Chapter 1

Darkness falls on the graveyard. A shadowy figure approaches a grave. He reads the inscription on the tombstone, 'Here Lies Nicholas Lynn Hammer. Lover, Friend, and Caretaker. His heart was too large for the world to bear.' The man looks on top of the grave a dozen white roses lay there. He hears the motor of a car headed in his direction. He fades in to the shadow of the trees. A car stops on the road a few feet away. Two women exit the car. They are tall and lithe. One of them carries a box. The man watches them glide across the wet grass. To him it seemed their feet did not touch the ground. Tallest one takes the old flowers off the grave. She removes the flowers from the stems one at a time. She crushes the flowers and sprinkles them on the grave. The other woman opens the box and pulls out a dozen fresh white roses. She carefully places them near the tombstone on the grave. The woman stands up and lightning flashes across the sky. He sees her face and he remembers it. She sees his shadow as the lightning fades. He disappears. The woman runs to the tree.

The other woman asks, "Lilly what is it?"

Lilly replies, "I thought I saw someone standing here Petra."

Petra asks, "Is anyone there?"

Lilly says, "No, no one is here. Maybe it is wishful thinking on my part."

Petra, "Let's go home now."

The two women walk back to their car. The man walks back around the tree. He knows her. He wishes he could tell her. He hangs his head and walks slowly out of the graveyard. He owes the man buried in the grave. He owes him more than he could ever repay. He watches the lights of the car as heads towards the entrance of the graveyard. He decides to play guardian angel. He runs to his motorcycle. He takes a shortcut through the graveyard trying to beat the car to the entrance. He makes it to the entrance in time to see the car heading towards town. He gets on the highway. He speeds up enough to catch the car. The road becomes four lanes. He knows he cannot stay behind her long without her getting suspicious. He passes her slowly. When he gets up beside her, he looks over. She sees him. Luckily, he has his helmet on. She is absolutely gorgeous. He waves and she smiles at him. He puts on more speed and goes around her. He stays just far enough ahead of her to keep her in his mirrors. She turns on her blinkers. He shoots down the ramp quickly. He cuts a car off making a right turn and jumps in to the left lane. He makes a left on to a side street and spins his bike around. He pulls his bike on to the sidewalk in the shadow of a wooden fence.

He watches the intersection to see which way she goes. She goes left going under an overpass. He starts his bike and follows her. He does his best to stay as far back as he can without losing her. She takes him in to the seedy part of town. He has been here before many times. She turns in to an alleyway. He pulls his bike on to the sidewalk and jumps off. He runs to the corner of the alley and peeks. He sees her speed up heading for a brick wall. He starts to run after the car, but hesitates for a couple of seconds. The car does not hit the wall. It goes through it. He stands there astonished. He places his back on the wall and thinks where she could have gone. He looks back around the corner and sees cameras everywhere. He is pretty sure he knows where they are going.

He knows of a different entrance. He gets back on his bike and heads towards an old warehouse a block away. He arrives at the warehouse. He heads to the basement. Memories flood his mind, as he gets closer to his destination. He remembers where the entrance was. He searches around and discovers the entrance has been sealed. He kicks the wall and heads back to his bike. He will just have to come back later and bring his equipment. He walks back outside and almost runs in to a sign. He looks at the sign. It reads, 'Bensen Reality, For Sale.' He has a bright idea. He rips the sign down and takes it with him. He folds up the sign and puts it under the seat of his bike. He heads home. He will deal with all of it in the morning.

The next morning, he gets up early. He calls the bank to see how much he has there. He does not think it is enough so he arranges a transfer from a Swiss account. When he is finished, he contacts Bensen Reality. He sets up a meeting with Ms. Deborah Bensen. She says she will meet him at the warehouse at nine. He gets off the phone and calls an old friend that owes him a favor.

The man answers his phone, "Gaylord Nesbitt construction."

He says, "Gaylord it is me. I need your help and I will pay you well."

Gaylord asks, "I owe you a lot. What can I do?"

"I need you to come to the metropolitan. Bring your whole crew and every bit of equipment you have."

"Can I ask what we will be doing?"

"Sure. You are going to refurbish an old warehouse for me to my specifications."

"I can handle that. When do you want us there?"

"Three days, I will need you to take care of all of the city permits."

"Ok, where do I meet you?"

He gives Gaylord the address. Gaylord tells him thanks and hangs up. He hurries and gets dressed and heads to his garage. He puts some of his equipment in the back of his truck and attaches the bike trailer to it. He puts the bike on it. He drives to the old warehouse. He pulls his truck in to the warehouse. He takes his bike off its trailer and pushes it outside. He waits for the realtor. She comes pulling up in a Cadillac. She gets out of her car.

