The three main characters belong to Thomas Harris; Lucy and Sal Maugeri are mine.
Very special thanks to Marcus Aurelius for the generous help.
Also to those follow this fiction and provided comments and support: Cristina [Iris Stuart], Christine, Marcus Aurelius [again…because all that help deserves multiple mentions], Ducki, Melanie-Ann, Becka, Elize, Shifter, lurker, and all those who didn't comment but read. I hope you enjoy this one
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Exchanges
XVIII
On the Run
Hannibal and Clarice were finishing their breakfast when the cell phone rang.
It was a rare occurrence in their household, if one considered that only three
people had the cell phone number and two were sitting at the breakfast table.
The caller identifier on the cell phone flashed the name Sal M.
"Good Morning Sal," said an affable Dr. Lecter.
"Hannibal, my friend, is a good thing I reached you," Salvatore Maugeri had a slight trace of an accent. "was afraid your cell would be off."
"I've keeping it on at all times. Are you and your family all right, Sal?"
"We are fine indeed Hannibal, but it seems as if it might be wise for you to leave Switzerland right away."
"The FBI?" asked Hannibal.
"No, bounty hunters, kidnappers, the worse kind. It appears that it all started with a kidnapping project from a suspended FBI agent in association with an underworld figure of some obscure origin - Eastern European or Russian, people not to be taken lightly. Both the suspended FBI and his associate are dead, but the folks they were connected with, seem to have taken over the project and for what I heard they are heading in the right direction."
"How soon should we leave?"
"I could send two helicopters this afternoon if you have a clearance for them to land in the villa?"
"Two?" Questioned Hannibal, a little puzzled.
"Well, I figured, there is no need for you to leave all of your possessions behind, perhaps you might want to take musical instruments, books, your ever present pots and pans, good wine."
Hannibal chuckled, "We have a nice
clear space by the lake. Rather large too." He paused, "How would the
pilots find the villa?"
"We have that covered Hannibal," the other man went on, " one more question, are you using your permanent identity for car and property leasing or do you have one specifically for that purpose?"
"I have a separate one for leasing, just as you recommended years ago."
"Good, I'll be in one of the helicopters , we'll be there around 1 PM, to be on the safe side, that gives you two hours to pack."
"Thank you Sal, that's plenty of time."
"See you then..." said Maugeri.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Dr. Lecter produced a number of suitcases from a closet in the hallway.
Then went to the garage and
retrieved the original boxes of his cookware, from inside one of the
larger boxes, he removed a flat box, that contained his knife carrying
case.
The original crate for the harpsichord was also in the garage.
He brought the crate and all the boxes into the house.
Clarice had been upstairs getting ready to go to town, and came down to find
herself confronted with a display of boxes and suitcases.
"I guess we are not staying," was
her only comment as she gave Hannibal a questioning look.
Hannibal explained the last minute
developments and added "one generally doesn't have the opportunity to take
much. It's a luxury to have time to pack, however short."
Clarice made her way back to their room, packed her clothes, as well as her creams and lotions, to which she had become rather attached to. Then went downstairs and offered to pack the cookware in order to give Hannibal time to pack his books, take care of the harpsichord, and pack his own clothes.
"How would I know which ones are ours?" she asked Hannibal
"Just match the pan with the box,
there are just a few. In addition all the Wusthof knives are ours, just
put them in the knife case. You'll figure it out." He brushed a kiss across
her brow and then exited the kitchen.
Hannibal packed his books, then called to Clarice. Together they removed
the legs of the harpsichord and crated it. Which they accomplished with some
difficulty.
Then went upstairs to pack his clothes while Clarice finished with the
knives.
In about an hour and a half later they were rolling their possessions out to
the waterfront with a hand cart.
It took three trips because of the
harpsichord.
Once they were out of Switzerland, Hannibal planned to call the car leasing
company, requesting they pick up the car in the garage at the end of the lease,
in about a week.
