Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Copyright (C) 1998, by Centaur.  ALL Rights Reserved

   This story may not be reproduced in any form for profit without the
written permission of the author.  This story may be freely distributed
with this notice attached.  The author may be contacted by writing
mrdouble@mrdouble.com.

   Original posting date: Sunday AM, September 20, 1998

   A Resident Author story from MrDouble's archive, File: amy4.txt from
amy4.zip http://www.mrdouble.com
This is Part Four (the Conclusion) of a Four Part Novel.  The story was
written to be interesting by itself, the erotic parts just increase the
enjoyment - at least in my mind they do.  A great deal of it is factual,
some of it is fantasy; I leave it to the reader to make any distinctions. I
hope you enjoy it, sit back and relax and try to lose yourself in the
story. Part One is authored by Jim Martin, Part Two is written by Amy, Part
Three by Julie and Jim Martin returns to conclude the story in the climax
in Part Four.  At the end of Amy is a preview of my new novel Marie.  If
you enjoy it, or have non-flame based criticisms please contact me at the

above address and share your thoughts.

   Part 4 By Jim

   I remembered a loud noise, a shock and then a feeling of flying though
the air and suddenly I was twisting and turning under the water trying to
breath.  I watched my air bubbles for a second to orientate myself to which
way was up and then struck out for the surface.  I was having trouble with
my balance and my feeling of up and down as a result of that loud noise. 
My first thought was to get to the surface to breath and to find Amy and
Julie.  I figured we must have hit something, but there hadn't been
anything out in front of us, I would swear to it, nothing that big could
have possibly gotten in front of us without me seeing it, especially in
that moonlight.  At that instant my head broke the surface and I sucked in
a huge lung full of air, nothing had ever tasted so sweet!  As I treaded
water I took a quick physical inventory.  I didn't seem to be injured or
had anything broken.  I couldn't hear very well out of my right ear and my
shirt and life belt was completely gone.  Then I remembered what Julie had
said about the smell of burning metal, the "sparkler" smell that she was
picking up from the rear of the boat.  Suddenly everything made sense, it
was a bomb, we hadn't hit something at all!  Someone had put a bomb on
board the Silver Cloud and it had gone off and blown me and the girls off
the forward deck and into the water!  Suddenly I was frantic to find the
girls and Larry and Diane.  They could be hurt or unconscious floating in
the cold water.  Everyone was wearing waist type life belts, at least at
the time of the explosion, but I notice that mine was gone along with my
shirt, the force of the explosion had stripped them right off my body.  I
was frustrated because even in the moonlight I could only see into the
trough in front of me from the top of a swell and the swell on the other
side.  I tried shouting but I could tell by the muffled sound of my own
voice none of us would be able to hear very well.

   I was trying to decide which way to swim when, while cresting on a
swell, I saw a strobe light begin to flash off to my right.  I shouted and
began to swim as hard as I could in that direction.  In a few minutes I
began to see the shape of the Zodiac appear in the flashes of the strobe. I
could see the outline of someone sitting in the boat as well, but I
couldn't make out who it was at this point.  As I came up to the rubber
boat I saw Julie leaning over the side shining the flashlight down at me. I
hung on to the rope on the side of the boat trying to get my breath back
from the swim.  I felt Julie reach down and take hold of my wrist.  She
wasn't trying to pull me into the boat, she would never be strong enough
for that, but she was sitting on the far side with her legs braced on my
side and leaning forward, giving me her arm to use to pull up into the
boat. Anyone that has ever tried to climb into a rubber boat from the
water, particularly the Pacific with it's large swells, knows how hard it
is without something to pull against.  I was just afraid that she wouldn't
be heavy enough to keep me from capsizing the boat when I tried to get
aboard.  Once I had rested for a minute I squeezed her hand to let her know
that I was about to try to climb aboard and kicking my legs in the water
pulled on her wrist and swung to pivot my right leg up and over the side of
the boat.  By some miracle the boat stayed stable in the water instead of
rolling over towards me and capsizing.  Julie grabbed my leg as it swung up
over the side of the boat and I was able to pull and roll simultaneously
into the boat where I lay on the bottom panting.

   Julie immediately sprawled on the bottom of the boat next to me, crying
and hugging my neck.  She was trying to say something to me but my right
ear was totally shut down.  I raised my head and pointed to my left ear. 
She put her mouth up to it and started to talk.  "Uncle Jim, Amy is hanging
on to the other side of the dingy, I can't lift her up and she is not
strong enough to climb aboard herself, help me get her in the boat." That
explained it, her weight along with Julie's had held the dingy stable as I
rolled aboard.

   I sat up and leaned over the port side of the dingy and saw Amy hanging
on to the rope on the side with one arm and treading water with the other.
When she saw me she burst into tears and reached up with her free hand and
put it on my face as though to convince herself that it was really me.  In
the light of the flashlight her eyes looked so big and frightened, that
coupled with Julie being so scared and hanging on to my arm made me want to
cry myself.  At the same time it made me terribly angry at whoever did this
terrible thing.  I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind.  The
important thing was to get Amy out of the cold water and aboard the dingy,
then go in search of Larry and Diane who were out there somewhere.

   I had Julie sit against the other side of the boat just as she had done
to help bring me aboard, then I leaned over the side and putting my head
close to Amy's told her to pull on my wrist as she swung her leg up and
over the side of the boat.  I positioned myself to be able to catch her
ankle as it came up to the level of the side, and as I did I pulled on her
wrist and rolled toward the center of the boat, pulling Amy over the side
and on top of me.

