Chapter Ten: The Man Behind The Conspiracy

A Chapter by Klyflyhigh

Swiss-German border, Autoroute-4, Beggingen, Switzerland

Meanwhile on the other side of the world, Ray stopped at a gas station on the Swiss-German border to make a call to Kevin and inform him of his success. Carolina excused herself to go to the washroom. Ray, finished with his call, went back to the car and waited for her. After waiting for a while, he got out of the car and went to the station convenience store to check with the clerk and to inquire about her. Receiving a negative response, he then went to check the restroom, where there was no sign or sight of Carolina anywhere. Frustrated over losing her, he went back to the phone booth to make a call and to let Kevin know of the new update about Carolina but both Kevin’s hotel room and his office direct line remained unanswered, and so Ray just left a message with Kevin’s secretary to inform Kevin that he lost Carolina. He also thought of Claudine and where she is right now. Worried and anxious, he decided to drive straight to Frankfurt, and from the airport, he took a flight back home to Sound Beach where Daniel and Claudine would have arrived by now.

UNEP Building, Nairobi, Kenya

The next day when Kevin arrived at his office, Karen, his loyal Secretary, informed him about Ray’s message. Now worried and concerned, he was also informed by Karen that Mr. Mcvet wanted him immediately in his conference room as in “Now”, as soon as he showed up for work. Kevin went inside his office first, placed his briefcase down on his desk, and went through the process of checking his messages as his habit every day. With the pending matter about Carolina’s disappearance, he worriedly got out of his office, shut the door, and went to the elevators.

Twenty floors up on the Director’s suite, Siri, Mr. Mcvet’s Executive Assistant, was already waiting.

“Good morning, Mr. McAllister. They are in the conference room waiting for you. Let me escort you.”

“Thank you, Siri.”

When Siri opened the door to the conference room, Kevin was taken aback upon seeing some familiar faces. Seated in the middle of the long rectangular conference table was Mr. Mcvet, and to his right, was Mr. Abe Singh in a dark navy three-piece suit, dressed up as usual like the diplomat he was. Next to Mr. Singh was the ever persistent Mr. Fatou, in his usual business suit and was now smoking a cigar. Still unable to catch a glimpse of who was on the left side of Mr. Mcvet, Kevin tried to move to the side to glimpse who the person was. Right on cue, the man stood up and revealed himself. Kevin’s face turned ghostly white as his jaw dropped open, and his mind ran wild, tryng to comprehend the vision staring right in front of him.

“I, I, uh thought you’re dead? Weren’t you killed at the Geneva airport?” He mumbled.

“I’m glad to see you too!” Mike Long said with sarcasm.

Director Mcvet interjected, “C’mon Kevin, have a seat. Let’s enjoy the reunion party.”

Still unable to believe, and much more grasp what was happening, Kevin fell into the chair nearest him.

“Wait; let me catch my breath first. This is not funny. I don’t like people making fun of me. Do you understand?” Kevin said.

Mr. Singh stood up and poured a glass of water for Kevin and said, “This is no joke. We are all here to offer you a once in a lifetime chance of becoming rich.”

“What more would you want when you have everything, A long life, like me?” Mr. Long lashed out caustically.

Kevin gulped down the glass of water and answered, “I’m happy with what I have right now. Dignity, truth, self-respect, and most importantly, peace with God and myself, which I’m sorry to tell that you people don’t have. Now you dare to ask me what more could I want?”

Standing up to leave, Kevin gave them an all annoyed fleeting stare. He started to head out the door, when suddenly without any warning, a sweet, familiar voice called out to him,

“Hi Kevin, long time. You know, I’ve missed you.”

The voice took over him, and he turned and gazed where the voice came from.

Carolina!

“I thought she disappeared? What the f**k is going on here? Why are all of them altogether in one room? Who is Carolina? Was she playing me all along?” All at once, thousands of questions came playing along in his head.

