Trinity

Carol showed him the basics of putting on all the complicated looking gear, but after the yacht arrived at the larger of the two islets Beth and Jenny came aft and slipped into their stuff with practiced ease. Then Luis came aft and Tanner saw he was still fully dressed -- but two of his thugs were now with him and they appeared ready to get in the water.

"So," Tanner said to Quintana, "I take it you're not coming with us?"

"No, I'm afraid something has come up that I must attend to. My associates will take you over."

Tanner saw McKinnon and her daughter inside the main saloon, but now she was avoiding eye contact with them. And this exchange had apparently gotten Beth's attention, too, for she was now studying Quintana's face and was beginning to understand the situation. Only Jenny remained completely oblivious to their peril, but then again that was just Jenny being Jenny.

Tanner turned to Carol, but she just shrugged and stepped away, effectively telling him he was now on his own, so he looked at Quintana again and noted the odd smile on his face -- and the remorseless calm behind his eyes.

"So, this is it, huh?" Tanner sighed.

Quintana shrugged. "The ship you have been watching," he said, "belongs to our navy. They will be making sure that your swim is undisturbed. Now, would you care to tell me anything before you leave us?"

Tanner looked at the man and his thugs and he shrugged. "No, not really. At least not without assurances that the money will go to McKinnon, and to her alone."

He watched the expression on Quintana's face harden, and that was all Tanner needed to know. Money was money, after all, and Quintana wanted what he considered his, and his alone. He might keep McKinnon around and take care of her -- or he might not -- and in that case she'd be alone and quite probably broke. And if she was broke there was no telling what Quintana might force her to do.

"Enjoy your swim," Quintana said, walking back into the yacht's interior.

Now Jenny looked at the two thugs, both heavyset and menacing, and she suddenly seemed to get it. "Uh, guys, what's going on?" she whimpered...

...and Tanner sighed. "In case you haven't figured it out yet, we were kidnapped yesterday by the same cartel that's been after us for months, and it's my guess these two gentlemen are going to take us ashore and then kill us. Is that clear enough for you? Any questions?"

"You don't have to be so sarcastic, Doug."

Tanner looked at her and just shook his head. She was more dense than uranium and he just couldn't stand the sight of her just then.

But Carol helped Tanner into his buoyancy control vest and then helped him down to the swim platform, then she carefully retreated, now avoiding all eye contact. He sat on the edge of the platform and slipped on his fins and then put the mask she'd given him on, placing the snorkel in his mouth before he pushed off and entered the water. One of the thugs jumped in and swan close to Tanner, treading water while he waited for the girls -- and his associate -- to jump in.

The water was more green than blue, and Tanner put his face down into the water and looked around. There was a rocky bottom below and not as many fish as he expected, and most everything he saw swimming around down there was less than a foot long...in other words completely uninteresting. He heard a splashing sound and saw that Jenny and Beth were in the water, then the remaining thug jumped in and the two of them corralled Tanner and the two girls and indicated the direction they would be going by pointing at what appeared to be a low cliff.

The girls were wearing full Scuba gear, while Tanner was using a simple mask and snorkel rig, and everyone took off towards the cliff -- with one of the thugs in the lead and the other bringing up the rear. An airliner took off from the airport in town and Tanner looked up at the jet as it turned to the north, probably headed to LA or Dallas, and he wished he was up there going wherever all those people were going.

'All of this has happened because of one goddamned photograph,' he sighed, shaking his head at the thought. 'And I don't deserve this. None of us does!' He turned and looked at the thug bringing up the rear and thought about trying to overpower the man, but the thug seemed to be reading his mind and simply shook his head.

As they approached the cliff an opening appeared and, waiting for a wave to subside the lead thug swam into the opening and powered through the rocky opening, then the remaining thug pushed Tanner towards the opening, in effect telling him to watch the waves and time his attempt so that he could ride a wave through the opening.

Tanner watched a wave and caught it, diving a little to clear the rocks just overhead, and when he surfaced he looked around in wonder. They were in what felt like a pool of clear blue water and smooth cliffs completely surrounded the pool, the walls of the cliff curving up to form an almost perfectly circular opening. They swam across the pool and the lead thug disappeared into another opening, then Beth and Jenny followed him -- leaving Tanner and the other thug to bring up the rear.

This next passage was different. The water was quite calm and this passage was more like a long cave, though it was much longer than the first, and the only light inside the cave came from indirect sunlight hitting the sandy bottom perhaps twenty feet beneath the surface, so the rocks were bathed in a shimmering silvery blue halo that was most pleasant to watch. And while Tanner wanted to linger the thug coming up from behind was there to remind him that this was not a sightseeing trip.

