Love and Death in Barcelona

By Hal Graff

Welcome to the twenty-sixth, exciting episode of the Love and Death Mystery and Political Espionage Series.

     After returning from the war-torn islands of the Philippines, Gatewood's rest at home in Gibson City, Illinois, is cut sh

• Language: English
• Publisher: Harold Graff II Publishing
• Release date: Dec 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9781962730624

Hal Graff

Dr. Hal Graff holds a doctorate in business administration. He is a native of Gibson City, Illinois. Hal is a proud father and grandfather. To date, he has published 104 books, including 96 novels. He has published over 6 million 900,000, words.

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Prologue

THE DAYS NEAR THE END OF GATEWOOD’S MISSION in the Southern Philippines had seen a brutal death sentence carried against Philippine President Datu Laarni’s wife Aya by the CFFA, and an increased level of Philippine troops were sent to the Southern islands to increase the ground war in the jungle. Gatewood had then been captured and taken to CFFA headquarters where he faced death, was spared, and then survived a full-scale American bombing assault carried out against the terrorists.

After having barely escaped death as the bombs rained down on Ligaya Diwata CFFA headquarters, the couple had settled down and enjoyed four days of wonderful lovemaking. Gatewood’s memory of the days following Aya Laarni’s beheading was still vivid in his mind.

Datu had been irrational with anger, and had wanted to kill every member of the CFFA, and in particular Ligaya Diwata and Ghalib Dawood, the terrorist who had decapitated his wife Aya. His order to send more troops to the Twai-Twai area to comb the jungle to find and kill the CFFA troops had been made in a moment without the benefit of a clear head and rational thought. The troops were accompanied by CIO agent Harold Gatewood, who had been ordered to find CFFA headquarters and kill Ligaya and Ghalib.

After arriving on the island on the fourteenth, Gatewood had been assigned a ten-man detail of Philippine military troops to help him find his targets in the dense jungle. Three days of searching had not located the secret cave that Ligaya had told him the CFFA had constructed underground in the interior of the jungle.

She had told him the story when he had visited her on vacation in Twai-Twai, and had promised to show it to him. Fate had determined that the visit would not take place under more pleasant circumstances.

Gatewood had known the general area, but not the exact location of the underground headquarters. On the fourth day of their search, they had been ambushed by a squad of CFFA troops. All but Gatewood had been killed. His life had been spared on Ligaya’s orders, and he had then been taken to the area outside the cave that served as CFFA headquarters..

He had been met by Ligaya and Ghalib and asked why he had made the trek into the jungle.

I was sent to kill Ghalib and you Ligaya. But, you know that I love you. We have been together for many wonderful days over the last few years. I would never kill you.

Ghalib had then screamed, Do not listen to his nonsense Ligaya. He will kill you in an instant if your back is turned. We need to kill him now.

Gatewood had been facing Ligaya and Ghalib as they had continued to converse. Ligaya had spoken first, I believe you Harold. We became friends, and then lovers, in a very short period of time. I know that you would never kill me.

As she spoke, Gatewood had noticed a ruffling of the jungle vegetation ten feet behind both of the leaders who faced hm. It had then been Ghalib’s turn to speak. Gatewood, you will say anything to survive. You are a typical CIO agent, and would kill anyone who gets in your way.

As Ghalib had continued to speak, Gatewood had noticed a massive head, followed by a huge body emerge from the jungle’s edge, and make its way toward the USFF agent on loan to the CFFA. As Ghalib’s words had continued to pour from his mouth, Gatewood had then watched the huge creature move within three feet of the USFF agent. The creature had then bared a long set of fangs and had viciously clamped down Ghalib’s right leg, and drug him to the ground.

Gatewood and Ligaya had looked at the USFF agent as he screamed for help, and had tried to free his body from the coiled muscles that were now starting to squeeze the breath from his chest and lungs. The creature had then coiled its body tighter and tighter, and Ghalib’s cries for help had then become meeker and meeker.

When Ghalib Dawood had been suffocated to death, the creature unwound its grasp from around its victim’s body. Once the creature had released its death grip, it then moved into position to feast on its prey. Its huge head then unhinged its large mouth, and with its teeth started to swallow the terrorist headfirst.