Before he could speak, Carolina approached him, took his hand, and led him to the seat in the center of the table, in front of Mr. Mcvet. She gave him a soft back rub, and gave him a peck on the cheek.

“Relax,” she said, whispering in Kevin’s left ear as she sat on the seat beside him.

“What’s going on, Carolina?” Kevin asked, his head slightly sweating as his heart pounded a little faster.

“Everything’s going to be fine. You know these people aren’t bad at all. I understand them, Kevin. They only care for your welfare, is all.” Carolina said, touching Kevin’s arms.

Kevin thought as he remained silent. Was she hypnotized by these people? Was she threatened? Blackmailed? Brainwashed?

“Yes, Kevin, we only meant to help you out.” Mr. Singh said in his deeper, lower, intimidating voice. “You know someday you’ll run this bureau yourself.”

Carolina then tried another tactic, becoming more sweeter as she held Kevin’s hand. She softly spoke out to him, saying he should hear them out. Kevin didn’t want to listen at all to what these people have to say and did not seem to care what they want from him. Quite unfortunately for him, the present situation made him apprehensive and uncomfortable, being manipulated by everyone in the room, including Carolina, whom he thought had feelings for him.

Even though his feeling for her says something else, there is something extraordinary and different with her now. He never judged her personally. Kevin guessed he still cared for her. As soon as Mr. Mcvet stood up from the other side of the table, he was left with no choice but to listen to what the man had to say.

“Well, Kevin. The reason you’re here today is to clear out any confusion with what happened to Mr. Singh, Mr. Fatou, and Mr. Long.” Mcvet held his breath for a more dramatic effect. “What your Brother-in-law and sister witnessed in Geneva are our associates whom we handpicked as they can double for Mr. Singh, Carolina, and Mr. Long, and they are all helping us over there for us to achieve our goal. As you can observe with your own eyes, they are all here alive and well.”

“Now, we want to show you something more dramatic so you can be more easily convinced and help you to decide quicker.” Mr. Fatou interrupted, as Mike Long stood up to open the door on the far side of the room. “You know, we invited your sister to come over, for her to help you decide what is the best way for everybody here. A win-win situation.”

Everybody was smirking at Kevin when all of a sudden the door opened, and a familiar woman entered the room with her hands handcuffed behind her back and a duct tape covering her mouth, and was followed behind by another woman who looked exactly like Carolina, aiming a gun at the poor woman’s head.

“Claudine!” Kevin said out loud, shocked as he stood up with his mouth wide open in surprise.

Carolina?! He glanced at the girl beside him and back at the woman behind Claudine, checking if indeed the two women were actually twins.

The woman with Claudine, along with Mike Long, moved to the middle of the room, so everybody can see them, a show for Kevin in particular.

Mr. Mcvet noticed the confusion in Kevin’s face and said, “Let me introduce you to our associate from New York, Ms. Eva Long, Mike’s sister who is a model and an aspiring actress, and a good one. Do you notice the similarities between her and Carolina? They’re like twins. Don’t you agree? Now, my dear, why don’t you come over and sit on my lap, my sweet Carolina?”

Carolina, seating beside Kevin, now stood up with no qualms at all, and walked towards Mcvet. She gave him a kiss on the cheek as she sat on his lap. This took the icing from Kevin’s heart as he witnessed all this drama right in front of him.

“Now, where were we?” Mr. Mcvet continued.

“Ray.” Carolina said.

“Ah yes! Now, as Ray had witnessed the gruesome, blood-sputtering death of Mike here, they were only movie props provided by you know who. As soon as Ray and Eva drove out of the airport, Carolina here picked up Mike right away where he was shot dead at the airport, replacing him with another cadaver with Mike’s identity, and then drove him away.”

“I had been played like a ball, around and around, I go.” Kevin thought to himself.

