Seducing Jennifer Pt. 33

I drew a deep breath. "Okay, let's think this through. We're jumping to conclusions here. There's no reason to assume it's Vholes that got blown up. He'll probably be here in a few minutes. And while we're waiting, why don't we go up to the roof and see if we can get cell phone service up there? No, wait. First I'll try the land-line." I picked up the house phone and started punching in Vholes' number. Carlo picked up.

"Front desk. Ah, Mr. Jack. How can I help you?" I imagined that I heard a mocking undertone in his usually subservient voice.

"Uh, yeah. I was trying to call my attorney."

"I'm sorry, sir, but the main switchboard is out. I'll have someone notify you when it is repaired."

I hung up the phone. "He says the switchboard is out. Let's go up to the roof."

Jennifer and I got our phones and we all left the suite. On the way to the elevator, Tommy said, "You know, Dude, if we can't—"

I nudged him, frowning. "Not here, Dude."

When we got up to the roof we all tried our cell phones. No service. Tommy and I left the girls sitting by the pool and went into the lavatory cabana, where I turned on the showers and the sink taps full blast before whispering in Tommy's ear, "I'm starting to get really paranoid here, Dude. It may sound totally crazy, but I think there is a good chance that everything is bugged in this place."

"Told you," Tommy whispered back. "Somebody wants something from us. I just wish the hell they'd come out and tell us what it is."

"Uh, yeah, about that..." I filled him in on the details of Anna's and my weekend at the lake house. "I didn't even tell Jennifer about all of this, Dude. I probably should have, but I was afraid there would be another jealous fit. Now, I think she could handle it. But anyway, I think Mrs. C. made off with all of old Hershkowitz's billions. She'd been carefully setting things up for years, and while we were at the lake house she pulled the plug. But somebody else, maybe more than one somebody else, figured it out and now they want the money."

"Shit." Tommy gnawed at a thumbnail. "I'm guessing one of those somebodies is the dude who owns this hotel. It explains why we are suddenly honored guests who are not allowed to leave. And why that ho' Italia was so hot to get close to you. Figured she'd get some hot intel during the pillow talk."

"Or maybe she just wanted some of this hot savage meat," I suggested, gesturing at my body. "First time she saw this she got so wet it was probably dripping into her high-heeled shoes, and—"

"Yeah. She looks like she has a hard time getting a date," Tommy scoffed. "No, it has to be one hundred percent totally about the money. And we don't have it or have any idea where it is. But I have a feeling no one is going to believe that...we need to get out of here, Dude. Like right away."

"Got any suggestions as to how we do that?"

"Fire escape, maybe?"

"I guess we could try, but I have a bad feeling there'd be someone waiting for us when we got to the street. Someone who wouldn't think it was very funny."

We left the cabana and walked over to the girls, who were leaning on the roof parapet, staring down into the streets below. "I think we need to find a new place to live, Jacky," Jennifer whispered before I could say anything. She put her arms around my neck and pulled my head down to nuzzle my ear. "I'm beginning to have a really bad feeling about this place. There are some really mean-looking guys just standing around down there like they're on sentry duty or something."

"We were just talking about that." I kissed her. "Tommy and I agree that we need to leave. But we don't know how we're going to do it. And we can't discuss plans in the apartment. We have to assume that it's bugged. Maybe wired for video too."

"Oh my God!" Jennifer gasped. "You mean everything we did might be recorded somewhere?"

"We don't know that. But after the other strange things we've seen, I think we have to proceed as if it were a strong possibility."

Tommy was holding Mary Louise close in his arms, his lips near her ear, and I assumed he was filling her in as well.

We walked back to Suite 74, taking the stairs. When we got there Vholes was standing outside the door, tapping at it with a finger. I noticed that his usually immaculate suit was somewhat rumpled, and his long stringy hair was in disarray. "Ah, yes! Just the people for whom I was looking. I trust you are all in good health?"

"More or less," I told him. "Are you here to take us out to brunch? Because I think we should go right away."

"Yes. Right. There may be a problem there..." He lowered his voice. "We need to have a private discussion, Master Jack. In a place where we won't be overheard."

"We've just been up at the roof-top pool. You really should see it. It's really nice up there." Tommy nodded vigorously.

