The characters always belong to T. Harris, and I derive no profit from this fiction aside from the pleasure of writing it.

Thanks to the kind folks who are taking the time to read this fiction. Especially to those who help me along with their comments.

Chapter 17
Prelude to the Past

Clarice found the Doctor in the kitchen, occupied with the serious affair of preparing what appeared to be a chicken salad. He too was wearing rubber gloves.

"How did it go, is it over yet?" she was not in the least uneasy with her feelings towards the woman.

"Not yet," he interrupted his chopping and turned to face her.

"She took a large overdose of barbiturates, enough to kill a large mammal, but they will take a little time to do their work. By now, her brain should be practically destroyed, but is prudent not to leave until we are certain that she is deceased."

Then quite characteristically, he changed the subject,
"I found some cold chicken in the refrigerator and I'm preparing sandwiches to eat on the road."
The Doctor continued to mince some onion, his movements were economical and precise, and Clarice watched with fascination as the blade moved mechanically up and down on a rocking motion.

She didn't want to badger him with further questions such as how much longer before they could leave; instead, she walked behind him, wrapped her arms around his waist, and pressed her cheek against his shoulder. She could feel the heat from his body through the clothing. It felt good.
"I can't wait to get going, rather, I can't wait to get there, Hannibal."
They were silent for a few minutes.

"Maybe she thought she was in love with you."
The words came out of nowhere but the Doctor was sure they had been eating her up.
He interrupted his work and turned around again swiftly wiggling inside her embrace, her arms fell and he embraced her, their faces about an inch apart, his eyes boring into hers.
"Love is a word, Clarice. A misused, over abused word, the feelings it describes is usually missing from the equation. In Marian's case, unfortunately, her actions didn't reflect love as we understand it."

Clarice put her head down, her forehead leaning on his mouth

"Did you verify that she meant us harm, that we didn't misread her motives?" she finally asked

"I asked her what she would have done if we refused to leave Adam with her. She answered that she would have killed us.

Clarice snorted bitterly
"Did she say how did she plan to get rid of our bodies?" her head was tilted to one side as if contemplating some unexplainable oddity, somehow adopting a look slightly reminiscent of that of the doctor.
"Frankly, I didn't ask, what did it matter?" he shrugged.

Hannibal Lecter finished assembling the sandwiches and packed them neatly in a corned of the cooler used to keep the baby bottles during their long drives.

"I'm going to check on her, it shouldn't be long now. I've been wiping the kitchen, and all we have left to clean is the living room, then we'll pack and leave."

"I'll start working on the living room them. Just as a precaution, but frankly, I doubt that they'll dust for fingerprints in suicide case complete with a signed note" Clarice said.

The drive to Georgia was long and tedious; Hannibal called the realtor and advised that they were on their way a day ahead of schedule. The realtor, who had collected a hefty fee for the rental, told them to pick up the keys at his home, gave them his address, advised that he'll wait up until midnight, and told them not to hesitate to wake him up if they arrived later than that.
They had to stop twice to feed Adam, and during one of the stops, they ate their sandwiches in the car, washed them down with Perrier, and on every stop bought large cups of coffee for the road and in addition filled their carafe just in case they needed more coffee while later during the trip.

At 11:15PM they pulled in front of the Realtor's home. Along with the keys, the realtor gave them the code for the security system and a manual of instructions of how to work it.

When they finally arrived, the dusk to dawn lights were on, illuminating a single story ranch, again located in the middle of a 10 acres property, surrounded by a bounty of trees and vegetation.
Hannibal managed to work the alarm, pull the truck in the 3 car garage, and re-activate the alarm while they accessed the house proper from the garage entry.

Clarice changed and fed Adam, while the Doctor removed a few items from the car, assembled the portable crib, and made their bed. Then suggested a nightcap, a nice glass of wine, before bed seemed suitable, after a day the compiled a 3 hour drive from Ohio, assisting an old friend to commit suicide, and a 6 ½ hour drive to Georgia. Clarice had other plans.

