Dark as Daylight Ch. 16

Any time Rebecca and I go on a date; it will be under heavy guard. We will not go to a hotel to be alone, Mr. Finch; we will go to a restaurant, to a movie, just to places where we can get to know each other. I already told her I am looking for a long-term companion, not a one-night stand. She told me she is looking for the same. When she returns to Chicago, Rebecca and Debbie are going on birth control pills. I didn't ask if she was already on them, or to go on them. She advised me that Debbie does everything she does, that they are as close as twins, if not closer, and this will happen as soon as you return home.

I feel a connection to Rebecca. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm willing to find out. I want to know if it is because she is just a girl, or if she is the girl that is supposed to be in my life. You are her parent. You can place whatever restrictions on our movements you wish. I just want you to realize that your restrictions will probably be lighter than the restrictions Mr. Constantine, and my other agents will be putting on us."

"Richard, why hasn't my granddaughter moved since you started talking to me?"

"I told her to stay exactly where she was. She was afraid you were going to explode, when I asked you to move down here, within the month, and we were going to start dating. I told her she was overreacting, but she was afraid you were going to become ill."

"Go back to her, and tell her when we return to Chicago I will put the apartment up for sale, and we will start packing. You two can start dating, and I agree if you keep it on a platonic level, everything should be fine between us. If it moves further, my granddaughter and I are going to have a talk, a very serious talk."

"As far as your apartment is concerned, Mr. Finch, my lawyer will purchase it at whatever price you ask. I don't want you to have to think about that. I can arrange a meeting between Mr. Laver, and you tomorrow at your convenience. As far as the talk between your granddaughter and you, I don't believe it will happen on this planet, Mr. Finch. We are going to be moving very methodically. As your granddaughter told me, 'I am not allowed to use The Braille Method.' I told her neither was she."

"You are fine young man, Richard. I hope things work out with you and Rebecca, and if it doesn't, 'It is all just a part of growing up."

Richard thanked Sam, and ran back to Rebecca, who had not moved 1 inch.

"Come on let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"We're going to the bathroom, where else?"

"My grandfather did not give you permission to take this off me."

"Ask him; I'm buying your apartment in Chicago. I'm giving you a house to live in here in Charleston, free of charge, and you will be moving here, somewhere between the next two weeks and one month. We can date; we can go out all we want. If you don't believe me ask him."

Rebecca looked in his eyes and wasn't sure if he was telling her the truth or not. She turned to her grandfather, who was just taking his seat next to her grandmother.

She yelled out, "Grandpa is it true? We're going to move down, and I can date him?"

"Yes Rebecca, when we return to Chicago, I will take care of our affairs, you girls will do the packing. We will come back here as quickly as possible. As far as dating Richard is concerned, that is your choice. Your old enough to make your own decisions, and if that is what you want to do, you have my blessing."

Rebecca jumped in the air, screamed, 'Yes'! When she landed, she grabbed Richard and kissed him.

Deborah stood up, and yelled, "Go Becky!"

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"Why did I have to come to the bathroom with you, I'm fine, Richard."

"Did you see what Rebecca was nearly wearing? She told me that Debbie is wearing a little less."

"It's not possible unless she's naked."

"What would happen to you physically, if she was naked?"

"I would be sporting an erection that would never go down."

As he looked at himself in the mirror, Richard said, "Is that the worst of it, Holden; because if it is, we can leave. I must say you would have much greater control over your bodily functions, then I would have over mine. You would be able to fight Debbie while sporting an erection, and expecting nothing to happen.

You are going to be looking at her body, while she is floating around the ring, like the angel she is, with her magnificent breasts moving hypnotically, from side to side, under some thin minimal fabric, and seeing the folds of her vagina, which are captured so very intimately, in the recesses of her thighs. There you are caught, during these wondrous moments, as I will be, thinking about things any normal pubescent male, like us, would love to be doing, with these beautiful young women. I don't think fighting would be anywhere on your list. However, as you continue to gaze into each other's eyes, daydreaming, things could get very overheated, and messy, very messy, before you realize what has happened to you. Lust overtakes the control you have over your body, and it tells it what to do. You are no longer master of your own destiny. Your pituitary gland has taken over, and it will not be denied. Do you understand what I mean Holden?"

