Prologue: The third installment in the saga of Eyal Lavin and Annie Walker's life and picks up where 'Ghost' concludes. We last saw the couple on a windswept deserted beach on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, Eyal had taken the next big step in his life - he decided to ask Annie to marry him. It was not something he had not contemplated but more on the spur of the moment and he was absolutely in love and fully commented. That evening in their charming beach side inn room with a raging storm outside, Eyal on bending knee proposed to Annie and she said yes. He had given her a sterling silver crab on a chain as a reminder of their magical night by the ocean - the crab being symbolic of Eastern Shore blue shell crab they had eaten for dinner that wonderful evening.
It has been a week since Eyal proposed and Annie was in her own dream world, she had said yes to a marriage proposal and wanting to tell the world. She didn't have her ring yet so decided to wait until she could hold up her left hand and show off Eyal's gift, for now the sterling silver crab on a chain around her neck was all she needed.
"Hey Walker, we got some more intel on Felicita Santiago." Auggie's voice brought her back to the cold reality of work. She was still assigned to the Office of Special Projects and working on research of the woman she and Eyal had escorted out Spain.
Making herself comfortable at a table in Auggie's office, "What do we have?"
"MI6 has requested the people responsible for getting Jaidyn Patino or Felicita Santiago out of Spain to interview her. Seem she doesn't trust the British something to do with the Falkland Islands and their ongoing clash between the UK and Argentina. After weeks of interviewing her, they are getting next to nothing." Auggie was very matter of fact.
"So does that mean I get an all paid trip to London?" Annie knew the answer.
"Yes it does. Now tell me, why are you so joyful this week, just inherited a bundle of cash?" Auggie could tell the mood change in Annie, she was upbeat and cheery.
"Maybe not cash but a bundle of good fortune. I tell you all about it much later."
"You got married!"
"No, nothing like that. All in good time Auggie, all in good time you will be the first to know." She patted him on the arm. "When do I leave for London?"
"This afternoon, MI6 is bringing in that other person that was there. You know the one you are not talking about." Auggie smiled, he love taking friendly jabs at Annie, and she was such a good sport.
"I need to head home and pack, will report back with information when I receive it. Have a good weekend." Annie Walker stood on the sidewalk beside the Langley building. She had just left Auggie's office and now was on her way to London with that other person - Eyal.
Eyal had left several days before for Stockholm to take care of business with his diamond venture. One item being to pickup Annie's engagement ring from his Stockholm's broker and jeweler - Karl Borgstrom, one of the finest jewelers in all of Europe. When Jackson Bennett had called him, Eyal was already in Stockholm. Sure not a problem, Eyal could be in London early Friday morning.
"Hey welcome, long flight?" Jackson was opening the door for Eyal.
"Yeah. Has she started to talk yet?" Eyal shaking Jackson's hand and walking into Jackson's suite of offices at MI6.
"No - not yet, she is waiting for proof that her daughters are safe. Spoke with our US domestic asset this morning and she has an apartment waiting for them in New Rochelle. We have two bridge agents with the girls in Paris waiting on clean passports, should be ready later today. They will be escorting them to New York. For me, I'm cooling it today."
"Where is Felicita being held? Not here I hope." Eyal was asking.
"She's at a country home north of London, well guarded. Let me tell you, this lady is one tough cookie. We had our best to interview her with no luck. Sure hope you and Annie can break through that iron wall she has around her. Coffee?" Jackson was holding a pot of fresh Colombian coffee.
"Thanks." Eyal reached for a mug for Jackson to pour.
"Annie should be here later today, we have booked you into the Lancaster Gate Hotel. Really a nice place." Jackson was handing Eyal the hotel packet.
Annie arrived later that evening at Lancaster Gate Hotel and is shown to the suite that Eyal had changed the reservation for them from two separate rooms to a suite. She look around and saw that Eyal was already there, his luggage in the bedroom, a suit hanging on a hook, and a shirt lying on the bed. There was a rose lying on her pillow with a note, 'Call me'.
She quickly freshens up a bit and call Eyal. "Hi Neshema, have a good trip." Eyal was quick to pick up the phone.
"Yes, very nice, where are you?'