Mcvet continued, “At the same time when Ray stopped at the gas station right in the Swiss-German border to call you, Eva here excused herself to use the restroom, and from there, she made her escape. The final stage for our perfect ending is to kill Daniel to get to Claudine. And that was the easiest part. At the airport, when Claudine went to the ladies room, our men took hold of Daniel and brought him to the men’s room, where he was stabbed five times in the heart. Now how’s this for a good movie?”

“So what do you want from me? Let my sister go! She’s not part of any of this.” Kevin shouted.

“This is what we want from you, Kevin. Your resignation as the Chief of EWB addressed to me and a copy furnished to Executive Director Palmer. You can explain your departure is due to the work load which comes with the new position, that you might not be able to handle and cope up with all the work that is necessary to achieve and fulfill your expected responsibilities.” Mcvet said. “Any problem with this?”

“Please let my sister go, and I’ll do anything you require of me.” Kevin pleaded.

“No, not good enough. Once you signed over and handed to me your resignation letter, we will release her. Inform us ahead of time where to send her or where to drop her off.” Mr. Mcvet suggested.

Mr. Singh looked hard at Kevin and said, “If I were you, I would quietly resign. You have caused us so much trouble already. You don’t know who you’re dealing with here. I have just concluded the negotiation on this Red Giant information in Geneva, with a third world dictator. Now listen here, don’t cost us the deal, as this involves a lot of money.”

“Is this what it’s all about? Selling this information for cash? Fine, I’ll do what you want, but please don’t hurt my sister. Now, may I go back to my office? I’ll draft and formalize the resignation letter, so we can finish this transaction and get it over with.” Kevin said.

“Sure, go ahead. By the way, if you are thinking that the audio monitor is activated inside this room, you are mistaken. I had it brought over to the maintenance and engineering department for the weekly debugging process. No evidence for you, Kevin, that we ever had this meeting. I am aware that you believed Mr. Singh is the mastermind, as you mentioned during the budget meeting, but do you know that he and Mr. Fatou are not capable enough of planning and initiating this kind of scheme, or conspiracy, as you would call it? Remember Kevin, I’m a lot way smarter than you. You didn’t find me. I found you. I am now your number-one suspect, and you are not even close enough in gathering information and evidence to use against me. No hard feelings, Kevin, but you lost.” Mcvet said with disgust.

“Thanks for the lecture, may I go now?” Kevin asked, standing up, and without waiting for an answer, he turned and moved towards the door and walked out of the room.

Kevin got out of the elevator and rushed down the halls. He entered his office and made sure he had locked his private room, then as soon as he was able to sit on his executive chair behind his desk, he took out the small tape recorder from his pocket. He rewound and played the tape over to make sure everything was recorded to the last letter, and let out a sigh of relief that every word was recorded. The small machine had recorded the clear voices of Mr. Mcvet, Mr. Singh, Mr. Fatou, and Mr. Long in full details, including the arrogance of Mr. Mcvet in admitting to the crimes and the conspiracy that he orchestrated.

After listening to what he needed to hear, he stopped playing the tape and picked up the telephone on his desk and dialed the number of the office of the UNEP Executive Director David Palmer. A middle-aged woman’s voice answered the telephone.

“Good Morning, Executive Director Palmer’s office. This is Mary, how may I help you?”

“Yes, hello, this is the Secretary calling from the office of Director Mcvet of DEWA.” Kevin said. “I would like to make an appointment with the Executive Director for a meeting later this afternoon.”

“Sir, what would I say this meeting is all about?”

“This is with regards to Mr. Mcvet’s notice for resignation as the Director of DEWA. Could you please inform the Executive Director that this appointment is of the highest and of the urgent priority? I am sure he will appreciate the heads up.”

“All right, Mr. Palmer will be free at four in the afternoon. I’ll set up the appointment with him. Would that be all?”

“Yes, thank you. That would be all. Oh by the way, would you be kind enough to send Mr. Mcvet a formal memo from your office to inform him of the meeting together with the time and the place?”

“Okay, Will do! Thank you very much, and good day to you, Sir.”

“Thank you too, Mary. Goodbye.” Kevin said as he hung up the phone.