   I lay on the bottom of the rubber dingy, Amy and Julie on each side of
me, both girls sobbing as they clutched me.  I let them lay there for a few
minutes, just holding them and letting them cry.  Then I sat up and pulled
both of them to a sitting position.  I checked them out as best I could
with the flashlight, other than scared and shaking from being in the cold
water they appeared to be unhurt, except for being partially deafened just
as I had been by the terrible noise of the explosion.  They still had their
windbreakers, probably the fact that they were zipped up kept them on,
along with their life belts .

   "We have to get the oars out and start looking for Larry and Diane, they
might be hurt and probably won't be able hear us shouting for them.  We'll
have to get to where they are to be able to see them.  First I want Julie
to sit in the front of the boat, as far forward as possible holding the
strobe light as high as she can.  Then Amy and I will move back about two
thirds of the way in the boat.  While I sit I want Amy to climb up on my
shoulders with the flash light and see if she can see anyone in the water."
With a boat like the Zodiac it was really unsafe for anyone to try to stand
up, this way Amy would be pretty high above the water and sitting on my
shoulders be pretty well supported.  Everyone got in their positions and
Amy climbed up on my shoulders and shined the light over the water in about
a two hundred and seventy degree arc.  After a few minutes she climbed down
and I slid forward so that Amy and Julie and I could all have our heads
close together so that we could talk.

   "I could see a lot of small pieces floating on the water, broken wood,
paper and what looks like a big piece of the main sail with part of the
mast still attached.  I couldn't see Uncle Larry or Aunt Diane, but there
seems to be a lot of wreckage about two hundred yards to our right." Amy
looked up at me with a scared look on her face "What happened Daddy, did we
hit someone in another boat or what?"

   "I'm not completely sure girls, but I think there was an explosion in
the aft part of the boat."

   "Did the engine or the propane tanks blow up Daddy.  Why would they do
that, we've sailed Silver Cloud hundreds of times and nothing like this
ever happened."



   "I think that it might have been an explosive device hidden in the
engine compartment before we left, I think it might have been done on
purpose."

   "Do you mean like a bomb Uncle Jim!  Who would do that?  Why would
someone want to kill us?  You don't think Aunt Jane hates us that much do
you - I mean to try to kill us?"

   "All I know for sure is that we are OK and we need to find Diane and
Larry as soon as possible.  Now lets row over to where Amy saw the piece of
the sail and all the debris floating around."

   "I'm so scared, I want to find my Mom and Dad right away, we just have
to find them.  If it was a bomb it was right under where they were sitting,
they must be cut or hurt we just have to find them!" Amy slid over the put
her arms around Julie, hugging her tight.

   "We'll move as fast as we can Julie, Amy will get on my shoulders every
few minutes and look for them, you just stay in the bow and keep that light
up in the air, that's how I found you, and it could be the most important
thing we are doing." I didn't tell Julie, but I thought the chances of
finding Larry or Diane alive were very small.  As Julie had said they were
sitting on the aft deck, right on top of the engine compartment.  We were
only alive because the explosion of the bomb created a shock wave that blew
us off the boat and safely into the water.  If we had been below decks or
on the aft deck with Larry and Diane we would have all been killed, of that
I was sure.  I was also sure that whoever was responsible for this was
going to pay - and pay with their lives.

   We spent the next twenty-five minutes rowing from place to place looking
for Larry and Diane.  We found lots of wreckage, the largest piece of which
was the section of main mast with the mains still attached, but no sign of
our dear friends.  I thought we might find a body at least to bring closure
to the search, but nothing.  At least the rowing had warmed us, Julie and
Amy changed positions every five minutes or so, it was impossible for Julie
to sit in the front of the boat without looking for her parents every so
often.  About thirty minutes after the explosion I saw a red and green
light low on the horizon moving rapidly in our direction.  A second or so
later a silver and black helicopter roared overhead about twenty feet above
the water.  The helicopter was a small Bell 206, the one that they call the
Jet Ranger.  It was really loud and the rotor wash almost tipped us over.
It had LA County Sheriff's Department markings and a Forward Looking
Infrared (FLIR) pod on one side.  Someone must have seen or heard the
explosion and called the sheriff's office.  The helicopter made a sweeping
turn and slowly hovered sideways back towards us, kicking up a considerable
amount of water as it approached.  As it moved closer the turbulence
subsided some, the worst was about twenty feet out from the center of the
helicopter where the tips of the rotor blades were, close to the fuselage
itself it was pretty calm, but loud.  The pilot looked out of the side
window and I was shocked to see that it was Marv on the controls.  Then I
remembered I had been talking with him on the cell phone when the boat
exploded, no doubt he heard the noise just prior to the phone call ending.
I didn't know he had such strong connections with the Sheriff's Department
that he could commandeer a helicopter on this sort of notice, nor fly up
front in the pilot's seat.

   I could see Marv turn to say something to the other pilot in the right
seat and then let go of his set of controls.  He reached behind his seat
and threw a rope ladder out of the open passenger door of the helicopter.
Then he took the controls back and hovered over toward us until the rope
ladder was directly over the Zodiac.  I moved toward the back of the boat
and signaled Julie to stay in the bow, I wanted the boat to stay stable
when Amy started her climb up into the helicopter.  Amy got the idea right
away and grabbed the ladder about half way up and started climbing into the
aircraft.  Once she was safely aboard I signaled Julie to start climbing.
As she left the boat it started to get blown toward the rougher water, I
was sure it was going to turn over at any minute so I rolled over the side
and into the water, still holding on the to rope on the side of the boat.
When Julie was on board and I reached up and grabbed the ladder with one
hand and let the boat go.  Climbing up against the rotor wash was a lot
harder than I thought it would be, I was just glad the three of us were in
good shape, otherwise we never would have made it.  As my head and arms
cleared the floor of the helicopter the girls grabbed me under the arms and
helped me the last few feet.  Soon the three of us were sprawled out on the
floor of the aircraft.

