Directly continued from Nine Pound Ten

By Atonia Walpole

(Picture creations also by Atonia)

Part 1

Three nights passed and the nightmares began. Mandi was reading in her bed when she heard him moaning and making some strange sounds. Her room was next to Blaine’s and she pushed open his door to see him fighting his sheet and blanket.

“David, David?” She went to him and gently shook him. He was wet with perspiration.

“Ohh nooo!” he moaned again. Kneeling on his bed, she shook him again and he began to come out of it. His eyes were wild and he was breathing hard.

“Mandi!” He reached for her and she lay down with him, holding his damp body next to hers.

“It’s all right, David, it’s all right.” She finger-combed his hair and ran her hands over his shoulder. “Was it a bad dream?”

“Yes.”

“It’s gone now and it’s over. You’re okay.”

But it wasn’t over. The dreams returned nightly and so far he hadn’t told them what they consisted of. This morning he’d taken Lyssa to school and Mandi and Billy were having coffee.

“I’m really not surprised, Billy. It was a traumatic experience. I watched it happen and I was screaming and crying myself. To kill someone you loved is about the worst thing you can do.”

“He said it wasn’t Ali. Ali was already dead.”

“That’s how he’s been able to handle it. I almost believe that myself. When I was brought to him in the basement of that building I was in total shock to see him alive. I thought he was going to take me to David and then I said something to him about leaving Lyssa behind, something rather harsh. That’s when he took me to the cell. Kissing me and saying how sorry he was that it had to end this way. That was it and I was locked in.

“I began to hate him then not just because of what he was doing to me and the baby but what he’d done to David. You don’t put someone through that kind of misery and still say you love them.”

“I first had my suspicions that something wasn’t right when that woman showed up at the house in Crescent City. She fully expected to see Ali. Now, Mandi, you know you would have to have been living in a hole in the ground not to have heard about his death. I totally agree with you. If you love someone you try and protect them, not expose them to unnecessary pain and suffering.”

“He didn’t used to be that way, Billy. I thought he was the most wonderful person. He was affectionate, concerned and interested in our lives. He really petted and babied Blaine. I believe he loved him. I’ve tried to figure him out. He was living a double life, even a triple life. I think he got tired of it.”

“So he goes off and starts killing off all his old mates? Still don’t know the why of that.”

“No. I can’t believe that he thought David would fall into his arms after seeing that picture of me. That was a horrible thing to do.”

“He came through for you, though, didn’t he?”

Mandi looked down turning her cup. “Yes, he did. He saved me and Willy. It cost him a lot, Billy, and he may be a long time getting over it.”

“We need to watch him and not let him brood. Keep him occupied.” Billy slid a folded magazine across the table. “I’m going to order him this piece of equipment.”

“Good grief, Billy, it looks enormous!”

“There’s room in the pool house. He swims and halfway does his exercises. This thing will make him work.”

“Hmm, are you thinking he might turn out looking like the model with the six pack abs?”

“I’m not worried about that. It’s his back and legs that need strengthening. I might give it a go myself. Never know, I might be able to make a three pack.”

Mandi laughed. “You have a beautiful body, Billy. Just the right amount of everything, so don’t go messing it up.”

His eyes met hers across the table and he smiled a little.

“Order it.”

“I am.”

“A cozy little tete-a-tete?” Blaine raised a brow.

“Very. I didn’t hear you come in.” Mandi leaned back in her chair. “Want some coffee?”

“No. I have had enough coffee this morning.”

“Have a look at your future.” Billy slid the magazine across the table to him.

“What medieval sort of torture machine is this?” He sat down at the table.

“It’s what’s coming.”

“He is rather nicely sculptured.” Blaine slid it back with a grin. “Is that what you want, a nice hard rippled stomach? Not sure I could go that far.”

“It’s not the stomach.” Billy got up and gathered the cups and saucers, heading toward the sink.

“Maybe buns of steel?” Blaine widened his eyes.

“How about strong back and legs?” Billy answered from the sink.

“While you two decide which body parts to grow, I’m going to bed.”

Blaine caught her hand. “Mind if I come with you?”

“No…come.” She held the other hand out. With her arm around his waist and one cane, he walked to the stairs and up, holding onto the banister and pulling himself along.

They lay down together in the bed. “Did you sleep last night?”

“Some.”

“When you want to talk about the dreams, I’ll listen.”

“I know, Mandi.” He put his arm around her and pulled her as close to him as he could. He kissed her slowly and thoroughly. “Will it wake Willy?”

“Um hm.”

“Will he mind terribly?”

“Huh uh.”

They stopped letting him sleep alone. He complained and they ignored him. Billy told him he’d have to physically remove him. Mandi didn’t sleep anyway at night so she was able to read in bed with a tiny light and wake him if he started thrashing about.

The torture machine arrived and he and Billy spent the better part of a day assembling it in the pool house. Mandi and Lyssa came out later to have a look. Lyssa was the first to try it out but she quickly became bored with it and she and Mandi went swimming in the heated pool.

Life had settled down. They were six weeks out from the incident in London.

Cramer arrived with cold rain one Sunday in late October.

“Are you the postman now?” Blaine asked him when Cramer handed him a sealed envelope.

“Ah, they do things differently out in the country. Brennan never uses the post.”

“Sit,” Blaine said. He slit open the envelope and read the letter. “He is insane.”

Cramer sat on the old leather sofa and crossed his legs, looking around Blaine’s office/library/kid's play room. It was old world lived-in comfort. “How’s that?”

“He wants me to come and see him.” Blaine tossed the letter on his desk and got up from his chair, moving to a drinks cabinet and pouring them both a brandy.

“And your reply is?”

“Stuff it up his arse.”

“You want to put that in writing?”

“Why does he want to see me?” Blaine sat in an old, worn, green velvet chair.

“I am not privy to that, Blaine. We occasionally meet at social functions. I’ve known Brennan for probably twenty five years. He does not confide in me nor I in him.”

“Now, I know that is not true. You did join forces.”

“I sent him the phone numbers hoping to get a name to go with them. A flag went up. He took command.”

“How can he do that? He told me you were different species.”

“And so we are. It may have something to do with the fact that he is Sir Brennan Johnson. Or it may be that he had been working on that particular case for about six years. It all began with the Golden Orb. He became very interested in Ali Hassan.”

