Every time I close my eyes, I see something different.
I’d like to think the cinema of my dreams is playing a double feature but it’s a bit like a comedy cartoon night on Fox.
But these dreams are nothing to laugh about.
Once again there’s a new instalment of an old feature, and back on the treasure hunt.
…
“Do you remember Nadia?”
Boggs was out the back on the veranda, sitting in an old lounge chair that had seen better days, eating tacos, or at least I think they were tacos. He offered me one but I didn’t like the look of it. Aside from the fact I wasn’t a fan of Mexican food.
“One of the Cossatino’s, Vince’s sister, tall, shorts skirts and big, well you know what I mean.”
Statuesque, Amazonian, yes I did. We all coveted what we couldn’t have.
“The same. She’s back in town.”
“And this means what to us if anything. As I recall, the one time we tried talking to her, Vince had his friends rough us up.”
“I saw her with Alex today, in the warehouse.”
I had his attention. I knew what he was thinking.
“Doing what, as if I couldn’t guess?”
“Alex wouldn’t be that stupid.”
“And we also said that when he fucked Annie in front of the class in the sports hall, not that we knew then what he was doing.”
Good point. “No. He told her to get the map from Rico. Has Rico and her…”
“Dated? Like Rico would be in her league. He’d be little more than trash in her eyes. But, no, not that I’m aware of. But, if she was to throw herself at him, I’m sure he would react like any other dumb bastard who thinks with his dick and not his head. But he hasn’t got the map.”
“Yet.”
“I still think I should try to sell it to Alex.”
“And I think if you are looking for a reason for a long hospital stay, that would be it. You need to be careful where Rico is concerned. Maybe we should check him out tomorrow.”
“I thought you had a job, and couldn’t get away.”
“My shift has changed to the afternoon, so I’ll be available in the mornings. Do you know where Rico lives?”
“On his boat. He has a small cruiser at the docks. Uses if for, he says, fishing trips for businessmen, but I think he does the drug run from the shipping lanes to a quiet cove.”
“For the Benderby’s?”
“No idea, and don’t care. But you’re right. We should check him out. Tomorrow morning. I’ll meet you at Al’s fishing shop at about 9:00.”
He’d finished the tacos, and clearly had something else to do, something that didn’t involve me. I felt a little disappointed.
In a day of going over old ground and making it new again, I have revisited Zoe’s residence in Paris at the time John called, and found it empty, except for some kid who was all ‘get lost or suffer the consequences.’
Who is he? We flesh that story out, and how it relates to Zoe and those early days in the story.
Similarly, I’m not happy still with how Worthington discovers Zoe, and this is going to need some more work, and definitely a rewrite.
In fact, I might have to revisit his whole appearance in the story and make it a little less bombastic and a little more subdued seething anger.
The whole Marseilles episode is good, it’s just the end and this discovery of who is behind Zoe’s abduction that needs a little work. This is where we sow the enigmatic sees of Romanov and his purpose for wanting Zoe if it is not revenge like it is assumed.
Similarly, that whole thing with the Russian Minister and Anton needs a lot more work because there appears to be a connection between him and Romanov, but there’s not. This is just Olga leaning on her connections to get a result.
Then Zoe takes off to find Romanov, or is it those seeking revenge, it’s not quite clear, and leaves John to contemplate his future. Perhaps a piece here between them that sets the tone for the relationship over the coming months would be good, and the trigger that sets John off on a quest to find her.
His excuses at the moment are wishy-washy at best.
Phew!!! Never knew self-criticism could be so harsh!
…
Today’s writing, with Zoe languishing in a dungeon waiting for a white knight, 0 words, for a total of 8,871.
This is a story inspired by a visit to an old castle in Italy. It was, of course, written while traveling on a plane, though I’m not sure if it was from Calgary to Toronto, or New York to Vancouver.
But, there’s more to come. Those were long flights…
And sadly when I read what I’d written, off the plane and in the cold hard light of dawn, there were problems, which now in the second draft, should provide the proper start.
I calculated the odds. Thirty to one. I wasn’t going to add Jack to the team, because he could never understand what was going on. I was finding it hard myself.
