A Vacation to Die For

A Vacation to Die For

Ralph Emery Barhydt

"Woo hooo," yelled Karen. "Vacation time! Where are we going this year?" Karen had walked in from school, the last day of the school year, thrown her books on the floor and broke into the biggest smile you ever saw. Stanley, her younger brother had been napping on the couch and jumped about a foot. Sean, her older brother walked in right behind her also carrying a huge smile. 

"Yes," he exclaimed. "Barcelona!" Can you believe it. Barcelona, the east coast of Spain, probably some time in Girona where that badass Lance Armstrong used to hang out. Probably a little time in Madrid. This will be our glorious Spanish holiday and I can practice my Spanish. So, right, right, right! We always go on such killer vacations"

“Se habla Espanol,” shouted Stanley. “Oui, oui,” replied Karen. “oops, no that’s not right. We went to Lyon last year. Si si,” she said. “That reminds me, we never heard back from that guy who was begging us to talk to our parents. He seemed so distraught and I felt sorry for him. I gave him my phone number and told him to text me when he was feeling a little better. I guess I just forgot all about. I wonder what his problem was?”

“That guy was weird,” Sean murmured. “He actually scared me. I thought he was either drugged, or drunk, or maybe even injured, like shot. Then he said something like ‘tell them not to do it. They’ll regret it.’ That was a bit cryptic.”

Sean was a young high school stud. Eighteen, six foot two, straight A’s, football team---all that. Very popular boy. Very bright, headed for Stanford.

Karen was a good student, Bs and As, just not very motivated, certainly not at Sean’s level. But she had a lot of friends, was greatly admired and her teachers kept trying to get her to ratchet it up. Karen was content and enjoyed life. She saw no reason to knock herself out for anything. Stanley was the cynical, at a very young age, hell-raiser. He was loud, disruptive and mean. Alex, the cat, ran and hid whenever he saw Stanley around. Stanley loved going on these summer trips as he always managed to get in trouble at least two or three times. Throwing lounge chairs in the swimming pool and then floating on them was a favorite. Doing a cannonball dive next to people sunning was another hit for Stanley. Most of all, he loved to go through his parent’s luggage whenever he could. That was not often as they were aware of Stanley and kept everything locked. He also loved to try to spy on them when they were shut in their bedroom making love or whatever they did.

At the San Jose airport, Stanley tried to sneak his new Swiss Army knife through security. He managed to set off very loud alarms and bring out every TSA agent within sight. Security took the whole family in for interrogation which lasted for 45 minutes. Stanley’s parents were extremely upset and were quite nervous during the whole ordeal. Of course, Stanley had no way of knowing that his parents had very carefully hidden two semi-automatic pistols with silencers in their luggage. That luggage had been especially designed to hide contraband and fortunately for the Favors, it worked. When they landed in Madrid, the Spanish authorities had been alerted and they were subjected to more interrogation. Nothing went amiss.

During both interrogation episodes Sean had been puzzled by his parents’ discomfort. He paid close attention to their faces as agents went through their bags. He thought that they we remarkably tense when the agents were fumbling around in one specific area of the big brown bag. He noticed it in San Jose and in Madrid. He also noticed that his father seemed quite attached to the bag and always had it close by him. It appeared that there was one little side pocket that his dad was very intent on watching.

 “All right, Mr. and Mrs. Favor, you are good to go. Frankly, I feel certain that we missed something; but, we gave it our best shot. I am betting we will see you again someday. Have a good trip. You kids enjoy!” The TSA agent was tough but nice and impressed all the kids. Later, Stanley said to Karen and Sean, “What do you think about what that agent said. He seemed to feel like there was something wrong with Mom and Dad.”

“This has happened before Stanley. You just weren’t that interested. I think there is something going on with Mom and Dad but I can’t say what.” 

“I have a couple of ideas,” said Sean, “but it scares me to even think about them.”

“What?,” demanded Karen.

