The Last Empress of Mars
that he also enjoyed being in the limelight, but his primary motivation was solving puzzles and shedding light on historical unknowns and places and treasures lost in time. Felicity and her grandfather were extremely close, as he had raised her when her parents and younger sister died in a bizarre auto accident when she was only 7. He had seen to it that she was well educated in the best private schools, but he had also made sure she was highly trained in other less conventional ways. Ways that would prove in the coming days just how wise his foresight had been. As she drove her little German convertible through a seemingly endless stretch of desert road on the way to Las Vegas, a sad folk song, Bobby Bare ´s classic “500 Miles Away from Home”, came on, it was one of her grandfathers´ all-time favorites and Felicity lost control of her emotions and cried like she never had before. Even when her parents had died, she had cried but it was the sorrow of a 7-year-old trying to understand a loss no child should ever have to. This was different, she was nearly an adult now and this man, her grandfather had been everything to her, father and mother, mentor and hero, as well as inspiration and meaning for about as long as she could remember and now, she felt truly orphaned, completely alone in the world. These tears welled up from a dark place deep inside her soul and she felt her life would never be the same again. Her only consolation was the thought of revenge, to find those responsible for his death and to put an end to their earthly existence as they had done to her only remaining family, yes that would surely help bring closure. They say revenge is a dish best served cold, but she had no patience to wait, she wanted satisfaction now, served hot and steamy. It would not bring her grandfather back, it might not even make her feel better, but it had to be done, it would be done! It was the least she could do to honor his memory. She had yet to open the box he had left her, but she would have time for that when she was on the plane. She was traveling light, a backpack with a cleverly hidden and fully lined compartment and the box and diary. She had everything she needed. She wondered about this Private Detective who the Embassy said would be meeting her at the airport, a Mr. Gunn, funny name for a Costa Rican. It seemed kind of strange, she had expected an Embassy employee would meet her but the Ambassador himself had assured her this was absolutely the best person
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