Life after the Lottery Ch. 49

"Where is the rest of the security?" Rachel asked.

"Working with the police and guarding the elevator and stairs."

"Call the pilots room and get them up here. Get three more people to the airport to guard the jet. Get more people here. I want two guards in the hall until we leave!" Rachel ordered.

"Yes, ma'am."

Paul got on the phone and went back outside.

"Linda, we should get out of here as fast as possible," Rachel said.

"No! I will not have some asshole ruin things. I have a meeting after lunch, then we will leave for Madrid."

"Linda, if you will not go home, you will do everything I say, do you understand?!" Rachel told her.

"Okay," Linda answered.

"What is this meeting after lunch?" Rachel asked.

"I am meeting someone from a major winery," Linda said.

"Can you meet him here?"

"I will call him and see."

Rachel walked to the door and opened it.

"Paul!!"

A few seconds later he appeared at the door.

"I need to talk to Mike, you stay here. When the pilots show up have them wait for me," Rachel directed him and went out in the hall.

"Ms. Williams, the hotel is locked down," Paul told her.

"Thank you, Paul," Linda said. "I need to call the person I am meeting."

"Linda, do you know this person?" I asked.

"He is an acquaintance of Alexandre's, from the winery."

"Why don't you see if he will meet you here for lunch?"

"Okay."

"Linda, are you okay now?" Dawn asked.

"Yes. It is just that I never thought anyone like that would ever get this close to me."

"It won't happen again," I told her.

"Security won't let me out of the house when I get back," Linda said.

"Yes, they will," I told her.

"I need to get my phone and call him," Linda said as she stood and headed to the master bedroom. Dawn went with her.

"Paul, who is Mike?" I asked him.

"He is head of our security around the world."

"Rachel knows him?"

"Yes, he is her contact with the company for anything she needs."

"Paul, what type of security does your company provide?"

"Anything that is needed."

"Anything?"

"Yes."

"Good. Thank you."

Linda came out of the bedroom.

"Mr. Santoro said he could meet me here after lunch," Linda told us.

"Ms. Williams, will you write down his full name and the company he is with?" Paul asked as he handed her a pad and pen. Linda wrote on the pad and handed it back. Paul walked away and talked into a small walkie-talkie.

"Were is Rachel?" Linda asked.

"Taking care of a few things," I told her. "Linda, can I get you a glass of wine?"

"Please."

I went to the bar and poured Linda a full glass of wine and returned to her. She took the glass and sipped.

"Linda, you and Dawn come with me," I told her.

I took Linda and Dawn back to the master bedroom.

"Linda, have a seat on the bed." Linda sat. "I need you to listen to me and do what I say without asking a lot of questions, okay?"

"I guess." Linda said looking at us.

"You are not alright; you are in shock. You are going to stay in here and do what Dawn tells you to do. For now, don't question what she does or has you do. I need you functioning and Dawn is going to make sure you are doing just that. I know you are scared right now and shaken up. Dawn is going to get you straighten out, do you understand me?" I said.

"Yes, but I'm okay."

"Give me your hand."

Linda reached out and I took her hand and held it for a few seconds.

"No, you're not, you are scared. Dawn, do you need my help?"

"Just keep things quiet out there and keep everyone out of here until I say it is okay," Dawn said.

"What are you going to do?" Linda asked Dawn.

"Honey, I need you to trust James and me completely right now without asking questions," Dawn told her.

"Wait a minute. Does this have something to do with what you two do?"

"Linda, please trust us right now," I asked her.

"Okay, I guess."

"Dawn, are you sure you don't need me?" I asked her.

"We will be okay, just keep everyone out."

"I will."

I was leaving the bedroom when I heard Dawn tell Linda to take off her clothes. I looked back and Dawn was taking hers off. I went on out the door and closed it behind me.

"Patricia, would you come here?" I asked her. She walked to me as I got her a chair. "I need you to make sure no one goes in there or knocks on the door, and that includes you and Rachel."

"Rachel won't like that."

"I will talk to Rachel. Dawn is helping Linda get her senses back, she is very scared right now."

"Okay. James, I should have recognized him too, I have seen the picture."

"We just had no idea he would follow us here. It caught us all off guard, but it won't happen again. When Dawn is finished, you and Rachel setup this meeting with this guy. We haven't eaten breakfast and that food needs to be taken out of here."

