A Weird Storm...

"That's o.k., I've been busy here getting settled in for the storm. We've lost a few lawn chairs and a few other items I'm not sure were ours. The seawall is holding but the water is splashing over the top. I had to close the shudders to keep them from tearing off and busting a window. The power is out so I'm stuck here without coffee." His voice indicated a genuine edge of irritation.

His one true vice was coffee, a leftover from the navy. He had spent several years on a submarine, most of that time at sea. Coffee had been one of the few comforts available and so it became a habit for him to have strong coffee morning, noon and night. He wasn't drinking as much but it was a dark day if his daily ration was missed.

"Well, I'm sure you'll survive without coffee for one day" she said.

"Yeah, I know. It'll be a pain in the ass though" he said sounding less irritable. "Who are you with?" he asked suddenly.

"The owner of the lighthouse, his name is 'Richard, Richard Holmes." She said. There was a brief silence on the line

"Oh yeah..I think I bumped into him at the fruit stand by the house here. Is he kind of tall, blond hair and pony tail...kinda studly?" he asked.

"Yeah that's him" she said and quickly decided to change the subject in case her husband had ideas of getting jealous. "How come we didn't hear about this storm?" she asked.

"The weather station said that it formed so fast that nobody had time to send up a warning until several hours before it made land fall and we were asleep for that, so everyone was caught flat footed." Rich sighed; understanding how it happened didn't change the fact that they were now stuck weathering a storm in two different locations and himself without coffee.

"Yeah, it could have been worse if I'd been on the beach when the surge hit" she said as the

realization of her close call hit her.

"Yeah" came a quavering voice indicating a similar realization had just hit Rich. "Man, we owe Mr. Holmes for pulling you out of that mess, don't we?"

"Yes we do but we need to conserve these batteries if this storm is going to last as along as they say it will." she said. "Another two hours then?" she asked.

"Yeah, two hours, Bye" Then as a parting he said "Have Fun". She could have sworn that he was chuckling.

"Bye." Turning off the phone she stared at the phone wondering just what he meant by 'Have fun'. Then with a dismissive 'sigh' she put her phone away. '

"Everything o.k.?" he asked.

"Yeah. The power is out over there so he can't make coffee. She said forcing herself to gaze into the fire. "He drinks too much of it anyway." Rich nodded turning back to look into the fire and toss another log on the coals.

"There are worse vices to have" he said.

"Yes, but he used to drink it by the pot full to the point where he was shaking from the caffeine" she said

"Oh wow. He drank that much coffee? I've never had more than three or four cups at one time..and that was too much for me" he said pausing to poke the fire. "I can only imagine what he was like after that much coffee".

Laurie nodded looking into the fire, still tired but not so that she needed to sleep. "That first year after the navy he was constantly wound up because he had the habit bad. I couldn't believe how much coffee he could drink".

It wasn't long before the log Rich added to the fire was adding its energy to the room. He had disappeared into the kitchen to make more coffee and was soon back with a pot and tray piled high with scones and cakes.

"You're quite the host" Laurie said taking a scone as Rich refilled her cup.

"From the looks of this storm we may be here a few days. We might as well make the best of it. It's a good thing I went Costco yesterday. I was going to put it off until today, glad I didn't." He put the pot down and walked over to the window.

"The weatherman still hasn't made sense of this storm. They've been calling it the instant storm because it doesn't seem to have an identifiable origin and it is behaving like nothing anyone has experienced before. They had been saying that it would blow itself out in a day or two, but now they're saying that it could last as long as a week."

Laurie looked up in shock "A week? How can they say that? It just hit, it could blow out just as quickly couldn't it? He nodded in agreement but said nothing as he sipped his coffee.

"That's what they are saying" he answered staring out the window. Then turning he walked back over to his chair and sat down. "The origin of the storm is a mystery but they seem to know what is feeding the violence of it' he said sitting back.

"Apparently, weather images have this thing growing more and more intense due to a massive geothermal vent that stretches from the base of the volcano out 100 miles which is warming the water to abnormally high temperatures feeding the storm its energy. They seem to think that Hawaii is building another island.