He took out from his desk drawer a new unused long brown envelope. He opened the envelope and placed it on the desk. He took out his handkerchief, poured drops of rubbing alcohol onto the cloth, and wiped the small tape recorder clean, to remove the evidence of his fingerprints from the recorder. With his handkerchief, he picked up the recorder and placed it inside the opened envelope. Finished, he sealed the envelope. He brought out a marker and labeled the front of the envelope “Confidential: For Executive Director David Palmer’s Eyes ONLY”.

On the way out of his office, he carried with him his briefcase where he had placed the envelope inside. Now a little paranoid, Kevin rushed down the stairs to the ground floor. At the lobby, he would look around and check behind him if anyone was following or watching him. At the revolving door of the entrance of the building, in his haste, Kevin bumped into a security guard as he walked while looking behind his back, causing him to drop his briefcase on the ground. He apologized as the guard helped him pick up his briefcase and returned it back to him. Thanking the guard, he rushed outside the building and opened up his briefcase to check if his package wasn’t damaged. He closed his briefcase, and continued walking until he got a cab near the building’s driveway. At Kevin’s instructions, the cab drove him to the nearest courier service, which is about a block from the UN building,

When the cab arrived at the delivery service outlet, Kevin got out of the cab and instructed the driver to wait for him, as he grabbed his briefcase and walked inside the small outlet, where a service clerk behind the counter was already waiting to serve him. Kevin handed the envelope to the service clerk and signed some delivery papers where he also indicated where the package needed to be sent. After paying for the express premium for a fast and instant delivery, he rushed back to the cab, and the cab drove him back to the UN building.

Back at his office, he realized it was only an hour before noon, while his package will arrive by three pm at the latest. So he got back to his usual daily work and had lunch afterwards with his secretary.

Ten minutes before three in the afternoon, Kevin, down at the lounge, was leisurely waiting as a delivery man arrived with his package, which Kevin recognized. He stood up and secretly followed the delivery man, up to the penthouse offices of Executive Director Palmer. Satisfied, Kevin got out of the elevator, waited a few minutes, then got back into the elevator, and went back down and out of the building to his hotel.

Meanwhile, up at the penthouse offices, the courier found the office suite of Executive Director Palmer. Mary, the Secretary, received the package and signed the receipt. However, she noticed that the package was for Mr. Palmer’s EYES ONLY, and so she promptly placed it on top of his desk where all his mails were stacked up. As soon as Mary had come out of the executive suite, Mr. Palmer had arrived and greeted her.

Mr. Palmer had come from another meeting with the Secretary General and the Chair Committee, where they had discussed their annual reports.

“Good day, Sir! How was the meeting?” Mary greeted.

“Oh not so good. The Secretary General is one hard dude to please.” Mr. Palmer joked about their stiff UN Chief who always seemed to disagree with their insights and proposals.

“I’m sure he’s not all that bad, Sir.” Mary said, which the Executive Director smirked at. “Oh before I forget Sir, you have an appointment meeting with Mr. Mcvet at four in the afternoon today.”

“Oh? About what?” Mr. Palmer asked as he took off his coat and relaxed on the sofa in his office. “Can you postpone the meeting to another time? I’m so tired.”

“The meeting, sir, according to his office, is of the utmost importance and priority. This is with regards to Mr. Mcvet’s resignation.”

“What? Are you sure?”

“Yes Sir I’m sure. Do you want me to cancel?” Mary said as she walked over to the phone on her desk right outside the office of Mr. Palmer.

“No need. This meeting should be interesting.” as he walked towards his big desk and checked on his mail.

“By the way, Sir, there is a package for you delivered by a Courier, marked for your eyes only. I think it's from an anonymous source.” Mary commented from the other side of the room as she began to type on her computer.

“Thanks, Mary.”

