Chapter 10 Chapter nine
After she kissed me, she let out an exclamation, and backed away from me in bewilderment.You must think I'm terrible, I don't know why I do
This is the instinctive reaction after fleeing danger, right?I said: a genetic reflex action, since ancient times, men rescued women from danger and found food for women, and women showed their gender characteristics in return.I paused and said: I'm sure this has nothing to do with me.In my heart, I hope that she will say that this is actually related to me.But she just stared at me.I open the apartment door.
Are you all right?Are you hurt?
Just a little bruise, some scratches on the knee, ah!She leaned against me, trembling a little.
My house has to climb three floors, I put my arm around her shoulder, can you walk?
I don't know, my knees are a little weak.
It's supposed to be adrenaline related.Come, let me help you.After I finished speaking, I picked her up, used the standard bride-holding posture, and carried her up the stairs.She leaned on me and didn't object; and I, for my part, was thrown into a tizzy by the kiss she had just given.
Once inside I put her on the couch, poured us both a glass of cognac, and dug out the first aid kit and a bag of ice.She had taken off her tattered pantyhose and pulled up her skirt to reveal her bare thighs.I handed her the ice pack and cleaned and treated her knee wound like I used to do in the army as a medic.When she fell in the street, she got so many small pieces of gravel that I had to get very close to pick them out for her.The job was so erotic that I could barely stand it, my face was inches from her beautiful thighs, which she lazily opened slightly so I could deal with the injury.I think she feels it too, but she doesn't say anything, and I'm trying to keep myself from diving into the shadow between her thighs.I wish I could linger a little longer in this agreeable tension.When I was chasing Emmale, I loved this kind of thing.Most of our contemporaries were lost in that era of sexual liberation.
She didn't speak while I worked on the wound.When I was done, she thanked me and asked: What did you do to that man?Is that judo?
I said I hadn't learned any martial arts, I was just very strong, and explained what I had just done.She didn't say anything, and asked me if I knew the gunmen.
Of course I don't know you.and you?
I don't know each other either, but I think one of them should be the guy who spied on me before, that one of the bad guys you caught and smashed his big guy.The car also looks like the same SUV, and they speak Russian, right?
I think so, I don't speak Russian myself, but the gym I go to is owned by Russians, so I hear that language a lot.You told me the guy you were talking to had an accent
As soon as I said this, Miranda turned around, facing the back of the sofa, grabbed a loop pile pillow to cover her head, and then let out a suppressed cry.
She was crying and I had no choice but to comfort her.Yes, I'm a jerk, that's why I seduced a woman who was terrified and dependent.She fell on me with a sigh, lips touched my neck, I pulled her up and carried her into my daughter's bedroom, put her on the bed, carefully undressed her, top, skirt, bra, panties, she didn't have There is no resistance to help.I must say, while I'm obsessed with her, the experience wasn't top forty.It's nowhere near Emma's level.But their bodies are very similar, similarly shaped muscles and ribs and both have pointed pink nipples.
Miranda lay there, not completely unconscious, but like a dreamer with her eyes closed.She was also a little reactive, as she made little noises with her lips, the way some women experience sexual pleasure, and she lifted her head off the pillow several times, frowning as if she were on a quiz show, and finally she He let out a sharp and crisp bark, like a puppy being hit by a car, and then turned away without saying a word. He seemed to be asleep, just like a man who has been married for many years.
On the other hand, the first time is occasionally not great.I kissed her on both cheeks afterwards (she didn't respond) and covered her with a blanket.I heard the shower early the next morning and by the time I got to the kitchen she was sitting there dressed and looking refreshed.She asked me if I could stop and let her buy a pair of stockings when we were going out.As for the affair of the night before, nothing was mentioned.After most people go to bed, no matter what kind of experience they have, they more or less expect to have a sense of intimacy with the other person's body, but we don't.I didn't mention it back then.
I recalled so much just now, I must not know where my mind has drifted, because the sky is very bright now, and my watch shows that it is past six in the morning.There was a thick mist over the lake, dew glistened on every leaf and needle, and the rising sun was like a bright pink light, hidden in the clouds above the east shore of the lake, and it felt strange and unearthly. something, as if in a pearl.My pistol had been disassembled, on the desk, and the magazine was removed, containing seven 9mm Parabellum rounds, lined up like toy soldiers.I don't remember doing any of these things.Did I do it in my sleep?Maybe I'm a little crazy to blame for this stress and sleep deprivation, and my completely ruined life.Seven shots, there should have been eight shots.
You know, the stories in the papers where kids find guns in the house and do shitty things.The moral of this story is that no matter how well the parents hide the gun, any bad kid will find a way to find it.As far as I know, my brother and sister and I never found my mother's P08, and we didn't even know she had it.I think she is a genius of concealment, and her children have inherited this talent: neither my brother nor sister knew that this gun was in my hands.Or maybe they pretended not to know about it.It took me a while to get this gun back because basically it was unlicensed.But in New York City, you can usually get anything you want if you have connections.When my mother died, I was working for a certain great man, a gentleman named Benjamin.Sobel, who is kind and law-abiding, I explained to him that the gun belonged to my mother, and he arranged for the police to return it to me.I didn't explain to him why my mother had the gun, only that it was an important World War II memento that could be sold to pay for the funeral.But I didn't sell the gun, and the funeral didn't cost much.My older brother Paul was in jail and my younger sister Miri was on someone's yacht, so it was just a few strangers going to that cheap funeral home to give her a ride that day.Some are members of her church, some are colleagues in her hospital, and me; even her priest didn't show up, I think it's because of her death, I think it's the church's sin, I can't forgive the church yet .
