Standing Stones (Jerod's Third Tale - Part 8)

It took me a few moments to spot Tania sitting quietly on a bench nearby. I casually ambled over in her direction, gawking at the buildings as a good tourist should. Tania was reading a book and ignoring the chaos. When I was close, she shrugged, closed the book and started walking down the street. We were well away from the action before we started to talk.

“Remind me next time. We have to have an agreed place to meet after.” I grinned at Tania. “You handled yourself like you’ve been doing this for years.”

“It’s over? Really over?”

“Lambert is so discredited in this town that even if he isn’t convicted, he’ll never trouble a soul again. That Yves Bernard can testify he was falsely accused and that will give an out to all of them. It’s done.”



“I didn’t really have to do anything. Lambert was headed to the plaza on his own.”

“But you were ready to and that’s what counts in this business. So, what did you think?” I watched Tania closely.

“It was scary but …” her voice trailed off.

“Horrifying? Disgusting? Exciting? Spine-tingling? Mind-blowing?”

“Woah, Shrimp, I think I need some time.” She held out her hand, it was quivering.

I gently kissed her hand. “Take your time. We are done here. You did wonderfully though.”

As we moved further from the crowd, we decided that for the night, we’d use one of the smaller camping areas. While I didn’t expect that anyone had take much notice of either Tania or I today, keeping out of sight still seemed prudent.

I waited for Tania to disappear to the toilets. I’d been thinking about who best to contact in the Company; Wyatt, Marta, Sinbad, Shark. I picked Marta because she is the Master Thief and shouldn’t be worried about Ted’s desire to be an evil emperor. “Marta? Yeah, this is Shrimp, sorry about the time.” “No, we’re good but I have a question. Have you seen Ted at all over the past two days?” “No? I was afraid of that. Look, could you drop by his place and if he’s not there, keep your ears open for anything strange?” “Thanks.”

I made a second call. “Look, would it be possible to switch two seats from the day after tomorrow to tomorrow afternoon? Business class. You can? Great, just do it.” Yeah, pre-emptive strike here. Marta hasn’t seen Ted, we haven’t heard from him. He’s not the kind of guy to go on holiday and he’d never disappear without warning anyone.

“Shrimp, who were you talking to?”

“The airlines. If Beaumont agrees we have removed Lambert, we could fly out early, if we want to.” I gave Tania my best innocent smile.

You’d think I’d know better by now. Tania’s eyes narrowed when she saw that smile, “And why, exactly, would we want to? It’s my first trip, it’s a beautiful place.”

“And Ted hasn’t been to work for two nights now. I don’t like that. I hate to think what Lana’s like by now. But if you want to stay, we can.” Every movement Tania made screamed her indecision. “We will be back again. It’s likely we’ll be back in a couple of months. That’s one of the things the Company wanted a special foreign rep for. Regular visits to make sure things stay on track.”

“What you are trying to say, my devious man, is that you really want to head home.” Tania looked directly in my eyes. I hate it when she does that, it’s much harder to put a spin on the answer.

“Yes sweetheart. It’s time to fly home. I don’t have answers and our children are there. It’s a combination that makes me twitchy.” It was the truth and she could tell. She nodded reluctantly.

It had been an exhausting day for both of us, it didn’t take long to sleep, in spite of our worries. Tomorrow would be another day and worrying about it now would get us nowhere.

The next morning, my phone was beeping. I’d had a text. Marta’s message was simply, “No sign of Ted, home or work.” Damn. I’m seriously not happy to see that news. “Jerod? What’s that?”

I sighed. There was no way I was going to keep it from Tania for long. “Ted’s still missing. He’s not at home and he’s not been to work.” Tania started to reach for her phone. “Remember the time difference. The sitter and the kids should be soundly asleep right now.”

“That’s right.” She put away her phone. “What do we do?”

“For the moment, finish the job we came to do. Make sure that Jean Luc will reduce the price of the goods back to something reasonable. Then get on a plane this afternoon and bolt for home.” Tania nodded. “On the other hand, our flight isn’t particularly early, and so we may as well enjoy town a bit more. Our business with Jean Luc should only take a few minutes.”

We journeyed into town to visit Jean Luc. “Jean Luc, how are you this fine day?”

“Oh Monsieur, that beast is in jail. I am so relieved.”

“So you’ll drop the prices for the next shipment as we agreed?”

A greedy look came into Jean Luc’s eyes. “I do not think so. The shipments are now 600, I see no reason to drop the price.”

“What! You fucking bastard. You goddamn little whore. We had a deal and if you break it, you’ll annoy me,” I was snarling at him. “ Do you want to know what happened to the last two people who annoyed me? One was sent to prison for a very long stay and the other is dead.” I poked him in the chest. “Are you sure you want to annoy me?” He was scrambling back out of my way. “Well, you fucking little bastard, what’s it to be?”

“It was 300?”

“It was 280 and right now you’re lucky that I haven’t decided to make it 250 because you are a loathsome little prick. I expect a shipment to leave here by the end of the week. Fail me and you will pay.”

I stormed out of the house with Tania at my heels. “Miserable bastard. Is that the thanks we get?”

We stopped outside and Tania looked at me for a moment. I thought for a moment she was going to comment on my language or abusing Jean Luc. Instead, her first words were, “You need a drink. Let’s go back to the nectary for the rest of the morning after I change clothes to tourist again.”

“Love of my life, that is an excellent plan. Let’s go.”

After a few drinks, I asked Tania, "Do you think I was a bit rough on Beaumont?"

"Jerod, when you are that angry, you are one scary guy. Beaumont did deserve something though, you don't break promises."

We tasted some of the wares at the nectary and I purchased a few young but promising vintages to take home. It put me in a much better mood for the long flight home.

——

We were still on the sidewalk when we heard toddler tantrum in progress. Little Lana has very good lungs. Tania and I looked at each other.

“I’ll pay off the sitter. They are getting a bonus,” I told Tania.

“You coward. Leave me with the hard work.”

“You bet. That child is going to take some work to calm down.”

Tania just nodded as we walked into the house. Lana stopped screaming the moment she spotted her mother. I paid the sitter double the usual. Then I ducked next door to chat to Marta.

“Hey, gorgeous, heard anything yet?”

“Shrimp, you’re back. I’ve heard nada. And haven’t noticed anything different around town.”

“Is there anyone local in the Company that might be holding a grudge?”

“I wouldn’t have thought so but now that Ted has vanished, I’m not so sure. I take it you don’t suspect me.”

“Not of making Ted disappear.” I winked at Marta. “If everything in his house vanished overnight, you’d be my first suspect. We need at least two more people outside the Company that we can trust. A group of us should check around town, see if there are any signs of unusual stuff. But if someone is keeping Ted and they find out, that will be the end of him.” I was feeling indecisive, a mistake at this point might be fatal. It might not, and it might be too late already.

“Well, let’s start with the basics. Talk to our friends, see if anyone has seen someone new around town or something that seems a bit different. We don’t have to ask specifically about Ted, just what they’ve noticed.”

“Good start. Come over to my place around 6 ish, we can discuss our findings.”

---

Bonus pics

Oh look, aren't they beautiful?

The stars?

No silly, our fans.

Tania, fire roasted lettuce? That is just fail.

Jean Luc is very expressive if you need a local for a bit part.

They actually got plenty of adventure time - since they relived day 2 several times over

Came home with plenty of booty and Jerod has a level 2 visa for France (no cheating!)