Destiny of Coins Read Online Free PDF Page B

I told him, frankly. “I believe most of her angst stems from the fact it’s not just me sticking my neck out. Remember, when I re-entered her life as her grandson twelve years ago, she had no idea who I was. Now that the charade and everything else has been explained in detail to her, much of it frightens her. Not to mention the very real fact that someone could die on these coin-collecting journeys across the globe. It’s a lot to absorb so soon.”
    I pictured Beatrice’s sorrowful eyes from last night and shot an annoyed glance toward my son and his girl. For the moment, they seemed preoccupied with setting up their laptops for when they would have full access to the jet’s Wi-Fi system, after the aircraft was safely in the air.
    “Perhaps I should have joined you for dinner last night after all,” said Roderick, sitting in a plush, leather captain chair, motioning me to take the one across from him. “Our long awaited personal introduction might well have eased her fear about our ability to take care of the kids and keep them safe.”
    “On the contrary, I’m afraid meeting a tall stranger whose eyes remain hidden from most of humanity, and whose occasional slip of the tongue might come to her in surround-sound, would heighten her concerns even more.” I added an impish smile to let him know most of this was stated in jest. “Thankfully, I talked to an old friend of ours, Larisa Jones, my wife’s nurse at Good Shepherd for most of the past decade. She agreed to stay with Beatrice this week. The news lifted my wife’s spirits somewhat, and it should be a good time for them to catch up. They haven’t seen each other since early this past summer.”
    “And, how does this Ms. Jones react to your wife’s age regression?”
    “So far, she has chalked it up to plastic surgery and intensive Swiss vitamin therapy,” I explained. “Fortunately, Larisa watched a recent re-run of Phyllis Diller’s amazing transformation in her seventies, after undergoing multiple procedures under the knife. It might’ve been a tough sell without it.”
    The plane began to taxi onto the runway. The pilots and lone flight attendant had recently advised there might be a delay due to light layers of ice covering the tarmac. Apparently we were now cleared to fly.
    “You told me yesterday afternoon Beatrice has dropped her age by twenty-five years since she left the nursing home,” said Roderick once we were safely in the air. “I would guess this Larisa Jones might have a plethora of questions waiting for you upon our return. Especially, should she encounter Ali any time soon.”
    Very true. It was something that would eventually have to be dealt with in drastic fashion. Perhaps relocation, since it seems the most logical way to start over. Amy recently suggested Dallas, Texas. She lived there briefly as a kid. Personally, I preferred a different place out west that had intrigued me on two previous twentieth century visits: Sedona, Arizona.
    Beatrice wants to return to Europe, so we shall see. I’m not sure I’m ready yet to return there. Another menace has been rumored to be looking for me from centuries ago…and moving to this one’s old stomping grounds would only hasten our reunion.
    Inside I shuddered.
    “What?”
    I believe I’ve mentioned before how sentient spying upon my thoughts and emotions irritates the hell out of me.
    “It’s nothing. So, when are you going to share the ‘why’ behind our need to visit the archdiocese in La Paz? And, do you really need to wear the glasses inside the plane?”
    He pointed behind me toward the cockpit.
    “They haven’t seen me in my natural state yet,” he said. “Neither has Carolyn, the nice attendant who will soon be serving us something in the way of nourishment. I’d hate to startle her in any way—especially when we’ve been promised excellent cocktails later on. Can you imagine the furor caused by a frightened young lady barreling into the cockpit when Captain