Chapter 51: Aftershocks

Seated in the aft cockpit where the fishing boat captain couldn’t hear us, Reggie asked Andreza for her report.

“We were approaching the seventh green for Alex and the two girls playing with us to putt out when one of the two girls playing with us said that her daddy thought that the big fat guy was with the mafia. She said he came into her family’s restaurant all the time and that he gave her the creeps. The other girl said she was not sticking around to get caught in the middle of some gang war and they both took off back down the seventh fairway for the clubhouse.”

“Once the girls started to run for the clubhouse, their movements caused the people at the house to notice what was happening on the seventh green. The female target, who was standing on the porch, turned around and immediately spotted Alex.

‘It’s him!’ she screamed and then she fell to the ground. Then all the other men drew their guns and then suddenly fell as well. All of them! In just a fraction of a second! Then the big fat guy in the large wicker fan chair started jerking like crazy and then fell out of his chair as well.”

Reggie just nodded his head.

“We escaped as planned, everyone accounted for. Then we went to the house and grabbed our stuff and came here,” she finished.

“Did you get them?” Reggie asked me.

“Yeah,” I replied. “Both of them. Dmitri Obnizov and Zahrat Alsahra’”

It suddenly hit me what I had done. I had killed two people. Suddenly I felt myself getting sick. I ran to the side of the boat and was violently ill. Finally, there was nothing but dry heaves. When I turned around, Andreza was gone and Reggie was standing there with a bottle of water.

“Take deep breaths,” Reggie told me as he handed me the water. “Remember, they are the ones who killed Cécile, injured you and Alfred, and blew up the Serendipity. And they were planning to kill the rest of your family and friends. What you did, had to be done to save the ones who you love.”

I heard him but didn’t know what to say, so I just sat there, looking out over the Atlantic Ocean. When I finally looked around, Reggie was gone and I was all alone. I spent most of the next few hours, as darkness fell, examining my feeling.

It appalled me that I had just taken two lives, but it appalled me even more what they had done and what they were planning to do. I finally decided that the world needed to be rid of evil like them and I was just taking out the trash, so to speak.

“You okay?” Reggie asked as the custom fishing boat entered the small harbor at Sonny’s Marina near Daytona Beach. It was just after midnight, Friday night. Or Saturday morning, to be more accurate.

“I think so,” I replied. “I figure it had to be done and I was the one who had the chance and ability to do it.”

“True,” he said. “It may not feel like it now, but you did a good thing.”

Nothing else was said as we piled our gear in the Enterprise rental car that was waiting in the parking lot and drove the hour south to Sanford airport. There, we boarded the Foundation’s now second largest plane and took off for Zurich.

Once we were in the air, Reggie handed me a bottle of water.

“Why don’t you go on back and lay down. I know you’re tired,” he said. I just sat there staring out the window as I reviewed the day in my head again.

“Time to wake up,” Andreza said cheerfully.

“What time is it?” I asked groggily.

“Just after four in the afternoon, local time,” she informed me.

“Wow! I can’t believe I slept that long!” I said. “What did you guys put in my water?” I knew Isabella had done something similar before.

“It’s just after ten in the morning back in Florida,” she reminded me. “Now, grab a quick shower and get dressed. We’re landing in twenty minutes!”

When the immigration people saw my Swiss Diplomatic passport, we were whisked quickly through customs. Larry was waiting for us with the fancy limousine, and in no time we were speeding towards Cynthiana’s house in Zurich.

Isabella greeted me at the door with a searing kiss and then took my bag. “C’mon,” she said as she led me to my room. There she proceeded to undress me and shove me back on the bed. Then removing her skirt and top, she climbed on top of me, almost frantically.

Thirty minutes later, she lay beside me smiling.

“I’ve missed you!” she said.

“I couldn’t tell,” I said teasingly.

“I know you can’t tell me everything, but I just want you to know how proud I am of you!”

“But ... but I killed them!” I said.

“No, you killed a couple of poisonous snakes and saved your entire family and your friends,” she insisted. “You had a difficult job to do and you did it!”

I lay there, contemplating what she had said. I DID do what had to be done. I may not have liked it, but I didn’t cause them to kill Cécile or try to kill Captain Alfred and others of my family and friends.