He would mail the house keys to the
landlord.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
At about ten minutes before 1PM they heard the sound of the helicopters.
Wearing hats and dark glasses, both Hannibal and Clarice made their way to the
clearing by the lake.
One of the helicopters landed and
Clarice noticed the registration on the sides were muddy and impossible to
read. A handsome man in his early 60's, whom she could only suspect was
Sal, got out and waved to Hannibal. The doctor then approached the
chopper with Clarice by his side. Both men embraced and Hannibal
introduced Clarice, the words drowned out by the noise of the helicopters. All
three of them got in and Maugeri pointed to the luggage and to the other
helicopter still in the air.
After their helicopter was airborne, the second one landed and the men began to
load the luggage.
"We are going to our family compound in Sicily for now... is on the coast
between Taormina and Messina." Maugeri informed, once they were air borne
and the noise somehow decreased, "My wife is waiting - she is thrilled at the
opportunity to see you again Hannibal, and she can't wait to meet Clarice." he
turned to Starling "My wife is one of your biggest fans." he declared with a
smile. "She is overjoyed that the two of you are getting married and can't wait
to get involved on the wedding arrangements, if you let her."
Turning his attention back to
Hannibal, "In the last three years we married both our youngest daughter and
eldest granddaughter. My wife is on a roll, as they would call it in
America."
They all laughed and the tension
was broken.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The helicopter approached a large property, with a main house, and a few other
smaller houses scattered around the large grounds. All surrounded by a tall
fencing with a guard post at each of the two entrances to the compound.
They landed on back of the main house, a large Sicilian style villa, with
charming porches and terraces with grape vines clinging to the sides.
Lucy Maugeri approached the
helicopter as the three passengers were descending. Trim and wiry, with huge
black eyes and dark curly hair, she could have easily passed for forty,
when she was, in fact, close to sixty years old.
She kissed her husband and hugged Hannibal, who then made the introductions. When formalities were finished the four of them made their way towards the house.
"Did you explain the situation, Sal?" Lucy asked once they were inside.
"No," responded her husband, "I
chose to wait. The noise in the helicopter doesn't encourage private
conversations"
She smiled and asked her guests whether they'd like to rest or have a bite to eat.
"I'd like to wash my hands and
eat." Clarice stated, looking to see if Lecter complied with her plan of
action.
"I'll go along with that." smiled Hannibal.
Their hosts lead them to a huge
terrace overlooking the ocean on one side and the hills on the other.
"We prepared a small, cold
brunch..." announced their hostess and excused herself for a moment.
She returned with a tray of Chicken Tahini salad with Pine nuts on rounds of home made bread, and was followed by two women, carrying platters with Prosciutto wrapped gorgonzola with arugula; tomatoes stuffed with home made mozzarella, basil; as well as a large tray of shrimp, avocado and sprout salad.
"Save some room for desert." said
Lucy with a smile, as she sat and reached for her wine glass.
"We dine rather late," Lucy took a sip of wine then returned to its place on
the table, "so don't be afraid to eat now. I'm sure you'll be hungry again at
dinner time."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"We have a few houses around the compound, even a small chapel" explained Sal
Maugeri, "originally we built one for each daughters for when they come here in
the summer with their families, but now, they are hardly ever occupied. What we
would like, is that you stay here in the main house for a few days, where we
can provide maximum security. Then if you wish to move to one of the
smaller units; we can then arrange for a security team to guard that unit as
well. We'll fly to Island Santa Lucia for the wedding; there will also be
plenty of security there too."
"Is the situation that serious?" asked Hannibal
"Yes," Sal paused to let the danger of the situation sink into his friend's head, "it is very serious. In fact, I will be willing to bet, we will hear something in the news as early as tomorrow." Then added, "I didn't even tell you that they tried to abduct Lucy."
Hannibal Lecter's eyes darkened and his jaw tightened visibly. Clarice placed her hand on his arm, trying to sooth him and asked, "How did that happened?"
