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Life's Illusions The Next Generation - Chapter 5
When it finally became clear he was missing, Guardian's substantial expertise went to full power.
Only Van could be blamed for his vulnerability.
Unbeknown to either Gregor or Drew, whenever Van went to the recording studios in Rome, he'd taken to frequenting a small restaurant, just a few doors away from the studio, for lunch, Van didn't think he was in any danger.
It had been the Monday, they were due to fly out to Lanzarote on Friday for the Christmas and New Year Holidays.
Van had been completely engrossed all morning, Gregor had dropped him at the studio around eight o'clock, escorted him inside, confident he was secure.
At Vans own request, he was allowed to work without Gregor or Drew constantly watching him, he maintained it was essential for his creative ability, he had to have a certain amount of freedom, and he'd agreed, he wouldn't leave the building until Gregor or Drew came to collect him, he'd never actually kept to that agreement.
It was a little before midday, he'd already gotten two completed tracks laid down, when his rumbling tummy told him it was the usual time for lunch.
He was walking towards the restaurant, deep in thought, memorising the words of the next track he intended to record after lunch.
It was a song he'd written specially, entitled, My World.
The words said everything, when the album was released, he would dedicate that track to Reece.
My world was cold. The story old. I hadn't found you. You didn't know me. I didn't know you.
Now you're here, warming my days, lighting my life, giving me reason, my world is bright.
My world was cold. But now that's old. My world was bleak. I'm no longer weak. You found me.
Now you're here, warming my days, lighting my life, giving me reason, my world is bright.
My world was cold. Now my world is love. My heart it soars way up above. All that time I was so wrong. With you beside me, I can be so strong. My world is you, say you'll stay.
Now you're here, warming my days, lighting my life, giving me reasons, my world is bright.
He'd been completely engrossed, humming the tune.
A violent shove sent him staggering sideways, towards a white, mid size delivery vehicle, it's side sliding door fully open.
Van fell against the lower ledge of the open door, the pain in his leg as he hit the vehicle causing him to cry out.
But his cry went unheard, there was no one on the street to hear him.
Hands from inside the vehicle grabbed him, hauling him bodily inside, the door slamming shut behind him as the vehicle screeched away from the kerb.
In all it took a mere six seconds to abduct him.
At the studio his musicians started to become uneasy, he hadn't returned, it was after one thirty in the afternoon.
Myron took the call at Gregous, his heart sinking as he listened to the Studio Manager.
"He went for lunch at midday, but the restaurant haven't seen him, he's vanished, we thought he might have come home".
Myron cut the call, running to find Gregor.
Gregor implemented an immediate code red with Guardian's HQ.
Within the hour, he received a text confirmation, Juan was wheels up out of Malaga, en route to Rome, he had a field crew with him.
At Guardian's Headquarters everyone realised, this wasn't just a high profile principal, this was also family.
It was a complete stroke of luck, the property next to the recording studio had suffered several break-ins recently, over the previous weekend, they'd had external security cameras installed, facing in both directions along the street.
Gregor studied the footage and sent it directly to Guardian's Tech department.
By four in the afternoon they had a number of leads.
They had identified the registration plate of the vehicle used to abduct Van, pinpointing the owners residence.
The footage clearly showed at least three individuals involved in the abduction, one driving, one hiding in a doorway, who jumped out and violently pushed Van sideways toward the open door of the vehicle, another, who's hands were seen to grab Van, dragging him physically into the vehicle.
A check on the vehicle owners address proved fruitless, there was no activity at the property.
Once Gregor had established the direction in which the vehicle had left the street, Tech staff at Guardian HQ linked into Rome's traffic cam network, and started trawling through hundreds of hours of footage.
The vehicle was quickly identified, it took several side streets before joining the main highway, heading directly out of the city towards the coast, before they lost it.
They had a rough idea of the area it had been heading towards, but it was Drew who thought to question Myron.
"This is the direction they were heading, can you think of anything that would help us understand where they were going?".
Myron knew immediately.
"Sperlonga, there's a summer property there, it's derelict, Van always dreamed of restoring it".
And then it hit Myron.
"I know who's behind this now, Persio Drossos".
Myron then recounted the story of Persio stealing everything Van had, leaving him penniless, struggling to keep hold of Gregous.
By the time they'd identified where Van was most likely being held, a ransom demand for ten million Euros had been received, and Juan had arrived at Gregous with his field squad of trained operatives.
The Greek police in Sperlonga were asked to do a subtle drive bye of the property entrance, they reported back the entrance had definitely been disturbed recently, vegetation cut back, a fence dismantled and put back in place.
