The Crystal Circle: A Paranormal Romance Novel (13 page)

By noon, the trailer was standing tall, a little distance from the beach, reasonably close to the Jordanian border, and not too close to any nosy neighbors. They arranged the inside of the trailer and placed all the paperwork, cash, notebooks, and the tablet in an interior room. Gidi installed a sophisticated coded key lock for the room. They ate dinner at a small bench outside, and they celebrated the opening of the second branch of the King’s Bank with a beer or two.

Suddenly Gidi said, “I thought we could advertise with a flash mob video clip on the beach, to a soundtrack of The Gypsy Kings or The Beach Boys.”

Saul laughed heartily and said, “Yeah, and the slogan could be ‘King’s Bank – you’re on a roll!’ But seriously now. Gidi, we need a contact here, someone linked to the trailer people who’ll get a bigger cut than the others, a commission for recruiting people. Without an inside man, this won’t work.”

Gidi gritted his teeth. He saw his cash pile shrinking slightly, but didn’t interfere with Saul’s plans. The man seemed to know what he was doing. As they considered their next steps, they were approached by an older man wearing only a swimsuit and holding a bottle of water in his hand.

He said, “Hello. Welcome! You’re new here, right?”

They nodded.

“I’m Maurice. I live in the white trailer, the one behind the yellow trailer. I wanted to ask, do you know the rules around here?”

“Rules? What rules?” asked Gidi.

“We don’t do drugs here, at least not outside. We don’t hold parties at night, and there’s security here. And you need to pay something toward maintaining the security.”

“What? What is it, a council tax?”

“No, we’ve just organized ourselves so as to avoid criminals or terrorists. There’s a guard roster. You can sign up for guard duty and save some money, or pay and have people guard for you. And there are cleaning taxes. We have people who keep the area clean so people won’t come from Eilat to dump their garbage here. So we pay toward these local services.”

“Okay,” Saul inquired politely, “and how much are these taxes, Maurice?”

“Nothing much. A hundred or so shekels per month. Talk to David. He takes care of it.”

“David?” The veins on Saul’s forehead began to throb and his ears turned red. He asked as calmly as possible, “So, where do we find this David?”

“He’s probably out at sea now. You’ll find him later in that trailer.” Maurice pointed at the remote trailer. “You’ll know it by the tables his girl - or partner, I don’t know - sets up over there. She makes cutlets for the people here. And who are you?”

“We’re Saul and Gidi. Thanks, Maurice,” said Saul, smiling, calm returning to his face. “Bye.”

He turned to Gidi. “Go see Josh from the gray trailer and ask how many more are interested today. There must be at least five more. We’ll start visiting them after dark. And get back as soon as possible because I want you with me when we go looking for this David. I don’t like people who collect taxes, and I don’t like guards.”

Lynn finished cleaning the remaining food scraps from the tables. She was thinking about how her life seemed calm, and nice, and she wished she could move forward with Dave, especially as he also seemed interested. If only it weren’t for that inner voice that told her, “You can’t! It’s forbidden!”
What’s forbidden, for God’s sake? We’re both single people, unmarried. Adults. What’s to think about? What the hell’s stopping me, deep within me?
Busy with her own thoughts, Lynn didn’t see the two men approaching.

“Hello!” Saul said, and she froze as if she was thunderstruck. She slowly raised her eyes and saw a young man with tattooed arms and a sly smile and an older man, who was bald with a trimmed beard. The look the older man gave her turned her stomach. His voice resonated in her mind, digging into her memory. She thought she knew him, but as she rifled through her unreliable memory, she couldn’t place him.

“Hi,” she said after a slight hesitation.

“My name’s Saul,” said the older man, “and this is Gidi. They told us this is where David lives. We’re looking for him.”

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Michal,” said Lynn, thinking right away about the biblical connection between Michal and Saul, who was the biblical Michal’s father. Something about him was disturbing and mysterious.

“David? You mean Dave.”