“Well, they must be hiding something---either drugs or money or weapons. This is actually the third time this has happened and I really wonder about Dad’s suitcase. He always seems, hmm, alert to it. He watches it like a hawk. It’s big and it has a lot of pockets. However, if it’s drugs, it can’t be that much really. If it’s money, it could be a lot, but it would require a lot of space. That leaves, weapons. Maybe a gun, or maybe two guns. But, why? I mean Dad is an orthodontist and Mom is a real estate agent. Why would they be carrying guns? Stanley, I think you are right but I don’t have a clue about what is going on.”

The family arrived at the gate with minutes to spare. They were travelling first class so they didn’t have to worry about their seats and were boarded immediately. Their bags were gate checked and both parents looked relieved. They were on their way, but Stanley was agitated and more than curious. Off to Barcelona.

They checked into the Hotel Ohla and were taken to their rather large suite. The kids all gasped when they saw and were blown away. The suite had four bedrooms, a large living room and a deck overlooking the Mediterranean. It was on the top floor and the elevator required a code just to get to it. “Caramba,” said Sean. “Oh my god,” said Karen. “Holy shit,” exclaimed Stanley. Each of them ran to a bedroom and jumped on the bed. “Wow, wow, wow,” Karen was yelling. “ I have a separate bathroom.”

“Yes, well,” said the father, “ there are three bathrooms, so Mom and I share, Sean and Stanley share, and, Karen, you get one all to yourself. Karen’s jaw dropped, “Oh my god” she said again as teenagers do. “Oh my god. Why don’t we just move here? This is so very, very cool.”

“OK,” said the Mom. “It’s mid-afternoon. Let’s all go for a swim, go for an early dinner and an early bed time. We all have jet lag and should take it easy on the first day. We will all try to get a good night’s rest. OK? Get your swimsuits on.”

They did just that. A really nice swim, some hot tub time, long showers and an early, delicious dinner in the hotel dining room. Sure enough, everyone was tired, dead tired after dinner. Upstairs and into their bedrooms everybody went. The kids came out to the living room and all together hugged their parent. “Mom and Dad, you are the greatest. This is going to be our best vacation ever and we are super super super grateful.” Sean was beaming.

“Yes, oh thank you, Mom and Dad,” said Karen and Stanley together, laughing. They all took turns hugging Mom and Dad. Karen and Stanley pretended to have a little duel, then they all went back into their bedrooms. They fell fast asleep---except for Stanley. He couldn’t stop thinking about the TSA search. Nor could he stop thinking about his dad’s suitcase.

After a couple of hours, he went out into the living room. As he looked around the room, he noticed that his parents’ door was slightly ajar. He crept over to it and listened carefully. No sounds. He could hear his brother Sean snoring rather loudly but his parent’s bedroom appeared to be empty. He slowly pushed the door open and slid inside. No one there. The closet door was open and he saw the luggage inside.

Stanley went to the closet and pulled out his dad’s big piece of luggage. He threw it on the floor near the bed and started opening it up, the suitcase and all its pockets. After finding nothing in the main part of the bag, he went quickly to that area where he felt his father was being protective. There was nothing on or in the bag at the point that he could see. No zipper, no pocket, no opening, but the area did seem slightly bulging. He pushed all around the empty space and nothing happened. Then, he just slapped what seem to him to be a corner and a large seam slowly, quietly opened up. A secret compartment! His heart stopped, he gasped for air and jumped slightly. “What the coco?” he said outloud.

“Stanley! What are you doing?” his brother Sean said rather emphatically. Stanley jumped and let out a large yelp. “Sean, look at this. It’s a secret compartment on Dad’s suitcase.

“Stanley, you should not be in here, you should not be messing with Dad’s things. C’mon man, go back to bed.”

“No wait, I want to see it,” said Karen as she entered to room. The boys were wearing shorts, underwear and Karen had on a pair of jams with bunnies on them. Stanley looked at her and laughed. “Well, Karen, now we have a quorum. Come look at the secret compartment in Dad’s suitcase.”

“No,” said Sean.

“Yes,” said Karen and Stanley in unison, then laughed. Karen crossed the room from the door and knelt on the floor. She rubbed her hand on the outside of the bag and then stuck her hand inside. She could push out the side wall, but only a very little. It seemed that the pocket was deep, but not very wide. And. It had some kind of strange material on each side. She rubbed it and her hand started to burn. Quickly she jerked her hand off the bag. “Oh my god,” she said again.

