Chapter 60

When Kat and I came down to eat, Maurice had already arrived and was sitting and talking to the others. I noticed that another table had been pulled up so that we could all sit together and not have to shout between tables. The small talk went well until we finished eating. Then I told everyone that Maurice had some important news for us and that he would tell all of it to us before we discussed anything.

He sat back and then looking a little embarrassed, started to speak. When he finished about fifteen minutes later, I was sitting with my arms around Kat and Sally watching the reactions on everyone's faces. As I expected, the only people shocked at the table were Michelle and her mother as well as Tiny, and I could tell he was mad about the whole thing. Before he could explode, I stood up and addressed them.

"I know this is a shock to all of you. It was a shock to me this morning when I heard about it. Michelle, you and your mother will stay with me temporarily and I will assure you that you both will be safe. Jubal and Farley will be leaving tomorrow to harass the church as we had planned, but with a twist. They will be hitting two compounds at once, with help from Interpol. This should take some of the pressure off of us here for now. Tiny, I can see you are upset about this, but I have some plans in the works that will protect everyone for now. Tiny, I can't make you stay here, but I think you should sit down and discuss it with your family before you make any rash moves. Since this has been such a shock, I suggest we sleep on it and talk among ourselves. Tomorrow we will all meet in the morning for breakfast and discuss our options."

They got up, talking among themselves. I steadfastly refused to answer any questions until tomorrow. I caught Quanta's eye and made a motion for him to stay behind. He leaned over and said something to Sylveen, and she herded the girls off to their room. Kat got up, kissed me, and grabbed Sally, saying she wanted to talk to her. I told Maurice to go ahead and go back to the ship and I would talk to him tomorrow. He got up and walked away, looking like he was exhausted. I waited until everyone had disappeared and motioned for Quanta to follow me. I looked back as we walked away from the patio, and noticed that Myrna had joined Kat and Sally and they were talking as they went inside. I immediately headed for the path Koma had taken me on, then turned to Quanta and started talking as we walked. I purposely kept my voice down so if we were followed, whoever would follow wouldn't be able to hear what I was saying.

"Well, old friend, looks like we will be changing our plans a little. Can you make arrangements for us to be taken off the island by boat in the night?"

"That is no problem, Jon, as long as I have enough time to get things in motion. Also, I need to tell you that if you are planning what I think you are, Sylveen and I have decided to go with you. I haven't been to the monastery for many years. She wants to take our daughters before they grow up and go their own way and have their own families. Jon, if we pull this off and get off the island, how do you want to go? What I mean is, what countries do you want to travel through? There are a dozen different ways we can go and still reach our goal safely."

"Quanta, I am in over my head here and I am depending on you to set it all up. I think any arrangements you make should be kept from all of us, just in case someone speaks out of turn or is overheard talking. I do want to make sure that all of us will be safe as we travel, and that we are well guarded the whole trip. The church has a long arm and won't hesitate to do just about anything to accomplish their goals. They are all over the place as we speak, looking for us and trying to figure out how to get to me. They will not hesitate to kill any of us if they think it will help them attain their goals."

"Jon, I know I may be prying here, but what is this story about some disks that contain the secrets to getting the church's money that has been hidden over the years? I noticed you have avoided talking about this and as usual my curiosity is aroused."

I already guessed that he would ask. I figured I would face the question from several of our party as well as Maurice, so I already had my story made up. I had promised Jeb that no one would ever know that I already had given him those disks, and I would keep the promise.

"This was all news to me too. I did have two disks that were slipped into a suitcase when I rescued Michelle the first time, but they didn't contain anything remotely connected to something like that. All that was on them was the whole membership of the Texas compound I got Michelle out of. I sent them to the FBI weeks ago but they didn't seem to be interested in them or the church until I got shot the first time. If I had something like they're saying I have, I would use it to assure all our safety. The disks Michelle brought me this time are on the ship. All that they contained was what we have already sent to the appropriate agencies."

"Umm, I wondered about it Jon. I didn't figure you had them, or you would have used them by now. I just wish I knew of some way that the church could find this out so that they would not be hounding us. It seems that they are spending a lot of money for nothing."

