The Krakow Klub (10 page)

And worst of all,
What if she gave me an
incorrect number intentionally!

The phone began to ring; one time, two times,
three times. He was now almost in a panic attack. Halfway through
the fourth ring, she answered.

“Good evening, Julia Compton here.” Her voice
was soft and melodious.

Relief and excitement rushed through him
simultaneously.

“Good evening!
This is
John Scott.
We met at the museum today. I hope
that you won’t think that I’m a pest, but business has caused me to
stay in town
tonight,
and I wondered if you’d
like to join me for a drink somewhere.”

A slight pause, and then, “I’m rather tired
this evening,” His heart sank! After a
brief
pause, she added, “but, maybe a quick drink might perk me up.” His
heart started doing cartwheels! “There’s a lovely little restaurant
near my place. I can meet you there in thirty minutes. I’ll give
you the name and address. It’s quite easy to find. All the cabbies
know it very well.”

They said their goodbyes and John was elated
that she had agreed to meet him. He hadn’t dared offer to pick her
up at her place for their first meeting. He was practically a
stranger,
and she would have never agreed to
do that. A public place would be just perfect.

John covered his nearly untouched food with
the dome-shaped cloche and decided that if things didn’t work out
with Julia, he might eat it later. Next, he went
into
the bathroom
to
check his
appearance.
His dress was
casual and he certainly didn’t
look like a tourist. Good! His shirt matched his pants. Good again.
And, his belt matched his shoes. Perfect! He smiled at his
reflection, “John, old boy, you’re never going to own another
business suit!”

With that, he left the room, headed out
through the hotel foyer, and engaged a waiting taxi just outside
the entrance. The driver, a very interesting looking local, was
quite familiar with the restaurant, and after a brief but harrowing
ride, deposited him at the front entrance.

He knew very well that he was quite early,
but he wanted to have time to familiarize himself with the
surroundings and compose his nerves. He hadn’t felt this way since
he was a teen. No, he had never felt this way before in his entire
life!

The
maître d'
bowed as
he entered and directed him to a small table in a secluded corner
of the restaurant, seeming to know that this might be an evening
for romance. The place was charming. Quiet and more sophisticated
than
one might expect
in Key West. The soft
lighting and muted piano music were perfect. John sat, facing the
front of the dining room, anxiously waiting Julia’s arrival.

What if she didn’t come?

He quietly agonized as the clock seemed to
take forever to tick away a few minutes.

After fifteen nervous minutes, she arrived,
led in by the host. She was obviously a regular patron as he
greeted her by
name,
and they talked
animatedly on the way to the table.

Tonight, she wore a simple long black dress
with some brightly colored chunky jewelry. She was e
legance in motion.
On her feet were hot pink sandals with
some beadwork that matched her other jewelry. John was smitten. She
was relaxed yet poised. For some reason, she reminded him of the
very beautiful and elegant Grace Kelly.

He rose to take her hand and lightly brushed
his lips against it in a tiny kiss. Somehow, it made him feel like
Clark Gable in
Gone with the Wind
. “Julia, I am so glad that
you could make it.”

The host seated her directly opposite him at
the intimate little table. He lit the candles on the table with a
flourish. Their bright flames flickered gently and made tiny
patterns of light on the pristine white
tablecloth
.

John ordered a bottle of
wine,
and they took up their conversation where it had
left off earlier in the day.

She smiled, “You know, I heard that someone
had purchased the island. It used to be called Calusa Key named
after the Calusas. They were a tribe of American Indians who once
lived down here in the lower Keys. The property was developed a
while back by a very wealthy British investor. Word was that he
spared no expense and planned to spend his winters there.

“Unfortunately for him, his business
floundered and he was forced to sell. I heard that it broke his
heart.

“
A few people looked the place
over, but it didn’t sell until you came along. I heard that the
asking price was around fifteen million dollars. Rumor, which is
rampant in this little town, has it that you paid cash.
Therefore, I can estimate that you are probably filthy rich. Don’t
worry; I won’t hold that against you. Well, maybe just a tiny bit.”
Again she spoke it with an impish smile on her face.

John roared with laughter. The
couple at a nearby table glanced over at them. John spoke softly,
“I can see that Key West is populated by gossips, so I’ll have to
be very careful to preserve my privacy.
I prefer to keep a
low profile, maybe even invisible if possible.”

They soon finished their first glass of wine
and ordered a light meal. John was quite hungry by now as he had
hardly touched the room service food.

They lingered over their food while their
conversation became more and more animated. All too soon, the table
was
cleared,
and their waiter hovered
expectantly at a respectable distance as the
closing
time for the restaurant neared.

“Julia,” he reached out and touched her hand,
“I feel that we’ve known each other
forever,
and that’s a very special feeling for someone like me. I hope that
you’ll allow me to see you again soon. Very soon!”

She looked at him solemnly for a minute.
“Well, maybe, just maybe.” Then she smiled and laughed. “I haven’t
checked out your pedigree but, so far, you have been quite an
acceptable companion for a pleasant evening.”

She looked at her
watch,
and he knew that it was time to go.

“Could I drop you off at your place? I won’t
even ask to come in for a nightcap. I’m just staying in town
tonight
,
and then I need to get back to Scott
Key. My assistant will pick me up tomorrow.”

She accepted his offer of a cab ride and soon
they arrived at her home. It was a cheerful yellow cottage trimmed
in white with a low, white picket fence surrounding it. Tropical
plants and flowers grew in cheery abundance everywhere. It was a
lovely place, a classic Key West home with
personality
to spare.