   I motioned to Amy and Julie to get on to the bench seat at the rear of
the passenger compartment and to put on their seat belts.  I climbed into
the jump seat behind and between the seats for the pilot and co-pilot.  I
leaned forward toward the red-lit instrument panel and reached out and
squeezed hard on Marv's shoulder.  He turned towards me and gestured to the
headset hanging from the bracket above me.  I got the headset and put it
on, adjusting the mike in front of my mouth and locating the push-to-talk
switch on the cord.

   "How in the world did you get here so quick Marv?  And where did this
helicopter come from anyway?"

   "I'll get into to that later, where are Larry and Diane?  Have you seen
any sign of them since the explosion?"

   "We've been looking Marv, but they were aft on the rear deck right above
where we think the explosion was, I don't hold out much hope for them.  We
have been searching for the past thirty minutes with no luck."

   "I've searched the area with the FLIR and with night vision goggles but
we haven't picked up anyone in the water except the three of you.  I'll
make one more pass just to be sure but I'm afraid you're right, I think
they are gone."

   I turned in my seat and motioned for Amy and Julie to put on headsets.
When they had them on I showed them how to adjust the mike booms and told
them where to find the switch to use to talk.

   Julie came on the intercom immediately, "Has the pilot seen Mom and Dad?
Do we know where they are?  Can we pick them up?"

   "Marv is making another flight over the area but it is pretty unlikely
that he will be able to find them honey, he has already looked pretty well
before he picked us up, even with his special night vision systems.  No
sign of them, I think we have to accept the worst." Julie broke down and
leaned over sobbing.  Amy made eye contact with me and I just gently shook
my head to indicate that there wasn't any hope.  Her eyes filled up with
tears and she took off her headset and Julie's and pulled Julie's head into
her shoulder and put her arms around her.  I could see both of their bodies
shaking with their sobs.  My sadness disappeared in an instant, replaced
with an anger so cold that it startled me, I had never felt an emotion so
intense.  I would find who did this and I would take them out, I swore it
on my soul, whoever they were where ever they were they were dead - period.
I finally knew what that passage from Shakespeare that my father used to
quote all the time to his English classes meant:

   And Caesar's sprit, raging for revenge With Ate by his side come hot
from Hell, Shall in these confines with a Monarch's voice Cry 'Havoc' and
let slip the dogs of war.



   Marv flew back toward the east at about a hundred and twenty knots,
staying about fifty feet over the water.  I asked him where we were going
and he replied that we were going to his place to discuss our next move and
that he would talk more to me then he needed to concentrate on flying.  I
glanced over at the co-pilot in the right seat and he didn't look much like
a Sheriff Department pilot, both he and Marv were dressed in baggy black
nomex flight suits, black nomex gloves and black flight helmets.  In the
glow from the red lights of the cockpit instruments I couldn't see the
co-pilot's face very well, but I got the impression that he was pretty
young.

   Judging by the digital map on the instrument panel we made landfall
somewhere between Malibu and Santa Monica.  I could see the lights of LA
and the flashing beacon from the control tower at LAX about twelve miles to
our south.  I noticed that neither pilot made any radio calls entering what
must have been the Terminal Control Area for LAX, I would guess we were
below their radar coverage and that was the reason for Marv staying at such
a low altitude.  Somehow I was beginning to believe that this was not
really a Sheriff Department helicopter in spite of the markings.  Marv
slowed to about sixty knots and dropped down over the trees that marked the
beginning of the Malibu foothills.  He keyed his intercom and told the
co-pilot to turn on the landing pad lights.  The co-pilot reached up on the
overhead console and hit a switch and a landing pad about a quarter of a
mile ahead of us lit up.  The pad was a tennis court that was part of a
roof-top deck on a large house built into the top of one of the high hills
that surrounded Topanga Canyon.  As we got closer I saw that the "net" was
really painted on the concrete surface.  Marv began his approach to the pad
and soon touched down gently.  I started to unbuckle my belt but Marv came
on the intercom and told me to sit where I was for a minute and tell the
girls to stay buckled up.  I turned to look at Amy and Julie, but they were
not paying any attention, they were still holding each other and sobbing
softly.  Marv shut the engine down and as the blades began to slow reached
up and pulled on the rotor brake, stopping the blades.  He then reached up
to the overhead console and threw another switch that turned out the lights
on the pad and I heard a motor underneath us start up and we began
descending down into the structure beneath us.

   When the large elevator stopped we were in a hanger type enclosure.  I
could see another smaller helicopter (it looked like a McDonnell-Douglas
500C) off to one side, it was painted to look like one of the local TV
stations news helicopters.  As I watched the roof overhead began to close
from each side, like a big sunroof.  Obviously, from above no one would
know that there were any landing areas down here let alone a helicopter
hanger.  I knew that Marv was in the security business but I never dreamed
that he operated on this scale.  Marv took off his helmet and turned to
face me.  At the same time his co-pilot took off his - or actually her
flight helmet.  As the helmet came off long black hair spilled out,
covering her shoulders and she turned to look at me and then the girls with
a look of terrible sadness on her beautiful face.

   "This is my daughter Marie, Jim.  She knows something of what the girls
are feeling right now since she lost her mother too.  Let's go into the
house and get everyone dry and into some other clothes and then we'll meet
and plan our next move." He got out of his door and took my arm and helped
me out of the helicopter.  I looked back for the girls and Marie was on the
other side helping them out and hugging them tightly.  "Come on Jim, Marie
will take care of the girls for now.  Let's get you cleaned up and a brandy
in you."

   Marv led me into a wide hallway and down a set of stairs to a bedroom on
a lower floor.  "I think you will find everything you need here Jim, clean
sweats and socks in the closet.  Take a hot shower and get dressed, when
you are done pick up the phone and I will come get you.  I want to check on
my operatives in the Bay Area that I put on alert before I took off to find
you."