I kept her ashes in a tin can until I got my first job and bought her a place in the Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn.Her neighbors have many gangsters, as well as the author of "The Wizard of Oz" Frank.Bom, so she's not lonely yet.I believe I have forgiven her.But did I really forgive her?Who can make sure for me?She has her reasons for doing this, but I really can't understand it.I was heading back to Brooklyn that Saturday afternoon.In the eyes of outsiders, I am the so-called good son of my family. I often go to St. Jerome Church to attend mass, eat something before going to church, and have dinner after returning home. The dishes at home are all kinds of orthodox German food. Then watch TV or play cards to pass the evening.On that Saturday, my mother cooked dinner for me first, which was sweet and sour dumplings, which I really like.As soon as I walked into the kitchen, the smell was wafting, and then I saw her.She adjusted the chair, spread newspapers around it so the blood wouldn't splatter all over the place, and put the muzzle of the gun in her mouth and fired.
Part of it, I think, is that I'm such a neurotic that I don't have a clue what goes on in the minds of people close to me.Even though I see poor mom almost every week, I really don't notice it at all.Yes, Urmchud did play a risky move, but I should find something, right?Is it some kind of terminal depression?I have no idea.She didn't leave a last word either.He was forty-four years old.
When I was sorting through her belongings, I found a box of family memorabilia that she never showed us.But when she met her father, she must have put this thing in the carry-on luggage.There are a lot of letters home from different fronts, family photos, school certificates, postcards from vacations, including a lot of Nazi stuff, of course there are SS medals, my grandfather's various medals, roses Wooden pistol display case.I took one of the photos in particular and put it in a frame that I still have in my bedroom.It was a family portrait they had taken at some beach resort before the war, and she looked ten or eleven, cute as an elf, and her two brothers in old-fashioned knit bathing suits, smiling into the sun.My grandma, looking surprisingly slim in a one-piece bathing suit, was lying on a deck chair laughing, and next to her was my grandfather, who was an SS officer at the time, who had apparently just arrived on the beach from work, Still wearing a shirt and tie and holding a hat.If you don't look carefully, you can't really tell what kind of uniform it is.
I love this picture because they all look happy, even though they're living under the worst regime the human race has ever seen, even though the organization their father works for is doing genocide.My family, on the other hand, doesn't have that kind of picture, and while we have moments of fun, my dad isn't in the picture; and unlike his late father-in-law, my dad is a bit photophobic.The only time we have family portraits is on birthdays, or other major events like first communion, graduations, etc., with the stiff poses of department store mannequins.Some neighbors or strangers will take pictures for us.In fact, everyone in my family, except me, is very photogenic.
Miranda and I agreed that she must never be alone again.I arranged for the driver Omar to come over to protect her and let him live here.If those people found that the briefcase they snatched didn't contain what they wanted, they might come back again.Now comes the question, why do Russian-speaking tough guys meet the historical ancient Richard?Interested in the life of Brace Godou?Would that Professor Buschrow have anything to do with them?I asked Miranda these questions, and the look on her face said: You're crazy.Her Andrew.The only people Uncle Bustle knew in New York were scholars, and he never mentioned any Russians or criminals or anything like that.Maybe someone bought off these punks, although the stories on TV have been hyped, but gang crime has indeed become more or less Russian in the past few decades, forming the so-called Russian Mafia, but it is not run by the Russians .If someone wanted someone to help with Joe's affairs, someone who could scare people, someone who was big, someone who would torture people, they had to find someone in the middle to help.But now I explain to Miranda that our mission is not to find this person, what we have to do is to ensure her safety, I think Omar can do it, and then report the incident to the police.
At eight o'clock sharp, I left Omar at the apartment with Miranda and called the rental car company, and a man named Rashid came to drive me to work.I told Omar never to let her out of sight, and he was very eager to show me how well armed he was.I interrupted him, I didn't want to know.When I got to the office, I called Detective Murray and told him what happened the night before. He asked me if I had seen the license plate of the car, and I said no. What a snatched briefcase does, will turn me over to another officer and give me a case number to deal with insurance.I was a little upset, and I told him that this incident must have something to do with Andrew.It is related to the murder of Busch Zhuo, so he should actively deal with it.He paused on the phone for a moment, then, with great patience, asked me where to start.I just told him about Miranda, how a man with an accent tried to take the ancient manuscript from her, the one that Buszrow had, and how the men who attacked us seemed to be speaking in Russian, and all that It all seems to be related.He asked me how much the manuscript was worth, and I told him that Buszrow bought it for thousands of dollars, but
Here I stopped.I know what Shakespeare stuff is going to sound like to the ears of a New York cop.So I ended the conversation with Detective Murray angrily, and waited for him to transfer the call to another police officer.After the transfer was finally successful, I reported this small incident to a very boring person, got a case number, and then I called my colleague Jasmine.Ping En, knowing the status of Bustrow's will, she thinks there should be no trouble, the will is very straightforward, and it can pass the trial of the probate family court in one month.She asked me if it was urgent and I said no, just the opposite, take your time.I know that the police are supposed to take away Bustrow's body that day and hand it over to a man named Oliver.The people in the horse area dealt with it. He should be the rumored long-term partner of Buszrow.
According to my notebook, even though it wasn't my gym day, I didn't even eat lunch, I wanted to talk to someone about the Russians, and as far as I know, the gym is the best place to talk about it The place.Unexpectedly, I got there. Instead, Arkady, the boss who used to be a weightlifter in the former Soviet Union, wanted to talk to me.He took me into his tiny office, barely crammed with a desk and chairs, covered with industrial carpet, and piled high with weight-lifting magazines, defective parts of equipment, sample meal replacements, and some even from the Olympics. Those approved by the committee for use can hardly be seen on the desktop.There is a glass cabinet in the office, displaying a row of Arkady's personally important medals and trophies.Apparently back in the Soviet Union, as long as you were a sports darling, there were plenty of opportunities to compete.There are more victorious pictures plastered on the walls than I am.Akadi.Demichewski had thick hair, small deep-set brown eyes, and twenty inches around his neck alone.He looks like a primitive, but he is actually very educated, kind, and has a great sense of humor.But today he was very serious.