"I will call downstairs."

"Paul?"

"Yes, Dr. Smith."

"Have one of your people come in and take that food away, I don't trust it."

"Yes, sir."

Paul said something into his radio.

There was a knock at the door. Paul went to the door and opened it. It was Linda's pilots. Paul asked them to come in and have a seat. I walked over and talked to Henry.

"Dr. Smith, what's up?" He asked.

"Linda has a stalker we knew about in the states. We found out and he was following her around last week by accessing your flight planes we think. He followed her here and got in the room a little while ago disguised as a bellman."

"Is Linda okay?!"

"Yes, but she is pretty shaken up."

"Did they catch him?"

"No, he got away. Rachel wanted to talk to you two. She is out right now, she wanted you to wait for her."

"Okay."

There was another knock on the door and Paul let Rachel in.

"Where is, Linda?" She asked.

"She and Dawn are working through some things," I told her.

"I need to talk to her."

"No, not right now, Rachel," I told her.

Rachel looked at me and decided that was the end of that conversation.

"Henry, have you filed the flight plan to Madrid yet?" Rachel asked.

"Not yet, we weren't leaving until tonight."

"This asshole has been following us around the world from your flight plans."

"Not much we can do about it, they are accessible on the internet soon after we file them, but not by everyone."

"Since we didn't catch this guy and he is getting braver, we need to do something."

"We can throw him a curve," Henry said.

"How?"

"If he is stalking Linda, are you assuming he knows where all her companies are? She didn't have a schedule where she was going last week or this week. We file the flight plans an hour or so before we take off."

"What can you do then?" Rachel asked.

"How about her next visit being to her mining company in Australia?" Henry said.

"What?"

"We will final a flight plan to Perth as soon as we get to the airport."

"But we are not going to Perth?"

"We will be when we take off. Once we are in the air, I can change the flight plan."

"Won't it still be on the internet?"

"Eventually, but the changes don't get filled as fast. They just turn us over to the next air traffic control center and that keeps happening until we get where we are going. But once we are there, it will be in the system within about 36 hours."

"That would just slow him down then," Rachel said.

"Rachel, let me do some snooping around, I'm not sure he is getting our flight plans," Henry said.

"Do whatever you need to do."

"What time are we leaving?" Henry asked.

"I'm not sure. Linda still has a meeting after lunch, but as soon as that is over we are out of here. I have ordered security on the plane until we leave." Rachel told him.

"We will get our stuff and head to the airport. Let me see what I can do to throw this guy off our trail. I will make a few phone calls and see what I can do in this part of the world."

The two pilots left and Rachel finally sat down.

"Any word?" I asked.

"Nothing yet. I may have fucked him good, I made a few phone calls and some friends are going to add him to the 'No-fly' list in the states. The State Department has been contacted and they will be watching for his passport number when he returns."

"That must have been a huge favor."

"That is what Mike is for."

"Does he have connections?"

"You could say that he is ex-CIA. I need to talk to Linda, the security is going to be stepped up and I don't want it to upset her."

"When she and Dawn are finished, she will not be so upset," I told Rachel.

"Rachel, stop blaming yourself. We all figured there was no way he would follow us here. I even missed it." Patricia said.

"Maybe the asshole will hop a flight to Australia about the time he ends up on the no-fly list. That would make it a real problem for him to get out of there."

"Who is this guy she is meeting with?" I asked.

"We had him checked; he is a big wig at a large winery."

"I think she is going to buy into a winery here," we heard Patricia say.

"Patricia, come sit with us as long as there is no one else in the room," I told her. She came and sat with us.

"Pat, how did you know it was him?" Rachel asked.

"I didn't realize it was him. My Italian is bad enough with my southern accent, so I heard it in his attempt at Italian. I suspected something, so I told him to come back in an hour. He just said grassie; I knew he had no idea what I said to him. That was when I screamed for you."

"Good catch," Rachel told her.

"He just didn't look right when he came in. The bellmen don't wear berets." Patricia replied. "I should have recognized him from the picture."

"Okay, you two we caught him, stop beating yourselves up over this. I wish I had caught him, I would have broken his neck," I told Rachel and Patricia.

There was a knock on the door, Rachel went to it and took a briefcase from someone and came back and sat down. She opened it and pulled out a 9mm like mine and a shoulder holster.

