New Beginnings in Spain by Sarah Barkley (early reader books TXT) 📕

PROLOGUE

August 23

Ramiro Alvarez sat impatiently in the dark corner of the Oasis Bar. Where in the hell IS that incompetent bastard? He knows how critical timing is, and if he can’t even get to a lousy appointment on time. Hijo de la puta! I never should have trusted such an important job to this kid. But he knew why he had chosen him for the job. Enrique Garcia was young, just 19 years old, had sad, innocent eyes and was very soft-spoken. He almost came across as timid, until Ramiro had figured out he was bluffing. Enrique had approached Ramiro two months ago in a bar in Bilbao. He had gone up to him as Ramiro was eating a andwich, and begged for money. Ramiro was in a rare good mood that day, so he invited the kid to sit down, and bought him lunch. A short time later, Ramiro had gotten up to go to the restroom, leaving his jacket on the chair. When he returned, Enrique AND his jacket were gone. There wasn’t anything of value IN the jacket, but HELL, he had paid 200 Euros for that sucker.

By the time Ramiro tracked him down, 2 blocks away in an alley, he was just about to beat the shit out of the kid. He yanked him out of his hiding place, jerked him to standing position, then pulled his arm back to get ready for a good swing, when he suddenly released the kid, and fell back roaring with laughter. He still smiles, when he thinks about it. That took guts to try to con Ramiro, and Ramiro could definitely use a guy like that, especially for the job he had in mind.

Ten minutes later, Enrique quietly entered the bar, looked around in the dark haze of the smoke filled room, and spotted Ramiro sitting in the corner, glaring at him. Timidly, he approached the
table and sat down.

“Oh, stop the bullshit innocent act with me,” Ramiro snapped at him. “Where the hell were you?
Oh, forget it, did you do what I told you to do?”

“Yes, Ramiro, of course,” he said excitedly. “ The Ford van that we used in Bilbao is all tuned up and waiting for us back at the garage. I ran the Sierra’s route from the fair to their home at least a dozen times, and I’ve found the perfect location. About two kilometers from their home is a sharp bend in the road. We’ll have the lovely Isabel, who no man can resist, standing by the side of the van with the hood up. Their driver won’t hesitate to stop and help a babe like that, regardless of the fact that he’ll have the kids with him.”

“Hey, watch how you talk about my woman! I’ll break your skinny neck if you so much as look at her the wrong way! Don’t you think the driver will be curious as to what she’s doing out on that part of the road after midnight?”

“Calm down, man. I am giving you a compliment. She is a beautiful lady and you should be proud. Like I said, he’s not gonna care about the time, only about helping a lady in distress. By the time he figures it out, it’ll be too late.”

“How do we know Sr. De la Sierra won’t be with them?” Ramiro was starting to lose his patience with this moron.

“Well, they haven’t announced the winner for this year’s wine harvest, but everyone in town is
sure that it will be the Sierra Winery. He’ll be at the special awards banquet late that night. Even if he doesn’t take first place, it would be tacky for him not to show up. The banquet is the same night of the fireworks, and no kid within 50 KM of Logrono will miss those fireworks! It is certain that the Sierra kids will be attending the display with their dad, but that he will go to the banquet afterwards. The driver will take the kids home to the old lady, and then go back for Sr. Sierra. That’s they way they did it last year, and there’s no reason to think they won’t do the same this year. This bend in the road is perfect, too! The Sierra home is the last one on the street. Nobody else will have any reason to be there. Now stop worrying, it’s all set.”

“You’re right, Enrique. Yes, you did well. I am very proud of you. We are all proud of you. You know how important the Cause is. We mustn’t fail. Everything must go exactly as planned.”

“Si, si, Ramiro. I understand. And I am proud to work with you for the Cause.”

“Bueno, that is good. Go, now. Meet me back here in 4 weeks, on the 21st, at the same time. That is when we will make the final preparations in the barn. You did good, Enrique.”

