Phoenix Bloodline
By Aaron Pery
www.airper@aol.com
Smashwords ebook Edition
All Rights Reserved
Copyright 2010 by Aaron Pery
ISBN: #978-1-4523-2497-5
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Also by the same author:
The Centaurs
The Royals
The Patriots
Second Putsch
Playmoney
Pogrom Progeny
The Queen's Legacy
Phoenix Bloodline
Abduction Revenge
Phoenix Bloodline
Chapter 1
Nora Holliman reached her seat in the last row in the rear section of the plane, dropping into it without paying any attention to her surroundings. She was upset, annoyed, out of breath and, worst of all, felt that she had no one to blame but herself for her desperate situation.
It had not been a good week for Nora—a week spent chasing after orders and bids for her budding computer company in various government offices. All of her savings and most of her divorce settlement had been invested in setting up a Software and hardware distribution business whose success depended on governmental and municipal contracts. She had been convinced to start the company by her lawyer, Melissa Hartlin, who had assured her that all minorities and women-owned small businesses received preferences on bids submitted to all such agencies. When Melissa had advised her to take the step toward financial and mental independence, she was delighted by the seemingly great opportunity and spent almost all her funds on putting the company together while endowing herself with the very lofty title of president. Nora, who had just ended four years as a subordinate partner in a marriage to a man who thought that a loving wife should wait upon him hand and foot, accepted her attorney's supposed sensible advice without investigating its validity. She plunged into the business with all her heart, sure it would be an instant success.
A very long week of pounding the pavements and knocking on many doors in Washington DC and getting them slammed in her face, had finally forced Nora to understand how stupid and naive she had been. She realized now that something was missing, that she had not received all the pertinent facts before plunging into this business. In the final analysis, she thought, Melissa was not much different than her ex-husband as both had taken advantage of her by feeding her a line of drivel to suite their own personal agenda. She understood for the first time that in order for her to survive and thrive she must become like both of them—tough, cynical, and selfish. She had cried herself to sleep last night in her shabby hotel room after reaching the conclusion that she must get out of this venture while she still could, and look for a ordinary job once she closed and liquidated the business. Yet the idea of going to work and having to compete with all young college graduates was not an attractive idea after having been out of the marketplace for so long. But it seemed to be her only open option before losing the little money she had left.
She had dropped into the aisle seat on the two seater side of the airplane and buckled the safety belt as it began moving down the runway. The man sitting by the window seemed tall and slim, so at least she was lucky, she thought, happy not to have to contend with an overly obese passenger sitting on top of her. She wiped the sweat off her face with a delicately scented handkerchief, then pulled down her short black skirt that had crept high up her shapely thighs. She had not planned to travel back to Los Angeles dressed in her elegant suit and ruffled silk blouse, intending to change into comfortable jeans and sneakers in the airport bathroom. Unfortunately, her final appointment that morning was delayed for two hours and, adding insult to injury, the woman in charge of procurement had been unpleasant, telling her that she could have saved the time and expense of seeing her in person by requesting all the bid information in writing. She also said, and it made sense to Nora after her anger had subsided, that she should have done her homework before the trip so that she would have understood how to deal with the Washington bureaucracy.
The woman had actually tried to be kind to her, she thought, deflated by her stupidity as she boarded the airport shuttle with little time to spare. Since it was snowing heavily traffic was bad and, by the time she reached the airline counter her flight was ready to leave. She ran through the airport dragging her overnight bag and reached the gate a few seconds before the door closed. Now, as the plane gained thrust on the runway, it shook and rattled as though it were about to fall apart and Nora's fear of flying kicked in as she closed her eyes and held tightly to both armrests, pushing her body forcefully against the back of the seat.
"White knuckling it, too, I see," Said a very pleasant, masculine voice on her right as the acceleration intensified.
She opened her eyes and looked at her neighbor, a man about her age, extremely handsome, with very sympathetic eyes. His well-tanned face looked as though it was drained of blood and his upper lip trembled as he spoke. Feeling an immediate kinship toward the terrified stranger, Nora smiled gratefully. "Yes, very much so. I think I may have destroyed the seat after pushing so hard on it."
"Don't worry about that because the last seats on all the planes are set flush against the wall so you couldn't have done it too much harm. I'd opened my eyes a second before you did and saw that your reaction to the takeoff was just about as bad as mine. I'm ashamed to admit it, but it made me feel much better. I'm sure we must be the only adults on this plane scared out of our wits—quite unmanly and unlady-like to almost wet our pants out of fear of flying at this day and age."
Both burst into an uncomfortable laughter and then Nora's neighbor thought for a moment, hesitating before he continued. "Would it be presumptuous and highly childish of me to ask you to hold my hand? It's embarrassing, but I'm so scared that I'll probably pee myself in a moment. Please, have mercy on a fellow traveler."
Though she wondered for a moment if he was using her fear to approach her, Nora did not hesitate. If he was using it to strike up a conversation it was okay with her—at least it was a new and refreshing approach. On the other hand, if he was so scared and disjointed by the takeoff that he was not embarrassed to ask her help, then she felt she must give it. She took his slightly damp hand and, holding tightly to one another, they sat with their eyes closed for the next ten minutes. Despite his evident fear, she felt great strength, warmth, and empathy flowing from him through their joined hands while the plane climbed upward. So much so that she was reluctant to release her hold when they opened their eyes and smiled shyly at each other.
