Chapter 56

Here I was sitting on a pristine white beach on my own island, thinking about how we had arrived here. We had flown from Grove City, Ohio to Miami, Florida landing at a small airport I had never heard of, even though I was from Florida before I had moved to Nevada. Sandra and I stepped out of the plane inside a small hangar and were met by Sean Hadley of the FBI. He hugged Sandra and shook my hand, telling us both there was food inside the office for us. He followed us in and watched while we had sandwiches and drinks. When we had settled down to eat, he started giving us the particulars of what was going on.

"Harry, we know who took the contract out but he skipped to Mexico before we could grab him. He was out on bail which he shouldn't have been, but some dumb clerk screwed the paperwork up before we could catch it. We are working closely with the Federals there to get him back to us. Until we can, the Director ordered that you both disappear for a month or two. I have some news about your friend Mark that's going to piss you off, but I figured you needed to know about it since he is your friend. They took his ex-wife hostage yesterday, and he told them where you were in exchange for her release. She wasn't released, at least not alive. They found her in a dumpster about an hour ago. We haven't told him yet as I wanted to get your thoughts on the matter before I called him."

"Mark always loved that woman so I can't blame him for trying to get her out of it. He should have called me because with my connections, I might have been able to help her. I suggest you tell him that he will have to face me when I come back, and that I don't forget easily. If it was just me there would be no problem, but Sandra is involved and that just plain pisses me off about what he did to her. You handle it Sean and I will take care of my end when we go back there."

"You and Sandra get to spend the next couple of months on a very private island as guests of the French Government, only they don't know it since the owner belongs to us. The island is a sovereign nation unto itself, so nobody can touch you there without us knowing they're in the neighborhood. We have our own people already in place to watch over you and Sandra. Why don't you go with Larry here, while I show Sandra some pictures? We also have some surprises for her that I think she will be very happy about."

I got up and followed Larry to another small room off the office. When he switched the light on the sight that greeted me took my breath away. There were two tables covered with any kind of pistol you could imagine. When I looked at Larry he was smiling at my reaction to the sight. I figured I was smiling like an idiot at all the toys in front of me.

"I was told that you can have as many of them you want, since they are to be melted down today, and there will be no record of what you take for yourself. Whatever you take will be marked as destroyed. There are cases for them and plenty of ammo in the cupboard to your right. We confiscated these from a dope dealer. He had a very large collection of rifles too. They have already been destroyed as will these after you leave, Harry."

I walked over to the table like a kid at Christmas. I picked up a Desert Eagle fifty caliber pistol and decided I had to have it. I set it to the side and picked up a Sig Saur forty five that was a special edition built to specs' for whoever had owned this collection. It was for a left hander and the shells ejected to the left. It was ported for kick control, and I decided since I could shoot with both hands, I would take it too. I picked up a case and opened it and almost pissed myself at the sight I beheld. It was two Walther twenty two's with extended mags, and two stainless steel Carswell silencers. They were the new style with twist lock grooves on the outside of the barrel, so they looked like they were part of the sight without giving away what they were for. I took them immediately and asked Larry if there were holsters for the ones I had chosen. The fifty had a heavy hip holster and the others had custom-made shoulder holsters for them. I went to the locker and took five hundred rounds for each from the supplies there. I took a small shoulder bag and put it all inside thanking Larry as I headed back into the other room.

I felt like a kid with what I had in the bag. The sight that greeted me shot me down real fast. Sandra was crying her eyes out on the chair.

"What the hell's going on Sean? Why is she crying, what the hell did you say to her?"

I was getting madder by the second as I waited for an answer to my question.

"Harry, those are not sad tears. I didn't say anything that would upset her. I think you know me better than that by now."

"Then tell me why she is sobbing like that Sean?"

"I gave her several bags of her and her mom's stuff that we were able to get back. When she saw those two blankets, that's what happened. I don't know why, they're just a couple of baby blankets."

