Chapter 9
Previous Chapters
Preface
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Ocean, hunt, danger, predator, clan, hunger, fight.
Michael Moore ordered a full stack of pancakes. Barbara had the Western Omelet. She always thought that sweet things tasted sweeter when preceded by some salty food. Michael didn’t care much for sweets, but Barbara couldn’t live without it. That did provide some explanation why Michael looked in shape while he never worked out at all, and why Barbara looked a little chubby even though she spent hours at the neighborhood gym. He had a black coffee, which he could compare to absolutely nothing. Mike was a coffee connoisseur, who had his own espresso machine at home, and a coffee dealer who was selling him only the “best beans in the Northern Hemisphere” or so he said. He knew people who were saying that coffee is mainly taken for caffeine, and that the flavor was irrelevant. “Nonsense”, he would exclaim. “Flavor is everything”. Following this statement he would go for a thirty minute lecture about the history of coffee, the origins, the chemistry, traditions, and folklore. That particular coffee tasted worse than the one served at the student lounge in the local community college. The pancakes, though, were absolutely spectacular. The sleepy waitress wasn’t very excited when he asked for more maple syrup, as the small can of that sweet sticky substance was almost finished.
Barbara was pecking at her omelet, separating the red from the green peppers, putting the green aside. She ate a little, only enough to move on to what she was really after. The short stack was short, but more than sufficient. She knew that too much sweet would really present a challenge to her reasonable figure. She had orange juice, and finished off with coffee. She didn’t like coffee at all, and rarely drank it. But she knew that she would need to be on her feet for some time, and she that she needed to stay fresh. She gulped it down, and poured some more. She didn’t use sweetener at all. She figured sugar was out of the question, and the aftertaste of the artificial sweetener was terrible. On occasion, she used honey to sweeten tea, but coffee really had no cure. It was bitter, concentrated, tart, and not so pleasant on the taste buds.
They were sitting across from each other. She noticed it, because when they started dating and long after that, they always sat next to each other in restaurants. Both Michael and Barbara were very physical. They exchanged hugs and kisses during dinners, and on occasion even touch each other under the table. She remembered some times when they left the restaurant in a hurry, and completed what they started at home. That morning, she knew, was no time for fooling around. They both knew it of course, but she was still wondering what had happened to the fun loving couple they used to be. But then she remembered that when they met, he wasn’t fun loving at all. It took her weeks and months to change him from an individual into a half of a couple. She looked at him. He was cold and unshaven, a wrinkle formed on his forehead. He was obviously missing a coat. In this weather, a man without a coat would look suspicious. This must be fixed as soon as possible. He was a handsome man, in his own special way. She felt the three months old ball in her stomach melt. Was it possible that she could have been more attentive? Should she have listened more? Should she have insisted on him sharing his thoughts and discoveries with her? Was he lost?
The tears were coming up to her eyes. She knew she wouldn’t be able to keep from crying. Michael lifted his eyes up and saw the tears forming in her eyes. Large, wet teardrops were going down her cheeks. She was sobbing. “Hey baby”, he said. “What’s up with that?” It took her a minute to get herself together, and all she could do was to whisper: “I’m sorry”. He got up, sat beside her, moved the hair off her forehead, wiped the tears off her eyes, kissed he passionately on the lips and said “it’s all my fault”. They looked at each other and without a word, hugged and kissed. They both realized that they had each other, and that was good news.
Many things needed to be done. Many things needed to be done soon.
Barbara was the one who started to speak. She first looked around, made sure that there was nobody in listening range, including that shabby looking waitress, and then started making her points. She started with the facts. A person was killed, she said. That person was Michael’s friend and colleague. He was killed minutes after Michael broke the news to him about the latest results of his research. The girls were with their grandmother, at their home, and they must be out of there quickly. Barbara had a plan. She looked Michael in the eyes, and suggested that she would go to the house; get the girls, some clothes, passports and some stashed away money. Michael will wait downstairs in disguise. If something suspicious happened, he was to warn Barbara, but not with a cellular phone call. She suggested a simple pattern Mike was to blow the car’s horn with, in order to sound the alarm. If something goes wrong, Michael was to drive to the summer home without her. She would stay behind and take care of the girls. If all goes well, they will drive in two cars to the summer home. Grandmamma will stay with the girls in Vermont, while Barbara and Michael come back to Boston to understand better what was going on.
Michael listened intently and silently. He looked disturbed. He only had a couple of problems, he said. He didn’t like the idea that she would put herself and the girls at risk, while he would stay free to wander around. She dismissed it and said that he had the best chance of solving the puzzle and resolving this mess. He knew his research and the people involved. He had access to all the computers and networks and to the results. He was in a much better position to get the family out of this. Michael concurred. There was no arguing with Barbara at that point in time. She had won this debate, and he knew it. Two changes, he said, needed to be made. The summer house is known to be a family asset. It was also two hundred miles far. Instead, he asserted, they could use the yacht. It was new, just recently bought, and the paper trail will probably not lead to them at least for some time. The boat was well equipped with food and drink, had plenty of room, plus it had another very significant benefit. Mrs. Mitchell was a certified skipper. If need be, they could take off on minutes notice. The other change was that they had to go to the lab too. He said that once the police would make the connection between Arthur Lewis and the research, they would show up at the lab and take everything. Mike needed to save the data, copy it, and have it available, so they could continue the search for the truth.
Barbara looked at him with a strange spark in her eyes. That spark existed many years ago, but hadn’t showed up for months, maybe years. “You know”, she said, “I needed to be reminded why I married you”. “You may have just done that”. She smiled at him, and said: “I missed you”. He didn’t have to answer. But he said it anyway: “I missed you too”.
Barbara suggested that Mike would go to the lab right away, while she would go home and fetch the girls, her mother and the other things they needed. They agreed to meet at the marina three hours later.
Barbara asked for the check, calculated the tip and left a little more. She tried hard to not be remembered. Leaving no tip or a ridiculously large one made people remember. They looked around to see they haven’t forgotten anything behind, and left the restaurant. They drove quietly to the motel, and entered the room. They showered, together, laughing and teasing each other. It’s been a long time since they had any physical contact, but they seemed to have remembered all the moves and touches. Soon enough they were in bed, kissing, touching. Each remembered why they fell in love with each other. Each regretted the months of separation, both accepted that if they want to survive this, they have to stick together. Together to the point that only a couple with children knows how. Two people who share the most precious possession together, realizing that this possession was in danger. It wasn’t said out loud, but they both felt that their bond was renewed. It felt as if they renewed their vows in church. In a way, it felt stronger than their first wedding.
When it was all over, Barbara looked at her husband’s eyes, and he looked back at her. After the physical part, the mental one followed. They were in love and they needed to be reminded of it. They had a purpose and they had lots of things to do. They realized that without the commitment, they stand no chance. They haven’t yet realized what the danger was, but they did know that it was something a lot bigger than what each one of them could handle separately. They knew that together, their chances of surviving this were tenfold.
“Off we go”, said Barbara. “Lets”, answered Michael. The Moores kissed and were on their way. Michael hailed a taxi, Barbara took her mother’s car.