Jack, let's talk.
I noticed he hardly ever looked me in the eye, Jack, you know I don't care what the people who come to my gym do outside, that's their business, right?If you obey the rules in the gym, you can stay and continue to practice. If you can't, he pats away some dirty thing that doesn't exist at all, making a sound like pulling a zipper. Jack, I've known you for a long time, so it's very convenient to ask you Excuse me, but what are you up to with those bad guys?
You mean Russian bad guys?
right!Gangsta, the night before yesterday, I was going to the club in Brighton Beach, for Ukrainians, you know?Take a Russian bath and drink some wine.There were two guys sitting next to me in the steam room, they had tattoos, dragons and tigers, to show they were inmates, they were in Siberian prisons, and they were proud, you know, these guys are totally uneducated.Then they asked me if I knew Jack.Mishkin, I said yes, he was a distinguished and legitimate American citizen, heavy weight lifter.They said we don't care about this, they just want to know what job he has, what connections he has, and what business he does. I said that I only meet him at the gym, not his colleagues.Then they said they wanted to know something else and said something I couldn't understand at all, some woman whose name I hadn't heard, like a raisin or something, so I just said
raisin?
Yes, similar to that brand, printed on the carton, I don't remember much
Kellogg.
right!It's Kellogg, I said I don't know any Kellogg, and I don't know Jack.I don't want to know about Mishkin's private affairs. They said that I should open my ears to collect information and find out about Miss Kellogg and Jack.Mishkin.So what to do?I'll just cut to the chase like a man and say, Jack, how did you get into the mob?
Arkady, I don't know what's going on.I said: I wish I knew.Then I told him about the attack and the briefcase that was taken.I didn't say what was in the briefcase, Arkady was a Russian after all.He stroked his chin and nodded, so what's in the briefcase?It's not drugs, is it?
It's not drugs, it's documents.
Why don't you give them the things to make peace?
no.It's a long story, but if you know, can you tell me who the inmates you speak of work for?
Don't say I said it.Biting his lip, Arkady said, looking around the office, I was surprised to see this big, confident man tense up like a sparrow at the moment, just as I was surprised when the thugs suddenly attacked us.After a while, he said in a hoarse voice: Their boss is Osip.Shavnov, the head of the organization.
What organization?
The Jewish gang of Brighton Beach, do you know them?Twenty years ago, the United States told the Soviet Union that you kept the Jews in the Soviet Union against their will, which is persecuting them just like the Nazis.let them go.So the Soviet Union said, okay, you want Jews, we'll give you Jews.The Soviets found every criminal of Jewish descent in the Gulag labor camp and said, go to the United States or Israel, and wish you a pleasant journey.Some people just came here.Of course most of the jews who came out of the USSR were normal people, my accountant was a nice guy, but there were also a lot of criminals who came back to their old jobs, pornography, pornography, drugs, all kinds of bad things .These guys are pretty bad, like the TV show The Sopranos, but the Sopranos are dumb, and these guys are smart, and they're Jewish!And Shavnoff is the worst guy out there.
Well, I said, Arkady, thank you for telling me this.I got up to leave but he motioned me to wait and said: they will come here too, these people came yesterday morning and asked me if you would come today and they just sat there and waited and made me eat lunch No more.They stared at me like I was in a zoo.So I'm sorry, Jack, I think you'd better not come here to train again, I will refund your membership fee, don't hurt your peace.
You want to drive me away?Arkady, I have been practicing here for almost twenty years.
I know, I know, but you can go somewhere else, like a body studio or something
Pooh!The people who go to the body workshop are all the young men and women who dress up in designer clothes and fat guys read the Wall Street Journal on treadmills, and the place sucks.
Then go somewhere else.If you continue to come here, they will force me to spy on you. If I don't agree, I don't want this place to burn down.I still have family.You don't know these people, and my advice is, if you have something they want, you better give it to them.
I thought Arkady was right, so I shook hands with him and left.I had my gear in my gym bag, and I felt like I was kicked out of school because someone else was cheating, but he mentioned his family, and that was the key to really convincing me, and I remembered that I have a family of my own.
I checked my notebook and saw that on this day, that is, the first Wednesday in November, in the space at 6:30 p.m., there was only A written in the diary, which meant that our whole family would be together at my ex-wife’s Seventy-Six East on that day. Dining in the brownstone apartment on the street.We eat together on the first Wednesday of every month.Emmarie is not quite my ex-wife, because officially we are still husband and wife, whether it is the state, the church or my wife. We will get back together after I cure my heart disease.She thinks that I am sick now, and it would be too shameful for her to leave me when I am sick.As for my illness, I love flirting.But she didn't think it mattered.I don't know of any other couples in the same situation as us, but I'm sure we're not the only ones.I think my three law firm partners had about eight wives combined, and I saw every case: madness, vicious revenge, child manipulation, financial manipulation.I found that I didn't have this marital hell story to share with others, I did suffer, but it wasn't my wife's malice, it was my own fault.She was generous, kind, and forgiving, so I had to bear it all myself.Jesus Christ had a point, if you want to make bad people miserable, be good to them.
These dinner arrangements are the perfect example, and what could be more heartwarming?The young family sits down to a meal and shows that no matter what their differences are, they still love each other.Dads away from home are still very loving, or in other words, like I heard my daughter explain to her brother recently that Dad likes to fuck women more than live with us.I was wrong!I was wrong!Even babies know I'm wrong.My son Nico has little interest in other humans, but if he felt it, it might have left a stamp on his blank mind, and he would despise me.
