Clouds Lifting

Morning came....It was a beautiful morning too...Olivia and I both looked out our window at the beautiful beach below us and the beautiful blue water that you could see through..

Olivia was already up....

''Something smells good" she said..

I smelled it too....Our rooms were sound proof...but not airtight...

We opened our door and saw Beverly and Josie cooking...

"I wondered when you two would be waking up..."said Beverly..

''We were going to wake you after awhile..."said Josie..

They had prepared pancakes and Omelets..

and Nelson had a big pot of coffee brewing..

He set five cups on the table with each plate...

''What is this?"asked Olivia...

"After a night of hard partying and drinking...We came across an all night supermarket..."said Beverly...

''And we bought some groceries.." said Nelson...

''And so Bev and I got up and made Breakfast..." said Josie..

Olivia and I looked at the good food and smiled..We had certainly worked up an appetite after last night...

"Wow, you guys are great.....Did you get any sleep at all?" I asked..

''Very little...We were out until about 3:00 in the morning.."said Nelson..

''But see , we thought about you guys.." said Beverly, smiling sweetly..

Olivia smiled..

We sat down at the table and chowed down on the good hot food.

Beverly was going with me today to get police reports, crime scene photos and autopsy reports...

Olivia was taking Nelson and Josie with her to a prison meeting with Reggie Hamilton and a courtroom hearing..

I was really enjoying staying  in this suite... I'm certain everyone else was too.




II-

Reggie Hamilton perked up when he saw Olivia coming through the door with Josie and Nelson...

He smiled..

'' No Husband today?  ,Where is Beverly?" he asked..

''He and Beverly went to get police reports, autopsy reports and crime scene photos..Uh Josie, Nelson,could you excuse me a minute? I want a word in private with Mr.Hamilton ,ugh Jergens.."said Olivia..

''Sure Liv" said Nelson..

''Sure Liv"said Josie..

Reggie smiled..

''They are very loyal to you...That's a good thing..To have loyal troops.."he mused..

''So ,I thought we were even...Is this how it's going to be? Every time you want to see me, you're going to yank my chain?" asked Olivia..

He frowned..

"Liv I'm in trouble...I- I need your help.."he said..

"I'm not the only Attorney, there are several very capable attorneys..."she said..

"Liv , you sell yourself short....You're amongst the best...." he said and smiled..

"You didn't answer my question....Are you going to keep extorting me?" asked Olivia..

"I'm not extorting you Olivia..." he said..

"You're playing games..I'm going to do what I can for you Reggie and when we are through..You and I are through...Understand?" said Olivia..

"We are never through Olivia!!!" He said..  "I know you're married now....but you were mine before he ever laid eyes on you...And when I need to see you...I shall....Or your Niece will find out what her mother really is....and how you've kept it from her all these years.." he snarled.. "Wonder what she'll think of her beloved and TRUSTED auntie then?" he said..

"I hate you!!  You've got me taking on your case now...What will it be next...a romp in a hotel room?" asked Olivia..

He smiled..

"If I recall...I'm paying you, YOUR HUSBAND...Your niece and HER HUSBAND and your para legal...This isn't being done for free....but yes...I do want to experience you again once I get out...Nothing is Free Liv, This is America...There is a cost for everything..I just need to have you once..Then I'll move on...I'm sure your husband can stand that....I'm very discreet...He won't have to know.."he said..

"You're crazy...I'm not your whore...I'm a married woman...I love my husband...I won't betray him..And how could I trust you?  Even If I considered it...Which I haven't...The Answer is NO!"said Olivia..

"You love your niece....I'm betting you love her more..."he said..

Olivia glared at him angrilly....She motioned for Nelson and Josie to come back in the room...

III-

Beverly and I ,meanwhile were in town getting police reports, crime scene photos, evidence reports and autopsy reports

The Local police were a lot more co-operative here than I was accustomed to...  It could have been because I had Beverly with me..

A attractive and cute little woman, who also happened to be a very good Attorney or they were just nice...but we had no problem getting what we needed..

According to Honolulu Police, Former Russian spy Valarie Berkov and her male traveling companion were deliberately poisoned by a nerve agent, Honolulu police say, significantly increasing the likelihood that a foreign state was behind the attack at first... It is now believed an American, identified as Caryl Jergen may have been involved..