"My God, stranger, that was some fierce hold we had on each other for those few moments," The man said, continuing to hold on to her hand a while longer. "Anyway, my name is Kevin Sommers, from a small town in Virginia, and am very happy to make your acquaintance. And just so you know, my friends call me Kev believe it or not."
Nora was taken aback by her own reaction to him, as though they were kindred spirits who had known and understood each other instantly without having ever met. She looked closely at Kevin as she introduced herself with ease, something that she had never been able to do with strangers.
"I hope you don't think me crazy for behaving like that but a year ago I was in a deadly plane crash and have been this crazed on every flight I'd taken since then as I just was. I have to be in Los Angeles Monday morning, and I seriously considered taking the train or driving but the storms that are raging all the way to the West Coast are so terribly that the only way to get there was to fly. Actually, I was on standby because it seems that ours is probably the last flight out before the storm hits Washington even harder. I hope we won't get in trouble in Dallas, though, where we have to change planes."
"The truth is that I wondered if it was your style of hitting on me, but once we held hands I knew that you were just as scared as I was. At least you have a good reason to be frightened, and I admire you for having the guts to fly again. Want to tell me about it? It might take your mind off all the possible perils of air travel." She suddenly realized that it might have been the wrong thing to say, that it could make him even more apprehensive but she sincerely wanted to know much more about him, as though compelled to inquire about his private life.
She did not have to worry since Kevin looked at her quite gratefully. "Thank you for asking because it'll be good to talk about it to a stranger. I've been keeping it bottled up for a whole year and other than talking to the police, the psychiatrist who helped me after the crash, and a bunch of FAA investigators, I haven't talked to anyone about it."
Chapter 2
Kevin hesitated a moment before he began talking again as the memory of the painful event that had produced terrifying nightmares for the past year began flowing. How could a beautiful life such as he had had, he thought, be dashed to bits in a mere split second? In a blink of an eye his wife, daughter, and parents had turned from the most lively and loving people into smashed, charred bodies lying in black plastic body bags strewn on the runway of the Los Angeles Airport. He could not accept nor understand how it happened that he had survived the crash when the jet they were on blew up on takeoff. The explosion and subsequent fire had killed all but ten of the passengers, with him the only one physically unscathed.
He had been surrounded by his family—his three-year old daughter seated by the window and his wife and parents across the aisle, all chatting excitedly about the long vacation they were embarking on. His father had rented a beach house on Maui for the entire summer as a reward to the family for bearing with his constant traveling during the last year.
It seemed to him only seconds between the huge bright flash and then hearing the explosion before Kevin found himself clawing at the safety belt of his seat, which lay upended on the grassy median between two runways. By the time he managed to release the belt mechanism and got up on badly shaking legs, an ambulance screeched to a halt next to him and the incredulous attendants stared at him, unable to grasp how anyone could have survived such a catastrophe.
They caught him just as he was about to crumple to the ground after taking a step in the direction of the wreck. The doctor who checked him in the ambulance as they sped to the nearest hospital was amazed to find that other than few minor cuts and bruises and his singed hair and eyebrows, Kevin had no visible injuries. His vital signs were nearly normal, an incredible feat for someone who had just gone through such a physical ordeal, and the doctor was sure that other than suffering a few sore muscles from the impact he was physically intact. But his mental state was another thing altogether, the doctor thought, unable to predict how the young man would be affected.
Once in the hospital, Kevin remained sedated for twenty-four hours while he was checked thoroughly to ensure he had not suffered any internal wounds. Of the other survivors, six had died on the way to the hospital and the rest were in critical state without much hope of surviving. A psychiatrist was at his bedside when Kevin woke, ready to take him through the ordeal step by very careful step. The realization of what had happened and the pain of his loss threw Kevin into shock despite the expert help that he was given. The psychiatrist, an expert on such matters and under contract with the airline, remained with him for nearly a month while nurturing him back to health and continuously drumming into him the idea that there must have been a providential reason for his survival.
Kevin had grasped at the idea with his entire being, wanting to believe it so that he could continue living and find the purpose for which he had been given a reprieve from death. He did not have much time for contemplation, though, since he had been besieged immediately after the funeral by urgent issues concerning his father's vast business empire.
The intricate will that his father's lawyer had read to Kevin put him, as a sole survivor of the family, in charge of all its holdings. The business was complicated but sound, from rubbish removal and processing to computer chip manufacturing and distribution. Becoming sole owner of the huge corporation, of which he had been an employee though with great responsibilities before his father's death, Kevin worked hard to learn to manage it just as well as his father had done for so many years.
Kevin had been born in his maternal ante-bellum mansion in Virginia, a scion of a wealthy southern family with a long history of political and military influence and deep involvement in the country's causes. He was raised and educated in the best tradition of Southern gentlemen, as all his forefathers before him had done. He was told that his father's family had been just as rich in tradition as his mother's, lost all its wealth and position after the Confederacy was defeated, and that his great-grandfather, a Louisiana plantation owner and General Lee's closest aides, had been killed just one day before the surrender.
His mother wanted Kevin go to VMI, the Virginia Military Institute, as all men in her family had done, but his father insisted that he apply to Princeton, adamant in his belief that in today's global business environment his son must receive a well-rounded education in order to become successful in their family's international concerns once his time came to take it over.
