CHAPTER 3 - LIZABITCH

Officially Sally died two months after the twin's birth. Liz thought she should have received an academy award for her performance as the grieving widow and single mother of infants.

Nine months after Sally's death, Elizabeth and the girls visited her parents, who own a successful winery in the French Alps. The winery has been passed down for generations. Their property includes a medieval chateau, which was converted to bed and breakfast to include a huge wine cellar. The family resides in a comfortable chateau away from the tourists and a charming village nearby with a breathtaking view of the Alps and the surrounding region.

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Liz's parents were relaxing with the twins in their cozy family room. The room construction consisted of wood walls and a cathedral ceiling, and a large stone fireplace. An exterior wall with floor to ceiling windows provides a spectacular view of the autumn colors.

Connor and Claudette were ecstatic when they saw their grandchildren. Liz's dad bought a new area rug and arranged the furniture so the center of the family room is free for the girls to play. The babies started crawling one day and the next they stood up holding onto furniture and at nine months they took their first steps. Raven and Emily were very concise in their communication for their ages and extremely smart.

Liz entered the family room and the twins seized the opportunity to jump on their mother for some attention. She tickled, kissed, and loved them up. "Mom where are the girls nannies?"

"We gave the nannies a two-week paid vacation." Elizabeth was livid she had no intention of taking care of the girls. She was needed in Italy to prepare for her new appointment as the US Ambassador.

Liz received assurances from her parents that they would take care of the girls. She played with her babies for an hour then returned to her room to finish packing before she would say her goodbyes. Her childhood room was comforting, her retreat from the world. She reclined on her window seat contemplating her present and future.

The girls and I are very well off financially. I need to plan for their future. My should groom them to follow in my footsteps. I want them to be hyperpolyglots so I need to seek a qualified tutor. They can start language lessons when we settle in Italy, it's never to early. The twin's birthday is the end of next week. I need to have my assistant set up our residence so that the twins are in a separate wing with the required security. If the girls take after Sally or myself I need to stay sharp.

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"Claudette, I am concerned that our daughter is putting ambition over her children. Could her drive to be on top be a way of grieving for Sally?"

Claudette was aware that her daughter was following in her footsteps with her ambition. I refused to live in America and resided in the US long enough for her and Elizabeth to obtain her dual citizenship. Connor and a nanny raised Elizabeth. It took me over 25 years to realize my mistake. I hope Elizabeth comes to her senses sooner.

"Connor, she is driven and Sally's death didn't help. We need to look out for our grandbabies and help guide Elizabeth from doing something detrimental to the girls' development."

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Sally was able to sneak into Liz's home. He bought a pair of diamond bracelets for the twins. He wanted to see his girls. It hit home what he was sacrificing for his country. The night before Liz's parents were to arrive with the girls he had sex with his wife. It wasn't love it was a release for them both. Sally learned that Liz had several sex partners both male and female. He hasn't been a boy scout while he is away but his machismo was a little bruised.

Liz is reclined on Sally's chest. "Sally this is the second time that we've been together since you became a ghost. I'm assuming that you have been exceptional as usual with respect to your assignment."

"Yes, however be very careful Liz especially with the girls. I have received word that my last assignment created a powerful enemy with far reaching associates and deep government contacts. my enemy is unaware of my involvement with the disruption of a major organ donor black market operation, sex trafficking, breeding, and drugs. I've heard they are meticulously searching for…me. However, my name is unknown to them. If possible let the girls spend as much time as possible with your parents. There may come a point in time we will have to switch your ambassadorial assignments for the twins and your safety."

Liz rubbed Sally's chest soothingly. "If what you say is true don't return to me until you neutralize the threat."

Sally nodded, dressed, and left.

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Conner and Claudette took their grandbabies everywhere. To the winery, the village, the vineyards, and their cabin high in the Alps. The girls loved playing in the autumn foliage. They got along great with animals. They played with the winery manager's dog and laughed and clapped their hands when riding the horses with their grandparents.

The girls were quite precocious, they had distinct personalities and could often be caught talking to each other in a language only they could understand. The grandparents were really careful to not mix up their identity bracelets. It was real hard to tell them apart.

Mrs. Alon, the house manager chased the girls as they played tag in the family room. They finally wore her out and she sat them at their table to feed them a snack and cool down with water. As she served the girls she heard the phone ringing in Connor's office.

Connor moved quickly to pick up the phone, "Hello."

"Yes I was calling to check on my girls and their mother to make sure all is well. How are you Mr. Connor?".

"Yes well I am not aware of who this is because the man that would be calling for any of the people you asked for is dead." Mr. Connor hung up the phone and quickly called out for Claudette.

Claudette heard the urgency in Connor's tone and quickly entered his office. "Someone called impersonating Sally, asking about the girls and Liz. I am worried, what should we do?"

We need to get them out of here now. We'll call Elizabeth to let her know where we have gone and how to contact us. Go and pack them up and our things. We will be leaving in thirty minutes. Please hurry".

Mrs. Alon observes Claudette hastily gathering her grandbabies. "Claudette is something wrong? Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Thank you, no. Conner was recently notified he has a package being delivered to Liz's Rome address and he needs to be present to receive it." Claudette hugs Alon and continues to dress the girls and pack.

Conner has been unable to reach Liz and is growing concerned.

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Liz is in a really important conference with a group of powerful dignitaries at the Embassy. She loves dealing with the powerful and politically influential and has received numerous awards and recognition for her accomplishments. Liz receives a call on her private cell but ignores it and turns on the 'Do Not Disturb.' Her concentration is on the success of her meeting.

Liz is in a heated debate, her office assistant tries to hand her a note that states her father needs to speak to her it's urgent. Her assistant tries to push the landline towards her but Liz pushes it away. She give the assistant a don't fuck with me stare and states' "Do not interrupt me again, understand." The assistant excuses herself from the meeting and apologizes for the interruption. What can be so important that it demands the interruption of my meeting? If it is my the girls or my parents it can wait. I have an opportunity to foster relations and trade between the Italians, Russia, China and America is crucial to my career. Nothing is more important!

EOC

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Remember the story is an AU.