Looking at satellite images of the property, Juan decided they would storm the property from three angles, they would employ two helicopters, one to drop operatives onto the rear lawn which ended with a drop of approximately a hundred metres to the rocks and beach below.
Another helicopter would simultaneously drop operatives onto the properties flat roof, they would repel down all sides of the building, entering through the windows on each floor.
A third group would advance up the front driveway.
Thanks to a generous offer from Greece's Defense Minister, who expressed his concern for the wellbeing of their beloved Van, each of the groups would be led by members of the Greek Raider Forces, a force about whom you could definitely use the description, armed and extremely dangerous.
Negotiations had been going back and forth for several hours at Gregous, a money drop of ten million Euros arranged for the following day at noon.
The kidnappers couldn't know, they would very likely be unable to keep that appointment, hopefully they would all be in police cells instead, or dead.
Juan had liaised with Josef at their HQ, Josef would be in the Operations Command Room, he would monitor everything, offering advice where necessary, the raid was set to commence at eleven o'clock that night, when the kidnappers would be relaxed, confident they were still safe, undetected.
There were already three operatives hiding within the grounds.
Listening devices had been deployed on the ground floor windows.
Infrared cameras were tracking the movements inside the building, they showed Van was relatively unharmed, possibly a little bruised, but certainly healthy for the moment.
They now had confirmation, there were only five people in the house, plus Van, who was constantly being moved between rooms and floors.
It was now a waiting game for the appointed time to roll around.
At Gregous, while they waited, Myron offered a completely distraught Reece some insight into what Van had never confessed, about his past, how badly he'd been hurt as a boy.
He'd been fifteen years old, just shy of his sixteenth birthday, when the awful news came.
His parents Land Rover had gone off a cliff road whilst they were touring South America, both had been killed instantly.
Van had been devastated, but he'd surprised everyone, taking charge of Gregous and his finances, as soon as he attained his sixteenth year.
There had been nearly two million Euros, enough to make a start on restoring Gregous, putting right some of the neglect his parents had allowed, preferring instead to tour the world.
That's when the problems started.
His Uncle, not a biological relative, Persio Drossos, was upset that Giovanni took charge, he'd worked for Giovanni's parents for years, considered himself family, but Vans parents saw him only as an employee, they'd left him nothing.
For years whilst he had charge of the finances, he'd been systematically milking their funds for his own gain.
Suddenly he was without an income, and he couldn't access the funds he'd been used to milking, in his mind there was a solution, he set about seducing Giovanni.
The boy was vulnerable, Myron hadn't had as much influence then, but he could easily see what was happening.
Giovanni had been naive, impressionable, flattered that a handsome, strong man, was showing him attention.
Persio seduced Giovanni, moved into Gregous, and gradually took back the financial reigns.
Giovanni had been hopelessly in love, oblivious, and then it all went wrong.
A big party had been planned for Giovanni's eighteenth birthday on Christmas Eve.
Gregous would host over one hundred guests, but suddenly tradesmen refused to deliver, staff left, bailiffs were banging on the front door.
Giovanni couldn't understand it, until his bankers laid it out for him, he was broke, there were a host of unpaid bills.
When Giovanni arrived home from the meeting with his bankers, Persio was missing, he'd fled.
Giovanni was broken, there's no other way to describe it, he'd loved Persio, it was hard for him to accept, he'd been used, Persio had stolen everything, left Giovanni with nothing.
For over two years Giovanni balanced precariously on the edge of bankruptcy, constantly afraid he would loose his beloved Gregous.
He had never celebrated a birthday since.
It was fortunate, a short time after Persio disappeared, Giovanni signed a contract to produce music, it became his new true love, he dedicated himself to earning enough to safeguard Gregous, working day and night, writing music for other artists, producing and directing music, recording his own music, touring relentlessly, it had been his one and only aim since the day Persio vanished, to rebuild Gregous, to bring back it's former glory.
He'd vowed there would never be another love in his life.
Until the day he met Reece, he'd stuck religiously to that pledge.
Looking directly at Reece, Myron said.
"Once he met you I could sense it, he lost that will to be alone, the walls came down, with you he was like a moth to a flame, I don't think I have ever been so grateful for anything in my life, you have given him a real purpose to live, shown him how fulfilling true love can be".
Myron went on, talking almost as if to himself.
"It's interesting to know that the origins of the name Persio, show it means, 'Destroyer'. And the origin of the name Drossos, show it means 'To Steal'. Not something we were looking at then, but in hindsight.......".
When Reece tried to find Myron later that evening, he was nowhere to be found, he called Josef.