It was a culture shock for Kevin when he joined the alien surroundings he had been thrust into at Princeton, a Yankee school with the Northern attitudes that he had been taught to despise. And it was not until his junior year that he understood that his father had been right to send him to an environment such as Princeton's. It was not that he was suddenly in agreement with all the school's and student body's liberal ideals, but that he learned to be more tolerant toward those he disagreed with. He believed that he became a better person by attending the school, especially when observing all his childhood friends whenever he visited his home on school breaks. They seemed out of touch with the world, as though they were strangers in their own country—making it very hard for him to accept that he used to be much like them only a few years before.
Once the first shock of his formidable responsibilities wore off, Kevin began delving into the complicated business substances of the conglomerate that he now owned. Being a methodical person, he wanted to know everything, not just short synopses of the operation that his father's attorney kept presenting him with. Kevin did not take his attorney's advice that a Chief Executive Officer must learn be a generalist and, instead, he explored every aspect of the operation in depth until he uncovered some very peculiar factors.
He found out that despite the complicated financial needs of the firm that his father had put together, all its banking needs were handled by two rather small banks, one in New York and the other in Los Angeles. Then, a visit to both locations revealed that they were even less impressive than he thought they would be and, worse, that despite being a major stockholder of both banks, their presidents treated him as though he were a bothersome auditor rather than the CEO.
A closer look at some of his other companies brought to light another curious and disturbing fact—that all were run by executive vice presidents while the presidents never set foot in their offices. Also, that all the absentee executives earned a salary of one-million dollars annually and a bonus equaling their salary. And even stranger was the fact that all these earnings were directly deposited in the corporate banks, then siphoned to a single account at another bank from where the money was dispersed monthly.
The arrangement looked to him like embezzlement on a grand scale, totaling over five-hundred million dollars a year. Shocked by the extent of the scheme he was quite puzzled since his father was a highly astute entrepreneur and Kevin had never seen anyone getting the best of him. Yet this strange style of company bilking had been going on for so many years that he was certain that his father had to have been aware of it. Then why had he allowed it to exist at all? He decided to get to the bottom of it but, afraid to take any action, he thought it best to first consult his father's attorney and best friend.
They met at the country club for an early tennis match on a Saturday morning, something they had been in the habit of doing for years whenever possible. It had been their unspoken rule never to discuss business on these occasions, not even during the breakfast they normally had after the game. However, this time, when Paul McDermott asked him how he was, Kevin plunged directly into the subject that has been bothering him for weeks.
"I'm fine, Paul. The pain of my loss diminishes the busier I am, but the harder I work the more puzzled I get. There are things going on in the company that I am unable to understand, things I'm sure Dad must have known about, which don't make any sense."
Paul's jovial mood vanished and his face took on a tensed, concerned look as though afraid to broach the subject. "What are you talking about, Kev?"
Kevin sensed that Paul knew exactly what he was about to say as he always could tell when he was frightened because whenever it happened the cultured Harvard speech he had cultivated after getting his law degree, suddenly vanish and replaced by a thick Southern drawl. He realized that Paul did not want to hear about any of his strange discoveries but he went ahead and told him anyway—after all, he thought, Paul had been Dad's most trusted friend over their entire lifetime. He was also involved in their business despite his lucrative private practice, owning ten percent of the holding company's stock and serving on the board of directors.
He looked very scared and his thick drawl became even more marked despite his attempt to hide it. "You're not far off the mark, Kevin, but there is nothing too terribly wrong or mysterious about it. Many years ago your dad suffered a serious cash flow problem because he overextended himself on a few new acquisitions, and he couldn't go to his bank because it would've created an investor panic and our stock would've dropped to almost nil. So he was forced to deal with some shady characters to get the needed money, but there is nothing to worry about, Kev, because it's all on the up-and-up."
"That's bullshit, Paul, and you know it. Tell me, how long ago did Dad get the loan, and how much was it for?"
"About thirty years ago. The initial amount was fifty million, which was quite a tidy sum in those days, and the interest was a little steep, I'll admit. The original loan had been repaid in full quite a while back, but we needed substantial new funds almost every year since then. So that's why we continue making these large monthly payments but it works out well for everyone in the final analysis—stockholders do not know about our cash flow problems, and the payments look legitimate on the surface."
"What the hell are you talking about, Paul? Do you think I'm that dumb? What loans? What pay-offs? It looks like a perfect set-up for laundering huge illegal monies, and you know it. But why did you and Dad let it get this far and for such a long time?"
Kevin could barely hear Paul's whispered answer. "You don't really want to know about that, Kev. And don't ask me any more questions because I have no answers for you, and you must let it go or else both of us, and my family as well, might get hurt. Listen to me, son, your dad and I had been like brothers for many years and I owe it to him now to make sure that you remain healthy and that you'll eventually be able to start a new and happy family. You're a very wealthy young man and I'd like to see you spend some of your money frivolously, like getting yourself a yacht and joining the rich and famous crowd for a while. It will help you forget about this and the terrible loss of your family. Do it, son, please, I beg you."
He could see traces of moisture in Paul's eyes when he looked at him closely. "I wouldn't want to cause you or your family any harm, Paul, but before I make up my mind you must give me straight answers to two questions. Was Dad being threatened by someone, which was why he was so disturbed just before we went on the trip? And are there any more mysteries that I know nothing about, like additional skeletons in my father's closet? The truth, Paul, because if you lie and I find out I'll expose this whole stinking mess for the whole world to know."
