The Parousia Effect 2. The conspiracy begins

Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The flight had departed around midnight the day before and despite being sleepy they couldn't get much sleep. The journey went smoothly despite how long she considered it had been. Only when they were passing through the A****n did they feel some turbulence, and that made the girl a little uneasy. She told her that was normal when they traveled by plane and she calmed down. As always, Julianne gave her the security and confidence she needed when she was feeling uneasy or worried about something. Despite not being her mother, she raised her as if she were, especially when her brother strongly asked her to do it for him. She considered herself his mother, having had her under her care practically since she was born.

And to Marianne she was her mother.

The captain announced over the loudspeakers in English and Spanish they were approaching the airport and began the descent maneuvers for the landing, ordering the passengers to fasten their seat belts. Through the window, Marianne watched the city approach little by little, and although she felt uneasy again from the sensation in her stomach every time the plane descended, she did not say anything to her mother and clutched her hand firmly on her arm. Julianne felt the girl’s hand on her arm and held her in turn with her hand, giving her a slight reassuring smile. Finally the plane landed and they left happy to have finished the long journey from the United States.

The Ezeiza "Minister Pistarini" international airport in Buenos Aires is the most important in Argentina. And also the biggest. They had to go through several sections before reaching where they had to look for their bags, and then two more sections to get through customs. Once their passports had been stamped, they went to the terminal, where they set out to look for the person who should be waiting for them. His brother had told her that he would not be able to receive them himself and he would send someone to do so, so she searched among the people with the little signs for whoever had her name, and after a few seconds she found him. He was a tall and somewhat stout young man, and she went to where he was, but when they reached him she noticed he was accompanied by another man and a boy about the same age as Marianne, and for a moment she did not recognize him. Only when she was close to him did she realize he was her brother, and dropping the suitcase she ran to meet him, happy.

"Julius!" She exclaimed with joy, hugging him. “How long!”

Dr. Julius Hansen kissed his sister on the cheek, visibly moved.

"Eleven years, my dear," he told her. “Eleven years!”

"You are very changed! Although I admit you look very good.”

"Well, the early retirement has forced me to have no more worries. I guess that's what makes me look good.”

"You said you wouldn’t come pick us up," Julianne demanded. “You’re a liar!”

"I wanted to surprise you."

He hugged her again, and when they parted he introduced her to those who accompanied him.

"He is David Cranston, and this handsome boy here is Joseph, my son." He stroked the boy’s head.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am," David said, shaking her hand. “How was your flight?”

"Wow, exhausting! We went out last night and look at the time we have arrived.”

Joseph stepped forward, looking at her.

"It's nice to finally meet you, aunt," he said, hugging her. Julianne returned the hug, somewhat excited. She looked at his brother and he could understand in his eyes what she was thinking, so he shook his head slightly. She understood it was not the time to talk about the child. She knew everything that had happened to his brother and the boy six years ago, and although she wanted to communicate with him, she was never able to do so at that time. She was only able to calm down a year after all that commotion, when her brother called her and told her that he was fine and safe, promising they would meet again when the time was right, and that moment had already come, so also excited, she was very happy to find him and the child safe and sound.

Dr. Hansen noticed the girl and leaned in front of her. Julianne realized that she hadn’t introduced her.

"This is Marianne," she said, "your niece."

Dr. Hansen looked at the girl for a few seconds, detailing her. He caressed her cheek with his hand, then smiled. She was a very beautiful girl, with large light brown eyes and long light brown hair. The color of her skin caught his eye: she was light brown.

"It’s a pleasure, little princess," he said at last.

"Hello, uncle." Marianne was a bit shy, since it was the first time she saw the uncle her mother talked about so much. Joseph walked over to her and hugged her.

"I’m glad to finally meet you," he said, almost silently. She smiled at him.

“I am happy to meet you too.”

Dr. Hansen stood up and rubbed his hands together.

"Well, it’s time to go. You will love the house we live in, and even more you will love where it is. Let’s go!”

They left the terminal and headed for the parking lot. In a few minutes they were boarding a Volkswagen Suran and leaving the airport, heading for the city. It was already noon.

New York, USA.

He had finished uploading the photos he had taken earlier that day to the computer when the doorbell rang. He pushed the button under his desk and the electric lock allowed the office door to slide open, giving way to a woman busy with two bags of hamburgers and two Coke. She closed as best she could and put the bags on the desk, then sat in one of the chairs in front of it and prepared to eat, taking one of the hamburgers from one bag, and a soda from the other. He looked up and watched her for a few seconds. She noticed and stared at him.

“What?” She asked, hamburger in hand.

"I told you not to eat at my desk," he demanded. “You always leave it full of stains and food.”

Doris ignored him and took a bite out of the hamburger. He had no choice but to take his and start eating too, resigned.

After letting Dr. Hansen, David Cranston and Joseph go, things did not turn out in the best way for Mark Forney and Doris Ventura. Despite having an excellent record as NYPD homicide detectives, they were not forgiven for helping those people escape and were removed from their positions, regardless of whether Captain Mulligan advocated for them until the fatigue. The president of the United States had exploded into a rage upon learning of this and that was enough to end their careers. Now they were working as private detectives and there were very few cases for which they were hired. After a brief period of drought, they were commissioned by an important banker to watch over his wife, whom he suspected was cheating on him, and although it was not what they liked to do the most, they accepted, and that morning they had taken the first photographic evidences of the infidelity, which he was loading at that moment in the computer.

"This woman is amazing," Mark said, pointing to the monitor screen and referring to the woman they were watching. “Not ten minutes have passed since her husband left, when the lover disguised as a cable technician arrives.”