   "Who was it Marv?  Was it Jane, was she responsible for this senseless
act?  I've got to know and I've got to do something about all this, I won't
rest until I see whoever did this pay for it."

   "I don't have all the details yet, we'll talk when you're changed and I
have new information, it won't take long to find out who did what, I have
two Class A agents working on it.  And don't worry, whoever did it -
they'll pay, I guarantee it."

   "I need to see the girls Marv, they're devastated by this, Amy was so
close to Diane, both of them have lost a mother, Julie a mother and a
father."

   "Don't worry Jim, Marie will get them warmed up and into some dry
clothes, you'll meet up with them as soon as you are cleaned up too.  God,
I feel so bad for the three of you.  You're right this was a senseless act,
but we'll get to the bottom of it and real fast, you can count on that."
With that he hugged me and left the room.  I don't think I had ever seen
emotion in Marv before, even in college he was like an ice cube, all
cerebral with no weaknesses.  He was really shaken by this tragedy.

   I showered the salt water off under the hot water, starting to feel warm
for the first time in an hour or so.  I dried off and put on a pair of gray
sweats and some soft cotton slipper socks that were in the closet.  When I
was ready I picked up the phone and Marv answered by saying he would be
right up.  A few minutes later he opened the door and he and I walked down
the hall to a small elevator.  The elevator took us down what felt like a
long way into the mountain, when the door opened we were in a huge room
full of monitors, racks of equipment and communication devices.  The faint
hum of conversations came from several speakers located on a control
console, the monitors above them showing video images from places where it
was daylight as well as night time.  One whole wall - floor to ceiling - at
the far end of the room was an electronic map of the world with various
colored lights spread across the continents.  I saw two red lights on the
map near San Francisco, and one blue light next to where La Jolla would be
in Southern California.

   "I just want to check the latest printouts from my people and then we
can go back up to a more comfortable room and meet with Marie and the
girls." He went over to a laser printer and got out a stack of papers.  He
looked through them for a few minutes and then suggested we go back up
stairs.

   "Was it Jane, have you found out anything?" I asked quietly, I was sort
of awed by the complexity of the hardware in this room, it looked like
something out of a spy movie.

   "I've got the info I was looking for, but let's meet up with the girls
and we can all go over this together, they deserve to be in on the details
and our plan." Marv led the way back into the elevator and we went back up
to the more residential levels of the house.

   As I walked into the room both girls were sitting on a low couch with
Marie standing behind them with a hand on each of their shoulders.  The
lighting was soft and a brandy decanter stood on a low table with five
crystal glasses next to it.  Amy and Julie were holding hands, their eyes
were red but they had stopped crying.  When they saw me they both got up
and ran to me and into my arms, hugging me and starting to cry all over
again.  I just held them, their bodies shaking, tears forming in my eyes as
well.  Marv went over to the table and poured five glasses of the brandy.
Marie took two and came over to where I was holding the girls.

   "Amy and Julie, chˇrie, please take these glasses, my Father wants to
say something." She spoke with a lilting accent, French-sounding, but I
couldn't quiet place it.  At the same time Marv brought me a glass and
handed one to Marie as well.  Walking back to the table he picked up the
last glass and turned to face us.

   "Dear friends, I knew Larry Ault and Diane Black and their daughter
Julie for many years, since we were at Berkeley together.  I liked them and
thought they were gifted and special people.  They were loved by Jim and
Amy Martin, people that I have loved dearly for twenty years.  They did not
deserve what happened to them, but happened it did and they are gone.  In
my old agency we had a toast for all the terrible losses like this one -
and there were more than most people know - and I would like to offer that
toast to the memory of Larry and Diane.  'To absent friends and fallen
comrades, we will hold you in our hearts and in our thoughts and we will
not forget, nor will we rest until the scale is once again balanced, this
we swear'." With that he raised his glass and we did the same, everyone
drinking down the brandy.  I could feel it warming my throat and down into
my stomach.  Somehow it seemed to warm away some of the pain, to
acknowledge the loss, it made it easier.  We set our glasses down on the
table and the girls and I sat on the couch Amy on my right, Julie on my
left.  Marie took a seat in the large chair next to the table curling her
legs under her and Marv went over to the table by the door to pick up the
papers he had brought up from the control center.

   "OK, this is what we know right now.  First of all I need to tell you
that I have been monitoring the audio bugs in the beach house along with
the people that put them there.  I've done this so that I could be sure I
knew what the opposition was hearing.  I apologize to you Jim and you too
girls, but it was necessary.  Unfortunately there has been about a
twenty-four hour time period from when something is recorded and I see the
transcripts.  I just never thought that this would escalate this quickly or
I would have listened to the raw recordings before they went into the
computer to be turned into text.  Looking at the transcripts from night
before last I can see what probably drove Jane over the edge.  There was a
long conversation between Larry and Diane in their bedroom about how happy
Jim seems now that he is separated from Jane.  Diane makes some very
unflattering comments about Jane and then they discuss what might be done
to get Jane out of the company before it goes public.  At one point Larry
suggests that they contact me to see if I can find out if there are any
skeletons in Jane's closet that might be used to force her out.  I think
that potential threat drove her over the edge, she must be hiding something
pretty strong.  I have had my agents looking deeply into her activity since
I saw this early this morning - I just never imagined that she would go to
this length." He paused and looked over at me.

   "First of all there is a scandal in her life Marv, Amy and I uncovered
it and used it to get Amy away from her.  As far as timing, it must have
been pretty tempting for her Marv, with Larry and I gone and Diane and the
girls too she would own the whole company.  It's the first time that the
five of us have been in a place where she could do something like this and
make it look like an accident.  Do your people have confirmation that she
was behind this, or even that it really was a bomb?"

