The Name's Oliver - Ben Oliver. Ch. 159: Duty vs Ethics, Pt. II

[Schipperke]

A Night on the Town

Diary Entry

So here I was, all dressed up in my trendiest gear for clubbing, ripe and ready for romance, going out to spend the evening with a beautiful woman - who was off-limits. 



Oh well.  We'd have fun anyway.  And it's not as if I was looking for a life partner, oh no, definitely not.  Just a kiss and cuddle, though, under the stars - well, maybe there'd be an opportunity.  I could hope.  Angela, when she appeared, took my breath away.



"Darling," whoever he was, did not deserve to have this vision of loveliness all to himself!  "Angela," I said, in my best pitiful, love-struck manner, "I may expire for love of you!  You wouldn't want me to die of a broken heart, would you?  Just one little kiss -"



"You're hilarious, Ben," the lady said, grinning.  "And now, shall we go to dinner?  I'm famished."

We had dinner outdoors at the Bistro, with a romantic view of the cove.



I thought maybe I could impress Angela by complimenting her on the work she had done on the Ambassador's gem.



But she said, "Thank you very much, Ben.  Now, why don't you take your fingers out of your mac and cheese and finish your dinner?  I'm eager to see this hot spot the locals have been recommending."

Sunlit Tides really was beautiful at night.  Just the place for a holiday romance.  I wasn't ready to concede defeat yet.



At the club, I persuaded Angela to sing with me.



"And now, ladies and gentlemen, for our next number - Love Me Tender!"



Flowers for the talented performer!





And so home to bed, unkissed.  But Angela was wonderful company, and it had been fun.

It had been a long day, and I was ready for a good sleep.



But my dreams were full of unrequited love.  And bad dreams weren't the only thing to disturb my sleep that night.

[ladybug53]

They do make a very nice couple .  One can hope .  Great update !  Looking forward for the next chapter . 

[Louise56]

Poor Ben lol not even a little kiss? I wonder what else disturb his sleep. Angela must love her darling very much.

[Magz from Oz]

Great update.  As much as I like Ben, I'm glad Angela is self-assured enough to rebuff his advances.  After all there's someone else she calls 'darling'!

[Anushka]

Ben tried hard indeed, at least they had fun and they both look great while singing! With each update I cant wait to see what is next!

[Schipperke]

"Sneakers"

Diary Entry

My sleep was restless, full of strange dreams.  I woke and dozed off, only to awaken again soon after.  It had been after 1 am when Angela and I returned to the beach house.  Shortly after 3, something caused me to wake up again.



The man in the white suit!  He had been following us all day.  Who was he, and what was he doing here?  I leapt out of bed.



"Where is it?" he demanded.  "The gem!  Quick, hand it over, and maybe you won't get hurt."



I told him he didn't scare me and suggested he run along home.



"You had your chance!" he exclaimed, and started hitting me in the face.



Well, I'm a goodnatured sort of guy, but there's a limit.  Enough is enough.  He wanted a fight?  He could have it!



Bam!  Pow!  Ouch!  Take that, you!

He wrestled me to the ground.  I got my hands around his throat -



and held on -



That'll teach him to mess with a Sim Fu grand master!



"Ok, now that we've got that out of the way, who are you?"



He said his moniker was "Sneakers" - a two-bit thug and second-story man, available for hire to the highest bidder.  Unimportant in and of himself, the real question was "Who hired you to steal the gem?"

Up to now his manner had been sullen and defiant.  Now fear appeared in his eyes.  Whoever had hired him, Sneakers was deathly afraid of that person.



"Oh, please, sir - don't make me give you his name!" the wretch cried.  "If he finds out I told you his name, he'll make me pay for it!  He's cruel and ruthless - please, sir, have pity on me!"



I insisted that he give me the name and told him, "Whoever he is, he won't be able to get at you if you're in jail.  As soon as you tell me who he is, I'll call the police and you'll be locked up safe and sound."

He wasn't keen on going back to jail (he'd been there before, many times), but on reflection he had to agree that it was probably the safest place for him now that he'd failed to get the gem.  "Besides," he added, "a lot of me old mates are there.  Why not.  All right, his name is -"

He leaned in close and whispered the name in my ear.



Then I called the Sunlit Tides police force, who took Sneakers off to his safe, comfortable cell.



