"Really? Why?"
She hadn't thought of that. Why? Because... he was a man's man? She could never say that. She smiled and shrugged as he beamed.
Marilena was stunned, however, to discover that
spiritual training was not the topic of the evening
After all her worrying and ruminating, in the end wasuas Viv had predicted--Nicky's schooling Plan-
had come to discuss.
"It's taken care of," Marilena said flatly, fearing that was already off on the wrong foot. She glanced at
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Nicky, who seemed unusually absorbed in the small chunk of meat she had diced for him, as if ignoring the conversation. "He's registered and ready to go at the end of the summer."
"Where?" Planchette said casually.
"Where? Well, where do you think? The school is four miles from here."
"The public school?" "Of course." "Unacceptable."
"What does that mean? Who are you to--?"
"It's unacceptable, Mom," Planchette said, infuriating Marilena. Her title dripped off his lips as if she above anyone--ought to know better than to enroll Nicky in public school. "All I've heard from both of you since day one is that this is a brilliant child. And all the evidence points to it. The linguistics, the reading, the computer work, the curiosity. Of course, this should come as no surprise, and it certainly isn't to the sperm donors."
"Wait, wait, wait," Marilena said. "Surely you're not implying that the donors know who their child is. So much was made of confidentiality, and I signed away any
right to ever even attempt to find out who they were "
"I misspoke." "You did not." "I should have said that Nicolae's brilliance comes as no surprise to the sperm brokers, lneldciune Industrie predicted this."
"But that's not what you said, Mr. Planchette. You're a more careful speaker than that."
"Nonsense."
"Don't talk to me as if I'm an imbecile, sir. I am not the one who said more than I intended. Now I want to know whether the sperm donors know who their child is."
"Well, they shouldn't, should they?"
"Is that a denial or a change of subject?"
"Really, Mrs. Carpathia. You're being impudent."
"I am? I asked you a question, sir, and I want an answer."
"You know well, ma'am, that there is no way I should
know that. But let me tell you--"
"No way you should know. But you do, don't you?
know whether--"
"Really, Marilena," Viv said, "you must stop parsing
syllable."
"I'll thank you to stay out of this, Viv."
.Finally, Nicky spoke up. "You should not talk to Aunt
that way."
It was all Marilena could do to keep from backhanding
him in the mouth, but she had never struck him and wasn't about to start. "I'll thank you to stay out of this young man."
* Marilena felt herself flush. She was outnumbered, ganged up on, and she was not used to it. She fought to keep from lashing out. Most alarming, Nicky seemed to realize he had the upper hand. He had frustrated her, rather than appear ready to keep badgering, he had a smirk not unlike Mr. Planchette's.
"Let's just all take deep breaths, hm?" Planchette said, and Marilena glared at him. Nicky sucked in a huge. breath and sighed, and even she had to smile as Viv and Reiche laughed. "There," Planchette added, "you do the same, Marilena."
She pressed her lips together and shook her head, no longer amused. He could change the subject all he wanted, but she was going to get back to this topic. Nothing could be more complicating than the sperm donors' knowing who their child was. How could she possibly keep them from him if he somehow became a celebrated personality? The truth was, she didn't even want to know who they were, let alone have her son find out. She foresaw nothing but trouble in that. On the other hand, if Planchette knew who they were, that meant Viv knew, and that was one more advantage the older woman didn't need. If Viv in fact knew, Marilena had to know too, whether she wanted to or not.
Mr. Planchette dabbed his mouth and slid back from the table. "Wonderful, thank you. Now let me tell you what we have in mind for Nicky's schooling. You'll be surprised and pleased to know that he has an unusual and more-than-generous benefactor, which allows us options we hadn't even considered."
Marilena had lost her appetite when the conversation began, and now she sat with a hardly touched steak before her. Nicky had finished his small portion and was clearly eyeing hers. "Are you going to finish that?" he said, jarring her by speaking English.
She shook her head and he stabbed the meat, drawing the slab onto his plate. Marilena thought about repri Tim
LaHaye ( Jerry B. Jenkins
manding him for his manners, but she felt she had sur- the right.
When she leaned over to cut the meat for him, he
Reached for her steak knife. Marilena hesitated, but she scolded by his look and watched closely as he carved steak for himself. She wanted to stop him from staring- with a huge bite, but he smiled as he stuffed it into mouth. She knew he was playing with her, but she had been waiting for his smile for so long, she just :hed him devour the meat.
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THIRTEEN
SEEMED to do everything with a flourish. pulled out one of his business cards and an ancient
pen. He made a show of crossing out his information on one side and turning it over to write on the He tried to cover the card with one hand as he but Marilena could see it was in flowing feminine was all she could think to call it) script. With his sly grin, he slid it across the table to her, turning it right side up at the last instant. Marilena could tell this was not news to Viv. She was curious above all else, but she sat there smugly, as if she knew what was coming. "'Jonathan Stonagal,'"
read aloud.