He bade the cab wait for him and then
escorted her to her door. He kissed her on the cheek before saying
goodnight and then waited until she was safely inside with the door
locked before he skipped down the sidewalk to the waiting cab.

Inside, Julia peeked through the shutters and
laughed at his antics. He was such fun. Yes, he was a
classic gentleman, w
ell-educated, and obviously of means.
She might just let this relationship progress. He would certainly
call again, probably tomorrow. And she would be happy to accept
that call, but she might let it ring a few extra times just to
tease him.

****

John arrived back at the warehouse in the
late morning of the following day. Mister T was waiting and greeted
him with
a sly
smile. “Hey, Boss. You
certainly look happy this morning. I take it that your date must
have been acceptable, whatever that means to humans.”

John responded, “Yes, indeed, she is a very
lovely
lady,
and I’m planning to see her
again, and again, and again!”

They made the brief trip to the island in
silence, John remembering the most pleasant evening before and
Mister T, making plans for the villa, which would soon be receiving
guests for the first time.

****

Back in Washington, rumors ran
rampant,
and the press was in a state of chaos. No one
could find out the real
reason
the president
had so precipitously resigned. Where was he now? What about the
first lady? Some
well-paid
informants had
indicated that she was readying for a very expensive and
contentious divorce. Maybe she could be persuaded to author a
tell-all biography dripping with juicy details about presidential
misconduct. It was all quite delicious. The sharks were in a
feeding frenzy.

Somewhere, deep, deep in the labyrinths of
power, a very few people knew the real
story,
and they were very, very silent on the matter.

But there was one group that was especially
upset about the unexpected resignation.
But merely
upset
was not adequate to describe their state of mind. They
were mad as hell. The Krakow Klub had spent a large fortune in
assuring the former president’s rise to power. They had a long
range plan at work. His abrupt resignation was not a part of that
plan.

****

Maxxine had already begun working on Maxx’s
Earth database. The objective data was easy to
analyze,
and she found no problems. Then, as she
progressed from the earliest history of mankind to the present, she
began to see some strange aberrations in the data. In fact, the
last hundred years were most complex and extremely interesting.
Maxx had been extremely clever in his data collection algorithms.
His database was a treasure trove of details on the clandestine
operations of many of the world’s most treacherous and conniving
individuals and groups.

She had asked Maxx to help her
analyze the data. He supplied her with numerous algorithms that
were of great help in organizing meaningful information from the
huge database, especially the massive number of entries posted in
the most recent years.

Many of the most recent entries
were subjective in nature and required sophisticated algorithms to
create meaningful information.

She began to see patterns of activity that
were truly alarming.
Not only were there numerous
terrorist cells at work in various locations around the world,
there was a secret cabal at work in the US. And it appeared that
the cabal was dangerously close to grabbing absolute power in
Washington.
John must
be told of this
disturbing information
immediately.

John got the message Tuesday afternoon, the
day after the president had resigned. The content of his
conversation with Maxxine had disturbed him immensely.
Nevertheless, he was reluctant to become actively involved in
government or politics; at least not yet. His mind was reeling with
his many plans for developing and improving Scott Key. And there
was Julia. He was hopelessly in love with her and could not get her
out of his mind for more than a minute at a time.

But Maxxine had discovered a very troubling
situation. If her conclusions were correct, the very existence of
the United States could be in jeopardy. She had discovered the
Krakow Klub.

Maxxine reported that this Krakow Klub had
plans to assassinate the new President shortly after he had named
his vice president. That vice president, now a member of the House
of Representatives, was identified by Maxxine as a person with very
strong ties to the Krakow Klub. This person had been under the
control of the organization for many years and was without a hint
of moral fiber or conscience
—
a frightening
combination when mixed with the powers of big government.

Maxxine also reported that the assassination
of the president
would be staged in a way that it
could be blamed
on terrorists. There would be additional
staged
terrorist
attacks around the country.
All of these attacks would
then add together
as an excuse
to
declare martial law.

Martial law, once
implemented
could be expanded quickly. A military
dictatorship was not out of the question. Soon, the United States
could
no longer be a free country.

The staged terrorist attacks would infuriate
and frighten the public. There would be a public outcry for the
government to do something. All in all, it would be a perfectly
planned coup that could occur with little opposition. Martial law
would
seem justified, even needed,
at first.
By the time the public realized what was happening, it would be too
late.

John
was troubled
, and
he agonized, “How can I stop this? No one else has my resources or
power. I hate the thought of becoming involved. It is a frightful
prospect,
but do I have a choice? The nation,
my
nation, is in
jeopardy!
I have to do
something.”

Continuing his agonies, he lamented, “My new
life and privacy will obviously have to
be put
on the back burner for a while. But, what about Julia? I can’t even
think of dragging her into this dangerous mess.”

Yes, John Scott was torn. He could only trust
one other person to help
him,
and that person
was Dr. James Slater. Jim must be convinced to join him in
thwarting the cabal’s takeover.

“Why now?”
John cried
aloud. “I’ve spent my whole life waiting for my freedom and now
this has to happen!”

There was no answer.

“
John, I am so sorry,” Maxxine
said in a soothing voice. “That was
terrible
news,
and the timing couldn’t be worse. I only wish that
I could take it
back,
but I can’t do that.
However, would you like for me to save the president?”