Chapter 2

If things were going to keep up like this I would be needing a bigger home soon. I always had room for cars though. The idea that we had a plane and a club to go to was kind of neat though.

Tony, Frank, Gina, and Alex seemed unreal. They were just like ordinary people, of course in this business nothing was ordinary, yet I truly liked them. The fact that Tony was dying and thought he knew who was behind it was a mystery. If it was up to me, the SOB suspect would disappear.

I called everyone into the game room and told them we would be having guests shortly. Since there was no easy way to do this I told everyone we would all be going out to dinner that evening, all meant everyone from inside, The guards and dogs outside would watch the house. I asked Miko to take Yoshi and ‘Natasha’ shopping with her, we would be going to ‘our’ new club tonight. I got back a stare. I said something in Japanese to her and got a blush. She looked back and said that her mother was not a cow!

Oh well, I thought. That evening the four of us got into a BMW 742 LT escorted by two ‘heavy’ Mercedes 500’s, front and rear. The sticker I placed on the dash got us in, the look on the faces of our ‘escorts’ got them in, the BMW being attended to by two of the nice men guarding us.

We were seated very quickly, no menu needed it seemed and several beverages were brought out. Green tea for Yoshi, mint for Miko, Natasha a cola and some Campari and soda for me. The waiter came up.

“Mr. Bond, welcome to ‘The Club’ a meal has been made ready for you and your guests, unless you would like something special?”

“No, I would assume everything will be something we like.”

The food procession then began. Soup, duck, lamb, veal, tuna, rice, potatoes, tomatoes, green beans, fresh fruit, three desserts and two bowls of ice crème topped with caramel and chocolate sauces.

When we were finished, Frank came over to us with a big smile. “There was some ices and pastries until the waiter dropped the tray. We will miss him. Nooo, just kidding, he’ll be back, ... when he gets out of traction. So Mr. Bond, may I show you and your guests around? By the way, your minders outside have food waiting for them and some ‘doggie’ bags for the mutts. Funny, they wont eat or drink anything unless you tell them. Good habits.”

I made the introductions as Frank took us around. When we got to the meeting rooms he handed me a key pointing to a room saying it was mine. When we got outside he handed me a Sat phone saying that speed call no. 1 was the plane and the button under the cap was for ‘emergency’ use, he then handed three others out. He was no. 2 on the phones, Alex and Gina 3 and 4.

We walked out front and to the cars. No bill was ever presented. I called the lead guards from both cars over and introduced Frank, telling them that he was ‘Family’ and had access to our the estate at anytime. Frank looked at me with just a hint of a tear in his eyes. I told them to get the food and ‘doggie’ bags since ‘The Club’ was now one of our places to go to. Frank took them to the plane and also showed them the Helo pad, the underground garage and how to discreetly access the club facilities.

On the way home, not a word was spoken. When we got home I had concerned people on my hands.

“What?” I asked. “He doesn’t look like family or What?” I asked again.

I got shrugged shoulders from all three.

“Yes Master, goodnight!” As all three walked away shaking their heads. I wondered how I was going to explain Alex and Gina later. Cousins maybe. Right.

It was about two weeks later that I got a visit from Frank.

“Tony died. Everything has been taken care of. Alex and Gina will be here next week, they are taking his death pretty hard. Tony wanted you to take his part of the houses over, here are the keys and addresses. He also wanted you to have some cash.” A carryall handed over. It had a lot of cash in it, a lot.

“He handed me a file for you. It is everything we know about Vincent.”

I handed Frank another file and sets of keys. “Frank, these are places I keep, you are a part of my ‘family’ too and you now have rooms in them. Just announce yourself at the gate the first visit, they are expecting you. How long should I keep Alex and Gina?”

“Tony said until you feel they are ready to leave. Your call.”

“Frank, I said this before, you and I are in the same business. If it wasn’t for my need to see Natasha get ready for life I’m not sure I could do any better than you would, but I’ll try. I may need your help though.”

“You’ll have anything you ask for, I mean anything.”

I was very pleased with both the physical progress as well as the attitude change in Natasha. Miko ran with her every day, sometimes more often. Yoshi had started training her in martial arts after the second week. She now was eating, sleeping and getting fit, soon her real training would begin.

It seemed that Miko had been educating her in what I call, grace and poise, some older folks would say etiquette. The little girl was on her way to becoming a woman like Miko. She had a long way to go but one could see she was trying very hard, so hard, that one day, as we were in the pool together I mentioned to her how well she was doing and that soon we would start her training. I had passed much of the information about Vincent on for verification. He was on a list of ‘bad guys’ but only as a minor thug. I told Natasha that we had some leads about her father’s killer(s) and that it seemed that they would be found.

I also told her that there was some good and bad news. The good was that she was doing all the right things, the bad, that she was trying too hard. “Rome was not built in a day.” I told her to try to enjoy herself a little, that soon Alex and Gina, people near her own age would be joining us and that I had planned to have her training at least ten months. With Alex and Gina here that there would be more than just learning how to kill and that she would join our ‘family’ in learning how to live life too. Girls, she threw her arms around me and started to cry. With a look of panic on her face, she remembered we were swimming with little clothes on. There was no doubt she was a woman and my reaction to that hug was all male. For the short time she had been here I had never tried to make her feel she was anything other than like a sister to me. That contact with her growing body would not change that. I did not notice Miko’s slight nod as she came in and joined us in the pool.