Blaine took a drink from his glass and studied the contents.

“How are you, Blaine?” Cramer quietly asked.

Blaine shook his head slightly.

“Do you…do you need to talk to somebody? I’m not talking about me but a professional.”

“Do you think I am crazy?” Blaine looked up at him.

“No, not at all but I think what happened in that basement might have some lasting effects. You don’t have to be crazy…troubled maybe.”

“I am maybe troubled. I have nightmares.”

“That’s understandable and nothing to be ashamed of. If you need help get it. Will you talk to Brennan?”

“Yes.” Blaine tossed back the rest of his drink.

Part 2

It was a cold, foggy morning. Blaine sat in the backseat of the Mercedes looking out the window. It was the same car that had brought him to London. He’d been told to pack a bag for overnight and it sat on the floorboard next to him. Billy had been less than pleased about the whole thing. Blaine was told to come alone and that immediately sent an alarm off in Billy’s head. He no longer trusted Cramer or the ‘whole bloody lot’, as he’d put it.

“Take no prisoners,” Billy said.

Something Mandi had said to him the night before when he’d awakened again in the midst of a nightmare stuck in his mind. She told him Ali was playing mind games with him even in death. He had to admit it was true. Why was he allowing it to happen? It had to stop.

He’d been lost in his own thoughts and not really paying attention to where he was.

“Sir, I’ll ask you to don the hood now,” the driver said, looking in the rear view mirror.

Blaine set his jaw. This really infuriated him. He looked out the window again and recognized where he was before he placed the black hood over his head. The fact that he knew the area was some comfort. He and Margret Langston had worked a garden not far from here at Woolsthorpe.

At least he hadn’t been handcuffed. Did they trust him? He smiled slightly under the hood.

His feet crunched on the gravel drive as he stood next the car getting his balance. Billy bought him some new canes and he hadn’t used them until now. He had quite a collection growing at home. The big old country house seemed to be set down in a cloud, nothing visible except the door they were headed for. The driver took his bag.

The door was opened by the butler who took Blaine’s black fine cashmere overcoat and scarf. It was all a disguise for what really went on here.

“This way, sir.” The butler led him into one of the sitting rooms where a fire blazed in the hearth. “I’ll let Sir Johnson know you have arrived.”

Blaine moved to the fire and surveyed the room. He wondered who owned the house. Polished brass firedogs gleamed next to the red Turkish carpet. Discreet lamps lit the gloom of the high ceilinged room. The room suited his sensibilities.

“Mr. Blaine, how good of you to come.” Bren Johnson walked into the room and came over to shake his hand.

Blaine assumed an amused stance. “Mr. Johnson, or should I say Sir Johnson? I wasn’t aware you were titled.”

Bren made a dismissive move of his hand. “Some are impressed by that but I find it adds nothing to my daily life. You are also titled but do not use it. Why is that?”

“It doesn’t impress me.”

Bren smiled a little and considered him a moment.  “Come with me.”

He took him to his office, the same office where Blaine had been questioned for hours sitting in the uncomfortable wheel chair. He was not at their mercy today. He felt strong and in control of himself, not drugged or jet lagged. He was ready for whatever Johnson had for him.

Blaine walked to the window and looked out.

“Not much to see out there today. I’m afraid this fog has settled in and is not in a hurry to leave us. Let’s sit over here by the fire.” Two oxblood leather wing back chairs had been arranged with small tables at their sides. They faced each other.

Blaine sat down. “It was foggy at home as well. I should be by my own fire.”

“Ah, but you were curious and so you left your comfortable home to come here to see what the old man wants.”

Blaine tilted his head. He’d give him that.

Bren offered him a slim brown cigar, which he accepted and lit.

“First off, I want to commend you on the way you handled yourself on Regents Street. I am aware of the personal cost to you.”

“I do not believe you are. Mr. Johnson you programmed me and set me in motion, knowing what I would do.”

“I bet to differ, Mr. Blaine. I did not know what you would find in the basement of the Turkish Tobacco Shop. It was you who gave me the address when you recognized the tobacco found on the Arab in the garden.

“Tell me, Mr. Blaine, had you intended to kill him?”

Blaine blinked several times and looked into the fire. He was a while responding. “When I arrived at the shop I knew whatever I might find there was orchestrated by Ali. I found my way to the office, recognized two people in there, Davis and Waites. It was his office door that I walked toward and I knew I would find him behind it. I cannot tell you what I was feeling. I asked him about Mandi and then I went cold. He was not Ali. Ali died in UAE. Ali would never have sealed Mandi in a cell. I killed his ghost.”

Bren grimaced. “I am indebted to you.”

“You used me, Mr. Johnson, and I will not be used again if that is what you have brought me here for.”

Bren mused over his terminology. “I extended an invitation for conversation and I believe you accepted under your own free will.”

Blaine smiled, “As you have said, I was curious.”

“Well…I shall put your curiosity to rest. I’d like to offer you a job.”

Blaine threw his head back and laughed. “You must be mad.”

“We are all mad, Mr. Blaine, why else would people like me exist. It is a mad, mad world, is it not? I don’t propose a desk and file cabinet. There are advantages; you and your family would come under our protection.”

“I do not want your protection. I cannot imagine living with someone peeping over the hedgerow every time I walk out. It is not your business what I do or what my family does. Kindly leave them out of this.”

Bren leaned forward. “A man you used to know is now rotting away in a foreign prison. We have one of theirs not quite rotten yet in ours. We mean to make an exchange. We want him back.”

“For what purpose do you want him back?”

“To save his life. He is valuable to us.”

“He works for you?”

“Yes, yes, he does.”

“Why me?”

“He’ll trust you to get him home. I trust you to get him home.”

“Who is he? I cannot imagine knowing someone who works for you.”

“I’m not going to tell you yet.” Bren sat back.

Blaine looked at him and was not amused.

“You speak Arabic.”

“There are so many dialects that come under that heading I would have to answer you …no.”

Bren smiled a little smile. “You speak French, Spanish, some German and Chinese.”

“I speak a few languages and understand a few more. I did receive a well rounded education in your country.”

“Now I wonder why you would phrase it like that. You are an Englishman.”

“I was born here.”