Richard heard an anguished cry coming from one of the units behind him, as he peered into the bathroom mirror smiling. He shook his head, and laughed. Mission accomplished.

"Fuck you, Richard."

"I brought you in here to take the edge off, big guy. This way, you won't go off like a firehose, when you see what Debbie is nearly not wearing, and your Godan will stay dry."

"It was very thoughtful of you. If they ask, am I supposed to tell them you jerked off too?"

"What do you think I was doing out here, while you were in there?"

"You did not; you're not tall enough."

"Since when did you become the height police?"

"Did you, or did you not jerk off?"

"I did."

"You are a liar, but I can't call you down on it."

"Good, now you can ask me why I'm running the water, and cleaning the bowl. Now leave it alone, and let's go back to the gym. I want to start getting to know Rebecca."

"You know what Joe says, 'The only thing on the human body that doesn't move laterally is the NAVEL. If you want to hit someone for sure that is the place to aim.'

As they were leaving the bathroom, Laura grabbed them by the backs of their necks.

"I wasn't sure if you two fell in, or were enjoying yourselves too much together. Which was it?"

"My little brother is so big, he needed four hands to reach nirvana. When he did, it took us 10 minutes to clean up after he exploded."

"Very funny Richard, I think I'm going to aim at your navel."

"You will definitely hit me."

"It's true, boys, but you must remember, if you live by that rule, you can also die by that rule. A kick to the Navel, takes if 1.16 seconds to set up your body and deliver the kick. It leaves your center open for a counter attack, for .81 seconds. Depending on the height and skill level of your opponent, a counterattack can come from any of the nine defense positions, from one half second before you think you're going to make contact, to .31 seconds after you make contact, or you miss it.

In Joe's case, the best form of counterattack, for me, is retreat. He is too dam big, too dam strong, too dam ugly, and I love him too much to disable him. Also, feeding him takes me just as much time, as making love with him, and it is definitely not as much fun."

Joe yelled, "Laura, this is a PG rated event. Make Your Mouth Behave, or I will have you removed from these premises."

"Excuse me Mr. Constantine, what did you just say to me?"

"Miss FBI agent Constantine, I told you to make sure your mouth behaves, or I will have you removed from these premises."

"Mr. Constantine, I would like to see how you do that?"

"I won't even break a sweat Mrs. Constantine, and you will be out of this room in 60 seconds or less, if you don't behave."

"Does anyone have a stopwatch?"

Almost everyone raised their hands.

"Please put 60 seconds on it, and when you are ready say 'GO!"

"GO!"

"Jim, may I borrow your cell phone please?"

Laura said, "The big man has to call in more troops to handle his little wife."

"Hello William, how are you doing?"

Laura screamed, "Joe, NO!"

"She's pregnant with your third one already?"

Laura's eyes opened wide. She knew who he called. Over the din of the gymnasium, she yelled, "Don't, I'll go home peacefully, I promise I will."

Those who were listening to both conversations could not figure out what was going on. Laura was in charge one minute, and begging for freedom, or her life the next. What the hell was going on here?

*********************

"I'm amazed you're still alive. How did you do it? Why didn't Gwen kill you?"

********************

"That woman is so cool, and she is as sneaky as any witch I know. She wanted to go back to work and decides to have your third child immediately after Devon was born. Are you going to name it William 3?"

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"Your brother will die! What! You can't do that to me, Will. If I don't tell her, she will crucify me. You know she carries two guns with her wherever she goes, don't you?

No William, I still can't beat her in a gym without walls behind me. Don't make me...

Please William, I can't do that... I am as good as dead... You bastard. I don't know how I'm going to get even with you for this. No, we have decided not to have children. We are too far up in age to start with little ones... but I will get even with you. Let me speak to your dad maybe he can help me.

