-I don't own the Blacklist or Boston Legal. I just think that Alan Shore and Raymond Reddington look remarkable alike. I promise I'm not making any money off of this story.
It was late after Liz and Red had discussed her decision to stay with him while they hunted for Berlin. She'd already emptied her home and found a friend to take care of Hudson. She was sure Hudson would enjoy having a human with him on a more regular basis. So, Liz was prepared to be gone as long as necessary.
Red had decided to spend one last night in the current home he was borrowing. They would board his private plan in the morning and disappear for a few days. Just long enough to lose whatever surveillance that Berlin may have been able to put on them. With the attacks on the FBI task force he didn't fool himself by thinking that Lizzie wasn't put under surveillance as well. He'd made arrangements in a couple of countries for their arrival. Which country he decided to visit first would be made once they were in the air. He wanted to trust his pilot and crew, but he'd learned the hard way that anybody could be bought or threatened into betrayal. Newton's betrayal was still a painful memory.
Morning arrived much quicker than either of them wanted it to. Red had only brought in one small bag from the trunk last night. His packing was done within minutes of his rising and dressing. As he left his bedroom he nearly walked into Dembe. Dembe had his overnight bag in his hand.
"Good morning Raymond. Would you like me to take your bag to the car?" Dembe asked with a small smile.
"If you don't mind. I'm going to go see if Agent Keen is ready to go. I want to be in the air within the hour." Red said handing his bag off to Dembe.
Red walked down the hallway to Lizzie's room. This house was truly enormous and her room was nearly at the other end of the wing from his room. Red raised a hand to knock on the door, but the door was pulled open from the inside before his hand reached it.
"Lizzie, good morning! I see you are already awake and ready to go if the bag in your hand is any indication." Red said to Lizzie with a tired smile.
"I had a little trouble sleeping and decided I might as well get up. I've been ready to go for an hour or so. When I heard your footsteps I realized you are ready to go."
Red continue to smile at her and offered to carry her bag to the car. Within minutes Dembe was pulling the car onto to the highway heading to a private airfield only a few miles from where they were staying. Once they arrived at the airport Dembe pulled the car up next to Red's private jet. Red led her up the steps into the plane while Dembe dealt with the luggage. He left her in the passenger area while he went into the cockpit to talk to the pilot.
Once Dembe was aboard the plan began to taxi down the runway and into the clear blue skies above Washington D.C.. The plane made a slow curve to the right and headed out over the Atlantic. To what destination Lizzie didn't know and didn't really care. So much had happened in the last few days it was nice to just sit and not have to make any decisions for a little while.
"Lizzie would you like a pillow and blanket? Maybe you can get some sleep. You look like you haven't slept in days." Red asked her gently.
"I can try, but I haven't been able to stop my thoughts long enough to sleep." Liz answered.
Dembe quietly handed her a small pillow and soft blanket. As she lay down on the couch to try and sleep, Red and Dembe moved to seats as far away from the couch as they could. They didn't want their discussion to bother her.
Liz laid on the couch trying to sleep. They had closed almost all of the window shades so the cabin was dark, hoping this would help her relax enough to sleep. Despite the quiet and darkness she just wasn't able to stop her brain long enough to fall sleep. After nearly an hour she sat up and let the blanket pool in her lap.
Red who had been watching her from where he and Dembe and retreated saw her sit up. He motioned to Dembe with his head to let him know that Lizzie was awake. Red rose from his seat and walked back to sit in a seat next to the couch with a sigh. He knew only too well the inability to sleep due to swirling thoughts. It was an almost a constant state to him now. He was lucky to get three to four hours of sleep a night and that was usually only after a couple of glasses of scotch.
"Would you like something to help you sleep? We have some mild sleep aids on board." Red asked her.
Lizzie silently shook her head. She didn't want to get dependent on medication to get to sleep. She had this same problem as a child and teenager. There was one sure way for her Dad to get her to sleep. She was loath to ask Red to help her the way her Dad did, but she was really tired. She decided that she had nothing to lose if he wouldn't do it. Who was she kidding it wasn't like Red didn't like to tell stories. Her Dad used to tell her a story to give her mind something else to concentrate on instead of whatever was bothering her.
"Umm, Red I know this is going to sound really strange, but maybe you can do what my Dad did when I couldn't sleep." she asked sheepishly.
Red cocked an eyebrow at her and gave her a look that encouraged her to continue.
"My Dad used to tell me a story. It helped take my mind off what was bothering me." Liz explained and when Red didn't respond she quickly continued, "You know never mind, it was a silly request."
Seeing that Lizzie was becoming embarrassed by his continued silence he said, "I'm not sure I know any stories that he might have told you. I'd be more than happy to help you in any way I can, you know that Lizzie."
She looked at him trying to see if he was serious or just trying to keep her from being embarrassed by the request. She could tell by the concerned look on his face that he honesty wanted to help her.
"He didn't tell my the same stories every time. He would tell me stories about when he was younger or when I was younger. I realize now that those stories may not have had much truth to them, but it helped me relax." she said.
