Nandita To Nandini
- 4 years ago
- 282
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With his two loves looking over his arms, Hawk was trying to rapidly make sense of the headline. Brenda’s cell phone began ringing; she didn’t recognize the calling number displayed on the screen. “Hello,” Brenda answered.
“How’s my favorite Niece this morning? Did you like my present under your door this morning?”
Brenda exclaimed, “Aunt Beth! What’s going on? Where are you?”
“The whole gang is downstairs, but we can’t get past your security guard. We also have a big breakfast ready for room service to bring up.”
“Hang on a minute, Aunt Beth.”
Placing the phone on mute Brenda explained, “Aunt Beth and her gang are downstairs and they’ve room service waiting to bring breakfast; I’m assuming the food will be for them as well as for us. Also, the newspaper is from them, which means they can probably fill us in on the details. What should I tell them? I don’t even know how they knew where to find us.”
“How long will it take you girls to be ready for company?”
Maria responded, “We don’t have any extra clothes, or any makeup other than what’s in our purses. I can just get a quick shower and use the same clothes from yesterday until we can get back to the ranch. What about you, Bren?
“The same. Would you say twenty minutes?”
“I think that will work, especially if we don’t try to shower together. There are just too many distractions for when we’re in a hurry.”
“Aw shucks!” pouted Hawk playfully.
“Didn’t you get enough loving last night?” asked Brenda.
“When it comes to loving from you two, it’s like J. Paul Getty said when asked how much money was enough.”
“And what was his answer?” asked Maria.
“Just a little bit more,” laughed Hawk.
“Go get your shower, you sex glutton.”
“No, ladies first.”
“OK, you’ve shown us you’re a gentleman. Now, stop procrastinating and get your shower.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Hawk tried to look pitiful as he headed toward the bathroom. The two throw pillows following him down the hallway sent the message it hadn’t worked. While Hawk was in the shower, Maria advised the security team about the food and people who would be arriving in a few minutes. When she returned to the bathroom Hawk was drying off, and Brenda had just climbed into the shower. Looking at the bathroom counter, she found her clothes from yesterday neatly folded next to those of her sister-wife. With a little effort and a lot of cooperation, the three were ready with about three minutes to spare. They used that time to free up the tables and straighten the living room. Most of that task involved moving the white boards and notes from the previous evening’s meeting to a remote corner of the bedroom. When they finished, the three relaxed on the sofa until the food and favored guests arrived. Hawk sat between his two wives and held them both close to his chest. Their relationship had progressed to the point where one could almost sense one beating heart, rather than three.
Brenda answered the knock at the door. Hawk and Maria stood at her side; it was her Aunt, after all. The first to enter were the hotel staff, pushing several carts of food and beverages. Following them were Beth and Zed Andrews, Deke Templeton, and Elizabeth Johnson. This was the group that had listened to Brenda’s story about the hostage situation and had been the first to officially question John’s guilt.
After the hotel staff left there were hugs all around while everyone moved toward the food on the table. Before anyone started Brenda asked Zed to grace the table. Once it was said, those around the table attacked the waiting food. Other than when he was working on a programming problem, patience had never been one of Hawk’s strong points, so he finally asked, “Beth, can you enlighten us as to what is going on with this morning’s headlines?”
Zed grinned, and said, “I told you he’d be the first to break.”
“You were right,” replied Beth. “I was surprised Brenda even let us in the door without asking.”
Brenda laughed, and said, “I almost didn’t.”
Zed stopped eating for a moment as he reached over and took Beth’s hand. Smiling happily, he said, “There’s one announcement we need to make before we get into the news story. Beth has agreed to become Missus Zed Andrews.”
Brenda’s eyes lit up and she made a small shout of joy as she jumped out of her chair and ran around the table to hug her Aunt. Verbal congratulations followed from Hawk and Maria. This was truly joyful news for the entire group. Once the pandemonium calmed and everyone returned to their places Beth said softly, “Thank you all. Your approval and love means a lot to both of us. Now, in response to Hawk’s original question, I’m going to let Deke tell the story, or at least start it.”