"I'm with Jackson; we have a dinner date tonight with the group. I'll be there in a minute." Eyal discounted.
Their dinner date was a working secession with Jackson and Nigel Trent. The four met in a modish restaurant in the Stoke Newington section of London, a place Jackson loved to visit.
"My pleasure to finally meet you Annie." Jackson was giving her his welcoming Scottish smile. "That was a bit of a trip you had through Spain."
"Nice seeing you too and yes thanks for the assist, I would probably still be waiting for my pick-up from CIA." Annie was still a little frustrated with the lack of support she had received.
"Oh where are my manners, this is Nigel Trent, the gentleman that recognized your asset as being Felicita Santiago." Jackson was introducing Annie.
"Pleasure is mine." Trent shaking Annie hand. "I was with Navy Intelligence before transferring over to MI6 and my last mission was to bring this woman out of Bolivia."
"Come let's eat while I fill you in on what we know so far about this mission. As you know, what started as a simple asset escort out of Madrid Spain has turned into..." Jackson was leading the conversation.
They sat at a table with Jackson's laptop open as he was reading Annie and Eyal in on what has happen so far. Annie listen, asked a few questions but was more in the learning mode. When Jackson finished with the intel, she pointed at the picture of Cruz Gaioso and said, "I think I have seen him before, but not in South American... maybe in Northern Africa." She was reviewing the intel on Cruz, and then smiled, "He likes his women."
"Yeah, Trent picked up on that too. But rest assured that is not our way to him. Nothing final yet, but there is a link between Felicita Santiago and him, once we find that link, we can go from there." Jackson loved this type of meeting, informal and good food.
"South America is out of you area. What - you are going to turn your pet project over to another division?" Eyal was studying the intel and wasn't too thrilled about their little ghost team going into South America. His entire career with Mossad was spent in Europe, Mid-East and North Africa; he may have been in South America twice.
"Yeah, it is out of my area so once she starts talking, the intel will be turned over the CIA. Only fair since one of their agents - meaning you Annie help get Felicita Santiago out of Spain. Tomorrow we will go see our guest." Jackson closing the laptop and looking to order another bottle wine and sweets.
"Now I remember." Annie was recalling where she had seen Cruz. "I remember seeing Cruz Gaioso in Marrakesh. He was one of three men that Simon Fischer had a meeting with. The other two men looked to be Arabic. There is a picture of them on file with CIA. Simon was my target and I had followed him, forward the pictures on to Lena Smith."
"Langley may or may not have the pictures - Lena was a double agent." Eyal looking over his glass of wine at Annie.
"Crap, you may be right." Annie holding an empty glass for Eyal to pour more wine.
Mid-morning the next day, Trent, Jackson, Eyal and Annie drove out the country home that is one of many safe house holdings MI6 has. It was raining that morning, giving the air a clean fresh scent. As they turned into the road leading to the old stone home, Trent was watching for anything that looked wrong. So far, the surroundings were as they should be.
Felicita was in a cheerful mood as the four walked into the house. "Greeting my friends, I have just spoken with my girls, and they are safe and happy."
Jackson, "Well good, you remember Annie and Eyal, they will be interviewing you."
"I'm so happy you are here, you two are the only ones I fully trust now. Nothing against you Mr. Bennett but you are British." Felicita was trying to show she was willing to cooperate. Looking at Eyal, "You are not English are you?"
Eyal smiled, "No, Israeli. Please have a seat." he was pointing to a chair on one side of a table, he open his laptop and set down across the table from her, and Annie set at the end of the table with a folder.
Annie starting the interview, "In order for us to help you, we need for you to tell us why you changed your name seven years ago, and why now you are wanted for treason by the Argentina government. So let us start with becoming someone else seven years ago."
She retold about her Colombian illegal dealings and how she was tracked down by the British Navy because of a weapons deal she had made with the drug cartel in Ecuador and bound for Bermuda.
The Navy Intelligence had tracked her to a plantation in Bolivia where she was visiting a friend, Helio Gaioso. She was picked up by a team of British Navy SAS Commandos and while being escorted out of Bolivia, they were attacked by Helios's son and his bunch of tough guys.
