Tag: Author

“Strangers We’ve Become” – The final countdown to publishing in 20 days

Not so ‘humble’

…

While David may have considered Boris the so-called humble policeman at the time, Boris, being the suspicious person he was, knew he was dealing with a foreign agent.

And he knew in time that letting him go provided two benefits, time to investigate who he really was, and how knowing him could be beneficial.  Pity then when after a few meetings in various cities in Europe, news came of David’s untimely death.

Thus, to get a call from a man who was supposed to be dead was intriguing, to say the least, and from one who was now married to a person of interest, the new Lady Featherington.

And to be asked about three Russian ‘maids’ piqued his interest.

Of course, the same could not be said for Prendergast who learns of this dubious Russian connection from his God-daughter Susan, complaining about David threatening her staff.

It’s the last thing on David’s mind as he heads off to Monaco, propelled by an anonymous text message with a place a date and a time.  Normally he wouldn’t care, but it appeared someone was trying to tell him something.

About Susan?

He would soon find out.

Booked into a hotel near the famous casino, and at a loose end, he goes to mingle with the rich and famous.  But not as himself, but his version of going ‘undercover’.

…

“Strangers We’ve Become” – The final countdown to publishing in 21 days

Are you David, or are you, well, David?

…

Spies never really use their real names.  David was no exception, not that he was a spy anymore, but slipping back into that life again, if only for a few days, he travelled under the name of David Bentley.

He learned the hard way a long time ago to keep his first name, because sometimes, with another, you might not respond to it, and give the game away.

He also had a lot of expert help in transforming into someone else, and the man who landed in the Riviera looked nothing like David Cheney.

And it was oddly satisfying to have something to do.

…

But first things first, we have an interesting character to introduce, a man who is as enigmatic as David himself.

And one who knows David by various names, and whom David came across in Moscow in the middle of a mission that went sideways.

Boris, last name unpronounceable, was in the wrong place at the wrong time, or perhaps, in the end, the right place, depending on your point of view.

David ended up saving his life, and in the process of becoming friends, of a sort, when asked, Boris decided to tell him he was a humble policeman.

Of course, he is anything but a ‘humble’ policeman, and in making a new friend, considered one day that friendship might be mutually beneficial.

…

NANOWRIMO November 2023 – Day 15

“Opposites Attract”

…

Mrs Winkle

…

There are two things going on here.

The first is the animosity between Emily and her stepmother.  When Emily’s mother died, it was probably expected there would be a period of mourning.  There probably was. 

But some men don’t like the idea of being alone, and either go looking for a suitable partner that might be helpful in helping with the children, or maybe that person decides there is an opening, and makes a move to fill that void.

Mrs Winkle did the chasing.

Mr Rothstein is too good a target for her to pass up, after all, unmarried billionaires, even if only on paper were far and few between.  Besides, she had children of her own that needed money to look after, a lot of money, and to cement the relationship, it’s always wise to have children of their own to be used as bargaining chips and longevity.

The divorce settlement would indeed be very costly.

The second is that our boy knows exactly who Mrs Winkle is, and figures the best policy is to stay as far away from her as possible.

Except when summoned.  They meet, and he can tell she does not consider him suitable.

Maybe someone should tell Mrs Winkle that Emily does not agree with her.

…

Today’s words:  2,566, for a total of 30,015

The Cinema of My Dreams – It ended in Sorrento – Episode 57

Setting up Francesca

…

I asked Alfie to send me a track of Francesca’s movements, yes, I cloned her phone too, because I didn’t trust her, and yes, she went to see Anna at the Burkehardt’s residence.

We had a recording of her conversation, but it didn’t amount to much and Anna finished up yelling at her and kicking her out of the house.  Not literally, but if she hadn’t left the house when she did…

She was sitting at the table with her computer open.  By the way she shut it quickly, I suspect it was a video call to her boss.

“Your boss not happy with progress?”

She glared at me.

“You should go and have a talk to Anna Burkehardt.  Charming lady.”

Cecelia snorted almost too loudly on her way to the bathroom.

Francesca shrugged.  “Where have you been?”

“Looking at vines, would you believe.”

“How is that going to help?

“It’s not.  But I’ve decided you can come with me to see the countess.”

“You found her?”