Having composed himself a little while Kevin spoke, Paul now looked nearly his old self, answering in his usual clipped Boston accent. "No, Kevin, I swear it. Your dad and I had made a stupid mistake by hooking up with the wrong crowd, but nothing more than that. And thanks for caring enough not to make a big stink, son, which truly could cost me my life."
Kevin became angry when he realized that Paul was still lying. "Don't you ever call me son or Kev again. You're clearly a lying shit and maybe Dad was one as well but I don't want to know more about it for now. I'll continue running the business as though nothing had happened but you're out of it as of this moment. I expect to have your resignation from the board on my by desk Monday morning, and if you ever have need to communicate with me do so only via one of the junior partners in your firm."
As he began to get up Paul grabbed him by the arm. "Why, Kevin, why are you doing this to me? I've never done you and yours any harm. On the contrary, I had always tried to protect all of you, sometimes at great cost to myself."
"Like you protected my father? He's dead, they're all dead, Paul, and at what cost to you? You're still alive and so is your family." It was a shot in the dark, but he had to try it.
Paul reacted as though he had been slapped in the face. "No, Kevin, for God sakes, no. I didn't have anything to do with that. I couldn't. I loved them all like my own family." His hand came off Kevin's arm as he sagged in his chair, looking old and defeated.
Kevin spent the entire weekend contemplating his next move. He now knew for certain that his father and Paul had been involved in laundering dirty money on a large scale, and knew that there was nothing he could do about it for the time being. He needed more information before taking any action against the people who he was sure had killed his family and held his business hostage. He felt that sooner or later they would make contact, at which time he would know how to respond to them properly. In the meantime, he decided not to do anything about all the bogus salaries and bonuses, only change his financial arrangement and stop dealing exclusively with the two banks.
Paul's resignation was waiting for him on Monday morning when he came to work, after which wrote a letter to all company executives expressing his regrets that Paul's health had forced him to resign. By the end of the week Kevin finalized agreements with five major banks to handle corporate funds, informing everyone of the new depository arrangements and that all loans regardless of size must be approved by him personally. He hoped that his action, though it did not affect the illegal transfers of money, would force someone to contact him. Yet nothing happened during the ensuing six months, and no one had contacted him about his new loan regulations or his dealings with the new banks.
When someone finally made contact with him, Kevin was surprised and very disturbed by it. It happened the night before he took the flight to Los Angeles, just as he parked his car in the underground garage of his condominium building. The man who approached him was quite well-dressed and respectable looking, enough not to worry him about being a holdup man so, he was sure that it was the expected messenger from his hidden partners but was taken aback when the man showed him an identification card—his name was Bernard Morton, and he was a senior FBI agent.
"Sorry for forcing myself on you like this but I thought it necessary to keep our meeting private, which may prove to be needless in the end but right now we prefer to speak with you without anyone's knowledge. Can we go somewhere where no one would see us together?"
The man's seeming urgency impressed Kevin enough not to ask any questions while in the garage, where some of his late-working neighbors were still arriving. "Sure. Let's go to my apartment. And we can take the private elevator directly to my penthouse, which should give us total privacy."
He started to walk to the elevators without bothering to check if the FBI man was following him. He was, at a short distance, then waited for Kevin to open the door with his key. They rode up in silence as each scrutinized the other closely. Bernard Morton was six feet tall and built like a heavyweight boxer, and even under his highly elegant suit the contour of a pistol at his belt was clearly evident.
He offered him a drink, and when Mr. Morton declined Kevin poured himself a stiff one and sat on the living room couch, nursing it. "So, what's so urgent and secret that we need to meet in such a clandestine manner, Mr. Morton? Have I done anything wrong?"
"No, of course not, Mr. Sommers. It's for your protection and safety that we wanted this meeting to remain a secret. In fact, I'm not from the DC office but from Los Angeles, and I'd come here on the orders of the LA Agent-in-Charge without anyone else's knowledge."
Los Angeles FBI. Kevin's stomach began to churn when he heard it as his last few words with Paul suddenly came back to him. He drained his drink in one gulp and looked at the agent. "What makes you people pay me such honor?"
Morton saw the struggle to keep calm evident on Kevin's face and decided that he must know or suspect the reason for the visit. He decided not to play any games, afraid that an attempt to conceal the truth may turn him hostile. "I'll be honest with you, Mr. Sommers, so please do the same with me. We must be, or we'll both get ourselves in a heap of trouble."
"Okay, that's agreeable with me. Then tell me why you've traveled so far just to speak with me."
"We have known for quite a while that the airplane you were on did not crash accidentally but was purposely sabotaged."
Kevin's heart began pounding when he heard the news. "I don't understand. Wasn't it made official only a week ago that it was an ignited fuel leak that had caused the accident?"
"That was the official line given out by the National Transportation Safety Board at our request, but the truth is that our joint investigation revealed that an extremely sophisticated bomb on board was exploded on takeoff, causing the crash."
"So you withheld the information from the public in order to lull whoever did it to thinking that they got away with it?"
"Exactly. Now, I didn't come here because you were the only survivor of the crash but because after we had run an exhaustive investigation on everyone aboard the plane, nothing even remotely suspicious had come to light."
"Then there's something irregular about me, which is why you're here?"