"Son, Myron's missing, I think he may be heading to Sperlonga, you need to warn your brother to be on the lookout for him".
Precisely, as the clock reached eleven, Juan gave the go signal.
Two helicopters rose up from the beach below, each depositing their cargo where Juan had instructed.
Within moments there were bodies sliding down all sides of the building.
From the lawn, and from the front driveway, stun and smoke grenades were fired into the building, creating total confusion inside.
As the grenades exploded, the bodies sliding down the building kicked out, swinging back in, to enter with a series of crashes through windows on both of the upper floors.
As operatives crashed through the windows, more stormed the ground floor from both front and back.
Intel from their listening devices placed Van on the first floor only minutes before the strike.
As they entered there was an immediate push to secure the building, four of the kidnappers were neutralised, one was shot, but not killed,
The operatives on the first floor reported Van was nowhere to be found.
Juan's headset brought him the news.
'Principal is outside on the lawn, being used as a shield, looks to be tethered to the kidnapper, we have them in our sights, but they're too close to the cliff edge, direction requested'.
Juan understood immediately and responded.
"Hold positions, I'm coming out, do nothing for the moment, I need to get a visual on the kidnapper and the principal, I repeat, hold positions".
Persio had Van, a knotted rope around his neck, at the end of the garden, he was threatening to take them both over the drop, a hundred metres down, onto rocks below.
But he wasn't counting on two members of Raider Forces, who were experts in sniping for spasms, nicking the target in a way that wasn't designed to kill, just to produce a nerve reaction, they had their sights trained on a point at the top of each of the kidnappers arms.
Once they got the go signal they would cause each of his arms to fly backwards.
The difficult decision for Juan was how to extricate Van from Persio's grip.
The decision was made for him when, into his ear piece came some startling information, someone was moving across the lawn toward Van and Persio.
It was Myron, walking slowly, but confidently, with purpose, towards his beloved Van.
Juan's earpiece went manic, 'It's his man servant' he's going to get him killed, he doesn't know what he's doing, we can drop him, we need a go signal'.
But they hadn't met Myron, Juan had, Juan knew exactly how deft Myron was, he knew Myron must have a plan".
Juan's reply surprised his men, and completely shocked the Raider Forces.
"Negative, assist the walker, I repeat, negative, assist the walker, I'm going closer, keep me informed".
Juan moved to the edge of the lawn, he was in a position to see Persio, Van and Myron,but he couldn't hear what was being said.
"I need ears, I have visual but I can't hear them, do we have a lips in position, (he was asking for a lip reader)".
The response came back immediately.
'Patros sir, I'm following, the man servant is talking, but there are parts I don't understand, it's as if he's having two conversations, but it's all jumbled together'.
Juan's interest was peaked, he'd talked to Myron about this, they had a strange ability between them, from when Van was a child, communicating by lip reading.
Juan responded.
"I understand, repeat everything you read, don't change anything, I'll decipher it".
Into Juan's ear came the conversation as the lips saw it.
"Why Persio, he never harmed you, he could have, --- are you understanding me boy --- even when he was at his darkest hour, he protected you, wouldn't let the police pursue you, --- give me a sign boy tip your head up --- he loved you, you created that, I'm begging you, don't harm him, --- tip your head up boy".
Juan saw it, Vans head lifted, tipped backwards, as Juan continued to hear the narrative.
"I'll swap places, take me instead, --- you remember boy, down and still --- I'll do anything you want, --- when I give you the sign trust me, I'll cut the rope --- I'm going with you if I can't persuade you to let him live".
They all watched in horror as Myron reached out and grabbed the rope around Vans neck.
The narrative continued.
"I can't let him go alone, --- count to ten, kick back and drop, the way I taught you --- your a fool Persio, you had it all, now you have nothing".
Juan had also been counting, as he reached ten, he shouted a command into his mouthpiece.
"Fire, fire, fire".
Shots rang out, Persio's arms flew back.
Van should have been jerked violently backwards, but he wasn't, he was untethered, his kidnapper was holding a piece of useless rope, clearly it had been cut.
Van kicked back, causing Persio to stagger backwards, then dropped to the ground.
Myron stepped past Van, grabbing to save Persio who was now teetering dangerously on the edge of extinction, grabbing at Persio's belt.
Juan knew exactly what was about to happen.
"Turn away lips".
Persio was fooled, he was grateful, he honestly believed Myron was saving him, until he looked directly into Myron's eyes.
"You think I would save you, take the chance you might try this again, you think I wouldn't kill you to keep him safe?, have a nice life in hell you sick bastard".