The man who sent me on this mission, the man whom I had given a detailed report on what I thought was happening at the castle, gleaned from soldiers passing through and the local resistance, had taken me aside in London, told me the mission he was sending me on was top secret and I could tell no one.
Only now did I realize the import of those words. Someone I had trusted with my life, for a very long time, was not the person I thought they were.
That was in the second the message I’d received, read, and immediately destroyed. I hadn’t believed it. Not at first. But it had one other piece of information as proof, one when I thought about, made sense of everything that had been happening. The word coincidence had become overused in the last week.
But I didn’t have time to think about it now, I had to try and get away if only as far as the resistance, to get help and report on what had just happened.
But I couldn’t understand what the enemy would gain from retaking the castle. Behind enemy lines, it would only be a matter of time before they were caught, or killed.
Enough. I could hear the footsteps approaching.
Jack had found the passage when he and I had been doing some reconnaissance of the old castle. I thought it odd that no one knew of any secret passages when all of these old places usually had at least a few. The lord of the manor would want to be able to move about secretly, visiting mistresses, escaping from enemies, or just sneaking about checking up on staff and family
We’d found one that ran from the guard tower to the grand hall. A lot of cobwebs, a musty odor, and signs it hadn’t been used for a long time, it was perfect for my soon to be unannounced arrival.
The passage ended at a large wooden cabinet which had a compartment that opened out into the hall. From within, it was possible to hear conversations and see a veiled view of any activity.
Johansson and that man I’d been warned about, that man I had trusted, Lieutenant General Wallace. I could only assume he had arrived with the stormtroopers, so for a moment, I was confused as to whether they were ours or the enemy.
I could see Wallace was angry. “I thought I told you I wanted Atherton neutralized before I got here. Where is he?”
Just then Jackerby came in and looked flustered. “He’s gone.”
“What the hell do you mean, he’s gone. Gone where, for God’s sake. There’s nowhere to go.”
I wondered what neutralized meant. It didn’t sound very pleasant. Jack was nudging my leg. What was he trying to tell me?
“He was in the south tower with that mangy dog of his, where he usually hangs out.”
“Then he can’t be far. Find him and bring him, to me. Pity that bomb didn’t kill him or we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
Why did it have to be Wallace? I actually liked the man. Until now. I kneeled down, “Well, Jack,” I whispered. “It looks like we are both in serious trouble. What’s say we get out of here?”
A lick on the side of my face told me all I needed to know.
The cell phone’s insistent and shrill ring dragged my mind away from the crossword, and after a fairly mild curse, I picked it up.
Sidney, my brother. Odd he was calling me at this hour of the night.
“What,” I barked into the microphone.
“That’s no way to speak to your baby brother.” His smooth tones rarely reached a screaming point, which was often the reason why mine did.
And who called the younger brother ‘baby’ brother these days?
“What do you want?”
A hesitation. He was in trouble again, I could feel it.
“Can you come down to the bar? I seem to have left my wallet at home.” Sheepish, and just enough to stop me from yelling at him. It was not the first time, nor would it be the last.
“I told you the last time was the last time.”
“Just this once, please?”
I shook my head. That was probably my biggest fault, giving in to him. After our mother had died, and our father had to work, it was left to me to bring him up. He was going to be the death of me yet. “Where?”
“The usual place.”
I was surprised because the last I’d heard they’d banned him from going in there. It was only a twenty-minute walk from my apartment, but, late at night, and in winter, there was snow in the air. And the odd snowflake falling, a prelude to much worse.
About a hundred yards from the bar I had a shiver go down my spine. I’d not had that for a long time, not since school, and the trouble with Wiley, the school bully. Wiley had graduated to the local thug, done a few stints in jail, and last I heard he had been sent down for a few years for an assault.
I stopped and took a moment. Perhaps karma was trying to tell me something.
I shrugged. Just in my imagination. I reached the door, took a moment then went in. He was standing by the bat looking a little apprehensive. He was in more trouble than just not paying his bar bill.
Close up I could see the fear in his expression. “Bloody hell, Sid, what have you done now?”
“A problem that he insists his older brother would be happy to pay for.”
Every time I close my eyes, I see something different.
