Utopian Day (16 page)

“
That’s what we did the last time;
it didn’t work out so well for me then,” Laura pointed to the burn
marks on her leg where she had been zapped with the electrical
shock baton.

“
I get it,” J.T. lamented. “I
really do.” He edged over to the couch and slumped down into the
seat. “Do we have any bottled water? I’m parched.”

“
You look like hell,” James
replied, going over to a small shelf where there were some bottled
waters and throwing one over towards J.T. It landed on the couch
within his reach.

J.T. picked up the bottle, opened it, and began
taking small sips. The door lock turned, and one of the commandos
came in with a plate of sandwiches and unceremoniously deposited
them on the table, along with three cold bottles of water, before
exiting again.

“
Hallelujah!” James exclaimed as
he and Laura both advanced on the food. After eating in silence for
a few minutes, Laura noticed that J.T. hadn’t moved.

“
Don’t you want something to eat?”
Laura said between bites.

“
No. Think I’ve got sun poisoning.
Better off just drinking water for now,” J.T. replied.

“
I’m still mad at you,” Laura said
to J.T., “but I’m glad you’re o.k.”

“
Me, too; sorry they used that
shock stick on you.” J.T. replied weakly. “I won’t try anything
else, I promise.”

“
Yeah, I hope you’re telling the
truth this time, for all of our sakes,” James replied.

Over the next several days, the bank routine
continued without interruption. Some changes were made in the
process to ensure J.T. didn’t try to contact anyone else. He was
patted down and his pockets were searched before he left the yacht
and upon his return.

On the final day of the withdrawal process, after
everyone had finished the gourmet lunch that was provided on the
yacht, Nick opened up a bottle of champagne. He poured a glass for
everyone at the table and handed them out, and then he proposed a
toast.

“
Here’s to the completion of our
little journey together, the end of your captivity, and the
beginning of this next phase of our lives,” he said as he raised
his glass.

Mia and Nick smiled as they drank the champagne.
James and Laura politely sipped the champagne, not wanting to
offend their host, but not quite certain what was going to happen
next. J.T. didn’t drink at all, but quietly put his glass back down
on the table.

“
I’m sure you are all wondering if
I am going to keep my promise. Toward that end, I’ve prepared a
little briefing for you in the conference room. You can bring your
champagne if you like. Mia will escort you there,” Nick continued,
motioning to Mia with his glass and slightly nodding his head in
her direction.

“
Please follow me,” Mia said,
standing up from the table.

James, Laura, and J.T. dutifully followed Mia to the
deck below, and into a conference room that they had not seen
before. A long table surrounded by leather chairs was in the center
of the room, with a video screen hanging prominently on the wall at
one end. Three of the commandos followed them, positioning
themselves around the edges of the room.

A few moments later, Nick entered the room carrying
a briefcase. He opened the briefcase, took out three manila
envelopes, and placed them on the table in front of him. “I have
information in these folders that you are going to find very
interesting. I have a very specific reason for giving you each a
very large sum of money. The simple truth is that I need you to
remain lost to the FBI and never return to the United States. I
need the U.S. government to believe that the three of you planned
and executed your own escape from prison, and that you have fled
the United States for parts unknown. This way, I am removed from
any involvement in the escape and can continue my business
activities in the United States without any problems with the
authorities.” He smiled as he made the last statement.

“
Now, I considered the possibility
that one or more of you would consider returning to the U.S. and
attempting to convince the authorities that you were not complicit
in the escape, and give them information about my involvement.
Toward that end, I have taken the liberty of providing myself with
some insurance.”

He tapped the file folders in front of him on the
table with two fingers for emphasis.

“
A few minutes ago, an anonymous
tip was placed by one of my associates from within the United
States to the FBI, claiming to have information related to your
escape. When the authorities follow up on this tip, they will find
a warehouse full of evidence to implicate each of you in the
planning and execution of your escape from prison.

“
During this past week, I have
taken the liberty of collecting numerous items that each of you
have touched and left your fingerprints and DNA on around this
yacht. I have sent these items to my colleagues in the States to
place strategically around this warehouse, providing proof that you
all spent time there after your escape. Additional evidence that
will be uncovered there will indicate that you all planned to
immigrate to Europe under assumed identities, aided by plastic
surgery to disguise your appearances.”

Nick passed each of them one of the folders.

“
I have provided enough
information in each of these folders to convince you that what I
have just told you is true. Should you ever return to the United
States of America, you can rest assured that you three will be
convicted of planning and executing your escape from prison and
your flight out of the U.S. You will each spend the rest of your
lives in prison if you are caught.”

He paused to let the gravity of what he had just
said sink in. James, J.T., and Laura began looking through the
contents of the folders that lay before them. Laura recognized one
of the blouses she had worn the week before, hanging in a warehouse
locker that she had never seen before. There were photos of a table
in the warehouse with glasses she recognized from the yacht. A
hairbrush she had used, a towel from the yacht, even the prison
clothing that they had worn while at Utopia, all present and
accounted for in the warehouse photos.

“
We’re screwed,” she said, staring
down at the contents of the folder.

Confident the others would have reached the same
conclusion, Nick continued.

