JoJo and the Unit Ch. 02

"Ruth. I need your husband for a week, at most. I promise you on all I hold dear that he will be returned to you in the same condition he's in when he leaves the boat club in the morning. Maybe a little more tanned though."

The King paused; he was allowing my wife to absorb the information given to her. There is a reason my wife is a very shrewd business lady. She really did understand what the King was doing. The young prince was the next in line to take the throne, young Yousef was the apple of his father's eye.

What came next shocked even me, the tone of Ruth's voice was something I've never heard before. "Very well, Your Highness. One week, and one week only. But understand this, Your Highness, during any of the wars through the centuries, the solders of any country always had one thought: if they get captured, pray the soldiers guarding you don't hand the prisoners over to the women."

The silence made me wonder if he was still there, the roar of laughter made me realize that the line was still working. "It took me a second to understand, Ruth. I agree with your thoughts on this matter. You have my word. Look after my son, Ruth, he really is the one weakness I have."

Ruth still wasn't totally convinced; she did, however, have a bargaining chip handed to her now. The King's son may come with his mother; it was the lack of guards around him that showed her just how much he wanted her husband.

"You know I still don't want you to go, don't you?"

I nodded my head; she sat on the couch and rested her head against my shoulder.

"I much preferred you when you went on missions, at least then you had a gun in your hand."

As amusing as her comment was, I didn't laugh; if anything I agreed with her. Ruth insisted we sort out the apartment above the club later; she wasn't going to allow either of them on the boat.

We were still having our conversation when my wife's eyes lit up, the smile rapidly followed. She gave me a quick kiss, and then Ruth stepped off the boat. She said she needed to talk to Sarah and Gil. I gave her a moment and then followed her off the boat, putting the fold-up chairs out so we could sit for a while. She was walking back along the path thirty minutes later, her phone in her hand when she did. She was clearly talking to someone, judging by the way her arm would move about.

"I know it's a rush, Ben, but I need you and your girlfriend here for a week, maybe more."

The pause was only because she was listening to Ben, I assumed.

"Thank you, Ben, the jet is already being fueled, you can sleep on the way here. Thank that girlfriend of yours, as well, please, you've both lightened my worries."

It was only when she turned that I saw that look again. "I meant what I said. I love you, my husband, if he harms you or you don't return, I will personally see to it that he never sees his wife and child ever again."

I smiled. I shouldn't have. "Love me, huh?"

The look she gave me she normally saves for people who really piss her off. "Don't test me, Curtis. I'm sending the girls back to the States on the return flight. That man has a week and I want you back in the same condition I see you leave, or his family goes missing."

We sat up most of the night, Ruth only started to look at her watch more often when the birds started to wake up. She got the girls up, I got them breakfast while they showered and got dressed. The cab came for Sarah and the girls an hour before my ride arrived.

Another cab arrived thirty minutes before I was due to leave. A woman got out of the front, a middle-aged guy got out of the back; both pulled a suitcase each from the back of the cab.

Ruth stepped forward and paid off the cab. She looked at the man, and said, "Don't go all macho on me, Ben. I bet you left in such a hurry because your boss was nagging you too, that you don't have any British currency."

The woman burst out laughing and was already nodding her head. Ruth smiled and the guy I now know as Ben just looked a little embarrassed. In the end, Ben simply rolled with the punches, smiled and shrugged his shoulders before saying, "Hey, when the boss calls, even when she's half way across the world, I come a-running."

Ruth quickly looked at her watch, and then turned to the girl accompanying Ben. "Shannon, I know from the head of my security team that you have expressed an interest in joining my company."

The look on Shannon's face was priceless, she also knew that you couldn't lie or hide from the boss.

"Yes ma'am. But I don't have forces training, so I've come to see that's not possible since you only hire people that are ex-forces."

"You're observant and I like that, but you should have had a sit-down talk with Ben or any one of my security people about it, rather than go around him. What you see is the public face of my security. We also have computer tech people and others that operate from a different building."

