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Mike Smith Is Dead—Pt. 7

Christian lite - Fiction

By Dub WrightPublished 5 years ago 12 min read
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“I had to be escorted. He wouldn’t let me see her without either him or his mother in the room with me.” Tears ran down her face. She spoke as if the law had been quoted to her, “Tennessee law allows a non-custodial parent to spend time with her child under the supervision of another person or at a designated facility. I was treated like a criminal. Then when I said I’d be in town for over a week he said I needed to get a lawyer if I wanted to visit her without supervision and I couldn’t see her at all during the week because of school.”

Kip sat on a side chair and Rosa sat across from him at the small table in Kip’s hotel room. “He was afraid you’d steal her.”

“I thought about it.” Tears gushed from her eyes and her makeup was completely washed away. “She’s sixteen, and she can legally tell the court she wants to come to Costa Rica when school is out. Although, at least we talked about it; she might come during her summer break—alone. Since she’s sixteen, he can’t force her to be accompanied. But, they wouldn’t let her be with me at the hotel without one of them tagging along. I told her she was free to come home with me. I thought my ex would go into convulsions.”

“Does she want to do that?”

Rosa shook her head. “No, not permanently, she has friends, Kip, she doesn’t really know me. This is the first time he has even let me visit in many years. He had a court order that said I deserted them. I couldn’t fight it. Somebody in his family made him write to me and offer if I could come to Nashville, I could visit her. And, now she has a good support system. Actually, his parents are fairly nice people and I think they were upset the day he left me, and what happened. When Ed left he took everything, car, bank account, and credit cards; as a non-citizen, I had no fight. He knew that. I had to borrow money to come back home. I was on a guest visa; which once upon a time if married to him meant I could apply for naturalization, get a passport or anything. When he left I had to escape because my status became non existent.”

“You said he remarried?”

“Yes, some woman he met at his company. She’s a blond, in every sense of the word. I’m being cruel. She seemed nice enough, almost sympathetic to my situation. I don’t think he really told her much about our breakup.”

“Can I ask what happened? I mean, you were married twelve years.”

Tears flowed again. “I got very sick. There was a cyst on my uterus, they removed my ovaries. I was in the hospital a week, at home supposedly to recover and then there was a problem and I had to go back in the hospital. He started seeing her then. No sooner had I come home to recover from the second surgery, he simply took Carla and moved out and told me I had thirty days to leave his house. Paulo had to buy me a ticket to San Jose. I arrived with only my suitcase, he took everything, by the time I left the house he had moved everything out and the house was for sale. I slept on the floor.”

“Wow,” Kip could feel her pain. Although he knew that in every breakup there’s blame on both sides, but her story was heart breaking. He held out his hands to Rosa.

She walked around the table and sat on Kip’s lap and then kissed him. “Don’t you even like me? What’s wrong?”

“Rosa,” Kip said. “You’ve been hurt enough. I can’t have anyone close to me, because of those who are trying to get to me. They’re not nice people. If I have someone close to me, they can hold that loved one and force me to turn over a huge amount of money, which truthfully isn’t mine anyway but I am holding for the government of the United States. That would be the perfect way to get to me because they can’t kill me. If they did the money would remain in Publica Bank investments forever. My friend Jorge Salas would simply let the investments continue on. That is our agreement. But, the people holding a loved one will try to leverage me. Which probably includes some pretty nasty things to my body and for anyone I am close to, the same. I had to leave my sister in Missouri to handle everything about my Mother’s funeral. Because, although she doesn’t believe it, her life would be endangered if I so much as appeared near her. Oh, yes, my Rosa, I am in love with you, but that can’t come to be, because if I love you I might hurt or destroy you.”

She kissed him long enough that Kip became self conscious.

The burn phone rang at three in the morning. Kip untangled from the sheets and looked back at the sleeping Rosa. “Yes?” He swung his feet off the bed. “I told you to text.”

“Can you be at the hanger by six?” Marcos seemed wide awake. “You’ll have to taxi from Hertz, you better make sure you can get a cab at this hour. I’ll be going through the checklist with Sam. I think she’s got it, she told me that she already tested it and she says the bird will fly, and I believe her. We have a 0610 window.”

“We’ll be there.” Kip hung up and shook Rosa. “We gotta go.”

Rosa rubbed her eyes and slipped out of bed, the bathroom door closed.

“Oops. I should have used the bathroom before I woke her.”

At 5:45 AM a taxi dropped Rosa and Kip off at the hanger. They walked through the open door and saw Sam and Marcos looking over some charts.

Marcos looked up. “Go ahead and get on. We are fueled and just double checking some things an inspector was with Sam last night and cleared the ship. I don’t think he wanted to come out this morning to look at luggage.”

“Did she fix it?” Kip looked at Sam.

Sam smiled and waved. He guessed that meant everything was working like it should. Rosa and Kip stowed their luggage then strapped into soft leather seats facing the cockpit. Minutes later Sam and Marcos climbed aboard and the steps folded up into place. Sam pointed to the emergency exit. “Emergency exit. Somewhat like commercial jets, except the seats are not floats but the back door opens to a rubber raft, and there’s supposed to be floatation devices, but apparently the previous owner removed them. You shouldn’t need oxygen, but if a circumstance should arise, the oxygen bottles are in storage bins next to your seats, another modification of the previous owner. Okay, next stop San Jose. Enjoy the flight, after we are cruising there should be some water and Pepsi or Coke in the refrigerator—Marcos had a bag of biscuits and jellies delivered, they’re in the storage cabinet. Okay, any questions?”

