The characters belong to the genius of T. Harris, though is fun to borrow them from time to time not for profit but for the fun of the adventure

Thanks to all the wonderful readers who are taking the time to follow this story. And extra thanks to those who took extra time to comment, motivating me to go on.

Chapter 7
Sanctuary

Once back in the truck, Clarice began her report.
"They carried no FBI credentials, but had all kinds of Government issued equipment. The device in the trunk was their surveillance equipment. Apparently the infant seat was fitted with a voice transmitter, and a tracking device, probably not unlike the one that Krendler had set in the mustang after he got me suspended from the Bureau.
I left everything as it was, except for the ammunition that we can use."

He nodded, turned on the engine, and began to drive toward the highway.
They were silent for a few minutes, him driving while she looked out the window, deep in thought.

"How did you find out about the baby?"

He kept his eyes on the road

"Margot got a tip from a Congressman on her payroll and she contacted me. To his knowledge, your former bosses were tossing the coin between two plans, Plan A was to destroy the fetus outright, and a Plan B, which the Congressman claimed he didn't know in detail, but I suspected was to tap on your motherly feelings, suggest that you resign and adopt the baby, set you with a large amount of money "to raise him". THEN get rid of the both of you in some accidental fashion, or whatever they could come up with; thus, killing two birds with one stone, so to speak, while remaining out of the picture.

"If they gave you a large amount of money, and I bet they did, the goal was to convey a feeling of safety for you and the infant, they might have suggested that you disappear and start a new life elsewhere. If it was an exceedingly large sum, then, they probably planned to siphon it back after your demise.
I believe that they are too deep in hot water to bother trying to catch me during this cleanup job; is hard to say, but either way I took the liberty to make arrangement for your safety."

"Thank you, Doctor" she voiced almost inaudibly.

"I've leased a nice comfortable house about an hour drive from here, I've furnished it with a complete nursery; and purchases some items for your immediate use as well, in anticipation of a situation such as this one."

Clarice nodded and placed her left hand gently on his forearm.

"We are going to need formula, disposable diapers, and a variety of items to prepare for the next feeding." She murmured, suspecting he had that covered.

"I've taken care of that, everything is ready for your arrival."

"I guessed that much," She paused briefly, then added, softly, "the beard looks good… you lost weight, though."

"So did you, Clarice"

"I had time to do a lot of thinking, Doctor Lecter, I have many regrets."

"Nothing that can't be fixed, I hope" he coaxed softly as if encouraging her to go on.

"There is the thumb…" she said tentatively

"That's been taken care of. Is fine now"

"The pain was unnecessary and I'm to blame for it"

"It was my choice, Clarice, and I'm not blaming you." He smiled "Guilt is an entirely useless emotion and waste of time. We can't fix the past. Let's just look ahead instead, and build for a good future, OK?

"Uh hum," she mumbled,

Clarice was emotionally and physically exhausted, still not used to getting up every two or three hours to feed and change the baby; yet, she managed to mumble,
"They gave us 150 million dollars in two separate Swiss bank accounts" she spoke the figure in awe.

"A drop in the bucket compared to the 2 billion dollars budget they got for the project." He commented dryly. "Did you memorize the account numbers?"

"Two Billion Dollars!....They claimed to have 200 million left from the original budget!...." she paused for just a bit, as if to reorganize her thoughts.
"Yes Doctor, I memorized them both. I didn't transfer any of it to my checking account, for fear that they'd trace me through my debit card. Instead, went to the Internet, and opened a new Swiss numbered account with Micheloud & Cie, I had to wait 24 hours before it was functional, then, yesterday I transferred 70 million into the Micheloud account, they will send me an ATM card as soon as I direct them. At least those 70 are untraceable because of the secrecy issue and the fact that the money was already in Switzerland; hence not an International transfer. As I'm sure you know, Swiss banks don't cooperate with either the Interpol or the FBI unless there is suspicion of money laundering. I was planning to open another type of off shore account for the remaining 80 million.
"Ah!" she continued triumphantly while she dug around the collar of her T shirt and produced a mini cruiser flash drive hanging from a strap around her neck. "I have all the information right here!"
She seemed rather pleased withe herself

"Right after I resigned from the Bureau, on the way home, I went to my local bank and withdrew all my savings, which is not much, but enough carry me until I could complete the Swiss setup."

