Meticulous Malice

Walking to get in line she saw him take up a location in the line further back. She waited her turn and presented her reservation number and frequent flier miles card. Her bag was weighed and sent on its way and she soon had her ticket. Her flight was in 45 minutes and she decided to go through security. If the man was an admirer he would have no business going to her terminal unless he was flying on the same airlines, if he was a cop he would show up anyway. She wasn't going to worry about it. If she flinched at every admirer or person who had followed her over the years she would have gone crazy. She only allowed her OCD to come out in the security and privacy of her home where she could afford to be a little paranoid, to relax, to be herself.

Security posed no problem since she had done her homework and her papers were in chaotic disorder as befitted a briefcase. Her laptop was of course examined; it's accessories still in the briefcase. Nothing red flagged the examiners and she was soon striding down the concourse to her flight. She had time for a quick meal but preferred to use the bar for a small light drink, a Shirley Temple, she rarely drank alcohol, refusing to allow her inhibitions or guard down too often. Besides, she was about to board a five hour flight, it would be foolish to allow herself to get ill for that length of time.

She watched unobtrusively for the man who had set off her alarms earlier but saw no sign of him. It might mean several things. One that he was just admiring the petite blonde, two that he was really good at concealing himself, or many more things that her active imagination could conjure up. She didn't allow herself that indulgence but she kept it firmly in a file in the back of her brain. It paid to be attentive at all times and while she had been careful over the years she didn't ever dismiss such small incidents. She was still sitting in the bar when her flight was announced. She strolled non-challantly towards the gate with her briefcase strap over her shoulder looking like a seasoned traveler. They checked her boarding ticket and she was let into first class with no problem.

"Can we get you anything before we take off?" a steward immediately asked the first class passenger.

Alice nodded, and while she had just had one she ordered a Shirley Temple. She liked having the fruity concoction on hand. A lot of the time it was just for appearances and prevented people from encouraging her to drink more or to buy her a drink. They often didn't realize it wasn't alcoholic by its appearance and this suited Alice. She sipped on it absentmindedly as she thought about what she would do once she arrived in South Carolina. The plane ride was long and boring. Someone of Alice's active nature found it a trial but she passed the time by dozing, not really sleeping, she wouldn't in so public a place, besides it left her vulnerable. She was just in time to catch someone from trying to 'move' her briefcase from under the seat where she had placed it and the shoulder strap around her ankle had woken her.

"What are you doing?" she asked the woman who was surreptitiously moving the bag.

"Oh ah, I um was moving it over, I didn't realize you'd wrapped the strap around your foot" she gestured to the other bag she had in her hand amazingly similar to Alice's own case as though she needed to move Alice's over to make room for it. Alice realized instantly it was a cheap imitation of her own expensive Gucci bag.

"I don't think so" Alice said to the woman who she now recognized as her seat mate who had sat down late next to her before they took off. She didn't know if the woman's story was legitimate and to give her the benefit of the doubt the other storage space was taken up by another bag, but Alice wasn't given to taking chances.

"I'm sorry I woke you" the woman apologized.

Alice accepted the apology and then sat up as dinner was served. She thought about the man she had seen earlier and the actions of her seatmate. She knew to a degree she was paranoid but it seemed entirely beyond coincidental that two things should set off her radar today. It put her a little on edge as she ignored all attempts by her seatmate to engage her in conversation as she looked out the window and ate her dinner, the woman finally got the hint when all her questions were answered with one word answers. Dinner was excellent but that was one of the many reasons she chose first class, the meals, the extra space, the courtesies were all better up here. She had flown business class many times in the past and hated the cramped space, the rude passengers, and the service. She much preferred being catered to on trips. She had to admit though this time she felt closed in on and was relieved when the captain announced their gradual descent.

