Sorry part two took so long to come, life has a habit of getting in the way sometimes and takes priority. So without further gilding the lily, here it is, I hope you have fun reading it as I had writing it. Thank you.
I wish to apologize to everyone! This story is part two of the story, "All Hallows Eve" (Read that one first) I had originally tagged it as part of that story, but something happened and it never got connected. So, as this was the first time it happened to me, I reposted the story and wrote the story, and added this statement.
Again, I'm sorry it caused so much confusion, and hope this will fix the problem,
Thank you again for your understanding!
=================
The wheels touched down, it felt good to be back home in the States.
I had been thinking of personal things I needed to get moving on, first was a home for my wife and later on our kids to live safely and securely in. The episode in France showed me how unprepared I was for that kind of attack. I vowed to get better prepared to protect the ones I love.
I asked Ishmael to get us to a secure location while I thought about the best way to go about this. The SUV that picked us up at the airport had totally blacked-out windows while we made our way there. I asked for Ishmael's help with the house situation, and he replied, "Glenn Crowe" and pulled out his phone. My lawyer had told me that Marcus had total faith in Ishmael, so I went along with it.
When we arrived at the penthouse on top of the Four Seasons, Candy and I took a shower to clean up after our journey home. It took us an hour and a half to step back out of the shower, I won't tell you how we spent our time in there, but when we came out, Candy was smiling and I came out about ten minutes later. She had shown me a different side of herself and I thought about calling for assistance to help me out of the shower.
We ate in the dining room of the hotel, the food was excellent and we were so full that we ordered our dessert and drinks to be sent up to our room for later. Just as we were relaxing in the jacuzzi tub in the bathroom when a man from my security team opened the door a crack and said there was someone here to see me. I gave a kiss to my wife and then proceeded to dry off and slip a robe on to see who it was.
I looked around the living room and didn't see anyone, then my guard whispered to me that he was on the couch waiting, I looked at the couch and still didn't see anyone. My guard gave me a nudge and told me to just walk over there, so I did. As I walked around to the front of the couch I noticed two things right away, first was that I felt like an ass, and second, the man sitting on the couch was a dwarf. He got down and put his hand out, "Glenn Crowe, pleased to meet you, Mr. Masters, my friend has told me a lot about you. He said you might be in the market for a secured home for your family"
"Please just call me Karl," I said
"Very well then, you can call me Glenn" he smiled, "There's no need to be formal seeing as how we will be living together for the next 8 to 10 months until your house is completely done" My eyebrows went up. "I see Ishmael didn't tell you how I work, let me explain. I will remain on-site drawing up your home's blueprints and ensuring everything is being done correctly. The plans for said house will remain at the site to ensure there's no chance of being compromised in any way, upon the completion of the home, you will retain all information of its construction so what was made secret shall remain secret. After completion, I will need a 2-week vacation as I'm a perfectionist during the build and need to unwind, the cost will be included in my fee. Any further questions?"
"I didn't realize how intense the building would be" I replied, "I don't have any questions at the moment"
"Don't you worry, more questions will be coming up later during the build" he chuckled, "So I guess my only question is, where do you and your family want to live?"
We chose to live in The Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, for three reasons. First, it could be easily defended, second, we like the changing of the seasons, Candy wanted to learn how to ski, and third, if the wife and I wanted some quiet time we could send all the kids off to 'Dollywood' for the day! Candy and I were pleased that it came out that way as we planned on needing a lot of personal time when our kids started coming.
We wound up buying a whole mountain! Candy seemed to want us to go bankrupt quickly, I just shook my head and replied "Yes, dear" when needed. We had two modular homes placed there. One for us to live in and the other for Glenn and security on the level piece of land we made just shy of the mountaintop, it was big enough to land a helicopter nearby as well. The view was breathtaking!
I started to expand my companies, and the money they brought in as a result was more than I expected. I started putting it into a private account so I could add more things I liked as well as a man cave, the name 'man cave' took on a different meaning up in the mountains I told Glenn of my ideas, and it cost me two more weeks of vacation for him, but my sanctuary and at times my sanity were well worth the cost.
