Free Affliction by S. W. Frank Page A

SIX
     
     
     
    Ari handed Nico the box of children’s clothing to give to Sophie. Selange arrived in town and the Energizer Bunny hit the ground running. Her latest endeavor was to aid single mothers by donating children’s clothing. This suggestion came up at their meeting a few nights ago. Sophie had agreed and volunteered her home to warehouse the items until they were distributed to the churches.
    Nico looked at the large box. Semira had begun wobbly steps and soon she  would be walking with confidence. He hated time raced by. He loathed the thought of Semira dating.
    He lifted the box. “That’s it?”
    “That’s all for now,” Ari said while tying the sash of her robe. She awakened early to make tea and to share a quiet morning without interruption from the children. They had established a ritual after the death of his mother which consisted of morning talks at dawn over breakfast, late night walks on the property or utilization of the yacht to enjoy the view of the sea and uninterrupted sex. Nico had changed. Subtle but a change nonetheless. Their conversations about his art brought a glow to his face that she loved to see. He appeared relaxed and happy. She realized that she hadn’t fully known Nico the artist and what she learned, she loved even more.
    She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. She had to stand on the balls of her feet to do so. “Stay safe and don’t forget Semira. I’ll be home late. You have to check on the boys.”
    Ari was close-mouthed about th e cash she received under the table from Selange. In the event Nico was busted, the authorities would never find her goddamn money.
    She was taking the aero to Switzerland to open a new account and add a proxy to an existing account for Selange. The trick to avoiding detection when laundering money is never deposit large amounts of cash. Diversify in small fictitious companies and individual savings accounts. Like Nico, account numbers were stored in her head, but recently she had to acknowledge with a hectic life, she might one day forget. A record had to be made. In the bronze baby shoes of Semira is where the accounts and locations were secreted. In her will, she bequeathed prized possessions to the children. In talks with the boys she specified, they are to inspect each gift after her passing and proceed accordingly.
    She hadn’t told Nico where she was going and there wasn’t any way around the new electronic gadgets he put everywhere. With Shanda’s untimely passing, her techie husband gave her a present, a pulse sensor bracelet to wear. It was useless to anyone but the owner. The electronic sensor identified her heart rate and then used her unique DNA code as an algorithm to access certain places, it was also a locator.
    Nico also upgraded their security. He programmed everything from the villa to the gates, cars and even the shed with new technology. To gain entry to any of these things required a swipe of the owner’s hand or wrist near a designated entry point, such as a door for example. Nico ensured his area was off-limits. The weapons and special equipment used for work weren’t for community usage. With a curious child in the home he was overly diligent that rules were in effect. The only person to use a gun was Nico, unless there was a life-threatening emergency in the home.
    He updated the other families with the new systems.
    Nico hadn’t told Ari he’d gone to do an installation at Bianca’s only to learn she moved. Well, Ari had firsthand knowledge because the heffa phoned a few days before she departed town. Bianca had the audacity to apologize…that’s right…the woman said she was sorry if she had caused trouble.
    Thank goodness the skank wasn’t in her face when she did it because she may have found herself on the ground!
    Nico waved a hand in front of his wife’s face. “Houston, are you there?”
    “Oh shut up and go,” she said while shoving him out the door.
    He smiled. “Sweetheart, I’ve assigned a