Alice retrieved her bag and hailed a taxi outside the terminal. She had looked for her earlier admirer and saw no sign of him but that didn't actually mean anything so she remained alert. Her seatmate she saw had only one bag checked and this one could have been a carry on. In a time when most travelers carried as much of their baggage as the airline would allow this was curious that she hadn't. Alice shook herself, she really needed this vacation, she was seeing things in everyone.

She gave the address of the dockside terminal and the taxi sped off. She looked around interested as they sped through town towards the ocean. Just this morning she had woken to June glooms in California and now she was in South Carolina at a different coast, a different ocean, a different time and place. Her looks around weren't just the normal tourist gawk though as it appeared, she was looking to see if they were followed, she was pleased to see she wasn't right in this instance. Her alarms though had gone off twice today and it paid to stay alert. She paid the taxi, giving him a generous tip because she knew he would go back to the city empty. She carried her luggage and shoulder briefcase to the waiting plane that was floating at the dock.

"Ms. Weaver?" asked the black man with a decided Jamaican accent.

She smiled charmingly and nodded as she allowed him to take her travel bag, keeping her briefcase for herself as she climbed into the amphibious plane. She watched as he stowed it in the back seat behind her own.

"We have one other passenger" he told her and her earlier alarms made her a little nervous as they waited.

"How was the flight over here?" she asked to make conversation. She was always pleasant to her drivers, people who did service for her; it was a good habit and created good will wherever she went. You never knew what information you could glean from them and they certainly appreciated the tips.

"Ah, it was a little buckey coming into the winds, they had a storm yesterday and I see it is still causing a little bounce but it should be in our favor going back" he explained. She assumed the 'buckey' meant turbulence and hoped they wouldn't encounter it going back in the small plane. "You've been to the islands before?" he asked friendly.

She smiled and nodded "yes, it's a beautiful place, I enjoy the visit."

"I think I've flown you before" he said as he smiled his bright white teeth gleaming against his dark skin. He was a handsome man.

Alice looked closer and recognized him from previous trips down here "yes, I think you have" she agreed. She must have made a favorable impression.

He glanced at his watch "well, he must have missed his flight" he said as he sighed and got out of the plane to throw off the ropes that tied it to the dock. He gathered them effortlessly and got into the rocking plane. Alice could admire his casual skill, it was so easy to be thrown off balance by the waves and he handled it with the grace of a dancer. "Well, we will be on our way" he stated unnecessarily as he handed Alice a set of earphones to clamp over her head. He put on a set himself and started his checklist.

Alice was relieved that the other passenger had not shown up, preferring having the plane to herself and the pilot and not having to engage in unnecessary conversation and then wondered why they hadn't made the plane. It took real effort to make plans to catch this plane, they had to have wanted to go to the islands and she wondered what could have caused them to miss it. She let her paranoia wander for only a moment as she thought up possible reasons and then dismissed them. From bombs on this plane to delays of other flights, there could be hundreds of reasons why the man had missed this connecting flight. He could hire a boat to take him to the islands or wait for a flight in the morning.

The flight took 45 minutes and the sun was setting as they flew into the bay that marked the main island of the Cayman's. They were soon tied up at a dock and the pilot sprung out to hand Alice off to another man as they both steadied her. Between the bobbing of the plane and the dock it was a balancing act and the man respectively took her arm as he carried her luggage to a waiting taxi. Before she left Alice had thanked her pilot for the excellent flight, they had talked about deep sea fishing, and while Alice didn't know a lot she had gone once, studied it and could talk knowledgeably about it. His enthusiasm for the past time was infectious and she thought she might try it again. She gripped his hand, surreptitiously handing off a $50 American to his delight.