   "Based on what I saw of the wreckage and what you told me about Julie
smelling something like a sparkler I have very little doubt that it was a
planted explosive.  Most probably Semex with a timer and a fuse containing
powered aluminum - which is what Julie smelled as the timer set the fuse
off.  Professionals never have an electrical timer set off an explosive
directly, too dangerous when setting things up, they always have a short
fuse and a chemical detonator between the timer circuit and the explosive
itself to allow them to stop things if the timer malfunctions while they
are setting things up.  The fact that nothing in the wreckage was charred -
nothing caught fire, indicates an explosion caused by Semex or C-4, one of
the plastic explosives; they produce such a strong shock wave that they
literally blow out any fire before it has a chance to start.  I think we
can safely assume that it was a bomb, someone in Jane's employ was
responsible for planting it on the boat yesterday afternoon between three
and five o'clock when the security man on the dock was lured away from the
slip.  We just have to wait to see what my people find out and go from
there." Just then the a portable phone sitting next to Marv on the table
rang.  Marv picked it up and listened for a few minutes and then set it
down on the table again.  "That was one of my agents, he managed to put a
bug in Jane's car about an hour ago right after I contacted him.  He has a
tape of Jane talking with two men named Phil and Ian and he just data burst
it to me.  I don't know who Phil is but from the tone of the conversation
he thinks that Ian is probably one of the people that she hired to watch
you."

   "We know who Phil is Marv, Amy found Jane's diary and in it she talks
about being a member of a bondage and torture sex club with a junior
partner from her firm named Phil Waddington.  The two of them have been
carrying on for four years.  That's the relationship we uncovered that we
threatened to expose if she didn't let Amy move to La Jolla with me. 
Originally she had something on me that she was using to keep me away from
Amy, I don't want to go into it now, but with what we had we were both in a
sort of Mexican standoff.  Since she didn't have anything on Larry and
Diane I guess she was terrified that they would uncover the same stuff that
I did, particularly since she knows your talents.  I just never dreamed she
would go this far."

   "You don't owe me any explanations Jim, I know how much I love Marie and
if anyone every tried to separate us I hate to think of the consequences.
I'm going to go down to the control center and bring the tape transmission
back up here so we can hear what was recorded in Jane's car just a few
minutes ago." With that he left the room.

   Amy and Julie and I just sat on the couch, still stunned by the
realization of what had really happened, it was starting to sink in - Jane
had tried to kill all of us, and she had succeeded in killing Larry and
Diane.  My anger started to build all over again, and I could feel the
girls starting to react the same way, their body language changed subtly.
They sat straighter, and their eyes were cold and their mouths set in a
hard line.  I knew that Jane had to be made to pay for this act.  That was
for sure.  Marie seemed to pick up on our change of mood.

   "Jim, Amy and Julie, I don't know you in person, but my Pappa speaks
often of you and in very glowing terms, I have always counted you as mon
amis (my friends), even having never met you.  For this to have happened to
your parents Julie is unforgivable.  But rest assured you are with the one
man in the world that can make anything happen and happen quickly.  He has
his two best agents in the United States in the Bay Area right now, I have
never known him to use two agents like these together on anything - and
believe me we've had some assignments that are pretty unbelievable.  My
Pappa is the most capable and most determined person you will ever meet,
the people that did this will pay - of that have no doubt."

   Now I could place the accent, she was speaking in the soft lilting tones
of Cajun French, I remembered that Marv spent some time in New Orleans when
he first went to work for the government.  I had heard somewhere that he
had married a Cajun woman down there, but he never spoke of it, Marie must
be his daughter from that marriage.

   "Thank you ma 'tite fille (my little girl)" Marv said as he walked back
into the room at the end of her statement.  He carried a small digital tape
recorder which he set on the table in front of us next to the brandy
decanter.  He sat down on the edge of the table and reached over and turned
it on.  "This was taped from her car and data burst to me just minutes ago
and stored on this digital play back disk.  She drove to a parking lot near
the campus and met up with two men there.  They all were in her car for
this short meeting.  You'll hear three voices, the first is Jane, then Phil
answers her then Ian describes what his man in La Jolla observed.  It
leaves no doubt about what was done and why." With that we heard Jane's
voice start to come out of the small speaker in front of us, with the
clarity of the digital playback it sounded like she was in the room with
us.

   "So, its ten-thirty, by now according to Ian's man, the five of them are
rapidly on their way to becoming fish shit.  I probably won't get
officially notified until later tonight or tomorrow, it depends on how
quickly someone finds the wreckage, or better yet a body.  I'll have to
play the grieving widow Phil, so you'll have to handle all the probate
problems.  As soon as possible we need to petition the court to have them
declared dead, it would be too much to hope that all the bodies would wash
up somewhere."

   "That's not a problem Jane, in about a week I will file with the
district court to petition the certificates prior to probate, that will
speed up the probate process by several weeks.  The fact that the wreckage
is so far from any land will make it pretty simple, if no one is found in a
few days the chance of anyone being alive is non-existent.  The important
thing is to find a buyer for the company right away - as soon as you have
control, since liquidating the assets will keep any spurious claims from
being filed.  You will no longer own the assets and the new owner is exempt
from any claims by right of good-faith purchase.  Ian are you absolutely
certain that the bomb went off on schedule and that your guy put enough
explosive on the boat?"

   "Listen Phil, for the one million bucks you promised us we would have
put the goddamn thing in orbit if you wanted.  Anyway, Jeff followed them
in another boat about five miles away, he said the Semex went off at
exactly ten o'clock, he saw the flash and the shock wave was so fucking
powerful that he could feel it from where he was, there is no way any
sonvabitch could have survived that explosion - I guarantee it."

