Blitzed(90)

Francois





That evening, after dinner, I tried calling our agent again. Felix was in the main room, reading a book he'd picked up when we signed the papers on the cabin, something on leadership and management that I had no interest in. Sometimes my brother frustrated me to no end. Here we were, with millions of dollars in fine Japanese antique steel and a beautiful woman, and he had his nose buried in a book. He said that it was because a scholarship was just as important as training to our lives, but still. Life can pass you by unnoticed if you have your head in a book too much. That’s my motto.

In this instance, though, it was to my benefit. Jordan was a truly rare gem of a woman, more precious than any of the swords we'd stolen. Sexy, artistic, and graceful, she had a quality to her that would impress even the French. After we'd gathered the wood, filling both of our bags, she shouldered it without complaint as we walked through the light snow. "Why did you say you didn't want to leave the cabin?" she asked me as we walked. "It doesn't sound like a man looking at getting away with stealing a fortune."

"I know," I replied, thinking about what I wanted to say. While it is true that I have spoken English since childhood, I still naturally think in French and Romani, translating them inside my head before the English comes out. "I guess in the heat of the moment, I couldn't say everything that I wanted to say. What I meant was, when Felix and I leave the cabin, we're disappearing, and you're going back to your life in Los Angeles,” I said, sweet-talking her. Of course, there was some truth to it, but I had my other reasons too.

“And how else would you want it?” she asked, looking at me out of the side of her eyes. She was still vulnerable, and what I said next could have a big impact on how she thought of me.

"What I would like is to not have to worry about the police looking for us, or getting away . . . or leaving you behind," I said.

Jordan was silent after that, and now, back in the cabin, sat and watched the fire while I tried to reach our business partner. Unfortunately, the snowy weather meant that I was unable to make a connection to the satellite, and I didn’t have the battery power to keep trying. Satellite phones, while untraceable on normal cellular networks, and notorious for battery life.

"Jordan, tell me more about yourself,” I said as I shut down the phone and put it away. “I’d like to hear how you came to play the guitar. Besides, we have nothing but time.”

Jordan thought about it for a moment then nodded. "Okay, on one condition."

I came over to near the fire, sitting on the floor and smiling. Felix, for his part, kept reading his book. "What is that?"

"You two tell me some stories — I know there has to be some in what you do. This time, no more maybe later. Nothing of course that you think will endanger your safety afterward. What do you say, Felix?"

Felix, amazingly, put his bookmark in his book and set it aside. He hadn't said more than perhaps a dozen words all afternoon, staying instead in the world inside his head. "You first."

Jordan thought about it, then nodded. "All right, I guess. For me, music seemed to always be part of my life. My mother was a concert cellist before I was born, playing with various orchestras around the St. Louis area. She'd tried to make it in New York, but wasn't quite good enough. After she got pregnant, she settled down into being a housewife while Dad was an insurance salesman. I have on my computer back home videos of me being played lullabies by Mom on her cello while Dad held me and gave me a bottle.”

"So when Mom started taking me to a music teacher, I figured it was just part of normal life. I was two the first time I held a violin, a little plastic replica that didn't even play notes, but was used by my teacher to teach the basic holds and poses for nearly six months while I pretended to stroke on the non-existent strings. After that, I was doing violin practice an hour or more a day nearly every day of the week."

"That sounds intense," Felix said, and I had to agree with him. While Father insisted we learn to appreciate music, he never pushed lessons that strictly. I'd picked up my first guitar when I was eight, and it was true I could play a decent tune, but I was nowhere near a professional. "Did you enjoy it?"

"At first, I did," Jordan said, half smiling. "I mean, I got lots of praise from my teacher, who gave me a little candy at the end of every lesson, and it was kind of cool to play along with the CD or with everyone else. I'd say up until the time I was seven or eight, I enjoyed the violin all the time."

"What changed?" Felix asked. I could hear in his voice, he was really listening, which in some ways made me jealous. My brother never listened to me like he was listening to Jordan at that moment unless we were discussing the details of a job.

"When Mom decided that I was getting good enough to follow in her footsteps," Jordan said softly. "I did my first audition for a real group when I was nine, followed by my first trip to a bigger music center when I was ten. By the time I was in high school, I hated the violin with a passion, but something else had taken hold of me that kept me going."

"What's that?" I asked, jumping in before Felix could.

"Fame. This was about the time that Bond was making a splash because of Youtube and, let's face it, they were hot women playing violins and stuff, so I thought I could follow in their footsteps. When I was in high school, I did a tryout for the Children's Orchestra Society's Young Symphonic Ensemble. It's one of the best youth orchestras in North America, and they've had a program going for nearly fifty years. I was full of big dreams, mostly about being one of the names on the poster outside the marquee, maybe even becoming the next big crossover violinist.”