No Survivors Except the Pilots

"As a matter of fact, I would say he has a heart of gold!" Monica said good things about her boss too. "And I'm am really not exaggerating!"

"I don't understand..." Lina was seriously confused. "What exactly does he do that made you said he has a heart of gold? He donated lots of money to orphange?"

"You probably think that boss is a drug lord, loan shark, casino owner, all rolled into one, and do lots of bad stuff?" Rachel asked further.

Lina did not reply but her silence actually confirmed Rachel's suspect.

"Let me tell you, you are absolutely wrong!" Rachel continued on. "He knows that what his family does is wrong and has been doing his best to shut down those illegal family businesses since taking care part of the Carlito empire."

"Right! The Carlitos don't do drugs and are not loan sharks. We have casinos and clubs. And boss invested a lot in tech stocks! These have become the major income for the Carlitos now." Monica revealed even more information.

Lina was truly shocked to hear what the girls said. This was totally the opposite of the ruthless Carlito Family that she had been told through the years of living in Los Angeles.

"Well, you know, the old Carlitos did some bad things and the reputation stays. But, I gotta tell you those are things of past. With boss taking charge, Carlito Family is reborn now! He managed to convince his mother that regardless of the source of income, any money is good money." Rachel continued to elaborate to Lina.

"Alright, alright... Just wonder, why you two bother telling me all these?" Lina was curious about their intention.

"Because we don't want boss continue carrying a bad name for things he never does!" Both Rachel and Monica replied in unison.

"Okay okay... Now I got the idea. He is a good man. Now what? What is next? What about breakfast? Are we going to walk all the way to civilization?" Lina voiced her doubt. Despite the spectacular scenery, they are stranded in a remote location without food and transportation.

"Don't you worry! Boss has definitely made all the arrangements before he decided to jump." In contrast, both Rachel and Monica trusted Michael Carlito wholeheartedly. "All we need to do is ask him."

"Hey boss! It's time for Ms Connelly to have breakfast!" And Rachel did just that, telling her boss Lina's needs.

Michael Carlito took a look at his mobile, which seemed to be waterproof, and replied, "Just checked the GPS. Food and drinks are around 1.3 miles away. Considering it's not an easy route, it might take us approximately one hour to reach there."

Again, Lina was surprised. "You mean, there is a restaurant 1.3 miles from here?"

"No. I asked Carl, the pilot, to pack food and drinks and other stuff before they jumped. He had parachuted them together with a GPS for me to track the location." Michael gently explained.

By this time, Lina was totally convinced that Michael Carlito had indeed considered all the small details in his plan. She did not ask him the plan after breakfast anymore as she was confident that he had that planned out already.

They began to put on their partially dry clothes around half an hour later. They did not want to wait further and began their journey after dressing up. 

Lina stole a glance at Michael Carlito as he put on his clothes. As his suit was still rather wet, he only put on his shirt and pants. He left the top two buttons of his shirt unbuttoned and exposed his hairy chest partially, of which Lina could not help but sneak a look at. She turned around when Michael noticed it, without noticing that he spent some time admiring her back furtively.

The route to the breakfast spot was not an easy trek but all the four of them were able to make it within one hour. 

Lina was delighted when Michael opened up the food container and took out croissant, burgers and canned coffee. It was really a long night last night and she had not eaten anything since storming out from her luxurious condominium. So, the croissant and coffee were really a treat for her.

"You can finish all the croissants if you want to." Seeing her hunger, Michael passedthe remaining croissants to her after Rachel and Monica took their share.

"If I finish them, what about lunch and dinner?" Even though Lina had confidence in him, she still could not help asking.

"I have a cottage around 3 miles from here."

Michael's reply once again surprised Lina. She would never expect Michael was so well prepared.

"What? You are not thinking that I simply chose a location to jump, are you?" Michael chuckled when he noticed the unbelievable look on Lina's face.

"Well... Let's see what your cottage has for us." Up to this point, Lina realized that she just had to fully trust Michael Carlito and his incredible planning.

It took them another two hours before they completed the 3 miles and reached the cottage. It was a nice little cottage, perfect for a weekend vacation and had everything they needed : food, drinks, television, clean beds and clothes. What was more, there was a Ford truck for them to continue their journey. In short, it was as near to civilization as it could be for Lina after going through the mountain trekking for hours and hours.

After taking a hot bath and put on a clean T-shirt, she sat on the sofa and turned on the television. The first image appeared on the TV screen was a burning plane which she instantly recognized was Michael's private plane. 

"...no other survivors found except for the two pilots..." The news anchor reported exactly what Michael wished the media to do. So far so good, his plan worked well.

"Is there anyone you need to inform that you are still alive?" Michael sat beside Lina with a beer in his hand.

"Well..."

"No matter who they are, don't inform. For your own safety." Michael interrupted her before she could speak any names. 

"Who should I inform that I'm was still alive and kicking?" Lina had been thinking about this when being asked. "Harry? No fucking way! Definitely not that bastard of the year! Then, who else? My boss? Would Gerald shed a tear for me? Probably not. He would find someone to take over my cases as soon as possible and at same time, curse me for causing him trouble! Yes, that's Gerald! If Mum and Pop were still around, I would have to tell them... But they are long gone..."

Lina let out a sigh when she realized that she had no one really need to inform that she was safe and sound. She then stared at Michael Carlito.

"What?" He was a bit curious.

"Who would you inform that you are not dead if you could?" Lina posted her question.