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Oh, I can imagine what he said when you told him. Did you have an ambulance outside, waiting to take him to the hospital? Wait one minute, did you change the name of the hospital to the William and Jemma Zabo Moneymaking Pavilion?"

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"My Great Grandfather did not do that. Send me a picture of the hospital, along with the articles of incorporation, with the state and government documents and seals. Then I will believe that your father and mother turned that into a 'Not-For-Profit' Hospital.'

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"What do you mean 'I'm on the Board of Directors?"

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"What do you mean 'Ask My Wife?' She knows all about it.

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I signed the documents, and had her bring them in?"

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Joe turned to looked at Laura.

***********************

For the first time in their marriage, she looked back at him in fear. She took a few steps back, only to walk into a wall of agents that made up her protective unit. At this moment, she was happy to have these six agents standing with her. The murderous look on Joe's face told her he knew something she didn't want him to know, and if it had anything to do with the Bureau, she would die before she would tell him about it."

*********************

"William, before I kill her, for no reason, may I speak to my great grandfather please. Either he will save her life, or he will give me permission to make her disappear in a bag of concrete dust."

*******************

"It's possible, William, but I have her worried now."

*********************

""I understand that William, and I guarantee you in one year Gwen will quintuple it. However, at this moment, I wish to speak to my grandfather. I want to kill my wife. I have grounds to do it. Not legal grounds, but Italian grounds to do it. I want to know if he will back me up on it. Thank you, William."

*********************

"Hello grandfather, how are you?"

"Now that the boys have taken the pressure of the businesses off my shoulders I feel like I'm 50 years old again. Life is good, very good Joseph how are things down south?"

"I'm going to kill her. I just want your approval, because I'm using Italian grounds to do it."

"You must be very careful, because there will be an inquest by your elders to be sure your grounds meet the strictest standards of Italian law. What has she done this time Joseph?"

"All the paperwork for the hospital, I never had a chance to read them. She mixed them together with other documents and had me sign them. I could have been signing my own death warrant, and I would not have known it. She is transferring money out of my private account, and I don't know where it's going. When I get vetted for her promotion to the directorship of the FBI, I have no way to explain it. I'd rather get rid of her now, instead of going through all that embarrassment later."

"Have you asked her where the money is going?"

"I can't prove it's her taking the money out."

"Have you asked the bank?"

"I've put a freeze on all transactions on that account, until I can figure out what's going on."

"Have Laura call me on her phone, and I will call you back at this number. If I don't like what she says, you have my permission."

"Thank you grandfather."

******************

Joe turned towards his wife, and with a laser-like stare in his eyes, said to her, "My grandfather is expecting a call from you, now."

Demurely, she replied, "Yes Joseph."

"Privately!"

Again, she replied softly, "Yes Joseph."

*******************

While Laura went to speak to William, Joseph called Holden and Debbie to the center of the ring to change some of the rules.

"I was not happy with the last match, but it was my fault. This time I want to see taekwondo the way you were taught, not what we saw in the last match. Taekwondo is fun, it is athletic, and it is graceful. It disarms your opponent, with the use of all your body parts. This match will be considered a sanctioned match, and points will be taken away for any fouls committed. Is that understood?"

"Yes Mr. Constantino," Deborah said.

Holden said, "Yes sir."

"Go to your corners, you have two minutes to prepare; move."

*********************

"Hello William, how angry with me is he?"

"If you don't give me a satisfactory answer to what's going on, you could be dead, before this weekend is out. This is not like you, Laura, this is totally out of character for you. I will help you if I can, but he is livid. If you needed money, all you had to do was ask me, and it would have been yours. You didn't have to steal from your husband. Are you being blackmailed, is that it?"

"You know me better than that William. I was trying to surprise Joseph. I never thought he would notice. I take care of all the money. I do all the bills, and take care of all the legal work. He is always so busy with the boys, over at the building site, it never occurred to me that he would find out through a simple conversation with someone else."

"Find out what, Laura? I still have no idea what we are talking about, except stolen money, legal documents he didn't know he was signing, which normally, he would not want to kill you for. I can get you a pass on those. However, I must know what you're doing it for, and if you're trying to hurt my great-grandson."

