Goldstein, Johnson & Cole - 11. Chapter 11 Tears, Laughter and Plans

“Thank you John, but I have to ask, how much is this going to cost?” Isaac was prepared to help financially if needed.

“This is for Manny, there is no cost. And I have some good news for you. The people who were meant to look after Joseph have been tracked down, all of the funds have been replaced and are back in the bank.” With that news John terminated the call.

*****

Ian and Kevin had just reached the bottom of the stairs when they heard the crash quickly followed by the sound of shattering glass and horrified shrieks from Shamira and Joseph. The colour drained from their faces, Ian bounded across the hall to the kitchen and Kevin stood poised with his mobile ready to press *# as Jacob had instructed.

The twins could be heard crying out on the patio. Ian opened the kitchen door seeing the mess and disaster he immediately he brought his hand up to cover his mouth, his eyes screwed up, his face contorted and Kevin saw his shoulders begin to shake. Pressing the buttons on the phone he rushed to Ian's side and looked, his eyes were like saucers and his jaw dropped.

“Stop laughing, it's not that funny.” Shamira couldn't help herself and laughed too.

Just then they heard a car screech to a halt, it's doors slammed shut and running footsteps could be heard approaching. Jacob's face was first to appear at the kitchen window followed by two other familiar faces, nobody saw them discreetly hide their hand guns in holsters under their clothing.

Everybody was laughing so hard they didn't notice the twins enter with shocked expressions on their faces.

“Wow,” Aaron started. “What happened?” Asher completed the sentence, the crying stopped as they dropped to the floor in fits of childish giggles.

The kitchen looked like a disaster area and Joseph was covered in white powder giving him a ghostlike appearance. While everyone else was laughing Joseph looked scared and horrified, his bottom lip pouted and trembled and tears threateningly formed in his eyes. The more everyone laughed the worse Joseph felt.

Shamira calmed herself and enveloped Joseph in a hug. “It's okay honey, there's no need to be upset. We can clean up and start again, there's no harm done.”

On Jacob's suggestion, Kevin took Joseph upstairs to his room to get cleaned up and changed, Ian went with the twins to the patio to keep them occupied and Shamira soon had the kitchen cleaned and back to normal with the help of Jacob and his colleagues.

Soon after they all sat down to a late breakfast of American pancakes, fruit and syrup. They were all in good spirits and even Joseph managed to laugh when Shamira explained what had happened.

Joseph had poured the powdered pancake mix into a large glass mixing bowl and prepared a jug of cold water, but instead of using the usual hand whisk Joseph decided to use the electric hand whisk on a high setting. This sent a cloud of the powder mix into the air making Joseph sneeze, this in turn caused him to drop the jug and knock the glass mixing bowl on the floor sending the powder mix up into a bigger cloud covering himself and the area around him.

Kevin told them that he hit the emergency call because the angle from which he saw Ian's reaction he thought Ian was crying and something bad had happened. The truth was Ian saw the kitchen disaster and a ghostly looking Joseph which he thought was hilarious and was trying, unsuccessfully, to stop himself from laughing. Jacob understood Kevin's reaction and complimented him on acting swiftly. It was definitely a morning that would be remembered.

Although later than originally planned they enjoyed their time at the outdoor pool, between spells in the pool the conversation was lively. The bond that was Jacob forming with Ian and Kevin was undeniable, he asked many questions about life in England and hung on every word they uttered. He really liked the sound of Ian's favourite meal, fish, chips and mushy peas with bread and butter to make chip butties, he made them promise that it would be his first meal when he arrived in Manchester.

Kevin enjoyed telling Joseph about places to visit, especially two of his favourites which are Alton Towers and Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Joseph was totally absorbed when Kevin described the roller-coasters and other rides and huge amounts of candyfloss on wooden sticks, he wasn't sure if he would like the rides, but because Kevin liked them he wanted to try them, the idea of candy floss captured his imagination. Because Blackpool is on the coast he wanted to go there first as he had never seen the sea.

This made Jacob smile, “If Ian and Kevin have time before they go home I could take you to Haifa. My family own some apartments there I'm sure we could stay in one, they are nothing special but they are adequate. If Ian and Kevin don't have time then I could take you after they leave. That is, of course, if they, Isaac and Shamira agree. I would really like to take all of you though if that is agreeable.”

Joseph was speechless as Shamira spoke, “What do you think guys? I'd have to speak to Isaac first but it could be a pleasant change for all of us.”

Kevin was happily nodding when Ian answered, “Our flight is six days away and we have nothing planned as yet, judging by Kevin's silly grin I think I can say yes for us if it's possible. If not then as long as Isaac and Shamira approve of the arrangements we agree to you taking Joseph after we leave, but I hope we can all go.”

“Okay then, Jacob see what you can arrange,” Shamira gave a coy smile, “leave Isaac to me, I'll speak to him tonight.”

Smiling Jacob got an evil glint in his eye, he glanced at the three young boys before addressing Ian and Kevin. “Fancy one last dip in the pool before we leave? I'm thinking we could all carry a passenger for a big splash, what do you think?”

Jumping up Jacob grabbed Joseph holding him tight to his chest, Ian and Kevin followed suit grabbing Aaron and Asher. It was a race to the edge of the pool with the boys shrieking in delight, launching themselves into the air they hit the surface of the water at the same time. To many cheers and a few groans the resulting splash was huge with almost everyone in the pool and some stood on the side being drenched as the water descended.

Isaac laughed hearing three excited boys describe how they made a big splash at the pool that day, clearly they had a lot of fun. When Shamira spoke about a possible trip to Haifa he said that he didn't think he could take the time off work, but if Jacob could arrange anything then she should take the twins and enjoy the break. All that remained was to wait until Jacob returned with some news about the apartment.

Behind the scenes at Associated Executive Car Services men and women were working hard on their computers. Background checks were being carried out on city employees and tentative plans were being made for meetings. Specialists wearing latex gloves in another room were poring over and scrutinizing documents, they spoke in murmurs and hushed whispers. All of them were working to a plan laid out on a storyboard. This is typical of all of the covert operations they worked on.