“Hawk,” Deke began, “do you remember bringing up the question of how Candice got the visible part of your estate in spite of the prenuptial agreement?”
“Sure. I think it was during our very first meeting. You were still the Assistant Attorney General at the time.”
“Well, I did what I promised, and I raised the question. It bounced around for weeks before eventually coming to rest on the desk of the local District Attorney. In his inherent sense of right and wrong, neither your conviction for Candice’s boss’ murder, nor your subsequent ‘death, ‘ mattered in this situation. As he saw it that prenuptial agreement still controlled Candice’s access to your assets so he started an investigation. After one delaying tactic after another the DA finally had to threaten her attorney with charges of contempt and conspiracy before he was given the supporting document used to take over your known assets. It was an agreement modification signed by you, canceling the prenuptial agreement.”
“I never signed such an agreement!” Hawk stated emphatically.
“We know,” answered Beth. “Even without a handwriting expert it was obvious to everyone it was a forgery.”
“Beth’s right,” Deke added, “it was an obvious forgery, and the angry DA immediately placed the information before the currently seated grand jury. This is rather unusual, but he was urged to do so by the judge who approved the modification as well as granting the final divorce decree.”
“Why did he get involved?” asked Maria.
“Both of his decisions were based upon his clerk’s assurance of the validity of the signatures. When the DA presented the evidence, the judge went ballistic at the realization he’d been betrayed.”
“Does that nullify the divorce?” asked a concerned Maria.
“Maria, I seriously doubt it unless John appealed the decision. Thus, it’s a moot point unless John decides to return to the living.”
Hugging both wives close Hawk answered, “Deke, John is dead. Let’s leave him buried.”
Both of his women smiled brightly, looked at each other for a moment and then each softly whispered, “Thank you,” into an ear.
While she was at it Maria tickled his ear with the tip of her tongue. Hawk shook in response, and Brenda realized Maria had done something playful to their husband. In response, she playfully slapped her sister-wife’s wrist, and said, “Now, you behave.”
Hawk gave both of them a short kiss on the cheek, and asked, “So Deke, what happened after that, and why weren’t we kept informed?”
“Actually, I wasn’t even informed of what was happening until later. The first hint I had of what was going on was when the DA directed the estate to sue Candice for the funds that had been fraudulently taken. It turns out the clerk who certified the forgeries pled to a lesser sentence and turned ‘states evidence.’ Her testimony resulted in the attorney being disbarred, as well as Candice being indicted for a long list of related crimes.”
“I bet that made her happy,” remarked Brenda.
“Actually, we don’t know. She failed to answer any of the charges.”
“Really? I guess from what else we’ve heard I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“Bren, I wouldn’t be either,” added Hawk.
Deke continued, “Well, it didn’t make the judge very happy, either, and she ruled Candice could be tried in absentia, but with the right to appeal within a specified time period.”
“Deke, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of such a thing,” remarked Brenda.
“I haven’t either, but the judge, with assistance from the judge who handled the divorce, linked the case to the divorce proceedings and used a little known procedure to claim Candice had waived her right to face her accusers. It didn’t take the jury long to convict her of all charges.”
“What was her sentence?” asked Brenda.
“Eight to fifteen,” responded Deke.
“And the civil suit by the estate?”
“With the criminal conviction our civil case was a slam-dunk. As of ten weeks ago we’ve legal claim on all her assets within this country, or anywhere in the world that has agreements with the US covering such things. Since we didn’t know where she was, or the location of any of her assets, I didn’t say anything. Beside, you had other issues on your mind.”
“Deke, I understand how we got this far, but how does that lead to this morning’s headline?”
“Just be patient, Hawk,” encouraged Beth. “This is a complex story.”
“I’ll try, but remember, I don’t consider patience a virtue.”