"J.onathan Stonagal," Planchette repeatedly loudly. Can you believe it?"
"Am I supposed to recognize this name?"
183
"Gunoi, Mrs. Carpathia, you can't bluff me! You're better read than that. You know who Stonagal is."
It was true. She read the news magazines, watched the international news. Stonagal, an American banker and financier, was one of the wealthiest men on the planet. Rumor had it he was behind various nefarious clandestine commissions and coalitions that had as their goals control of international finance and world domination.
"What does he have to do with me? with us? Unless you're going to tell me he is one of the sperm donors, I don't see--"
"Oh, that would be something," Planchette said. "Imagine that. But his brilliance is hardly academic. I mean, he's brilliant, but it's more stradd intelept."
Nicky perked up. "Stradd intelept!" he said. "Street smart!"
"Very good," Planchette said. "Mr. Stonagal has taken an interest in Nicky, Marilena. Can you conceive of a benefactor with unlimited means?"
She was speechless. What possible interest would Jonathan Stonagal have in a mental prodigy from the middle of nowhere? And how would he have found out about Nicky anyway?
"How wonderful," Viv said.
Marilena shot her a look. "I already owe Lucifer the boy's soul. What will be left for Stonagal? Or are you trying to tell me this is wholly altruisticm he merely wants to help out of the goodness of his heart?"
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Tim LaHaye O" Jerry B. Jenkins
Planchette apparently found that knee-slappingly
¢. Late on the uptake, Viv joined the hilarity. "I'm serious," Marilena said. "What's in it for
1?"
"Shall we retire to the other room?" Planchette said. "Let the boy be excused?"
That must have sounded perfect to Nicky, as he ed down a last big bite of steak and headed for the
"Clear your place, young man," Marilena said, but he didn't so much as look at her.
"I've got it," Viv said.
Marilena found it disconcerting that Viv bus
ied herself in the kitchen as Planchette explained the Stonagal con-
That left no doubt that Viv was already up to which reminded Marilena once again that she'd been just the vessel in this deal, the carrier and of the chosen child.
"Jonathan Stonagal sponsors many scholarships the world," Planchette began when they had onto the couch. " To my knowledge there is no requirement that recipients eventually work for one of companies, though they could do worse. I should the students would be left with a certain impres- of Mr. Stonagal and would take advantage of any
":ies offered, but as I say, I don't know of any
, any strings."
"How much do you know about this, Mr. Planchette?" "I'm sorry?"
i'. "I have many questions."
"I'm at your disposal."
"Let's start with how many scholarships or offers to finance an education have been made to children who are about to start school at age six."
Planchette looked nonplussed. He pointed at Marilena. "Excellent," he said. "Point taken. My guess is that this is unique. I believe Mr. Stonagal's other educational
stipends are offered exclusively to college students." "Not even high school students?" "To the best of my knowledge." "So, how many? Dozens?"
He shrugged. "Probably more."
"Hundreds?"
"Throughout the world? Yes. I would guess in the hundreds."
She nodded. "Hundreds of scholarships all over the world for college students, plus one for a six-year-old." "Wonderful, no?"
"Suspicious," Marilena said. "I don't get it."
"Be flattered, Mrs. Carpathia! Be thrilled. Imagine the advantages for Nicky, for you."
"How is Mr. Stonagal aware of my son, anyway?" "I'm not at liberty to--"
"No, no. Don't start with that. Don't come here with this news and think you can leave out the most important part of the equation. Is Stonagal a spiritualist? a Luciferian?"
"I can't speak for him. In"
"You are speaking for him! You're offering his beneficence!"
Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins
"I believe he is sympathetic to our cause, yes." "Sympathetic or an adherent?" "I believe both."
"Um-hm," she said. "And so he knows about Nicky
those channels? From you or from Viv?" "Neither."
"Come now, that would be better than what I might
Please tell me the news of Nicky has not covered the that every spiritualist in the world is aware of him." Planchette shifted his position. "No, I don't think so. are rumors that a special child is a gift from
But it's not like they know his name or where he was born, nor do people see him as some sort
" "All I'm concerned with right now is how Jonathan
views Nicky. And if he did not hear about him from you or Viv, where then?"
Planchette studied his nails.
i.: "Come, come, Reiche," Marilena said. "I deserve to know at least that."
"Stonagal * * * ah.. * owns--in fact, you could discover
this with a little research on the Internet, so if it up later you might want to say that's where you it .... " "Fair enough. I'll cover for you." "He owrs tneldciune Industrie."
"Mr. Planchette, you know this has impropriety all over it."
"I told you: He owns--"
"And that allows him to violate the company's own
policies?"
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"What are you saying, Mrs. Carpathia? Because of a technicality, you're going to thumb your nose at the chance of a lifetime?"
"A technicality? I'd sooner call it an egregious invasion of my son's privacy."
Planchette sighed and sat back. "Marilena, you need to understand something. You are the mother of a unique son."
