There were no attempts on my life during May and June and I fell into something of a summer stupor at the villa<\/p>\n
I spent a lot of time around the pool with my host and his wife although I ensured that my gun was always nearby<\/p>\n
My host and his wife seemed to me to be too good to be true and this aroused my suspicions although they gave me no cause to worry about them<\/p>\n
They were friends of my sister and had been involved with revolutionary groups in the past<\/p>\n
Why should I worry?<\/p>\n
I was still being watched but this seemed to be scaled down<\/p>\n
Or they were getting better at disguising themselves<\/p>\n
I was given a number of DVDs to watch but none contained messages<\/p>\n
Towards the end of June I was walking with my host\u2019s wife<\/p>\n
Her name was Pauline<\/p>\n
This is very like the place where Jack went with Clara <\/i><\/p>\n
Was it filmed here?<\/i><\/p>\n
I do not know where it was filmed <\/i><\/p>\n
Would you like me to bathe as Clara did in the movie?<\/i><\/p>\n
Only if you want to <\/i><\/p>\n
It was as Pauline was bathing that I realised that this was the place where George Clooney\/Jack died in the movie<\/p>\n
Had I taken the bait<\/p>\n
I felt uneasy<\/p>\n
But nothing happened<\/p>\n
That evening as I was sitting in my room there was a dull thud against the window<\/p>\n
I supposed it to be a bird strike but as soon as I looked out I could see that a single bullet had embedded itself in the frame of the window<\/p>\n
This was my warning<\/p>\n
I returned to the spot where Clara\/Pauline had bathed hours earlier and found a rifle with a rose tied to its barrel<\/p>\n
There was a note attached<\/p>\n
It read<\/p>\n
It is time to talk with your mother <\/i><\/p>\n
Within the hour I was driving south having borrowed my host\u2019s car<\/p>\n
My mother was ill<\/p>\n
That is all I said<\/p>\n
They understood are offered me their car<\/p>\n
On the dashboard was printed the opening lines from Eliot\u2019s Burnt Norton<\/i><\/p>\n
Time present and time past <\/i><\/p>\n
Are both perhaps present in time future <\/i><\/p>\n
And time future contained in time past <\/i><\/p>\n
I asked them the reason that they had attached these lines to the dashboard<\/p>\n
I was told that there was no reason<\/p>\n
After four hours driving I stopped the car<\/p>\n
I needed a coffee<\/p>\n
I was still being followed<\/p>\n
My gun was in my jacket pocket<\/p>\n
I drove through the night<\/p>\n
But my tail had disappeared<\/p>\n
Either that or they were very good<\/p>\n
Again I took a break for coffee<\/p>\n
However when I returned there was a small bag on the bonnet of the car<\/p>\n
It contained a bullet<\/p>\n
As I examined the bullet I received a text<\/p>\n
It was from Lynne but had been sent via Geraldine\u2019s phone<\/p>\n
Stephen <\/i><\/p>\n
I understand you are on your way to Lipari <\/i><\/p>\n
Do not go there as your life will be in danger <\/i><\/p>\n
The is a contract out on your life <\/i><\/p>\n
You pissed a lot of people off <\/i><\/p>\n
Your mother is better <\/i><\/p>\n
There is no need to visit her <\/i><\/p>\n
Just keep on driving until you receive another text from me <\/i><\/p>\n
The only time you should stop is if you see a woman wearing a Batman tee shirt <\/i><\/p>\n
As they say in the movies <\/i><\/p>\n
Trust no-one <\/i><\/p>\n
After I was imprisoned my mother moved to Malta<\/p>\n
Her father was Maltese<\/p>\n
She had died ten years ago but occasionally visited her loved ones<\/p>\n