“You were educated here and you live here now in your family’s estate.”

“I was cut adrift at a very early age, neither English nor Chinese. I do not consider myself anything. I’ve dropped my anchor here and choose to live here for the present.”

“I know about your background. I will tell you when the Golden Orb fiasco went over in Hong Kong Ali Hassan came under my radar and so did you to a lesser degree. I’ve kept up with your whereabouts.”

They were speaking as gentlemen and so Blaine tamped down his reaction. His eyes flashed and he turned them toward the fire, letting his silence answer for him.

Bren crossed his legs and looked at the young man across from him. Impeccably dressed, chestnut hair shining in the reflection from the fire, a gleam of a ring on his left pinky finger, another on his right and a gold watch discreetly showing from his sleeve. His appearance spoke of money and privilege, a certain sophistication. And yet Bren knew that none of this was true.

Money, yes, he had money more than he’d ever use now. The polish had come from Ali, who’d groomed him to become his mate. He’d been born a gentleman but it had been Ali who’d taught him to be one.

The clock on the mantle chimed. Blaine turned, feeling he was being dissected and looked into Bren’s eyes.

Bren screwed up his lips. “Luncheon? Let’s go see what we’ve got today.”

A small table had been set up in the great dining room. There were only two for luncheon. Blaine arranged his napkin on his lap.

“What happened to Renee` Blevin?”

“Oh, he’s still here.”

“He doesn’t dine?”

“Not with me he doesn’t. He has his own suite of rooms but hopefully not for much longer.”

“Why is that?”

“His trial.”

Blaine frowned. “I would like to talk with him.”

“It is a sad situation with Renee`. He showed such promise at one time.”

“You know him?”

“He is my nephew.”

Blaine hadn’t expected that. Now he understood why he was imprisoned here instead of London with the other two that had been picked up on Regents Street.

“I can see that he would have been a disappointment to you.  I liked Renee`.  I used to listen to him play his piano late at night. Something sad…always.”

“He is a very personable young man but he chose to throw his lot in with Hassan and that was his downfall. You may see him. I have business to attend to this afternoon. You and I will have dinner and then a small talk until morning when I hope you will have made a decision.”

“Do you live here, Mr. Johnson?”

“All my life. My mother was ill for many years. That accounts for the hospital wing where you resided when you were with us before. My father had it installed. We now use it as a private hospital. Certain downstairs rooms have been refitted to conduct the business.”

“How did the business come to this house?”

“We were in London for many years but it was impossible to conduct interviews without our clients being seen coming and going. I suggested this house. It’s much too large for one man to ramble about in. We still maintain our offices in London.”

“You never married?”

“I did. My wife died in childbirth many years ago.”

In spite of himself, Blaine was beginning to like Mr. Johnson.  “My wife is expecting a son in four months.”

“Congratulations. If you decide to accept my offer I can assure you that you will be there for the birth.”

Blaine took a drink from his  wineglass. “Can you make that  assumption before the job is begun?”

“Of course,” he smiled and picked up his own glass. “Simply a matter of here’s yours and I’ll have mine now.”

Part 3

Blaine had been directed to an elevator that would take him to the third floor. He was told where to go but he didn’t need directions when he reached the floor. He followed the piano. Quietly he opened the door and leaned against it, watching Renee` with his back to the doorway playing and looking out the window. An ashtray sat on top of the piano with its smoke rising and joining the fog through the window.

He stopped abruptly and turned around. “Blaine.”

“Do not stop on my account.”

“I thought you were out of it. Come in and close the door.”

“I am out of it. I am back by invitation.”

“Oh, beware of invitations. You look well.” He let his eyes travel over Blaine.

“What were you playing?”

“My own. I’ve little else to do so I am composing again. Please, have a seat. I would offer you a drink but prisoners do not drink…so it seems.”

Blaine smiled and sat in a comfortable chair by the fire. “Not much of a cell.”

“I have no complaints here other than the fact I’d rather be elsewhere.”

“Where would you be?”

“I have a house in London.” He ran a hand through his tousled blond hair. “What kind of invitation would bring you back here?”

“An invitation to talk. Why did you not tell me he is your uncle?”

“He told you? I find that rather strange. I didn’t think he wanted to claim me now. Yes, he is my uncle. My mother was his sister; however, I’ll bet he didn’t tell you I am a bastard nephew. I was born a year before my mother married. She didn’t marry my father.

“I’m very sorry about Ali, Blaine.”

“You know?”

“Yes.”

“I would like to talk with you about him.”

Renee` drew his sock feet up under him on the sofa. He was dressed in black sweat pants and a blue pullover knit shirt. “What is it you want to know?”

“Are we being televised?”

“No, this is my territory. This was my grandfather’s suite. Outside the door there is a camera eye that knows you are here.”

“So does your uncle.”

“Ah.”

“I want to know how he came to be the man in the basement that kidnapped my wife.”

“You were his darling, his pet, and he let you see what he wanted you to see.”

“He was not like this when I met him.”

“In school he was a leader, the center of attention. Don’t you remember how everyone gathered around him?”

“Yes.”

“He was fun then...a lovely man. I think I was a little in love with him myself. That was before he met you. You know he was a very passionate man and he fell in love with you, Blaine. I envied both of you at the time.”

“What was this group that you were involved in?”

“Ah, the TEN. Someone, and it may have been Ali, suggested if there were no governments there would be no wars. The peoples of the world didn’t hate each other. It was the governments and leaders who caused all the problems. We vowed to bring them down one by one. Silly foolishness,” he smiled.

“It was our job to acquire positions within government that would allow us to begin our work. He fully intended to start when he went home. You came along and he didn’t want to go home. I remember the day when the men arrived to escort him home. He was torn apart. The whole building became subdued as if a death had occurred.”

“I received letters from him. I, too, was torn apart. I went home to my father’s house. It was empty of life. In the end I went home to Hong Kong. He was, as he put it, wrapped in a tight band. He could not express himself to his father. A wife was chosen for him and he was forced to marry.”

“The rest of us were stunned by his departure but we finished school and went about carrying out the plan we’d made. He was often in London after that year. He came as part of his family’s entourage. We met once and I remember something about him. He was bitter; his countenance had changed. He said he only did what he was told and tried not to think at all. I asked him about the TEN and he said the day will come. That was all.