Gatewood had then backed away ten feet from the scene while he witnessed the creature swallow the victim by keeping a grip on the body with its two long, curved fangs and rows of shorter teeth, and then work the torso down in into its gullet by a series of contractions with its body.

When Ghalib’s feet had then disappeared, shoes and all, into the creature’s mouth, it had looked toward Gatewood. The monster’s eyes had featured vertical dark black pupils, and a bright orange-colored iris. The attacker, a reticulated python of twenty-five feet in length, had proved the fact the species, Malayopython Reticulatus, sometimes ate a human being.

Gatewood, who had survived a brush with a seones viper in his hotel room in Spain, and a bushmaster in the jungle in Columbia, had not moved a muscle, and had looked at the snake in fear.

The python, the largest snake in the world, had an irregular-diamond-shaped pattern on top of its back, and a multi-colored complex pattern of scales that aided the creature in its attempt to attempt to ambush prey. Its huge, plain head had no markings other than a black line from its nose to the start of its neck, and from the corner of its eyes angled to the end of its jaw.

Gatewood and the python had looked at each other in a Mexican standoff, and then the large predator had slowly slithered away into the jungle. Gatewood, still shaking in fear, had then turned and looked at Ligaya, who had a pistol pointed at his head. He had then said, Ligaya, what is it going to be for me, life or death?

She had smiled, lowered her pistol, and said, Life, of course, my love.

She had then motioned for him to join her in the concrete-reinforced bunker in the cave. She had then said, This is the cave I told you about when you came to visit me in Twai-Twai. My father, and the many other CFFA agents, built caves like this all over the jungle. That is why the government troops have never been able to defeat us, because the caves are impregnable.

They are magnificent. You have every convenience of home in here.

She had then pointed to a bed and said, Yes, we even have that. She had then smiled and led Harold to the bed, removed her clothes, then his, pulled him down on the bed, and said, I have missed you Harold. Will you stay with me a few days?

He had then replied, On one condition Ligaya.

What is that Honey?

That you keep that dam snake out of here.

She had laughed, and said, He won’t be back for a long time. He gorges himself on a meal and then is satisfied. He crawls out into the jungle and then stays away for months.

How do you know that?

My father told me. The python has been guarding this cave for the CFFA for years. You can relax, he is gone.

Gatewood had then smiled and said, In that case, my answer is yes, I will stay.

He had then kissed her passionately for what he had hoped would be the first of many more times over the next four days."

As soon as the he had started to kiss her, a barrage of American bombs had shaken the ground, and dirt had started to fall into the cave. Harold and Ligaya had then hugged each other, and had said their prayers that both of their lives would be spared.

The bombing barrage continued for hours, and had caused damage to the exterior of the cave and the remainder of the CFFA camp before it ended.

Once the bombing assault was over, the couple had cleaned up Ligaya’s personal headquarters and had resumed their love making. They had talked about the war that would continue between the CFFA and the Datu Laarni Philippine national forces.She had assured him that she would survive, as the CFFA would be able to hold out for years in the jungle.

They had also talked about how they would continue their love affair in the future and how much they cared for each other. When he had decided that he needed to return to the real world and report in to the CIO, she and a detail of twenty fighters had led him to the edge of the jungle. He had then kissed her goodbye and had walked toward the location of the Philippine national forces headquarters.

After being welcomed, he was then debriefed by CIO and American forces about his condition, and time in captivity in the CFFA encampment. After providing information, he was handed the recent newspapers, and had looked in shock at the headlines that had been used on the days of his disappearance.

It had been eight days since he had entered the jungle to find Ghalib Dawood and Ligaya Diwata. During his absence the newspaper headlines had postulated that he was dead.

All of the Philippine army members who had led him into the jungle had been found dead, the result of a firefight with the CFFA. No sign of his body had been found. The CIO had feared that he been killed, mutilated, and his body disposed of in a river, or buried somewhere in the vast jungle.

Gatewood had stared at the newspaper headlines and had felt bad that he had stayed the extra days with Ligaya.

CIO Agent Gatewood Dead In the Philippines

U. S. Spy Killed In Jungle

Is Hero Harold Gatewood Dead?

He felt even worse when he realized that during his absence, in Gibson City, Illinois, Harold’s parents, Dean and Alice Gatewood, had been worried and depressed about his condition. They had hoped he would be found alive.