An officer was waiting at the end of the dock to check and stamp her passport. She knew this was only for forms sake, many people came and went on these islands without being checked but she wanted this stamp this time. The taxi whizzed her across town to the Hilton and she was soon checked into one of her favorite suites. Looking out over the ocean from her hotel balcony she thought about her paranoia today and wondered if it had been justified at all. She shrugged it off. Ordering room service for her first night she didn't want to draw attention to herself, especially as going out would make her have to take her briefcase with her, there was no way she would leave that amount of money lying around for a maid or someone else to riffle through. She knew a lot of the tricks as she had done them herself, from paying off a maid, to becoming one herself. There were a million ways to get into someone's rooms and rifle through their belongings, all without them having a clue. She knew until she had gone to the bank in the morning she wouldn't feel relaxed though, she needed to get rid of these bonds and checks.

Alice slept well, but then the islands always soothed her. Whether it was the Cayman Islands, Hawaii, or Fiji, she always slept well on islands. She thought she should feel trapped on these small pieces of land dotted around the Earth but instead their cool tropical breezes enthralled her, made her feel invigorated, and once her business was concluded, would relax her. She called for breakfast and ate a hearty meal of an omelet with bell peppers and ham, a delicious concoction lightly spiced with something she only found here in the Caymans, a Jamaican influence she often thought. After a refreshing bath she dressed in shorts and a thin red spaghetti strapped blouse that allowed her large breasts to be held in by the built in shelf bra. She covered this enticing blouse with a white button down shirt and buttoned only the bottom three buttons. The red of her undershirt would show through attractively and she looked enough like a tourist that anyone who saw her would not discern the seriousness of her business.

She checked her on line accounts as was her normal morning habit but the market wasn't open yet in New York with the time difference and it didn't matter anyway, she was on vacation, sorta. She was well protected money-wise and nothing short of a catastrophe in the stock market or a government collapse could affect some of her funds. Closing up her laptop she slipped it into her case.

She decided to walk to the banking district. Run by the Swiss government it was the closest access to her Swiss accounts from the United States that Alice could personally access. Some of her transactions required her personal touch and she enjoyed traveling to the Caymans for personal as well as business get aways. It was a beautiful spot to transact anything she thought as she walked along. Her alarms had quieted after a good night's sleep but she still was aware of her surroundings and those people around her. She made her way to a tall building, at least tall for this tropical island, an unobtrusive building, nothing special about it. Few people would know that it handled billions of dollars in transactions around the world daily. Alice had been a depositor for years. She went through their security, an arduous but necessary task; something the airline could learn a thing or two about as they scanned her for weapons, bombs, or any threat to their security. This bank would never be threatened; most of their money was in the form of electronics or rather electronic transfers.

Alice made her way to the secure boxes on the lower level, necessitating further security measures on their part, checking her, scanning her once again before allowing her access to her safety deposit box. An official of the bank greeted her, recognizing her from past visits, checking her identification and passport, and accompanied her to the safe where her box was held. This was one of several safes, not all boxes were in the same safe, a secure precaution as the bank official used a retinal scan to enter the safe and escort her in. They used their identity cards simultaneously so the door would open and then an old fashioned set of keys to simultaneously unlock the door to her box. He pulled the long box out for her and left her alone to open it in private.

Alice was alone in the vault. No cameras, no other people, nothing to see what she kept in the box. She opened it to check that it was the same as she had left it before. Nothing was out of order as she thumbed through the bonds, the cash in several denominations that she kept there, the raw gems in their various packets, and a couple more passports in various names for her use. She put her briefcase on the table and rifled through the secret compartment for the bonds she wanted to place inside the secure box. She took out one of the passports and replaced it with the one she had brought with her. It didn't pay to have passports without current stamps on them occasionally; they were rendered useless if one didn't pay attention to details such as this. Her eyes gleamed at the amount of money that this box represented. Few people realized that cash was actually useless in the long term and that negotiable bonds were a godsend in this world's economy. Precious gems could be easily transported and bought and sold and Alice had learned from a one of the best a few years ago, her lover had enjoyed teaching her before going on her way to another pupil, another student, Alice hadn't minded, the knowledge she gained had been invaluable.