I’d like to think the cinema of my dreams is playing a double feature but it’s a bit like a comedy cartoon night on Fox.
But these dreams are nothing to laugh about.
Once again there’s a new instalment of an old feature, and back on the treasure hunt.
I’d kept out of Nadia’s way since then, and the few occasions our paths had crossed, she had studiously ignored me. After graduating she disappeared, and seeing here with Alex, just now, was the first time in years.
She had grown into the sort of woman you’d see in the social pages of the newspapers and magazines, sometimes for all the wrong reasons, and I wondered if that was how Alex had leveraged her co-operation.
But, there were bigger problems to overcome before I had a chance or find out her back-story.
Alex was going after Rico for the map, a map he didn’t have, a map that Rico was going to need and Boggs was going to suffer the consequences.
Or not, if I could do something about it.
I had a stroke of luck when I got back to the warehouse office where McDonald was waiting, not necessarily for me, but most likely Alex.
“Ah, Sam,” he said when he saw me walk through the door, “Come into the office. We need to have a chat.”
That sounded ominous. I wondered if it had anything to do with my absence for what seemed a long time when I’d been watching Alex and Nadia.
“We have a new opening on the afternoon shift, and I thought you might consider it because it pays a little more, with a shift allowance. The hours are 4pm to Midnight. What do you think?”
On the way back to the warehouse I’d been thinking about how I was going to help Boggs and keep the job because the hours I was working made it impossible to do anything during the day, other than spy on Alex.
Taking this afternoon job, I could work, and, in the mornings, help Boggs in his quest.
“When would this start?”
“Tomorrow. You would not have to come in till 4pm.
“Sounds good then, I’ll take it.”
He seemed more relieved that I had accepted. It made me think for a moment whether this was Alex’s idea, and he had an ulterior notice. If he did I guess I would soon find out.
An hour later I was on my way home.
I had a lot of items to talk about when I saw Boggs and a possible mission.
Did John get reunited with his mother in the hospital?
What of Rupert and Isobel? Did she get to meet the elusive and enigmatic Tsar?
These are all questions that will be answered in due course.
There is also the matter of what happens when John and Zoe/Irina finally meet up after he learns that she regarded him as expendable, and knowing her as he did, didn’t doubt for a minute she meant it.
Is it the folly of falling in love with an assassin?
Once again we end up at the grandmother’s residence in Sorrento, languishing sans Zoe, contemplating the future, a future that might not have Zoe in it.
His idea of setting up an investigation bureau is alive and well, run by Rupert, staffed by people who have the skills but not the confidence of others who had employed them. Rupert is the master of picking lame ducks and turning them into swans.
Isobel, on the other hand, does not improve with age or being in a somewhat iffy, long-range, possible romance, thing.
Does Zoe return, does she call, can she drag herself away from her recently rediscovered father?
Again, you’ll have to read the book.
…
There’s no word count at the moment because everything is in outline awaiting writing. That will happen, I hope, tomorrow.
It’s the story that was inspired by the Castello di Briolio, which had small aspirations when first conceived, but now it’s reached a point where we need to fill in a few blanks at the start.
Thus, a revised Episode One
“You have got the guards set up on the back wall,” I asked Jackerby, the officer in charge of the rearguards.
“Can you see them?” he said in a tone that dripped sarcasm.
I didn’t like Jackerby, he seemed far too sure of himself and his men, and so far, we hadn’t had to rely on them.
But I expected that time was coming, and sooner than both of us wanted to believe.
“No.”
“Then no one else will either. Trust me; no one will be coming over the back wall.”
That was a matter of opinion, and, in my assessment of the fortifications, and the security precautions, about the only way the enemy could attack us, was from the sky.
And that was, given the current situation the enemy were in, practically impossible. But, as my old commander used to say, ‘This is war, anything is possible, and when you least expect it.’
I’d survived four years of it, and didn’t want to be one of those who didn’t make it to the end. For that reason, I trusted no one, and particularly people who said ‘trust me’.
I glanced along the back wall again, just to make sure, but it didn’t make me feel any safer.
“I’ll be in the command post if you need me, and it has a clear view of anything coming.”