"Is there something you'd like to hear about? You know there are certain topics I won't discuss with you, but in the spirit of our new partnership I might be willing to tell you something about my past. Is there anything you'd like to know?" Red offered hoping she wouldn't ask about something he couldn't talk about.
Liz sat thinking about what part of his mysterious past he might be willing to discuss. She'd read the files that Ressler had accumulated on him and the official FBI dossier. There were a few periods of time where there were completely blank. She knew she had to stay away from Christmas 1990, but she hoped any other gap was open to her.
"In your files with the FBI there is a strange gap between 2004 and 2010. Can you tell me what you were doing then? The only things the files state is that your organization was still active, but no details of where you were and what you were doing." Lizzie said quietly.
Lizzie saw Red and Dembe share a quick look. She wasn't able to interpret what they shared in that quick exchange, but she sensed that she just might have hit on a safe subject.
With a sigh Red leaned further back into the soft leather of his seat. He looked at her quietly for a few more moments before he started speaking. "It was a period of time where I was tired, so very tired of what I was doing. I wanted to stop the constant moving about, the need to continuously look over my shoulder for someone who wanted to kill me. I went back home to Boston and decided I'd put all the time I'd spent reading law books while traveling here and there to some use. I obtained a false diploma from Suffolk Law School and sat the bar exam. I passed on my first try and quickly obtained a job at a law firm in Boston. I gained a reputation in anti-trust law and was soon the foremost anti-trust lawyer in the state." Red paused and looked over at Lizzie to see her staring at him in fascination.
"This was supposed to help you get to sleep, you look more awake now instead of less." Red said with a small chuckle.
"It sometimes took a little while before I drifted off. Please don't stop." Lizzie said pleadingly.
He knew there was no chance of her falling asleep before he finished his story, but he hadn't thought about this time of his life in years and he realized he wanted to share the stories of this time with Lizzie. Red desperately wanted her to see what kind of man he may have been if his life had followed a different fork in the road.
"I found that I really enjoyed the law, but I made it a point to avoid court appearances as much as I could. This is why I concentrated on anti-trust law instead of criminal cases. I was afraid I'd be recognized if I spent too much time in a courthouse. But, I quickly found those types of cases boring. I did something that caused the first law firm to fire me. I almost quit and returned to my criminal enterprise full time. I was still running it from afar and making trips on the weekends when I had to handle something face to face. It was during this time that I gave more responsibility to Anslo. It took him 4 years or so to decide that since I wasn't as present he'd start taking jobs that I wouldn't approve of and it was another 2 years or so before I dealt with him." Red said uncomfortably. He glanced over at Dembe and sent him a look of sorrow. "I wish I had done a better job of dealing with him. Of course the people that hired Anslo would have just found someone else to attack the Blacksite"
Dembe looked back at Red and gave him a nod of acknowledgment of Red's unspoken apology. "Agent Keen, Raymond would you like something to drink? I think this may be a long story."
Both Lizzie and Red said they'd love something to drink and Dembe quickly disappeared into the plane's galley. He returned shortly with herbal tea for both of them. He saw Red's look of disgust and answered, "You need some sleep to soon and you don't need caffeine keeping you awake."
Lizzie gave a quiet chuckle as she sipped her tea. She loved the fact that Dembe was unafraid to tell Red exactly what he thought. She thought Red would be better off if more people did the same.
Red gave her a look that said he was not amused, but he continued his story anyway. "I decided to give the law another chance and asked a lawyer that I'd met at the firm that fired me, for a job. She had moved onto another firm as partner and agreed to hire me on a temporary basis after she heard why I'd been fired."
Liz interrupted to ask, "Why were you fired? It would have to be a brave person to fire you."
"Remember I wasn't Raymond Reddington. I was trying to live a normal life and I didn't think a normal person would kill some one for being fired, especially an attorney." Red answer the last part of her statement.
"So you didn't answer me. Why were you fired?"
"It was a half Robin Hood action." Red answered with a smirk.
Lizzie looked confused. "A half Robin Hood? What is that?" She heard Dembe laugh at her question and gave him a quick glance.
"Why Lizzie I stole from the rich and kept it." Red said with a broad smile.
"I can't imagine why anyone wanted to fire you for that, I'm surprised you didn't end up arrested. That would have been the end of your legal and criminal career." she said.
Red continued to smile. "First of all there isn't a law firm anywhere that wants to admit one of its associates has embezzled from one of their clients. Secondly even if I had been arrested the police wouldn't have realized they had Raymond Reddington. I'd had one of my assets substitute someone else's fingerprints for mine in all the electronic databases. I had another one cause all non-electronic copies of my prints to disappear."
Red paused and took a sip of his tea while Lizzie considered his words. "But, when you surrendered to the FBI your prints matched those on file. Did you have them swapped back before you surrendered?"
Red gave her a nod in confirmation and continued his story.