Elizabeth Johnson, who’d been quietly sitting there, laughingly said, “He’ll go nuts when either of his wives are about to deliver a baby.”
Maria kissed Hawk’s cheek, and said, “Don’t you know it! I definitely plan on having one of the security team drive us to the hospital.”
“Aw. You don’t have to go that far. I’ll really work on it.”
“You’d better, or the first you’ll hear about your son will be in an email,” laughed Brenda.
Hawk tried to look sternly at his two wives. Unfortunately, he was a complete failure, bringing out a laugh from everyone. Even Hawk was laughing as he said, “OK, Deke, please continue.”
“At first, we tried to put more and more pressure on Candice’s lawyer. Eventually, we discovered his only means of contacting Candice was an email address and a postal drop in New York, and she wasn’t responding to anything sent to either. Anyway, we continued to work on the New York City link, sending registered letters and legal notices to the postal drop and passing various news releases to some of the New York Papers. We even paid to have some of the articles placed in prominent spots in the papers.”
At this point Deke nodded to Elizabeth Johnson and she took up the story. “Hawk,” she asked, “do you remember Constance Taylor?”
“Vaguely,” he responded. “Didn’t she run the cafeteria? She always seemed mad at me, but I never knew why.”
“Hawk, this gets rather convoluted, so please bear with me.”
“I’ll try.”
“Seven or eight years ago Constance, or Connie, was Candice’s secretary. About a year before the murder Connie lost a daughter to SIDS. Between her husband’s angry accusations and her depression Connie was a wreck. Candice tried to help her employee with some form of drug-induced hypnosis, but before she accomplished the task Candice and William Brockman’s affair became more serious.”
“In what way?” asked Brenda.
“Always the schemer, William saw the approaching visit of his little known twin, a missionary in East Africa, as a way to escape the threat of the wolves who were gathering at his door.”
“What wolves?” asked Hawk.
“It seems Mister Brockman was laundering money for the mob as well as one of the Colombian Cartels, and a sizable amount of money was missing. On top of this some of his land speculations were beginning to fail, and he was under investigation for securities fraud and bribery. He reasoned if he ‘died’ and became his twin he could walk away from it all.”
“What a heartless bastard!” exclaimed Maria. “Compared to him, Robert’s and my parents were ‘angels.’“
“And Candice was no better,” commented Doctor Johnson. “She convinced William to also use this as a means to get John out of her life and to bypass the now famous prenuptial agreement.”
Doctor Johnson’s throat was suddenly dry. When she stopped to drink some water Deke continued. “In their intricate plan you were supposed to pick her up from work, where you were to catch her boss, or the drugged unsuspecting twin, appearing to rape her. When you arrived, she shot Brockman’s brother several times.”
“How did that move to Hawk, I mean John, being the killer?” asked Brenda.
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“Yes, it’s time to create some corporate structure, including impressive offices for the executives.” “Dan, I thought the intention was for me to remain hidden.” “You will, but, at least for a while, it’ll be ‘hiding in plain sight.’ As soon as we can find a better spokesman then you can move more into the shadows.” “Why not have you in this position?” “Because, Hawk, ‘your’ people, as well as the world, need to see a Native American as the head of the company, or at least as the CFO of...
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Maria responded from the rear of the airplane, “I like those ideas, but I can see one problem right off the bat.” “What’s that, Chipmunk?” “We, as a people, are too small and too fragmented a group to be able to accomplish something like that. Our company might give them jobs, and even some hope, but getting a group of Apaches to work together is like trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube, or herding rabbits.” Dan responded, “Jason seems to do well with it.” “Dan, Grandfather...
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As the roof of the back part of the prison room began to fall Jason ran toward the main tunnel. He grabbed Hawk by the back of his shirt, dragging him along the floor until they were completely out of the room. The air was filled with dust, and without their surgical masks it would’ve been hard to breathe. A stunned Hawk said, “Whew! That was close.” Helping Hawk stand, Jason asked, “Are you OK?” “Other than a sore and bruised butt, I think I’m fine. Thanks for dragging my ass out of there....