“In my minor, insignificant position I still managed to secrete some materials to him. What he did with them, I don’t know. Perhaps he did pass them on to officials in his country. While we were moving up in ranks so was he but, as is the custom, he moved by another’s death.”

“I was in Hong Kong during this time and had little contact with him.”

“You were building your own little empire,” Renee` smiled. “Ali began playing his games. It was the orb that began his downfall. I don’t know what he had going in his country but this was his big thing. Bring them all to their knees and then expose them for what they are.”

“You knew what was going on? You knew about the orb?”

“We all knew. It was amusing to watch it grow. He should never have involved you. That was his mistake. Unlike the rest of us, you were an honorable man. He couldn’t blame you for the failure of his plan because you were…you.”

“He saved me in Hong Kong…he gave me another life.”

“Because he loved you. He never stopped loving you no matter how twisted he became or how outrageous his acts.”

Blaine’s eyes filled and he looked toward the fire. The room had become dark except for the fire and a lamp near the piano.

“I’ve had nightmares since…I am lost in a series of corridors and I am afraid. I keep opening doors and finally I find the right one and there at the end is Ali. He is in a glass cell and he cannot hear me calling to him.”

Renee` sat quietly. “I can make tea.”

“Yes.” Blaine bit his lip, not ashamed of the tears he wiped away.

With a cup of tea in hand Renee` asked, “Do you want me to continue?”

Blaine drew a ragged breath. “I want to know.”

“He came to London and called a meeting. We were all there at his penthouse. By then he’d bought the building above the tobacco shop. He was frustrated and angry with his position and with what he deemed the ineffectiveness of our work. 9-11 had by then occurred. Unlike the rest of us he thought it a way to bring countries to their knees, a big unexpected show that you couldn’t walk away from. War in Iraq, turmoil in the Mid East and all the time he was rising in rank. His father was now the leader of his country. He was now two seats from power himself and he began to use his muscle. That’s when we as a group stepped down. It made him angry with us and he did threaten us but we never thought it would come to anything until members of the group began to die. Two of them, Waites and Davis, went over to him, hoping to save their own necks.

“He had a new plan by then and anyone who could point a finger at him was eliminated. Waites wanted me to come in with them and I refused. Michael was killed in New York. He needed me because of my relationship here.”

“Have you told your uncle about all this?”

“Most of it.”

“I never knew about any of this.”

“You weren’t meant to know, Blaine.”

“When I was picked up and brought here must have been the final stroke for him. It was all falling apart.”

“That may be true. It began falling apart when I was brought in. He knew the game was up. He faked his death.”

“How he could think that I would leave everything …my family, my wife, and go with him after what he put Mandi through?”

“He was a man without morals. He gave up his own family. They were nothing to him. He didn’t count on the kind of man you are.”

Blaine was silent for awhile. Renee` put some more logs on the fire and turned on another lamp by Blaine’s chair.

“Renee`…play that piece you were playing when I came in.”

“Come over her and sit by me. I’ve got something else to play for you.”

Blaine sat beside him and he began to play something very familiar to him.

“I don’t think you’ve heard this before.”

“I have heard it a long time ago. I used to hear you playing it at night. What is it?”

Renee` looked over at him. “I never really gave it a name but it’s Blaine’s piece.”

“You?”

“Yes. Quietly and silently…I did.”

“Why did you never tell me?”

“It wouldn’t have made a difference. You were Ali’s.”

Blaine listened with his eyes closed to the rest of the piece. “I’m free of him,” he said softly. “Thank you for that.”

Aware of his intentions, Renee` said, “This won’t work, Blaine. I’m bound for prison for the rest of my life. You have people who love you, a wife and child.”

“You are not there yet, Renee`. You are here and so am I. Yes, I have a family that loves me and I love them. Right now I want to love you.” His hand slipped behind Renee’s head and pulled him in and kissed him. “If you say no then I will respect that.”

“I ached for you. The only way I could express it was in my music.  It can go nowhere, Blaine. I have maybe two weeks until the trial date. You are not mine and could never be mine.”

Blaine pulled away from him and looked down at the keyboard. His fingers found the keys and he began to play Blaine’s piece by memory.

“No, no, you missed-” Renee` touched his hand, met his eyes and they embraced. “It’s been a long time. I didn’t know you played. Blaine, we haven’t much time…dinner will be....”

Blaine kissed him again. His tie came off and was tossed on the piano, the rest in the bedroom.

Later Blaine retrieved his tie, folded it and stuck it in his pocket. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to settle it back down. Renee` came from the bedroom with his jacket and helped him into it. They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment.

“You’d better go down. You’ll be late for dinner. I’m glad…you came up.”

“I am glad I came up and thank you for…everything.”

“We probably won’t ever see each other again.”

“No, probably not. It might have been, Renee`.”  Blaine hugged him and kissed his neck. "Good bye.”

“Did you have a good chat with Renee`?”

“Yes, Mr. Johnson, I did. He set my mind at ease about Ali. He had to be stopped. The Ali I knew did die in that explosion as he led me to believe.”

“I know it was a traumatic experience for you. No one knew, not even you, what you would find or how you would handle it. You did well. How’s the lamb? Are you enjoying it?”

“Very much so, “Blaine answered.

Part 4

Blaine was kept cooling his heels for nearly an hour. He kept checking his watch, aware of the time ticking by and how late in the day he would be arriving at home.

“I’m terribly sorry to have kept you waiting. Unexpected things come up that must be attended to.”

Blaine had been prowling the sitting room.

“Let’s go into the conference room. It’s just here.” He showed Blaine into another room off the sitting room. “We didn’t discuss the exchange last night because I wanted to give you time to think about it. If you agree, then we will go into details.”

“You have only given me a vague outline. I have no idea where in the world this exchange is to take place or who I am to escort home. I am also interested to know why you have asked me to do this.”

“I’ve asked you, Blaine, because you have a connection to this prisoner. He is a blood relative of yours.”

“I have no blood relatives in England.”

“There you are mistaken.”

Blaine was stunned into silence.

“Who he is comes under details as does the location for the exchange.”

His back was against the wall. “He does not know me.”

“He knows of you.”

“You said you wanted him back to protect his life. How do I know you will not put him in your own prison as you have your nephew?”