Mr. Palmer looked at the brown long envelope that was stacked on top of his mail, then he proceeded to open it. After he had opened the package, he tilted the envelope upside down to let everything fall out, to which only the small recorder fell. He looked and inserted his hand inside the envelope to check if he had missed anything. Assured of it being the only item inside the package, he got curious and wondered what this tape contained and who sent the recorder. Before playing the tape, he locked the door and checked to make sure he was the only one who can listen to the tape. Well assured, he pressed the play button on the recorder as he listened and was quite surprised to pick up the voices of Mr. Mcvet, Mr. Singh, Mr. Fatou, and Mr. Long, and all the conversations that took place earlier with Kevin. Appalled at what he had heard, Mr. Palmer turned off the recorder and stood up from his chair, and taking a deep breath, he pressed the play button again to continue.

The Director had listened throughout the entire tape, spending the whole time alone in his room. When he’s about to finish the last few seconds of the tape, Mary knocked on the door and reminded him about his meeting with Mr. Mcvet.

“I’ll be right out.” The Director said.

Now with his impending meeting with Mr. Mcvet, and after listening to the tape, Palmer, a little shocked as he still did not know how to deal with the situation just yet. Should he bring the tape with him? Should he hide and save the evidence for later? Should he be upfront and confront Mcvet? Unable to find any immediate solution, he closed his eyes and massaged his temple. He finally started to say a little prayer for guidance as he readied himself for the meeting. Mary knocked again on his door, returning back to reality this time, Palmer let out a sigh and stood up as he picked up the recorder and grabbed his coat hanging on the rack, on the way out of the door.

“I’m sorry, Sir, but Mr. Mcvet is already waiting for you down in the conference room. It’s already 4pm.” Mary said as the Director walked out the door. “Are you alright, Sir?”

“Thank you, Mary. I’m sorry, today’s been a long day. But I’m fine.” Mr. Palmer indeed looked a little pale and tired. Putting on his coat, he slid the recorder into his suit pocket.

“Well Sir, the day could still be better.” Quipped Mary, who was always optimistic and ready to cheer his Boss up whenever he’s down and stressed out.

“Oh, Mary, thanks, but don’t worry. I’ll be soon enjoying a relaxing weekend.”

Director Palmer walked out of his office and entered the conference room, as he was greeted by Mr. Mcvet, who stood up from his chair to shake the Executive Director’s hand.

“Good afternoon! To what do I owe you the pleasure for being here?” Mr. Mcvet said as he shook the Boss’ hand.

“What do you mean? Aren’t you here to discuss with me your resignation?” The Director said as he sat himself on the conference table.

“What? I’m sorry, my resignation?”

“Well, someone from your office called my office to set up this meeting.”

“What? There has been a mistake, Sir.” Mr. Mcvet scratched his head.

“Well, anyhow, why don’t you take a seat?”

Mr. Mcvet gazed at Mr. Palmer as he sat down, waiting for the Executive Director to begin to speak. He saw the director taking out from his pocket a small tape recorder and placed it on the table. He swallowed hard as the Director pressed the play button on the small recorder.

This was the point when Mcvet’s heart began to beat so fast. It pounded harder and faster that he thought he’s going to have a heart attack, while he listened to the contents of the tape, recognizing his own voice in particular. He repeatedly distracted Mr. Palmer and gave lame excuses to try to save himself. But Mr. Palmer simply ignored him and remained silent as he gestured with his hand to cut him off before he can even speak up. So he was left with no choice but to shut up and listen to the entire tape.

When the tape winded down and finished, Mr. Palmer then stared at him in the eye with dead seriousness.

“Alright, here’s what I want you to do.” Mr. Palmer broke his silence and spoke out. “First, release the woman whom you are holding as your hostage and return her home. Next, you will fire Mr. Singh, Mr. Fatou, Mike Long, and all of their Associates and Officers working with and below them. And last but not the least, I want your resignation as the Chief Director of the Department of Early Warning Assessment, immediately right now!”