"My new firm was a small one. Almost all the original partners had left with the exception of one. He didn't like me. He was scrupulously honest and didn't like the way I practiced law. I wasn't above bribery and blackmail if it helped my client. Needless to say it wasn't long before this senior partner fired me. This time I decided to fight back against the firm for firing me. In only a few months I had brought in more money than all of the other attorneys combined. When they fired me they tried to give me a check for two weeks pay, it amounted to only $15,000. I'd brought in almost nine million dollars I hired one of the best firms in Boston to represent me. Not only did I win the case, but I was offered a job at the firm. It was truly a turning point in my life." Red stopped apparently lost in thought.
"Are you alright Red?" Lizzie asked quietly. She could tell there was more to the story and hoped he continued telling it.
Red gave a little brief shake of his head and appeared to come back to the present. "I'm fine." he said with a small smile.
"My new firm was called Crane, Poole and Schmidt. The attorney that won my case against my previous firm was Denny Crane. He was also the person that hired me, against the wishes of the managing attorney Paul Lewiston."
Lizzie interrupted him nearly coming to her feet. "You mean to tell me you worked with "the" Denny Crane?"
Red laughed at her look of shock. "Yes I worked with "the" Denny Crane."
Red looked at her as she continued to stare at him in shock. "Do you want me to go on?" he asked.
Lizzie didn't say anything for a long moment and then asked "What was the name you used while you practice law in Boston?"
Red has a sneaky suspicion that she knew the answer and decided to confirm her suspicion. "I went by the name Alan Shore"
Lizzie's eyes widened comically and her mouth dropped open in shock. "Wait, wait . . . you were Denny Crane's best friend and husband." Her voice raised comically on the last word. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. There was no way she was going to be falling asleep anytime soon.
Red gave a deep belly laugh at the look on her face. He knew he'd defeated the purpose of telling her the story, he could tell she was even more wide awake than she had been when he started.
"Technically the marriage was invalid since it was Alan Shore that married Denny Crane, but as far as we were concerned it was legal. It gave Denny the peace of mind he needed and allowed me to make any medical decisions he needed me to make." he told her.
Lizzie continued to sit there with a stunned look on her face. She didn't know what to make of this story. Liz could tell that it was true, she just didn't understand how it all happened. I mean how did he continue to run his criminal empire while he was one of the preeminent attorneys in Boston. Even if his fingerprints didn't match the ones on file for Raymond Reddington, how did he not get recognized when he handled a high profile case. His picture had been captured on TV during those cases.
Red just sat quietly while Liz digested all that she had learned. When she didn't appear inclined to say anything further he turned to Dembe and said, "Can you check with Chuck and see how much longer it will be until we reach Ireland?"
Dembe nodded and move into the cockpit.
"We are heading to Ireland? Did you get some information that Berlin had left the country?" Lizzie asked him.
Red shook his head. "No, but I wanted to get us out of the country for a little while. We'll land in Ireland briefly, get the numbers on the tail repainted and the transponder replaced. Then we'll make another hop to another country and repeat these steps until I'm sure we aren't being followed. We'll then head back to the U.S., this will also give my people time to gather some more intelligence on Berlin."
Lizzie nodded her head in understanding. "I'm assuming we will be staying on the plane during all of this?"
"It will be easiest if we don't leave the airport. I promise you that if you have any desire to revisit any of the places we stop at I'll take you there personally once all this is over." Red assured her.
They both looked up when Dembe made his way back from the cockpit. "We are still two hours away from landing in Ireland. He wanted to know if all the arrangements have been made for the changes to the plane."
"I made the arrangements last night, but you might want to call Liam to make sure they will there when we land. I don't want to spend anymore time on the ground than necessary." Red said.
Dembe nodded and moved off to the back of the plane to place the calls needed.
Lizzie looked at Red with a tired smile. "I guess we'll have plenty of time for you to tell me more about your life as Alan Shore."
Red returned her smile and said, "I promise you I'll finish the story. It will be good to remember my days with Denny. He was quite the character. I think you would have liked him. Do you think you might be able to take a nap now?"
Lizzie nodded her head tiredly and laid back down on the couch. Red stood up from his chair and pulled the blanket up to her neck. "Sweet dreams Lizzie. I'll wake you when we are ready to land."
They only spent four hours on the ground in Ireland. Lizzie was surprised how quickly one could change the tail number of a private plane and replace the plane's transponder. She'd contented herself with a few laps around the outside of the hanger. From what little she could see of the green hills she really wanted to see more of the countryside. Maybe when it was safe to take a vacation she'd take Red up on his promise to show her anyplace she wanted to go.
When they were back in the air Red gave the pilot their next destination. Lizzie looked towards the cockpit as Red headed down the aisle towards her and Dembe. Red sat down with a tired sigh. He hadn't been able to get any sleep after Lizzie had finally fallen asleep. He closed his eyes after reaching a seat across from Dembe where he had slowly lowered himself into the seat.
