Please remember to donate to Nifty, it gives so much to all of us.
Any amount, large or small, is welcome in order to keep this free site available.
Thank you, donations to the address below. Http://Donate.nifty.org/donate.html
Life's Illusions - 10 years on - Chapter 43
Pierre was as wound up as a spring, Rick and Milo had been doing whatever Techies did for nearly two hours, all Pierre had heard was, 'Oh, that's interesting', ....... ! 'So you come in when there's a period of inactivity', ............'Oh that's clever',.............'Really, you crafty little devil',........'Oh, now that's just crass',........'You're getting sloppy now', .............'Ahhh there you are, but who's controlling you',.............'Really, you cannot be serious'.
At that point Rick went into a huddle with the Police Techies, when they finished talking there were a series of nods, an agreement was reached.
Rick addressed the Police inspector who was in charge of this exercise.
"Get Alison Saunders on the phone, tell her who I am, I need to speak with her, this needs her approval before we go any further".
Pierre knew Alison Saunders was the Director of Public Prosecutions, he was confused as to why Rick needed to speak with her, was it good, or bad, news.
Rick saw their worry.
"Sorry guys, sometimes I forget you can't read my mind, comes from working with people who always know what I'm thinking".
He looked at the Police Inspector.
"I'm going to tell them, I trust them, I'll take any heat but they deserve to know".
It wasn't really a request, Rick was making a statement.
The Police Inspector nodded his approval and Rick turned to Pierre, Sofia and Phillip.
"Justin's in the clear, it's a definite set up, but Justin isn't the first to be targeted, we've only done a rough scan, there must be around ten other victims in there, that's just the tip of the iceberg, someone high up in this company is operating something very nasty, it's built into the system and we need the right permissions to go get it, and get them".
The police inspector handed a mobile to Rick.
"Madam Director, it's a pleasure to be working for you again, I will expect you to cover my costs,..............yes of course that goes without saying, I'll do the court dates, I understand you've been briefed, it's much larger than even I expected, if we can get the search warrants in place quickly it will guard against any leaks, ................I can shut them down from the front desk, every port in all of their connected offices will be frozen, no one would be able to scrub, .......................if I had to guess, I'd say about a hundred million, quite possibly more, ..........okay, we'll await a call from your office".
Rick was matter of fact.
"Now we wait, I'm really sorry, you guys are on lock down until we strike, can't take any chances, but take consolation in the fact tomorrow's news will detail how Justin was framed, an innocent, honest man, set up after he died, I promise you, I'll restore his reputation".
Sofia was openly crying.
"I knew it, he would never have been involved in anything like they said, he was so good, an adrenaline junky, but such a sweet man and he deserves to be remembered that way by his boys, and now he will be".
It was several hours before they were allowed to leave.
Rick had disappeared after about half an hour, he would later tell them about the Police assault on the Investment Bank HQ, how they'd caught red handed the Executive who had planted a Trojan program into the company's system, it manipulated actions, siphoned off funds, in Justin's case it attacked his accounts after his death, with false data entries, making it look like the actions had been performed when Justin had been in command before his death.
Rick called Pierre as he was boarding the plane back to Torremolinas later that evening.
"A good days work my friend, and make no mistake, I said my friend, don't you ever doubt it, I'm going home now, but you haven't yet made me happy, I pray that one day, you'll realise, life is too short, and you will make me happy, you'll know what I mean when it happens, call me that day, goodbye Pierre".
Pierre was totally baffled, a riddle from Rick as a parting gesture.
The only thing that remained was to call and update Sofia's family in Torremolinas.
Pierre was nervous as the ringtone sounded, then it was there, that soft rich voice which immediately brought on his tears.
"We did it, we proved Justin to be innocent, Sofia's in the clear, she'll be safe now, goodbye".
Before he could disconnect the line Juan shouted.
"Wait Pierre, thank you, from all of us, for what you did, we can never repay you, but I want to see you, I'm begging, please Pierre, whatever you ask, I'll pay any penance, just to meet with you, don't let this be the last time we speak, without you there is no future, please".