We all trooped back up to the roof, took a quick tour, and crowded into the cabana where all the faucets were still hissing and sputtering. What the hell—we weren't paying the water bill. "We have a slight problem, children," Vholes began, drawing us into a huddle. "It would appear that—"

"You damn right we have a problem," Tommy interrupted. "That goon downstairs wouldn't let us leave, and Mary Louise is going to be in a lot of trouble with her parents if we don't—"

Vholes waived a hand impatiently. "The least of our problems, Master Thomas. None of us are going to be allowed to leave, at least not alive. It would appear that we are to be held as hostages in an attempt to lure Mrs. Crowley out into the open."

"The money?" I asked quietly.

"Exactly, Master Jack. A very large amount of money, as it happens. Which is currently under the control of Mrs. Crowley. It appears that Mr. Hershkowitz's fortune did not entirely belong to him...there were outside investors in some of his, ahem, enterprises, and they are rather miffed at being robbed of their investments."

"Like the dude who owns this hotel?" I surmised.

"Not precisely. I would not have brought you here if that were the case. The owner of this fine establishment is actually a bitter rival of one of the major investors, and they seem to be having a somewhat violent dispute at the moment. They were never on particularly good terms, so I thought that it would be a safe place for you to hide for a time. It is not really a commercial enterprise, as you may have noticed. It serves as a sort of fortress, should the owner ever find himself under siege. And also provides a means of laundering some of his ill-gotten financial gains, unless I miss my guess. But it seems that our putative benefactor has caught wind of a large amount of money that could be his if he got to Mrs. Crowley before his rival...and he hopes to use us to help him get it."

"So if she just gives up the money they will leave us alone?" Jennifer asked.

Vholes shook his head. "I'm afraid not, my dear. That might satisfy one party, but there are others who are equally greedy and capable of violence. Some of them are highly placed within the local and federal governments...I'm afraid that your mother did not cover her tracks as well as she might have. Even if the money were to disappear, some of them would want revenge. And they're not above exacting it against innocent family or friends."

"So we are really and truly screwed, unless we can figure out how to disappear like Mrs. C. did," Tommy interjected.

"Quite, Master Thomas. Fortunately I do have a plan, and we need to implement the first step immediately. No time to explain. Follow me, if you please."

We followed Vholes down the stairs to the penthouse floor where he strode to an ornately carved door and placed his hand on the electronic lock, closing his eyes and muttering to himself. The language he used sounded something like Cherokee to me, although I did not recognize the meaning of the words. After a moment the lock clicked and he opened the door and gestured for us to enter. "This is the owner's suite, children. I assume that there are no spy devices here, but in case there are, we must make haste."

The suite was much larger and more ornate than our own, decorated with expensive-looking antique furniture. "We will build a fire, children," Vholes said, going to the kitchen and lighting all the burners on the stove. "Help me collect flammable materials, if you will." He picked up a spindly carved chair. "A pity, really. But it can't be helped." He smashed the chair against the heavy kitchen table and collected the splintered fragments. "Perhaps you could each take a room and bring out anything that would support a flame?"

Soon we had a pile of broken furniture, books and bedding heaped in the kitchen. "Now if you children would return to Suite 74 and gather your necessaries, I'll just get this going and join you momentarily. We will be leaving forthwith, so please don't waste time. And don't bring any more than you can carry easily."

We ran down the stairs to our suite and Jennifer and I began cramming things into our backpacks with Tommy and Mary Louise helping. I took a change of clothing, the personal items I had brought from my adopted parents' house, and the plastic bag of tea sent by Anna. Fire alarms began clanging in the corridors and soon we heard shrieking sirens in the distance. We ran out into the corridor and met Vholes at the stairway. "To the second floor now, children! We will take advantage of our diversion to make our escape, or, barring that, put ourselves in a position to be rescued by the valiant firefighters."

We left the stairwell on the second floor and waited tensely. Soon we heard shouting and pounding footsteps headed up the stairs, and after waiting a few seconds slipped back into the stairwell and tiptoed down to the lobby level. A quick peek revealed that Carlo was not at his usual post, and as we approached the front door it burst open under the assault of several firefighters in yellow rubber suits, breathing apparatus and helmets. "Get out now, everyone!" one of them shouted at us. "If you're injured see the paramedics. Otherwise talk to the cops."