His face full of arrogance, Mr. Mcvet took a glance at Palmer and was about to open his mouth to say something, when Mr. Palmer just simply shrugged him off and gave all those demands to him, leaving him with no choice but to comply. And so Mcvet bobbed his head and finally conceded without a fight. Now before continuing, Palmer picked up the recorder from the table and put it back inside his coat pocket.

“Now, after your resignation, you are free to go anywhere and stay in other international places, like the Cayman Islands, and live in solitary there. Meanwhile, your subordinates will be prosecuted and will be convicted with your testimony. Once you’re out of the country, you will never, and I repeat, NEVER, ever set foot near the UN again. Do you understand me? Stay away from Mr. McAllister and his family, and leave them alone. Once I find out if you try to get back at them, you will never set foot ever again anywhere in this world. You hear me? Trust me, I will know.”

Mr. Mcvet tried to keep his composure and hid his annoyance while he kept silent and listened to the man before him.

“I’ll have my Secretary bring the required documents for you to sign. Then I’ll have Security escort you to your office to gather up all your belongings, after which they will take your testimony and escort you out of the building.”

Mr. Palmer stood up from his seat and walked out of the room, leaving Mr. Mcvet all alone.

Back in his office, Mr. Palmer requested Mary to get ahold of Kevin as he would like to discuss some important issues pertinent with Mcvet’s untimely resignation. Seated at his desk by the phone, he held the tape recorder in his hand and pushed the play button again.

Meanwhile, back in his room, Kevin anxiously waited for the outcome of the meeting between Mr. Palmer and Mr. Mcvet. He was positive he will be contacted as soon as the meeting was over. While enjoying a couple of glasses of scotch from the wet bar, he couldn’t help to shake off his damaged pride and mixed emotions by how he was played by Carolina, the sweet and pretty lady who he had grown fond of. This experience to be manipulated and be used was something new for him. So he knew he had to refocus his mindset in order to finish this war.

He tried calling Ray, but to no avail only the answering machine kept on answering his calls with the usual, “Hi, Ray and Claudine here. We’re not available at the moment so leave your message at the beep, and we will get back to you. Thank you.” After about a few tries, Kevin sat on the couch and waited with apprehension about Claudine, Ray, and the meeting of Director Palmer with Mcvet.

All of a sudden, the phone rang and made Kevin jump up instantly from his seat. The glass of scotch in his hand went out of balance and spilled some of the liquor on his pants in the process.

“Hello, this is Kevin.”

“Hello Kevin, this is Mary from Executive Director Palmer’s office. He would like to speak with you. Could you kindly hold on for a moment, please?”

The line went silent for a moment.

“Hi, Kevin!” a booming voice came across the line. “Mr. Palmer here, I have some bad news and good news for you. Would you like to have some cocktails and dinner with me tonight? I hope you don’t have any other plans. Say about 7:30 pm at the Steakhouse in your hotel?”

“Sure! 7:30 at the Steakhouse bar.” Kevin replied, hanging up the phone.

Back at the UN building, at the behest of Mr. Palmer, the Security personnel picked up Mr. Mcvet in the conference room. They escorted him to his office where he packed all of his personal belongings into a box while he gave out his testimony to the UN security investigators, after which, they helped and escorted him out of the UN building.

Mr. Singh and Mr. Fatou went down to the lobby where they joined a throng of visiting diplomats as the group was about to exit the building. Unfortunately for them, their photos together with Mike Long, Carolina, and Eva were already posted at the security booths for the guards to be able to identify them should they ever pass any exits on their way out of the building. The Guards cordially halted the two gentlemen and brought them to the Security’s holding room for questioning and for further investigation.

Mike Long took Claudine straight down to the parking garage used only by the employees. Getting into the car, Long drove off thinking all was cool and dandy, and got the shock of his life as the Security personnel posted at the garage exit was already waiting and ready for him. They impounded Mr. Long’s vehicle, while they took Claudine to Mr. Palmer’s office, so they can arrange for her safety. For Mike Long, the Guards also brought him to the holding room where Mr. Singh and Mr. Fatou were being interrogated.