"This is for you," she told me.

"Rachel, I can't carry out of the country."

"You can now. Put it on, please."

"I won't ask how..."

"Don't..." Rachel stopped me.

"Okay. If I see him again, I won't need a gun," I told her.

"His picture is being circulated everywhere, Interpol has it now so they will be looking for him. Unfortunately, if they catch him over here, they won't do much. They don't have stalker laws like we do, but they will charge him for assault and breaking and entering. I hope our guys catch him first." Rachel told us.

"You don't think our itinerary was leaked do you?" I asked.

"Hell no! I'm the only one that has it. The room reservations are all in my name," Patricia told us.

"Rachel," we heard Paul say coming from the extra bedroom.

"Yes, Paul."

"We have a new problem. With all the police activity we have drawn the attention of the local press and paparazzi. They are gathering outside and know Linda is here."

"I figured that would happen. You know what to do."

"Yes, ma'am. I need to know when you plan on leaving."

"Just go for 4:00," Rachel told him.

"Yes, ma'am."

"What is he going to do?" I asked.

"We have some diversionary tactics we have used before."

Rachel's phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Yes, it is me."

Patricia and l listened for a minute.

"Mr. Santoro, we have had a security problem. Someone made it into Ms. Williams' room. He is a stalker from home. No, he got away." Rachel said.

She listened some more.

"I think it will be safer if you two meet in our suite."

"Sure, we can set it for lunch here at noon."

"Our security has been stepped up; I hope that is not a problem for you."

"I understand. I will tell my people."

Rachel listened for a minute.

"That would be a great help...about 4:00. Thank you, Mr. Santoro, we will see you at noon." She hung up.

"He is a big shot at a huge winery. They have their own security so their executives don't get kidnapped when they travel. He is bringing them and will help us get to the airport."

"What kind of security does he have?" I asked.

"Mercs. He said they travel with him and the other executives."

"That bad?" Patricia asked.

"Yes. I let Linda talk me out of more security for here."

Paul walked over after he had been on the phone.

"Rachel, we are going to use the press and paparazzi to our advantage. We are going to give all them the guy's photo and information. Those blood suckers can spot anyone." Paul said.

"Good. Let's make it interesting. Tell them is a $100,000 reward for anyone that helps us catch the guy," Rachel told him.

"If that makes the news, everyone in the region will be looking for him," Paul replied.

"Even better. I wish we could make it dead or alive. I need to go coordinate this," Rachel told us.

"Do you want someone in here?" Paul asked.

"Just outside the door will do."

Paul left the room and Rachel locked the door after him.

"Patricia, can you coordinate a nice lunch for 8 people?" Rachel asked.

"Not in here, there is not that much room."

"See what you can setup in the hotel. Maybe a small meeting room we can secure?"

Patricia picked up the room phone and had about a 20-minute conversation in Italian before she got off the phone.

"The hotel manager is coming up, he kept apologizing for everything. He said he had a private dining room on the first floor for business meetings we can use."

Rachel went to the door and informed the guard he was coming. The door to the master bedroom opened.

"James, come here, please," Dawn asked. I got up went to the door and Dawn took me into the bedroom.

"Is she better?" I asked.

"Yes, she is taking a shower to help calm her down. This really rattled her."

"I am sure it did."

"It took me some work, but she is okay for now. What has been going on?"

"The guy got away, but the place is locked down. Unfortunately, the local press heard about it from the police and now they are camped outside along with the paparazzi."

"Linda doesn't need that when she leaves," Dawn told me.

"Rachel has something in the works. Are you okay?"

"Tired, but I am fine."

"James?" I heard Linda say.

I turned to look and she was coming out of the bathroom naked. She walked to me and wrapped her arms around me and held me for a few minutes. I wrapped my arms around her and felt. She was calm but still upset.

"Thank you for being here. I'm not sure what your wife did to me, but I am okay now," Linda told me.

"We have talked to Mr. Santoro. We are setting up a lunch meeting here for you. There are a lot of security people here, don't let that upset you." I told her.

"It won't."

"Who is this guy, we know he is a big executive with a large winery," I asked.

"Alexandre told me when we were in France that this winery was looking to buy up some smaller ones and expand their operations a lot so they can compete on a global level. He suggested I give him a call if I was interested in financing it."