Eyal asked, "What is the son's name?"
"Cruz."
She went on to tell how she was taken to a small village in Argentina and drop at a Catholic church; she had been badly wounded during the attack and was not expected to live. Two nuns, Sister Manuela and Maria Teresa cared for her, nursed her back to health in more ways than just physical. They also cared for her soul and spiritual needs.
She looked at Eyal, "Do you believe a bad person can change, truly turn into a good person?"
Jackson was the one that answered. "Yeah, we have seen it before." He was referring to himself and Eyal knew it.
Eyal, "Please go on with what happen next."
Felicita nodded at Jackson, and then went on, "The parish priest, Father Alarico was very intent on my salvation, and as I got to know him, I found out he was from Cartagena, Colombia where my family lived. After six months of living at the parish home, Father Alarico made a trip to Cartagena to visit his family and returned with news. Felicita Santiago had been reported dead, killed in a fail drug deal in Bolivia and that my two daughters were living in a Catholic home for orphan girls. That is when Sister Maria Teresa came up with a plan for me to start a new life. We spent hours going over different options and finally she called on her brother. He was one of senior buyers for the Argentina Military Procurement Agency, small weapons was his responsibility."
Eyal, "That's how you got your job as purchasing agent?"
"Sister Maria Teresa got her brother to hire me as his assistant at first, just shuffling paper work... but I'm getting ahead of myself. First we had to come up with a new name and background for me, Jaidyn Patino was a real person with a solid background. She was lying in a Catholic nursing home, brain-dead from a car accident and no family. I stepped into her shoes, move to Buenos Aires and went to work for the Argentina Military."
She stood up and went over to pour herself some juice and returned to the table. "With my knowledge of weapons, I was promoted quickly to Purchasing Agent, for small arms... The Catholic Church in South America is a very powerful church, I don't know how it happened, but one day I received a call to come to The Church and Convent of Santo Domingo. When I arrived, a nun took me to a small room where my two daughters were waiting, also with new ID, Mariha and Isabel Patino. It was easy for them to adjust to a new life, in Buenos Aires. They lived at a Catholic boarding school outside of Buenos Aires during the week; I had them on the weekends and holidays. For the next six years, life was very normal. I was a single profession mother raising two fine girls, active in church and my daughter's lives. Then it all came crashing down."
Tears started to creep into her eyes and the nightmare of the past month was told, "It was after mass one Sunday, my daughters and I were having lunch in our favorite cafe when Cruz Gaioso came over to our table and handed me a gold coin, only said it was good to see me and my family well and happy, than left."
Eyal, "What was the meaning of the gold coin."
"I use to deal in smuggled gold and precious gems, that coin was from an old Spanish collection that had been stolen from Madrid twenty or thirty years ago, I was part of the distribution network of the stolen goods. By handing me the coin, it was his way of telling me I can't hide."
Eyal, "Go on."
"I sent the girls back to boarding school, hoping they would be safe there and went to work as if nothing had happen. That's when a massager delivered me an envelope, inside was a picture of my sister in Colombia, dead, naked and hanging for a tree." She was trying hard to keep her composure; Annie put her hand on Felicita's arm. She continued with her story, "Another picture showed Mariha and Isabel in their school uniforms and instructions to purchase a large amount of weapons to be delivered to a small port in the northern part of Africa."
Jackson walked over to the table, "So you placed the order?"
Felicita, "Yes that afternoon and fax Cruz the copy of the order and shipping instructions. I knew Cruz Gaioso could get to my girls and how I wasn't going to report it to the police, especially since I was also a past criminal with stolen identification. The only thing on my mind at the point was keeping my girls safe, no matter what. I left work early, got in touch with someone from my past to get me and my daughters out of Argentina. During the time I was dealing in contraband, I had stashed millions away, that is the money I used to pay for our escape from Buenos Aires."
Annie was making notes; Jackson and Trent were standing to one side, listening when Eyal turned his laptop to Felicita with a copy of the order and her signature. She look at him to total shock, "How did you get that?"
Eyal, "We know a great deal of things, now is that the order?"
She looked closer at the order and replied, "Yes, that is it. But just before the three of us got on the flight to Madrid, I cancelled the order."
