A Dangerous Man

"Embarrassed, but fine. I can't believe I let him get to me like that. Where are you taking him?"

"Out of the country; it's best you don't know any more than that. We need to find out where our money is and have him get it back for us. That's why Fausto wasn't allowed to intervene when he saw you get taken. He was under strict instructions not to get involved until we arrived. I'm sorry. Had it gone any farther, I'm certain Fausto wouldn't have stood for it. He was between a rock and a hard place."

Karin understood what it must be like to work for a man with Carlos' reputation. "Tell Fausto I said, 'thank you'."

"I have to leave now to get to the plane. I have a big favor to ask of you. Can you wait three hours before contacting the police about the man in the dumpster? It will take us that long to clear US airspace."

"You know about Randall?"

"Yes, Fausto didn't have time to intervene before Clarke killed him with the knife. Again, I'm sorry. Do you think you'll have any trouble with the US Marshalls?"

"I can wait before I call, but I'll probably ask my husband to take the afternoon off and sit with me. I won't have trouble with the Marshalls. That DA in Florida will make a stink, but he can stick it up his ass."

Carlos couldn't help but grin; this Gringa had grace and grit. She reminded him of a woman he once spent a year fighting alongside when he spent that year in Nicaragua. He was a twenty-year-old idealist fighting the Contras and he loved that woman, even though she never treated him other than as her little brother.

"Goodbye Karin." He kissed her on the forehead. "You'll know if the accounts are credited, but I doubt we'll ever see each other again." He turned away.

Karin thought to herself, "Cops and criminals." How many times in her life on the right side of the law had she experienced a connection of respect with someone on the other side of that line? And at the same time, she wouldn't hesitate to put that same person behind bars given the chance.

Karin walked down the stairs and into her office. She picked up the phone and made the call.

"Bill, can you take the afternoon off? I need you."

Epilogue

Karin waited with Bill until four hours had passed; then made an anonymous call to the police about a man in the dumpster. No one claimed the body or answered the Personal notifying the death of Randall Harvey. Karin paid to have Randall cremated and a month later spread his ashes on Mt. Hood. More than once Randall talked about his reason for choosing Portland, "So I can see that mountain on a clear day."

Karin waited until the next morning to let Larry Parker know that he probably didn't have to worry about George Westphal. "My sources tell me he decided to go back underground, out of the country for good." is the way she put it. When George didn't show up for the hearing, Larry was given permanent custody. Janice Clarkson called a few times; but was told she would never see the boy. Her attempt to steal the boy from Larry was the nail in that coffin.

Samuel Jenkins was allowed to meet his grandson. He took the Amtrak cross country and spent a full week in Portland. One day he called Karin and asked to meet.

"Thanks for softening Larry up for me. I know you did it, he told me so."

"Mr. Jenkins, you can't live your life kicking yourself for something that happened over a decade ago."

"Yes, I can. Julie was a good girl and she depended on me to keep her safe after her mother died. And I failed her. I've been praying there's a heaven so Julie is there with her mother. She deserves a heaven. My problem is - if there's a heaven, is there a hell? Because that's where I belong when I die. Then I find myself praying God doesn't exist because I know a just god will punish me for my sin of not protecting my daughter."

Karin took a minute to gather her thoughts before answering. "Most every religion allows for repentance and salvation. If I were you, I'd talk to a priest, minister or rabbi. You need to forgive yourself if you're truly sorry. I didn't know Julie, but from what Larry has told me; she would want that. She ran out of time, that's all."

Jenkins looked up from his coffee cup. "You remind me of Julie's mother. She had that way of saying the kind thing, even when it was only wishful thinking. That's why I was so lost after she died. Thank you." Jenkins patted Karin's hand, got up and left the café.

***************************

Just under three months later Karin received an email that simply read, 'your account has been credited'. Karin ran the virus and keylogging protection programs that Anthony previously installed on her computer, and when the programs finished with an 'all clear' she signed on to the Cayman account. There it was, one-hundred-fifty-six thousand dollars.

Karin wired a third of the funds to Hank's account in Dubai, a third to an international charity in Toronto that helped recover children sold into sexual slavery, and kept a third for her own purposes.

***************************

A year later, Karin treated the Roland family and select guests to a full luxury, all-expense paid week in a private beach villa on Little Cayman Island.

One dark night, well past midnight, Bill and Karin stepped out of the villa and down to the beach wearing only their robes. There were a billion stars out on this cloudless, moonless night and, except for one small, fifteen watt bulb near the front door of the villa, no artificial lights to spoil the view.

"I can't believe you've talked me into this." Karin whispered as she took off her prosthetic and her robe.

"C'mon" Bill whispered back, "when will we ever have a chance to skinny-dip again?"

Karin didn't answer as Bill picked her up and carried her into the water. She began to float on her back looking up at the stars. Bill could just make out the nude body parts that weren't hidden by the water, her wet skin glistening. He knew better than to try to fulfill his other fantasy - making love in the water - so he was content with the view as Karin rolled over to swim, the cheeks of her ass now above the water's surface. The two of them continued to swim in the shallows, enjoying the feeling of freedom.

Less than a hundred feet from where their bathrobes lay in the sand, Anthony and Lisa, his girlfriend, were lying on a towel. Although the night was almost as dark as ink, they did see the two figures walk toward the water and shed the robes. Anthony and Lisa lay quiet until they realized his parents were naked.

"Oh, jeez" he whispered.

"I think it's kind of cute." Lisa said as Bill was carrying Karin to the water.

"What if it were your parents?"

"Okay, I get it. Gross, but still cute. I still can't believe your parents were nice enough to invite me on this trip."

"They really like you."

Lisa's eyes misted up and she addressed the subject they worked so hard to avoid. "Do you think we have a chance to be that happy someday? I mean with each other?"

"I hope so; I love you." Anthony kissed Lisa with all the passion an eighteen-year old has for another eighteen year old. Both would be going to college in another month and the odds were against them; but some kids beat the odds. As Anthony and Lisa broke the kiss and looked up at the sky, everything and anything in the Universe seemed possible.

The End