"While I was coming out of the village
church after a christening," Lucy recalled, "a car stopped beside me, an idiot
with a gun got out and tried to force me in the car." She chuckled.
"I really surprised them."
"Ah?… what did you do?" Clarice
mumbled; her hand still resided in the nook of Hannibal's arm as if she feared
he would leave her side. She felt a spark of relief when she noticed him
starting to loosen up and regain his composure.
"After our son's kidnapping some 25 years ago, I decided I didn't want to be helpless. My daughters and I learned martial arts, I earned my black belt, also practice some Tai Chi, work a bit with weights and run a few miles on the treadmill." Getting her fill she put her napkin beside her plate, and pushed it aside. Lucy cleared her throat and continued on, "I knocked out the guy and disarmed him, when the driver got out of the car I took care of him as well." She chuckled.
"We've got the men that tried to kidnap Lucy . From them, we extracted plenty of information. That is how we heard about their plans against you as well." explained Sal, adding proudly, "Lucy is no, how do you call it?, wimp, right? Yes, she is no wimp, she can defend herself."
Their story lightened the
atmosphere and left everyone feeling somewhat at ease.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After brunch, when they were alone in their quarters, Clarice reminded Hannibal
that they still had to call Barney.
"Do you still want him to come for the wedding?" she asked.
"Yes... I'll talk to Sal and Lucy,"
he was as collected as ever, "our lives will never be dull, Clarice, we can
hope to settle in a more tranquil location, but we'll have to leave the
continent for that."
At about eight o'clock they came down to meet their guests. They dressed
formally for dinner; Clarice wearing the green dress she wore the night they
got engaged, and Hannibal in a dark silk suit. It was hot in Sicily.
The atmosphere was festive. Lucy and Sal, were cheerful and fun but extremely sophisticated and highly educated folks who truly appreciated a good conversation. All four of them had a drink on the terrace, accompanied by a few Hors oeuvres and got involved in a conversation about St Augustine's Confessions and the teachings of Matteo Ricci.
Dinner was not served until nine thirty and by the time they had an after
dinner nightcap it was close to midnight. By then they had talked to the
Maugeris about Barney and it was decided Barney could fly to Catania where
they'd pick him up by helicopter.
A little after midnight when it was around 6 AM in Baltimore, they called
Barney.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Hello Barney," said the ever recognizable voice.
"Dr. it's good to hear from you," Barney knew better than to mention names.
"Good to hear you too," the Dr. responded, "Did you schedule your vacation yet?"
"I sure did. I have one whole week starting two weeks from this coming Friday..." he paused. "is that OK with you, Dr.?"
"Perfect, that would be most convenient". A beat of silence and then Dr. Lecter spoke once more. "Expect some arrangements similar to the ones I made for our common friend when she came to meet me."
"I'll be on the lookout," Barney
sounded cheerful, "please say hello to our common friend for me".
"Do you want to talk to her Barney?
She's right here beside me..."
Without waiting for and answer, Hannibal gave the receiver to Clarice.
"Hey Barney, we're going to see you
soon, right? You have the vacation time all set up?"
"Yes, I'm all set. I just
wanted to tell you how good it is to hear you both.... you two sound so happy."
He was more enthusiastic than she ever heard him, and it pleased her.
"We are very happy, and it's changed us, you'll notice when you see us " Barney could hear Dr. Lecter talking in the background. "I notice already," chuckled Barney.
"I'm going to put the boss back on." Clarice said. "Can't wait to see you, Barney"
"Hi, Barney," said the Dr. taking back the receiver. "Just wanted to let you know you'll hear from us soon, we'll get back to you in seven days, and by then everything should be set".
"OK, I'm looking forwards to seeing the two of you."
"So are we Barney."
"Talk to you then." said
Barney.
After they hung up, Barney pondered, again on the power of love, the effects of
happiness and the ironies of poetic justice.
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Let me know how is going and also general comments are encouraged and welcomed.
Clariz