Eyal, "We know, however the Argentina government didn't take to kindly to you placing the order in the first place, that is why Jaidyn Patino has been charged with treason. That is also why you were stuck in Madrid; the Spanish authorities were also looking for you. The so call buddy from your past rated you out for the reward money."
Jackson, "No honor among crooks."
Felicita searching out the expressions on Eyal and Jackson's face, "I should have known but I was getting desperate. Cruz is a murdering bastard."
Annie stood up, "Let's take a break, get a bit to eat and we can resume this after lunch."
Felicita need a break, this was the first she had heard about the treason charge, and realizing she is in deeper trouble then she had thought, her past had caught up with her and now the only thing important to her was the well being of her daughters. She sat quietly eating her lunch, not a lot was being said by anyone during lunch, some small talk about the rain, planting flowers and more weather talk.
After lunch, Eyal, Annie and Felicita were once sitting at the table, Annie now had the laptop, and typing notes as Eyal asked questions about Cruz Gaioso. The rest of the afternoon was spent finding out everything Felicita knew about Cruz, his connections and operations as well as his father's involvement. Both father and son were real badass criminals.
Arriving back in London, Jackson is happy with the results of the interview; thanked both Annie and Eyal for the help. Leaving them standing in front of their hotel, Jackson is headed to Inverness and his family for Sunday.
"Want to do a little site seeing?" Annie's suggestion to Eyal.
"I know a place we can feed the ducks, see Buckingham Palace and the Eye of London at the same time. A lovely setting." Eyal was stepping out to hail a cab.
"Wonderful." and the two were off to St. James Park. It was getting late in the afternoon when they walked to The Blue Bridge, a beautiful place in the center of London just off the Mall. Few people were milling around as Annie and Eyal walked to the center of the bridge, looking at the picturesque setting, the perfect picture an artist would love. Annie took out her iPhone and took a few pictures. "I am going to draw this place when we get back home."
The sky was turning shades of orange, reddish-purple from the setting sun as they walk back to the end of the bridge. Two amber lights slowly came on, giving off a warm glow. There Eyal lead Annie down to the edge of the lake, reaching in his pocket, he took out an engagement ring.
"Let me see you hand." Taking Annie's left hand in his and slipping on a two carat princess cut pink diamond with two small white diamonds mounted on each side and set in platinum, simple lines of graceful beauty. "Now that makes it official, we are going to be married. I love you my dear Annie."
"It beautiful Eyal." Holding her hand up looking at the ring. "A pink diamond, oh my Eyal they are so rare. Must have cost you a ton." She turning and looking at Eyal, "It is so very lovely Eyal but way to expensive." Tears begin to gradually roll down her cheeks. Faintly she said, "Eyal, I worried about all the money you are spending on us, on me - you don't have a job any more, remember. I can't accept something so expensive - it is too much. Please don't encumber a huge amount of debt."
"You remember me telling you I had a friend in the diamond business?"
"Yes, back in Greece when we were playing the role of Mr. and Mrs. George Yiokas from Cyprus."
"That friend is me. I've had that stone for several years, only needed it to be set into your ring. Don't worry about the money Neshema. About six years ago, I made an investment in a diamond exchange operations in Johannesburg, South Africa. My Uncle Levi, the one who owns the house we stayed at in Florida, well he is a diamond merchant and helped me with the investment. He is teaching me the business and also runs our two operations. It was to give me income when the day came that I was no longer with Mossad. The diamond exchange has proven to be very lucrative and it is that income that I'm spending. Annie, I'm not in debt for anything but our dinner the other evening."
"Oh my god Eyal, I should have known you had a back-up plan, that is so you - all your bases covered. I'm the happiest girl on earth. I love you - my big wonderful Israeli guy."
Not only was Annie going to marry her Prince Charming, the one thing that wreak most marriages, lack of money would not be their problem. She made a promise that night to herself not to become the greedy wife of grandeur with empty meanings; Eyal did not live that type of life. No mansions or fancy cars - simple pleasures would be their staple. She looked at the ring again, a beautiful shade of pink, like the tiny slivers of pink peeking through the warm hues of orange and gold in the sky of their stunning sunset.