This was getting interesting. I never took an interest in my wife's business; I was interested in her; the business was her wealth and I left her to it. It had never come between us because Ruth would never let it, so the sit down around the campfire talk about it was never going to happen. It did get interesting when she told Shannon that her own people had noted her interest and did their own background checks on her.

"How would you like to start working for me now, this very minute?"

Confusion came to her first, then interest, her cheeks went a shade of red and she nodded her head. Ruth must have been taking a gamble here, because her own shoulders dropped in relief.

"I have very little time here, Shannon, so I can't wait for a reply, when I finish explaining everything to you, I need a yes or no from you. Please note that if you decline my offer, then I will send you back home. First Class of course, but you will be sent home."

Ruth didn't even wait for a nod of understanding from Shannon; it seemed that the security checks on Ben's girlfriend brought up some interesting facts. One of those facts being that she had spent ten years of her life living in various Gulf states while her own father worked in the oil industry. It meant she was fluent in four different languages.

"Within the hour, a boy and his mother will be here for about a week. They know English, but you have to listen to them when they share conversations in their own language." Ruth looked harder at Shannon, so she could emphasize the next part of her conversation.

"You also have to make it look like you don't understand what they are saying. They may test you, Shannon. If they ever figure out you can understand them, I will lose the only ace I have."

Shannon stared at Ruth for the sum total of five seconds and then at Ben. He just shrugged his shoulders; the decision had to be Shannon's.

"So, I'm to just go about my day and listen to them when they go all home talk?"

Ruth nodded her head. "Partly, yes. I will introduce you as my personal assistant, but like I said, you're to do your level best not to make it noticeable that you can understand them. Even if it means losing half a conversation because they went off to a quiet corner."

She then pointed out that she had a job for Ben, he was going to help Gil around the club so he looked more like a maintenance man than anything concerning security. Ben just nodded, then looked again at his girlfriend.

"This is on you, Shannon, I will be around and be at hand if you need me, but I can't decide for you."

Shannon seemed to think for a moment before nodding her head. "Okay, I agree."

Both Shannon and Ben had their cases in the boat minutes before the car came to the gate and I let it in. Ahmed Ahdear got out, and looked as scared as ever. A lady got out the other side as Ahmed opened the door for the boy to get out, and then moved to the back of the car to retrieve the cases and stand them to one side.

The boy turned to his mother and started to say something in his home language. His mother looked at him sharply and he stopped. "Yousef, remember what your father said, we use English here. It is to improve your use of the language for when you come here for your future education."

Yousef nodded his head and agreed with her, then looked at us. His concentration was interrupted when Ahmed Ahdear looked at his watch.

"Mister Woodman, it is time for us to leave." He then put his hand out and said, "Your cell phone please, Mister Woodman."

I didn't get a chance to reply; Ruth had already walked up to the child's mother and asked for her cell phone, telling her that she would get it back when her husband returned. She then asked if her son had a cell as well? A heated amount of dialog went on between the mother and Mister Ahdear, I swear the man was going to cry.

I thought it was only going to get worse when Yousef turned to his mother, and with a smirk he wasn't at an age he could hide, said, "In English, Mother."

Her face became a mask that was impossible to read, I guess she used that mask to her advantage at the palace. "Mister Woodman, please be patient while we clarify a point." She then glared at Ahmed Ahdear, and said, "You will phone the King and clarify this request. Also point out to him that if he forces the issue, then we will be without contact with him for the duration, since the prince and I will have to surrender our own cell phones."

Tears formed in his eyes; he could already see his own firing squad in his mind's eye. Mr. Ahdear sat in the car, and neither of us could hear what was being said, I'm almost sure Ahmed Ahdear changed color twice. As he got out of his car, my cell rang, and again the number was withheld.

"My apologies, Curtis. The people at the Embassy are acting on the rules I have in place, they know nothing of the conversation we have had already. Please keep your cell phone, just remember to turn it off during the flight. I will even get a charming looking stewardess to remind you."

