Authors: Christopher David Petersen
“Well
,
Dimitri
, as long as you don’t make me some lowball offer like the last guy did, I’m sure we could come to some kind of deal,” Jack replied, trying to sound believable.
Dimitri
smiled a great smile of relief. He extended his
hand
and said, “My friend, I’m sure you will not be disappointed.”
Dimitri
shook Jack’s hand. In that moment, he could see the doubt in Jack’s eyes that betrayed his words.
Dimitri
pulled away. His eyes turned cold and his expression became hardened.
“There will be no deal, will there?” he said bluntly.
Jack froze. He knew he’d be
en
caught in his bluff. He searched his mind to find a better answer, but there were none to be found. Reluctantly, he replied with the truth.
“I’m sorry,
Dimitri
. I guess I’m not ready to sell the crystal right now,” Jack said, feeling dread as he spoke.
“This is most regrettable,”
Dimitri
shot back.
He eyed Jack momentarily, spoke a few words in Russian to his colleague, then stormed off down the beach at a hurried pace.
Jack looked at Serena with worry. He could see the same expression staring back at him.
Looking back at two men now far away, he said, “Somehow I get the feeling he’s not going to take
'
no
'
for an answer.”
“I have that same feeling,” Serena responded.
~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~
ONE
HOUR LATER:
As Jack and Serena approached the beach house, they noticed something peculiar.
“Did you leave the rear door open?” Jack asked Serena.
“No, why?”
“Someone did. There’s a curtain blowing through the doorway,” Jack said, then asked, “Do you think your parents are home?”
“No, they normally would have left by now,” Serena said, somewhat confused by the sight.
“Well
,
if I didn’t leave it open and you didn’t leave it open and your parents are gone, who else could have…” Jack stopped walking. He looked up at the house, then back at Serena and
his
expression changed to dread.
“Oh no…” Serena blurted out.
Before she could finish, Jack sprinted off toward the house. In
seconds,
he leaped up onto the rear deck and entered the home. Serena followed behind.
“Holy Shit!” Jack yelled loudly.
He looked around the living room and kitchen. All the doors to cabinets and closets were open. Strewn on the floors were their contents. Jack ran quickly through the
house and found each room looking
the same. As he made his way back into the living room, he saw Serena standing at its entrance in shock.
“They broke in… those Russian bastards broke in,” Jack said.
Serena stood motionless. Her mind was still in shock as she realized the gravity of their situation. Jack walked over to her and touched her shoulder.
“Are you going to be alright?” he asked.
“We’re in danger. We’re in a lot of danger,” Serena said, her eyes intense. “This isn’t the end of it.”
“We better call the police,” Jack responded, running toward the phone.
“No wait!” Serena shouted, stopping Jack in his tracks. “I’m calling my dad first. They’ll be going to his office next.”
Jack tossed her the phone.
“Quick… I don’t think he has much time,” Jack said, his voice filled with concern.
As Serena pushed the buttons, her fingers trembled with fear. She placed the receiver to her ear and paced back and forth, stepping over articles that had been haphazardly thrown across the floor. As Javier answered the phone at his office, Serena uttered a few simple words:
“Dad, we’ve got a problem.
”
~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~
JAVIER’S HOME: SEVERAL HOURS LATER:
As the local police pulled away,
Berta
stepped from the window.
“Thank goodness no one was hurt,” she sai
d, her voice still trembling from
fear.
“And now that the police are onto them, they probably won’t be back,” Serena added.
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Javi said. “This is the second time they’ve been here. They’re persistent and I’m not so sure the local cops are a match for brazen guys like these.”
“So what do we do? We’re not going to just hand over the crystal to them,” Jack said, defiantly.
“I don’t know Jack. I don’t know if there’s anything we can do, except watch our backs,” Javier responded.
“That was great thinking putting that crystal in a safe deposit box, Dad. I’m pretty sure they won’t be breaking into a bank to get it,” Serena said.
“Yeah, that should keep them at bay for a while,” he replied.
“That is until they see us leaving the bank with it,” Jack countered.
“Maybe we should hire some security to guard the crystal,” Serena said, offering a solution.
“Local security would be useless with these guys. We’d need professionals and I’m not sure if we can afford them right now,” Javier said.
As they spoke, Jack turned and walked into the kitchen. Now curious about his abrupt exit, Serena asked, “Where’re you going Jack?”
“I’ve got a phone call to make,” he replied with a wily grin.
Chapter
5
Offices of Javier Arista:
Javier hung up the phone and exited his office. Walking into his laboratory, he found Serena and Jack hunched over a map of the
Mediterranean
.
Their
conversation was light and Jack seemed to be enjoying himself.
“Hey, what’s going on here?” Javier asked in a serious tone, pretending to be upset.
Jack stiffened a bit, causing Javier to laugh.
“Jack, relax. I’m just kidding,” he said, clearing away the moment of tension.
“For a minute there, I thought you were going to tell me to get back to work,” Jack joked.
“Well, actually
,
Jack, I am,” Javier started, his voice now growing in excitement. “I just got off the phone with Burt and he said we should have all the arrangements set by next
week, so we’ll be leaving
in two days for
Greece
as planned.”