“He’s not in trouble with me, Blaine.”

“If I agree, I have a request of you.”

Mr. Johnson tilted his head. “What would that be?”

“Renee`. You want to put him on trial for treason and yet he has helped you, given you information that helped to bring an end to the group of TEN. He is of your blood. You have put him in prison and mean to bring him to trial. How then am I to trust you not to do the same with my relative?

“He has told me he was not sure anything he passed on to Ali ever went anywhere. He was important to Ali because of his connection here, not for anything Renee` might have supplied. He was never in a position to deliver state secrets and certainly not to pass on any work you do. He did not work for you.”

Blaine had enjoyed the first full night of dreamless sleep since the incident in the basement of the tobacco shop. He put it to the fact that Renee` explained Ali to him and allowed him to accept what he’d done as something that had to be done.  He also loved him and regretted so many years had passed until he heard his music again.

“You put forth a rather impassioned plea for my nephew.”

“He does not deserve to be tried for treason.”

“What if I say to you that if you do this job for me, I will consider dropping the charges against Renee`?”

“Then I would say I will consider doing this job when the charges have been dropped.”

“But the exchange is your relative.”

“Renee` is yours. Do you really want to see him in prison for the rest of his life? Do you know what will happen to him there? I could go home today and never give a second thought to this person you say is related to me. I do not know him. Renee would not survive prison for very long. You must know this yourself. Why do you punish him so? He was Ali’s victim, Mr. Johnson.”

“It is not just me that must be convinced, Mr. Blaine.” Bren ran a weary hand over his face.

“But you can do it.”

“You should have been a barrister for the defense.”

“I have not always played it straight down the middle but I will tell you this, I do know right from wrong. Right is when I feel good about something and wrong does not set well on the stomach. It keeps me awake at night. It tears at me, little pieces daily disappear and I look and I think how much longer until I am gone. It is what is in here that is important, here inside of you where your life spring lives and flows through your body. If you cannot live with yourself then no one else can either.”

Bren leaned his arms on the table. “Renee` was the son I never had. I will say that I was very disappointed to discover the fact that there would be no children from him. But that is okay; we got past that. I accept him for who he is. He’s easily led and I might be able to make a case for him based on that. Ali Hassan was a strong personality. He manipulated and threatened Renee`. What you say is true about information he may have passed as having no value. Still the intent was there. I promise you I will do what I can for him. It’s not up to me to drop the charges.”

“When will you know?”

“Within the next two weeks. The trial is being postponed in hopes of trying all three of the TEN at once.”

“I have your word?”

“You do, indeed.”

Blaine sat back and placed his hands flat on the table. “When does this job begin?”

“If you agree, you will have thirty six hours to prepare yourself.”

That meant he would go home and tell Mandi and Billy what he was about to do. He already knew what their reaction would be. He looked at his hands for awhile and then looked up at Bren. “Whom am I to escort home?”

“Is this a yes?” Blaine nodded slightly. “He is your uncle. His name is Trevor David Blaine.”

An uncle. Blaine’s eyes stung. “Where has he been all my life?”

“He’s not that much older than you. He can explain all the ins and outs of your family when you have him. Now let’s get down to business. You will be going to Beirut.”

“Beirut?”

“You fly in, set up a meeting with their people, exchange the prisoners and get your arse back on a plane to London.”

“I am to go alone?”

“I had in mind to send two people with you. Ordinarily I would have sent you alone but due to your condition it’s not a wise thing to do.”

“My condition after a flight to Beirut is one of pain in my back. I should be lucky to exit the plane without help.”

“What do you need, a nurse?”

“Would it be possible to take my own man?”

“There is the matter of security clearance and not much time.”

“He has been in the military. He is a trained medic. I trust him with my life. What more do you want to know?”

Bren sighed, “Paperwork. I’ll send it with you and vouch for him but he’s on you, Mr. Blaine."

For the next hour and a half they went over the plan for Beirut. It all seemed surreal to Blaine. As Bren Johnson explained he began to wish he hadn’t agreed. He couldn’t picture himself and Billy in Beirut. Clandestine meetings, dark alleys in a country he did not know and had no desire to know. If he were whole it might be a lark, but he wasn’t. He knew his limitations. He could not run.

Suddenly he longed for strong arms around him. He wanted to be held and told he could do it, everything was going to be all right. With a breath he knew the arms he wanted no longer existed. There was no one to fall into. He would have to stand on his own. It suddenly occurred to him that he’d committed Billy without his knowledge.

“Are you all right then, no tying you to the bedposts or shooting you up with drugs?” Billy slipped Blaine’s overcoat from his shoulders.

“I am well, Billy.” Blaine gave him a quick kiss. “Where are Mandi and Lyssa?”

“She’s just waiting on the little miss to finish her bath. Have you had dinner?”

“Dinner, no I have not. Would you come into the office for a minute?” Blaine went into his office/den and turned on a lamp. He sat on the edge of his desk and explained to Billy what he’d done.

“You are out of your mind, Blaine. Who…who do you think you are, James Bond? We’re just getting over the last crisis and getting all settled in. You can’t stand it, can you? Got to have something going all the time. I don’t care if he is your uncle. You don’t know him…he could turn out to be a complete arsehole and you’d wish you’d left him to rot. And what about Mandi? Do you actually know how much time you’ve spent with her since you married? Don’t you think it’s about time you…Blaine…it’s really over the top with Mandi pregnant and Lyssa, who hardly ever sees you.”

Blaine listened quietly. “You do not have to go, Billy.”

“Oh, right!” Billy paced around the room. "Right…let you go off with strangers to bloody Beirut. God knows what would happen to you! Who’d keep you upright, eh?”

Blaine examined his manicured nails.

“I knew if you went back to that place nothing good would come of it. I don’t trust their like at all. Drive you around with bloody bags over your head like they’re taking you to the Queen’s diamonds. They don’t come out and fight; they slip around in the shadows. I just…I hate it, Blaine.”

Blaine looked up and moistened his lips. Billy flashed him a look or two.

“We’ve got thirty-six hours.”

Billy sighed. “How many rounds of ammo do you want me to pack?”

Blaine hugged him. “I will not let anything happen to you.”