"Maybe. Please tell me, Mr. Sommers, do you know of any reason why anyone might want to kill you and your entire family?"
"You're crazy. Why would anyone slaughter a plane-load of people just to kill one or two men? That's insane."
"Yes, it is so, but not to certain people when their motive is greed or revenge. But why did you just ask about killing one or two men? Do you have any reason to suspect that someone was after you or your father?"
Kevin tried to remain calm. This man, he thought, should not to be trifled with because he listened attentively to every word I said so far. "It was just a manner of speech. Besides, I can't comprehend anything so utterly heinous. Are you sure that what you had just told me isn't a mistake?"
"We're quite sure. We found enough evidence in the wreckage to be able to put together the shape and makeup of the bomb. That why I was sent to see you, Mr. Sommers, to persuade you to come to Los Angeles to meet with my boss. I'd been told little about the case, barely enough to persuade you of the need for your presence there. My boss'll have the entire task-force assembled on Monday morning and he'd like you to be present when they go through the components of the evidence that they have and try to see if you might connect any of it to anything or anyone. Will you come?"
"Yes, I will. I owe it to myself to find the truth about why my entire family was butchered, and also because I'd like to lay to rest some of the demons that have been plaguing me in the past few months. Yes, I'll be there Monday, so give me all the particulars."
"Thank you for your cooperation. Here is my card, with the time and address of the meeting on its back, and also a telephone number where I can be reached around the clock. I'll be flying back to Los Angeles tonight and suggest you get out of town no later than tomorrow afternoon. The weather forecast is for heavy snow storms over the weekend and you might get stuck here or on the way over. Don't bother to get up, I'll let myself out." He shook Kevin's hand and left.
His mind was in great turmoil once he was left alone. So Dad must have done something serious to antagonize his partners, he thought, enough to make them kill everyone on the plane just to get even with him. He suddenly became fearful for his own life, forgetting that not too long ago he had wished that he had died with his family. His life, now possibly threatened, became too precious to be lost and, he thought, he had to avenge himself on the killers of his family if there truly were such. That fact alone was worth living for as far as he was now concerned.
Kevin went to work early the next morning after a long, sleepless night full of nightmares as a result of thinking that Paul was involved in his family's deaths. He told his secretary that he intended to spend the next week in his family's hunting lodge in Upstate New York where there was no telephone, and that he would keep his cell off so that he could work and rest without any disturbance. Sure that it would be prudent to remain anonymous, he made a flight reservation as he drove to the airport, sure to find a first-class seat on American or United on their three o'clock flights. But once arriving at the airport, he found that everyone was trying to get out of the city, afraid to get stuck because of the weather, and was fortunate to get a coach seat on American only because he had arrived two hours early.
When he saw Nora hurrying to her seat just moments before takeoff, Kevin became aroused by her trim and sexy figure. It was the first time any woman had had such an effect on him since the death of his wife, which made him feel guilty. Still, the sight of her jiggling breasts peeking through her silk blouse excited him greatly, and when she plopped into her seat with her skirt riding up to reveal exquisitely shaped thighs he had to turn in his seat to conceal an embarrassing rise in his pants.
His second look at Nora occurred right after the panic hit him when the plane began its take- off. He saw her beautiful face full of fear just as he knew his was, and the empathy he saw in her eyes made him speak without hesitation, asking for her help.
Chapter 3
He did not tell Nora anything beyond the accident, his relationship with the family, and his great love for his wife and daughter. Despite the sympathetic aura that seemed to surround her, and his unexplainable affinity for her, Kevin still did not dare tell her everything that bothered him. Yet, he felt as though Nora needed to know about his private life and the pain that he had gone through.
When he looked at her once his story was over, there were tears in her eyes as she held his hand and leaned over to kiss him lightly on the cheek. And I dare feel sorry for myself, she thought, her heart filled with compassion. To lighten his mood, Nora told him about her business misadventures, making her disillusion seem frivolous. "It looks like I'm a real victim of my own stupidity and naiveté by daring to assume that all of Washington would open its arms and money coffers to me just because I was kind enough to show up."
Kevin was happy that Nora changed the effect that his tragic story had subjected them to by telling hers with a sense of humor. He clearly felt her disappointment and pain at the failure of her business effort and appreciated her attempt to lift his spirits, for which he felt that he owed her. "Nonsense, you didn't fail at all. On the contrary, you learned a valuable lesson about doing business in this crazy town, which makes you ready to take it on seriously. Your attorney was right generally, but what she didn't know was that you have to submit your name and business position to all agencies so you'd appear in their vendor listing, and that takes time. It you'd like, I'll have one of my attorneys send you all the documents for your applications, the addresses of the agencies and contacts, and then file them for you."
"Thanks, Kev, but that must cost a lot of money, I'm sure. I couldn't impose on you that much just because I held your hand when you were frightened."
Kevin smiled. "I didn't tell you that I'm filthy rich, did I? Well, my dear lady, I am, and the attorney I spoke of works for me. It will be his pleasure, I'm sure, to oblige me. Seriously, Nora, it'll please me to help a gutsy fellow businessperson such as you, so give me your card and I'll have him contact you once I return home. You can pay me back by taking me out to a sumptuous dinner to celebrate your first big government contract."
Nora gave him her card with a smile, suddenly believing that her luck had not been as bad as she had thought it was after the last appointment. "Shame on you for not telling me about your illustrious financial position until now Mr. Sommers. Seriously, Kev, I intend to keep my side of the bargain and take you out on the town when I get back to DC."
