Please make sure you have read Carla’s Tale Part 1, 2, 3 and 4 before reading this.
Paul looked at Carla. Carla looked at Paul. They both looked at the case again. Both together, at exactly the same time, they exclaimed “WOW!” In front of their very eyes were bundles and bundles of used American dollars packed tightly into the case. Paul took a bundle out. “These are fifty grand bundles,” he said incredulously, with a smile from ear to ear, and there are about a hundred here! Do you know how much that is? DO YOU?” “Ummm….. five million?” Carla squeaked. “Say that again,” Paul laughed. “Five million, FIVE MILLION!” Carla screamed. She took her glasses off to look at it just in case her grandma’s glasses were playing tricks on her, but it was all still there, albeit a blurry mass of money. “Someone’s gonna want this back,” Paul said quietly. “This is too heavy for us to handle,” he added. “We’ve got to hand this in to the police.” “They don’t know we’ve got it,” Carla reasoned. “We weren’t seen.” “But you disappeared, the glasses disappeared, and the money disappeared. Your man is going to put two and two together. It’s not rocket science. We’re in big trouble here,” Paul said with a worried frown. Carla gave him a hug and said, “Let’s sleep on it. He already told me to guard the glasses with my life. I thought the fourth case had more glasses in it. I’m only doing what I was told.” They spent the night talking non-stop about what they could do with $5,000,000 while drinking more and more brandy. By midnight they were exhausted and fell asleep in each others arms.
Next morning, Paul got up with the head from Hell! “Ohhh, it hurts, never again!” he moaned while putting some coffee on. It was 7:30 and he turned the radio on for the local news on Riviera Radio http://www.exeqteq.com/rr/listenlive.htm from Monte Carlo, his favourite station. What he heard next completely floored him. As soon as he realised what they were reporting, he shook Carla awake. “Listen, listen,” he hissed. They were both silent as they listened. Carla didn’t even put her glasses on – she didn’t need them to hear this.
“We have just received news of an incident which occurred off L’îlot de la Gabinière, an uninhabited rocky island just south of the island of the National Park of Port-Cros. Yesterday afternoon, the motor yacht “Gravità Z-Ro” was intercepted and arrested by the police under the suspicion of illegal people trafficking. The yacht is owned by multi-millionaire Lorenzo Agastini, owner of the Italian designer eyewear company Gravità Z-Ro. Mr Agastini was arrested along with Helena Breda, Alonso De Luca, Mario Ferrari, and three unidentified North Africans including a young boy. The four Italian nationals are suspected to have been part of a human trafficking syndicate and have been under observation by the police for four months. Yesterday’s arrest was the culmination of a long investigation when it was confirmed that a large payment of cash was transferred from an unidentified North African boat to the Gravità Z-Ro along with the people being smuggled aboard. Apparently this was a very large sum covering all of the transactions over the last six months. The African family are in a holding centre subject to their repatriation home. The others have been detained pending trial. We will keep you informed as we receive further news.”
Carla sat playing with her glasses throughout the whole report. She fondled them, opened and closed them, sucked on their legs, then put them on. “Did we just hear that?” she asked. “Yes,” said Paul, with a grim expression, “we sure did. What do we do now? What do we do with the money?” “What money?” Carla said with an innocent ‘little girl’ look. “Come on, you don’t mean……” “We don’t know anything about any money. They’ve lost it, we’ve disappeared. End of story.” “But we HAVE to do something,” Paul insisted. “OK,” Carla quickly replied, “we get married!” “What? WHAT?!” “You don’t want to?” “Yes….. YES! Of course I do!” “OK, that’s settled then,” Carla said, matter-of-factly. “But what do we do with the…. err…… money that doesn’t exist?” “Simple. We hide it until the heat goes down, then we use it – gradually. You can get a new boat engine, and you can buy a new boat – for me! I want to do tourist trips with you – we’re a great team!” Paul was speechless. “And most of all,” Carla continued, “I want to walk down the aisle in my grandma’s glasses with her to see me while she still can, and then join you for the rest of our lives.” Paul smiled, hugged her, and then gave her a big passionate kiss. This all sounded too good to be true to him, but he was ready for the roller coaster ride of his life. But secretly he had this nagging feeling that someone, somewhere, was going to move heaven and earth to get that money back. He blanked it out of his mind, slid Carla’s glasses off her face, and they both jumped back into bed.
The End.