“Excellent,” I said, trying to sound more confident that I felt.
We were in an old castle, though not strictly speaking a real castle, built only a few hundred years ago. It was an enemy stronghold up until a month ago when, acting on advice from the local resistance that the enemy strength had dropped as they had begun to retreat, a strike force came and liberated it.
And, given its strategic position between the front line and the sea it became a gateway for anyone who wanted to escape the Germans and what was left of the Italians.
That also included departing boffins from the Reich, looking to bargain their way to a new home in England or the US.
To oversee that operation was a Colonel called Johansson, along with a dozen or so specialist soldiers, and the operation had been running smoothly.
Then came an attempted incursion, where a group of enemy soldiers who were fighting to the end, made a brave attempt to take the castle back., They failed, because of a twelfth-hour arrival of a Major called Jackerby, and a small motley crew of men.
When I read the report after the battle, it seemed odd.
As a result of his help, Jackerby was recruited by Johansson, in circumstances that seemed a little too coincidental for my liking. Johansson was too easy going for me, and although he had not made a mistake, yet, I felt sure one was going to happen on my watch.
I came later, sent by Command to ‘lend assistance where possible’ to the operation, assistance the good Colonel took no pains to tell command he didn’t need. But they didn’t give him a choice.
Except…
On my way there, my driver and I had almost reached the castle when we were caught in a roadside bomb. The driver was killed, and I’d been saved by a dog, one we had found on the side of the road, badly in need of water, and food.
I had brought him with me. The thought of doing so, at the time, had been on the end of a single idea, a dog could not betray me, men and women could. And the fact its name was Jack seemed to me to be rather poetic, if not somewhat ironic in the circumstances.
There was a communication in my pocket, one I’d received earlier in the afternoon, sent in a onetime code no one but I could decode.
A warning of a second attempt on the castle by the enemy, but for reasons unknown.
Tonight.
Jack and I were in the guard tower at the south-western corner of the castle. It overlooked the valley and gave a clear view of anyone or anything coming from that quadrant. If I was going to retake the castle, that’s where I’d launch an attack from.
Of course, if it came by air, you’d expect to hear it.
I didn’t, but Jack did. He suddenly stood and made a small moaning noise, as if he knew quiet communication was needed. The stiffness in his body told me it was danger.
Then I saw it, just as I came out of the guardhouse onto the gravel path, the moonlight shining of very large wings, and for a moment it didn’t make sense until I realized it was a glider.
Silent. It passed, and behind I could see parachutes, then the sound of boots on the gravel walkways just down from the tower. A precision flight and precision landing of a dozen stormtroopers.
This is not the first time I have seen a movie about Jane Austen’s Emma. The last one starred Gwyneth Paltrow who did a reasonable job of being the self-appointed matchmaker. In this new edition, the role of Emma went to Anya Taylor-Joy whom I thought was the better of the two.
In every one of these period pieces, it is always a treat to see who’s been roped into an acting role from a long list of old and new British television and film stars.
I was particularly pleased with Bill Nighy’s rendition of Mr. Woodhouse’s role, the running gag of searching for those invisible draughts, and strategic use of the fireside panels.
Rupert Graves, as Mr. Weston, the recipient of Emma’s matchmaking prowess (or otherwise) was also a welcome addition to what was an almost flawless selection of cast members.
But, other than the familiar plotline that included attempted matchmaking and the exercise of privilege, two things stood out. Johnny Flynn’s rendition of Mr. Knightley didn’t sit well with me as I kept going back to previous actors who filled the role, and who were in my opinion, better, and the other, the treatment of the clergy.
It seems to me that Jane Austen didn’t have much time for them because both in this and in Pride and Prejudice, the role seemed to require a buffoon rather than someone sensible. Perhaps it was best portrayed as such as it added some comic light relief from some of the more stodgy moments.
Every time I close my eyes, I see something different.
I’d like to think the cinema of my dreams is playing a double feature but it’s a bit like a comedy cartoon night on Fox.
But these dreams are nothing to laugh about.
Once again there’s a new instalment of an old feature, and back on the treasure hunt.