“Mmm... yes,” the man said, looking deep into her eyes. There was a spark or something in them. He thought he recognized her, but from where?

“Dave’ll be back soon. What should I tell him?”

“We’re new here in the camp. We heard from Maurice we should pay security taxes, so we came to pay up and also to get to know him a little, listen to some comprehensive explanations, if possible, about life here.”

On one hand, he was eloquent and spoke politely, not like the rest of the people in the camp, as though he was more educated. On the other hand, he was a giant, tanned, bald man wearing a patterned T-shirt. His appearance didn’t fit his personality as she perceived it.

“So if you’re around, maybe try in a couple of hours. He’ll surely be here by then.”

“Are you his wife?” Gidi probed, “Or his girlfriend?”

Lynn stared at him. The audacity of the man! She wouldn’t ask a single man such a question. “Ask him,” she said firmly, straightening the last table and entering the trailer. The door slammed behind her.

“What stung her, that one?” Gidi asked Saul quietly.

“You don’t attack a woman the first time you see her with personal questions. First you must compliment her, talk about the sea, the weather, things like that. You’ll learn.”

“Asking if she’s his wife is
attacking
? She’s just a snob.” Gidi made a face.

Dave returned as the sun was setting. “Dave, two men were here asking for you,” Lynn said.

“Who were they?” asked Dave.

“Strange men. New people. A Saul and a Gidi. Wanted to pay the taxes Maurice told them about.”

“Beautiful!” enthused Dave. “Didn’t even need to chase them! A good sign.”

A bad sign
, she thought.

Later, the two men knocked on the door. Shampooed and fragrant in button-down shirts, they made a decent and favorable impression, much more so than earlier. Dave opened the door and they came in, standing in the doorway.

“Hello. Michal said you’d come over,” said Dave. He looked directly into Saul’s eyes and saw fire there. The fire was immediately softened by modest blinking and a smile.

“Good evening. Sorry to be a bother, but we didn’t want to live here in the area without paying our debts, and we heard that you’re responsible for these things.”

“Please come in.” Dave gestured widely at the dining table inside the trailer. They entered, and Lynn hovered nearby. She felt a lot of tension in the air, a huge tension that smiles could not dispel. It seemed that Dave wasn’t aware of it. His serenity was admirable, but also worrying. Saul considered the cost of cleaning and security fees and what they covered and immediately put 600 shekels on the table. Dave raised an eyebrow, but Saul shoved the bills in his direction.

“It’s okay, three months upfront and a bonus for the hospitality of the beautiful Michal.” He glanced at Lynn, and she lowered her head. “It seems, your wife manages a small, but very successful restaurant here,” Saul turned to Dave.

“Michal’s not my wife,” said Dave. “We’re business partners, and I hope she will, indeed, be successful.”

Gidi couldn’t restrain a small smile. He was impressed by Saul’s skill for getting information.

“Before we go,” said Saul, “I thought you might like to profit from some other business.”

“Me? What business?”

“You invest as much money with me as you like, and within a week you get your investment back with 10% interest. After that, the more you invest, the more interest you get -”

Then Gidi intervened. “We have a method using the stock exchange to gain far more than you’ll ever get from these exploitive banks.”

Dave was tense. He realized that these people were the ones stirring up the tempest of investment fever in the camp.

“I don’t think so,” said Dave.

“You got burned by the banks once, Dave?” asked Gidi.

“Yes.” Dave lowered his eyes and conceded almost grudgingly.

“So you understand exactly what we mean. They exploit. We’re fair… and much more than that. Use some spare money and make more with it. We already have hundreds of satisfied investors. I can give you names.” Gidi opened the little notepad he’d tucked into his shirt pocket earlier.

Dave gestured at the notepad. “There’s no need, really. We’re a little busy now, but I think the answer’s no. Thank you for your contributions and good luck.”

“I’ll invest,” Lynn suddenly said, having not said a word the whole time. “What’s the minimum for investment?”

The three men looked at her in amazement, one of them with great disappointment and the others with clear joy.