“Not exactly.  She’s always been here, waiting for the day to sign the documents.  I was going to keep her away from your lot, now I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.  You can recognise her if you see her?”

“Are you saying the woman you have is not the countess?”

“No.  I’m asking if you can recognise her.”

“Of course.  We have a half dozen photographs we used, and some that deliberately disguise her in case she’s trying to be anonymous.”

“Good.  Tomorrow morning.”

That simple conversation was to see if she called her boss and they make arrangements to ‘take’ the countess into their protective custody, or, take her to Anna von Burkehardt.

As I said to Cecelia later, we would soon find out who Francesca and her people were working for.  Because of the hostility that Anne had shown towards her, I was wondering if Anna was, in fact, the one who hired them to find the countess.

“You’re going to have a busy morning tomorrow,” I said to Cecelia.  “You need to watch is leave and see if anyone follows us.”

“Do you really think they’d be that unsubtle?”

“Yes.  When large sums of money are involved.”

“And what will Anna do to her?”

“Nothing.  She’ll know straight away it’s not the real Countess, so I’m sure after they snatch her, the Countess will escape.  She can’t afford to be unmasked.  Not yet.

The fact that Cecelia didn’t tell me what I was doing was risky, told me that it was risky.

During the night, tossing and turning, with various women on my mind, I went through various scenarios, each of which had a bad outcome, the worst where Francesca became collateral damage.

This whole exercise was to see the lengths the fake Countess would go to not to be identified.  Or whether she thought her cover was good enough to fool everyone.

Except perhaps Anna.

A mother knows her daughter-in-law, especially after all that time.  A fake could not replicate the mannerisms, the speech, the idiosyncrasies, or a lifetime of just being together.

And I was banking on Francesca’s boss being greedy and putting money before ethics.  Francesca didn’t strike me as one with ethical problems, but I had read books by their covers before and been horribly wrong.

If it all blew up in my face at the very least, I could use it as an example of what not to do, but I doubt Cecelia would thank me in a hurry.

By the time I was ready to go, Cecelia had gone out for her morning run, and Francesca was ready to go and see the countess.  We had just enough time to sort out how we were going to communicate, and it was going to be amusing having Cecelia’s voice in my head.

At one point I had heavy breathing in my ear and told her it was distracting.  She simply replied that I should get out and join her and get rid of some of that retirement flab.

She did not have to be so mean, even if she was right.

I finished the coffee Cecelia had made in the percolator an hour before and tasted over-brewed, then finally stopped running scenarios that ended in disaster in my head.

“You ready?” I asked her.

I’d seen the transcript of the call Francesca made to her boss after I told her I was taking her to see the countess, and I knew the answer to that question.  It was rhetorical, but I couldn’t tell her that.

I just hoped the team that descended on us at the hotel was not a smash-and-grab type, not afraid to leave bodies behind.

© Charles Heath 2023

“Strangers We’ve Become” – The final countdown to publishing in 21 days

Are you David, or are you, well, David?

…

Spies never really use their real names.  David was no exception, not that he was a spy anymore, but slipping back into that life again, if only for a few days, he travelled under the name of David Bentley.

He learned the hard way a long time ago to keep his first name, because sometimes, with another, you might not respond to it, and give the game away.

He also had a lot of expert help in transforming into someone else, and the man who landed in the Riviera looked nothing like David Cheney.

And it was oddly satisfying to have something to do.

…

But first things first, we have an interesting character to introduce, a man who is as enigmatic as David himself.

And one who knows David by various names, and whom David came across in Moscow in the middle of a mission that went sideways.

Boris, last name unpronounceable, was in the wrong place at the wrong time, or perhaps, in the end, the right place, depending on your point of view.

David ended up saving his life, and in the process of becoming friends, of a sort, when asked, Boris decided to tell him he was a humble policeman.

Of course, he is anything but a ‘humble’ policeman, and in making a new friend, considered one day that friendship might be mutually beneficial.

…

“Strangers We’ve Become” – The final countdown to publishing in 22 days

While the cats away

…

While David promises to be good, and not give the staff at the castle a hard time, Susan whiles away her time overseas tending to business.

Or is she?

A familiar sound from a familiar place tells David his wife is not where he says she is.

But, that’s a problem for another day.  He has a mission to plan and execute, and it’s going to involve the unwitting assistance of a most unlikely accomplice.