I know there's no reason for me to fuck a woman.My wife does too, because like I mentioned, she brings me the most pleasure out of all the women I've ever had.But she has so little experience with the opposite sex, how does she know that she is a top-notch?The answer is that she is my sister's close friend, and my sister is like an encyclopedia of sex, and I believe that my wife has completely and unreservedly told my sister Mi Rui about every vivid detail of our sexual life.After hearing this, Mi Rui assured her that she has top skills and has everything she needs; and also said that because I cheated on such a good woman, I was the number one jerk in the entire Western world.I can't stand these dinners, but I'll go anyway, as punishment, but it's no use.
Every time I want to attend this kind of occasion, maybe out of confession, I go to the intersection of First Avenue and Forty Street before going there. There is a small inconspicuous shop there, which specializes in expensive orchids, because she Collect orchids.Even though she has enough money to buy an entire Amazon jungle, I still think sending flowers is a nice gesture.The flowers of orchids usually look like a woman's genitals. The one I bought is a Vietnamese Paphiopedilum with light green petals and purple spots. It is an endangered species in its native Vietnam and should be banned from export.I think Emmarie knew the flowers were smuggled, but she always took them.It gave me a perverted joy to see the saint in me fall for his love of flowers.
I got off in front of her house, my wife's servant Rod.Menoz opened the door for me.She was a refugee from the war in El Salvador, and one of Emmarie's many acts of kindness saved her life.It's often said that good intentions don't go well, and it's always been true for me, but Emmarie was the opposite, and this selfless act of kindness landed her the perfect domestic servant and nanny.Rod didn't trust me, and she was right when she greeted me with her usual poker face and helped me hang up my trench coat while I walked into my wife's house with orchids.
I heard laughter coming from the living room, and I followed the laughter, gradually becoming more afraid, because I knew who was making everyone laugh, and I already recognized the person who laughed the loudest.The family picture in the living room is only missing her father. Emma is wearing light pink overalls with dark stitching, her blond hair is coiled on her head, she is sitting on a leather chair with her feet under her body, and I am sitting on a soft leather sofa. My younger sister Mi Rui, with my children sitting on both sides.Miri and Imogen were as beautiful as the dawn, pink cheeks and blond hair, and next to them was poor Nico, the dark-haired dwarf.Both children loved Aunt Miri, and Imogen loved hearing stories about famous people, and Miri knew everyone in New York, I mean every rich and famous person; and a lot in London, Rome, Paris, and Hollywood.She had been married or had an affair with 10 percent of these people.Mi Rui's rotating business card holder (it's still branded) is about the size of the nose wheel of a 747 jumbo jet.
Nico liked her aunt because she had been briefly married to the world's most famous stage magician, during which time she had learned a little trick from him, which fascinated Nico.She said the man was as dumb as a rabbit in a hat, and if he could make things disappear, so could she.She did a good job, because it's usually not easy to get Nico's attention, and Miri was almost as good as Emmarie in that regard.Mi Rui also loves children very much, of course she cannot have children herself, so being an aunt is one of the greatest sources of joy.
I walked into the room and the laughter died out, everyone looked at me differently, except Nico, who rarely looked at me, he was staring at my sister's hand, in which she held several colorful sponges Balls, which she can turn out of sight with a twist of her hand.My daughter looks at me as if she is challenging me. She seems to expect me to be a perfect dad that I can't achieve, so that she can achieve her own perfection.My sister was, as usual, sarcastic and tolerant.She's no longer the most beautiful woman in town, but she's still special and has a way of using medicine and the fashion world to maintain her looks.She wore a black Dior suit from head to toe, heavy jewels sparkled; as for Emma, she always smiled at me with unconcealed love in her eyes, and then she would remember the current situation and become a prim person again. Swiss.Even though I am no longer in love with her, she is still a lovely woman.The stress of two children and our marriage has wrinkled her face and rounded her figure.I couldn't help but think of Miranda, and my long-awaited second chance.
I kissed each of them on the cheek the European way, a longstanding tradition in my family.Nicole frowned slightly as usual, and then I gave the orchid to Emma, she thanked politely, and both Imogen and Miri rolled their eyes (their two cute faces have the same look of contempt, it’s genetic Inherited or nurtured?) Nico made a curious robotic voice and briefly read the category of this particular variety and the type of flower.Needless to say, Nico was also interested in orchids, and in anything complex that required memory without involving humans.
I asked Mi Rui what they were laughing at before I came in just now.She retold the story. It turned out that a world-renowned actress and a regular female entertainer on a talk show famous for her breasts had their faces done in a fancy salon, and their puppies got into a fight. The face-covering mud was flying everywhere, a group of homosexuals screamed loudly, and the furs of the noble ladies were scattered everywhere.The story sounds really funny.We walked into the restaurant, which was being cooked by Emma that day, and there was a chicken sausage, lamb and white bean stew, which happened to be one of my favorite dishes, along with an artichoke salad and a bottle of Hermitage top red wine.Judging by her current hourly salary, plus labor costs, this should be one of the most expensive dinners in the world.Nicol ate himself a bowl of cereal with milk, ninety percent of his diet consisted of that.
At dinner, Emmarie and I had a hard time keeping the conversation going.Sometimes we talk about business, and although my wife hates making money, maybe that's what makes her so gifted financially.She published an Internet report called the Mishkin Arbitrage Report, which had about 1,500 subscribers, in which she wrote about the currency market's direction for the next week.Naturally, smart players would take her advice into account and it would change the market; smarter players would take her influence into account and estimate the exchange rate against the yuan accordingly, so she would make some of them billionaires.Compared to some people who do real work, I feel like a useless vermin, like the songwriters who work hard; but compared to these speculators, I have my feet on the ground, and Emmarie asks for two dollars a year. She is comfortable with the subscription fee of 15,000 yuan, because about one-third of her profits are invested in charity work.People who invest in the arbitrage market can be said to be the elite of the elite. Occasionally, I meet people who invest in this small circle. They often ask me if I know that Mishikin. I always say no, but I still feel A strange sense of pride.
