ONE HUNDRED AND TEN

SHIMMER'S POV

The phone was picked as soon as it rang. The excitement in Logan's voice was more than evident.

"Mrs de Milo! You were right last night! I believe you now! A man dropped off a lot of cash! He also gave me full information on my new name, the country where I'll be moving to, and all the fine details. But he said my new passport and other documents are not yet ready. What was his name, Mrs de Milo? The man who brought me the cash?"

I blinked several times, for I was not prepared for Logan's question. How could I have told him that the man was Toast; Israel Bassard's right hand man?

"My lawyer!" I lied.

"Your lawyer? He gets involved in this dirty work?" Logan sounded unsure.

"Listen Logan, we will talk about that later. For now, I understand that you refused to give the lawyer your real ID, passport and other documents." I said in a serious tone.

"I refused, Mrs de Milo. I think it makes more sense for me to hand them over once I receive my new documents with my new identity."

"Logan, you're not understanding the depth of this matter; are you? We're saying the Logan who drugged a girl and attempted to rape her, is now dead. Dead. You understand? So your ID, passport and all those things won't be needed any more. I am sending over the lawyer back to you. Please, without drama, give him the documents."

"Is that so, Mrs de Milo?" there was doubt in Logan's voice.

"Of course! You now have brand new documents. Give us the documents and the lawyer will know how best to handle them. Let's get this done today. Because there is more.."

"I'm listening."

"You will have to write something." I told him.

"OK, Mrs de Milo. I am listening." Logan's voice was full of anticipation.

"We will need you to write a suicide note." I spat out the painful words.

"A suicide note!! Never!! I won't ever do that…."

"Logan! Calm down! This is needed; it's a must. My lawyer has done this for many people, and this is the only way for it to work. You need to convince the police, and the whole world, that you're dead, don't you? So you have to make everyone believe you."

"I don't know, Mrs de Milo. I am not liking the direction that this is taking. Maybe I better just go to prison…"

"You're joking, right? You want to kick away a life of luxury and a new identity; and choose to be stuck in some smelly cell for the rest of your life? Is that what you want?"

"I guess not, Mrs de Milo," he sounded defeated.

"Then let's do this fast! There is no time! Write the note now. My lawyer will be there in a short while. Hand over all your documents and the note as well. Make it convincing."

"Umm, I don't know, Mrs de Milo…."

"What do you mean? Do it fast. It took me a lot of persuasion to get the lawyer to do this for us, and you want to back down now? Do it fast, Logan. And by the way, the Lawyer is bringing in more cash for you. More money will come your way in the future." I immediately ended the call and faced Israel.

He still perfectly looked like an old man. Whoever made the masks for him must have been a true champion at their job.

Israel wheeled himself a few inches away from me and dialed a number.

"Toast!" he barked into the phone. "Go get the documents from that imp. Buy the pistol in his name...what do you mean?.....that man has never been on the news, Toast!.....only the police know that they're looking for him; it's not like he's some world class criminal!....Toast; stop whining!...go get that pistol. Get the Maxim 9; we need one with a silencer,...yes, use that bastard's ID...…yes…..yes...of course. Just walk into a shop confidently…..so what? Just get a brown wig and try and look like him...who looks like their ID picture, anyway?........make sure that gun is registered in Logan's name, you idiot!....do it fast, Toast!......I'll be waiting." He ended the call.

"A…are y…you…..are you buying a pistol in Logan's name?" I asked in confusion.

"That's all for today, your royal highness." Israel flatly ignored my question and he wheeled himself away.

I walked silently towards my car. The place which I had chosen was outside a restaurant. It was one of the best restaurants in town. Their operating times were from twelve noon until the wee hours of the morning; so it was very usual to find the place looking deserted in the early mornings. Israel and I met at that place. There were very few people, and also considering that the restaurant was a bit out of town, it made it a very favorable place for our meeting.

As soon as I was safe in the basement of the hospital, I heaved a sigh of relief and told myself that it was time to clear my schedule. Work had been piling and although my PA repeatedly reminded me on the urgency of some of it, I had not managed to touch any. Now that things with Logan were beginning to take shape, I decided to cover some of the backlog. My phone rang. It was Roderick.

The moment I said hello, he started to talk, "Shimmer! I am in your office. Where are you?"

"I..I am in the basement. I'm just coming from meeting a client" I lied.

"Is everything ok?" Roderick sounded worried.

"Yes; why wouldn't it be all right?" I asked.

"I'll wait for you in your office."

I hurried towards the elevator and although it took me the usual short time to get to my floor, I felt like it had taken forever. I walked as fast as I could towards my office. My PA said a greeting but I was too worried about Roderick to respond. Why was he looking for me? Why did he sound worried? What had happened?

I pushed open my door and almost ran into Roderick who seemed to be on his way out. He hugged me.

"What is troubling you, Shimmer? Is there something that you should tell me?"

I felt my heart thumping so hard that it was like it was threatening to bolt out of my body. I breathed in to calm myself down, and smiled as a I took a seat on the sofa. I did not want Roderick facing me, so I offered him the seat next to me. Side by side sounded way better to me; compared to facing him.

"What is the problem, Shimmer?" he asked.

"Nothing. I am fine."

"Shimmer. I am your husband. You can tell me anything."

"Sure. I am fine," I smiled and shrugged my shoulders, hoping to change the subject.

Roderick looked at me with worry, and then he sighed. "Shimmer, I met with our personal banker today. He came by my office, his son wasn't too well. After his son was checked, he decided to say hello to me. That's when he asked me something like, 'did you get all your cash'? I asked what he was talking about, and he said he honestly thought I knew. I ordered him to tell me, and although he tried to cover it up, he ended up revealing that you have applied for millions of dollars in cash. According to him, you picked some money yesterday, and you're picking more cash today and tomorrow. What is happening? What's going on, Shimmer? What is all that cash for?" the care and concern in Roderick's voice pierced my heart.

I lowered my head and said, "I wanted to surprise you. Someone is selling a nice villa but they said they only wanted cash. I wanted to buy it for us, a sort of a getaway place for the two of us. The children are all grown up, so I guess we may need a little space of our own to go away to; on weekends or holidays when we're free."

"Oh Shimmer! I am so relieved to hear that!! I was extremely worried! I thought you were in trouble…..Come here sweetheart. Who is selling the villa? Why do they want strictly cash? Do you trust them? We could get Hayden to check on the credibility of this seller. Hayden can give us an expert from the Rockridge Law Firm to look into this." Roderick spoke as he patted my head which rested on his chest.

"It's ok Roderick. I have cancelled it; because it looked shady for me as well. The seller can't be trusted. I am going to re-deposit all the cash. It's all arranged, don't worry. All the money is going back into THE account."

"Oh I see. That's ok, my sweetheart" Roderick kissed me and allowed me to sit up. "I love you Shimmer. If you ever face any troubles, let me know. If you need anything, just let me know."

"I love you more," I mumbled.

Roderick pulled out his phone and dialed a number; "Carl, look around for the nicest villas in Lakeworld. We need to purchase one, if possible by early next week we must have the paperwork done."

"Yes sir," I overheard Carl's voice coming through Roderick's phone.