Dembe and Lizzie exchanged a look. They didn't know how much sleep Red had gotten the night before and hoped that he might get a few hours of rest before they landed at their next destination. Lizzie looked out the window to see ocean as far as the eye could see. She wondered where they were headed, but didn't want to take the chance of waking Red by asking Dembe.
"I can feel your curiosity from here. It's like a wave breaking on rocks at the base of a cliff." Red said opening his eyes and turning his head to look at her. "We are heading to Haiti. It will be about seven hours before we land. You may want to try and get some more sleep."
Dembe looked at Red for a moment before asking, "Raymond did you get any sleep last night? You look like you could use a few hours of sleep yourself."
Red gave Dembe a small grin. He knew Dembe was familiar with his sleeping problems. He also knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep until he was sure no one was able to track the plane. Once he knew they hadn't been followed he'd allow himself to rest. "I got a few hours sleep old friend. I'll be fine for awhile longer." Dembe knew that was a warning to let it go and after all the years he'd spent with Raymond he knew when to push and when to back off. This was one of the times to back off.
Red turned to Lizzie to find her looking at him with a little frown on her face. He gazed back at her quietly, waiting for her to break the silence. He wondered what was going on behind her troubled expression.
"If you aren't tired, can we continue your story about you and Denny? I'd love to hear how you wound up at Mr. Alan Crane." Lizzie said the last with a mischievous look on her face.
Red grinned at her despite the fact that he really hated when someone assumed that he took Denny's name. Why wasn't is possible that Denny had taken his name? It was possible she knew about Denny's odd habit of saying his name over and over again. He really missed hearing the words "Denny Crane" at odd times during the course of a day.
"First of all, I didn't take Denny's name. We remained Denny Crane and Alan Shore. Both of our male egos were too strong to take the other's name. Though in social situations Denny would try and get by with introducing me as Alan Crane." he related with a chuckle.
Liz smiled back at him and said, "So tell me what lead up to Denny Crane of all people to propose to you."
Red turned his seat a little bit until he was facing a spot between Lizzie and Dembe. He knew Dembe loved to hear about the time Red spent in Boston. Dembe was there as well, but remained in the background, never showing himself unless Red was alone.
"There are so many little moments that turned our friendship into something more like family. At moments I looked at Denny as substitute father and at other moments he was the brother I never had. And, I'd have to say he was the much younger brother I never had. With Denny I got to be as immature as I wanted to be, because I always knew that Denny would be even more immature." Red said with one of the few genuine smiles that Liz could remember seeing on his face.
"It sounds like you acted a lot differently than you do now."
"At first I looked at this break as being something I'd play at for a year or two and go back to being the person that earned a place on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted. Working at the first firm was okay, I enjoyed the legal work. Using my intellect for something other than planning my next overthrow of a foreign government or gathering a little more information that I could turn around and sell. I found the law and planning a court case quite similar to planning a battle. But, outside of a couple relationship with women at the firm I was an outsider. Granted that was a familiar role for me. When I joined Crane, Poole and Schmidt I found a place where I fit in for one of only a couple of times in my life. Oh sure, I kept getting in trouble with the managing partners for sexually harassing the female associates, but since Denny far exceeded my harassment it seemed to be accepted as the price of my legal service to the firm."
Lizzie broke in, "Wait you sexually harassed the females at the firm and they just let it go? And, I'm sorry but I can't see you sexually harassing anyone. I mean I can see you pursuing someone, perhaps aggressively, but harassing, no."
Dembe and Red broke out laughing at Lizzie's indignant look. Lizzie seemed to grow even more agitated as their laughter continued.
"When I started at CP&S I thought of it as working deep undercover. I had a little experience with undercover work while I was with ONI. I decided to make Alan Shore so unlike Raymond Reddington that no one would ever think they were the same person. So, yes, Raymond Reddington might not sexually harass a woman, at least not intentionally, but Alan Shore raised it to an art form. At one point there were two woman fighting in the lobby over me. I'd had sex with both of them, but I have no idea what exactly was behind the fight. I tended, or I should say Alan tended to have a string of one night or one afternoon stands. It was uncommon for it to become anything more than that. Lizzie you seemed shocked. Did you think I'd spent the last 20 years as a monk?"
"Well, of course not. I just never thought about how you would meet women in your position. I guess it would have been even more problematic when you were pretending to be someone else entirely."
Red just gave her a small smile and changed the subject. "I should have Dembe show you some of the pictures I have from those years. Every year CP&S would throw an elaborate Halloween party. If you have a problem seeing me as something other than the Concierge of Crime you'll have a really tough time seeing me dressed as one of the Lennon Sisters or as a flamingo."
Red had to laugh at the look Lizzie was giving him. He didn't think he could shock her anymore than she was now.
"Don't forget when you dressed up as Shirley Schmidt." Dembe reminded him with a laugh.
"Well actually I dressed up as Shirley Schmidt-Ho." Red corrected with a chuckle.
"I'm assuming Shirley Schmidt was the Schmidt in Crane, Poole and Schmidt. But, who is Shirley Schmidt-Ho?" Lizzie asked.