As Persio looked down he felt himself being pushed backwards, instead of being saved, he realised Myron's knuckles were applying pressure, sending him backwards, to certain death, his belt was undone, he watched as it slid through the loops of his pants, and then he was gone, hitting the rocks on the beach below moments later.
Myron just stood there, the belt in his hands as operatives darted across the lawn towards Van.
Juan took charge, darted forward to Myron, looking him directly in the eyes, no words were spoken, but Juan's lips moved quickly through a silent conversation.
Myron nodded, understanding the message.
Into his headset Juan said.
"Principal is secure, Myron is here, both unharmed, four kidnappers in custody, one fatality, pass the news to Gregous. The Greek police are entering the property now, we should have the principal back to Gregous in approximately two hours after initial statements".
When they were interviewed, their statements were almost identical, Juan confirmed an operative on the opposite side of the lawn was giving him commentary throughout, he made no mention of Patros's ability to read lips, or of the conversation he related.
Myron told them he had a blade hidden in the hand that he'd used to grab the rope around Vans neck, then as Van dropped to the floor, he'd realised Persio was in trouble, he was struggling to regain his balance, grabbing his belt was just a knee jerk reaction, hoping to pull him to safety, but it had somehow slipped it's fastening, he'd watched as his attempt failed, he'd been mortified, still couldn't quite believe he'd failed.
Juan told them he'd seen Myron step past Van, reach out to save Persio, he'd watched him grab for the mans belt, but it seemed not to be fastened properly, it just slipped through the hoops, and then he was gone, over the edge, a valiant attempt to save the man, but it didn't work.
When they interviewed lips, Guardian's operative Patros, he couldn't offer anything other than what he'd witnessed from a different angle.
Though his statement was extensive, it said little more than that of Juan or Myron.
"When the man servant stepped in front of the other two, he blocked my vision, I don't know what happened after that, I couldn't see if they were talking, though it all happened so fast, I doubt they were, except I saw him grab out to save the one who fell, I saw a definite jerk which should have saved him, but the belt didn't hold, I think he must have been surprised it hadn't held, when I looked at the kidnappers face he looked stunned as if he couldn't believe it had failed".
Juan sought out Patros later.
"Patros, you were invaluable tonight, I'm not sure if you understand what was going on, but you gave me a complete picture, I couldn't have interpreted the situation without you".
Patros understood, his boss was really asking if he understood the conversation he had relayed.
"Officially, there was a lot of the conversation I couldn't get, angles, facial expressions, it makes it difficult, I only really read part of what was said to Persio, anything else was undistinguishable, that's what I've reported".
Juan nodded, knowing Patros knew what had taken place that night, but he had chosen to protect the ones he felt were following the path of righteousness.
At Gregous, Woody and Jacqueline arrived, at almost the same moment Reece was receiving news that Van was safe, he collapsed sobbing into Woody's arms.
Jacqueline meanwhile took on the task of informing the family around the world, that all was well, Van was safe.
Van and Myron were returned to Gregous by Juan, after he finally lost patience with the Greek police captain who insisted on going over the events repeatedly.
Whilst sitting in front of the smug captain, he'd called the Greek Defense Minister, telling him this treatment was unacceptable, it was now five o'clock in the morning, they were stressing Van unnecessarily, and he was taking him home, then passed the phone over to the captain, watching as he got a Class A rollicking.
As they were sat in bed that morning, cuddled close, Van said.
"I'm sorry, Myron told me how stupid I've been, how I worried you, I didn't think, I was so engrossed in my music".
Reece asked.
Why have you never mentioned the house at Sperlonga?".
Van sighed.
"Because I don't know what to do with it, we had such good times there when I was younger, but it's almost derelict now, it's taken so much to bring Gregous back to what it should be, I don't know if I want to start all over again with another house, then there's the cost".
Reece could tell he wasn't finished.
"I've had several offers for it, the position alone makes it worth a fair amount, I suspect a developer would demolish the house and build apartments, it would support around fifty apartments, I'd almost made my mind up before this happened, if I sell it, I'll be able to settle the loan I have on Gregous, it's just taking that step, but I'm settled now, I'll call the agency tomorrow, it can go for sale".
Reece was quiet, deep in thought, so much that Van thought he was asleep, he wasn't, far from it, he had plans running rampant in his head.
Later that morning, when Juan called Pierre, for once he shed all pretence, he cried as he described the nights events, his part in a murder.
Pierre tried hard to help Juan see it wasn't his guilt to carry, Myron had made a decision, not just to save Van, but to put down a threat he was convinced would return to trouble, possibly even kill Van, in the future, Juan couldn't have prevented it, if there was guilt to carry, it was on Myron's shoulders.