Likewise, for the two pretty ladies, after emerging from the powder room, they tried to sneak through the security booths as though nothing mattered in their self-owned beautiful world. Together, they were both stopped and invited for questioning at the holding room.

Once again, the party of Mr. Singh, Mr. Fatou, Mr. Long, Karina, and Eva found themselves together, and realized that they were conned by Mr. Ronald Mcvet, as they were all seated together inside the security holding room, awaiting their fate with Lady Justice.

Later at the Steakhouse, at around 7:15, Mr. Palmer arrived and saw Kevin at the bar waiting for him. Kevin already took the liberty to reserve a private table for them at the far side of the restaurant. The server walked them to their table and waited for them to be seated before asking them for their drinks. As the Server went to fetch their orders, Kevin started off with the usual niceties done to Diplomats of higher positions. Mr. Palmer gladly responded to Kevin’s light talks as he waited for their drinks to arrive. As soon as their drinks were served and their orders taken, the serious conversation began among the two.

“For your information," Palmer said. "Mr. Mcvet submitted his resignation this afternoon around four pm. I had no choice but to accept it.”

“What, really?” Kevin acted surprised, as if he was about to choke on his drink. “Why is that? What was his reason to do so?”

“Well, apparently someone anonymously sent me a tape with him, Mr. Singh, Mr. Fatou, Mr. Long, a certain Carolina, and apparently an Eva holding a gun to the head of someone by the name of Claudine. The one thing that really sets me off is when Mcvet demanded, and even blackmailed and coerced you to submit your resignation right away in exchange for Claudine’s life. May I know your relationship with Claudine?”

“She’s my sister, Sir.”

“Well, she’s in good hands right now. Mary, my Secretary, is taking care of her. She and a UN doctor brought her to the hospital, and got her medications. And now, your sister is staying with Mary. We figured until we find her closest kin, we dare not send her to the airport by herself. She looks like she’s in shock. I think she has been traumatized. She might need some therapy when she gets home. Can you do that, Kevin?”

“No problem, I can do that. How serious is the trauma, Sir? I can ask Ray, my Brother in law, to cooperate in helping and caring for my sister.”

“I think she’s going to be alright. I’m going to give you a thirty-day leave with pay. Go take your sister home. Take the time off so you can be with your family too. Anyway Kevin, the thing is I need someone here I can trust, and you’ve proven yourself quite well. So I am offering you the position of Acting Director of DEWA. This is aside from being the Chief of EWB. I’ll find someone right away to take your place as EWB Chief while you’re on vacation. However, I only demand one condition, which is non-negotiable. You will be headquartered here in Nairobi, Kenya. Will that be a problem for you?”

“Sir, with all due respect, this would be an honor for me to work with you. But since I still have other issues to settle, I would like to think about your offer first. Thank you for your trust in me.”

Their food finally arrived, and they talked about small and big issues throughout the whole evening. Afterwards, they both bid goodnight and farewell to each other, for the time being.

Early the next day, Claudine was accompanied by Mary together with a couple of UN security officers to the hotel where they endorsed her to Kevin. With Claudine looking quite well and in good hands, Kevin especially expressed his gratitude to Mary and the rest of the group once they had everything in order. Kevin called the bellman to pick up and place their luggage inside the UN limo, which will take them to the airport.

Upon his arrival at Sound Beach, Ray was dismayed to find their house empty. He dropped his bags on the floor, and with the utmost urgency, picked up the phone to check where Claudine could be by now. He tried to contact Daniel via the usual channel by leaving a message at their unit’s headquarters. He asked the message dispatcher to track Daniel down and advise of his location. Done with it, he called Kevin’s hotel but was advised that he had already checked out. As frustration caved in, Ray picked up his bags and went upstairs to their bedroom. He proceeded to unpack, and then afterwards, made his way to the bathroom to take a long hot shower. Two hours later, still in his bathrobe, he sat on the couch in the living room, and remained restless while sipping on a tea, still feeling anxious about not receiving any information of Daniel’s whereabouts.