He’d much rather had the outburst from Billy than the silence from Mandi. He’d gone upstairs and sat on the toilet while Lyssa splashed in the bath. He dried her off and Mandi dressed her for bed. They both went to bed with her and read stories and talked with her until she was drooping. Kisses goodnight, a tuck in with her doggy, and they left her. Blaine pulled Mandi into his room and told her.

He sat on the bed and she stood in front of him, captured by his hands and his knees. She shook her head slightly and looked away, blinking back tears.

“It will be all right, Mandi.”

“No…no, it won’t! You can’t keep doing this to me. It’s one thing after another and it seems to be getting worse each time.” She tried to pull away but he wouldn’t let her go.

He pushed her sweatshirt up exposing her round belly and kissed it. “I love you.” Looking up into her wet eyes, he added, “You knew what you were getting when you married me. I am not like other men, content to tend the home fires. I work in the gardens and I take care of the house, provide for you and Billy and Lyssa.” He kissed her belly again. “Soon to be Willy. I am tied to you as no other. You and I share something special, Mandi. I could love no other woman but you. I know I am not much of a husband to you. I try to give you what you need and want from me. You have my love and my body.”

“I don’t always have your body.”

“I can never be faithful with my body but my love…yes. You knew this from the beginning. Do not bring that into this room. You are a mother to my daughter and soon to be mother to our Billy’s baby. I have great respect for you. I honor you with my love and my heart. It gives me no joy to be apart from you.” He pulled her closer, cupping her bottom with his hands.

“I love you so much it hurts. I want you here where I can come to you and touch you. I don’t ask you to be like other men. You are a very special man and one I am proud to call my husband. I don’t…want you to go.” Tears ran down her cheeks.

Give him anything but tears and he would find a way to deal with it. With Mandi he could only match her tears with his own. He drew her down on the bed with him and held her.

Part 5

It wasn’t a good evening for anyone. Mandi was teary every time she looked at Blaine. Billy served up dinner he’d had warming in the oven, with little to say and even less appetite.

Blaine, knowing he was the cause of their misery, took himself upstairs to bed.

Mandi stabbed her chicken. “If I wasn’t five months pregnant I would go up and beat him.”

Billy smiled a little. “I don’t think he’d let you.”

“He wouldn’t have any choice.” She’d run the gamut of emotions and now she’d settled on anger. “I wonder if he has any idea of the emotional turmoil I’ve been in since I became pregnant. God only knows what kind of a child we’re going to have. We had a sweet honeymoon that lasted two weeks. Then we came home and after a month with you, getting pregnant, Ali goes and kills himself in a blast, only he doesn’t. Then the wild goose chase all over the place, ending up with kidnapping and Blaine killing Ali. Now this…I can’t take much more, Billy.”

“I hope this is the last of it. Hope it’s a one off thing.”

“Why do you say that? Is there some chance it won’t be?”

“I couldn’t say, love.  I’ve learned not to speculate where he’s concerned. I don’t trust that outfit he’s working for.”

“If it wasn’t for Lyssa I think I’d just disappear for awhile…maybe forever.”

“Mandi, don’t talk like that. I’d find you myself and drag you back.” He tossed a pea at her.

She sat there a minute then threw one back at him. A handful came back at her and she picked up a hand full of mashed potatoes and came at him with it. Billy pulled her down in his lap.

“Don’t…don’t!”  he pleaded.

She looked into his eyes and took his face in her hands and kissed him, filling an ear and his hair with mashed potatoes. “I love you, Billy. You are the one constant, the one I can turn to and talk to. I know you have to go with him but I can’t do without you for very long. I didn’t mean it to sound…that month we had together. It was very sweet even when we weren’t alone.” She put a potato-covered finger in his mouth and he sucked it clean. “I’ve made a mess of you.”

“You have in more ways than one.”

“Let’s get cleaned up and go to bed with Blaine.” She kissed him again, letting his tongue explore her mouth.

“Mandi.” He hugged her and felt the baby between them.

They went upstairs and showered together in his bathroom. Not something they normally did but they were feeling a bond, a closeness, perhaps brought on by the blow Blaine had dealt them both. Mandi had no illusions about Billy. She knew he preferred Blaine in bed but he was tender and sweet with her. There were times when that’s what she needed rather than the passion with Blaine. He polished her toenails for her and she offered to do his and he declined with a grin.

Blaine wasn’t asleep. He’d gotten in bed and tried to read but his mind was too full of other things to concentrate. The coming trip was worrisome, made worse by the fact he was taking Billy. What had he been thinking? That would leave Mandi alone during the last few months of her pregnancy with Lyssa to care for. There were more things to consider than what to pack for Beirut. He actually had a list from Johnson about what to take. Pack light was the word.

He decided he would call Margret Langston in the morning and find out if she might like two visitors for a while. It would put his mind at rest about them. This wasn’t the time of year she would be busy working and he thought she wouldn’t mind the company.

The more he thought about Mandi and her devotion to Lyssa it became apparent to him how tied she was to the house. He had resisted servants because he didn’t like someone else in his house, people who didn’t know him and might spend too much time wondering about their lifestyle. And that was something else to think about with Lyssa getting older. They would have to be more careful around her. It wouldn’t do for her to go to school and tell how Daddy kissed Billy. Some changes were in the wind. He needed a cook, housekeeper and nanny. These were the paths his mind was traveling when his bedroom door opened. He was propped up on pillows and looked toward the door with half-lidded eyes

“We thought we’d come and sleep with you, if it’s all right.” Mandi hesitated inside the door with Billy behind her.

He smiled. They’d forgiven him.

Mandi remained lounging in the bed with him the next morning while Billy got Lyssa ready for school and fed her breakfast.

“You slept all night without dreams.” Mandi snuggled next to him.

He smiled slightly. “Maybe it was the company.” He purposely decided not to mention Renee`. Everything seemed to be weighed with unseen threats right now and it was not the time to reveal his infidelities.

“I’d like to think that was true.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Because you had the same company before you left.”

“There was someone staying in the house where I went, someone I knew in school. He happens to be Sir Johnson’s nephew. He knew Ali well and we had a long talk about him. He told me things…I never knew Ali, Mandi, only a small part of him. He set my mind at rest.”

“Well, I’m glad.”

“I have been thinking about our situation here. We need servants. I want a cook, housekeeper and a nanny. Do you think you can find them for us?”