“Huh, I thought for sure we’d be delayed a week or so. So all the permits are set?” Serena asked.
“
Not yet, but Burt thinks they’ll
be signed before we get there,” Javier said,
re
assuringly.
“Two days… I’ve got some work to do,” Jack said, picking up the phone.
“Jack, everything’s taken care of. What work do you have?” Serena asked, a bit puzzled.
“I’m building a side
-
scanning radar device,” Jack replied, proudly.
“Jack, that’s fantastic, although I have to tell you, we do have all the latest electronics,” Javier said.
“Oh, I’m sure you do. It’s more about me satisfying a hobby than it is about me adding a new piece of equipment to your repertoire,” Jack replied.
“Jack, you really are amazing. Is there nothing you can’t do?” Serena asked, shaking her head in surprise.
“Wi
ndows… I don’t do windows
,
” he
shot back humorously.
Jack picked up the phone a
nd dialed a number from memory. He spoke quietly to the man on the other end for a few minutes, the
n
said,
“Came out perfect? Fantastic
.
What about the other components?”
There was a brief pause from Jack. He then responded, “Ok, thanks. I’ll be over shortly.”
Hanging up the phone, he turned to the probing stare of Serena.
“Cloak and dagger, eh Jack?” she teased.
“Not really.
I was
just
talking to th
e guy about the radar equipment,
”
Jack explained.
“For a minute there, I thought you were secretly ordering us a pizza for lunch,” Javier teased.
“Sorry, no pizza.
I have to go pick up my parts, but I can bring one back when I return if you’d like,” Jack said, sincerely. “By the way Serena, can you give me a lift?”
“One way or round trip?” she replied with a
grin
.
~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~
"By the way Serena, we're going to need to swing by the bank first," Jack said with a knowing smile.
"If you need some cash, I can lend you some," Serena responded.
"This is going to be a much larger
withdrawal
," Jack replied, cryptically.
"The crystal?"
"Yup?" Jack replied simply.
"Shouldn't we wait until tomorrow? I know we haven't seen the Russians in a week, but why take a chance?"
"The bank closes early on Fridays and we leave on Saturday, so it's either sometime today or only a few short hours tomorrow," Jack rationalized.
"Hmm, I guess that sound
s
right. Does my dad know about this?"
"Who do you think suggested it?" Jack said with a smirk.
"Keeping secrets from me again, huh? What else aren't you guys telling me?" Serena asked, pretending to be offended.
"I'll never tell," Jack replied humorously.
The two jumped into her car and headed into town. With the windows down and the wind circulating around them, Jack breathed in the flowery scent of Serena's perfume. As they traded topics to talk about, Jack sneaked quick glimpses of Serena's beautiful Latin features. With her soft voice and intoxicating perfume, Jack struggled to concentrate on her words.
"...and then it slipped out of my hands and smashed on the ground. Boy was my dad pissed," Serena said, finishing her story with a small chuckle.
"Yeah, me too," Jack replied.
Serena turned and looked at Jack for a moment. Feeling her eyes upon him, he turned and caught the puzzled expression on her face.
"What?" Jack said, like a child caught in mischief.
"Are you even listening to me?" Serena said, only mildly insulted.
"What do you mean? Of course I'm listening to you," he replied, defensively.
"Well
,
what was up with your answer then?" she pressed further.
"What answer?"
"I was telling you the story about a dig I went on with my dad and how I dropped an ancient vase and your response was 'yeah, me too
,
'" Serena explained.
"I said that?"
"Yeah... you did. Almost like you weren't listening," Serena said. "So... did you even
hear
a word I said?" she asked again.
"To be honest... no, but I have a good excuse," Jack replied honestly, now searching his mind for the right words to say.
"This ou
gh
tta be good. So what excuse do you have? Pressures of work; not enough sleep; illness?" Serena teased.
Jack cleared his throat. With his heart racing, he nervously began to speak.
"Well, I don't know if this is a good excuse, but it is the truth... you're distracting me."
"Me? Jack, what are you saying, that I talk
too
much? That you can't stand the sound of my voice?" Serena asked, now feeling insulted.
"Whoa, hang on a minute. I never said any
of
that," Jack replied, still trying to find the right words to explain.
"I don't think you really have to, Jack. Telling someone their voice is distracting is enough. I think I can figure the rest out from there. I'm just..."
Jack laid his hand on Serena's, delicately cutting her off in mid-sentence.
"Serena, you're distracting me but not in the way you think. Your soft voice is distracting me. Your beauty is distracting me. Your amazing intelligence is distracting me and your perfume is driving me freaking crazy," Jack finished, his face now turning red.
Serena turned and looked into his eyes. She felt his hand over hers and immediately her heart began to race.
"Wow, you're forgiven," Serena blurted out.
With the two at a loss for words, they sat quietly and thought about their new revelation.
As Serena rounded a corner, she placed both hands on the wheel. Straightening out of the corner, she laid her hand back down on the seat.
With a flirty smile, she said, "You can hold my hand if you'd like."