"As Denny told me when you are rich you can get anything you want. What Denny wanted more than anything was to be in a relationship with Shirley, again. They'd had a brief fling about 25 years earlier. She rebuffed any of his attempts to rekindle the relationship. Since he couldn't have the actual Shirley he had a custom crafted doll made to look exactly, and I do mean exactly like Shirley. He called the doll Shirley Schmidt-Ho. I'll leave it to your imagination why he called it that." Red stopped speaking as he watched Lizzie give a full body shudder at the images in her mind.
"Please tell me he didn't . . . " Liz couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.
"Okay, I won't tell you."
"Ugh!" was Lizzie's only response.
"Let's change the subject a bit. Did you know that Alan Shore was arrested twice?" Red asked Liz.
"No, but I think I remember hearing that you got thrown in jail a lot for contempt of court, but I don't remember hearing that he or rather you had actually been arrested."
"When I was arrested the first time I was concerned the fix we'd made for my fingerprints may not be good enough to keep my identity a secret. It was a silly arrest anyway." Red said wryly.
"What did you get arrested for?" Lizzie asked.
"I was arrested for inciting a bar brawl and paying people to fight for me. I was at this college bar with Tara. She was someone I'd worked with at my first law firm and who'd lost her job helping me get information for my lawsuit against the managing partners. I convinced Denny to hire her and we eventually got together shortly after we both started at CP&S. Anyway, we were sitting in the bar and she decided she wanted to see how I would pick her up if she was a complete stranger to me. She went up to the bar and I stayed at our table for a minute of so. It didn't take any longer than that for a huge mountain of a man to approach her. I saw her trying to discourage him. When I got to them I started using some awful pick up line on her. He of course didn't like it and told me to take a hike. Even after she told him we really were together he kept telling me go away or he was going to lay me out. When I told him I thought the object was to lay her out, he punched me in the face. Now, my first inclination was to make it permanently impossible for him to lay anyone out again. I realized that there was no way Alan Shore would now how to do that, so I walked away to the other end of the bar to where some big guys were drinking. I offered the first guy three hundred dollars to go punch the guy who was celebrating his "win" over the wimp. I offered him more if he got him to go down. Well, apparently the mountain came with his own group of friends that joined in when he was attacked. I had to continue to enlist reinforcements to help the poor guy I'd sent in originally. I mean really does this seem like a reason to arrest me?" Red asked Lizzie
"Are you asking me as a federal officer or a lay person? As a federal officer I'd have to say yes you did break the law, as a lay person I'd say he started it and got what he deserved. Dembe where were you during all of this?"
"I was sitting a table watching the door. I was keeping an eye out for familiar faces from outside of Boston. I didn't realize what had happened until the brawl broke out and I saw Raymond standing at the end of the bar with Tara shooting him looks that should have killed him on the spot." Dembe said with a big smile.
"Yes, she wasn't very pleased with my solution. I managed to convince the jury that I was a coward who paid someone else to do his fighting because he was afraid of being hurt. Tara forgave me for putting her in what she perceived as danger. We didn't stay together very long after that and she left the firm while I was off on a fishing trip with Denny'"
Red turned to Dembe and asked, "Could you check and see what is in the galley for lunch or dinner? I'm not sure what meal it should be right now. Are you hungry Lizzie? It doesn't seem like either of us will be getting any sleep anytime soon."
"I am a bit hungry. Dembe would you like me to help you?"
"No, I can get it Agent Keen. It should be all ready I just need to gather some silverware and something to drink to accompany the meal." Dembe said rising from his seat.
"Dembe, please call me Liz. I'm finding myself liking the name Keen less and less."
Dembe nodded his head with a smile and moved off to the galley at the back of the plane.
"Red don't you normally have someone that serves drinks and food when you fly?"
"I do, but I'm trying to limit the number of people who are aware of our movements. The fewer people who know the fewer that Berlin can use to locate us."
"You said that Alan Shore was arrested twice. What is the story behind the second arrest?"
"Well, there is a lot of back story you would need to truly understand the circumstances, but I'll give you the shorter version. I was asked to second chair a case of attempted murder by an attorney that I had worked with at CP&S. He had left the firm under unfortunate circumstances. While I helped him resolve the issue that caused him to be let go I discovered that Jerry, that was the attorney's name Jerry Espenson, he had of Asperger's Syndrome that had never been diagnosed. Once he'd gotten on the correct medication for his condition and completed some behavior modification treatments he made remarkable progress. He'd opened his own legal firm and at the advice of his therapist he'd taken a case outside of his comfort zone. Jerry had never tried a case in front of an actual judge and jury. Jerry made a horrible mistake during the trial and it became apparent that the defendant was going to lose due to Jerry's error. I met with the defendant privately and told him he was going to lose. I counseled him to flee the jurisdiction rather than face prison. I made it a point of couching the advice with the statement that as a member of the bar I couldn't advise him to flee. He acted on my advice and fled to Canada." Red broke off his story as Dembe served them lunch and poured them a glass of wine each.