In Tokyo, Japan, Yakaza crime family head Yua Hayato, and Gatewood’s lover, had been distraught. She had said to herself, Harold, please be alive. I love you.

Near Acton, Maine, Susana Richards, Gatewood’s lover, and the woman with whom he had tried to have children and a family, had been on the verge of a breakdown, and had said, Harold, I pray that you are alive and that I will see you soon. I can’t go on without you. I love you.

In Washington, D. C., CIO Director Rick Owens and Deputy Director Terry Robbins had frantically contacted their operatives in Manilla, the Philippines, to find out if any word had been heard about Gatewood’s status. Owens had spoken to Robbins, and had said, For his, and America’s sake, I hope he is not dead. He is our best agent. We need you Harold, please be alive.

Gatewood then prepared for his return to the greatest country in the world, America. He knew that he had performed his mission to the best of his abilities. He also knew that the struggle between the Philippine government and the CFFA had gone on for years, and that his time in the Southern islands had been only one chapter of a long book of war.

He had enjoyed his time with Ligaya Diwata, had renewed their love affair, and had made plans with her to meet again soon. Their time together had further developed their strong love for one another, and had been as passionate as the first time they had been together.

He was tired, like he always was at the end of any mission. His main desire was to go home, to Gibson City. He knew that a new CIO mission would soon be calling his name, and that he would soon be heading to a far-away location to tussle with yet-to-be determined enemies and assassins, and to face new dangers. He smiled, and thought, I will be ready.

Chapter 1

The Curse

July 23

When Gatewood arrived at the Central Illinois Regional Airport he was greeted with hugs, kisses, and smiles of joy from his parents. On the drive back to Gibson City, they talked about his mission in the Philippines, and urged him to stay home for a while and enjoy the laid-back lifestyle that was available.

They knew better than to once again urge him to leave the CIO, and concentrated their thoughts on his safety. They knew that he had always been goal-driven, and that once he took on a project, he was almost obsessed with attaining success. They had the natural parental concerns, but knew how to approach and to encourage him to make a sound decision.

After a home-cooked meal, a rousing session of pool with his dad, and conversation about the farms and his other business interests, he stayed the night, and then returned to his own home the next morning.

He walked in, threw his bag on the bed, and then walked to the living room where he sat down in his favorite chair by the bay windows. His good friends, the birds and the squirrels, soon appeared, and his spirits were lifted.

He thought about the odd facts he knew about the species. They were persistent, as they lost twenty-five percent of their foraged food to birds or other competing squirrels. They were surprisingly fast, and could run at a speed of twenty miles an hour. Their constant gnawing helped them keep their four front teeth short, despite them growing almost ten inches a year.

They could rotate their hind feet one hundred eighty degrees, a skill that helped them climb up to birdfeeders in his back yard. There were two-hundred-eighty-five varieties in the squirrel family. His friends the gray squirrels could jump eight feet from a stationary position. In eighteen-seventy-seven, a small number of squirrels were released in New York City’s Central Park, where they now thrived.

He smiled, and made a mental note to himself, I need to honor my friends on January twenty-first, National Squirrel Appreciation Day. I will put out a special treat for them.

As he watched the squirrels scamper around the yard, he thought about how he had made a habit of trying to see the various species of his bushy-tailed friends when he was on a mission in a far-away country.

In Mexico, he had seen the Mexican ground squirrel, the Ictidomys Mexicanus. He had also seen the Rerus Inauris Ground Squirrel in South Africa, the Petamurista Leucogenys Giant Flying Squirrel in Japan, the Sciurus Alpines variety in the Pyrenes Mountains of Spain, and the Pteromys Volans Siberian Flying Squirrel in Korea.

As he mentally listed the different species of squirrels he had seen, he also thought about the people, lovers, villains, harrowing escapes, and sights he had seen in the different locations where he had performed his missions for the CIO.

His mind returned to the topic of squirrels. He had also seen Speckled Ground Squirrel, Spermophilus Suslicus, in the Ukraine, the Petromyini Flying Squirrel in Chile, the Ratufa Bicolor Black Giant Squirrel in China, and the Sciurus Vulgaris Eurasian Red Squirrel in the British Isles.

He had seen the famous albino-white squirrels of Olney, Illinois many times. But, his favorites, hands down, were the gray and black-colored friends that called his front