One guy is speculating that the spontaneous nature of the storm was the result of the deep sea eruption. But that is only a theory at this point because the water has to be super heated to near boiling point to reach the surface with adequate heat to spontaneously create a storm out of thin air."

He stood looking out the window sipping his coffee as a stop sign flew by. "Whats more probable is that a tropical storm formed right over the hot spot and took its energy from the warm water"

Laurie sat down next to him cross legged feeling overwhelmed "A week?" she whispered to herself. Her vacation would be ruined. But she shook off her self pity remembering that it could be much worse. "You could be dead" she reminded herself silently before adding, "At least I have good company" she said out loud before sipping her coffee.

"Ditto" Rich replied. "Seeing as we may be cooped up together a few days, we might as well get to know each other" he said. "So, tell me a little about yourself."

Laurie sat back staring into the fire. "What do you want to know?" she asked.

He leaned forward with a mischievous grin saying "Well, you could start by telling me the basics like where you went to college, how long you've been married, have you ever cheated on your husband, ya know basic stuff." He said.

Laurie laughed "Yeah, o.k...the basics, right." She relaxed a bit because of his joking. She was always in her element with a person who could keep up with her sharp wit. "O.k., I grew up in San Jose California, I went to Chico for one year and finished my degree in Graphic Design at San Jose State. Got a job with the Office of Education. My husband was in the Navy when we met. We got married a year after he got out and we've been married almost 17 years. As for cheating on my husband..." she paused and looked him in the eye, "I'm going to keep you guessing."

His reaction to her 'non-answer' was to raise his eyebrows and grin. "Well, I was kidding about the last one. I like your answer though, it keeps things interesting." He sat back and gathered his thoughts. "Guess its my turn." He said. "Ok, well, I am an attorney/ SEC investigator. More accurately I work for the SEC investigating firms that are suspected of not operating 'ethically'. I'm the guy who seizes their books before they have a chance to 'cook' them." He sat back and sipped his coffee.

"You must be very busy then" Laurie said

He nodded. "Yeah, but we are on hiatus at the moment. Apparently someone got wind of one of our bigger investigations and does not want us to dig any deeper." His frustration was apparent as he leaned forward onto his knees. "I'm here because I need to lay low until the heat eases off in D.C. I've got some serious dirt on these people, even former VP Cheney. That guy is so dirty. My frustration lies with the fact that every single one of the people I've got dirt on holds one Presidential Pardon. So no matter what I dig up on them or share with the public they will never be prosecuted for any crime committed while serving under Bush."

He stood throwing his hands up in frustration. "I am the guy who is supposed to bring the heat and I'm the one laying low waiting for things to cool down. These guys should be searching for a rock to hide under or seeking residence in a non-extradition treaty country to avoid prison, certainly not leading this country." He groaned in frustration and continued "That does not mean they are willing to let the public in on their filth. That pardon might keep them out of jail but what I have would ruin them financially, politically and socially. In short they'd have political leprosy. For a politician that is worse than death. So I'm biding my time until the time comes to release the evidence to the media." He smiled with satisfaction which almost immediately turned to a frown.

"However, the damage I do will have a back lash. They will send out their minions, hunt me down to destroy the evidence and me with it' he smiled grimly and continued 'My plan is to first release it to every State Attorney General. A few of these people will actually pursue it on strength of evidence alone. To force the issue on those who will not take action I'll tour the nation releasing the same evidence to the media and announce that every AG in the nation has this evidence in hand. Which will, I hope, force them to take action. Once that is done, I disappear to a network of safe houses where I can monitor the proceedings in safety so that if necessary I can 'prod' the media with more information from an untraceable location.

If it works the way I figure these men will be unable to generate the resources necessary to suppress the evidence after six months. After a year they will either quietly remove themselves from the US to hide in a third world nation or off themselves after drinking the last of their wealth which will disappear around month seven." He laughed in genuine glee at his last sentence.

"What happens in month seven?" Laurie asked.

Leaning in he shook his head "I can't really tell you that. But I will say this, if the AG's do not seize assets as I suspect will happen by month six, their assets will disappear from sight by month seven, overnight" he snapped his fingers to indicate an instant and seemingly permanent fix to the situation.