"Let's take a shower first" she suggested taking him by the hand and leading they way to the bathroom.
He grinned; knowing fully well that they will never get to the wine part, yet, her suggestion was much more appealing.

Their lovemaking that night went full circle, from slow and deliberately tender at first, it grew in intensity until it reached an exceedingly passionate, almost rough pace; ultimately, they laid exhausted and loving in each other's arms and promptly feel asleep.

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Hannibal, the light sleeper, woke up early, showered and dressed in casual pants and a polo shirt, tended to Adam's needs, then with the baby in the sling, made his way downstairs and examined the kitchen briefly, leaving the rest of the house to explore with Clarice later on.

According to the rental description there was supposed to a lanai, or screened deck, accessible from both the family room and the kitchen, that lead to a lower level patio complete with both an in-ground pool and a hot tub and a Japanese rock garden complete with an artificial stream.
By the light of the dusk to dawn safety lights they had already seen the wraparound porch complete with hammock and two rocking chairs. The effect was very southern and pleasantly relaxing.

He wrote and elaborated note for Clarice and left it propped on the nigh table beside her. Placed Adam back in the bassinette and drove to Alpharetta, about 5 miles from the house where he shopped for an ample amount of groceries.

He was back in 45 minutes, put away the perishables, and went to check on Clarice, found her still sleeping while Adam entertained himself trying to reach to mobile attached to the basinet.
He lifted him up while the baby uttered gurgles of recognition and delightful chirps.The doctors smiled at the child, unable to imagine how did he survived all those years deprived of these most basic feelings and interactions, then he just placed Adam in the baby seat and carried him down the stairs, placed the seat on the kitchen counter and began to put away the rest groceries.

The house was a single level ranch, and Hannibal could easily hear Clarice getting up and running the shower; then he calculated it was time to placed the bacon in the oven and wait with a cup of coffee as he entertained himself playing with Adam.
The game consisted on the doctor picking up Adam with both hands, two fingers supporting his head, and lifting him up on the air and then bringing him down again while the baby squeaked with delight and laughed until he had to gasp for breath, the baby's laughter so contagious that the doctor laughed with him.
He felt exhilarated and a world removed from his old self.
That was exactly what Clarice thought when she walked in the kitchen, her hair still wet, and a budding smile that expanded when she took in the scene and the pure joy of their interaction.
"If this is any indication, you were a very happy little boy." She commented, walking to him and squeezed him gently around the middle, then planted a kiss on the baby's cheek.

"Are you implying that I appear totally domesticated, Former Special Agent Starling?" the Doctor asked in the best of humors.
"This question, from a man, who just a few hours ago, talked an old friend into killing herself? I must add that the domestic angle, adds greatly to the attraction." She run a feathery finger down his back while planting an innocent kiss on his cheek.

After breakfast they set to inspect the house.
"Where are we, exactly?"
"On the outskirts of Alpharetta, Georgia" Hannibal said, "A suburb of Atlanta, 23 miles away from the city. This house is supposed to be set in a 15 acre lot, let's check it out."

The kitchen was large, complete with an Island and a commercial stove and was part of a Great Room or family room from which it was separated only by a curved breakfast bar.Both the family room and the kitchen opened to lanai type deck by means of wood framed multi glass panel sliding doors.
The deck itself opened to a patio, furnished with tables, chairs, and complete outdoor kitchen/grill with its own fridge and sink. The patio further opened to an adjacent in-ground pool and outdoor spa/hot tub. All surrounded by a perfectly manicured garden including a small Japanese rock garden and a small stream that ran through it.

"This is amazing," Clarice commented with a chuckle. "The best one yet, Hannibal! Lets check the rest of the inside now!"
"If things go right, Clarice, we might not have to leave this one; we can keep the other two for an emergency and spend the next two month here, then fly from Atlanta to Buenos Aires with or without a connection in Miami, depending on what's available."