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"So there she is," Bartholomew muttered in a tired voice. "We're finally here." The older man was standing in the bow of the Hawk gazing out at the vista that lay before him. Pedro stood beside him doing basically the same. It was the first time in weeks that either man had stood together side-by-side to share a word or even a thought. Bartholomew had in fact just rowed over from the Virago and this was the first time in over two weeks that he had stood upon the deck of the Hawk. "We...
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The Hawk sailed at dawn four days later. Aboard it was a full complement of the crew plus the raiding party. That number included Rashid, As-wad, and Ishmael. With them were a dozen handpicked soldiers from the factory all of whom were trained in the use of the bow. Behind them they left Ibrahim. He and Omar would run the factory and see to the day-to-day affairs of the Portuguese trading post while the captain of the Bella Rosa would command the trading fleet and the garrison. He would...
Hawk terminated the call and joined Bill and Gunnery Sergeant Kellogg. After a questioning look by Hawk, Bill said, “I called Brenda. They’re sending out two vehicles; one for us and one to carry Sergeant Kellogg back to Coronado Island.” “Excellent!” proclaimed Hawk. Then, turning to the sergeant Hawk said, “Gunny, I want to thank you for coming with me as security. I know we’re both grateful nothing happened that required your services, but it helped knowing you were there.” “Sir, I was...
Once Jason was settled into his regular room there began a steady stream of visitors. Hawk, Maria, and Brenda were the first to arrive, followed quickly by Beth, Zed, Deke, and Elizabeth. In fact, this entire group was still there when Senator McCray arrived. When he was introduced to everyone he was surprised at Deke’s presence. “Deke Templeton! What are you doing here?” Deke answered, “Senator, Beth, Zed, and Elizabeth have been my closest friends since before college, and Brenda is Beth’s...
A moment later Brian said, “I just talked to one of the drivers at the airport. Everything was handed over to the pilot, who said, and I quote, ‘get your ass back there as soon as possible.’“ Mike turned to Larry Reid, and said, “How about driving me back to the airport, as well as bringing my truck back to the Reservation?” “Sure, I can do that, but what about papers on your truck at the border?” “I’ll write out something that should suffice, but I’ll also notify Jason’s contact to pass...
Marsha led Dan Cashman to her research lab and demonstrated her new computer’s capability. He didn’t have any idea what Hawk was contemplating, but he knew once this system hit the market it should sell like hotcakes - especially in the corporate and government markets. Still standing in front of the prototype Dan pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. The direct line he had programmed into his phone rang at the desk of the secretary of his counterpart with their computer company...
"Another of my noblemen is dead," King Manuel murmured almost to himself, "and we are no closer to finding that mad man than we were two days ago. What are we to do?" It was early morning and the King of Portugal had been woken by his chamberlain well before the rest of the palace had begun to stir. The king looked tired and exhausted. He stood in his nightshirt and looked out the window of his chamber onto the grounds below it while his chamberlain reported the latest news in the search...
After Hawk’s agreement to become the ‘renegade leader’ of the Apache Rebellion Jason sighed in relief. “Hawk, I’m delighted you agreed to go along with me on this. I think you can make it work, and it goes hand-in-hand with your need to stay in the shadows.” “I’m glad you’re confident in my abilities Jason, but I’m not a leader. That’s why Dan and I have always worked so well together. I’d come up with an idea, and we’d go back and forth until it became something useful. At that point he...
"Whose ship is that?" Pedro was standing by the gangway of the Hawk, watching as the men working on the jetty at Eko hurried to tie off his ship. It was a week later and Pedro's force had finally returned home. It had been a long, hard trip for everyone involved. They had been forced to nursemaid the galley barge up the coast the whole time, restricting their progress to the speed of the oarsmen working it. Their trip had taken even longer since Pedro had been forced to put a prize crew...
