Chapter 1, Jungle

Cat Riston wakes up in a jungle.

Two natives are looking at him.
"Are you alive?" asks one native.
"Yes, I think so. My head hurts so badly..." says Cat Riston. He looks at
the natives and asks: "Where am I? What am I doing here?"
"You are in the jungle," says the other native. "We found you in the river
over there." The native points at the river behind Riston. "What happened
to you?"
"I don't remember," says Cat Riston. "I think that I hit my head in the
river. It hurts so much. How far is the closest city?"
"It's very, very far."
"Give me directions. I need to get out of the jungle!"
"You cannot get out of the jungle alone. We will bring you to our village
first. Our boss will help you remember what happened to you. Let's go."
Cat Riston follows the two natives through the jungle.
"Wait! Did you hear that?"
"What?"
"Look, there!" says one native and points between the trees.
"That's a panther!" shouts the other native. "Run!"
They are running through the jungle. The panther is running closely
behind them.
"Jump in the river!" shouts Riston.
"The panther can swim!"
"But it can't dive! Jump! Now!"
They jump in the river.
The panther jumps in the river too.
"Help!" shouts one of the natives. The panther swims at him.
Riston dives under water and hits the panther in the belly. The panther
turns around and swims away. It gets out of the water and runs into the
jungle on the other side of the river. Riston and the natives wait until the
panther disappears between the trees.
"That was close!" says the native.
"We can tell a good story in the village. The women will like it," smiles the
other native. "But let's go now. I want to be back in the village before it's
dark."
They walk through the jungle. When they enter the village, it's already
dark. Other natives have started a big fire in the middle. There are tables
around the fire. The tables are full of food.
Cat Riston and the two natives come to a big house on the right side of
the village.
"This is Witchita's house. Witchita is our boss. She is an old woman,"
says one native.
"There she comes," says the other native.
Witchita comes to Riston.
"Thank you for saving my people from the panther," says Witchita.
"Can you help me to get out of the jungle?" asks Riston. "I cannot
remember what had happened before your people found me in the river."
"Here, take this medicine. It will help you remember," she says and gives
the medicine to Riston. "Drink it."
Riston drinks it and faints.

Chapter 2, Garden Party

Cat Riston drank the medicine from Witchita and fainted. In his dream,
he remembers what had happened before the natives found him in the
jungle.
He dreams about a garden party far away from the jungle. From the
garden, he sees an expensive white house. It is already dark outside and
there are many lights coming from the house. People in the garden are
drinking, eating, talking, and laughing.
Cat Riston has also a drink in his hand.
He looks around.
Most people in the garden are old and rich, but there is a beautiful girl on
the other side. An old couple is talking to her. Riston hears the girl say:
"Yes, I stay in San Pedro. It is a good hotel." She yawns.
Riston smiles. He knows she is bored. He takes a second drink and goes
to her and the old couple.
"Hey, did you see the cat?" Riston asks when he comes to them.
"What cat? I like cats!" says the old woman. The old man standing
next to her frowns at Riston and says: "What are you talking about?"
Riston says: "I think I saw a cat behind you but it ran away," he looks
at the old woman, "It is interesting what you said."
"What did I say?"
"That you like cats."
"Why is it interesting?"
"I can say a lot about people if I know what they like more. Cats or
dogs."
"I like cats more!" says the old woman again.
"And I think your man likes dogs more than cats."
"How do you know?" asks the old man.
"A man who likes dogs finds a woman who likes cats."
"Interesting!" says the old woman.
"Look, I think I see the cat again!" shouts Riston.
"Where?" shouts the old woman.
"There! On the other side! That‘s a beautiful cat!"
"I don't see it from here! Let's go have a look!" says the old woman.
"Oh no... Silly woman," says the old man.
"Come, I want to see it!" says the old woman and takes the hand of
the old man.
Riston smiles. "Go first, we will find you later," he says and looks at
the girl. He gives her the other drink.
"So you saw a cat?" she says when the old couple left. She takes the
drink from his hand and smiles.
"Not really, but I was bored," replies Riston, "and I wanted to ask you
something."
"What is it?"
"Do you know why women are so beautiful, but so silly?" says Riston
and the girl frowns.
Riston smiles: "They are beautiful so that men can love them, but so
silly so that they can love men."
The girl laughs.
Suddenly, the music stops and somebody comes out of the house.
It's a fat man with a big belly.
Everyone looks at him. He says to all the people in the garden: "Come
inside, everybody! I want to show you my diamonds!"