Red turned to Dembe and said "I was just telling Lizzie about the case where I told the defendant to flee to Canada."
"I remember the case. I still wish you had sent him to me. I would have made sure he had been able to escape where he would have been found." Dembe said quietly.
"I understand old friend, but I thought he would have been safe all the way in Nimmo Bay. I forget sometimes that not everyone has learned how to evade discovery when they want to do so. Well, Lizzie as you can tell he was found and returned to Boston. The DA offered him two years in prison on the attempted murder charge in exchange for his testimony against me. I was arrested in the office and taken directly to the court house. There were some advantages to being a well known attorney. The didn't make me go through booking and fingerprinting. I think I might have lost that case if it hadn't been for Denny's closing. He got up in front of the jury stating that I had a target on me because of all my wins against the DA. Denny dropped his pants in front of the jury and showed them the bullseye he had painted on the back of his shorts. The jury didn't know whether to laugh or be shocked. They found me innocent so I guess ultimately they went with laughing at the whole case." Red said with another laugh.
Liz thought this was the most she'd heard him laugh and seen him smile in the whole time she'd known him. She was looking forward to seeing more of this Red.
After finishing lunch both Red and Lizzie found themselves having trouble keeping their eyes open. Red told Dembe to wake them when they were half an hour out from landing in Haiti. Dembe agreed and was happy to see the half a sleeping pill he'd crushed up in both Red's and Lizzie's wine was taking affect. It was a good thing Red never realized when he did that. Dembe always made sure to not do it too often, he did after all value his life.
When the pilot informed Dembe that they had reached within half an hour from landing in Haiti he moved over to where Red slept in his chair. He laid a gentle hand on his should and gave him a little shake. He knew from experience that he would wake with just a little encouragement.
Red felt a hand on his shoulder and he jerked awake. Dembe knew to quickly withdraw or risk a fist in the face.
"One day old friend you are going to find yourself knocked on your ass for that trick." Red said with heat.
Dembe nodded and moved over to wake up Lizzie. She woke up slower than Red. She didn't have the twenty years of needing to be ready to move as soon as she was awake. Liz slowly sat up on the couch.
"I guess I was more tired than I thought." she said rubbing her eyes and running her hand through her hair.
"You and I had a little help falling asleep. Dembe slipped us something in our wine. He's taken it upon himself to determine when I need to take a nap like a preschooler. It won't be happening again I assure you." Red said clearly still irritated.
"I can tell you are upset about it, but thank you Dembe, I needed the rest." Liz said to Dembe with a smile.
The plan soon landed at another isolated airfield. The changes to the plane were quickly completed and they were back in the air only a short time later.
Lizzie found her internal clock to be confused. He body was telling her it was late night, but the sun was shining outside of the plane window. She thought this might be a part of Red's sleeping problem. How could his body ever know whether it's day or night?
"Where are we heading to now?" Lizzie asked Red from where she sat across from him in one of the cabin chairs.
"I haven't made up my mind yet. I'm trying to decide between two choices, a spot in Mexico or perhaps a couple of days in the sun in Hawaii. Do you have any preference Lizzie? I feel the need for a couple of down days before we start the search for Berlin again."
Liz sat quietly for a few moments. She looked at Red and saw how tired he really looked. She'd seen him after tough cases before, but she'd only seen him this tired once before. That was when he showed up in her home after the Anslo Garrick abduction and torture. She realized even Raymond Reddington had his limits.
"I've never been to Hawaii, it sounds like fun. Which island would be the best to spend a couple of days relaxing?"
"The best island to avoid the crowds of tourists and official notice is the island of Niihau. It's the only privately owned Hawaiian island. Visitors are not allowed on the island. The only residents are native Hawaiians, the owners of the island and those that pay to take part in hunting trips on the island. I made the acquaintance of the owner in the past and he's allowed me to visit the island whenever I want. I'll have the pilot contact the airfield there once we are in range to let them know to expect our plane."
After Red had headed into the cockpit to give him their new destination Lizzie sat back in her seat, getting ready for another long flight. She was ready to spend more than a couple of hours on the ground. She was sure it would take at least two days to stop vibrating from being on the plane so long. Lizzie heard Red walking down the aisle and turned to watch him approach.
"Lizzie would you like something to drink before I sit down. I'm parched and could use some water." Red stopped next to her seat and looked down at her with a slight smile on his face.
"Some water would be great. Then maybe you could tell me some more stories about your time at CP&S. I have a feeling you only hit the highlights of those years." Lizzie grinned up at him.
Red then turned to Dembe and asked him if he wanted anything. Dembe declined with a slight shake of his head.
With a nod Red moved back to the galley. He insisted the galley be well stocked with a variety of drinks, snacks, and hot or cold meal options. He never knew when he'd be on the plane for an extended period of time. At least he was getting to spend more time with Lizzie away from the prying eyes and ears of the FBI. He found Lizzie relaxing around him more and more. He wanted to encourage her further along that road. They would need to be comfortable with each other if they expected to be able to locate and eliminate Berlin.