“Maybe 500 shekels, but that won’t give you much return. If you round it up to 1000, within a week you get 1100 back. “

“Where do you live? I’ll be there tonight with the money.”

“The brown trailer in the back, second row from the border’s fence. Perfect. I’ll wait for you until ten o’clock, okay?” Saul responded.

“Okay. Bye,” said Lynn. They parted with handshakes and they left.

Dave remained sitting. “What money will you give them? Who can guarantee that you’ll even get your money back?”

“I’ve heard people here saying they’re getting their money, and that they’re pleased. I don’t know how he’s investing or where, but people call him ‘The Wizard.’ He must have his methods. He’s a genius. I’ll take yesterday’s and today’s revenues from the restaurant and we’ll invest.”

“I said I don’t want to invest. He’s a crook.”

“Then I’ll borrow it from you and you’ll get it back two days from now. Okay, Dave? I respect your opinion, but I think you’re being overly cautious.” She stroked his arm as she stood behind him. “You’ve been burned a lot by life, Dave, and no wonder you’re reluctant to take even low risks. It’s understandable. I’m probably more willing to gamble. We’ll see -”

He abruptly turned his chair toward her, faced her, and before she realized what was happening, he covered her mouth with a passionate and tormented kiss, pulling her close to him.

“Stop! What are you doing?” She pushed him violently until he lost his balance and fell off the chair. “Haven’t we agreed that the relationship between us will be nothing but tenant and landlord?”

“Yes,” he said in a cracked voice, “but it’s difficult to impose a contract on the heart.”

“So try harder,” she said, still angry. She was angry with herself and especially at the great agitation his kiss caused her. “It’s forbidden. You simply can’t. We’re too much alike.” She knew it in her heart. “This relationship won’t work. Think about someone else.”

She ran to her room and dried her eyes. It was hard to stay here and live with him while she so longed for his touch and love all while her inner being was screaming, “Stay away!” After she’d calmed down, she put on a dress and rummaged through her purse. The daily revenue was slightly over 650 shekels.

She combed her new dark curls, left the room, and asked in a soft and jovial tone, “Dave, can I get a loan of 350 shekels? The investment will be mine alone. Don’t worry. It’ll all be returned to the business in a few days.”

He gave her a long bleak look, pulled out his wallet, and handed her the amount she asked for.

“Thanks. Good evening, Dave,” she said and left the trailer.

Dave was upset. It had been years since he’d felt this way about a woman. On the one hand, he was attracted to her, but on the other, he felt the need to protect her. Despite his disability, he felt strongly that he wanted more than anything to keep Lynn safe and secure, if not in his arms, then at least under his roof. She was taking a risk hooking up with these people. He realized that she was wrong, but had no way of constraining her. There was something strange and mysterious between them. There was something lurking, hidden in the mist, maybe a shadowy past threatening to overwhelm them with darkness, but... the past had never been a threat, only the future. He was an optimist and had learned that time always worked in favor of those who were patient. He decided to wait.

Lynn knocked softly on Saul and Gidi’s trailer door. No one answered. Maybe there were children? No, that was unlikely. She knocked again quietly and finally opened the door hesitantly. She saw the two men sitting on a bed in the inner room. The door was partially closed and, in a flash, she realized that under the bed on which they sat was a strange black pipe that slightly disturbed her.

“Hello, here I am,” she said in a cheerful voice. They jumped up, rushed to shut the inner door, and went to meet her.

“Hi, Michal, please come in,” Saul said with a broad smile and opened his hand to invite her to sit on the small sofa by the wall.

“Next time, try knocking,” grumbled Gidi and Saul turned to him sharply. His smile became cold and stiff. “Gidi, let’s continue our conversation later. Didn’t we say you had a customer meeting to go to?”

“Yes, of course,” murmured Gidi. He glanced curiously at Michal and Saul, took his bag, and left the trailer. Saul stood and appraised Lynn shamelessly. He was taller than her.