"Now that would be a good reason to come back to Italy," I told her.

I got a smile and a kiss from Linda.

"What time is it?" She asked.

"About 10:45."

"Dawn and I need to get dressed for the meeting. Please ask Patricia and Rachel to dress nicely for me." Linda said.

"I will put on a suit," I said.

"Thank you. How did you get the gun?" Linda said looking at the holster and gun.

"Rachel did something so I could have it. Linda, Rachel is pretty upset with herself over this."

"It's not her fault."

"She thinks it is. You need to talk to her later and you also need to let her do her job and do what she thinks is right."

"I will. We need to get ready."

I left Linda and Dawn in the bedroom and went back to the main room. Rachel was talking to a well-dressed man and a lady.

"Dr. Smith, this is the hotel manager and his assistant. How is Linda doing?" Paul asked.

"She is fine. Linda and Dawn are getting dressed for the meeting."

"Dr. Smith, I am so sorry for what has happened," the man said in heavily accented English.

"How is your employee that got attacked?" I asked.

"He is at the hospital getting checked out."

"I hope all the security is not upsetting things here."

"No Signore. We will help as much as we can."

"We are going to use a small meeting room on the first floor for lunch. Security has double checked. The kitchen is secure and all the employees are who they are supposed to be. I'm pretty sure this jerk is long gone, but we have to make sure. Mr. Santoro will be here at noon. Once he arrives we will move Ms. Williams down to the first floor. While we are eating, all of the luggage will be taken to the airport and as soon as she is ready to go, we will leave," Rachel told everyone.

"I'm sorry you have to leave," the manager said.

"We were leaving tonight anyway, Ms. Williams is flying to Australia for a few days to check on some businesses there and get away from all this for a few days," Rachel told him.

"Yes, Ms. Rachel. I will go get everything started." The manager said.

"There will be security around the room until lunch. I hope that is okay?"

"No problem."

The manager and his assistant left the room.

"Is Linda okay?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, she is better," I told her.

"Can I talk to her?"

"Once she is dressed. Rachel, don't keep telling her you are sorry because you think this is your fault." I told her.

"Okay."

"Do you think the hotel may have leaked she was here? I ask because of the story you gave the manager," I asked her.

"I don't know, but I do know a few dollars can buy a lot of information around here. Whenever Linda is finished with her meeting, we are going to stage her leaving. Her limo and security vehicles will pull up out front. We have a tall blonde that will be leaving with her head covered so they will think that is her and follow the limo. As soon as they clear out Mr. Santoro is providing us several limos to get us to the airport with his security. Hopefully, all the press and paparazzi are gone after a little while." Rachel explained to us. "I need a few minutes to change clothes, James take care of things. The guard outside the door is named Hans."

Rachel went to her bedroom.

"Can I go get ready?" Patricia asked.

"Sure. Linda and Dawn will be out soon."

"Dr. Smith, you are the psychologist, why were you not the one helping Linda?" Patricia asked.

"Patricia, Dawn has a special way to help people get re-oriented. She knows what she is doing."

"Okay."

Patricia went to the other bedroom.

"Paul, can I talk to you?"

"Sure."

"How honest are the police around here?"

"Not very. A few dollars can go a long way."

"If you see one of them, tell them the reward is dead or alive. That goes for your guys too."

"Yes, sir."

I sat and was sipping a glass of wine when Dawn and Linda came out. They were both dressed nicely and looked gorgeous.

"You two haven't eaten, what can I get for you?" I asked.

"I'm fine," Linda said and Dawn looked at her.

"James, can we get some fruit and pastries brought up, we could all use a snack," Dawn said.

"Sure."

I went to the door and opened it had Hans come inside.

"Hans, can you send one of your people down to the kitchen and have them make us a bowl of fruit and some pastries and bring it back up? I don't want any of the hotel people up here."

"Yes, sir. Anything else?"

"Not right now."

Hans left the room.

"He was a mean looking fellow," Linda said.

"Linda, don't worry about the security, because there is a lot of it," I told her.

"I don't think this meeting will take more than a few hours," Linda told me.

"We are having all of the luggage picked up while we are eating lunch. So if you need to hang on to anything put it in a carry-on." I told them.

"I had most of everything packed this morning," Linda said.

"I will go and pack all my things," Dawn said and went back to the bedroom.