After dinner, Aunt Mi Rui went to play with the children as usual. She had no children herself, so she had enough adult conversations today.Lo brought the coffee, and Emmarie and I could now talk about the kids like buddies.The atmosphere was very peaceful and she asked me about Ingrid.She knows Ingrid, and I never hide my private life from her. I said that Ingrid is doing well, and she said: Poor Ingrid.I asked her why she said that, she said: because you have a new woman.I felt the blood rush to my face, but I put on a smile and asked her why she thought that.She sighed and said: Jack, I'm not stupid, and I can see very well.Back when I trusted you, I didn't look for signs or misinterpret them.But now I can see that everything is very obvious.who is she?
No such person.i lied.real.
She stares at me for a long time, then looks down at the table, sipping her cold coffee.Say what you want.After she finished speaking, she put down the cup, got up and left the room without any expression or words.Rod came in and started clearing the dishes, completely ignoring me.
So I became invisible, went upstairs to the children's playroom, Nico was in front of the computer with headphones on, Miri and Imogen were sitting in the velvet lover's seat, watching the music channel on the TV .
I feel more of an asshole than usual.I asked Imogen if she had done her homework, and felt her idiot index rise accordingly. She didn't take her eyes off the screen, and answered me in a very bored voice: I finished it in school.I guess I asked for it, and I'd love to grab that aluminum bat in the corner and smash TVs, computers, and hold kids hostage until they do what I say and make all the difference.I wish I had the admiration and love of a child, a wife who gave me her all, but still had the passion of a relationship; and I wish I never grew up like Peter Pan, flying in and out of telephone poles, wearing green tights pants
But I'm just sitting next to Miri, studying the little cuts on her face that look shiny in places but are weirdly stiff because she's had Botox.I suddenly felt a surge of sympathy, so I reached out and grabbed her hand. I thought, Mi Rui is now the closest person in my family. We were each other’s safe haven when we were children. She even became worse than me. So we can understand each other.I thought of how she used to come to me and grab my hand when Dad was in a rage.I don't know if she's thinking anything now, but she squeezed my hand back and we stayed like that for a while, watching the mild pornography our civilized society uses to entertain teenagers.A bell rang, and Imogen took out her mobile phone to look at the small screen, then got up and went somewhere to chat with her close friend.
Mi Rui turned off the TV to mute, turned around, and looked me up and down: Who is your new love?she asked.
Why are you like this?
Obviously okay, you look like you have a fever, and your mood is much more excited than usual.Jack, can you be more mature, you don't want to become a perverted old man chasing little girls in the future, do you?
Oh, that's very kind of you to advise me to be more moderate.
You're really annoying, we're both good fuckers, but at least I don't have a family, I don't drag them down, and I'm someone like Emma.
I don't want to talk about that right now, so I say: How is Dad?
Mi Rui is the only one of the three of us who still has contact with the old gangster. She cherishes this relationship, but maybe Dad insisted on this, which is very similar to his style.
Dad is fine, we met 3 weeks ago and he looks fine except for a coronary stent.
I would like them to use something particularly corrosion resistant, I would suggest red brick.Where did you meet?
Europe.
Can you make it clearer?Cannes?Paris?Odessa?
She didn't answer, he asked about you and Paul.
他真是人太好了，我希望妳跟他說了他永遠在我們心中。最近他在忙什麼？
有的沒的，你也知道，爸爸永遠都有計畫，你應該去看他，帶著艾瑪麗和孩子一起去。
這讓我笑了，好主意，這趟旅行肯定會超好玩，我真的想不到還有什麼更好玩的事情了。
米芮很不高興，停了一會兒才說，你有注意到你太太從來不會這樣尖酸刻薄說話嗎？這點你可以學學她，或許你也應該學著寬恕，我是說她寬恕了你很多次。
妳今天晚上還給我傳教式的忠告耶，妳確定妳不是保羅假扮的嗎？
如果你要當個混蛋，我就要走了，反正我需要喝一杯。
她想把手抽走，但是被我緊緊抓住，她又落回雙人座裡。
what?
我只是想到一件事情要問妳。妳老是流連花叢，有沒有聽過一個叫做奧西普．夏夫諾夫的俄國黑道？我近看著她的臉，發現她如雕像般的臉龐有一絲顫抖，她伸出粉紅色舌尖輕輕舔了嘴唇。
Why are you asking this?
因為他的嘍囉在追我，他以為我有他想要的東西，我猜啦。我簡短解釋了布斯卓和莎士比亞的事情，讓她知道事件背景，但還是跳過米蘭達的名字沒說，妳認識他嗎？
We've seen it.