A few minutes later Tanner emerged into another circular pool surrounded by yet another circular cliff topped by another circular opening, yet on one side of this pool the sandy bottom sloped up, forming a decent sized beach that was bathed in pure radiant sunlight, and Tanner thought it was the damndest sight he'd ever seen in his life. He swam over to the beach and took off his fins then walked up onto the sand. He helped the girls out of their gear and led them up onto the sand...

...and then he noticed that the two thugs were standing in waist deep water, and now silenced pistols were in their hands...

...Jenny started crying then, and Beth moved over to comfort her...

...while Tanner turned and stared at the men, and all he could think to say was "Fuck you."

One of the men raised his pistol and then an impossibly loud shot rang out; this thug's head disappeared inside a concussive spray of brain and blood...

...and before the other thug could react another shot rang out, and his face disappeared before his body crumpled and fell into the water.

Two men in black fatigues stepped out of the rocks, each carrying large rifles, and then the shorter of the two pulled out a radio and spoke into it: "Archer Base, Red 1, secure," was all he said.

Then another voice could be heard on the radio: "Archer base, Blue 2, secure here."

And a minute passed before a Blackhawk helicopter appeared overhead; several minutes later everyone had been hoisted aboard and the helicopter turned to fly west, out into the Sea of Cortez. Fifteen minutes passed before a chunky aircraft carrier appeared, it's deck packed with nothing but more helicopters, and Tanner recognized it as a US Marine Corp carrier assault ship, and the men who had rescued them were a Navy Seal Team. Another Blackhawk landed after there's, and Tanner watched as Quintana was led, in handcuffs and ankle-shackles, belowdecks, while Patty McKinnon and her baby girl were escorted by a DEA agent to the helicopter carrying Tanner, Jenny and Beth. Once she was aboard, their Blackhawk took off -- and it turned towards the airport in Puerto Vallarta.

A small private jet was waiting to take Jenny and Beth back to Florida, while a jet from the embassy was waiting to take Tanner and McKinnon directly to Mexico City, and once they were on board one of the diplomatic consuls brought them up to speed after the jet was in the air.

"We'll get to the city in time to get you to the Citibank Private Banking facility downtown, and Gene Harwell's assets can be turned over to Dr. McKinnon at that point, assuming you still have the codes, Dr. Tanner."

Tanner pointed at his head. "Still right up here," he sighed, "where I left them."

"Once that's out of the way we'd recommend you both get out of the country, and as fast as humanly possible. We will not be able to protect you once you leave our custody. Is that clear?"

"I'm surprised the government is allowing her to keep any of these funds," Tanner said.

"Oh, Harwell left a bunch of money in banks around San Antonio. The DEA seized all that months ago, but as long as Dr. McKinnon doesn't enter the US with that money she'll be okay."

"Just what am I supposed to do now?" Patty said. "I mean, I can't go back to the mission clinic, I can't go home, and I..."

"You could go to Europe," Tanner said. "From there you could park the funds before coming back to the States or going, well, just about anywhere."

"Could you help me?" she pleaded.

"Me?" Tanner said. "Look, I thought you hated me."

"I don't even know you. How could I possibly hate you."

Tanner shrugged. "Well, of course I'll help you."

The consul cough politely at that point. "Look, I'm not sure either of you understand what's going on here. Your husband," he said, looking at Patty, "had been siphoning money from the cartel, and for quite some time. We understand the figure is rather significant."

Tanner looked at the consul. "You mean..."

"Yes, they're going to want it back. So far they don't know what's happened to Quintana and they probably won't for a few more hours, so we've got to get you in and out of Mexico City as quickly as possible. What you do from there is up to you. In fact, we'd rather not know what you do, if you know what I mean."

"Do you have any idea how much is involved?"

"A lot," the diplomat said. "I mean a whole lot."

"So the cartel will want it a lot? Is that what you're saying?"

"A whole lot. Yeah."

"Can you set up a charter to Geneva? For tonight?" Tanner sighed.

The consul nodded. "Yup. I can do that, but I'd recommend Bern. Smaller airport, better access to the city, and our embassy is there. Oh, and I know people that can help get the ball rolling, if that's an issue."

"Do it," Tanner said, then he turned to McKinnon. "What about you? Any plans?"

Patty held onto her little daughter as she slept on her mother's shoulder, and Tanner could see she looked absolutely shellshocked. Not a week had passed since her husband had been killed and her daughter had no idea what had happened to him; now they'd both jetted halfway around the world only to get swept up in a failed assassination and a successful DEA arrest of her dead husband's protector and business partner. She felt like a pawn being moved around the board yet the only thing she felt now was utter exhaustion. She shrugged at Tanner's question, but her eyes remained fixed on his. "I feel like I'm out of my depth right now," she said, her voice now husky, almost raspy. "If you have any ideas maybe you should just go with it."