Kevin looked at the card. "Miss, Ms., or Mrs. Holliman?"
"My maiden name. I reverted to it when I got divorced last year, not officially yet, though because it's quite a bother to change it back on everything."
"Was it painful?"
"Not really. Despite being none too nice as a husband, my ex didn't make any fuss about the divorce and the settlement was quite reasonable." Nora became perturbed suddenly. "Does that answer your question?"
"Please forgive my being nosy, but I was curious to know more about you. If I ever ask a question that might offend, tell me to buzz off and I promise to shut up."
"Yes, please do ask all you want. I didn't mean to be so rough about it but I guess I'm still a little touchy about my marital woes. Sorry."
"No big deal so let's forget about it. Besides, I really don't much care whether you're Single, married, or divorced because it so happens that I'd noticed and liked you the moment I laid my eyes on you." Kevin could not resist telling her about his reaction when he saw her walking toward her seat.
Nora gave him a playful punch in the chest. "You're a silly goose, Kev. But it pleases me to know about the effect of my sexuality has on a healthy young and good looking man. It's quite a compliment and I thank you for it, but I hope it won't disappoint you to know that I have a good feeling about us becoming just good friends for the moment."
"I must accept your wish, Nora, but it's a shame not to have the pleasure of wooing you—it could've been an interesting adventure. Yet, because of my recent losses, the truth is that for now I prefer this kind of relationship as well. As to the future, I don't care about anything right now other than wishing to establish a friendship between us. And talking about the moment, I see that the dinner wagon is finally getting to us so would you like something to drink with it? I'll have a Bourbon, the only true drink for a Southern gentleman."
"Well, Mr. Gentleman, I'd like a drink, too, but nothing quite as manly. Gin and tonic will do."
Their meal was a surprise—sizable steaks with tasty mashed potatoes, baby carrots, and accompanied by split of champagne. When he raised his eyebrows, the flight attendant explained that when he boarded, the first-class chief attendant recognized him and regretted his inability to get a seat in his section. It was the steward's way of thanking him for past courtesies.
"And thank you, too, my dear. Please convey my appreciation."
Nora remained straight-faced until the attendant left, afraid to offend her, but burst into laughter as soon as she departed. "Gosh, the privileges of the rich and famous. My, my, what an honor to be seated next to you and be bathed in the sunshine of your highness."
"Oh, why don't you just eat your steak before it gets cold. You do like it rare, I hope, because that's the way I always get it. At least now you know that I hadn't fed you a line when I told you about my supposed exalted position in life."
"I do, and truly appreciate the service. I believed you when you told me about it, but it didn't matter to me whether you were rich or poor, I liked you anyway."
"Thanks. Now let's eat."
The pilot came on the public address system just as the dinner trays were removed. "Ladies and gentlemen. You may not be able to feel it this high, but the storm at ground level has reached an unusual strength. Ground control in Dallas informs us that they are expecting strong gusts of wind mixed with snow and sleet to hit the airport, which is due to start just as we're scheduled to land, which is the good news. The bad news is that once on the ground those of you who intend to take connecting flights would not be able to do so until tomorrow morning. All our people are making arrangements for such passengers to stay overnight at the Airport Hilton or until we're operational again. Also, you can expect some heavy cross-winds when we reduce our altitude, so please buckle your belts immediately. There's nothing to worry about, though, just a little shaking until we land."
Nora and Kevin turned green at the news. "I don't think I could take too much buffeting, Nora. Now I'm sorry I ate the dinner, and hope I won't upchuck it as soon as we hit the first jolt."
She did not answer. After tightening both their belts, she took Kevin's hand and, with eyes closed, they rode the shaking plane down to the ground. They did not open their eyes until they felt the slight bump of the portable ramp hitting the body of the plane, when both issued a sigh and looked at each other.
"Well, I guess we made it in one piece without you throwing up, thank God. I hope we'll be able to get decent hotel rooms with all the stranded passengers here."
Kevin looked through the window at the swirling snow. "The way it's coming down I doubt that we'll be able to leave tomorrow and maybe not even Sunday. Also, I don't know if I could take getting on a plane so soon after this ride, so how about renting a car and driving on to Los Angeles? We won't be saving any time but at least we'd be on the move at ground level."
"I don't blame you for feeling that way, and it's my preference, too. But what about the bad storm? We might get stuck in the snow and end up much worse off."
"Not if we rent a four-wheel drive vehicle. If they still have any available, will you come with me? I'll need the company."
"I'm not about to let you go out there by yourself on such a crazy night. But won't you be too tired to drive all night? I had never driven such a vehicle and I'd be afraid to land us in a ditch."
Kevin smiled at her thankfully. "I've no doubt that I'll be able to drive all night if need be, but if I get tired or it's too dangerous to continue, we'll stop at the first decent motel we find and sleep until we're fresh again. Actually, it sounds like a fun adventure."
"It does to me, too."
"Then it's settled."
"Let's get moving before someone else gets the same idea and the car rental companies run out of vehicles."
Chapter 4
Nora need not have worried because few people were willing to give up a free stay and food in a first-class hotel in favor of driving out in the storm. By the time they picked up their luggage and signed the documents for the rather luxurious Range-Rover, it was seven o'clock and totally dark outside. Going over the map to determine the best route out of Dallas, both agreed that the best choice was to drive toward El Paso.