The line went dead, and a second later the Prince's mother's cell rang. The mask softened after a minute; she even managed a smile when she closed her cell down.

"Thank you for your patience, Ruth. May I see our accommodation since I would like to get Yousef settled and have a shower."

Ruth nodded, then came over to me and kissed me. We then went into a hug, her lips were close to my ear, so she whispered. "I promise you that I will pull every favor owed to me and even get the people of the Unit back together and come and get you if I need to. Come home to me in one piece, that's all I ask."

I nodded, then kissed her again, reminding myself why I loved this woman with all my heart. Both our children came a VERY close second of course.

*******

I was patted down once again when I got onto the aircraft; the muscled driver was now my travel partner.

He grinned when he said in a well-educated English. "My King says that you have to turn off your cell phone during the flight."

I let him watch as I turned it off, thinking to myself. If this is the king's version of 'a charming looking stewardess,' then his airline company is going to be in trouble. With all the drama of the night before, it didn't take me long to drop my head and sleep. The muscle gently shook me awake and informed me that we would be landing in ten minutes.

As with all Arab countries, the first thing that hits you when the aircraft door opens is the heat. The air-con in the limo to the palace was sure welcome. The King's palace would have challenged Buckingham Palace in size and splendor. It sure made me smile when the thought that when I wasn't with Ruth in America, I live on a boat. My suitcase was taken from me and I was asked to follow the guy who took it. I figured my bedroom could fit my boat into it and still have room to breathe.

I was still hanging stuff up when a knock at the door interrupted my thoughts, and then nothing until I yelled 'come in' since I was still hanging clothes. A woman came in and stopped three paces from the door.

"Our King will see you now." Her hand pointed to one of the dressers beside me. "He is at the indoor pool; you will find trunks in your size in there. I will wait outside."

The door clicked shut and I was still holding onto the shirt that I had been in the process of hanging. A few minutes later I joined the lady outside and I was sure grateful for her guidance, The Palace was a maze of corridors, stairs and elevators. Even with a map and compass it would have taken me a while to find the pool area on my own.

She stopped at the door; I even opened it for her, but she took a step back and refused to enter. I shrugged and walked in. Someone was doing laps of the pool; since he was the only person here and he was still doing laps, I had to assume that this was the King.

It still took him another lap to realize I was in the room. He waved, then changed direction and climbed out of the pool, I had only done some internet searching on the King, For a forty-three-year-old man, he sure carried it well; he was muscular and yet not to the point that he looked like he did weights on a regular basis. He was also bare-ass naked. Two naked women appeared from nowhere and wrapped towels around him.

He thanked them both and they smiled and stood a discreet distance from us both. The King saw me looking at them and smiled.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?"

Since he asked me a question, I thought it polite to answer, and also test the waters on calling him by his name in private.

"Hassan, does your wife know you have naked women in the same room as you right now?"

The laugh was genuine; he then sat on the lounger next to me.

"I plan well my friend; this room is the only place my bodyguards don't enter. My wife and son often join me here in various states of undress. But we are also a Muslim country, so staffing the pool area became a problem, until a friend of mine pointed me towards the Lebanon. They are sisters and also Christian. I made a deal with their family: they go to our university here at my expense, and they get free board and room plus a wage. In return they are naked in the pool area and look after this whole room."

Being a natural born cynic, I just had to ask. "So what happens when they graduate?"

The smile of his returned. "I must admit to asking myself the same thing, but it seems they sorted that out amongst themselves. They graduate in three months' time. They have already talked to their family and another two cousins will be taking their place under the same deal I gave these two."

Hassan then stood and walked towards the Jacuzzi; one of the girls already had the discarded towels in her hands before he was three feet away. I assumed I was to follow.

As I stood, the other naked woman said, "Forgive me, Sir, but this is a naked area. I will help you with your clothes if you wish."

Now I knew I was being tested. Hassan had taken another couple of steps and was already getting into the Jacuzzi. Hell of a way to see if I had a secret weapons stash on me, I suppose, so with a shrug of my shoulders, I handed her my shirt. She made a polite cough and with a self-assured smirk on her lips, she pointed to my bathing suit.