Both Tanner and the consul thought that odd. Tanner sighed and leaned closer to her, saw the woman was walking on the ragged edge and he reached out and cupped her face in his hand for a moment. "God, what you've been through..." he said, and then he smiled that smile of his and her eyes seemed to radiate the sudden warmth she felt inside. But his smile also seemed to bust the dam that had been holding her together; he saw her swallowing hard as her eyes filled with tears, and he unbuckled his seatbelt and went to her, held her while she fell into her first real release since her husband's death. He managed to get an arm around her and with his other he cradled the little girl, holding them both now. "It's okay," he whispered in her ear. "I'm here. You can lean on me."

And so she held on to him for the longest time.

+++++

He usually looked back on that moment over the coming years with something like a sense of wonder in his heart. Life had always been somewhat predictable, Tanner told himself, until that evening flying to Switzerland. Patty had fallen asleep and he'd held the little toddler for a few hours, and after a bottle she too had fallen asleep -- only she had done so on Tanner's chest, her tiny hands clutching his shirt collar. He'd wrapped a little blanket around her and had tried to imagine what Gene Harwell had felt, yet his mind always raced in endless circles as he tried to understand what Patty had been feeling and, by extension, what she'd guessed might be in store for her little girl.

Retribution? That had always been first in mind. It might have taken years for the cartel to forget about McKinnon, and probably himself as well, but time was on the cartel's side. Tanner had decided they'd have to keep a very low profile -- and for years -- in order to survive, yet Beth and Jenny would need to as well, and quite possibly Catherine, too. So Douglas Tanner had realized that he had five other people to protect -- one way or another.

Sitting in that jet that night, flying through the night alone in oceanic darkness, he had felt the little girl's heart beating against the rhythm of his own, and impulsively he had run his fingers through her fine hair and held her closer still -- and the wave that broke over him was the closest Tanner had ever come to feeling something like a parental impulse. The need to nurture, to protect, was all very human and yet here he was, approaching thirty five years of life and he'd never once felt anything like it. These new, inrushing feelings were overwhelming, literally, so much so that he was convinced he felt love for this little girl. And, by extension, mustn't he have felt something like love for Patty McKinnon?

So it was all very confusing, the things he'd felt that night.

Harwell had indeed siphoned off money from the cartel. Over the years almost twenty million dollars of pure weapons-grade siphoning, and all of it earning interest in US Dollar accounts at the branch of an American back located in Mexico City. A few days after their arrival in Switzerland the money landed in a numbered account at Credit Suisse in Bern, and lawyers were secured to handle purchasing property. He used intermediaries to contact Catherine and then Beth and Jenny and he told them what he had in mind. All his thoughts were coalescing around the little girl he had held in his arms and one by one the others got on board and flew to Geneva.

Tanner purchased a modest chateau on the waterfront in Vevey and when, in the end, his story had come full circle he came to understand that he and Gene Harwell had indeed been two sides of one coin. Every step Harwell made had carried him deeper and deeper into the underworld -- and Morpheus had finally come to collect his debt, while the dreams that remained were for Tanner. He gave McKinnon another daughter along the way to figuring out the whole love thing, and over the years the other three girls in Tanner's life found themselves with child -- but in the end no one talked about who the father might be. They were a family, as unconventional as that sounded.

In a house packed to the rafters with physicians all Tanner's many children had little chance. Each walked the course that had been set for them, and in time each found their way to medical schools in Switzerland, France, and the United States. Beth and Catherine spend months at a time in Ethiopia and Sudan, while Patty and Jenny rarely left Tanner's side. In this barely understandable way, life passed gently for the people at the chateau.

He wondered from time to time what had happened to Luis Quintana. He heard the old man had found suitable lodging at a SuperMax prison in Colorado, but that was about all he ever heard concerning Quintana or the cartels. Then again, he knew that one day they would come for him. It was inevitable, like living large on borrowed time, yet Tanner was determined to make the most of the time he had stolen from them.

Some nights, especially in summer when the light stayed late, he'd sit on the patio overlooking the lake and watch the moon rise over the Alps -- and he thought of another night long ago. He thought of Nimiri and the red cobra and the first words the old man had spoken to him: 'And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.' Then he would see a coin rolling through his mind's eye and he wondered from time to time which side would show when it stopped and fell to earth.

Maybe the old man had, in his end, known what he was talking about. When Douglas Tanner heard his children running among the trees and the clouds he thought he knew that at least this much was true.

© 2009-2022 adrian leverkühn | abw | and as always, thanks for stopping by for a look around the memory warehouse. This was a work of fiction, and note parts of this story were first posted 5.May.2009. © renewed 2022, AL|abw. Thanks for reading along, and see you next time.