly, through the thin tube. He then replaced it into his jacket pocket. "I decided I don't really want a smoke right now, and I don't really have time to play these sort of games, boys. I recognize your type. You follow me to my destination, and watch to see who I talk to. Then, when I leave, you pick up whoever it is that I've talked to and do something nasty to them. Am I right?"

The tall one spoke quickly to the shorter one, who grunted back a few terse sentences. The tall one shook his head, but the shorter one apparently disagreed with him and barked darkly back.

"My friend says that we should tell you everything, but I disagree, senor. I tell him we should kill you now, and put you in your automobile. Just another tourist, sleeping in the sun." He sighed and rubbed his arm. "He is, after all, my superior, senor, so I must do as he asks."

Wells started to silently count down from twenty.

"We are supposed to follow you, it's true. The trouble you caused in Zadar has crippled our... business. It's possible that we may never recover there. But that is all right, you see. We have other places to do business." The tall one yawned greatly. The shorter one scratched absently at a spot on his chest.

Wells got to ten and then said, "So, what would you like me to do now?"

"Senor, we would like for you to go to your appointment. That is all. What you suspect is true, of course. You are someone we can take care of at anytime. When you sleep, when you don't. It does not matter to us. What does matter to us are these people that have talked to you. These... Carnesis... are a troublesome pair. We wish to take them back to where they can cause no more trouble." Now the shorter of the two was yawning.

"All right." Wells said. His twenty counts had long passed. "Let's say I take you there. Why not? What are the Carnesis to me? You'll let me go?"

"Of course, Senor. You are an old man, you cannot move very quickly, and we will know where you are regardless. Killing Grobchik was not the end of it. It was just a small... inconvenience. It will not stop us. And, as I said, we can find you when ever we want."

"Uh huh." Wells said. "Well, all right. Just try to keep up, all right?" He smiled genuinely and got back into his car.

The other two ran back to theirs while Wells pressed the accelerator to the floor. When he reached eighty mile per hour, he whispered to Sarah, "Sarah, do a level three check of this car. There's a bug somewhere, and I want to get rid of it."

"Very well, Herbert." Sarah went quiet while she did the scan.

Looking into the rear view mirror, Wells saw the Citroen swerve gently, and then casually, at eighty miles an hour, run off the road and go flying off the E70 highway, to crash into a barn near the road. "Darn pesky, these mosquitoes." he said, grimly. "Sarah, have you found the bug yet?"

"There's one under the front right wheel fender, and there's one replacing the cigarette lighter, Herbert."

"God, I'm so stupid." Wells said. He pulled the bogus cigarette lighter out of its spot and tossed it out the window. "I should have figured someone would be watching me. I should have figured that Grobchik was a small fish in a much larger pond." He sighed. "I must be getting old. Can you do something about the one in the front?"

"No, Herbert." Sarah said. "I cannot. I do not have the capacity for that sort of finely tuned Electro magnetic pulse. I suggest you pull over and remove it by hand."

"Great. Thanks." Wells found an exit that took him to the small town of Montecatini. He pulled off at a filling station, filled the tank, checked the tires and removed a rather clumsy bump that sat right under the front right fender. He attached it to one of the other vehicles outside the cashier's building when he went into pay.

Once back on the road again, he drove the short distance to Sistiana, and parked his car on the side of the Cafe that was away from the road. It was just after seven thirty in the evening. He retrieved the package for Kaylee, the laptop and locked the car.

He went inside and found a table toward the back, where he could watch the door. He ordered Columbian coffee, a roast beef sandwich, a garden salad with bleu cheese dressing and ate in silence for a while. He read from an old Asimov paperback while he ate, biding his time.

When eight o'clock came, he looked up at the door, and watched as Bleri and her brother Besi entered. Bleri went into the back to get ready for the evening shift while Besi sat at a table near the door. Besi’s eyes scanned the room, and when they fell upon Wells, they widened in surprise. He stood up and came to Wells' table.

"And what brings you here, American?" he asked while he sat. "Did you find your assassin?"

"How are you Besi?" Wells said, not looking up from his book. "Are you well?"

Besi broke off a part of Wells sandwich and chewed it. "We are very well, thank you. How did you enjoy your stay in Zadar?"

Wells looked up with a question in his eyes.

"Oh yes," said Besi. "We knew you were in Zadar. We still have contacts with the Underground."

"Ah." Wells said. He went back to his reading.

"We heard there was quite a fire in Zadar earlier this morning. Apparently a number of buildings burned to the ground before the fire department could even get there. The fires were of... mysterious... circumstance. It's said that eighteen people died." Besi waited to see if Wells had anything to add. When nothing came forth, Besi added. "One of those people was a merchant named Grobchik. Thank you for that."

"You're still not safe yet, Besi. There are still people looking for you." Wells folded his book and put it away. "I intend to take care of them, as well. When I find the end of the chain, I'll send you a message." He took a bite of his sandwich. "You're safer than you were, but not quite out of the woods yet."