"That would be super! I love this house!" then, when his words sunk in "We are going to Buenos Aires?"
"Buenos Aires is very beautiful, cosmopolitan and culturally at the level of any of the European Capitals such as Rome or Paris. In addition, they have an excellent ballet companies and fantastic Opera productions.
I purchased a home there; it used to be the house of the Belgium Ambassador, before they consolidated his residence with the Consulate. Is one of the few Mansions left that don't belong to a foreign delegation." He smiled further "Ah, they have good schools too, so we don't have to worry about that for years to come."

She laughed, "Buenos Aires it is then, and I can't wait to get settler in a more sedated environment."
"Sedated, Clarice?" he laughed, "You want sedated?"

"I don't know about you, but I had enough excitement to last me for a lifetime, Doctor."

"And the fat lady has not yet sang!" he answered in uncharacteristic fashion.

They spent the entire day, setting up household and resting, both hoping to stay in this house longer than in the previous ones.
They were tired after the long and eventful previous day and wanted to spend a quiet day at home.
During the 4PM feeding they saw a News Brief stating that former FBI Director Tunberry failed to attend a Senate hearing for which he was subpoenaed and was later found missing from his house. More details would follow on the 6 O'clock news.
Clarice tilted her head slightly to the side, and squinted as she did when evaluating situations she didn't fully understand.
After a short silent, she asked,
"What do you make of it?"

"There is not much to speculate over, Clarice. Though I don't imagine he just up and left, failing to appear on a Congress hearing unless he didn't plan to come back at all, or he was held up somewhere, but who is to say? I guess we'll have to wait. You have to admit your former associates are a very sorry group."

"Don't rub it in, Hannibal," her comment was half in jest. "I'm well aware of their shortcomings. Shit! that's it!: they are like shit, the more you stir them the worse they smell."

"Colorful, but dangerous," he commented following her light mood. "That might turn out to be Adam's first word, for all we know."
"You mean, shit?…" she repeated laughing heartedly… "Wouldn't that be a gas?"

They prepared to watch the 6 O'clock news in the Family room, while enjoying their wine and a nice, if small tub of caviar that sat on a bed of ice, accompanied by tiny dishes with a few lemon slices, a couple of toast points and finely chopped hard boiled egg.

The news report was far from unexpected.
Tunberry had been scheduled to testify in front of Senate Comity in charge of the investigation of the cloning affair; both Federal Marshals and his attorney had tried in vane to locate him.
After further investigation it was determined that he seemed to be missing for at least 2 days.
The Senate investigation was scheduled to question the distribution and the whereabouts of the 2 billion dollars that Turberry had been granted for the project when he originally presented it to Congress as an advanced research project for criminal profiling. His failure to show for the hearing ultimately resulted in the issuance of a warrant for his arrest.
The former director of the FBI was now a fugitive.

"Talk about disgrace and public shaming!" Clarice declared with obvious satisfaction.

Her outburst amused the Doctor. The whole chain of events only validated the point he had tried to get across for years, and he made a conscious effort not to gloat.
"Poetic Justice" was all he said; concentrating to arrange a generous serving of caviar on a toast point, then topped it with the chopped egg and handed it to Clarice.

"Still, I don't know whether this means that he just vanished and the chase is over," Clarice reasoned, "or that we will experience a short reprieve or that Noonan and Pearsall were not killed by his orders and that the he is next on the list. Can you make an educated guess?"

Her first questions were abundantly pondered over after the news, when all kinds of panels  assembled to speculate about the future safety of former Special Agent Clarice Starling and the child.

After dinner they retired to the family room, the doctor brought another bottle of Château d'Yquem and coffee and they sat quietly and comfortably, with Adam sleeping peacefully in the basinet by the couch.
They had to wait until the midnight feeding before they could enjoy six hours of quiet, which was how long he slept at nigh between feedings.
Suddenly Clarice leaned over and took his hand on hers, looked into his eyes and asked softly:
"How long was it before you were rescued from the barn, Hannibal. You never told me how did you get out of there."

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OK this is IT for today. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. We'll make a small detour in the next few chapter, with a few flashbacks and such.

Let me know how I'm are always welcomed!