“Jack, I understand you are planning to leave your car in Glendale, CA with your friend Jimmy G. and then take the train back to San Franciso?”

    “John Paul...How did you know?  Oh yeah, aaahh...Do you have any suggestions on our itinerary?”

    “Here is what I think, Jack.  It is now April 28.  I just arranged for a friend to transfer the car records into Jimmy G.’s name effective May 1st.  We are going to be gone for several months and you already have two cars.”

    “I’ll see you in a week, John Paul!”

    “Jack,  let your heart speak to you over the next few days!  Tomorrow before you get on the road, make sure and Federal Express your gun to me at your house address before you get on the road.  Sometimes we need to be unarmed for our protection.  Goodbye.”

After John Paul ended the call,  I decided to take a walk and look at the moonlight.  The moon was as a car in a swimming pool.  The bright reddish brown surface of the moon reminded me of a visual trick or effect--It is hard to believe that this natural beauty can exist.  An hour later I came back to the room and tried to sleep for a little bit.  So many thoughts and desires swam in my mind.  At about 3:00AM the world melted around me.

Caroline and I left the Motel 6 at 11:00AM and I sent my gun by Federal Express to Smithville per John Paul Francois’ instructions.  I was anxious to get to Glendale as soon as possible and spend some rest-time with Caroline before we had to leave for San Francisco.  It is amazing driving several thousand miles with a woman that you are thinking about spending the rest of your life with.  It is, also, amazing the feelings that come to the surface when that person is going to live so far away for such a long time.   The fear that arises in the midst of the celebration of love adds to any stress that could already be there in such a trip.  Caroline showed amazing calm when she told me that, “all would be fine in our life because we were not alone”.

During the trip we found out that we have similar views about Santa Claus, Christmas and children.   Caroline and I agreed that the belief of Santa Claus is very healthy for young children.  If a child loses their faith and imagination when they are young,  sometimes, it is hard for that child to grow up and take the necessary chances to survive and succeed in this world.  Caroline really likes Christmas time and she is glad that her last Christmas wish came true.

Last Christmas, she was stuck with the gangster in Louisiana and almost lost her hope.  That Christmas Eve she purchased a bottle of pills and thought about taking them all.  She was at her personal end, as the gangster (she thought) was ready to eat her heart and soul.  While she was sitting in her living room she saw the lights on her Christmas Tree grow extremely bright and then she heard the sound of an adding machine.  A figure dressed in a black Italian suit walked up to her and spoke to her.  Caroline thought that she had already taken the pills, but then noticed the un-opened bottle.  The pseudo angel-accountant introduced himself as Sean Adooboul and explained that he was in the Southeastern region of the United States doing some auditing of accounts and he needed to make a legal adjustment.

      “You know better than that...Don’t be silly!   The accounts do not lie.  You know that all will be fine.  I think a refund is in order.  I will put in a request to the Higher Authority and you should receive a response within the next accounting period.  Listen Miss Caroline, the family does not let the exceptional go unnoticed.  The Family is all important because of each individual!”

Caroline quickly opened the bottle of pills and flushed them down the toilet.  She went to bed and cried uncontrollably for about a half of an hour and then fell asleep.   When she awoke the next morning and went out to her living room,  she saw that in her tree was a ornament that sort of looked like an angel/accountant.  The figure had a halo around his head and was wearing a fine Italian business suit.   She noticed that his eyes were very clear that his pearly white teeth added to his great smile.  I asked her if she still had the ornament.  She said that she had a funny feeling to wrap it up and give it to the gangster.  The gangster liked it so much he kept it always in his office and said that Caroline was a like a child for giving the ornament to him--then he sent her away and left her alone for a few months.   Before the gangster flipped out and murdered  John Paul Francois,  his personal secretary said that she would hear him talking to the ornament about financial decisions.  Finally, the gangster started shooting the ornament...but the next morning, the ornament would be as perfect as it was before the bullet destroyed it, the previous evening.

The ornament disappeared after the gangster killed John Paul Francois.   The gangster was convicted of the shooting, even though he tried to pretend insanity.  No one in the county believed his crazy story of how an ornament showed him all of his accounting errors, which caused him to go mad.

We arrived in Glendale a day later and stayed in Jimmy G’s Condo at Malibu.  Jimmy G. told me that the train we were traveling on to Frisco was carrying the Romanov Jewels to the San Franciso Museum of Metropolitan Art.  Jimmy G. told me that there was a rumor that the infamous thief Paolo was going to be on the train and that I should take a plane, instead.  I thanked Jimmy G. and told him that there was a reason we must take that train.

