Chapter 12

The five of us went into dinner at the same time. We left the protection of the castle to the general’s army. No I hadn’t seen it, but I was sure it was there. It wouldn’t be as large as the one he had commanded during the troubles, but it would be even more fanatical. I would be hidden in his castle, or in the woods around it.

When we entered the formal dinning room, there were six people seated at a table which could seat at least fifty people. The lawyer was seated at the head of the table, his assistant sat to his right. To his left was Ms Shepard and her much less than manly assistant. One other couple who was complete unknown to me was also seated at the table.

“Come in Mr Selfridge and have a seat, all of you please,” the lawyer said.

“Thanks we appreciate good food,” I said. “So when do you plan to drop the pretend game, and be yourself?”

“When did you guess?” The lawyer asked.

“Back on the ship, you had answers way too quickly. You never complained about how quick the dome of silence was restored. Everyone else complained bitterly,” I explained.

“I have never been accused of being too Gentlemanly before,” he said dropped the slight French accent that he had used as the lawyer. “So what do you think of my home.”

“I think it would be interesting to know what happened to the last owner,” I said smiling at him.

“He is living on the Rivera this year. He will get this place back soon. Let’s not talk business over dinner. It isn’t good for the digestion,” he explained.

“Well, we wouldn’t want to ruin your meal,” I commented.

“Strange on the boat you were all business, now you seem to have an agenda,” the general suggested.

“On the boat I had a simple job to do. I was to see that everyone lived through a few days of negotiations. I have no idea what I’m doing here,” I said.

“I think we need to avoid talking about that business now,” Ms Shepard said.

“Well Ms Shepard, it seems I’m here to protect you from the general. I guess we will discuss this tonight back in the hotel. I assume we will be free to leave?” I inquired.

Of course, or you could stay here. As you can see I have lots of room,” the General said.

“I have a feeling this place is like the hotel California. One can check in but never leave,” I inquired.

“Not at all,” he explained. You are all free to go at any time.”

“General, I will be happy to accept your invitation. If I do that Mr Selfridge and his people will also stay,” Shepard accepted for us all.

My team looked as though they were expecting us to do battle with the general’s whole army. I had no intention in going to war without a good cause and an even better chance to live through it.

We had been eating during all the conversations. The couple, who never gotten introduced look very ill at ease the whole time. They also didn’t have much in the way of appetites.

“I didn’t get your name Sir?” I asked the extra man about sixty.

He looked at the general before giving his name. “Oscar, just Oscar,” he said mysteriously.

“And is the lady beside you Mrs. Just Oscar?” I asked. The man just nodded.

“So Oscar, you aren’t very talkative?” I commented. He nodded again.

“Oscar, doesn’t have much to say,” the generals assistant or girlfriend said.

“I see, well there seem to be a lot of people around here with not a lot to say,” I observed.

“Not everyone is like you Americans. We don’t need to fill all our time with endless prattle,” the General said. “That is one thing that impressed me about your Mr Selfridge. You didn’t need to constantly be talking just to fill blank spaces.”

“Well thanks, I guess,” was my only comment. “So how are the negotiations going?”

“Better without the UN prosecutor,” Ms Shepard said. “We may actually agree on some things.”

“So Sarge, you and I may have to agree on somethings as well,” he said.

“Not likely, I’m just going to follow my orders. They are usually very simple and dont require any negotiations. So I don’t see how we need to negotiate,” I replied.

“Not tonight but maybe tomorrow or the next day you and Ms Shepard need to talk. After that we may need to talk just to muddy the waters a little,” the general suggested while laughing.

“Well my only job is to keep Ms Shepard alive and well. When that chore ends, my people and I will be headed home,” I explained patiently.

“The best laid plans of mice and men often turn into rat shit,” the general observed.

“Well that is indeed a true statement. Since we are being civil, why not tell me how many armed men are hiding inside the house?” I asked simply.