Isabella was dressed and standing by the door.

“It’s almost time for dinner. Go get your shower and then dress for dinner. Wear the gray suit with the light blue shirt. I laid them out for you,” she said. “We’re having company.” Then she bounced out the door.

I heard them before I saw them and it sounded like a crowd.

The first person I saw was my dad and I headed straight for him. But before I could reach him, Captain Alfred stepped in my path and grabbed my hand, shaking it fiercely. Then he dropped my hand and hugged me. That was followed by warm hugs from his wife, Princess Archara, and his daughters, Anna and Charlotte. And they were all talking to me at once.

“We cannot tell you how much we appreciate what you did for Alfred back at the hospital on Martinique. It’s as if your healing him somehow made him younger!” Archara said.

“And your new Bering 120 is magnificent! I was thinking of getting another catamaran to replace the Serendipity, but Archara and I are now seriously considering a Bering!” he said.

Our enthusiastic greetings had alerted the others that I was here and my family immediately surrounded me with hugs and kisses.

“Where have you been for the last two months?” my mother asked.

Before I could begin to answer, dinner was announced and everyone made their way to the long table. Cynthiana was seated at the head of the table and I was seated at the other end with my family surrounding me. Somehow, they had gotten all sixteen of us comfortably seated at the long table.

In the typical French fashion that I had come to enjoy so much, the courses were served slowly, each accompanied with its own wine and much conversation. And throughout the dinner, I was finally able to relay to everyone the story of my journey of the last couple of months, since disappearing in Martinique.

They all thought Layami’s reaction to her first visit to the Walmart was funny. Or precious. And Mom was really concerned about my spending a couple of nights in a parking lot.

Dad and Roland showed interest in me landing a job at the golf club and of course, Mom like the fact that I was registered for college and wanted to know when I had to be back in Texas to get started.

I also thanked Cynthiana for the golf cart and she told me that she was having it re-painted and shipped to my parent’s house in Atlanta.

I told them all about Melinda and her parents, and Andreza related the story of our uncomfortable dinner with them.

Mom was particularly interested in hearing about her half-sister, Jenna, and my healing her niece, Emily. In fact, she jumped up to go call her half-sister, but instead, came and hugged me to her bosom in tears.

“Thank you!” she whispered in my ear.

Then Andreza told of those last fateful minutes at the rainy intersection and how I had saved the lives of a young mother and her child. Andreza related the story from her point of view, including the explosion and my disappearance and how she thought I was dead. She also told us that the young mother was four months pregnant, which I did not know.

“It wasn’t until I was speaking with Reggie a couple of hours later that I found out that Daniel was in France. I was so glad to hear that he was alive, that I didn’t even question how he got to France in less than two hours!” she exclaimed.

Of course, that opened the floodgate of questions, especially from Mom and my twin sister, Jenna. Andreza also got in on it when they brought up my first time teleporting, back on Martinique.

Carina was called upon to relate the tale of my sudden appearance at her feet in her clinic for battered women in Cannes. They chuckled when she told how Fräulein Hamblin had reacted.

While everyone had been told that Dmitri Obnizov and Zahrat Alsahra were dead, no details on who had killed them or how they died had been discussed.

Finally, Reggie stood and everyone paused what they were doing to see what he had to say. I noticed he had chosen this moment before anyone could question me on my last seven days.

“I hate to put a damper on such a fine meal and such wonderful conversation, but I’d like to remind everyone that there is still more danger out there. While I don’t think that Mars Van der Lancing is still a threat, Dmitri Obnizov has shown us that there could be others like him, who want Alex and his skills for their own uses. And that the only way to control Alex is to control someone dear to him,” Reggie said soberingly. “Not-to-mention that someone inside the US Government wants Alex, or wants him dead.”

It seems everyone started talking at that point and the dinner party atmosphere disappeared. I noticed that Cynthiana also disappeared, taking Reggie, Isabella, and Andreza with her.

As we all began moving to the small den to continue talking, Carina came up to me and hugged me tightly.

“Goodnight, sweetheart,” she whispered in my ear. Then she walked back over to Roland and took his arm as they left the room. The Fourreau’s gathered around me and talked briefly and then also bid me goodnight.