是客戶嗎？
某種程度上是。他常常辦派對，我手下一些女孩會去他辦的派對。
妳可以安排我們見面嗎？我是說正式見個面。
傑克，我覺得你不會想認識他的。
因為他是個壞蛋。
他很邪惡，連壞人都覺得他很邪惡。
跟爸爸一樣邪惡？
他們是同一種人，但主要還是有兩點不同：第一，爸絕對不是暴徒；第二，普西奧．夏夫諾夫也不是我們的爸爸。為什麼你想見他？
跟他開誠布公說清楚，妳可以幫忙嗎？
我會跟他提，他會願意見你嗎？
我想應該會的，我們都對古老手稿有共同的興趣，我確定我們一定很有話聊，妳也應該來，會很好玩的。我們可以安排到以色列去看老爸。
她站起來，我會打電話給你。她說完就走開，留我一個人，跟那個敲打著鍵盤的陌生人一起。我站在尼可後面看著他的螢幕，平淡的淺灰色，出現看不懂的藍色字母，就像雨刷流下的雨消失，尼可在寫程式。雖然身為一個執業律師，但我想可以說我懂電腦。大多數律師覺得他們一碰到鍵盤，皮膚會爛掉，但我不是這種人。我想我應該是相當於尼可四歲時的程度吧。我拿開他的一邊耳機，問他：你在做什麼？
我必須要重複問好幾次，然後他才回答：搜尋引擎。
喔，搜尋引擎。我假裝自己很懂，你在搜尋什麼？
什麼都可以，放開我。他搖搖頭試圖把耳機壓回去，但是我把耳機拿起來，把他的旋轉椅轉過來，讓他面對我。
我必須跟你談件重要的事情。I said.他的身體開始僵硬，眼睛看著房間上方的角落。
專心聽，尼可！黑幫份子在追我，我想他們可能會傷害你媽媽、伊莫珍，還有你。我需要你的幫忙。
他看起來好像有聽進去，帶著厭煩的口氣問我：你在騙我吧？
不是騙你，是真的。
為什麼他們要追你？
因為我有一些他們要的文件，我的客戶把文件交給我，而他們把他殺了，他們折磨他，他死前說出了我的名字。
的確，對一個孩子來說是很大的事情，但是很難打動尼可。他不是個敏感的孩子，我想如果有人刑求我，他應該會覺得很有趣，還會看到入迷。
為什麼他們要那些文件？
我不知道，我想他們以為這文件可以幫他們找到寶藏。他考慮了一會兒，我想像他腦子裡有奇特的輪子像精密鐘錶一樣在運轉。
真的寶藏嗎？
他們覺得是真的。
我們應該去找寶藏。他說：這樣他們可能就會放過我們了。
我相信這是極少數幾次尼可用我們這個詞的時候，有包括我在內。我說：好主意，現在我需要你做兩件事：第一，我要你仔細觀察街上，如果有可疑的事情就打電話給我，這些人是俄國人，開黑色的休旅車，所以你看到的話就打電話給我；另一件事，我要你搜尋一個叫做理查．布瑞斯葛斗的人，他在一六四二年死於英國。我拿起印表機的紙寫下來。
who is he?
埋寶藏的人，搜尋有關他和他子孫的資料，看看有沒有還活著的，你辦得到嗎？
Can.Nico said.我不知道為什麼我要這樣把他扯進來，不過我認識很多厲害的資料蒐集人員，而尼可就跟他們一樣厲害。他曾經得過獎，還有大學教授跟他通信，卻根本不知道他才十一歲。當然，我可以雇用一家公司來處理這件事，或是我辦公室裡也有人精通此道，但也許我只是感到寂寞，唯有這件事能夠讓爸爸和兒子一起做，就像去松樹林健行一樣。靠直覺行動，就像所有拈花惹草的人一樣。當然，這還是簡單的部分，現在我得下樓去跟他媽媽說出全部的事情。
布瑞斯葛斗的第九封信
這個人說他叫詹姆斯．彼葛，是鄧巴頓爵爺的手下，這位爵爺在國王陛下的顧問團中地位很高，他問我是不是清教徒。這個人面色蒼白，眼神冷漠，我記得以前年輕時候，問對方這種問題，表示你要試探對方是不是真正的清教徒。於是我說：沒錯，先生，我的確是。然後坐下來吃肉、享用雞肉派，還有麥芽酒。我吃東西的時候，他詢問我所有宗教上的事情，例如：人類的墮落、命運、人世間的虛空、《聖經》上的啟示錄、因信得救等等，他似乎很滿意我的回答，然後說哈斯丁先生對我的評語很好，我回答說哈斯丁先生是個好人，是他引我追隨正確的教義，說了一些哈斯丁先生的話之後，他突然說：聽說你母親是天主教徒，是天主教叛徒的小孩，你怎麼說？我聽到這些話覺得很驚訝也很憤怒，但我壓抑住怒火，然後說：她或許曾經是，但她已經懺悔自己的過錯，後來終其一生都虔誠信仰改革後的新教。他又問我母親是不是瓦立克郡阿爾登的人，我回答說是，他說這樣你就逃過絞刑的命運了，因為鄧巴頓大人正需要你這樣的人，身為清教徒，但和天主教有點關係，特別是你母親那方的家族。最後他問：你有沒有聽過一齣劇？