   "You had better be right Ian, that last thing I need is for my fucking
ex-husband or that little slut daughter of his to walk into court while we
are probating his assets."

   We heard Phil's voice come out of the speaker.  "Speaking of assets
Jane, I'm sort of sorry I didn't get a shot at that little cunt Amy before
she became several thousands parts, she really had a nice ass and a great
set of tits, I would have loved to see how they looked after thirty minutes
of using a hot iron on them."

   "Yeah, and that blond bitch too," added Ian with heavy lust in his tone.
"Jeff told me they were both hot looking pieces of ass, he said that night
he followed them to dinner he had a hardon all night just looking at them
dancing in their short dresses.  He said the tits on the dark haired one
when she was dancing were..."

   Jane interrupted in an bitchy tone, "Just pay attention to what you need
to do Ian, and you forget about Amy's tits too Phil, you just concentrate
on getting us control of that company.  Get me that money and I'll buy you
all the teenage tits you want, and help you string the bitches up by them."

   "Hey, you guys that sounds like a party, are Jeff and I invited?" Ian
said in an expectant tone.

   Jane continued, ignoring what Ian had said.  "As soon as he gets the
microphones out of the beach house get Jeff's ass up here Ian, and fast.  I
don't want him near that dock or anywhere in La Jolla where he might be
recognized, particularly if the cops start talking to people down there
around where the boat was parked.  If Jim's friend Marv should get wind of
this like Larry and Diane were thinking about we'll all be hanging by our
fucking tits.  OK, Phil you go home and start writing the petition brief,
I'll head home to sit by the phone.  Ian you call Jeff and have him meet
you at your motel in San Mateo first thing tomorrow.  No one call anyone
until I have been officially notified, no more meetings, no more contact
until I contact you.  Now get out of here - both of you."

   There was the sound of car doors opening and closing and then the car
engine starting and the car driving.  We all just sat there stunned.  We
knew what had happened but the cold tone in Jane's voice sort of froze us -
this was a mean bitch.  She had just organized killing the five people
closest to her for most of her adult life, and she showed absolutely no
remorse.

   "Well," said Marv, "you've heard what my agent recorded just a few
minutes ago, I doubt that Jane has even gotten home yet.  So what do we do
now?"

   Amy reached over and took my hand and then so did Julie.  Amy looked
straight at Marv and spoke very clearly.  "I want Jane dead, and I want
Phil dead and I want those two rotten bastards that did the dirty work
dead. I'm not interested in the police, I am not interested in long trials
with lots of lawyers, I am interested in all four of them dead, period."
She looked over at me as she said the last words.  I met her gaze and saw
the determination and the coldness in her eyes.  She was completely serious
and I realized at that moment that so was I - I wanted them dead too.  I
glanced in the other direction at Julie and she was looking at me with the
same expression in her blue eyes, they were the color of ice.  This was
some pair of girls.

   "This seems to be unanimous with us Marv, we don't see any reason for
them to live, they have crossed over the line from people who deserve to
live under the rule of law to the side of mad dogs that need to be
destroyed," I added.

   "I agree with you and the girls Jim.  If you had asked me to I would
have arranged for enough evidence to be 'found' to convict them of murder,
but without bodies it would have still been tricky with their connections.
The safest way is to terminate them and terminate them now, I just wanted
to hear it from you first.  I'll get in touch with both of my people up
there and set the events in motions for 'accidents' to happen to all three
of them.  I already have one of my people at the beach house waiting for
that Jeff guy to show up, he will be taken care of down there, along with
the bugs.  The question now is do you want to stay alive or do we take
advantage of this opportunity to have you three disappear?"

   The three of us just sat there and stared at Marv.  "What do you mean
'disappear' Marv?" Amy questioned.  "And why would we want to do that, I
mean with Jane out of the picture Daddy is free to do what he planned with
the company, and the three of us can be together and try to heal from this
terrible night."



   "In a perfect world you would be correct Amy, but stop and think a
minute.  Your mother and one of her associates at the law firm have
accidents just hours after the boat you, Julie and your Dad are on blows
up, killing the other partners in the business.  Then the three of you show
up unhurt with no good explanation of how you got ashore.  The police are
bound to wonder if there is a connection, they will dig into the whole
business to see if there is any evidence of foul play.  When they find
traces of explosive on the wreckage - and Semex leaves a pretty
identifiable signature - the question will be who planted the bomb?  You
three are the only ones alive and the only ones that benefit from the
deaths of the others.  Can the three of you stand that sort of personal
scrutiny?" I looked over at the girls, they seemed worried, Marv's words
had hit home.  We might be suspected of the murders, especially if our real
relationship came to light.

   "I'd better explain." Marv went on, looking at the three of us directly,
" I know more about your relationship than you think I know, my recordings
of the conversations in the beach house were not effected by the silencing
device that blocked Jane's recordings.  I heard all the words spoken, all
of the conversations.  Again I apologize, my motivation was not to snoop on
you but to protect you and I had to know what was being said all the time.
I care too much about you guys to do this job half-assed.  That's why the
delay in the transcripts, no one but Marie or I ever heard the raw tapes,
and the transcripts were edited before I sent them to my agent in
Berkeley."

   "So you know about the relationship that Daddy and Julie and I..." Amy
started to say.

   "I know how much you three love each other and how you want to be
together." Marv interrupted.  "I also know how much society frowns on what
you want to do and to be for each other.  I know because Marie and I share
that special kind of relationship as well, we have for several years and
one of the reasons we live here, alone, is to allow that relationship to
exist, right 'tite belle (little sweetheart)?" he said softly, looking at
Marie lovingly, she returned his gaze with soft eyes and walked over to
stand beside his chair.