“I’ll try. This is something new. Why?”

“You are too tied to the house. Lyssa should not take up all your time and with another child coming, Mandi, you would never be able to go anywhere.”

“I don’t mind Lyssa at all. She’s why I came here I’m supposed to be her nanny.”

He hugged her. “We both know that is not true. She is not the reason you came.”

Mandi smiled. “She’s one of the reasons but you are right. You are why I came back.”

“I’m going to call Margret Langston this morning. You wouldn’t mind staying with her while we are gone, would you?”

“Well…I’d rather be here.”

“I would rather you were not alone. Today if it is convenient with her, of course, we might take Lyssa out of school and take her work with you.”

“You have been thinking!”

“Do you not think it is time that I did?”

She kissed his lips in response.

Margret said she’d be happy to have them come and stay. “I’m doing nothing right now, Blaine. You know how it is in winter. How long do you think you’ll be gone?”

“I cannot say for sure, perhaps a month or a week or three months. It all depends.”

“Well, I won’t ask. Just take care of yourself.”

“Yes, I will. If everything goes as planned, Mandi will be driving up tomorrow.”

“I’ll look forward to seeing her and Lyssa.”

“There, it is arranged.” Blaine got up from his desk.

“You really don’t know how long we will be gone?” Billy asked.

“How would I know, Billy? I do not believe I have ever been to Beirut nor have I ever exchanged prisoners. It is not something one can practice.”

“Are we getting testy today?”

“We are behind, Billy. There are bills here that need paying. There is…too much to do and only one day.”

“What bills?” Billy went over to see what had him in such an agitated state. He smiled when he saw it. Bills from his tailor. Ali was no longer paying for his clothes, manicures or hair cuts or salon visits. The bills were being forwarded here. “Blaine, it will take you all of five minutes to sign three checks and then it’s done.”

Blaine tucked a curl behind his ear. “Five minutes?”

“That’s it.”

“Write them and I will sign.”

Billy sat down at his desk and wrote out the checks. Blaine had walked to the window and was standing there, tapping his cane and looking out at the rain.

“Ready.” Billy turned in the chair. “Blaine, it’s this trip, isn’t it?”

“Yes. I have had second and third thoughts, Billy. We have no idea what we are getting into. No idea.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so nervous about something.”

“You did not see me on Regents Street.”

“Come and sign the checks and I’ll get them to the post.”

Mandi was packing Lyssa’s clothes for the trip to Margret’s and doing some laundry.

Billy took the post and picked up some cigarettes for Blaine. He didn’t smoke much anymore, preferring to roll his own, but he was out of tobacco. Billy didn’t like to mention tobacco around him right now. When he got back he persuaded Blaine to go to the pool room and work out for awhile. He needed something to work off the energy he had.

They both used the machine and then went for a swim. Billy pulled himself out and grabbed a terry cloth robe. He liked to watch Blaine swim. He had a strong upper body and in the water there was no indication that there was anything wrong with the rest of him.

As always, swimming calmed him. Concentrating on powerful strokes, he swam laps, feeling the muscles in his body responding. He came up beside Billy, who was wrapped in a robe with his feet in the water.

“Why did you get out?”

“I’d rather watch you.”

“Bah! It will do you no good sitting on the side. Come and swim with me.” He parted Billy’s robe and looked up at him a moment then went underwater and swam the length of the pool. Billy followed him into the pool and they swam lengths for awhile. Blaine began playing with him in the water, a bit of rough housing and then a bit of loving.

They were both at the kitchen table having tea when Mandi returned with Lyssa from school. She noted their wet, curling hair and soft sweats. “Been for a swim?”

Blaine looked up at her with a certain light in his eye and she smiled. The rest of the day he spent with Lyssa.

Part 6

After a tearful goodbye with Mandi and a quick look at his sleeping daughter, Blaine and Billy entered the back seat of the black Mercedes for the ride to the country house headquarters. They were not required to don the black bags on their heads. Blaine was relieved. They were officially on the payroll, no need to block out the office now. Blaine had told Billy what to expect. Billy looked up at the historic house while the driver emptied their trunk of the bags Billy packed.

“Nice,” he said.

Blaine smiled and led the way to the door. The butler greeted them and took their rain coats. Once again he directed them to the sitting room. A few minutes of enjoying the fire and Bren Johnson came into the room.

“Good morning, gentlemen,” he smiled as he entered. “We shall have a bit of breakfast shortly, I’m sure it was too early for you this morning.  Mr. Blaine, I’m going to ask you to find something to do for about, oh, twenty minutes. I’d like to talk with Mr. Wright. Ah, you might want to go up and see Renee`.”

“Good morning, Sir.” Blaine looked at Billy and winked. Billy looked back but didn’t return the wink. He was uneasy.

Blaine walked around the sitting room and then went to the elevator. He hadn’t thought to see Renee`. The door to his suite was closed and Blaine knocked, wondering if the camera eye was still active. He glanced up at it.

“Blaine…come in.” Renee` stood away from the door and closed it behind him. “I didn’t think I’d see you again.”

“Neither did I.”

“Uncle Bren told me something I find hard to believe. He said you’d made a deal with him. If he got me off you’d do a job for him. Tell me that’s not the case.”

“I cannot. He shouldn’t have told you.”

“Well, he had to come up with something, some reason to have changed his course mid stream. I don’t know what to say.”

“Do not say anything.”

“Why did you do it? Why put yourself at risk for me?”

“It was the right thing to do. You don’t deserve to be tried for treason. It was Ali. You also did something for me. I had nightmares after Regents Street. You took them away.”

“I’m not an innocent, Blaine.”

“We are none of us innocent. I like to think of you in your house in London.”

“Will you think of me?”

“I am afraid I will. Perhaps you will find someone again.”

“I’ve had a good relationship. I’m not sure I’ll ever find another. You know how hard it is to lose someone.”

“Yes, I do. Not a day goes by that I do not miss him. I speak of Ali the way I knew him.”

“I understand how it must be for you.” He walked over and opened the curtains in the sitting room. “Would you like a cigarette?” He opened a silver case and Blaine took one. He lit it for him. Their eyes met for a moment through the smoke and Renee` turned away and went back to the window, opening it a little.