“
The good news is that I don’t
want you to be caught. That’s why I’m giving you each enough money
to live on, why I’m pointing the FBI in the wrong direction, and
why I’m leaving you here in the Cayman Islands. I don’t want to get
arrested for breaking you out of prison, and you don’t want to end
up going back to jail for the rest of your lives. Furthermore,
while murder isn’t against my morals, it’s too messy for my tastes.
This way, you get to live and we can both help each other
out.”

Nick nodded to Mia, who walked around the table and
gave each one of them a backpack. J.T. received a blue backpack,
Laura a red one, and James a black backpack.

“
You’ll find new identification
documents along with your promised cut of the money in these
backpacks. Victor will escort you back to the island and drop you
off at the marina. Have a nice life…and try not to get caught.”
Nick smiled as he said the last statement. He nodded to Victor, who
took his cue and stepped forward to open the conference room
door.

“
This way, please,” he said,
motioning with his hand for J.T., James, and Laura to leave the
conference room.

J.T. was the last one to leave, and before he exited
the room, he turned to Nick and said, “Do you really think you are
going to get away with this, Nick?”

Nick smiled as he looked J.T. in the eyes and said,
“My dear fellow, I already have….”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

J.T. looked out over the ocean from the balcony of
his home on Rum Point, Grand Cayman Island as he waited for his
dinner guests to arrive. He contemplated the many changes that had
taken place during the past year since they’d been dropped on the
dock at the marina by Nick Bartonovich’s hired guns. Nick had
indeed kept his word. They each had the promised disbursement of
funds and everyone had new identities, complete with background
biographies, U.S. driver’s licenses, Social Security cards – the
whole nine yards.

After Nick had set them free on the island, it took
them a few days to realize they had actually escaped the ordeal
relatively unharmed. They had slowly begun to build new lives for
themselves. They had all found new places to live. J.T. had bought
this place out on Rum Point, and James and Laura had found places
to rent in town.

While none of them had the need to work, they had
all developed occupations over the past year. James was bored out
of his mind just laying around, so he had begun hanging out at one
of the local bike rental and repair shops. An elderly man owned the
place, and James had convinced him to teach him the business and
sell him the shop once he was ready to retire. He liked doing
something productive with his hands, and enjoyed taking the
tourists on bike excursions around the island.

Laura had continued the hobby she had learned while
in Utopia – making stained glass. She had set up a room in her
small apartment where she made beautiful island-themed stained
glass pieces which she sold on the internet. She enjoyed the work
and it was therapeutic for her. She had also begun volunteering at
the women’s crisis center in town that helped abused women by
providing them a place to stay, trauma counseling, childcare, and
legal services.

J.T. had begun investing in the stock market online.
He had helped Laura and James invest, as well, so that they could
live off of their investments instead of spending all of the money
they had. He had done well enough with his own investments that he
was able to keep giving money away to those he had harmed before he
went to prison, and still had enough left over to provide for his
own living without dipping into the remaining principle
investment.

Laura and James had forgiven J.T. for going behind
their backs in an attempt to get them rescued, and over time, they
had all developed strong relationships with one another. One of the
habits they had developed was meeting together once a month at his
house for a nice dinner. They would use the opportunity to catch up
and talk about what was going on with their new lives.

As J.T. thought about all of this, he closed his
eyes and inhaled deeply, relishing the salty ocean air mixed with
the delicious smelling food that was waiting on the table in the
dining room. He’d had a local restaurant deliver a meal of ackee
and codfish, which was one of his favorite local dishes. He was
looking forward to tasting it and catching up with James and
Laura.

As he opened his eyes, he saw James’ car pulling up
in the driveway with Laura in the passenger’s seat. He turned and
went back inside the house, crossing the spacious great room as he
made his way towards the front door – which was actually positioned
on the side of the house. He made it there just in time to hear
James rapping his knuckles on the door.

J.T. opened the door and James crossed the threshold
to give J.T. a big bear hug.

“
Hey J.T., it’s good to see
you.

Although J.T. was officially known as Sam Walters –
the new identity that Nick had provided for him, the trio often
slipped back into using their real names when they were alone on
occasions such as this.

“
Hey James, good to see
you.”

He saw Laura standing behind James, holding
something in a plastic container. He gave her a hug too, being
careful not to dislodge what was likely a wonderfully tasty dessert
from her grasp.

“
Hey Laura.”

“
Hi J.T.,” she said as she
returned his embrace.

They all made their way over to the dining area and
sat down at the table. James started serving his plate immediately,
failing to notice that J.T. was patiently waiting for him to
stop.

“
James, J.T. usually prays,
remember?” Laura said.

“
Oh yeah, right,” James said,
feeling slightly embarrassed, putting down the serving spoon and
sitting back in his chair. J.T. had started saying a prayer at the
monthly meals about six months ago. He had modeled it on the
original serenity prayer written by Reinhold Niebuhr. Praying
wasn’t something James was used to doing before meals, and he still
frequently forgot about it whenever they ate together. J.T. laughed
at James as he sat back, looking ashamed.

“
There’s nothing to be embarrassed
about. It’s not like God is going to strike you down or
anything.”

“
That’s a good thing,” James
replied jokingly.

Laura rolled her eyes at James.

“
Can we pray now? I’m starving,”
Laura pleaded.

“
Sure, here we go,” J.T. said as
he began. “God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things
that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should
be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.
Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting
hardship as a pathway to peace. Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful
world as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that You will make
all things right if I surrender to Your will, so that I may be
reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with You forever
in the next. And thank You for this food. Amen.”