   "But what about my company, what about our lives, we can't just
disappear Marv, it wouldn't be fair to the girls to spend our lives in
hiding, I mean how am I going to make a living if I'm 'dead'," I said,
putting an arm around each of the girls.

   "First of all no one is talking about giving everything up and just
hiding out.  I'm talking about new lives, lives working with me in this
business.  I'll buy your company Jim and we can use the software
development assets with you guiding from behind the scenes.  I'll wire ten
million to an account in the Caymans for you and the girls tomorrow
morning, call it a signing bonus.  Then after some serious training you
three will join Marie and I in owning and running 'our' new company here
out of this house.  First, though, I would recommend some time in the field
to let things cool down around here and so that you can experience first
hand what it is we really do in the 'business'."

   "What exactly do you do anyway Marv, I know it is some sort of security
work, but as I told Amy and Julie it's sort of murky exactly what
'security' means."

   "Well, let's put it this way Jim.  You know all the James Bond movies,
the license to kill stuff?  The save the world stuff?  Let's just say that
I have a very, repeat very, informal arrangement with the highest levels of
the US government to do things that need to be done that no official agency
can be allowed to get mixed up in, it can be very stimulating - as well as
profitable.  Are you three interested?  I can promise you can be together
and you will never be bored!"

   "Well girls?  You said you wanted an adventure, are you willing to give
up everything and go adventuring?" I asked, kissing each of them on the top
of the head.

   "Daddy as long as we can be together I don't care what we do and you
know how I feel about adventures."

   "Me too Uncle Jim, you and Amy are all the family I have now, and
besides someone has to go with you and Amy to make sure that things get
done correctly and on time.  Count me in."

   "Well Jim, Amy and Julie, sounds like we about to become one happy
family, welcome to the Omega Group - by the way we're called that because
we're the last resort, they never call us unless no one else can do the
job." Marv leaned over and poured brandy into the five glasses.  He handed
us each a glass and proposed a toast.  "To interesting times."

   "And True Love" Amy added.

   Epilogue (A year later)



   The Pappillion rocked gently at anchor in Sydney Harbor.  She was a
graceful two masted ship, sixty five sleek feet of white and teak.  Her
name (French for Butterfly) fit her perfectly, she seemed poised on the
surface of the water to suddenly dart off on the first gust of wind.  A
deeply tanned man wearing only a pair of cut-offs sat on the rear deck, a
bottle of Red Back Ale in his large hand, a can of deck cleaner and a brush
at his feet.  Forward two beautiful young women were busy taking the canvas
cover off a large dingy tied down to cleats on the forward deck.  One of
the women was tall with a taut, slender body and short white blond hair. 
She too was tanned, not as darkly as the man but dark enough to compliment
the very small lime green string bikini she wore.  The other woman was
equally as tall with long reddish brown hair, plaited into a long braid
that hung down her back.  She too had a dark tan, as dark as the man, and
also wore a small bikini - her large breasts strained against the small
triangles of azure blue cloth restraining them.  Neither women showed any
tan lines, clearly indicating that they usually tanned without the need for
even the minuscule suits they wore today.  They moved with practiced grace,
the well developed muscles in their legs and back standing out as they
pulled on the heavy canvas cover.  Jim Martin (now calling himself James
Williams) leaned back in his deck chair and enjoyed the view as the two
women pulled and tugged on the stubborn canvas cover.

   "How soon will you girls be ready to go ashore?  Amy has to meet with
our target at five and get him to the warehouse."

   "Some help from the Daddy would have sped things up, but I wouldn't want
to interfere with your work on the deck" Amy replied with a grin on her
face looking pointed at the bottle of Red Back in his hand.

   Jim and his daughter Amy and adopted daughter Julie had trained for
almost a year for this sort of mission.  Their training included both
physical training - at a level that Jim and the girls had only dreamed
existed, as well as training in how to use the complex electronics that
Marv built along with what Marv called lightly "tradecraft".  Their current
mission was simple in concept, but difficult in execution.  A mid-level
Australian government official named John Mitchell had stolen some highly
classified documents that could prove very embarrassing to both Australia
and the United States if they were to find their way to the Indonesian
government.  Given the unstable nature of the current Indonesian
government, which the papers concerned, they could conceivably cause armed
conflict between Australia and the well equipped military in Indonesia. 
The papers had to be recovered and the traitor silenced - forever.  His
major weakness was beautiful young girls, preferably teenagers.  It was up
to Amy to convince him to lead her to where he had hidden the papers to
show them to her.  He believed that Amy was an American tourist in Sydney
for a couple of weeks on vacation and that he had just gotten very lucky.
Amy had managed to lead him on over the last week to the point where he was
panting to get her clothes off.  Very subtly Amy had convinced him that his
probability of getting her in bed was directly related to Amy's view of his
importance.  He had promised to show her something that would convince her
of his imminent importance, and wealth, in the world.  There was also some
pretty convincing recent evidence that the man had murdered a woman
government employee to get the papers, and Jim had no doubt that he would
kill again if he suspected that the meeting with Amy was a trap.

   This was their first field assignment on their own, and after this they
planned to take several months off and relax with an around the world sail.
Between the training and now this assignment they had been at it intensely
for almost a year.  Jim stared out at the sculptured roof of the Opera
House on the edge of Sydney Harbor and remembered back to a year ago when
he and the girls had started training for this line of work.