“I’ll worry about you.”

“Do not worry about me, Renee`”

“I have you on my conscience now. If anything happens to you I…”

“Nothing will happen to me. I’m sure you have better things to think about.”

“Then you would be wrong.” He turned his back to the window and took a draw from the cigarette. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I…I don’t want to start an affair with you, Blaine.”

Blaine tossed the rest of his smoke in the fireplace and walked over to Renee` and with a hand on his face, brushed his lips across Renee`s. “It has already begun. Goodbye, Renee`.”

Billy was coming out of Bren’s office and caught sight of Blaine coming from the elevator. He waited with his face slightly flushed.

“Are you all right, Billy?”

“Yes, I’m good.”

Blaine recognized a slight trace of anger around his lips and put a hand on his shoulder.

“He wants to see you and I’m to go in there.” He indicated the sitting room.

“Mr. Blaine, I’m afraid I might have stirred up a bee's nest in your man but it was necessary. We’ve checked him out and he’ll past muster. Nothing since he came out of the military. He’s had a clean record since then.”

Blaine wondered what he’d had before then but he didn’t ask. He never thought about where or what Billy might have been before he walked into his life.

“I’m listing him as your personal assistant and bodyguard. Yes…well, now let us go and breakfast and then we’ll have an intense session before you leave. You’ll be taken by helicopter to a private airstrip where the prisoner and his guards will join you.”

The day wore on and the intense session that afternoon wore on also. Billy paid close attention and glanced at Blaine from time to time. Sometimes he was there and sometimes he wasn’t. He drifted away in his mind. Billy could see it in his eyes.

They took a break around three. Two other men who’d been in on the meeting disappeared into the recesses of the house. Bren went to his office and Blaine and Billy stepped outside into a garden. The rain had let up but everything was dripping cold water.

“Are you getting it all, Blaine?”

“All? Enough, Billy. I know what I am to do.” Silence reigned with only the sound of their feet on the pebbled walk. “It becomes boring repetition. I do not want to know the history of any conflicts in that area of the world. I only want to know the mechanics of what I must accomplish.” They walked along in silence for awhile with Blaine stopping to admire something in the garden or to pluck a leaf and crush it in his fingers and catch the scent.

“I have never asked you anything about your past. What got your fire up this morning?”

“I was in the nick once. Charges were later dropped but it’s there in somebody’s book. I was just a young street punk trying to get by.”

“Are you going to tell me?”

“I was picked up for buggery. I set myself out for hire. I never hugged the street corners but I was around.”

Blaine’s eyes widened. “You are lucky to be alive.”

“Yeah, hope it holds up.”

Blaine hugged his shoulders and gave him a sideways grin as they moved along through the garden paths.

He paused against a piece of statuary and called Mandi. He wanted to make sure she’d made it to Margret Langston’s.

Mandi left around 10:00 for the drive. She’d made several stops to pick up a prescription for herself at the chemist, a stop at the clinic to let her doctor know she wouldn’t be in for her examination and to pick up a card allowing her to visit another clinic. Lyssa was content in the back with a sketch pad and pencil.

Blaine had wanted her to take his vehicle but she preferred her own little car. Margret had said come for lunch and Mandi thought they just might make it. She liked Margret but was never quite sure what Margret thought of her. Blaine thought a great deal of her and she’d become nana to Lyssa.

The old house smelled of apple pie and that set Mandi’s juices flowing. What a wonderful smell! There was something instantly welcoming and homey about Margret’s house, nothing like the smell of constant fry-ups and yelling and bickering that marked her own family’s home. Unconsciously she longed for Margret’s approval. The fact that she and Blaine had married and she was now pregnant went a long way with Margret.

“Mandi.”

“David, where are you?”

“I am still here at the estate. Another hour or so of meetings and then to an airstrip and I’ll be flying. You made it to Margret’s?”

“Yes, we were here for lunch, chicken pie and apple pie. It was wonderful.”

“I can imagine it was. I wanted to call and make sure you made it.”

“I miss you already, David.”

“I miss you, too. I love you.” The sound of her voice always made him want to be with her, drink her in and touch her. “Take care of you and little Willy. Is Lyssa with Margaret?”

“They’ve got lots to catch up on. Take care of you, too. You and Billy have to come back to me.”

“Do not worry yourself. I must go now.”

“Bye, Love.” Mandi disconnected her phone and held it to her breast.

Blaine pocketed his phone and turned to Billy. “After the baby is born and she can be separated from him…The Medea.”

“Just the two of you. She needs it, Blaine.”

“Yes.”

The rest of the afternoon passed swiftly. There was an air of urgency about it. Billy was given a fresh supply of medications for Blaine and documentation that he needed it to get them into Lebanon. Billy placed the black leather bag on his shoulder. One of the men who’d sat in on the meetings was dressed for travel. His name was Stan Belcher, a stocky young man with steel gray eyes and close-cut dark hair.

Blaine changed his slacks for black knit pants and a pullover to match. Bren came out into the hall to say goodbye and shake their hands. He paused at Blaine, shook his hand and said, “You’ll do fine. I have great confidence in you.” He patted his shoulder.

The helicopter pad had been hidden from the house by a row of ancient holly trees. From the air Blaine looked down at Woolsthorpe Gardens as they flew over and smiled a little to himself. The bones of the garden were showing in winter and they were pleasing to the eye if you were a bird.

The only impression Blaine had of the prisoner they were escorting to Beirut was of a man with a swarthy complexion, colorless clothing and a black knit hat pulled low over his forehead. He had not been introduced. It was dark when the plane left the runway.

ON TO THE EXCHANGE, SECTION TWO

BACK TO NINE POUND TEN

BACK TO WATERS OF MY BIRTH

BACK TO THE MEDEA STEAMPUNK'D

BACK TO PART TWO, CHAPTERS 1 THROUGH 6

BACK TO PART ONE, CHAPTERS 3 THROUGH 6

BACK TO CHAPTER 2

BACK TO THE WIND

BACK TO LIFE THERAPY

BACK TO THE FORTUNATE ONE

BACK TO IN A DESERT PLACE

BACK TO NO WAVE WITHOUT WIND

BACK TO A THOUSAND NEW PATHS

BACK TO THE GOLDEN ORB

BACK TO LIBRISCROWE