“More than enough to wipe out your little detachment,” the general stated with the same laugh.”

“I always thought so and to be honest that is why I plan to personally kill you at the first sign of an armed man. I don’t much care if it’s the local parish priest or another criminal. I will go to confession after I murder your ass,” I admitted.

“In that case, I will have to have you all killed at the same time,” he said.

“Good luck, I have never been able to have five people killed at exactly the same time. I pretty much doubt your guys can pull it off either. The order I’m giving all my people right now is, ‘at the first sign of trouble, kill this SOB as painfully as possible.’” I did smile when I said it. I discovered that I enjoyed giving that order. My blood ran cold. It was a bluff of course, but it felt good anyway.

After dinner, which was some unrecognizable stewed meat with potatoes and carrots, the general and Shepard went into what I thought was some kind of negotiations. What they could be negotiating was way beyond me.

Finally they come out of the study, had a drink in the living room, then everyone went to bed. That is everyone except my team, and presumably the general’s team as well.

I allowed Lucy2 and Ameer to work together, which also meant they would be off together. I had no idea if I was helping Lucy with her mental state, or just helping her get laid, or maybe neither. It just seemed like a positive thing to do either way. It was midnight when Lucy and Ameer came in to begin their overnight four hour sift. Since I trusted Lucy completely, I decided to sleep those four hours, then check on Nita and Tasha before returning to bed.

One of each pair had to stand by Shepard’s door, while the other walked the hall and also checked the front and back door. The door checks were random. I am a believer in a simple fact rigid schedules get people killed.

When Ameer didn’t check in with Lucy she called me. I rushed out of bed, to begin searching for him. I found him tied to a chair. After I cut the zip ties holding him to the straight ladder back chair, I asked him what happened.

“I don’t know someone put a bag over my head and held a gun to my manhood. He told me to keep quiet. I was in a bit of shock, while he taped my mouth, then tied me to the chair.

“Was it one or more men?” I wanted to know. He shrugged his shoulders. “So let me get this straight, while you were on high alert, someone walked up behind you, put a bag over your head, taped your mouth, then tied you to a chair?”

He looked ashamed but nodded. “Okay, you go to bed, I’ll cover Lucy’s ass. I don’t fucking trust you,” I said.

“Do we tell Shepard?” Lucy asked once I filled her in.

“In the morning, I will recommend we pull up stakes and move on,” I said.

“We aren’t going to retaliate?” she asked in disbelief.

“No we aren’t. Not unless it is necessary to keep Shepard alive. It’s just the way things are done,” I explained. She had to learn this wasn’t like running around in indian country kicking in doors and blasting away.

“Okay, I get it, but tell me would it be the same, if it were me tied to a chair,” she asked.

“You tell me, would you have let that shit happen to you?” I demanded. She ignored me. “I rest my case.”

“He fought in a militia, they don’t get real training. They are just cannon fodder,” Lucy said.

“Yeah so you want me to risk all our lives on this untrained kid?” I demanded again.

“I’ll teach him,” Lucy said.

“Lucy, you don’t owe him.” I said.

“He wants to be here,” she said.

“So he can keep fucking you?” I demanded.

“No, not just that. He wants to be part of something important,” she said.

“You have to be kidding. You didn’t tell him that the shit we do is important did you?” I asked.

“Not exactly, I told him the truth sometimes we help people,” she said.

“You know this is part of your PTSD,” I stated harshly.

“So what, you hiding out in some nowhere town is part of your therapy,” she shouted.

“Lower your voice,” I demanded.

“To late for that,” Tasha said quietly.

“Shit Shepard will be coming out next,” I informed everyone.

“Shepard drinks,” Tasha said. “A lot.”

“I’m not even going to ask how you know. Lucy get out of here and let me brief Tasha and Nita. I have to warn them,” I said.