   It was hard for him to believe a year had passed since his ex-wife had
murdered Julie's parents and tried to kill the three of them by blowing up
their sailboat, the Silver Cloud.  Well, he thought, Jane and her helpers
were long gone, three eliminated in the Bay Area - dispatched by Marv's
agents in two, seemingly unrelated, horrendous traffic accidents the day
following the explosion on the boat.  It caused a minor stir for a day on
all the TV and radio shows - the grieving widow (Jane) and her lawyer
(Phil) killed in a single car accident while driving to the sheriff's
office to hear the particulars on the death at sea of her husband, daughter
and business partners.  Particularly since the "accident" involved the car
being driven by Jane veering off the entrance to the Bay Bridge and
plunging into the cold waters of San Francisco Bay.  The television reports
said that both people in the car had still been alive when the car plunged
into the Bay and that they must have remained conscious under the water
since they died by drowning.  The car accident that killed Jane's henchman
only made the back pages, a man in a fiery crash near the San Mateo bridge
that backed up traffic for over an hour.  The one in La Jolla named Jeff,
who actually planted the explosives, just disappeared; no one ever heard of
him again.  Now Jim, Amy and Julie were agents for Marv (actually more like
partners) getting ready to arrange an "accident" for someone else that
deserved to disappear.

   Jim finished up his ale and headed below to see if the girls needed any
help getting dressed, although he had to admit he just enjoyed watching the
process.  He was looking forward to being done in Australia so that they
could set sail on their well deserved six month break.  Six months with the
girls, the three of them alone on the boat was going to be a wonderful
vacation - given their libidos after this assignment he hoped he would
survive the trip.  End



   A Preview of Centaur's new novel - Marie Coming in December 1998

   Marie Part One Chapter One - Present

   Marv sat in the control room watching the monitors on the control
console, and listening for some contact from Jim and the girls anchored in
Sydney Harbor.  It was five AM in California which made it Midnight in
Sydney, time for Jim and the girls to check-in and let him know how things
went with recovering the papers and getting rid of Mitchell.  As the digits
on the clock face in front of him moved to seven minutes past the hour he
started to get concerned, Jim had never been that late with a report.  Even
a blind check-in from a telephone just letting him know that they would be
delayed would have calmed his concerns.  He never worried about his agents
like this, but Jim and Amy and Julie were special to him - family.

   He heard his daughter Marie come quietly into the room and walk up
behind him.  He felt her gentle hand touch on his shoulder.

   "What's wrong Pappa?  Haven't you heard from Jim and the girls tonight?"

   "No 'tite belle (little sweetheart), nothing and it's not like them to
be late.  Tonight is the night they were to have had Mitchell lead them to
the papers and arrange for his "accident".  I hope nothing has gone wrong,
if something has happened to them I will never forgive myself, I really
didn't want to sent them out into the field, but I thought this would be an
easy one, I didn't find out about Mitchell killing the woman who got him
the papers until after Amy had already made contact, and I figured that the
three of them would be able to handle him."

   "Don't worry cher if anyone can protect the girls it's Jim, not that
they need much protection one-on-one with anyone.  They are the best
martial arts students we have ever trained, the sensi (martial arts
teacher) was amazed at what they accomplished in six months.  And you know
what sort of marksmen they are as well."

   "I know, they can take care of themselves, but I just can't help the
feeling that something has gone terribly wrong.  I haven't felt this way
since your Mother was killed.  I hate feeling this way.  I should have
never let Jim talk me into letting them go on a field assignment.  Now I
can only sit and wait." Marv felt Marie lean forward and hug him, her warm
breath on his face.  He loved her so much, but he was filled with the
thoughts and feelings of what happened seven years ago.

   Chapter 2 - The Past

   He had to face it, they were gone, his lovely Chantel and his little
Marie.  His wife and daughter, snatched by Ricard in revenge for Marv's
putting him in jail ten years ago.  He was frantic to find them, he knew
Ricard's reputation - the underworld called him "The Family Man" - not
because of his love for his family but for the way he killed the whole
family of anyone that opposed him.  He often left the man who offended him
alive for up to a year after he killed his family, letting him suffer the
loss before his own death.  That reputation kept most local gang leaders -
and most of the police - from bothering him as he tightened his grip on the
drug and prostitution business in New Orleans.

   Marv sat on the staircase of his suburban Washington home, looking at
the splintered door jam when someone kicked in the front door.  Little
Marie's school backpack lay on the floor partially behind the open door. 
He was suddenly startled by the shrill ringing of the telephone.  He almost
fell in his haste to get up and grab the receiver.  As he said hello he
heard what he most feared, Ricard's voice with it's thick Cajun accent.

   "Hey you tcheue poule (loosely translated as 'chicken ass") Fed bastard.
Guess who this is?  The guy you sent to Angola ten years ago.  Well I'm out
and horny for real pussy.  Good thing I've found a couple of cunts that can
help me out.  Of course the old one is used goods, I've had her before and
I'll just leave her for my mon amis (my friends) here.  But the jeune fille
(young girl) here looks really belle (sweet).  I just stripped her down and
she has a tight looking little cunt here.  I'm going to wait an hour or so
then when the boys have finished with your bitch Chantel I'll let her watch
me break in this 'tite chatte (little pussy).  So what do you say to that
Mr.  Smart Fed?"

   Marv felt his knees weaken as he heard Ricard speak, he could also hear
Marie crying in the background and calling for her Pappa.  "If you touch
her you fils de putain (son of a bitch) I'll tear your balls off with my
bare hands, let them go, it's me you have the argument with, not them.  I'm
the one that wired Chantel and got the goods on you that sent you away. 
They had nothing to do with it."

   'Merde (shit) on you Fed, I'm going to fuck them both, the 'tite fille
first then your wife - up the ass - for dessert.  I'll call you in about an
hour when I'm doing it so you can hear her scream when I shove my prick up
her cherry cunt, til then just think about it.  If you have any idea you
can stop me t'es en ˇrreur (you're mistaken)."

   Marv knew he had only one chance to find out where that asshole Ricard
was hiding out with Chantel and Marie, but he had to get his friend at the
FBI to help, off the record and quick.  He reached again for the telephone.

   (To Be Continued)















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