The developments at first meant that the U.S. government must confront the suspicion that elements linked to the Kremlin carried out a brazen attack with a deadly agent in the middle of a major American city.

If a Moscow link were proved, it would plunge relations between the U.S. and Russia into a new low, and would call into question the American government’s ability to protect residents of the US at home. Officers of the Honolulu police department, were providing support to the sick woman and her traveling companion, Arkady Soltysik, but insisted there was no evidence of a wider threat to public health.

The two died in a Honolulu Hospital shortly after being found in the woman's loft in mid town...

Lurid emails were discovered to an American named Caryl Jergen...and a search of his apartment revealed the same nerve agent used in the poisoning...  It is now believed that this was all the culmination of a love triangle and had nothing t do with any foreign intrigue... 

Read the report....

"At least that's what someone would like us to believe.."said Beverly, who was smiling...

"We need to look at his laptops...I'm betting they are in evidence.." I said...

"Hmmmm, wonder if they'll let us look at them..."asked Beverly...

''Even if we don't have them ,there is still a way to check his emails..."I said.  "Bonnie Shay showed me a way to do it.."I said..

I read the rest of the report..

Valarie Berkov, 36, is believed to have lived in the Honolulu since her release from Russian custody a year before.
She was arrested, but not convicted in Russia of spying for The U.S. before she was granted asylum in the US after a high-profile spy swap a year before between the United States and Russia.

Her male traveling companion Arkady Soltysik, 36, is thought to be the man in the middle of the love triangle.. He was visiting her from Russia at the time of the incident.

A woman who saw them both on the day they were found poisoned and fighting for their lives described the pair as appearing “out of it,” as if they had “been taking something quite strong.”

'This is all so cloak and dagger..."said Beverly...

''This is scary...and I fear , a bit over our pay grade..." I said.

IV-

At the prison...Reggie Hamilton explained to Nelson, just about everything Beverly and I had found out...

He wanted to talk to Olivia...but she wanted no part of him...Nelson could relay any information to her, she reasoned...
\

Olivia stood out in the hallway with Josie..

"You Alright Liv?" asked Josie..

''No Josie...I'm not..I love it here in Honolulu...and I'm glad all of us got the chance to come here..but I really don't want to take this case..."said Olivia..

"You and him have history...I can tell by the way you talk to each other...The way he looks at you.."said Josie..

"I loved him a long time ago...When I was a young girl...He took advantage of me...He was married at the time...I didn't know it...He broke up with me abruptly...I never knew why...I didn't find out until years later that he was married.."said Olivia..

''Wow...I know how that feels, being lied to and taken advantage of by a guy..."said Josie..

''A long time ago...He did something very bad..With my blessing....He's been holding that over my head for years.." said Olivia..

''We all have something in our pasts Liv...I don't judge.."said Josie..

Olivia smiled and hugged her..

Nelson walked out just then...

"I got everything we need....We can start working on our strategy tonight...He wants to see you Liv.."said Nelson..

Olivia walked back in the room...

"You know...I wanted to discuss this with you...Not your little surrogates....Tomorrow , I want you to wear something with your breasts exposed.." he asked..

Olivia didn't respond.....

"Hey How is Alfreda doing?"he asked.

Olivia walked out without answering...The thought of never being rid of him and of his demands becoming sexual disturbed her!

"Being charged with a double murder it's going to be difficult arranging for bail...but we might get it...If he can afford to bring us out here and set us up in that suite...He can afford bail. providing we get it.."said Nelson..

''We aren't going to any bail hearing for him.."said Olivia quietly..

********************************************************************

Beverly and I traveled throughout Honolulu....

We interviewed about 25 people....People who were acquaintances....Mostly Russian expatriates and a few Chinese....

We went to the apartment complex they were staying in.... Here we found out that Valaries's traveling companion was Gay.. This was a revelation...

If he was Gay, there was no love triangle....I studied the door of their apartment...It hadn't been jimmied..

We were told they had ordered take out.....From a Chinese Restaurant before they died...

 Beverly and I traveled to the Chinese restaurant....It was closed......