Nadia Cossatino was the one girl Alex Benderby couldn’t have for obvious reasons. The Cossatinos and the Benderby’s were sworn enemies, each running the more nefarious activities in their parts of the city.
Of the two, it was widely known if you crossed a Cossatino, then you were dead, or worse. Nadia’s older brother Vince was the most feared kid in school, and people like Boggs and I kept well out of his way.
That being said, there was one occasion when we had been caught in the crossfire, and present, accidentally, at a showdown between Alex and Vince, over Nadia. Alex, as he was wont to do, pushed his luck too far, and found himself on the end of an ultimatum.
Which usually meant a fight in one of the old wharf sheds.
Boggs and I just happened to be in the shed, looking for anything that might have been left behind, when the two warring parties turned up. Vince and four members of his gang, including Nadia, arrived and Alex with several of his shortly after.
As soon as he saw Vince, Boggs bolted, leaving me like a deer staring into headlights. I tried to hide in one of the old offices, but Nadia, not one to sit still, not probably interested in the beating Vince was going to hand Alex, came wandering in.
I prayed she wouldn’t see me.
Prayers: unanswered.
“Who is that?” She knew someone was in the room.
I poked my head above the dusty desk.
She seemed unsurprised to find me there. “Smidge. That’s what Alex calls you, isn’t it?”
I shook my head. Even she was calling me by that name.
“No, It’s Sam.”
“Smidge sounds better. What are you doing here? Come to see the fight?”
“No. Just looking around, plenty of history in this old building.”
“It’s just a dump.”
“Perhaps I should go. I doubt Vince will want any witnesses.”
“You a friend of Alex?”
I thought we went to the same school, but perhaps I was wrong. Maybe this was Nadia’s twin. I was going to set her straight but remembered Vince was just downstairs, and after he dealt with Alex, maybe he’d want another hapless soul to beat up.
But as usual, my mouth got the better of me.
“You know as well as I do, I avoid both Alex, Vince, and you like the plague. I’ve seen what happens to people who simply glance in your direction.”
“So Smidge has a backbone. And not a friend of Alex, obviously. Good to know. Keep your nose clean and out of matters that don’t concern you. Leave. You were never here.”
I didn’t get to meet her handler and that was not a surprise, she was very careful in how she managed her last days with me, at a remote site which, when she requested it, should have set off an alarm bell. If I was suffering from terminal cancer, I would want to be as near to medical help as I could, not as far away as possible.
OK, I have to admit, after she told me her sob story about having cancer, I was a little sneaky and made some ‘inquiries’. Yes, she did have a cancerous growth, but it had been removed and classified benign. It was, I discovered, not too dissimilar to a problem she had when she was fifteen, but the resolution back then basically sterilized her.
Not wanting to have children, and not being able to have children were two entirely different issues, and it was going to be one of our talking points at the cabin.
So, on the basis that this whole exercise was for some other reason than spending her last days with me, I decided to run with her story, and not be too demanding. Kyle was right about me when it came to Janine. My heart ruled my head, and common sense didn’t apply to any decisions I made about her. Perhaps she knew that.
The one interesting take was that assumption there was a credible threat against her. I’ve seen TV shows, where heading into the forest seems a good idea, but remote locations like the cabin only make for a better hunting ground for the hunters, not the prey.
I knew that only too well, because hunting was built into our DNA by my father who, if he had a choice would have preferred to live back in the early 1800s. It’s why we had this cabin and the 400 acres that surrounded it.
That she remembered we had it was interesting because she had only been to it once, and hated it. Too far away from the glitter and glamour of the city.
When I told Kyle of her visit, the reasons, and the request, he simply snorted. In the day I had to think about it, I had basically come to the same conclusion he had, that this was another of her games, only this time I was involved, and for him, that was unforgivable.
“I’m coming with, Dan. You won’t be doing this alone.”
“But…”
“I’ll set the place up, put in some perimeter security, as best we can, and make sure her bodyguard doesn’t get too close. If there is a credible threat, then it won’t get within a hundred yards of the cabin. You have my word. I’m about to send word to the hunting part. They’re going to meet me there. We’ll stay at the old Rogers place.”
“Haven’t you got a life?”