First, there’s a rather uncooperative and snotty cook to take care of.

And like all sorties, no amount of planning can cover every eventuality, but quick thinking saves the day, leaving him with more questions than answers.

And the household wondering if he was having an affair.  A talk the following morning with Susan, who seems to have a version of events, finds that, no, he can’t take his shadow back home when he leaves the castle.

Whether or not she is checking up on him, she arrived at the castle in person and makes an attempt to let him know she has not forgotten him.

Pity then she is gone the next morning before he wakes up.

Finally tired of meddling in castle affairs, it takes a very odd message from an anonymous source to get him on his way to Monaco to see what it all means.

…

NANOWRIMO November 2023 – Day 14

“Opposites Attract”

…

Dining with Emily, and a moment of dread

…

So aside from the late-night phone calls that hardly address the big issues like how this relationship is going to work, Emily decided to order in dinner, and they talked.

I can remember similar situations early on myself, and it is hard to try and work out how anything is going to work when two people are used to their own lives, families, friends, habits, preferences and dislikes, and amusements.

I remember trying to find all the similarities in things we did.  Certainly, our families were as disparate as it got, and I guess the socio-economic background, and what we did as children was as different as chalk and cheese.

You don’t always start as equals and work from there.

It’s why I decided to have characters so far apart in just about everything.

The thing is, like any relationship that is going to work, you have to be friends.  Well, that didn’t start out that way.  You have to at the very least like the other person.  That was one-sided, to begin with, but deep down, although she thought she hated him, she didn’t.

Or is it that thin line between love and hate we all tread at times.

The thing is, they want to be together, there is this magic between them that neither can define, and being able to talk frankly is going to become a cornerstone.

And they are yet to have an argument.

…

Today’s words:  1,944, for a total of 27,485

“Strangers We’ve Become” – The final countdown to publishing in 22 days

While the cats away

…

While David promises to be good, and not give the staff at the castle a hard time, Susan whiles away her time overseas tending to business.

Or is she?

A familiar sound from a familiar place tells David his wife is not where he says she is.

But, that’s a problem for another day.  He has a mission to plan and execute, and it’s going to involve the unwitting assistance of a most unlikely accomplice.

First, there’s a rather uncooperative and snotty cook to take care of.

And like all sorties, no amount of planning can cover every eventuality, but quick thinking saves the day, leaving him with more questions than answers.

And the household wondering if he was having an affair.  A talk the following morning with Susan, who seems to have a version of events, finds that, no, he can’t take his shadow back home when he leaves the castle.

Whether or not she is checking up on him, she arrived at the castle in person and makes an attempt to let him know she has not forgotten him.

Pity then she is gone the next morning before he wakes up.

Finally tired of meddling in castle affairs, it takes a very odd message from an anonymous source to get him on his way to Monaco to see what it all means.

…

NANOWRIMO November 2023 – Day 13

“Opposites Attract”

…

A little time in Emily’s world

…

After the meeting with Mrs Bakersfield is over, our boy realises that Emily is going to be staying with her grandmother until the end.

Perhaps he will be too, but nothing is really set in concrete.

Time to spend a little time with Emily in her world of luxury and privilege.

It’s not what he wants, but he didn’t say no to the limousine ride to the airport, or no to the ride in the corporate jet, or no to the suite he was put in in the hotel.

I mean, only a fool would, wouldn’t they?

He calls his sister Darcy and lets her know that he is swilling it up, for the moment, it won’t last, and she says she is jealous, maybe. 

Then, of course, there are the other members of Emily’s family, especially her stepmother, whom Emily despises, and rather niggardly calls Mrs Winkle, her former married name, and not as Mrs Rothstein, and definitely not Mom.

Our boy is going to take a seat on the sidelines and see just how not happy families get along.

…

Today’s words:  1,965, for a total of 25,541

The Cinema of My Dreams – It ended in Sorrento – Episode 55

Watching the prime suspect

…

I joined Cecelia on the side of a hill about 500 yards from the front of the main entrance to the Burkehardt residence.  On one side there were several outbuildings, and beyond those, the vines, acres and acres of them.  On the other side, where we were, there was more vines and gardens.

It was warm, but we were under the trees and had a hedgerow to hide behind, so we were quite safe from being seen.