She locked the box back in the wall after closing it tightly with her valuables intact, memorizing their placement for future visits. Alice knew behavior like this was obsessive but her compulsive need to know where things were, meticulous accounting of things, had saved her time and again in this cutthroat world. The bank officer wasn't necessary to lock the box, only to unlock it and she closed the wall lock with confidence knowing it would take a nuclear blast to get in these vaults. She met the official outside the vault waiting patiently for her to complete her businesses inside.

"I will need to make a deposit" she mentioned as she adjusted the strap to her briefcase on her shoulder, he nodded as he escorted her back upstairs to the conventional bank. He left her in one of the private offices and she was soon joined by another banking officer.

"Hello Ms. Weaver" a familiar voice intoned.

Alice looked up surprised and pleased to see Sonja smiling at her. "Why hello" she said expressing her pleasure in her tone "this is a pleasant surprise, I thought you went to Switzerland?"

Sonja nodded as she held out her hand to shake Alice's lingering a little long in her caress; they both knew what it meant. "I did, I studied there for six months and they sent me back home."

Alice was very pleased; this meant she wouldn't be alone for the duration of her trip. Sometimes breaking in a new girlfriend was more trouble than it was worth and searching the local tourist spots or clubs could get boring. Sonja knew her, or at least thought she did and they could have a nice time together while Alice was on the island. "Would you like to have dinner tonight to 'catch up?'" she said with a little innuendo that they both understood they would eventually wind up in bed.

Sonja looked delighted at the prospect as she agreed "now, I'm sure I am not what brought you to the islands since you didn't know I was here" she said coyly.

Alice laughed, Sonja was all business on some levels and for that she approved wholeheartedly. "I'd like to open an account" she began.

Sonja never turned a hair. As much as she enjoyed this American and the little she knew about her she would never let on how intrigued she was by her and her business transactions. It would be unseemly to mention the hundreds of thousands of dollars they handled for her, sometimes millions. "What have you got for us today?" she asked instead.

In fairly short order the cashier's checks were deposited in a Swiss bank account that only Alice could access. There would be of course a short hold on the funds until the checks cleared their issuing banks. Even cashier's checks were subject to fraud these days and while Alice would have normally transferred the funds, this personal touch had been necessary to check the safe deposit box and deposit the bonds in it, they had been building up in her home safe and she felt better having them here. Next time she might choose one of her other hidey-holes but a trip to the Cayman's had sounded good to her. Now finding Sonja here made it an even better trip for her.

"I've put the normal safety and security protocols on this account?' Sonja asked as they concluded their business and she typed into her computer.

"That would be fine" Alice answered knowing that these types of things were necessary when handling large sums of money, to even open an account in most Swiss related banks here in the Caymans you had to deposit $300,000. The cashier's checks she had just deposited totaled many more times that amount but it always paid to be careful, to spread out your wealth between various accounts and transactions. She noted the new account in her phone, sending herself an email, encoded, before erasing the email once it was sent. She was always careful that way, erasing the history, the places she visited on her phone, even her phone calls. She knew it all could be recovered by someone with the right equipment but the casual thief, the casual look, or the local law enforcement usually didn't have the right equipment and she wanted to make it as hard as possible for anyone to find out information about her. She certainly wouldn't make it easy for anyone.

"So, now that we are done with business, where did you want to go for dinner?" Sonja's voiced turned coy.

Alice smiled, she liked that about Sonja, and she always kept business, business and personal, well personal. "Your choice, pick me up at my hotel after work?"

"Give me a little time to change into something" she looked down at her business suit "a little more casual."

Alice agreed as she gathered her now empty briefcase, except for the ever present laptop. She hung the strap from her shoulder, her relief over having concluded her business was almost something palpable to her but you wouldn't know it from her appearance as she looked casual, a common tourist. "Okay, I'll see you later then" she smiled and the banking executive returned the smile, anticipating a lovely evening.