And people told us ,it had only been in operation for a month..

Beverly did a property search of the business..

"Hmmm that's funny....A Chinese Restaurant owned by a Russian?  Vladmir Kislyac?" she said..
.

I ran of check of him...

"Phony name....Phony set up...but people worked for him...Let's see if we can find them..."I asked..

We interviewed 13 people...All Chinese...Cooks, Drivers,et al....They all were angry saying that they worked for only three weeks and never got paid...They described the owner...but there were no known photos of him...

This was looking murkier and murkier..

Beverly and I returned back to our suite...

I threw some steaks on the grill...Part of the groceries , Beverly, Josie and Nelson had brought....

We had beers...

 "It was a long day ."was all Olivia would say...She looked weary...Beverly could sense it.

 "Yeah for us too... This is the murkiest case I can recall us having...Nothing is as it seems and this whole case is bolstered with lies and secrets.."said Beverly..

 "Well, let's all enjoy these steaks...and this brew and start again tomorrow..."said Nelson...

"No Argument here" said Josie

 who put Baked Potatoes in the oven....

Beverly  made a nice salad and had corn on the cob boiling...

Everything looked delicious..

"Auntay...Can I speak to you in private?" asked Beverly..

''Sure Baby."said Olivia..

They retreated into our room and closed the door..

I wondered what they were talking about...

''What's on your mind?" asked Olivia..

"Yesterday, when we met with Reggie...I caught his little act... That "How is your mother doing?"
He didn't fool me...And I saw your reaction to him....He's been hanging something over your head for years..."said Beverly...

''What are you talking about?" asked Olivia....She knew that the cat was out of the bag...She sighed...She was tired of playing...

"You know!  How much do you know?" she asked.

''Everything!  Auntay, Right after Nelson and I got engaged.....Right before we went to San-Francisco...My mommy told me about what she did to Basil, She wanted me to know.......She said that Therapy taught her she should come clean with the people she loved the most..Unburden herself so to speak...He, Basil had punched her in her jaw...He had hit her in front of me once.. I hated him...If she hadn't of killed him...I might have or I might have told my daddy and you know how that might have ended, You know how your brother is about me or you for that matter...Well quiet as it 's kept,Married now or not... He still loves him some Alfreda Johnson and he'd of broken Basil in half had he of known he was hitting mommy!...She told me that Reggie and some white man disposed of the body and cleaned the apartment....She told me that she swore you to secrecy all these years...I know you both didn't tell me to protect me...I'm a married woman now...I can deal....I know you've taken care of my mommy all these years even though you didn't have to...I love you Auntay...I always will...You're more than an aunt...Your my sister, my second mother...my best friend....I'm saying this to let you know he no longer has anything to hold over your head....Or my Mom's for that matter...No body, No proof of any crime and I'd like to see him explain his part in the cover up of said crime.."said Beverly...

Olivia hugged her niece...

"I couldn't love you more than I do right now baby!" she said squeezing Beverly tight..

She then looked at Beverly...

''You know, Alfreda says she loves Rockland...I sure hope that she didn't unburden herself to him...He is after all an Assistant District Attorney.." she said laughing..

 "Uhhh, she doesn't love him that much..Not yet...And she's no fool.." said Beverly...

They both cracked up laughing...

They both returned to the table ,all smiles...Olivia looked like a cloud was lifted from over her head..

''Everything Okay?" I asked.

Olivia smiled serenely..

Olivia hugged Beverly...

''Never Better"she said.

She gave me the slowest softest kiss ever......

"Ummmmmmmmmmmm never better.." she whispered in my ear softly...

And the five of us sat at the table and had a delicious meal..

AND AT OAHU STATE PRISON-

Reggie Hamilton, alias Caryl Jergens picked up his phone...He knew Olivia's suite number...

Thom Reynolds had given it to him....He called her....He wanted to apologize perhaps for semi blackmailing her...She was after all taking his case....

Olivia looked at her phone...She saw that the call was from Oahu State Prison... She ignored it....

''Everything Alright?" I asked her..

"Yes...Everything is just fine.." said Olivia...

And at the prison...Reggie Hamilton was furious that Olivia wouldn't answer her phone....



(TO BE CONTINUED)