Through his tears Pierre only said two words.
"Goodbye Juan".
The following morning Pierre said his farewells to Sofia and the boys, she promising to bring the boys to Montclair soon for a holiday.
He was driving to the airport, daydreaming about what could have been, when sudden terror struck him.
The steering wasn't responding, it was several moments before Pierre's reflexes kicked in, he slammed down hard on the brake pedal, but the car slewed sideways, catching the central barrier it flipped upwards and over several times, then it's momentum brought it directly into the path of a speeding lorry on the opposite carriageway, the terrified driver had no chance to avoid the collision.
When the lorry hit Pierre's upturned car there was little to protect him, but Pierre didn't feel the impact, he was already unconscious.
He knew nothing of the complicated process carried out by the emergency services who extricated him from the twisted wreckage of his little hire car, he was oblivious to the helicopter flight rushing him to the emergency room of the hospital, unconscious during the four hours spent in the operating theatre, completely unresponsive when he emerged, an unrecognisable, comatose, mass of tubes, wires and bandages, destined, according to the doctors, to lay lifeless in a hospital bed for the rest of his probably short life.
The emergency services had collected his personal belongings.
A call was placed to the next of kin contact details, shown in his wallet, alongside his treasured family pictures.
He heard the words, he was aware of the shocked stares, but all he could do was groan, the sound that came from him was that of someone in terrible pain, one who had suffered an unimaginable shock.
"I'm sorry I have to inform you as the listed next of kin, Mr Pierre Alonso Bowles-Cruz has suffered severe injuries in a road traffic incident, he is currently on a life assisting support system, he remains in a critical condition, at King George Hospital, in the County of Essex, England, I cannot stress strongly enough the urgency of getting here, he may not survive for long".
Josef bolted across the room, he could see Juan falling, his eyes rolling upwards, catching him before he could hit the floor, Josef grabbed for the phone which had fallen from Juan's lifeless fingers.
"Who is this, what did you just say to my brother?, he's passed out, tell me".
What Josef heard brought him to tears and explained Juan's collapse, but Josef held it together, enough to reply to the caller.
"We'll be there as soon as possible, do everything you can to keep him alive, he is a precious and special person".
When he came round, Juan was a mess, Josef took charge, issuing instructions, he helped Juan out of the building and into a car which collected Leo and Reece, taking them directly to Malaga Airport and the company's jet.
On the way Josef called Aly, expecting, and getting, a frosty reception.
"What do you want?".
Josef ignored the obvious insult".
Aly, it's Pierre, he's been injured in a car accident, he's in the King George Hospital in Essex England, we're heading there now, we can collect you from Nice if you want, speak to me Aly".
Aly was in shock, but he responded.
"No, I'll get us there, why are you heading there, and how did you get to know first?".
Josef didn't want to get into a pissing contest with Aly at this point.
"We can talk about that later, for now, please Aly, they say he's critical, on life support, get there as fast as you can, your Fathers with us".
Within minutes of ending his call to Josef, Aly had secured a private jet charter.
As they headed to the airport in Nice, Bo called Sebastian, he'd been their solicitor since Aly had first taken over at The Inn.
"Sebastian, Pierre's been badly hurt in a road traffic incident, he's in England, which one of us did he nominate to hold Power of Attorney for him after the divorce?".
What Bo heard made him groan, something neither Aly nor Piers missed.
When he ended the call Bo looked at them both, he didn't need to say anything, as Piers said it.
"He didn't change it, he left Juan with Power of Attorney, it made sense, he was protecting both of them".
Aly didn't understand, he was annoyed with Piers.
"You're not making sense, protecting who, and from what?, Juan needs to be kept as far away from him as possible, we can't do that if Juan holds Power of Attorney".
Bo got it straight away.
"He was protecting himself and Juan from us, he knew what we would do in a situation like this".
Piers spoke again.