"After which I plan to retire." The word retire was emphasized suggesting that not 'all' of that money would disappear. "That will be the best way to hurt these people. Take their money which equates to power, especially in D.C., and they will either leave the country in fear of their lives or turn themselves in to the authorities to protect themselves from dying at the hands of an angry mob etc, etc" he laughed audibly. "Bernard Madoff did exactly that, knowing that he wouldn't be able to hide from the more dubious persons he had bilked in his Ponzi scheme. Did you know that most of the 'mob' is now in legitimate business?

Most of them own insurance companies. Ironic isn't it? They can now extort funds 'legally' without the risk of going to jail or having to break knee caps with baseball bats. Whats worse, they're even more powerful now than they were before." At this his anger surfaced as he stomped over to the window to calm himself. "One day soon, these men will have the rock they hide under turned over and they will be exposed for the vile, loathsome miscreants they are."

"Can you really do that' she asked 'legally?.

He simply nodded, strain showing on his face.

"Yes, it can be done' he shrugged 'as far as legally?" He spread his hands in an 'oh well' gesture. "These people 'wrote' the laws which they are exploiting to enrich themselves and hide their misdeeds with. It is the 'law' which prevents me from prosecuting criminal conduct to the fullest extent of the law" he shook his head "Sounds twisted doesn't it?"

Laurie merely nodded understanding his frustration with his attempting to do his job and being prevented from doing it by the very law he was meant to uphold.

"Sounds frustrating" Laurie said taking in the tension her companion was clearly feeling.

He nodded and continued on "What drives me is knowing that these guys are making billions even trillions off the death and destruction of innocent, hard working Americans." Slapping his thigh in frustration he continued "The crimes these guys are guilty of would send an ordinary citizen to prison for life."

He looked at Laurie apologetically "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to turn this into a gripe session. Thanks for letting me get it off my chest though."

He reached for the coffee and offered Laurie a refill which she accepted. The coffee was good. Noticing the marble chessboard sitting on the far side of his chair "Do you play chess?" she asked.

He nodded "I used to be pretty good, the people I used to play quit playing me because I always won".

Laurie took that as a challenge "Really?" she asked. "The last time I lost was to a Polish national whose hobby was chess but I made him earn the win" she said. Riches eyebrows raised as a doubtful grimace presented.

"You know Chess is the national pass time in Poland right?" he asked. "Actually its a national obsession, not quite soccer but it runs a close second."

Laurie shook her head "No, I had no idea it was that popular in Poland. Like I said he won but I made him earn it."

Rich gave her a look of 'knowing arrogance' that irked her but she said nothing. "O.k., let's see what you can do. Normally I'd make a wager on the outcome but I do not want to take unfair advantage of you" he said grinning smugly as he placed the chess board between them.

This irritated Laurie even more but she controlled the automatic retort she usually made and said "We'll see just how good you really are" keeping her tone even not wanting to sound arrogant or overly confident. After all she didn't know the man and he 'could' be as good as he said. On the other hand Laurie was of higher than standard intelligence and had a hard time not letting it show.

She decided to show him just what she could do. She set up the board while he fiddled with the fire and added another log. She ended up as white and so started the match. Rich had underestimated her quite badly and did not really pay attention to his game and got soundly thrashed in less than ten minutes.

"O.k." He moved his chair so that it faced the board directly and set up his pieces again. "Lets see if you can do 'that' again." He said.

As Laurie set her pieces she asked "What sort of wager would you like to make?" she said confidently.

Having attributed his defeat to being careless he had lost none of his confidence. "What would you like it to be?" he asked.

"Since we haven't got money and I want you to have an incentive to win, I think you should set the wager" she said. Rich sat back and stared into the fire glancing every so often to Laurie then back to the fire.

Finally he turned to Laurie and said "I know what I'm playing for. Before I set my wager what are you playing for?"

Laurie answered "If I win, I want a massage".