Caroline and I enjoyed our time at Malibu.  We both were sunburned a little as we learned how to surf from a guy they called the “Farmer.”   The first night we both went to our separate rooms early and slept as we were both extremely tired from our trip.  The second night we decided to make meatloaf for dinner.  I grew up with my mother putting crackers and tomato sauce in meatloaf.  Caroline convinced me to try her way:
 

Caroline’s Meatloaf

Ingredients:
 
 1/2  Cup of Ground Garlic
 1 Cup of Ground Onion
 2 Cups of Sliced Mushrooms
 1 pound of Lean Hamburger
 1/2 Pound of ground Veal
 1/2 Pound of ground Turkey
 1 Tablespoon of Decaf-coffee
 1 Tablespoon of Lemon Pepper
 6 ounces of Sharp Cheddar Cheese.
 2 Tomatoes.
 4 Stalks of Celery
 2 Hardboiled Eggs
 1 Package of Ritz Crackers
 1 Tablespoon of Margarine

Caroline used a glass oblong cooking dish and first crushed the crackers and mixed in a tablespoon of margarine.  She formed the crust on the bottom and side of the pan and then began to prepare the meat dish. Caroline first took all the peripheral ingredients and mixed them together with her hands.   She said that using a mixer did not give the same texture to the dish.  She said that the passion  of strong hands added to the dish and that some of the germs from her hands that could not be washed away added to the flavor.  After mixing the peripheral ingredients,  Caroline added the meats and spent ten minutes mixing by hand the loaf.  After the loaf was thoroughly mixed together,  Caroline put the loaf in the pan and put the pan in the oven.  She cooked the meatloaf in the oven for about an hour at 350 degrees.  After the loaf was finished she put the cheese on top and let it melt naturally for 15 minutes in the turned off oven.   The meatloaf was very good and Caroline was glad to show me another way of cooking meatloaf.

Caroline and I arrived at the Amtrak station at Glendale about twenty minutes before the train was supposed to arrive.    We got our tickets and proceeded to the station.  We were met by a young man by the name of Peter Chin.   He told us that his boss had arranged to sit with us in our cabin.   We asked Peter who his boss was, but he said we would soon understand the situation.  Peter said that he was very glad to meet Caroline as he had heard of the inexplicable exploits in Louisiana of myself, Caroline, and John Paul Francois.

The train arrived and Peter, Caroline and I went to our cabin and began to settle in for the twelve hour trip up to San Francisco.  The train took off and headed for the nearby Burbank station.  A few minutes later, a man walked in to our cabin.  He was about 5’ 10” and had a  shoulder length gray hair to match his gray piercing eyes.   He wore a large red ruby on his right middle figure and was dressed in a conservative dark blue suit.  He extended his hand to mine and greeted me as the thief Paolo.

     “You see, the easiest way to keep other thieves away from the Romanov jewels is to spread the rumor that the great Paolo is here to steal the jewels.   I get paid very well for being a glorified security guard.  The difference is that I have brought along five members of my team as assistants.   Jack, I know that you and Caroline are here to spend your last few minutes together before she goes to the Middle East, but I need your help.  I think that the promoters of the tour have hired the French government to steal the jewels, in order, to create an international incident.  I need you to go through your files on French Espionage Agents that you received from Alan  Hoodman before his death.  I need to know who is here and what these agents are up to.  I need help....for the first time in my life I have tried to do the right thing and now I only see a future of blackness without your help!”

        “Paolo, I understand what you are saying.  I will help you if you can answer this riddle:  ‘No gun, all guts, all glory.’  I have heard that you have expressed to your business partners that they can cut the ruby off your middle finger if you go back on your word.   Don’t even offer!   I don’t have time for that!”

      “I have the answer Mr. Armstrong.  The answer is John Paul Francois.  I, also, know that you have no gun.  Wise choice, my friend.  Here is my laptop on your office security site.  All we need are the passwords.  I do understand that you are only required to give the read-only version as you know that we would love to send this information to our African friends who are in midst of rebellion right now.”

     “Paolo, you are my type of man...pleasant to make your acquaintance!”

With my records, Paolo was able to identify 7 French agents on the train.  Paolo’s crew drugged the agents and then put them in a baggage car that was left at Monterrey.  Someone left an anonymous call with the CIA that these foreign agents would be located at the Monterrey Station.  This capture of French foreign agents caused great embarrassment to the nation of France and the President of France talked to the friendly American President and made a quiet deal to secure release of “his boys.”

Caroline and I drove with Peter Chin to the museum and were able to make sure that the jewels were safe.  We returned to the car  and found Paolo and his assistant Gunther Schmidt sitting in the backseat of the Limousine.  We three got into the car and Paolo took his red ruby off his finger and gave it to Caroline.

     “This ruby I have worn for thirty years on this finger.  It is the only Holy thing that I own.  I stole it from the Saint Agnes Church in Portugal from my small town.  The priest was furious and looked for me for days with a big long knife.  He told everyone he met that if he found me...that he was going to cut the Holy relic off my finger.  This ruby was the wedding ring supposedly given to Saint Agnes by her husband King Domingo.  I now see that you must have this ring for a special purpose.  Rubies come and go, but special purposes are most important, my dear Caroline.”

The men let Caroline and I spend our last few minutes alone at the airport.  Caroline told me that she saw two futures.  One where I would be gone and stop loving her...the other one showed that we would be together again.  I told her to trust in the end, which is always the beginning.  We held each other for our last few minutes and then we said goodbye.   I watched her plane leave and then I sat for a minute and drank a mineral water.  Tears flow much more easier when one drinks a mineral water.

       “Jack,  we must go.   The boys are waiting for us.  We must leave for London in about three hours.”

       “John Paul, How?   Aaah, ok, let’s go.”

John Paul and I walked to the car and got in with Paolo, Peter and Gunther Schmidt.  The men all showed surprise and then talked about the last time they saw John Paul.   We went to Cafe Mario for a last dinner in the United States.   We had a nice lunch of pasta and chicken.  Paolo paid the bill and we all went to our ship and loaded our cars and began the trip to the Southern tip of England.
 
 
 
 

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