We crowded through the front door. The scene outside the hotel was chaotic. Fire engines, police cars, news vans and ambulances jammed the street. People milled around everywhere, craning their necks to look up at the thick black smoke boiling out of the windows on the top floor of the hotel. "Just keep walking, children," Vholes encouraged. "Across the street and turn right. Calmly and at a steady pace, if you please. We're just ordinary pedestrians on our way to work and school."

We walked down the street and turned at the first corner, walking further into the downtown business district until the sound of the sirens had faded to a comfortable level. Vholes pulled out his cell phone and made a quick call.

"My driver will have the car here momentarily, Children," Vholes said. "When he gets here we will all embark calmly and be on our way."

"To where?" Tommy demanded.

"A safe place where we can review our options. I'll explain while we're enroute, if you don't mind. Now I have a couple of calls to make—" He walked a few steps away and made a few quiet calls. When he came back he dropped his phone into the gutter and smashed it with his heel. "As these infernal devices can be tracked, I must ask you children to destroy your own right now."

"Oh, I can't!" Mary Louise wailed. "I promised my dad I would always keep it with me. I promised!"

"Your distress is understandable, dear," Vholes comforted her. "But this is, not to put too fine a point on it, a matter of life and death. That said, it is, of course, incumbent upon me to inform you that you are free to leave us, if you wish, although I sincerely hope you will not for your own safety. But it is your choice. And I have to ask you to make it now." Mary Louise looked at Tommy with anguish in her blue-green eyes.

"Just trash the phone, Red. We'll all stay together until things die down, and then we'll explain to your parents."

"But what about school? They might not let us graduate if we have too many unexcused absences!"

"Fuck the sch—" Tommy began.

"These problems are all relatively insignificant," Vholes interrupted impatiently. "With enough money, any damage can easily be repaired. And the trust contains enough money to buy the school if you should wish to do so."

"Give it to me, Red." Tommy held out his hand. "Tell your dad somebody stole it." He plucked the phone from her plump hand and tossed it into the gutter along with his own, then stamped them into shards of plastic. Jennifer and I disposed of our own cell phones in the same manner and kicked the fragments into the storm drain.

"Right, then," Vholes said, glancing at his watch. "And here is Mr. Sanchez, prompt and efficient as always." Vholes' limo slid to a smooth halt in front of us and we quickly got in, Vholes sitting in front with the driver and the four of us taking the passenger compartment.

"Access the interstate as quickly as you please, Mr. Sanchez," Vholes told the driver. "And proceed east with all deliberate haste, taking care not to exceed the posted speed limits." Sanchez nodded and pulled out into traffic. We all held our breath as Sanchez guided the limo expertly out of town and onto the interstate highway. A police car went screaming past us, lights flashing, and Mary Louise squeaked and buried her face in Tommy's armpit. He patted her shoulder.

"We're going to be fine, Little Red. Just relax. We're going on a little adventure...something we can tell our grand-babies about, right?"

Vholes turned to look at us over the back of his seat. "Master Thomas is quite correct, children. We seem to have avoided an unpleasant situation with some alacrity. Now while I did promise you brunch, and I'm sure you are all in need of sustenance, I regret that we will have to make do with whatever we may obtain from the next convenient drive-through establishment once we are well away from the city."

"Uh, yeah, we're getting kind of hungry," I said, feeling my stomach rumble. "But we'd also like to know where you're taking us."

"Quite, Master Jack. Let us set our sights on Nashville, Tennessee for the moment, shall we?" He glanced at Sanchez, then back at us. "We'll get into specifics later, no doubt. Now please try to relax, and we'll obtain some sort of food as soon as possible. The partition, Mr. Sanchez, if you please?"

The privacy screen separating the passenger and driver's compartments whirred quietly up. "What the hell's in Nashville?" Tommy asked.

I shrugged. "Vholes must know of a safe place there. Or maybe he picked it at random. We'll just have to trust him, because there's not much else we can do. Wherever he's taking us, it can't be any worse than what we just escaped from."

Jennifer hugged my arm. "Maybe Mom is there. And she'll have a plan, for sure."

"Possibly," I said, although I doubted it. I suspected that Anna was much farther away than Tennessee. "Anyway, we've got a long drive ahead of us so we might as well relax and enjoy it."