In an instant, he noticed the doorknob moved as if someone was turning the key. Ray immediately jumped up and unlocked the door. Surprised and happy to see Claudine and Kevin, he gave both of them a big hug. Ray picked up their bags and luggages at the door and carried them inside the house, urging Kevin and Claudine to enter.

Now at home, all cozy and comfortable on the couch, in excitement, the three of them started to exchange information all at the same time. Ray, unable to comprehend anything, halted the discussion and said, “Hold it! Let’s do this one at a time. I’ll go first, okay?”

So the story went as Ray began to narrate the events as he rescued Carolina. He went on about how he also witnessed Mr. Long being shot by a sniper at the Geneva International Airport, and how he stopped at the Swiss-German border to call and inform Kevin, where he also finally lost Carolina. Ray ended his narration on how he got home.

Kevin went next as he related how thankful he was to Ray in saving Claudine, while he exposed the conspiracy inside the UN. He also told Ray about his promotion as the new chief of EWB. He went on to recount the critical day right after his promotion when he was called in by Mcvet to attend the meeting. The group of Mr. Singh was all at the conference room.

“This is where I realized Mcvet is the real mastermind as he pulled all the strings on all of us, which included me, laying out his plan together with the group. By the way, I’m sorry about Daniel’s death. It’s the only way they can get to Claudine. Also, Mike Long is still alive. His death was some acting job with the use of some movie props. The Carolina you rescued turned out to be Eva, Long’s sister, an actress and a model from New York. The Carolina we know is actually Mcvet’s girlfriend, also a part of the conspiracy. Wow! This really bums me out on how she played me. However, during the meeting with Mcvet and company, I recorded everything they said, and sent this to Mr. Palmer. Mcvet was forced to resign and asked to move to another country for his testimony against Singh and his group, who are now being held and investigated by the UN Security. Now he’s offering me the position as Acting Director of DEWA, but there’s a catch. I now have to be stationed at Nairobi, Kenya. Also he gave me a thirty-day leave to think it over and to take care of Claudine. Now here’s Claudine’s condition according to the doctors in Kenya. She will need a post-traumatic, and maybe a psychological and emotional, therapy. Ray, let’s do it. Let’s help her.” Kevin pleaded as he finished.

With the unstable condition of Claudine, right now she needs all the love, the care, and the nurture. But most importantly, apart from the medical treatment, she needs Ray.

After settling Claudine down to have a rest, Ray rushed and made inquiries about the doctors, the hospital facilities, the frequency of the therapy, and all their costs. With all the facts of Claudine’s treatment agreed upon, Ray submitted a facsimile letter to his Superior in the Pentagon with no regrets. In his letter, he gave the details of his request for an honorable discharge. Ray’s superior granted him a ninety-day furlough with a condition that he would remain to be on call as a Specialist for the unit. Ray accepted the offer and thanked his Superior.

On his part, Kevin realized that after his thirty-day leave, he would have to make the decision. With Claudine not able to function in her usual self, and Ray would use up all his savings having no income, he decided to take the offer of Mr. Palmer. This way, he can still assist his sister and Ray by means of financial help, if not by moral and physical support. This was because of the distance now that he would be in Kenya. The assistance, of course, would only be temporary as needed to get through this tragedy.

One month later, back at the UN headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, Palmer welcomed Kevin as he was led to his new office at the penthouse suites. He was given the office suite and the private conference room of the former Director Mcvet.

As the Acting Director of DEWA, Kevin resolved to set straight all the loopholes that was in place before he assumed office. During his term and his several years in office as the Acting Director, Kevin was awarded the best officer with the best record. Furthermore, without any other conspiracies and scandals, Kevin was promoted as the Director of DEWA, where he spent all of his industrious life until his retirement at the ripe age of fifty-eight.

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