"Yeah, I agree, Quanta, but it just doesn't make any sense. With all that has been released to the press as well as the different Law Enforcement Agencies, you would think they would be keeping a lower profile. They seem to be stuck on the fact that they think I have those disks, and I can't for the life of me figure out why. Someone high up in their church has to have them, and he or she is keeping them safe until all of this dies down. That's the only scenario I can think of that fits what's happening."

"I have to agree with you, my friend. Now do you have any idea how many of our guests will be traveling with us? This I will need to know in order to get the plans in motion."

"I will have no idea until tomorrow, Quanta. I wanted everyone to sleep on the news and make their own decisions. I guess we will find out in the morning. Quanta, you have handled money for many years, do you have any idea where a member of the church might hide something like that? If I could get my hands on them, I could make them tell me and take the pressure off of us. Hell, I don't want their money and I would rather give it to them than see any of us get hurt."

"Jon, I have no idea, not being familiar with the church. But if I were to guess, I would have to say it would have to be someone very high up in their leadership who is hoarding the disks. Another thing I don't understand about this, is why they would put such sensitive information on a disk that could be easily broken or lost. If I did something like that at the bank, I would be immediately dismissed. None of this makes any sense to me at all, Jon."

"Ha, you think you're the only one confused about all of this crap? Here I thought when we got Michelle out and the disks were made public, they would leave us alone. I can't believe they would put out a contract on any of us with all the publicity. Whoever is running the church since Boudrie died has totally lost touch with reality."

"Yes, I have to agree. I was glad to hear about his death after what he and his men did to my people. If not for you, he would have exterminated our whole line. I still haven't figured out how he got on to the society and who to look for and where they were. Someone very high up had to have talked, but I just can't believe they would give away names of the torch bearers. Even under torture I would never speak about such a thing."

"Quanta, any man can be broke by torture if the man doing it knows what he is doing. The person being tortured is the one who controls what information is given out. The torturer has to believe what is told to him or kill the person for what he perceives is a lie. I hate to change the subject, but we are getting sidetracked here. That's in the past and may someday come to light, but right now I am only worried about everyone's safety. I am depending on you to set everything in motion. Let's say we set a week from tomorrow as our jumping off time to leave here. Will that give you enough time to put everything in motion?"

"That should be plenty of time. As soon as I find out how many are going for sure, I will know how to set it all up."

We spent another half hour discussing the details. As we started back to the house, I heard a noise in the jungle to our side. I leaned over and whispered to Quanta to keep walking and talking until I got back. He looked at me like I had lost my mind, but continued on talking as I slipped into the tree line. I could hear Quanta in the distance talking as I snuck through the jungle to his side. I finally spied a figure walking quietly, listening to what he said. My old skills worked well, and I was able to come up on him from a side angle. When we came to the end of the trees, he stopped and looked around. I grabbed him from the back, putting a choke hold on him. I squeezed until I felt him starting to go down then released him, not wanting to kill anyone just in case he was harmless. He went down, and I held onto him long enough to stiff walk him out into the clearing where Quanta was standing with his mouth open in shock.

"Who is it, Jon, and how much did he hear of our plans?"

"I have no idea who it is, but he won't be able to say anything for a little while as he is out of it. I will stay with him while you go to the house and grab one of the carts. Go and get Koma and Pala so we can get this straightened out. We will wait out here so as not to spook the women until we find out what is going on."

"Ok, Jon!"

He took off at a run, and I was surprised at how fast he could move. Within a few minutes I saw one of the carts headed toward the village at full speed with its single light on. Then and there I was glad they didn't make much noise but wondered at the same time where the guards were. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen any of them since Maurice left. I looked around for a few minutes and spied movement at the end of the outside cabins to my right. I called out in French the password for this shift, and was quickly answered with the counter word. The man moved my way and I knew he could see me huddled next to the ground. To his credit, he didn't turn on a white light but a red one. It lit the area up, showing me and the man lying between my legs. He came quickly to my side with his weapon up and pointing toward the jungle, shining the light all around our area. He satisfied himself we were alone, and just as quickly shut it off. He kneeled by my side, asking me what was going on. I gave him the short version and told him to return to his post as I had it under control until the village chief could get here. He said he would stay close in case I needed him, and offered me his side arm which I refused. I had one of the new forty's tucked in my waistband with a silencer on it if I needed it. Since my shirt tail was out, it couldn't be seen unless you stood directly behind me. I had made a short detour to the small room that was our armory and liberated it, just in case.