“Not when my little brother is in trouble. This girl, I’m not going to say I told you so, but they don’t change their spots, no matter how long she lived with you before reverting. You can’t even be sure she wasn’t playing around during those years, Dan. But I accept that you love her, but it’s really wasted on her, despite what she says. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”
“I don’t. Not anymore. But hopefully, she will trip up and I will find the reasons to finally step away.”
“You’re too forgiving, Dan, but one of us has to be. Your sister and I, well, we had to grow up before our time, and it’s not hard to become cynical about everyone and everything. Just stay the way you are. I’ll take care of everything else.”
…
The arrangement was I would collect Janine from the hotel where she was staying.
She had called earlier and asked if I would stay with her, have dinner, and see where it went. I was not sure how I felt about staying with her, after all this time, and what I knew about her, but it was not the time to make her suspicious.
I arrived late, and she was waiting at the bar in the dining room. She had an evening gown on that would turn heads, and as it always did when she looks so incredibly beautiful, my heart did somersaults. Perhaps she knew that too.
I tried to relax, but there were so many thoughts running through my head that it was like white noise, and I couldn’t hear anything else.
My distraction was not exactly annoying her, but she was not happy.
“It’s Kyle, isn’t it?”
“Actually, no. When I told him what we were planning, I expected him to go ballistic. He did not. He actually said that if it was true, then that gesture on your part, to try and give back a lot of what we lost, before it was too late, well, that moved him.”
I’d been practicing that speech in front of a mirror until I could deliver it without the cynicism, or condescension it deserved.
“That doesn’t sound like him.”
“No. It doesn’t. But you have to remember, it was left to Kyle and my sister to look after me, and I wasn’t the best of children. He has a right to be overly protective, so from this point, you will not say anything disparaging about him. In fact, he doesn’t need to be one of our topics of conversation.”
“OK.”
Champagne arrived, and not the cheap stuff. She still had expensive tastes, and I had to wonder if this little sojourn was on my tab. I smiled and drank. It was nothing to me if it cost a hundred dollars or ten. I was a beer man, like my Dad.
“You don’t believe me, do you?”
“About what?”
“Being ill, dying. After all, I’ve offered no proof, and you’ve asked me for none.”
“Call me stupid, but I thought if we were going to make things work that a little trust, on both sides, wouldn’t go amiss.”
I knew she wasn’t stupid enough to think that I would fall for the death story, especially when I related it to Kyle. I suspect proof, of a sort, would be back in the room, in an envelope that I would not open.
“You can trust me.”
Entrée arrived, some sort of fish concoction she had ordered and told me was to die for. I was not a fine dining person, she was. I had to hope the next course was steak.
I let that ‘you can trust me’ statement pass without comment. Not until I finished the fish, or at least I think it was fish.
“The first time you came to London. You were talking about going to Tuscany, a villa to rebuild.”
“I meant what I said.”
“As you did, I’m guessing when you were talking about me to what I now know was your handler outside. Did you for one minute ask yourself why I would throw away the phone and ghost you? I was going Togo with you. You had me, again. Trust has to be earned, and once lost, is very hard to get back. You of all people should understand that. Don’t play me for a fool.”
“I thought Kyle had got to you. It was my handler’s idea, I had to get away again, an occupational hazard it seems, and I wanted to spend some time with you. It would have been just us, I promise.”
“But with an expiry date. It was always about the job, not us. It’s never been about us. In fact, if I spend too much time thinking about it, the idea of marrying me was yours, planned and executed with precision, always with a view of going back to work. In fact, I’m willing to bet it never stopped.”
“That was not how it was. I was everything you wanted me to be.”
“Yes. But was it all a grand performance?”
“No. I loved you. You know that. We both were destined for each other from that first day in Elementary school. with everything since, nothing had ever matched that feeling I have when I’m with you. And I miss it terribly.“
The girl in the red dress, the prom queen that had a line of boys beating the path to her door, and yet she chose me, the least likely boy in the school. There had to be some element of truth in her words, but right then, I wouldn’t allow myself to believe it.
The man who was her handler just tried to sneak in the front door.
Thrills, Spills, and just a dash of Romance 