This time I mentally asked Ruth to forgive me. My hands went to my waist and pulled them down as well. She held out her hand, and the hungry look in her eyes didn't go amiss, either. I was a little too pissed to be embarrassed about it. If the King brought me all the way over here to see me naked, I would have sent him a picture of my arse and let him figure out the rest.

As I slid into the Jacuzzi, I opened my mouth without letting my brain calm my emotions down, "If all I'm here to do is compare dick sizes with you, Hassan, we could have done this over web chat."

His laugh disarmed my thoughts turning angry, it still took him a while to answer.

"I'm the King, Curtis. I'm eleven inches and have the girth of a horse."

This time it was I who laughed; it took him a second but he caught up.

Once we had both calmed, he moved to sit on some seat that I couldn't see due to the bubbles. It was also then I realized that the King relied a great deal on eye contact; to him it was his own personnel lie detector.

He told me of the night the Unit swept through the villa that held Becky Harmsworth and his nephew. As more details came to light, the situation took on a life of its own. His hunger for the truth led him to tearing his country apart looking for the betrayer of peace. Knowing the prince also owned and ran the largest slave trade in the world threw Hassan into a fit of rage that someone so close to him could do such a thing. He trusted his nephew, so he didn't feel he had to have him watched.

"His wife now lives here in the Palace, Curtis. She couldn't go back to her family, it would have embarrassed them, so I insisted. She is such a wonderful woman, Curtis, yet to him she was nothing more than a baby maker. He was more interested in the white girl he kept prisoner."

I gritted my teeth, but I couldn't let that slide.

"Her name is Becky Harmsworth, Hassan. She was kidnaped at your nephew's request and was nothing more than his private pin-cushion."

The King apologized, he also pointed out that even after all this time, this betrayal still touched a nerve in him. Something in his manner changed. He rested his elbows on his legs and looked at me.

"My hunger for more information became all consuming, more so when I discovered the existence of the Unit. It also threw you into the spotlight, Curtis."

I've no idea where he got his information, and would never ask, knowing it would open a can of worms that could take down a Prime Minister in the process. The PM may have destroyed the Unit, but I was still a serving officer at the time, and it's not my job to throw him under the bus, as much as I and the whole Unit wanted to.

"You went to America with the Unit and took back the wife and child of a friend and ex member of the Unit. You carried the child to safety before allowing the damage to your back to be noticed by the wife of your former Unit member."

His hand traveled out and stopped, something in me made me hold his hand and shake it.

"I'm pleased to meet you, Curtis Woodman. Few men could do what you have done and still be alive, and also sane."

Just then, one of the naked young ladies walked up, knelt on the edge of the Jacuzzi and whispered in the ear of the King. His anger was barely held in check; the eyes gave him away. Hassan nodded to the lady and she left.

"I'm sorry, Curtis, something has come up. Perhaps we can continue this conversation after dinner, rest up, Curtis."

Suddenly his face broke into a smile. "Oh, I forgot to mention, my wife phoned before I came to the pool. She was so giddy with excitement that it took her a while to explain the phone call. It seems a lady called Sarah is taking my wife and son on her boat. She even promised that my wife will get to drive it, as well." He laughed as his mind still remembered the conversation. "I didn't have to heart to tell her that you don't drive boats."

My guide lady was waiting outside the pool door, and she escorted me back to my room, opened it for me and pointed to one of the closets. "Dinner is formal, our King insists on it. The suits in there are measured to you. If you need anything, please press the buzzer by the bed."

I caught up on some sleep. It wasn't until the same lady gently shook me that I woke with a start and she quickly took a step back.

That mask thing that seemed to get worn a lot round there, dropped onto her then. "Dinner will be served in an hour, Sir."

I was ready with a few minutes to spare when she knocked. I didn't need to ask her to come in; I started to understand the rules by now. Again, I followed her and sat at the table. Hassan came in a few minutes later.