"Maybe we should all get naked," Tommy suggested. "Might help pass the time."

"Tommy!" Mary Louise slapped his chest. "How can you think about sex at a time like this?"

"How can I think about anything else when I got me a fine ripe woman trapped in a place she can't get out of?" Tommy countered. Mary Louise lifted her face to be kissed. He obliged her, at length.

"Somebody appreciates what they have," Jennifer observed.

"Not as much as I do," I said, tilting her face up for a kiss.

The next half-hour or so passed quickly, and we were all thoroughly aroused and had forgotten about food when the limo eased to a halt at the window of a generic fast-food joint. The privacy screen slid down into its recess and Vholes said, "Are you children prepared to enjoy a light repast? Please give your orders to Mr. Sanchez and he will do the honors."

We all chose greasy entrees from the lunch menu. "Feel free to order whatever you like for yourself, Mr. Sanchez," Vholes said. "And kindly ask for five large cups of boiling water as well as five packets of honey, if they have it. We will be paying cash, of course." He handed Sanchez a bill.

After we got the food Sanchez steered the limousine into a parking spot behind the restaurant and distributed the containers to us. Vholes kept the five cups of hot water. We were suddenly ravenous and devoured our burgers and fries with gusto. Sanchez polished his meal off quickly and soon we were back on the interstate, cruising smoothly at the speed limit. "And tea for everyone," Vholes said, passing the cups back to us. "A toast, children?" We raised our cups as he said, "To safety. And a better world." I recognized the familiar aroma and flavor of Dreamwalker tea at the first sip.

"Guess it's nap-time," Tommy said, draining his cup. "Drink up, Little Red. See you at the Grounds."

Jennifer reclined on the wide leather seat and pillowed her head in my lap. Opposite us Mary Louise and Tommy did the same. The limousine seemed to float down the highway, a cocoon of silence in the heavy traffic. "Be right with you," I said, leaning my head back and closing my eyes."

***************************

Tse-ni-sa and I awoke at first light to a cool, misty mountain morning. We were curled around each other, the blankets in disarray after a night of vigorous love-making. I had a broad smile on my face as we arose, somewhat stiffly, and went to water at the river's edge. We faced east and sang our morning song, then plunged into the water and submerged ourselves seven times. When I held Tse-ni-sa's lithe body in my arms she was as light as a feather in the chilly water. "I wish the ceremonies weren't over, Husband. I wish we could stay here forever, just like this."

"We'll be back next year. And we have plenty to do to get ready for the winter."

"How many times did we make love last night, Tse-k'?" she asked, grinning impudently. "I lost track."

"Seven, of course. With each other. Although I think we both became unconscious toward the end of the last one."

She slipped from my arms and climbed out of the water, giggling as she troweled the water from her skin with her hands. "And now we have a long walk home! I am so sore you may have to carry me."

"I can do that," I said, stepping out of the water and slapping her bare, wet rump playfully. "But holding you in my arms usually leads to other things..." I tried to grab her by the waist but she evaded my grasp.

"I should think you would have had enough to keep you quiet for a while, Husband." I reached for her again and she ran off toward our campsite, laughing, with me in hot pursuit.

In the camping area most people were packing up their bedrolls and preparing to leave. Ta-mi sat on his blankets, holding Ma-Lu in his arms. She clutched at his bull-like neck, weeping piteously. "Take me with you, Ma-Lu," Ta-mi begged. "I am a good hunter, and I will keep you so fat you will barely be able to move. And I love you. I will never give you cause to throw my weapons out of your house."

"Oh, Ta-mi! I love you too! And I want you for my husband, but I don't have a house. I'm an orphan, and the Clan Mother wants me to marry one of her nephews. Can't you see? They would never accept you, and I couldn't bear to see you sad."

"Then we'll go on our own. Find another village that will accept us. Or just live by ourselves. I'll do anything to be with you."

"It won't work, Ta-mi. It's too late in the year to grow enough corn to last through the winter. You know that."

"Then I'll wait for you, and in the spring—"

Ma-Lu shook her head and sobbed. "By spring I will be married to the Clan Mother's useless nephew. And it will be too late. I'm just glad that I first experienced love with you. It will have to be enough."