The first five hundred miles beyond Fort Worth were intensely treacherous as the winds and snow impaired visibility to nearly zero at times, making driving hazardous and Nora watched with interest as Kevin drove, totally absorbed in the task. Occasionally, when the road seemed to vanish under a blanket of snow, he expertly threw the transmission into four-wheel drive without even noticing his action. She liked his self-assurance and the seriousness that he displayed during some of the most dangerous stretches of the road. Her first intuitive trust in him now turned into confidence in his quiet ability, a quality that she had always admired and wished she possessed.
The longer she observed him, the more confused Nora became. She had been attracted to him physically at first but after their conversation she began to think of him more and more as a friend, completely forgetting her sexuality. She could not understand it, yet accepted her feelings without question as it felt comfortable to have a trusting relationship with a man after the misery she had gone through in her marriage.
Nora felt snug as the heater fan, which Kevin put on to defrost the windows, made the temperature in the car a little toasty and made her drowsy so that her mind began to wander until she began dwelling on her past. When she had met and fell in love with Morgan she worked for a computer company which had since gone out of business. Her talent for grasping basic principles of electronics had drawn her to computer science while in college, and she had graduated third in her class at the University of Southern California. Her teacher persuaded her to remain in school and do her graduate degree while working as an assistant professor assistant. She remembered that period as the best of her life--the respect that she had received for her talents and her many frivolous love affairs.
Upon graduating she had received many serious job offers, accepting a position as a senior research and development associate in a computer company. At twenty-two she found herself in a position of power, earning an enviable salary and living a life of very comfortable luxury. Her Cinderella-like lifestyle took on a new meaning when she met Morgan Bellmon, who proposed and married her after a month of a stormy love-affair.
Their trouble began immediately after they returned from their honeymoon. Her husband's idea of a wife, which he never expressed before, was that of a silent partner whose job it was to be a homemaker and raise children. Still intoxicated by her infatuation with Morgan, Nora had thought little about the consequences and resigned from her job, excited by the idea of leading a life of leisure surrounded by a house full of children and a loving husband. Six months later, bored by inactivity and still not pregnant despite their constantly ardent love making, Nora told her husband that she wanted to go back to work for a while.
Morgan's reaction had been explosive and violent, smacking her face hard as he screamed. "No wife of mine is going to work while I'm the bread-winner of the family. Do you understand? Never. You stay at home and keep house like a wife should, and never ever mention again going back to work."
Nora was terrified. She had never seen her husband so angry before, nor ever realized that he meant to keep her a virtual prisoner at home. That night, Morgan attacked her sexually before she was ready and his ferocity and utter lack of consideration of her feelings made her feel as though she had been raped. Hurt and bleeding, she asked Morgan to leave her alone the next evening, which made him even more furious and earned her another beating and rape. The entire area between her legs was swollen to double its size when Nora checked herself in the morning after he left. Hoping to prevent him from hurting her again, she spread Vaseline inside her vagina before going to bed in the hope that her husband, now reduced to being a beast in her eye, would not hurt her again.
In his haste to relieve himself, Morgan did not notice that his wife's unusual moistness was not natural, pleased that she had demurely acquiesced to his new approach to love making. The next three years were literally hell for Nora, who became morose and accepted her life of abuse and fear without a fight. She did one rebellious thing, though, after her gynecologist checked on her fertility to find that she was normal. She never told Morgan, using it as her silent revenge on her husband who kept wondering aloud why she did not conceive, never in doubt that it was her fault. She never told him the truth while willingly taking his verbal abuse about being infertile.
Nora's freedom from Morgan came after she met Melissa, a friend of one of her schoolmates who had brought her to a lunch date. Her friend must have told Melissa about Nora's terrible life because she begun talking about getting out of her bad marriage, telling her that she specialized in battered-wife divorces. It took an unusually heavy beating by Morgan the next week for Nora to get the nerve to call Melissa.
The divorce proceedings were easy. Melissa came to the house and took her to the police station, where Nora made a statement about Morgan's abuse after being examined by the police physician, who verified that she had been battered and raped recently. Morgan's lawyer had agreed to the terms that Melissa demanded provided that Nora dropped her charges for rape and battery. Despite Melissa's pleadings she agreed to the settlement since she refused to undergo a prolonged and painful trial. She was amazed at the ease with which she was rid of the man that she had feared for so long, and wanted the ordeal to be over quickly so she could start a new life.
At the age of twenty-seven, Nora was finally free to start afresh. Her divorce settlement was generous, beside receiving title to their beautiful home in Encino. Four long years of mental and physical abuse had not left any outward scars on Nora, she was a tall woman, slim, shapely, with large firm breasts and a beautiful face which required little makeup to accentuate its exotic bone structure. Despite the sexual abuse that she had suffered, she did not lose her desire for a healthy relationship with a warm and giving person. And her sensual yearnings once she became free were getting stronger daily.
Nora was startled out of her thoughts by the sound of Kevin's voice. "We are almost out of the storm so you can start relaxing. Sorry to've gotten you out of your daydream, but you seemed a little glassy-eyed when I last looked in your direction. Are you okay?"
"Thanks for your concern, Kev. Yes, I'm fine now. I was thinking about my failed marriage, something that I've been avoiding for a long time and it made me feel so much better about it. I guess your company has a calming effect on me."
