Mysterious Encounter

Mysterious Encounter Part 9

As Jared's plane sped across the sky to reach its destination, a meeting was taking place at the most luxurious hotel in Paris. A tall man with hair of steel grey strode purposefully into the foyer. Everything about him spoke of wealth. He had tanned skin from spending much of the year in the Bahamas. His eyes were a vivid green. He was the kind of man who had accumulated so much the only thing left for him to do was satisfy his whims and his spiritual beliefs. He reached the concierge's desk and greeted him with a charming knowing smile. The concierge was only too keen to serve one of his most loyal patrons. 

  "Monsieur! So good to see you once again!" 

 "Ah, moi aussi, tres bien..." The man murmured in perfect casual French. He then lapsed into English. His voice was clipped and precise, another facet of his charmed upbringing. "I am meeting an old friend here. Is Monsieur Charlesworth present?"

  The concierge just nodded enthusiastically and gesticulated towards the restaurant at the opposite end of the foyer. The tall man nodded and strode over to greet his friend. Within a minute, Ferdinand Cox was sitting at the table of clean white linen, silver and white bone china opposite a man who looked of Latin descent with black hair and deep set dark brown eyes. He was muscular and had a two day growth of beard on his face. His clothing was no less sophisticated than Ferdinand's and he wore a dark blue Tom Ford suit. The two men started their lunch immediately. The hors d'oeuvre was Fish - a fine salad of salmon and crab. The wine was a French Chardonnay. They were not eating for long before Victor Charlesworth spoke. 

 "So, it's been a long time Ferdinand. I trust you have kept well?"

  "Oh, of course old friend! I have invested over 6 billion in a little offshore investment company. The money is literally pouring in. And you? You have done well?" 

 Victor shrugged. "A couple of factories making Nike's. Another investment in a Chinese computer conglomerate... it's OK I guess..."

Ferdinand laughed. "You always did manage to fall on your feet Victor!"

  Victor put down his cutlery and took a sip of Wine. He was going to cut to the chase. He hated long drawn out meetings.

  "So, what brings you to Paris and why did you want to see me?" 

 Ferdinand folded a small piece of French bread into his mouth. He gave a pause for dramatic effect. "Well old friend, I think it's time we got the old gang back together..."

  Victor seemed very startled. "The Sentinels? What the fuck for?" 

"Guess who has resurfaced?"

Victor stared blankly at his companion and said nothing.

"Jared!"

 Victor rolled his eyes and fell back into his seat. "Him?! He's never been away. Only you have been hiding under a rock these past three years Ferdinand. The guy is an even bigger deal in Hollywood now - he made a comic book movie about 12 months ago. The critics were all over him. Some hated it but most called him a genius. Drop this guy will you Ferdinand? There are plenty of other fish in the sea..."

  Once Ferdinand got an idea into his head, it was hard for him to shake it. Besides, he was infatuated with Jared. He had been so ever since he had first come to the coven three years before. That had been an incredible and intoxicating yet challenging time. He was not going to give this up now. 

 "You know as well as I do that this man is priceless for us. You only have to look at him to know that..."

  "OK, so the man has a very unique brand of masculine beauty. What else?" Victor stated flatly. 

 Now it was Ferdinand's turn to roll his eyes. "My friend, surely you can see that Jared has blessings and virtues that will reflect on our little gang's special place in the world? Besides, he has not forgotten us..."

"What do you mean?"

The main course had arrived - Fillet Steak and Gratin Dauphinois. Victor was already tucking in.

"As we sit here, he is on his way back to the island..."

"Why would he do that?"

Ferdinand shrugged. "Does it really matter? We can go to him! We can finish what we started!"

  Victor seemed to be slowly coming around to the idea. "So, who else is in?" 

 "Matteo, Angelique, Pierre, Roget, Karina, Bane, Tyrone..."

  Ferdinand didn't seem done reeling off names but Victor stopped him. "What about Loranna?" 

 Ferdinand stiffened. "What about her?"

  Victor snorted softly. "Aw c'mon! The last time, she was the reason we held onto Jared for so long. The only reason the last experiment failed was because you and she were jealous of each other..." He saw Ferdinand's affronted expression but carried on regardless, albeit in a more tender tone. "Look, you can be as gay as the day is long, it doesn't bother me. Hell, if there was any man on earth worth turning gay for, it's Jared. But we gotta be careful. We have got to do it right this time or The Sentinels will fall apart for good this time..." 

 Ferdinand's expression had changed again. His eyes shone with happiness. "Does that mean you're in?"

  "Yeah I guess it does. If I have to look at one more Nike sneaker, there's a very real chance I could go nuts. Just promise me NO ONE gets hurt. Not physically or mentally." 

 "Of course. There is not a vindictive bone in my body, you know that." He leaned forward and spoke animatedly. "I am so grateful Victor. I was losing hope without the Order. We all need a little discipline don't you think? We need to believe that we can channel the energy the universe provides for the greater good..."

  Ferdinand had just summed up the role of The Sentinel's in its simplest form... and, most of the time, The Sentinels were anything but simple. The two men paused while the waiter brought dessert - a raspberry meringue. Once he had left again, Victor looked to his friend. 

 "So...how we gonna do this?"

  Ferdinand flipped open his cell phone case and punched in some numbers. "Jared will be at the island within the next 48 hours. He will not leave until he has answers to the mystery we presented him with last time. I estimate that we can rendezvous with him in about one week." 

 Victor was about to say more but the person on the other end of the phone had spoken.

  "Oh yes, Air Bermuda?" Ferdinand said blithely. "I'd like to make a reservation on a flight please... for twelve people..." 

 Victor shook his head and wiped his mouth on a napkin. The deal was done. Ferdinand always seemed to get his way. With little else to talk about, he got up to leave. Ferdinand would know how to reach him with further information about their plans.