After grabbing a couple of glasses of ice, a bottle of water to share and a bag of yogurt pretzels Red made his way back to his seat across from Liz.
"I don't think you'd be very interested in the cases that we tried during that time. We took on big tobacco, big drug companies, big oil and of course the government. We won more than we lost which was fun. What I really remember from those years are the people. I'll share a bit about the people that I remember." Red paused trying to determine who he wanted to start with, "Let's start with the gentleman that threatened to fire me on an almost daily basis. Paul Lewiston was the managing partner at the firm. He'd known Denny for almost forty years and resented the fact that Denny hired me without consulting him. Paul didn't like the way I practiced law, unless of course, he needed someone who was't afraid of straying across line of what was legal or ethical. Then he was more than willing to us my special talents." he said giving Lizzie a sarcastic grin.
"He'd threaten to fire me, I'd win the next big case and he'd go away. I didn't care at first if he'd followed through with his threats. As I got closer to Denny and realized how he his Mad Cow, that is what he called it instead of Alzheimer, was getting worse I found myself worrying about Paul firing me. I was afraid if I wasn't there to watch out for Denny he'd find himself fired from the firm he's started or worse in jail for shooting someone. Believe it or not I found myself so stressed out about the whole situation I started suffering from a syndrome called Word Salad. During closing statements for some case, I can't even remember was the case was about now, but I started speaking random words. I thought what I was saying made complete sense, but everyone in the courtroom looked at me like I'd lost my mind. It was truly frightening to see everyone around me looking like I'd grown a second head." Red said shaking his head.
Red took a drink from the glass in his hand before he continued. "Paul eventually semi-retired to care for his granddaughter. The occasional threat of being fired still happened, it just came from a different partner. I was actually more concerned that Shirley would follow through than I had ever been with Paul."
"So this was the same Shirley that Denny had the doll made to resemble?" Lizzie asked.
Red smiled as he answered, "Yes, she may have come to think of me as a friend, but she was certain she'd be forced to fire me eventually. Then there was my assistant Clarence that first came to me as a client who wanted to sue his employer for maternity leave."
"Wait, you said Clarence, right? How exactly could a man expect to sue for maternity leave?" Lizzie asked incredulously.
"To be honest it was Clarise that wanted to sue. You see Clarence was a very shy man who assumed the personality of Clarise when he was in situations that caused him to feel nervous. He decided to withdraw him complaint, but came back weeks later to apply for a job at CP&S, again dressed as Clarise. One of the other associates who'd work on his original case with me hired him with the understanding that Clarence was being hired and not Clarise. She was able to get him to feel more comfortable as Clarence and he eventually almost stopped dressing as Clarise completely. I did miss it when he dressed up as Oprah."
He paused long enough to eat a couple of pretzels and take a long drink of water.
"There were Jeffrey Coho and Brad Chase that had a fight at Halloween with them both dressed as Buzz Lightyear. They were both having a "friends with benefits" relationship with one of the female associates. She ended up pregnant with Brad's baby. Jeffrey left almost immediately after she told him the baby was Brad's. Then Brad and Denise got married and left the firm."
Red stopped speaking for a bit seemingly lost in thought. It had been so long since he'd thought about the people that had made up his life for all those years.
"Red are you alright?" Lizzie asked.
"I'm fine. I just haven't thought about them for awhile. I sometimes find myself flashing on something that reminds me of Denny and occasionally Shirley, but not the rest of the attorneys I met there."
"What happened after you married Denny Crane? I heard that he'd married one of his associates, but then it seemed like he dropped off the face of the earth. Did he ever know who you really are?"
"To answer your last question first he knew about me fairly early in our friendship. He once told me that he had any woman he had dated more than three times investigated. I didn't find it a big surprise that he'd done the same to the man who was becoming his best friend. He never gave me any indication that he didn't believe that I was really Alan Shore. I knew that someone had investigated the backstory I'd created for Alan Shore, but I didn't realize at the time that it was Denny. After we got married he told me that he'd had me investigated years before and that the detectives were never able to verify my history past a certain point. At that point I felt that I could trust him with the truth about who I was, I felt that he wouldn't turn me in even if he decided he didn't want to see me again. He wasn't happy to hear that I'd sold American secrets, but didn't seemed all that concerned with everything else I was charged with."
"Denny didn't care that you were accused of murder and the rest of the laundry list of charges, it was only the selling of secrets that bothered him?"Lizzie said unbelievably.