In the middle of the party, a loud cry went up and we were under attack. All the chieftains ran back toward their tribes. Wolfgard and I raced back toward our tribe. The only weapons we had on us were our knives. We came upon a couple of raiders attacking some women folk of another tribe. We made quick work of them as we slit their throats. We got back to our tribe and I was so proud. War Hawk had the bows out and the hunters in formation with their helpers behind them handing out arrows. I...
The next day it was first announced the Vice President would survive his heart attack. A short time later the President added his running mate was going to retire. It seemed even the man’s most staunch supporters were fleeing like rats from a sinking ship. During all this it was revealed the electronics in the VP’s pacemaker were totally fried. One commentator had a scientist from MIT explain that there was too much physical damage for it to have been the result of EMP (electromagnetic...
“Yeah, Eduardo Vasquez is offering a hundred thousand for the man’s head, though, from what I’ve heard about the operation, Eddie boy may have bitten off a lot more than he can chew. Now, why were you asking?” “Just curious. Now, how about meeting me for a beer at Bennie’s Bar. I think I’ve got some security work for you, but I don’t want to discuss it over the phone.” “Then, meet me at Bennie’s in thirty minutes.” “Thirty minutes,” Ken replied, “and bring a bug detector.” Ken dropped off...
Chapter 4 “Good evening, Mr. Hawk,” a tall, handsome man said as they entered. “I see that you’ve brought a beautiful woman to dress up my shabby restaurant.”Reaching his hand out, Tommy said, “That’s exactly what I’m doing, Dominic. This place needs a little help, and I think when the word gets out that Elizabeth eats here, your business will improve.”“No doubt,” the man replied as he unashamedly checked her out. “Let me assume that with someone so lovely, you’ll not be sitting at the bar....
AnalIt’d been after 10:00 p.m. the previous evening when Prince Rashid finally returned to his embassy, but it was after midnight before Jason, Genna, Thad, and Joel had gone to bed. Those discussions had been very productive, though, for it looked like things would run smoothly, even for such a thrown together group of mismatched people. One of the first things that had come out was both of the Battens were thoroughly familiar with guns, both long and short. Though they hadn’t had the kind of...
The knock on the door to the conference room brought an end to the euphoric excitement that bonded the three lawyers together. Dennis went to the door and ushered in the young Indian woman. The three of them were rather surprised at the bruises and swelling on her face, feeling that beneath her injuries was a beautiful face to go with the attractive, slender body, the long dark hair and the soft brown eyes. Dennis introduced her to the other two, and then waited for her to talk. “Gentleman,”...
Hawk’s morning began with an early flight to the proposed area where the power and desalinization plants were to be built. As they flew along the coast Hawk could see one of the reasons for this location was it was the closest spot to deep water. However, Hawk was concerned about its isolated location and its proximity to other countries. He was also alarmed about its vulnerability to an attack by Iran. Back at the palace the two men discussed some of these concerns, as well as the...
It was a night like any other winter night in the City of Brockton. The snow was falling gently, the wind was light almost non-existent as two vigilantes keep a silent watch together over their fair city. Brockton used to be a nice city, it was once the ‘Shoe Capitol of the World’. The City of Champions, as its downtrodden citizens called it. Brockton was the birthplace of boxing champions Rocky Marciano and Marvin Hagler. It seemed to everyone living in the towns adjacent to Brockton that...
Maria led the people from the helicopter into the Hogan. The head doctor came over to Jason and saluted. Jason responded, “Colonel, I’m no longer in uniform. You’re not supposed to salute me.” “Sir, a few years ago, you pulled my ‘chestnuts’ out of the fire. As far as I’m concerned some people are always worth saluting. Now, fill me in.” “The girl who led you in here is my granddaughter, Little Ground Squirrel, but she’ll answer to Maria. This is her husband, Robert Gray Hawk. She was...