CHAPTER 12
NEW SCENE
"So no-one is missing from the hotel?"
"No Sir." The clerk behind the desks shakes his head.
Stefano Dimera grimaces, then takes the waiting key, and steps inside the elevator to his new room. He opens the door, sets up his laptop and does another search of the area via his satellite. There are still only three boats in the Hawaiian waters. Bart and Rolf respectively are currently snooping to see what they can find…
He slams his fist on the table.
"Damn you Gina. I will find you, and when I do…." He leaves the thread hanging as he pours himself a bourbon from the minibar, and takes a sip.
His phone rings.
"Yes?"
"Hey, Boss. My two are clean. Rolfskie is still on the other boat."
"Fine, get back here. I may need you for something else."
NEW SCENE
"So where are we stashing the egg?" John asks as they stand in the middle of some woods.
"The hotel room? There must be some place. On the ceiling?"
John looks doubtful. It would probably be better if they don't have it on them when they enter the hotel.
He smiles. They can figure it out on the way.
He leans in, and kisses her.
"Don't think so."
"Well, it'll come to me…"
Gina replies, rubbing lightly over his lips, as she says this, then they kiss again.
"Come, my love… Let's see what interesting things we can find…" they walk hand-in-hand, and as they round the nearest tree, Gina stops short, not finishing her sentence.
In front of them is a castle.
"It seems we'll be stashing the egg in a castle." John remarks dryly, as he pulls her closer.
"It seems quite fitting, does it not?" Gina gives a little giggle. They kiss and Gina draws back, looking down at her clothes. "It is usually better to get invited in, but tonight, I think we'll make an exception."
In seconds they have crossed the clearing, and are standing next to the wall….
"You see those steps?' John points…. "It will be easy access to that particular window…."
They carefully cut across the yard and up the steps. The window is closed, and the lights are off. Clearly this room is not currently in use. Gina inspects the window.
"Any security?" John asks.
"Mmmm. Pressure point alarm system, they are set to go off if the pressure on the window changes." Gina is down to business now. She pulls the cigarette bud that she smoked in the museum earlier from her pocket as John cuts the small pain of glass closes to the handle.
"This one as well please." Gina points to the one closest to the alarm's point between the wall and the window.
When he is done, Gina puts her hand through the last pane, and signals John to open the window from the inside. At the same time that he opens the window, she slides the bud in between the frame and the wall.
"Voila." Gina smiles throwing up her hands.
They enter and start looking around for a place that will not easily be discovered. The room smells like honey and cinnamon.
Then there is a movement at the door on to opposite end of the room, and they immediately enter the cupboard next to them.
Inside they hear a woman giggle and a man inviting her to bed.
The open the door just little, just enough to see through the crack, then they close it again.
"It's Count Wilhelm. I had no idea he resides in Allamainia." Gina remarks.
"Who's he?" John asks, possessively.
"Oh, and old suitor…"
"I wish all your old suitors will just drop dead…" John pronounces.
"Oh, Honey…" she turns back to him…"You know I had many affairs before you came along. It is part of playing the game. You, however, are the first to capture my heart…" Gina leans in to nip at his ear with her teeth.
"Are they going to be long?" John groans, "I have a wedding night to go spend in our bedroom…"
Gina smiles up at him, pulls him closer.
"Oh, I can think of many ways to spend our time…."
"Oh?" John leans in for a kiss, "whatever do you have in mind..?"
Gina suggestively traces his lips with her finger, then gives him a long lingering kiss.
"Stashing the egg and getting out of here. " she pulls back. "This, my dear…" she points in the direction of the room they came from, "… is a mistress' boudoir, which means, in a castle such as this, the owners room should be through a door right behind you."
Sure enough, John feels a handle, and the doors swings open, silently.
The room they enter now, is well lit, with a large canopied bed dominating the room.
"Feel around for any panels, I am sure this castle should be no different from my own. Somewhere there will be an unobtrusive hiding spot…"
John is pending down, pushing at the wood paneling at the bottom of the wall, he rounds the entire room, Gina is feeling the walls, and checking the backs of paintings.
"Click" they hear in the silence of the room.
"John?" Gina turns, to find him smirking up at her.
"Found it."
She rushes over, excitedly, and kisses him.
"Quick, we have wasted much of the night on this." Gina says, as she pulls the velvet bag from her waste, giving the egg a fleeting glimpse, and then handing it over to John who closes the bag again, places it into the wooden compartment, then presses the panel back in the wall.
"No time with you are ever wasted." He answers her, before they make their way to the open window.