"You'll make a very resourceful escapee, Clarice" he smiled a little ruefully.

"I had hoped to create a new identity for both the baby and myself, and then disappear."

"I've got that covered, Clarice."

"I figured you would, how about the baby?"

"Him too," said Lecter, "he has his own little passports…two, just in case" he didn't remove his eyes from the road, but she could see he was grinning

"What did you name him, in the little passports" she asked.

"Hannibal,… Hannibal Lecter" he answered darkly.

It took a second and then she got the joke and they both laughed, while they noticed simultaneously that they never heard each other laugh before, and that prompted yet another burst of laughter.

"No,… really, what name did you pick?" Clarice insisted.

"Adam," he said simply.

She looked at him, speechless...

He mistook her silence for disapproval and went on

"I just thought it was appropriate, in an odd kind of way. For the backup passport I picked Emanuel. What did you name him, Clarice?"

"Adam," she murmured

"You named him Adam too?" he marveled.

"I just though it was appropriated in an odd kind of way," she mimicked. "The first man, created by God... Our Adam is the first of his kind too."

They drove in silence then; eventually, the movement of the car won her over and soon Clarice dozed off. Before she did she mumbled something that sounded like

"Is a ..od thing…I never….you … stop"

The doctor though she might have said "Is a good thing I never asked you to stop!" but decided it might be just his wishful thinking, and decided to ignore it for now.

When they arrived, he parked behind the house and just sat there, enjoying the quiet, reflecting on the fact that they were together. He hoped to keep it that way. Then, after a while, he gently woke up Clarice.

She woke up fast, opened her eyes, and stared at him; she appeared relaxed, and took the hand he offered to get off the Expedition.

The Doctor removed the baby seat from the base, remaking that Adam seemed fast asleep. Then they made their way to the house, entering through the kitchen door.

Dr. Lecter put the baby seat on the kitchen table, helped Clarice out of her jacket and then removed his own and hung them in coat closet off the kitchen.

"Can I suggest a short tour of the house? Then settle for a light dinner and some wine, hopefully we can fit it all before the next feeding."

"That sounds like a plan," she said easily.

"OK then," he said reaching for the baby seat, "should we take him along?"

"I'd rather we did," she said softly looking straight in his eyes. "I haven't left him out of my sight for one moment since I he was born, not for a second!" then added self-consciously, "well…except for the few minutes when you carried him."

He took the baby off the seat, placed him easily on the crook of his left arm, and led the way. There was a nice comfortable living room with 2 comfortable looking sofas and a few soft armchairs; a family room with a large TV set, comfortable stuffy chairs, another sofa, plenty of side tables, several lamps and a piano.

Each of their bedrooms has its own adjacent bathroom, and she noticed that he had placed a bassinet beside the bed in both his and her bedrooms, as in a tacit declaration of his intentions to shared baby duties; Clarice found that touching.

She threw her handbag on her bed, and followed him.

"I took the liberty to acquire some clothes for you, Clarice, nothing fancy, just similar what you have been wearing plus some pajamas and a few other items." He smiled, "you'll find it all in your closet" he pointed to it.

They made their way back to the kitchen.

"I wouldn't mind a glass of wine while you prepare our dinner." She suggested while taking the baby from him.

He nodded, then left the room for a few minutes and returned with an over the shoulder baby sling carrier that he offered to her looking rather pleased of his own foresight.

She acknowledged it with a meaningful smile, and handed him back the baby while she passed the sling over her head and made the necessary adjustments. Hannibal Lecter observed her with his head slightly turned to one side, and a look of clear admiration in his eyes.

She reached out for the infant.

"Thank you" she said softly, "I see you thought of everything."

"This IS a joint project, Clarice"

The Doctor then concentrated in the dangerous task of opening a bottle of good wine. He went about it carefully and attentively. While the wine rested, he turned on the oven to reheat a quiche he had prepared earlier and took a bag of cut greens from the fridge.

Clarice observed his graceful movements, and for the first time since she was summoned to Tunberry's office, she allowed herself to relax.

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