Kip shook his head. “Nope.”

Rosa grinned. “Me either.”

Minutes later the jet roared down the runway and headed southward toward the Gulf.

Rosa reached across the aisle and grabbed Kip’s hand. “About last night. I was upset. Please forgive me, really I don’t usually just throw myself at people like that, but I was so angry, and you were so helpful and understanding.”

Kip smiled. “Well, I was thinking, maybe we should try it again when you’re not upset.”

She blushed and said nothing just smiled and squeezed his fingers.

They both dozed until the intercom came on. “Flight time to San Jose, about four hours give or take a few minutes. We’ll be flying at 38,000 feet and expect to cross the bottom of Mexico on our way to the Pacific and our final set up for San Jose. So, sit back and enjoy your flight with us today on Marco’s Airlines.” Marcos clicked off the intercom.

Kip grinned at Rosa. “Ever hear of the mile high club?”

“Yes, and don’t get any ideas, I’m perfectly happy right here without having to deal with something to add to my confession.”

It suddenly occurred to Kip that he was missing his mother’s funeral and had walked away from a mess his sister would have to handle. He could feel his face drop and he retracted his hands to his own lap.

“Hey, are you okay? You look like you are about to jump out of the plane, I mean if the mile high club means that much to you.”

He managed to smile. “Just thinking about the situation I deserted in Maryville.”

Rosa seemed to try and liven his mood. “What name are you going by today?”

“Kip Waller. They’ll check our passports when we land in San Jose. As you know, I have a French Passport with that name. And another French Passport with a different name.”

“Will you ever tell me your real name?”

“No. In fact, I about don’t remember it myself.”

She grimaced. “Okay, Kip Waller. I just wanted to know who I made love to most of the night last night.”

“You were upset.”

She grinned. “You took advantage of me.”

“Hey, no fair. I told you the problem I have with a relationships, you just pushed the envelope.”

“Oh, was that all it was?”

Kip softened his tone. “No, of course not. I’ve fallen in love with you and that is totally wrong.”

“Kip, I’ve known you for five years. During that time I have watched you daily. Honey, I even wash your clothes for you.” She whispered, “Of course you pay me.” She giggled. “I buy clothes for you. I know all of your sizes even underwear. I know when you are depressed or happy, when you are well and when you are sick and I need to go to the pharmacy. Oh, Paulo warned me not to fall in love with another American; but, I can’t help it.” The strain on her face made her cheeks glow.

“Yeah, bad enough I have my own nation after me, plus some bad guys from who knows where, now your brother will probably break my neck if he finds out.”

“Paulo will never know, if we don’t tell him,” she said with a certain sly smile.

Kip laughed. “He watches you like a hawk.”

“He protects me.”

“I probably need to move away. Not only to protect myself from your bother, but sooner or later some very nasty folks are going to find out where I live. Like my sister got a message to me and she wasn’t even sure where I was in the world or if I was alive.”

“She called on a higher power.”

“God?” Kip blurted out.

“Almost.” Rosa smiled. “The Catholic Church.”

“What?”

“Which reminds me you never told me you were raised Catholic.”

Kip sat up straighter in the chair. “Where are you getting all this information?”

Rosa grinned. “You know you gave me her phone number. Well, I called her and we had a girl chat. She was really upset. So, we both cried on the phone, and I learned a whole lot about you.”

Kip could feel his ears burning. “She didn’t tell you my birth name? What was the girl talk all about?” He could feel his temper rising.

Rosa shook her head. “She said she thought you changed your name anyway. I did ask. She didn’t know what name you were using, in fact she said she tried to call you back at the hotel and you weren’t registered, so she knew you had changed your name.”

“Someday, I have to know how the church managed to find me.”

“And, someday, you’re going to Mass with me. Father Luis told me he thought you were Catholic the day you saved him.”

“I haven’t been a Catholic since I was eighteen.” Kip started to get up and move toward the lavatory. “That was long ago. Sunday I even attended a Methodist service.”

She turned toward the window. “All I see is water and clouds.”

Kip closed the door to the bathroom. “What have I gotten into?” When he returned Rosa was writing on a piece of paper.

“Don’t be offended, but Kip, how much would you invest for

Absolute privacy and isolation-ship? I mean, a place of your own, a castle with a moat.”

“Strange question. Why?”

“An idea. Tell me if you don’t like it.”

He sat back in his seat and fastened the seatbelt. “Okay.”

Rosa was bubbling. “I know of two or three properties that will be for sale before Christmas. They are mountain top and ridge side, gated, and absolute privacy.”

“How much.”

She squelched her eyes. “$400,000 USD or close to it. But, I know some lenders who would gladly finance it based on your retirement pay.”

“Whew, that’s a lot. And, why?”

“Security.” Rosa drew a circle on her paper. “I know of one property that will be available to view in the next few weeks in Florencia in Alajuela. Not too far from San Jose. Would you go see it with me?”

He smiled at her enthusiasm. “Okay.”

She reached across the aisle again and grabbed his hand. “I love you.”

Kip began figuring in his head. “I can move monies directly to an owner, no finance companies to intercede.”

“What?” She must have seen his lips moving.

“Just figuring how to pull something like that off.”

“I have a thought, but I’ll hold that idea for later.”

He laughed. “Thinking about the mile high club again?”

She grinned mischievously. “Maybe.”

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About the Creator

Dub Wright

Curmudgeon; overeducated; hack writer; too much time in places not fit for habitation.

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