我說沒有，戲劇這種東西不是很邪惡嗎？他說：是啊，比你想的還邪惡，那些趾高氣昂的演員在光天化日之下計謀叛國。How to say?三個原因：第一，戲劇會腐化觀眾的心智與靈魂，因為其中表演的都是下流的行為，諸如謀殺、偷竊、強暴、猥褻的言詞、通姦等等，所以觀眾之後可能就會模仿，進而擾亂國家秩序，他們自身的靈魂也會墮入地獄：第二，這些戲劇枉顧上帝的法則，居然讓男人打扮成女子，這本身就已經是罪惡，他們還肆無忌憚演出索多瑪城那種淫穢行為，我想這些演員一定很樂在其中，所以他們會讓天國陷入惡臭；第三，也是最糟糕的事，他們根本都是天主教叛國者偽裝的。然後他又說：但偽裝，畢竟只是偽裝。
接著他繼續說：你應該很清楚，羅馬的妓女過去會穿著薄紗衣服，在有錢人看的戲裡取悦他們，裡頭還有打扮成女子的男人去迷惑那些人，讓他們背棄對基督的真誠信仰，他們胡扯的那些廢話是什麼？不就是一齣戲嗎？我們現在已經阻止他們聚在一起，但難道他們不會再想其他的方法讓人背離信仰嗎？我問他怎麼會覺得這些演員是秘密天主教徒？他說：不，他們更狡猾，比毒蛇還恐怖。如果我告訴你：外面有個人是這群演員的首腦，他不但偷偷創作詆毀新教，還在劇本裡提高天主教神父的地位，讓人對之崇敬；而且，他的父親還是個天主教徒，過去經常因為不肯上新教教堂而受罰繳款，他母親那方的家族常被痛斥太過頑困，不肯接受新教，她絕對也是天主教徒；再者，他密謀叛變，想要拉攏艾塞克斯郡伯爵的人馬。伯爵因為背叛過世的伊莉莎白女王才被捕入獄，這個人在發動叛變當天早上，在伯爵的追隨者面前演出《查理二世》這齣劇，刺激他們仿效劇情叛國弑君，他那時候就應該被抓起來，但卻沒有，因為有些崇拜者在保護他，願他們下地獄去吧。你會怎麼說這樣一個人？我說（我知道這是唯一正確的答案），他應該被關進倫敦塔，讓他自由在外一小時都嫌多。
然後他露出一個冷酷的微笑，高興地說：小子，你說對了，但現在王國內局勢動盪不安，我們沒辦法這麼做，但總會成功的。看看你吧，國王的身邊沒有虔誠信仰上帝的人，反而都是些淫蕩又腐敗的寵臣，也就是羅徹斯特爵爺那些人，他們很多人幾乎都是天主教徒，跟天主教的關係就像你的衣服貼著肌膚那麼近。他們讓國王陛下享受毫無意義的娛樂，例如舞臺上的戲劇，國王甚至還養了一群演員，命令他們依據國王的喜好演出，其中一個就是我告訴你的那個人，他是這群無賴的頭頭。
他繼續說：我們的亨利王子是有史以來最虔誠的新教徒，儘管年紀小小，但為人樸實又明智，但他的父王卻不經思考就叫他去娶一個天主教公主，可不能讓這種事情發生在我們的國土上，因為這樣會毀掉上帝在英國的教堂，尤其國王已經墮落至此，違背上帝的旨意任命主教，我們的國教已經快要滅亡了。於是鄧爵爺和其他擁護真誠信仰的高貴貴族，想起這件哀傷的往事，就提出計畫，一直都在找一個人能將之付諸行動，而我們已經找到了。
我問：誰？他說：你。我聽了覺得很害怕，就說：為什麼？於是他跟我解釋：你知道國王的母親就是那個虛榮邪惡的天主教叛徒，蘇格蘭的瑪麗女王。我們的伊莉莎白女王已經將她處決，讓她受到應有的懲罰。國王陛下對這件事一直耿耿於懷，覺得所有正直的英國人應該都很討厭他的母親，他們或許會覺得有其母必有其子，所以看到有齣戲把瑪麗女王描寫成一個受到誤解的好女人，他就很高興，還特別喜歡。或許他會叫我說的那個無賴把劇本寫出來，小子，你覺得然後呢？
然後我告訴自己，小查，你一定要發揮此生最大的機智，因為這個人掌控你的生死，於是我說那對王國內的所有新教徒都是一種汙辱，我們不能姑息。他說：沒錯，所以國王還不敢這麼想，但要是有某個人，到某位大人身邊臥底做事，可能是某位大官，然後臥底去找那個劇作家告訴他，自己奉了國王陛下的命令前來，要他寫這麼一齣劇本，就能得到獎賞，還能得到國王的寵信。假設劇本寫出來了，假設劇本也在國王陛下和官員面前演出，你想他們會落入什麼處境？你知道，所有劇本的演出都要經過宴會主管的許可，但事實是這齣戲根本不可能拿到許可，那可能會讓隨便哪個官員人頭落地。不過再假設，因為我們有宴會主管的印鑑，所以可以給那個無賴一個假許可，那他就會在不知情的情況下演出劇本，你覺得他會怎麼樣？
我說我想他會完蛋吧。小子，你的想法沒錯。他會成為笑柄，但他可高興不起來，因為他會完蛋，他那些該死的劇作也都會跟著完蛋。還不只如此，正如你說這件事是在汙辱人民，很快就會傳遍全國，大家都會知道國王陛下將自己的母親描寫成良家婦女，伊莉莎白女王對她的處置是不公不義，因為伊莉莎白女王在那齣劇作裡是個詭計多端的邪惡混蛋。於是全國各地都會群起抗議，國王陛下當然要全盤否認，但我說的那個無賴就會被拘禁起來受刑。沒錯，我保證一定要讓他受刑，嚴刑逼供之下，他就會說出這起事件的共謀，也就是羅徹斯特爵爺和其他人，因為他們幫我們的王子找了天主教的新娘。他們馬上會失寵，不管他們怎麼否認涉案，我們還是能殉永遠毀掉這樁天主教婚姻。what do you think?