“Okay, guys, we need to get out of here. Why aren’t Mom and Dad in here sleeping. Where are they?”

“C’mon, Sean. Come look. Good question about Mom and Dad. Take a look.” 

Sean moved to the suitcase, knelt down and stuck his hand in it. He felt the strange material and his hand started to burn. He pulled it out immediately.

“OK. Enough. Stanley, put the bag back wherever you found it and let’s all go back to bed.”

“But…” said Stanley and Karen together.

“No ‘buts,’” put it back. “Let’s go.”

Stanley found a way to zip the compartment closed and put the bag back in the closet. They were just getting to the bedrooms when they heard some fumbling at the front door. “Quick,” hushed Karen. They all got their doors closed and back in bed just as their parents came in. But then they heard a loud cry from their mother.

They rushed out into the living room. Their mom was lowering their dad onto the sofa. It looked like she was bleeding from the shoulder as she gently eased the father down. They all ran around in front of the sofa. Karen screamed when she saw her father and Stanley yelled. “Dad!!!” they both yelled.

No response. “Quick, Karen. Get two towels one wet and one dry. Hurry!” Mom took off Dad’s jacket, then his shirt and the could three bullet holes in his upper body. Sean yelled “shit, oh no.” Stanley started crying.

There was knock on the door. Karen had brought the towels in and again said “Oh my god, who could that be?’

“Answer it Sean. Let him in. He is a doctor.”

Sean went quickly and opened the door. A distinguished looking, grey haired man walked into to room and straight to the sofa. “Damn, Mrs. Favor, this is going to be expensive. Hundred k.”

Mrs. Favor looked at the doctor and said, “Please get busy Senor. We must hurry to save his life. We will pay the fee.”

“Tonight?” asked the doctor.

“Of course. You start to work. I will have the money if you save his life.”

“Fair enough,” said the doctor who set down his bag and took off his jacket. “Which one of you kids wants to help?” They held up their hands and Stanley and Karen said “me,” simultaneously. The doctor smiled, pulled a few items out of his bag and went to work.

After about an hour, Mr. Favor was bandaged up and still unconscious. Sean and the doctor lifted him and took him to the bedroom. “Mrs. Favor, he has a bit of damage, but I think he is going to survive. I am giving you some antibiotics that he will have to take twice a day, but he must eat something before he takes them. Hopefully, when he comes to, he can eat something. It doesn’t have to be much. Here are three other bottles. Give him one pill out of each bottle every morning. If he develops a fever or looks bad, contact me. Otherwise, do not contact me. 

Now, I can see you have superficial wound on your shoulder. It needs to cleaned and dressed. I will do that and then, may I be paid please.?”

The doctor stood up, cleaned Mrs. Favors wound---which embarrassed the children as she had to stand in just her bra---and taped her up.  He started putting on his coat. Mrs. Favor had tears in her eyes. Karen had tears in her eyes. Stanley was crying. Only Sean looked in anyway stoic. “Senor,” he said. “That’s a lot of money if we don’t really know he will survive.”

“Yes, son, it is. But, then, the police are not involved. Your dad has his best chance at survival and will remain absolutely quiet about what has happened here. I should probably charge you three times as much, but I have known your parents for a long time. I am impressed that you said something. But, Mrs. Favor, I do need to go.”

“Of course, doctor. We are all very grateful for your service and will happily pay you.” She went into the closet and closed the door. Several minutes later, she came back into the room with a stack of cash. She handed the money to the doctor and said, “Well, doctor, it seems trivial to say thank you, but we all extend our deepest thanks. I know that you will be discreet about the wounds and about the cash. Gracias”

Mrs. Favor adjusted the covers around her husband and sat in a chair next to the bed. “I will sit here to be here when he awakens and will take care of him. I am sure that you expect some answers. So, everybody find a chair and bring it in. Just quickly, we are, or were, assassins. Well, we thought we were. We have never actually killed anybody and for that, I am grateful. This job failed and you can see the results. Get your chairs.”

“Mom,” yipped Stanley, “can I see your guns?”

9/8/2023