Earth 1, The Caribbean
Vandal Savage had been entertaining his latest round of guests at the estate he now owned in the Caribbean. They'd had lunch on the veranda, overlooking a view of white sands and blue sea that would have been familiar all his guests - the Vice President of the island, the local Mayor and local Police Chief, together with their spouses or significant others. In addition to the view - the splendour of which he had to admit he hadn't quite got used to yet - food and drink had been excellent. He noticed with interest, but no surprise, that his eminent guests were hitting the bottle pretty hard - fortunately they all had drivers on this occasion. His lack of surprise was due to the fact that, at various times during their visit, he'd had a private word with them, telling them things about themselves that they hadn't realised he knew. He'd ended by saying smoothly that he was sure they would be able to work together successfully in the future. No one had disagreed, although he was aware that the Mayor would need to be watched.
When he'd watched his guests been driven back towards town, he strolled back through the main house, down to the beach and along the sands to the smaller house used by Cassandra and Nikki. Both young women had apparently been for a swim and were now having their own belated lunch on the terrace. Cassandra had healed well from her injury in the Dead End Canyon debacle, but had been left with a prominent scar on her leg. It was Sunday and, keeping up appearances, they weren't working but he did want to ask Cassandra about the special recruitment operation she was running.
''I've got one flying in tomorrow'' Cassandra said. ''Name of Mark Martin. He's a meta, with specific powers of weather control - lightning, tornados, heavy hail and so on. He has a history of robbery. His profile says he's quite intelligent and organised. I have a couple off-world jobs in mind for him.''
She was turning out to be good at this - having a knack for selecting the right criminals, most of whom jumped at the chance to do heists on other Earths, then breach back here with no chance of pursuit. His war chest was steadily increasing, as were the number of potentially useful, somewhat unscrupulous, people who were well disposed towards him. He was due to tour Nikki's part of his operation on Monday, so didn't do more than chat briefly to her.
His voice, like those of the two women, drifted in through the open windows of the house. In the living room the maid, Lucy Simmons, was dusting, her attention apparently focussed on the delicate ornaments she was carefully lifting and replacing.
Lucy, a slim, dark-haired, teenager had started work for them just over a month ago, turning out to be much better than the maid they'd inherited from the estate's previous owner. Lucy was efficient, hardworking, discrete and could make herself almost invisible. She was also willing - ''Lucy, could you -'' or ''Lucy, would you mind-'' were met with cheerful willingness. Without them really noticing it, Lucy was becoming indispensable to them.
''It's hard work but I'm used to that'' Lucy would answer if anyone asked about working in the estate. ''I can hear the sea even if I can't quite see the beach from my window. There's a separate beach area for staff and I go there three or four times a week.''
On her complete day off, she would walk to the estate entrance and catch a bus into the nearest large town. She'd wander the shops, sometimes buying a couple of the colourful t-shirts she liked - her taste in fashion was the only thing about her that was not discrete. She'd usually come back with a music CD as well. She'd visit one or more of her favourite cafes.
At some point during the day, a woman would turn up. It might be in the rest room, if the two of them happened to be alone. It might be a request to sit at her table if the cafe was crowded. Once it had been the same section in a music store - the woman, wanting to buy a present for her nephew, had asked about teenage tastes. The woman always looked different -Lucy had been told that she was a shape-shifter - but the distinctive perfume was always the same. Her contact was also a skilled pickpocket and Lucy would leave their encounters without a certain small package.
Occasionally, thoughts about her real life would drift into her head. She missed Ava - although they would almost certainly have quarrelled about 'Lucy' taking this job, as much as they had about the younger girl's previous decision. God help me, she occasionally thought, I even miss Rene.