Ms. Bensen, "Good morning, I am Deborah Bensen. You may call me Debby."

He replies and lies to her, "Nice to meet you. I am William Roberts and you can call me Bill."

Debby, "Well Bill, what do you think?' He says, "I only have one question, how much?"

Debby, "I have some better property, we can look at. Are you sure you want this old warehouse?"

He tells her, "I have a specific reason. I like this locale. Now, how much is it?"

Debby, "Ok, the owner wants at least sixty five thousand for it. I can probably get him to take less. Let's say fifty eight thousand."

He says, "No sixty five is good. I want the deed in hand today."

Debby smiles at him in wonder, "It will take me a few hours to get the paperwork done."

"I guess you had better hurry," he says sarcastically. "Where is your office?"

Debby glares at him, "At the corner of fifth and main."

"I will meet you there at three. Make sure you have everything ready. I won't have time to mess with you. I will bring my attorney to look over the contracts. If there is nothing else, I have business to attend to."

Debby stammers, "No, I have nothing else."

He tells her, "Good we both have work to do. I will see you at three."

He gets on his bike and takes off. She watches him ride away. He heads back to the alley where the car had disappeared. He parks his bike a block away. He pulls some equipment out from under the seat of the bike. He goes to the alley. He avoids the sensors and cameras in the alley. He sets up his own camera. He places them where no one could see them. He heads back to the warehouse and his truck. When he gets to the warehouse, he moves all of his equipment to the basement. He sets up all of his equipment. He gets the cameras on line. Now, all he has to do is wait.

At three, he arrives with his attorney at Deborah Bensen's office. His attorney Aaron Mickelson reviews the contracts and tells him it is ok. He signs the contracts and hands her a certified check. She gives him the deed and walks outside. His attorney follows him.

He says to his attorney, "Aaron I need you to sell my house. Here is the deed." He hands Aaron the deed. "Don't use this bitch find someone who really cares."

Aaron, "Ok, anything else you need me to do?"

He replies, "Not at the moment. I have Gaylord coming in three days. You might have to help him with the building permits from the city."

Aaron, "Ok, just send him by the office and I will take care of it."

He nods to Aaron and tells him good-bye. He heads back to his house and cleans it out. He takes all of his stuff to the warehouse. He wakes up the next morning. He gets a sledgehammer and a chisel out of his toolbox. He goes to work trying to unseal the entrance. He works for a few hours. He digs in almost three feet. He swears and says out loud, "Shit, I guess I will have to wait on Gaylord." He drops the tools and heads upstairs to his makeshift bedroom. He has nothing better to do than wait. He pulls out his laptop and designs a rough draft of the warehouse. He decides Gaylord can get the blue prints for it. He works until really late.

Gaylord and his crew arrive two days later. He shows Gaylord around and shows him what he wants. He tells Gaylord not to put the work in the basement on the blueprints. He does not want anyone else to know what is down there.

Gaylord introduces him to his daughter, "This is my daughter Amanda. She can help you with whatever electronics you need in here. Are you still use to the finer things in life?"

He says, "Yes I want this place immaculate. I want to be able to park my cars on that end and I want you to build me a nice living space on the other. Including the basement. After you get me an entrance in to the caves, I want a false wall over it. I don't want anyone to know it is there but us. I need you to leave the old outside tin. Make it look the same. I will have fewer trespassers that way."

Gaylord says, "I can do that. About the permits, who do I need to see?"

He tells him, "I want you to meet up with my attorney, Aaron Mickelson. He will help you expedite everything."

Gaylord gets his crew to work and meets up with Aaron to get the permits. It takes him five days to get the city to approve all of the construction. Everyday, Amanda tries to find some way to spend time with him. She starts flirting with him mildly. She flutters her eyelashes at him. She winks at him when she passes by. A few days go by and she starts getting bold. She starts only wearing sports bras and short shorts. One day, they are working together on a ladder. She sticks her ass in his face.

He says, "Amanda you are lovely girl. But, you aren't old enough for me."

Amanda, "I have been having sex since I was eighteen. I am twenty-three. More than old enough for you. Besides, daddy only brought me along to keep me out of trouble. I want to have some fun and you're the prettiest one here."

He laughs, "That isn't something you hear everyday. I tell you what you finish this up and I will take you to dinner tonight. How does that sound?"

Amanda gets all giddy, "That would be great."

He climbs down the ladder laughing. He finds Gaylord and tells him what is going on. Gaylord laughs and tells him he will have everyone ready. Around eight, he goes and finds Amanda. Amanda is wearing a dress all dolled up. He escorts her to the front of the building. When they walk outside, the whole crew is standing outside smiling. Amanda embarrassed hides behind him.