"I could never hurt Joseph; I love him too much."

"Stop pussyfooting around with me Laura, tell me what's going on."

"I'm going to send you a picture on your phone; tell me if you recognize it."

"Of course I recognize it, it's the home of Donna Angelina DiGiovanni. Her vineyards separate my family's vineyards. She and my sister do not get along, and she will not sell her land to anyone in our family."

"She sold it to me."

"She did what?"

"I said she sold it to me, and, of course, Joseph."

"How did you pull that off, agent Constantine?"

"I was Agent Burkart, of the FBI, at the time I showed her the evidence of her children's misdeeds that I was about to turn over to the Italian federal police. It would have put her sons, and grandsons in jail for a very long time."

"Her children are as pure as the driven snow. I know, I checked."

"I know, I checked also. However, she was just being a hardheaded Italian, not willing to entertain generous offers for the sale of her land. Her eyesight is not all that good, and computers can do marvelous things with paperwork.

I told her I would leave the papers with her to look over. However, the police knew I was at her house, and she would have to give them the papers if she was served with a search warrant. At that point I would not be able to protect her children, and grandchildren.

I told her that these documents would never see the light of day if she would agree to sell me her land at a reasonable price. If she didn't, she would have to sell me her land cheaply, to pay for her children's defense in Italian courts for the next five years, or more. What would she like to do?

She didn't even stutter. She said she wanted €18 million(euros). I countered with $15 million, and she agreed. I wrote her a check for $5 million, out of Joseph's account, as a deposit on the land, and she called her attorney to start the paperwork. He told her it would take six months or a little more for everything to go through the courts. We agreed on the timeline.

Joseph and I were married a few days later, and as I anticipated a great deal of money came into our possession. It was about $80 million more than necessary to purchase the land, so I had a decision to make. Do I keep Joseph working for someone else, or do I make him a gentleman farmer, like his brothers and sisters? I decided I didn't want people shooting at him, because I wanted to grow old with him. I decided to forgo my career ambitions, and retire as soon as the spacecraft took off."

"So he's angry with you, because he's in the dark about all of this."

"He's so angry, he wants to kill me."

"Do you think it's time for you to to sit down and discuss this? He may not want you to retire."

"Well, since I made my decision to retire, my body has calmed down. All my energies have been focused towards Joseph. What he means to me, and how empty my life would have been if I hadn't met him."

William yelled out, "Oh no, Jemma, Laura is pregnant."

Jemma screamed, "She swore she wasn't having children. Give me that phone."

"Hello preggy, how far along are you? How much weight have you gained?"

"I don't like you Jemma. Just thinking about your 15-year plan has me shaking in my shoes. I'm too old to be pregnant. I'm worrying about what Joe is going to say to me about it. We were committed not to have any children. Now I made all these plans for his future, and I've thrown a baby into the mix. Maybe he should kill me, it would be easier on him."

"I don't know what else you did to provoke his ire, but I can tell you one thing about Italian men, when it comes to babies; they love the shit out of it. You should see my ancient one playing with the twins. You're not sure which of the three of them is younger. If it wasn't for the creaking bones giving it away, it would be hard to do. Don't worry about Joseph's reaction with the baby, he will be over the moon with it. Tell him while you're getting ready to make love. He will be more tender with you than he ever has been."

"I don't like it when he's tender with me."

"Then tell him to be an animal, as a present for his baby. You two will figure it out. You're not ancient, you're barely middle-age. Be careful, my husband is on another phone with Joseph. I don't know what he's telling him."

"God damn big mouth son of a bitch. I wanted to tell him."

"Even my husband wouldn't go so far as telling his great grandson that you're pregnant. At least I don't think he would. Call me, let me know how things work out. There is always the townhouse next door for you to live in."

"Thanks grandma."

"Don't you ever call me grandma again. I'm too young to hear those words."

"Thanks Jemma."

"That's much better, preggo!"

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She walked back into the arena hoping to speak to Joe before the match between Deborah and Holden began, but it was not to be.