It took a little over a year to complete but it was exactly how we wanted it to be. There were three safe rooms and two escape routes if needed. A large kitchen area as well as a gigantic living room and dining room. The six bedrooms were decent-sized with a normal ensuite of their own. But the master bedroom looked like a small cathedral with its arched ceilings and windows, and an ensuite that had a jacuzzi, a steam room, as well as a shower big enough that four people could all shower in together if needed. All bedrooms had their own balconies, and there was even a courtyard.
The thing I liked most about the house was the rock of the mountain was left exposed wherever you looked and even made to be part of the house here and there. It even had walls of stone surrounding the house with a rampart along its top. It reminded me of a castle of the Renaissance time. It even had its own solar panels that would help it stay cool in the summer and heat in the winter and its own water source fed by a natural spring. I guess sometimes a man's home is his castle! Glenn went so far above and beyond my expectations, that I was speechless!
I wound up buying a helicopter because I just could not see myself driving up and down a mountain going to and from work. Sure I could use video and face chats, but I preferred face-to-face whenever I could. I even anonymously bought a second investment company to compete with the one I already had. They came up with all sorts of ways to steal customers from the other so they would show they beat the other in an income race at the end of the year.
It was in June when a shooter with a rifle and scope tried to assassinate me, it was rumored that he had ties to the Russian mafia, and I also found out that there was a $5 million bounty on whoever could kill me first. I had twice the security following me around after the attempt. Candy and the rest of my family weren't happy when they found out. After the second attempt of placing a bomb under my car that failed to go off, I made a call to a friend in the CIA as well as quietly asking who the lead man in the local Mafia was.
Within a month I had the names and numbers of both men at the top of the Russian and local Mafia. Then after some careful planning, I bought a burn phone and called them. The Russian leader was the most difficult to talk to as he said I had put a hit out on Gregor and his father in France.
"So the little boy calls me to beg for his life and that of his family. Why should I stop after you killed my stepbrother and his son? I want to cut off your balls right before I shoot you so I can have a momento of your death!" He used a voice like two people casually talking about the weather. "Why would I deny myself the pleasure of killing you and your family, tell me."
I waited patiently for him to get through talking before I told him in a calm voice, "My pardon sir, but you have been told some incorrect information. I was on my way to the airport when both of them came from down a side street trying to ram my car to do me harm. I noticed a poor-looking woman and child selling fruit at the side of the road and told my driver to stop so I could help them. The car that your family was in blew a tire and lost control resulting in a head-on collision with the wall of a building, seeing it happen my guard and I ran over to help them, but they were already dead as a result of the crash. There was nothing either of us could do to help."
"That woman and her child were put there to distract you, while they were rushing to 'talk to you' as it were. When I placed a reward out for any information about the members of my family, she was the one who came forward naming you" he casually replied.
I was at a loss until an idea popped into my head, "Sir, I am sure that you could find that woman again and confirm the information was the truth. Consider it the last request of a dead man. If she convinces you it is the truth, instead of making a grab for more money from this situation, I will surrender myself to you so no innocent people have to die in the crossfire between us. Would that be acceptable to you?" I had nothing left.
I could hear some breathing, and then a muffled conversation before he answered me. "I was just informed of the birth of my sixth child, which has put me into a generous mood... I will grant you your request"
"I appreciate your generosity, and I wish your new child a long healthy life!" That was the last thing said before he disconnected the call. I didn't realize how much I was sweating until I moved and found that my clothes were sticking to me. I loaded my pipe and started smoking.
"You are one crazy fucker laddy, not even Marcus had that big of a set of balls!"
I damned near jumped across my desk to the other side! "What the fuck! how long have you been standing there?"
Ishmael walked over to the bar and grabbed two wine glasses and an unopened bottle of whiskey, then came back to the desk and filled both glasses. "You know these are wine glasses right?" I said.
Pushing one of the glasses over to me, "Those other glasses don't hold enough for this!" then he sat down in a chair. "What crawled into your head to make a deal like that anyway?"
"To keep Candy safe, I would have done much more" I whispered.
Ishmael raised his glass, "To a love that knows no boundaries, and a fool who has the balls to sail the course!" I raised my glass but said nothing. When we set our glasses on the desk, half of the liquor in them was missing. When they were empty, Ishmael topped them off and set the empty bottle down on the desk, I relit my pipe.