I had not seen her for eighteen years<\/p>\n
Did she take you into the woods? <\/i><\/p>\n
Who? <\/i><\/p>\n
Pauline \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
Yes<\/i><\/p>\n
Did she bathe or rather recreate the movie scene <\/i><\/p>\n
Yes<\/i><\/p>\n
Always be on your guard Stephen <\/i><\/p>\n
I had my gun near me <\/i><\/p>\n
My sister had known Pauline since they were at school <\/i><\/p>\n
Trust no-one Stephen <\/i><\/p>\n
Why do you think I sent you the DVD?<\/i><\/p>\n
Did you want to fuck her Stephen? <\/i><\/p>\n
No <\/i><\/p>\n
Good <\/i><\/p>\n
Where am I going?<\/i><\/p>\n
South but not to Lipari <\/i><\/p>\n
Where to then?<\/i><\/p>\n
Just drive Stephen <\/i><\/p>\n
I need to sleep <\/i><\/p>\n
Out of the question Stephen <\/i><\/p>\n
I stopped the car and went into a small caf\u00e9 for a coffee<\/p>\n
When I returned a woman dressed in a Batman tee shirt was sitting on the bonnet of the car<\/p>\n
Where are you going Stephen?<\/i><\/p>\n
How did you know my name? <\/i><\/p>\n
Well I figured that you were not called Tracey so it must be Stephen <\/i><\/p>\n
What is your name? <\/i><\/p>\n
Batgirl <\/i><\/p>\n
Batgirl? <\/i><\/p>\n
Yes Batgirl <\/i><\/p>\n
Where are you heading? <\/i><\/p>\n
South <\/i><\/p>\n
Good for me<\/i><\/p>\n
I have been asked to give this to you <\/i><\/p>\n
Batgirl gave me a DVD<\/p>\n
It had no cover<\/p>\n
What is the movie? <\/i><\/p>\n
There is no movie <\/i><\/p>\n
Then why give it to me? <\/i><\/p>\n
I was told to <\/i><\/p>\n
By whom<\/i><\/p>\n
Commissioner Gordon<\/i><\/p>\n
Open it <\/i><\/p>\n
I am driving <\/i><\/p>\n
Your destination is revealed <\/i><\/p>\n
I flicked open the cover and a piece of paper fell into my lap<\/p>\n
I opened it<\/p>\n
Go to Lipari Stephen<\/p>\n
Fuck <\/i><\/p>\n
Why fuck Stephen? <\/i><\/p>\n
I was warned off of a place and now I am being told to go there <\/i><\/p>\n
Where?<\/i><\/p>\n
Lipari <\/i><\/p>\n
That is where the Bat Cave is <\/i><\/p>\n
Really <\/i><\/p>\n
Stephen may I ask you a question?<\/i><\/p>\n
Go ahead <\/i><\/p>\n
In the movie <\/i><\/p>\n
Which movie? <\/i><\/p>\n
The American <\/i><\/p>\n
The George Clooney movie <\/i><\/p>\n
Yes <\/i><\/p>\n
At the beginning of the movie he shoots the girl that he had fucked the night before <\/i><\/p>\n
Would you have done the same?<\/i><\/p>\n
No<\/i><\/p>\n
Even if I had discovered you were a hit man <\/i><\/p>\n
I am not a hit man <\/i><\/p>\n
You shot the Prime Minister <\/i><\/p>\n
It was an assassination not a hit <\/i><\/p>\n
In Gotham City I fight evil but I never kill anyone <\/i><\/p>\n
Not even the worst of the bad guys<\/i><\/p>\n
I am happy for you <\/i><\/p>\n
Thank you Stephen <\/i><\/p>\n
Batgirl closed her eyes and soon was asleep<\/p>\n
Good Night Batgirl <\/i><\/p>\n
An hour later she asked me to drop her off at a railway station as she knew there was a train to Gotham City due<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
To Be Continued<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There were no attempts on my life during May and June and I fell into something of a summer stupor at the villa I spent a lot of time around the pool with my host and his wife although I ensured that my gun was always nearby My host and his wife seemed to me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2858"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2858\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}