As Enrique left the bar, Ramiro sat back and smiled. Yes, he thought, Enrique has proven to be
a good boy for us. I’m actually going to miss the kid. I have no problem killing those spoiled rotten little Sierra kids, but Enrique is different. Too bad he had to be such a blabbermouth. He could never be trusted to keep things quiet. At least he will die a hero.

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Chapter 1

Slowly, Delta Airlines flight 108 was approaching the runway for take off on its nonstop
flight to Madrid. The passenger in seat 10-A, Molly O’Leary, leaned back, closed her eyes and thought about how she ended up on a plane headed for Spain.

It was really happening. Molly was finally off on her “trip of a lifetime”. She’d been planning to go to Spain since she was 4 years old back in Gulf Breeze, FL. That was when her family’s live-in nanny, Rosa, from Segovia, Spain, had stayed with them for two years. She had taught Molly to count to ten, the days of the week, and a lot of other Spanish words and phrases. Every night Rosa would tell Molly stories about her hometown of Segovia. She'd talk about the 1000 year old castles, beautiful cathedrals, bull fights and gypsies. Molly always
loved listening to Rosa’s stories. Over the years, Molly had often dreamed of that wonderful, mystical land far, far away. She also read nearly every book she could find on the country.

Now, almost 30 years later, Molly was about to live her dream. How she ever got up the courage to take this trip, she doesn’t know. She’d never even been out of the country, unless you count her honeymoon to Cancun with her Rick. Sweet, wonderful Rick.

He was cruelly taken away from her in an instant! One minute she and Rick are laughing and walking out the door of the Three Dollar Café in Buckhead. The next minute he’s lying dead on the ground. They had gone there to celebrate the 9th wedding anniversary. They went there every year, since that is where they went on their first date. It was raining like crazy, so Rick insisted on getting the car and driving up to the front door to pick her up. Pulling his coat collar up
over his head and ran out in the rain towards their car. Molly heard that awful sound of a car slamming on its brakes and skidding. She looked up and saw a huge black SUV come plowing off of Peachtree St, and headed for Rick. Just as she screamed his name and Rick turned in her direction, Molly watched helplessly as his body was slammed into their Honda by the SUV. Rick died instantly. The man driving the car had a blood alcohol level of .23, almost 3 times the legal drinking limit. Well, he has 15 years to think about it while he sits in Fulton County Jail. But, that did painfully little to ease the hollow ache in Molly’s heart.

She loved Rick more that she thought she was capable. They planned kids together, their future. They’d even picked out names for the day when they’d have their first child: Jack Christopher if he was a boy, or Jamie Lee if she was a girl.


That horrible day was just over a year ago, and Molly was finally just starting to feel “whole” again. She was finally starting to not feel so angry all of the time. But, dear Lord, how she missed him. They had met during her senior years at the University of Georgia, and they practically fell in love at first sight. He was 6’3” tall, lean, with emerald green eyes and curly, dirty blond hair. She was 5’9” and slender with piercing blue eyes, short, cropped honey blond hair, and her grandmother's fair Irish skin. Molly was studying Spanish language and culture, and Rick was studying broadcasting.

After graduation, Molly got a job teaching Spanish at St. Pius X H.S. in Atlanta, while Rick got a job as an apprentice with Turner Broadcasting. After just 18 months, he was promoted to Asst. Producer of the Saturday Morning Show. They were married the following year, and moved to a cute little “cottage" home in Midtown. They worked
hard, but they also had lots of fun. Most nights they would stay home and cook out on the grill or prefare an inexpensive meal of pasta or chicken. For fun, they would ride bikes through some of Atlanta’s oldest and prettiest neighborhoods, roller blade through Piedmont Park, or just check out books at the library and read out on the back porch.

They were trying to save most of their money for the day when they would start a family. After almost nine years of marriage, they had finally decided to start trying to get pregnant. They were both 33 years old, and they were ready! Actually, the timing in Molly’s cycle was perfect, so they decided to start trying on their anniversary night, after they got home, of course.

That drunk driver had completely destroyed all of their hopes and dreams. Rick was gone, and