Then it hit me what they were and I went to my knees in front of her and hugged her to me. She had finally lost it after holding it all inside so long. She was sobbing so hard her whole little body was shaking. I just held her and let her get it out of her system. I had to admit to myself that I doubted if I would have been able to hold it back this long. I looked over at the two blankets laying there and knew them immediately. They had been made by her mother's grandmothers for her mother's birth. I knew then why she was taking it so hard. Her mother had cried on her death bed over their loss. I looked up at Sean and he had a worried look on his face watching her cry. I smiled to reassure him and nodded my head to the hangar. He grabbed Larry and they left us alone.

"Are you ok honey? Want something to drink?"

I waited for about five minutes for her to get herself under control enough to answer me.

"I'm sorry grandpa, but seeing those blankets again brought it all back to me. I miss her grandpa, and I remember how she cried when she found out those two baby blankets had been stolen. It all came back to me in a big rush of memories and I broke down. Seeing all those pictures of those men again didn't help matters any. Please tell me I won't have to go through all this again grandpa? I don't want all those memories again."

"I promise you right now Sandra, that I will never let any of them ever touch you."

"Sean got a lot of mom's and my paintings back from that horrible woman from the orphanage. She was the one who had our house robbed. I also have all my papers and mom's important stuff she had locked up in the small safe she carried with us to Mexico. I don't think they ever figured out how to open it because there are hammer marks all over the top of it and around the hinges. Everything that was important to mom and me is in there, grandpa. Will you go through it with me when we are on the plane again?"

"I would be honored to Sandra. I know how much all of this means to you so I am going to ask Sean to have it all put in protective custody 'till we return. That way you will know it's all safe until you want it back."

"Thanks. I guess that will be ok, but make sure you tell him not to lose anything."

I laughed and told her he won't lose it. I saw Sean looking in and waved him back into the office. He looked at Sandra then at me and I quipped to him.

"It's a woman thing so you wouldn't understand."

"Aw grandpa!"

I busted up laughing at Sean as he let out a sigh.

"Harry, I wasn't supposed to let you see the pictures, but I think you should take a look at them for your own peace of mind."

I took the yellow envelope from his hand and went over to the desk. I took each of the eleven pictures out and memorized the faces as I looked at them. They weren't all that impressive but I knew that I would know them if I ever saw any of them again. I also knew what I would do if they ever tried to get close to Sandra for any reason. Thanks to Sean, I now had the perfect weapon to handle the problem if it ever raised its head close to me and mine. I put them back and handed the envelope back to him. He might not have liked the look on my face but he didn't say anything about it.

"Well, are you two ready for a little beach vacation? I think you will both enjoy where you are going. Harry, you can teach Sandra how to scuba-dive for lobsters. I am sure she would love to learn. The plane is all gassed up and you both will be on your way in about ten minutes. Harry, neither Larry nor I know what you chose in there, and there is no record of them. None of them had any numbers on them so they will be impossible to trace after today."

"Sean, are you expecting problems and should I consider this a warning?"

"I have not seen any problems but I wanted to make sure you could handle it if something did come up for some reason. We will be totally out of touch until it's safe to bring you both back, so you be careful, Harry. Our people there are good but I think you are a lot better. There is no cell service there but there is a marine radio in the house and on the boat. I will give you a paper showing the channel we monitor 24/7. It would take an hour for us to arrive so you will be on your own till then. I will make sure this stuff of Sandra's is safe 'till you come back. You have my personal word on that. You two enjoy yourselves while I will get the ass that started this and have the contract cancelled personally. I also am going to have a very personal talk with his attorney with the special team from Homeland Security by my side."

So here I sit in the sun watching Sandra play with the supposed Guard Dog in the surf. There were three of these Dobermans that roamed the island. She had made friends with all of them the first week we had got here. They followed her around like they thought she was their mother or something. It was downright sickening the way they treated her. Now me they tolerated but I had a sneaking suspicion they would love to sample my butt if they thought they could get away with it. Damn, but this was boring. Sean had checked in yesterday and had no news for us about coming back. I hoped he got that pig soon or we were going back and staying in my cabin where I knew we would be safe.