“Okay, here is the warning. Be extra careful someone is not happy that we are here. If you see them, you have my permission to handle it. Nothing lethal, but you can hurt them. Just watch each other’s ass tonight. Nita don’t say it.” I smiled as I made to comment to lighten the news.

I made sure Nita and Tasha were being careful before I went to bed. I have always had an easy time returning to sleep. It was getting to sleep in the first place that was a bitch. My head hit the pillow, then the screwy alarm clock beeped. As usual it was the wrong time. It was 5:13AM, so I dressed in a brand new pair of sweat pants and a, not matching, sweat shirt.

I checked on Tasha and Nita before I left the house. I wanted to call Tonya but the time difference made it around midnight in the states. I sent her a text instead. I explained I was thinking about her, but the time difference was screwy. I promised I would try to call her some time that day.

I ran beside the country lane an hour to the right, and then ran back. I hated running but there were no bikes handy. I would have mentioned it to the general but I expected I’d have to check it for pipe bombs before I used it. I was a little surprised that I didn’t hear the sound of a Russian sniper rifle, then do a fade to black.

Since it didn’t happen, I returned to the castle in time to shower before breakfast. I saw the kids had worked out a schedule to sleep one at a time so no one was too knocked out.

“Ameer, I want you off the guard rotation. Your only duty going forward will be keeping an eye on Shepard. When she goes into a room, you wait outside the door. Your responsibility will be to call one of us in case of an incident of any kind,” I informed him.

“Sarge believe me there was nothing I could have done last night,” he said.

“Yes there was,” I said. “You froze when someone shoved a gun in your ball. Which is just the normal instinct. But I don’t think I can trust you. You are probably a fine driver, and maybe someday I will trust you, just not right now.”

The General and Shepard met for five hours starting a 9AM local time. At 1:15 she walked out. “We will be leaving in one hour,” she informed us. I scrambled to find the bus the general had used to bring us to the house. I found it parked in a garage on the property.

The general walked out of his library, then he motioned me inside. I took a chance he didn’t have a black bag waiting for me. I walked inside and waited. Since he didn’t speak I did.

“So did you reach an agreement, or are we going to have to fight our way out of here?” I asked.

“You Americans always think that if things don’t go your way it means war,” the general said.

“That surprises me coming from you,” I said.

“It was a lesson that had to be beaten into me. Don’t make the same mistakes I made,” He advised me. “Yes we reached an agreement.”

“Well do I go get a couple of zip ties and take you in with me?” I asked.

“No I’m going to follow behind. I will most likely be my last chance to ride in the Porsche Cayenne given to me by a Russian friend. Back in the days I had friends,” the general admitted.

“I guess I should ride with you,” I suggested.

“I’d rather ride alone. You can follow behind just to make sure I don’t get lost on my way to surrender to your FBI,” The general suggested.

“I really need someone in the car with you,” I said. I didn’t have to place anyone in the car, I was just winging it.

“How about the young Muslim boy?” he asked. “He can drive. Maybe it will be some kind of redemption.” the General suggested.

“I’m still going to follow behind,” I said.

“That is fine. I would like for you to have this,” he suggested handing me a tiny pink Dell laptop. “It has my copy of the agreement on the hard drive. Make sure the UN prosecutor has the real version. Just in case.”

“Okay,” I said.

“We left at 3PM for our drive back to Prague. Ameer was all smiles when I explained that he would be driving the General’s fancy Porsche. First Nita pulled out in the small van converted to a bus, then the general’s Porsche, then came me in a Toyota Land Cruiser I had found in the garage.

After about two miles we entered a wooded area. I should have known better, but I really didn’t think anyone knew we were leaving. The bus cleared the woods, then I saw the rocket propelled grenade come from the trees and lift the Porsche off the road and then flip it like a pancake. When it hit the ground it was upside down and coming apart. There were several pieces still in the air at the same time the shock wave hit the land cruiser. The land cruiser went into the air and I flew out. Then there really was a fade to black moment that lasted a very long time.