"You would have to have known Denny. The man loved guns and had shot a number of people. He was lucky that most of those times it was with paint guns, but he did shoot three different people with actual bullets. He didn't have a problem with the charges related to guns and arm sales. He was a fervent patriot. He didn't understand me turning my back on the United States. He came to accept my actions after I told him what I knew about what had happened to me and my family back in 1990. With Denny being fired and nothing holding either of us to Boston anymore we climbed on Denny's private jet and left the United States behind. Before we left I introduced Dembe to Denny. We started traveling the world, I took up my criminal life again and Denny got to enjoy seeing parts of the world he'd never thought of visiting. After a couple of years Denny got tired of the constant travel. We discussed where he'd like to settle and it was hard for me to talk him out of returning to Boston. With a new task force created to track me down and either capture or kill me I didn't feel it was safe for me to return to the states. I told him once that I couldn't imagine my life without him in it as my best friend. We settled on a large mostly isolated estate in France. Denny spoke enough French that he was able to communicate when he went to the local town and to deal with the household staff. He loved horses so we had a number of different horses and other barnyard animals running around. I must say his attachment to sheep was disturbing." he said with a shudder.
Lizzie felt that they were reaching the end Denny's story and hoped if she didn't say anything Red would continue when he was ready.
"Each night in Boston we would meet after work on the balcony outside of Denny's office for a scotch and cigar. We'd just sit and talk about whatever subject came to mind. No one was allowed out there with us during that time. The one time Denny caught Jerry out there with me just talking he had a fit. He acted just like a jealous woman. He made me promise to never be alone on any balcony with Jerry ever again." Red said with a quiet chuckle. "After Denny settled in France I would make it a point of calling him every night when I was away and we'd still share a cigar, scotch and conversation. It was the night before I was scheduled to return to the estate for a couple of weeks. I called Denny's cell phone and it kept going to voice mail. He knew I'd never leave a message, but I knew he'd call back when he noticed he'd missed my call. After the fourth or fifth call I called the housekeepers number. She went to the master suite to check up on him. She found him in bed apparently taking a nap. When she went to wake him up she realized he was cold. She called his doctor to come out to the house. He was still there when I arrived. The doctor told me that he thought it was a heart attack and that he could confirm that with an autopsy. I didn't really care to know the exact cause of death. The only thing that mattered was that he was gone."
Red sat still looking down at the floor below his feet.
Lizzie didn't know what to say or even where to look. The look on Red's face was one of profound sadness. It shocked her. He rarely showed any visible emotions to anyone. The only time she'd seen even a crack in his stoic mask was in the car when he talked about killing Sam. What she was seeing on his face now was even more pronounced.
Dembe who had been sitting silently behind them rose to his feet and moved to the end of the couch across from them. He looked at Lizzie and said, "Liz I am sorry you never had a chance to meet Mr. Crane. Denny was quite the character and he was able to get Raymond to do things I never would have thought he'd do. He kept Raymond grounded in a way that I've never seen another person accomplish. I miss him greatly." he paused for a moment before continuing in an attempt to lighten the mood, "Of course he would have tried to have sex with you within moments of meeting you. Then successful or not he'd propose marriage only moments later. He fell in love instantly."
Liz turned to Red as she heard him chuckle. "I said once that Denny had this big tremendous, generous heart. Which he did. He was also childlike at times and I don't think it had anything to do with his Mad Cow."
"I'm sorry he's gone, but it sounds like you have a lot of memories to help keep him alive. Did you ever go back to Boston to let the people there know what happened?" she asked.
Red took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He was trying his best let the sadness he always felt when thinking of Denny dissipate before he answered her. He didn't want to let her know the actions he took against people during the time after Denny's death. He had always had a violent ruthless side. It was this side that ruled his business interactions a bit more than was necessary, Anslo Garrick was the result of one such action.
"I had Denny cremated and took his ashes back to Boston. He told me once that he wanted to have his ashes sprinkled from our balcony. One night after the Chang, Poole and Schmidt office closed for the night; Dembe, Paul, Shirley, her husband Carl Sack, Jerry and his fiancé Katie and I gathered on the balcony. I thought Paul was going to give me a hard time when I contacted him, but he agreed. A few words were said and I sprinkled his ashes over the side." after a brief pause he continued, "I then told them that I was making Denny's entire fortune available to them to start a legal aid law firm. I had contacted Jerry from France to get all the documentation prepared and ready for my signature. After signing all the documentation I told them I had something important to share and that my life depended on their keeping what I was about to tell them a secret. Once they all agreed I told them who I really was and that I was on the ten most wanted list. At first they didn't believe me, but after Katie pulled up the list on her iPhone they believed me. Obviously they didn't know what to say and I really didn't want to give them a chance to start asking me questions about it all. I told them that they would never see me again once I left the building. I hugged them all goodbye, then Dembe and I left. I haven't been back to Boston since."
They all sat quietly, no one seemed inclined to break the silence. They simply sat there sipping their water until the pilot called back to them from the cockpit telling them they were about 10 minutes out from their landing on Niihau.
Liz was looking forward to this little break before the search for Berlin began in earnest. She also hoped the Red was able to relax and rest too. Liz knew that locating Berlin was going to rest almost solely on Red and his information network. Red's trained strategic mind was their only hope of interpreting the information and determining Berlin's next move. Since Red seemed in the sharing mood maybe she could get him to share a few of his most interesting stories. She would never willingly tell him how much she really enjoyed listening to his stories.
The search would continue, but first a a little rest.