Besi nodded. "We've gotten used to looking over our shoulder. Even this place may not be safe anymore. Were you followed?"

Wells nodded. "They tried. They aren't any more."

"You lost them?"

"No, not exactly. They just aren't any more." Wells sipped his coffee. "You'll probably hear about it on the news. Silly drunks, driving off the road. They should be more careful."

Besi smiled, the first that Wells had seen from the young man. "Perhaps we have an angel in you, American."

Wells shook his head sadly, saying, "No. I don't think I'm any kind of angel, Besi. I'm just trying to keep my family safe." He reached down to his side and picked up the brown package. "Speaking of which, I need you to give this to Bleri to give to Kaylee. The instructions are in the package."

Bleri showed up just then, wearing a red and white checkered apron, which clashed badly with her bright yellow jumper. "This is for Kaylee?"

Wells nodded, passing the package to her.

Bleri nodded back, accepting the heavy gift. "It would be extremely rude for me to not see that she gets it, especially after the news we heard today." She passed a look to Besi, who nodded. "I will be seeing her tonight," she continued. "What is it?"

"It's something I would like for her to wear at the benefit in Catanzaro," Wells explained. "Her mother will know what it's for."

Besi looked hard into Wells' eyes. "It's Kevlar, isn't it?"

"Very good, Besi." Wells nodded. "Yes, it is. I haven't found the assassin, so I wish for him to go ahead and try to kill her." Wells tapped the package. "This is a special Kevlar-foam aluminum mesh. Lighter, thinner, and more resistant. It will stop anything short of a tank killer." He smiled. "That would leave a hell of a bruise, however. Anything less than that and it'll feel like you got hit with a baseball being tossed by a five year old."

Bleri looked hard at Wells. "So, you would wish her to be shot? What if the killer shoots her in the head? I do not think this," she lifted the package, "would stop that. Do you?"

Wells shook his head. "No, it wouldn't stop that, Bleri. You're right. But most assasins who believe they have all the time in the world will try for a chest shot. The head is just too small a target and it tends to move all the time. I'm counting on the assassin being somewhere safe; somewhere he or she feels secure. That will make them just confident enough." He nodded. "They'll try for the chest or back. It's easier to hit."

"All right," Bleri agreed. "I'll see that she gets it. Tonight. She and her mother will be leaving early in the morning for the drive to benefit."

Wells stood up. "Thank you." He finished his coffee and moved around the table, intending to leave. Bleri grabbed his arm.

"Kaylee tells me your name is Richard. May I also call you that?"

Wells looked into the young and earnest face. "Of course you may."

Bleri wrapped her arms around Wells and said, "Thank you, Richard, for what you have done."

Gently, Wells pushed her away. "It's not done yet, Bleri. You and Besi and Kaylee aren't safe yet."

Bleri looked at him, and her eyes were shiny with tears. "Still, Richard, it is more than anyone else has done for us. For what you have done, for what you are trying to do, I thank you."

Besi stood and offered his hand to Wells. "I thank you as well. Even the illusion of safety is better than the constancy of fear. If you have need of me, all you have to do is ask."

Wells nodded, and shook the young man's hand. "Stay aware, you two. I can't stress how much you aren't safe. It's not over yet." He walked out of the cafe.

Back in the car, he had Sarah run another scan of the car. Nothing was found this time. He had not expected to find anything, but he wanted to be more careful now, since he was starting to rub the wrong people the wrong way.

"Sarah, make me one reservation for two days, at the hotel Soverato in Catanzaro."

"Very good, Herbert," Sarah replied. "Catanzaro is twelve hours away, Herbert, and your target date in Catazaro is still five days away. You will require some rest. Might I suggest a stopover in Rome? Some relaxing sightseeing, perhaps?"

Wells was silent for a long moment. "I like that idea, Sarah. I can say goodbye to a few things while I'm there."

"Very good, Herbert. I will make a reservation at the Inn At The Roman Forum for 2 days." she paused briefly, and then she asked, "Are we going to catch the bad guys?"

"We're going to try, Sarah," Wells said, as he started the car.

Comments

[capi.livejournal.com]

No corrections.

And.... i love it. Picked right up from where it was back when and went zooming along forward. Thank you!! Will there be more this week? Yeah, i'm greedy. *grin* I loved this story. Still do!

[joegoda.livejournal.com]

No Corrections?? Honey lamb! I'm shocked. Yep, I'm expecting to write more and finish it up by end of next week. After that, I'll figure out which one I'm working on. This was the one that was just crying to be finished.

[capi.livejournal.com]

*smile* I didn't see anything, honest!

*grin* I hope she isn't hurt... i hope i hope i hope i hope......

[joegoda.livejournal.com]

I will tell you this... nobody in this story that doesn't deserve to be hurt will be.

[capi.livejournal.com]

YAY!!!!!!!!!

*flings confetti and dances around the May pole*

YAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!