As Pierre put it, if it were someone threatening the lives of their children, he would have no problem with doing the same, Myron had been a parental influence on Van for so long, they were almost Father and Son.
Thankfully Juan understood what Pierre was telling him.
It was Tuesday, though by the time everyone finally arose it was already afternoon.
Reece awoke to hear Van state the name of a property agency.
"It's Giovanni Gregous, the conversation we had regarding my estate at Sperlonga, I've decided I will sell it, would you list it please".
As they sat in the lounge that afternoon with Woody and Jacqueline, Van received a call from the property agency, he was shocked, he could hardly believe what they told him, they'd had an offer, it was the full list price, and the buyer wanted a speedy settlement, they'd asked if he was agreeable, Van told them yes.
He was completely overjoyed, telling Reece he planned to pay back most of the loan he'd taken from Woodruff Banking, but Reece gave him something else to consider.
"You travel back and forth to Rome one heck of a lot, just to use studio facilities, you pay a lot for those facilities, and you complain quite often you can't get the run of dates you want because they're so heavily subscribed, why not build your own studio, or better still, build a studio group, let out the surplus, make a profit and offset your own studio costs".
Van was intrigued, and definitely interested, so Reece went on.
"The old carriage houses, next to the stables, they would be perfect, I estimate you could set aside about ten million, make the studios as really hi-tech as possible, if you aimed for a group of five studios, but make them versatile, extendable, able to be opened up for a larger project, I think based on the amount you pay for studio time you ought to recoup that ten million within two years, so over ten years you ought to bring in around forty million profit, but the real beauty is that you don't have to travel, you never have to wait for studio time, and to you it would be free".
Van was amazed.
"This is where I fail, I know music, I love music, I actually revel in it, everything else tends to baffle me.
Reece had an idea.
Would you like me to run the project for you?, it will need a lot of input from you to say what equipment should be included, in fact I might get my son in law involved, when it comes to buying expensive equipment, Pierre is an absolute shark at negotiating costs".
Van was absolutely amazed.
"Would you do that for me, it would mean so much, I have to record an album in spasms of about two or three tracks at a time now, it's too expensive to occupy a studio in the rehash time".
Reece looked blank and Van laughed.
"You see, I think everyone knows what I'm talking about, but really you need to be a recording artist to understand, a studio can be used to record something, or to test a sound, but if you're not happy with the sound it takes a lot of time to find what you're looking for, and it's not cost effective to occupy studio time for that, so you go away, experiment, then when you're satisfied, test it again in a studio, if it works, record it".
Reece was thinking.
So what if I gave you a set of recording studios, and a set of testing studios, places without all the sophisticated recording equipment, but equipment good enough to tell you if you'd found the sound you were looking for, and, as a bonus, a set of workrooms, places you could retire to, a space to experiment in?"
Van was wide eyed.
"Oh my god, you just described a musical Nirvana, it's a dream, the closest thing to that is building your own personal recording studio".
Reece smiled.
"And there my love is the company name, Nirvana Studios, the closest there is to owning your own studio".
Reece now had a project, well, he actually had two projects, but one was going to be a secret, Van wouldn't know about that one for a while.
Reece had one other thing to do, something Myron had told him about, but he needed to speak to Jacqueline in private.
After breakfast the following morning he asked Jacqueline if he could show her the gardens, his question was accompanied by a wide eyed stare, Jacqueline knew it meant she should agree.
"That would be lovely Reece, I know you love these gardens".
When they were walking in the gardens Jacqueline, in her truly blunt fashion said.
"Okay buster, spill the beans, these gardens are truly beautiful, but I'm not sold on you wanting to show me the gardens, so there must be an ulterior motive".
Reece grinned.
"It's like listening to Lenny, you do know that, and I mean it in the nicest possible way?".
Jacqueline thought about it, drifted off into memories, then answered.
"I'll actually take it as a compliment, it reminds me of how much I miss her, but we digress, I do believe you were about to spill the beans".
Reece giggled.
"I was, and I will, nineteen years ago was the last time Van celebrated his birthday, when he was seventeen, his eighteenth birthday was planned but didn't happen, the man he loved stole every penny from him and fled a few days before his birthday, he's never celebrated since, he has missed sixteen birthday celebrations, the next one is on Christmas Eve, I just thought I'd share that with you, no special reason, I just thought it was a pertinent bit of information".
Jacqueline pulled him close, kissing his cheek.
"I hear you, and believe me, he's family, he's not missing any more".
And that was magic to Reece's ears.
TBC Allan ARB