"Not to mention that the cable gets damaged every day," Doris said, still chewing a piece of food, "and it’s the same guy who appears to ‘fix it’," she emphasized the latter with a smile.

Mark shook his head. The banker and his wife lived in an exclusive area on the outskirts of New York, where each residence despite being next to each other, was separated by large tracts of land, with swimming pools, country clubs and even stables, so there was no opportunity for any neighbor to spy on the other, thus exposing the deception that took place day by day in the place. They already had a week and a half of surveillance on their target and there was no doubt the woman was cheating on her husband. However, and despite the photos taken outside the residence, they should have more evidence of infidelity in full swing, so they must risk entering the vicinity of the house and get more photos much closer, or at least with both protagonists having some physical contact that shows they are having an affair. For this, they must count on the husband to facilitate their entry to the property, give them the access code for the main gate of the perimeter fence, and thus access without problems once the "technician" has entered and is in full “repair” work.

"We must call the ‘cuckold’ to give us the key," Doris said with food still in her mouth.

"Yes, I’ll do it later. Remind me to do it before we go.”

The doorbell rang. Both stared at each other puzzled, since no one used to go to their agency at that time of noon. Mark pushed his burger aside, took a sip of Coke, and wiped his hands. Doris got up from her chair, took the rest of her burger and Mark’s and put them on the executive fridge in the corner next to the two sodas. Then she cleaned herself up a bit and stood next to Mark, who pressed a button under his desk. The electric lock on the door gave way to three men in suits and ties. For a moment they seemed to Mark to be businessmen, but the scowl and the way two of them stood on either side of the door and behind the one in the middle made him realize they weren’t. The man in the middle, well into his fifties, approached the desk and sat down in the chair Doris had occupied a few seconds before.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen," Mark greeted them. “What can we do for you?”

The man took a look around, and then looked at Mark. There was no expression on his face. Doris put a hand on Mark’s shoulder, signaling she was ready for anything. The man saw the movement and for a few seconds he outlined a slight smile.

"You don’t have to feel nervous, miss Ventura," the man told her. “We are not what you think. We are here on behalf of Mr. Philip Richmond, who asked us to come to you to help us locate a person. Two, actually.”

"Okay," Mark said. “I see you already know us. And who are these people that you want us to locate you?”

"One is the clone boy, Joseph. You helped Dr. Hansen five years ago escape government custody with the boy, and it cost you your careers. We are here on behalf of Mr. Richmond to tell us where they went, and for that information he is willing to pay you handsomely.”

“And how much are we talking about?” Doris asked, then Mark raised his hand asking her to be quiet.

“And is it possible to know why this sudden interest of your client in the child, after all these years?" Mark didn’t trust those men, and apart from that he didn’t want to break the trust Hansen had placed in them when they helped them escape and stay away from people like those who wanted to find them.

"That is a matter that only interests our client, Mr. Forney." The man smiled slightly, and then turned to Doris: “and in response to your question, miss Ventura, my client authorized me to offer a minimum amount of one million dollars, each, if that information leads him to find the child.”

Doris cleared her throat and squeezed Mark’s shoulder. He felt the squeeze and slowly removed his hand from her shoulder.

"It’s a very generous offer, sir ..." Mark paused, waiting for the man to tell him his name, but he didn’t, so he continued: “unfortunately we don’t have that information. The day you say we helped Dr. Hansen escape he didn’t tell us where he was going. We just paid him a taxi and they left. As simple as that.”

Mark felt Doris put her hand on his shoulder again and squeezed again. The man in front of them looked amused by what he was seeing and leaned forward in his chair, staring into Mark’s eyes.

“Two million, each. He is willing to pay that amount for the information that leads him to find Hansen and the child.”

Doris felt like she was going to faint and squeezed Mark’s shoulder tighter. He removed his hand again, this time with a little more difficulty. The man smiled again.

“Your friend is going to faint. It’s convenient for you to give us that information, it’s a lot of money we are talking about.”

Mark stared at him for a few seconds, and then leaned forward as well, holding his gaze.

“I repeat: we don’t have that information. Tell Mr. Richmond he’s wasting his time with us.”

The man looked at him for a few more seconds and stopped smiling. Then he leaned back in his chair, looked down, and fumbled in his suit pocket for something. He pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number. He waited a few seconds, until someone in the other end of the line answered him.

"As you said, sir. They refuse to give us the information. Or they really don’t have it.”

He listened for a few seconds to his interlocutor, closed the communication and gave a frank glance to the two former detectives of the New York police.

"Mr. Richmond cordially invites you to his residence to personally discuss the matter."

"Well, tell him we’ll be there early tomorrow." Mark reached for a notepad, tore out a piece of paper, and took out a pen. “Tell me the address.”

"He’s waiting for you right now," the man told him. “Please come with us.”

Mark was puzzled. He smirked and dropped the pen.

"Excuse me, but we’re having lunch. In addition, we have pending work. I don’t think...”

"Your client already has accurate information about his wife’s deception," the man interrupted. “A few minutes ago one of our men spoke to your client and gave him the evidence he needed. You can consider the case closed.”

This time it was Doris who was dazed and faced him.

“How do you know about our case, and who told you to intervene?”

"We have been observing you for days. We know about your case and how little you have done so far. Mr. Richmond ordered us to assist you in closing your investigation and being available to work for him, should your response to his initial proposal be negative.”

“And what makes you think we would work for him?”

The man looked at him for a few seconds before answering him.

"Please detectives ... can I call you detectives? Mr. Richmond is waiting for you. I suggest that you first listen to what he has to say and then decide what to do.”

After saying that, he got up from his chair and adjusted his suit.

"Can we go now?"