"You think I don't know that? That doesn't make him the property o(---"
"Hear me out. Please. Let me tell you what Mr. Stonagal has in mind for Nicolae, and then you can decide whether to turn your back on it."
"I was under the impression I wouldn't have that choice. It seems you have come not to request this, but to inform me of a decision already made."
Marilena was bothered that Planchette did not dispute her. So that was it. No one had considered that a mother could do other than gratefully receive such news. But this mother was increasingly feeling left out of the equation, and she feared this eventuality would complete her alienation from her own flesh and blood.
"The public school that made so much sense to youp which frankly surprises me, given your own academic credentials--"
"Excuse me, sir, but I am a product of public schools." "Then you know better than I that only five percent of such students are prepared for college. The private school we, er, Mr. Stonagal has selected or would like to recommend--"
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Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins
"How much time has Mr. Stonagal spent in Romania, sir?"
"And he would have no idea what is available. How
that he knows just the right private school for my son." "He has advisers, of course. Any good manager does." "He does not manage me."
"No, he doesn't. He's merely making a most generous
offer ma'am, and if I may be blunt, you'd be a fool to refuse
"All right, I'm listening. Where have you and the ultimate manager' decided Nicky is to go to
. Planchette smiled as if believing that as soon as Marl-
heard the news, all her doubts and fears would be
Intelectuahtate Academie in Blaj."
" 1 " More than fifty kilometers from here!" ; B all That's more
Transportation will be provided."
" "What are you talking about? A bus? A limo? Fifty
each way to school every day?"
Planchette's expression soured. "Be grateful he is not
sent to boarding school."
You would have to kill me first."
And for the first time, because of what she saw pass
Reiche Planchette's eyes, Marilena realized she had red some awful truth. Eliminating her was not out of the question She had no claim to this child. She was sported to when first the maternal instinct flooded her being. The emotion she felt now, the mother-bear
instinct--fueled by fear for her own life, made that initial biological-clock trauma seem like child's play.
She wanted to rail, to challenge, to threaten, to tell this smarmy pretender that neither he nor any American billionaire would tell her what to do with her own son. And yet she couldn't back it up. They were going to do what they were going to do. Viv was in on it, and Marilena's agreement to raise Nicky as a spiritualist carried with it all these other obligations. The only way out was to, in essence, kidnap her own child and spirit him away in the night.
But where would she go? What would she do? She had no money and an income that barely met their needs even with most of their expenses already cared for. And as it was, her meager funds were dependent on her contacts with major universities. There was no way to do her work clandestinely. As she sat across from Reiche Planchette, she realized the awful truth. She had lost whatever freedom she thought she had.
Marilena quickly adapted and adjusted. If she could not think of a way to escape with her son, she would have to play the game--or appear to. She would have to accede to this "recommendation" of where to educate him. She would have to agree to teach Nicky their "religion," as she had pledged. Now it became more imperative than ever that she take the lead on this. She might even have to fake personal allegiance to Lucifer. He would know the truth, of course. She couldn't fool him. And if these people were as cosmically connected with him as they claimed--and had shown evidence might warn them about her. In oblique ways, the meetings or through Ouija or tarot or automatic he already had warned Viv.
Would Marilena have to get her mind right? Would
She have to open herself to an entirely different look Luciferianism? Could she persuade herself that the of the power of the air was worthy of worship al
l? If it made the difference regarding her relationship with her only son, her only living blood relative, she would have to do what she had to do.
But she couldn't show weakness now. "I do not want
My son riding a bus or being driven to school every day by anyone but me." Not even Ms. Ivinisova?" "I will do it."
"But Viviana should at least share those duties so she can begin instructing Nicolae on the ways of our
"She can spell me occasionally and take over in the of emergency or illness. But I will do the teaching well." "You ?"
"Of course me. Why not?"
"But I thought--"
"Sir, I have been a faithful student of spiritualism before Nicolae was born."
"I know, but--"
"I pledged to raise him in the discipline, and I covet
privilege..."
"Well, that's certainly admirable. And you can easily
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do that during the daily round-trips between here and Blaj."
"That would be my plan. And you say a vehicle will be provided?"
"That's the best part."
Sure, whatever it is will make this all worth it.
"You'll have the use of a new SUV. And every expense related to it will be taken care of. Fuel, maintenance, you name it."
"All out of the goodness of Jonathan Stonagal's heart," Marilena said.
Planchette smiled. "Precisely."
As a sophomore Ray Steele began to come out of his shell. Besides his mother and his doctor conspiring and finally hitting upon the right medication for his face, Ray's growth spurt slowed enough that he began to feel as graceful in the hallways as he did while playing sports. He recognized that girls seemed to notice him, greet him, maintain eye contact. He had to work at keeping his mind on class and homework, as the opposite sex monopolized his thoughts.
FOURTEEN
sir," Jonathan Stonagal's chauffeur
al caught Fredericka's eye and nodded toward machine humming in the backseat of the stretch as it waited at a light in midtown. He noticed folded the sheet vertically without so much as a at it, then handed it to him.