That left my mom and dad and Jenna and Kelly Ann.

We all talked about what they had been doing and Dad’s new job. He seems to be very excited about it. Mom seemed excited to have us all together, but was having trouble dealing with the danger that was now surrounding her family. Dad kept assuring her that Cynthiana was making plans to keep us all safe until a solution with the government could be worked out. But he readily admitted that our lives might be forever changed because of my skills and the threat from other sources that wanted those skills.

Finally mom and dad excused themselves so mom could go and call her half-sister Jenna. It seems that mom had had a falling out with her mom, many years ago, over how Grandma Windy had treated Aunt Jenna.

After they left, Kelly Ann talked about having to drop out of college because of everything that had happened. She said she had become very uncomfortable with the security situation and told us how it was negatively effecting her grades. She also talked about how much she was looking forward to spending time in Switzerland and France. She hadn’t got to be here last time due to school.

Jenna was supposed to be starting college this summer, but didn’t sound too disappointed with postponing it. Like Kelly Ann, she was looking forward to spending time in Europe and with me.

I, in turn, shared with them all the sadness and depression I had been dealing with as a result of what happened in Martinique. Kelly Ann was sympathetic, but I felt that Jenna, as my twin, really understood where I was coming from. And I will admit that talking with them about it made me feel better.

Finally, Kelly Ann said goodnight. “I hope I can find my way to my room,” she said with a chuckle.

“Just be sure to take your phone and call us if you run across the Panda,” I told her.

“The panda?” she asked hesitantly. “Cynthiana has a panda?”

“It’s in the center of the atrium, but you won’t run into it if you stay on the right path,” I teased.

Kelly Ann looked at us worriedly and then gripping her smart phone tightly in her hand, she headed to find her bedroom.

Then, it was just me and Jenna. We sat there, silently enjoying the moment, with my arm over her shoulder as she snuggled up to me.

“Alex?” she finally asked. “Can I spend the night with you?”

“I was just about to ask you the same thing!” I told her as I led her up the stairs to my room.

Captain Alfred and his wife, along with my dad, were at the table having breakfast when I got there Sunday morning. Of course I had to hug them all. I wondered if my dad noticed how Archara rubbed her body against mine. Just as I sat down, someone I had not expected to see came through the door.

I immediately rose to my feet and extended my hand. I hoped it was obvious that I had the utmost respect for my teacher. My dad had noticed and risen to his feet as well.

“Dad, this is Captain François Monet, La Royale, Retired,” I told him. “Captain Franc has been helping me with my Captain’s rating.”

Then to the Captain I said, “Captain Franc, this is my dad, Darrel Masters. He is the Foundation’s chief pilot on their new Boeing 767-400ER. Of course, you already know Captain Alfred and Archara.”

They shook hands around and Archara hugged his neck warmly. We had all just sat down again when Cynthiana came in escorting another couple I had not expected to see.

I again jumped up and quickly hugged the man and the beautiful señorita with him. The others followed suite. Finally, I got around to introducing my father.

“Dad, this is Admiral Craig Bouchard and his wife, Maria,” I said. “He allowed me to sail with him when he delivered the Friedlich back in February. He also helped us when the US Navy first attacked us in the Caribbean.”

Then I turned and added, “Maria, Admiral Craig, this is my dad, Darrel Masters.”

“That is quite the son you have there,” Admiral Craig said. “And he has all the makings of an exceptional sailor.” Of course, the other naval officers jumped in and thoroughly embarrassed me some more.

“I have no idea where he gets it from. His mother and I rarely took him anywhere near the water,” Dad said with a proud grin.

Cynthiana had taken her place at the head of the table and made a slight noise. “Gentlemen! And Ladies, we have much to discuss so we need to get started,” she said. “Now, to catch everyone up, Alex has bought himself a yacht. It’s a two year old Bering 120. Hull number two. Alfred and Archara were kind enough to pick it up in Antalya last week and sail her to Monte Carlo, arriving yesterday. How was she?”

“She’s beautiful and handled like a dream. She’s larger than the Friedlich but handles just as easily,” Captain Alfred exclaimed. “You’ll love it!”

“But you need to do something about the name,” Archara said. “The Merry Maker. Ugh!”