我說：大人，我覺得這一計畫非常厲害，但我還是想問，為什麼要挑我小查．布瑞斯葛斗？他說：因為你的母親是阿爾丁人，我們的目標也是，你是這場騙局的誘餌，或可能很像是誘餌的角色，你可以假裝隨侍在那個半天主教徒身邊，如果事實真是如此的話，他確實說過自己是半個天主教徒。所以如果羅徹斯特大人想要派遣密使去找那個人，還有誰比你更適合的呢？記住，這件事要秘密進行，或者你可以說，我們大人想要在國王的生日宴會上給他一個驚喜，送上一齣新戲碼。不過快說，你願意為我們工作嗎？
面對這個問題，如果我還想要享受自由的空氣，那我就只有一個答案可用，於是我說願意，他要我手按著聖經發重誓，警告我要是敢背叛他們，就要讓我身陷極大的危險。然後我拜託他告訴我這個人的名字，他說是威廉．莎士比亞。這是我第一次聽到這個名字。
隔天晚上我就獲釋了，我們在黑暗中搭船前進，逆流從倫敦塔往上到河岸街上的一棟大房子，那是鄧巴頓爵爺的房子。有人引薦我去見爵爺，他的身形很胖，看來公務纏身，但是他對我的態度很和善，說我能為英國成就大事，只要將我們的計畫實現就好了。但是最後我們沒有成功，上帝實在太有智慧，讓事情往另外一個方向發展。後來的幾年我常常想，如果事情如我們所預期的那樣成功了會是如何，而現在這股騷動已經燒起熊熊大火，毀滅我們可憐的國家，我也希望或許能得到控制。但我只是棋盤上一顆小小棋子，古語說得對，上帝的意旨確實凌駕於凡人之上，阿門。
我在鄧巴頓大宅待了幾個禮拜，吃得好、穿得好，我從來沒穿過這麼好的衣料。但我的生活很簡撲，白天彼葛先生教我讀寫加密過的訊息，我表現得很好，讓他很驚訝，我告訴他我很早以前就受過數學的訓練，密碼跟數學有點類似，他也因此很高興。我仔細研讀《數字追蹤》，這本來是法文書，後來翻譯成英文；還讀了波塔先生寫的《秘密行動》，這是一門非常精細的工夫；還有卡丹諾大師發明的卡丹格，我非常喜歡這門工夫，所以晚上常常花時間練習，反正在鄧巴頓大宅裡也不缺蠟燭，然後讓彼葛先生看看我的成果。幾個禮拜之後他就對我的進步大表讚賞，因為我創造出一種全新的密碼，他從來沒有看過，他說就連羅馬教宗也沒辦法破解。
後來他還讓我學其他技巧。他會說出一大段話，然後要我把這些話記下來，叫我要按照原來的順序唸出來，還要寫下來。另外，他讓我看了很多男男女女的畫像、城鎮街景和鄉村風景，都是非常美麗的圖畫，只讓我匆匆瞄一眼就要我描述畫裡的樣子，還有類似的練習：他跟另一個人假裝進行一段對話，提到天主教跟叛國，我則躲在一道屏幕後面，然後我得告訴他整個計畫是如何，這裡他也承認我表現得很好。於是我問他這些是不是進行情報工作全部的技巧？他回答說不是，這些只是一小部分，我對他的回答感到很困惑。
但後來我就知道怎麼回事了，因為後來來了一個叫亨利．威爾斯的人，看起來像是個獐頭鼠目的花花公子，穿著流行的漂亮衣服，感覺他穿這衣服像是僭越了自己的身分。但彼葛先生對他說話很客氣，給他一個皮包，然後跟我說：小查，這個人是你最好的朋友，他叫亨利．威爾斯，你們小時候在瓦立克郡認識，現在又在倫敦重逢，相談甚歡。他是國王劇團的演員，跟威廉．莎士比亞先生很熟。然後彼葛先生看我一眼，我馬上就明白他的意思：我也要開始演戲了，只不過不是在台上，而是真實生活裡。間諜的工作不僅僅是密瑪、寫聽和收集情報。然後我想起我待在鑄鐵鋪的第一年，我扮演一名笨拙的學徒，不擅言詞，工作也做不好，但我心裡還是保有真實的自我，於是我想沒問題，演戲我做得來，我要讓那些天主教徒和叛徒害怕。
後來發生的事情妳都可以在我寫給鄧爵爺的信裡讀到，也就是我如何接近這位莎士比亞先生、我們之間發生了什麼事、他寫的那齣描寫蘇格蘭邪惡女王的劇本、還有劇本後來的下落，最後我們是如何失敗了，所以我這裡就不重複了。因為我怕我剩不到幾小時可活了，我想盡量多寫一點。愛妻小南，我後來的人生妳都很了解，一想到我沒辦法親自告訴我們的兒子我那幾年的故事，就覺得很傷心。請告訴我們的兒子，妳的丈夫曾經在德國打仗，擔任砲手，為了善良的新教徒而戰，在白山山脈遭天主教徒擊潰，然後在布賴滕費爾德及呂岑戰役中又反過來擊垮他們，但後來厭倦戰爭，腳上也受了槍傷，所以就回到家鄉。那時我父親已經過世，妳本來的魚販丈夫也已經死了（我一直祈禱這件事能發生，希望妳和上帝能原諒我！），於是我們在一六三二年的四月三日，在聖瑪格麗特派登斯教堂結婚了，一年之後有了兒子，感謝上帝，希望妳和他都能長命百歲。
我快沒時間了，幾乎沒辦法再繼續寫下去，但還有一些重要的事要告訴妳，臨死前的痛苦緊抓住我不放。You know that I have a suitcase in my closet, in which you can find some encrypted letters written in a font I specially designed, you must keep it safe and don't show it to anyone.信件上寫的是鄧爵爺的計畫，還有我們刺探莎士比亞的成果，我們過去一直以為他秘密追隨羅馬教廷，不過現在我已經沒那麼確定了。反正以他那種古怪的生活方式來看，他是個不足為懼的人。I made him write a play about Mary Queen of Scots in the name of the King, and now he and I are both dead, and the play he wrote himself is left in a place known only to me, and there it will be forever.
至於那些信，如果國王能熬過目前該死的困境，他的手下居心不良前來找妳，這些書信或許能保護妳度過難關，保護妳也保護我們的兒子。妳知道該怎麼解碼，提醒妳，關鍵就是我母親長眠處的柳樹，如果可以的話，希望我的屍骨也能從此常伴在她左右。
永別了，我的女孩，若得上帝垂憐，希望與妳再相見時已是不朽之身，我們的上帝和救世主耶穌基督是這麼應允的，以祂之名，我以妳丈夫的身分簽署這封信。
Richard.布瑞斯葛斗