"He also knew Juan would never hurt him again, he was confident Juan would do anything and everything to save him".
Aly stared at Piers as realisation struck.
"You knew didn't you?, but if he had such confidence in Juan, why didn't they get back together?".
Piers was crying as he nodded his confirmation, after a few moments he explained.
"I agreed with him, Juan will never hurt him again, but that isn't what's stopped Pierre letting him back into his life, he's still not reached the place where he can forgive and forget, and we all know Pierre, second best is never an option, I'm certain, one day he'll forgive Juan, he's just not there yet".
Aly had arranged a chauffeured car to meet them in London.
Arriving at the hospital they were shown into a small room and asked to wait whilst Juan was located.
It was only moments before, not Juan but Josef came to meet them, he looked haggard.
"Sorry I wasn't out here to meet you, I've been alternating back and forth keeping an eye on Juan and looking out for you, your Father's in there at the moment, Juan's holding it together but only just".
They could see Josef was having trouble with what he wanted to say.
"Before we go in, I'm asking, no, I'm pleading, can we call a truce, work together, this is Pierre, we all love him, we all want the very best for him".
They all nodded, but Aly couldn't resist adding.
"It's a pity you pair didn't consider that before you injured him that day, if that day hadn't happened, he wouldn't be here now, this is your fault".
Josef didn't reply, he just turned away, leading them to Pierre's room.
Juan didn't look up when they entered, he was sat at Pierre's bedside holding his hand, talking softly to him.
Piers walked to the other side of the bed, leaning down he kissed Pierre's forehead, then surprising everyone, he leaned across and kissed Juan on the cheek before saying.
"You have to get it right this time, we talked about this, he trusted you to look after him, he hadn't forgiven you yet, but he trusted you, and he loved you, of that I'm sure, promise me?".
Piers didn't need to say what he wanted Juan to promise, Juan just nodded, the tears rolling freely down his cheeks.
The hours became days, weeks became months.
Juan didn't waver, he was beside Pierre every day, talking softly, reading to him, bathing him.
Aly, Bo and Piers had gone home after a month, Josef had returned to Torremolinas to run their company, Leo had stayed a few days longer with Reece.
There was a reason Leo and Reece stayed on, with heavy hearts, Aly, Bo and Piers were in agreement, if it came to a decision on terminating Pierre's life support, they would agree with Juan's decision, but they couldn't say it, and so it fell to Leo and Reece to speak with Juan, but when it came, it was a non conversation, Juan listened, then dismissed them in a few words.
"He entrusted his life, his wellbeing to me, I intend to keep him alive, whatever it takes, for as long as I live, I'll dedicate myself to that task, I'll never waiver, I know what everyone thinks, but I'm convinced, one day he will come back, he may not want me even then, but knowing he is alive somewhere on this planet would be enough for me".
At six months, the doctors asked to speak to Juan about what would be the best for Pierre, Juan was philosophical, he knew what was coming.
In their opinion, based on substantial data, gathered from the months of monitoring and testing, it was time.
Juan sat passively, listening to their prognosis, their recommendations.
The bottom line, Pierre would never recover, he was suspended in a vegetive state, there was no brain activity, he was clinically dead, if ever there was activity in his muscles, it would possibly be a precursor, a reaction to his organs shutting down, it would be the beginning of the end, in their opinions it would be a mercy to switch off his life support now.
Juan hadn't been angry, he'd simply replied quite calmly.
"I believe it's time to go home, I'll make the arrangements, Pierre will die one day, but only when Pierre decides it is time, neither you, nor I, will make that decision, thank you for everything you have done for him, we are truly grateful".
Within three weeks Pierre was returned to his house on Avenue Montclair with Juan managing every aspect of his care, and so it would be, a daily repetitive round of, medication, exercise, chatting.
Pierre remained unresponsive month after month.
But Juan still looked at each new day as the day it might happen.
TBC ARB Allan
Comments are welcome to cfgw2000@aol.com.
Thank you for giving me your time, enjoy.