"That's funny, because you affect me the same way—I haven't felt so much at peace in a long time. It's good to feel like this for a change."
As Kevin had predicted, the further they traveled the clearer the weather became, until, two hours later, they could see the bright stars shining through the clear night's darkness. Kevin drove with his arm over her shoulder and she soon fell asleep, lulled by the comfort and warmth of his closeness.
She felt Kevin nudge her awake gently and began yawning and stretching with pleasure. The sky was still dark but she could see dawn breaking over the horizon. "Where are we, and why did you let me sleep all night while you drove?"
"Near Las Cruces, New Mexico. You were sleeping so peacefully that I didn't have the heart to wake you up. Besides, I drove at a pretty fast clip, sure that the police have better things to do tonight than chase after a pair of desperadoes like us. You hungry? I'm starved. There should be a very nice restaurant just up the road, at least that's what all the signs for the last ten miles have been promising."
"I'm hungry, too, but I feel filthy and would like to wash up and put on clean clothes. I've been wearing these for almost twenty-four hours."
"Your wish is my command. Actually, this restaurant is part of a motel, which they have been advertising as having clean beds and showers. We can check in and catch a few hours' sleep in clean and comfortable beds."
"Sounds good. But first lets fill our poor empty stomachs with a hot meal and a few gallons of coffee."
The food at the restaurant was just as delicious as the signs promised, and while Nora drank another cup of coffee, Kevin walked over to the motel's office and rented two connecting rooms. She joined him while he unloaded their luggage and surprisingly, without feeling embarrassed despite the fact that he had opened the connecting door, she walked to the bathroom after undressing. He thought that nothing was strange about her openness and comfort in his presence, glad that she had trusted him to such an extent. Doing likewise, Kevin showered very quickly and, after putting on a pair of shorts, was asleep by the time Nora peeked through the door after taking a long and refreshing bath.
Chapter 5
As though by a prearranged mental alarm clock, both woke up at in early evening and, after packing and eating dinner, they slogged their way very slowly in a new and even more ferocious storm almost the entire way. They were silent during the first hour, each deep in thought about their chance meeting and the strange relationship they were developing. Both wondered without expressing it aloud, about liking each other to the extent that they did yet happy that it did not go beyond that stage. The conclusion that each arrived at was that their personal tragedies must have been too strong to allow anything beyond friendship at that point. This reasoning line satisfied both, making them feel even more comfortable with each other.
Kevin was first to brake the silence. "Last night, as we were driving through the toughest part of the road, I noticed you deep in thought and looking very sad. What exactly was it all about? If I'm being nosy just tell me to butt out."
"No, Kev, it's okay. In fact, it'll feel good to let you know more about me. I like that." Nora told him about growing up in Orange County, about her parents who were seemingly doing very well financially despite her father being just a mechanic in a small garage. She talked about her parents' lack of warmth toward her and her older sister, loving and caring only for their younger son. How, at age seventeen, once she had gone to college, she never felt a need to see them ever, which she hadn't despite the fact that while at school they paid most of her expenses. She had never asked for it but until her graduation Nora received a monthly check in the mail, and during the ten years since leaving home she had no contact with her family, not even the traditional Christmas Card. It was as though she had lived in a total void during the first seventeen years of her life, and making it permanent once she left. Her sister had lived and behaved much the same, except that when she left home moved to Boston, where she remained after graduating to begin a career in nursing. They corresponded occasionally but the misery of their childhood had created a wedge between them once they grew up, and they seldom saw each other.
"It was a very strange life, Kev, and even when I was old enough to analyze it I just couldn't understand it. They treated us as though we were outsiders and at times we even felt as though they hated us, and my grandmother was just as cold to us like we were unwanted, especially so Linda, who is a little over a year older than I am."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Maybe that's why I got married so quickly once the opportunity came about." She told him about her marriage, the abuse, and the years of emptiness until she finally got divorced. "So, as you can see, my life's been totally barren until a year ago, when I felt as though I'd been reborn, emotionally at least. I'm not at all bitter since at times it seems to have been my destiny, like it had been pre-ordained to be this way. I'm a bit jealous of your past, though, especially the love and caring that you were fortunate to receive from your parents, wife, and baby. I would've liked to have had a child earlier in life, but thank God for Morgan's infertility—otherwise I would have become a prisoner for life."
Afterwards they began to chat about unimportant subjects, but once they had started it was as though the flood-gates were opened and neither could stop. A lifetime of experiences, stories, anecdotes, and adventures, were exchanged with laughter and sometimes sadness. They made a few pit stops along the way but continued to drive slowly through the night until they reached Los Angeles early on Sunday, feeling comfortable with each other and happy to have spent so much time together.
"What should we do now? Should I drop you off at home and go to my hotel, or would you like to join me for a nice breakfast and then I'll take you home?"
"Actually, I'd like you to come to my house first. It looks like a nice day here for a change, and I'd like to prepare breakfast and eat it by the pool. You can stay as long as you wish, unless, of course, you'd made other plans."
"Sounds great. And I made no plans so I have all the time in the world."
Kevin liked Nora's house on top of the Santa Monica Mountains with a view of the San Fernando Valley on one side and the ocean on the other. Unlike their bad experience since leaving Washington the weather, typical for January in Southern California, was quite warm and bright, especially when they sat by the pool eating the meal that Nora prepared.