Cecelia had picked her spot with care.  Clear sight to the front entrance, clear sight of the driveway from the road to the house, and the opportunity to like up targets with the rifle, already set out.

It was not loaded.  She was using the sight to home in on those at home.

“A mother, a father, two girls and a boy.  The parents fight a lot.  Th mother and the three children left about a half hour ago, and the old man is sitting at a table reading the newspaper.  You’d think he’d be out working.”

“Anyone call?”

“One.  The man answered a cell phone, spoke for a minute then went back to the paper.  If he starts doing the crossword, I’m going to shoot him.”

She took another look, then sat up.  She had brought a hamper with food and drinks.  No wine.  We needed to remain focused.

It was a fine day, and just started to get hot, despite the fact we were quite buried by the surrounding trees.  The heat was tempered by a slight breeze, and the sound of it rustling the leaves was oddly soothing.

One of the more pleasant stake outs I’d been on.

My phone buzzed.  A message.

‘One of the phones called a man named Dicostini about twenty minutes ago and said they were on their way, there was a problem.’

As I suspected, the fake countess was working with Dicostini.

“And…?”  Cecelia looked at me expectantly.

“Expect to see the fake countess.  They are on their way.”

We didn’t have to wait very long.  I had expected they would arrive about an hour after I had, but then, the countess did have some disconcerting news.  What surprised me was the fact she just didn’t tell him over the phone.  If I were Dicostini, I would have told her to stay away for fear of being linked together, and that was still a possibility if there were other people in the house, loyal to the Dicostini or not.

Cecelia had picked up the gun and was pointing it at every car that passed the driveway entrance, checking on the drivers and passengers if there were any.

“Got them.”

I saw the car stop at the driveway entrance for a minute, and then start slowly along the driveway.

“Juliet is driving the car.  The two women are in the back.  Odd.”

“Perhaps they’re practising being wealthy dowagers.”

She put the gun back facing the house.

“You got your phone?”

“Why?

“Alfie would have put an app on it so you can listen to the conversation.  I didn’t think about it until now otherwise we could have listened to them on the way here.”

I gave it to her, and she fiddled with it for a minute, handing it back and the car stopped outside the house.

“You think it would be that riveting?”

“No.  But it might give us some idea what they’re up to?”

Then a voice came over the speaker, not too loud but loud enough for us to hear.

“You stay in the car, Juliet.  The fewer people who know about this the better.”  I could not put a face to the voice.

“Distinction for the uninvolved.  I will not be breaking you out of prison just so you know.”

“Don’t be such a spoilt brat.”

I heard two doors slam and then silence, other than feet crunching on the gravel.  Cecelia lined them up in her sights and said, “Just say the word.”

At the top of the stairs, I could just see them stop at the door and rang the bell.  It took several minutes before Dicostini answered.

“This is not a good idea, coming here,” he said.

“Well, the phones aren’t safe.  We disabled the GPS, and I sure as hell aren’t going to tell you anything using one.  Let’s go inside.”

“You shouldn’t be here.  If anyone sees, you…”

“Not if we come, say our piece, and go.  Arguing is only making it more dangerous.”

He stood to one side and let them pass.

Three minutes later I heard Cecelia say, “Got them again.”

The vices came back.

“What’s so pressing you have to come here.”

“The signing had been delayed.”

“The Burkehardt’s.  The suspect something.  You?  What do you do wrong?”

“I’ve seen the solicitor, and the family in London, even that fool Rodby insisted I use as an escort.  They all think I’m the countess.”

“Except now you are missing, they’re worried.  Rodby should have kept out of it, but you going missing the way you did, has only caused us trouble.  The Burkhardt’s called him and then he had to do something about it.”

“You know that was for effect, to get away from the family because the longer I’m with them the more chance they’ll discover the truth.  Rodby should be happy to know I have been found, which is exactly as it was planned, and that his man will be taking me to the signing.  Rodby will do as he’s told.”

“A week’s a long time for things to go wrong.  You have to say in hiding.”

“It’s another week and I have people pressing me for money.”  Vittoria wasn’t happy.

“You know the deal.  The countess signs the papers, and you get your payment.  I can’t help it if it’s been delayed.  They can’t delay it forever.  You’ve delivered the message, now go, before anyone finds you here.”

© Charles Heath 2023