By this time it was beginning to get light.  Angela had to catch an early flight back to Union Cove - it was time to say our good-byes.  I grinned at her and said, "How about a good-bye hug?"  She grinned right back at me and said, "FRIENDLY hug only, Ben.  No amorous stuff, mind!"  Well, ok.  I'd take what I could get.



But I couldn't resist telling her "If by some chance things don't work out with 'darling,' give me a call - we could make beautiful music together, you and I."

Then I watched as she hurried off to catch her flight home.  She was a very special person.  I wondered if I'd ever see her again.

[ladybug53]

Oh....this was a really good one !  Sad it ended, I wanted to read more . Awesome update !   

[Seabody]

Am I the only person who read this title and thought that Ben's mission required him to visit A.'s Shoe Store?

I agree with ladybug, I wanted to read more! Still, it's a great story Schip.

[Sherry]

Now you get me totally want to know who hired 'the sneakers'...
Btw good job on handling the sneaker BO73 

[Schipperke]

Am I the only person who read this title and thought that Ben's mission required him to visit A.'s Shoe Store?

As I said to Corey a page or two back - "you been reading my notes," Seabody?  You just never know when A and his famous Shoe Store may crop up.  I definitely wouldn't rule out such an appearance sometime in the future. 

Thanks very much for the comments, everyone!

[Louise56]

I wonder who Sneakers boss is. Good on Ben for winning the fight!

[Schipperke]

Diplomatic Immunity

Diary Entry

The Ambassador wasn't expecting me to report back for a few days, so I could have stayed in Sunlit Tides for fun in the sun.  But the sun wasn't as much fun without Angela, so I decided to return home to Monte Vista.  Besides, I was eager to see my boss's reaction when I told her about the attempt to steal the soulpeace.

De Luca and I met at the pizzeria, on the balcony where we could talk in private and enjoy the magnificent view of the old town square.  I told her about Sneakers' attempt to steal the gem. 



When I told her the name of the mastermind behind the plot, De Luca didn't seem surprised.  "The Chevalier du Bois," she said thoughtfully.  "Yes, I've always thought there was something off about him.  Trying to steal from the brother-in-law who supports him, imagine!"

I was eager to go and arrest the culprit.



But De Luca said, "I'm afraid not, Oliver.  There's a little thing called diplomatic immunity.  The Chevalier is a member of the French Ambassador's household, and as such he is immune to prosecution in this country.  We can't touch him."  She threw up her hands, saying "I don't like it either, but I can't change it."



Nothing we could do?  I risked life and limb fighting dangerous intruders, only to be told that nothing could be done, and the evil mastermind behind the plot would go free?  I protested that this was hardly fair.



De Luca agreed that it wasn't fair but said, "We can't arrest the Chevalier, but it isn't quite true that there's nothing we can do.  You can tell the Ambassador.  He's a good man, and perhaps he will find some way to deal with his brother-in-law.  By the way, the Ambassador asked me to give you this."

She handed over a small envelope.  "It's an invitation to join him and his family for dinner on Friday evening.  You are also invited to the Embassy ball that evening.  Don't scowl, Oliver!  It's a great honour to be invited to an Embassy function.  It will give you a chance to meet some of the important people in town.  The Ambassador is very pleased with the job you did protecting his gem, and this is his way of showing his appreciation.  So you will go, and you will be on your best behaviour.  Oh, and Oliver?  Be nice to the Ambassador's daughters, but not too nice, you understand me?"

Yeah, I understood.  Why was it I kept meeting beautiful women who were off-limits?  I thought the debriefing was over and was starting to rise, when De Luca stopped me.

"Just a minute, Recruit!"  she said sharply.  "Don't you want to hear the details of your next assignment?"



Another assignment?  This was more like it!  I leaned forward eagerly as De Luca continued:  "A certain Mr Payne has asked that you investigate reports of financial irregularities.  Here's the file - you can return it to me when you've finished with it.  I suggest you spend the next few days mingling around town.  See if you can learn any more about the situation.  That's all, Oliver."

I saluted De Luca. 



She left, and I sat down to read the file.

[ladybug53]

Oh...this is getting so good. I wonder what will happen with the Ambassador's daughters . I'm so anxious for the next update now !   

[Louise56]

Oh my goodness Schip! You absolutely make my day, no my week with 'the file' !

[Anushka]

Wow, ambassador's daughter and money laundry in same chapter!? I just love how you incorporate that "issue" into the story!