He smiled approvingly "O.k., 'if' I win' he leaned in close and whispered 'I want to kiss you" Laurie smiled nodding her approval as her heart leaped at the prospect of kissing this man. She nodded smiling to herself, she had a genuine win-win situation. Her mind raced as her situation played out in her head. Alone in a storm with a hunky, well mannered gentleman, an accommodating husband, things couldn't be much more interesting for her.

Two hours and a bottle of wine later his king fell but only after giving Laurie a good match. He lost gallantly. "I hope you're up for a rematch later' he said 'and...we're upping the wager. You game?"

Laurie stared at him trying not sure about what he meant. "Upping the wager? What exactly would you like to up the ante to?" Rich blushed which said it all and Laurie laughed at his embarrassment. "O.k., we'll discuss 'that' after I stretch my legs and move around." She said stretching out after spending two hours sitting Indian style.

While she stretched out she noticed the crusty sensation of dried sea salt on her skin. "I'd like to take a shower to get the salt off me if that's o.k., then you can give me my massage" she said as she scratched at areas beginning to get irritated.

"Why don't I show you around the house and on the way we'll drop you off at the bathroom, OK?" he asked. Laurie agreed and followed him into the kitchen.

The house itself had only four rooms if you did not include the attic, which had served as barracks for the men stationed there during the war. Ten men could sleep in the attic on cots lined up along side the room, the only privacy being a curtain hung by a wire the length of the room.

This set up had long since been replaced by storage boxes and years of accumulated memories put away and forgotten. Access to this room was an outside staircase at the rear of the house and going outside was simply not an option. This point was made quite clear as what appeared to be a tree was carried on the wind and out to sea.

Both she and Rich watched as it tumbled through the air past the cliff wall and out into the storm. Riches mouth fell open in awe and said "An entire tree, Dear God, what is happening?" Laurie shook her head not knowing what to think. Stepping into the kitchen Rich flipped on the light. "This is the kitchen" he said waving a hand to indicate the smallest space in the house.

It was a small but efficient old-fashioned looking kitchen. The most prominent feature was the stove which was a modern oven made to look old. The central island was an old butchers board modified with sink and disposal. The coffee maker set on a shelf next to the stove and appeared to have the same antique flare as the rest of the kitchen with the same modern conveniences.

The floor was solid wood made of Brazilian Ironwood, a wood that made oak seem like pine by comparison. There was no room for a table so the central island served that function. "Cozy" Laurie said. Rich nodded agreement but said nothing.

He took her to the bedroom next which was decorated with a very feminine chic. Deep red velveteen pillows were piled high on an antique four-poster bed over an even deeper red bedspread, which brushed the hardwood floor. Hanging from the ceiling over the bed were white linen draperies, which were pulled back and tied to each corner of the four-poster bed which hung low over the head board affecting images of a Victorian Brothel.

Laurie raised her eyebrows. Rich picked up on it and said "My wife decorated it". Laurie nodded glad that her momentary concerns for his 'orientation' were satisfactorily addressed. As if to answer why he never redecorated he said "It was the last thing she did to this place, I can't bring myself to change it."

Bordering the bed were doors to his and hers walk in closets otherwise the room was sparse in furnishings save for the antique cabinet in which the television was kept. Directly opposite the bed was a massive picture window with slat blinds. Rich flipped a switch and a low hum of an electric motor opened the blinds. Framed by palm trees swaying in the wind, was a spectacular ocean view.

However black clouds and slate gray seas churned to a froth detracted from what might have been a breath taking view. He stood to her right and slightly behind her just out of sight though she knew he was there, she felt his aura and was somehow drawn to him.

Unconsciously she moved closer to where he stood. An old, familiar 'feeling' rose from deep in the pit of her stomach. The desire to suppress it did not materialize. Her heart beat so forcefully she was afraid he might hear it. She certainly could.

His voice broke into her thoughts making her jump. "Its usually a little nicer than this, the view I mean. Some nights I might see ten or twelve ships pass over the horizon. I wonder what they are doing on board, where they are headed and who might be watching back. Our world used to be so big and full of wonder...but now....." he shook his head never finishing his thought as he broke into a new one "It helps me think of the world as a bigger place, where good people still exist...somewhere."