Chapter 3, Diamonds
Everybody enters the house.
The fat man with the big belly is standing and smiling in the middle of
a big room.
People in the room are talking. They still have drinks in their hands.
Riston and the girl are standing in the back.
"What's your name?" Riston asks the girl, "Wait, I know. Tess?"
"Hey? How do you know my name?"
"I heard somebody say the name of the most beautiful person at the
party. So I knew that it was either you or the fat man in the middle."
She laughs.
"And what's your name?"
"Cat Riston. Give me your hand, Tess," he says.
"What?" Tess replies.
"We will play a game," says Riston. He takes her hand and goes with
her around the crowd.

"I will point at men in this room and you will tell me who you would
marry, who you would kill, and who you would sleep with."
"Good," she laughs.
Riston points at the old man that likes dogs.
"He is very old, but I think he is a good man. I would marry him!"
Riston points at another old man.
"Marry."
"Again? You can't marry all of them!"
Riston points at himself.
"Kill."
He laughs.
He points at the fat man in the middle.
"Kill."
"Really? He is almost as beautiful as you!"
She hits him friendly in the belly.
"Ouch! Good, let's go over here."
They go to the other side of the room. There is a bodyguard guarding
the entrance to the second floor.
Riston points at him and Tess says: "Hmm, a big man, young, and
beautiful. Maybe I should sleep with this one?"
"Really?" smiles Riston, "I will ask him!"
"No, don't be silly! It was just a joke!" she says, but Riston is already
talking to the bodyguard.
"This beautiful woman would maybe like to sleep with you. What do
you say?" says Riston to the bodyguard and smiles at Tess, "But she is
shy."
"What?" says the bodyguard. He is suddenly all red.
"Riston!" shouts Tess.
Riston laughs. "I need to go to the toilet, Tess. Wait for me here
please." He goes around the bodyguard and up the stairs to the
second floor. He hears Tess talking with the bodyguard from behind:
"Sorry, he is silly. I am not..."
After a couple of minutes, Riston comes back. When the bodyguard
sees him, he shouts: "Where were you?! You can't go there!"
Riston says, “Sorry, I didn’t find the toilet.”
“That was very silly of you,” Tess says.
“I know. I am sorry.”
Suddenly, the fat man in the middle says to all of them, “Dear friends,
I am Taurino. Welcome to my house. I know why you came. You want
to see my diamonds! And I am happy to show them to you. Why?
Because they are so beautiful!”
He laughs. Only the people close to him laugh too.
Tess frowns, “You know, I don’t like Taurino.”
“Because he is so fat?”
“No, because he is so rich.”
“And rich people are bad?”
“Some rich people are very bad. And Taurino is one of them. This is
his house. And there is a factory behind it. Not many people know
about it, but I was there.”
“And?”
“I saw children working in the factory. They work on weapons!”
“That is bad,” Riston frowns. “What do you want to do about it?”
“What can I do?” she says.
Riston looks at her.
“Let’s get out of here,” he says. “I don’t like Taurino either.”
He takes her hand, and they go out of the house.
There is nobody in the garden anymore. Everybody waits inside to
see Taurino’s diamonds.
“Oh, I forgot my bag,” says Riston. “Wait for me here please.”
Riston enters the white house again. He takes his bag and looks at
Taurino. Taurino shouts to the crowd, “And now, I will show you the
diamonds!”
The bodyguard comes from the second floor. He has a box in his
hands now. He gives the box to Taurino.
“Come closer, everybody,” says Taurino. “Please don’t shout when I
show you the most beautiful diamonds you have seen!” He laughs
and opens the box.
The box is empty.
Some people laugh. Taurino shouts, “What?!” He turns around.
“Where are my diamonds?!”
The bodyguard looks at the empty box. “He took them!” he shouts,
and points at Riston.

Chapter 4, Shoes
Riston wakes up from his dream. He is back in the jungle village. He
hears birds and feels the sun on his face.
"Open your eyes," says an old woman warmly.
He opens his eyes.
Witchita is sitting next to him. She smiles.
She looks into his eyes and puts her warm hand on his head. "You
had a dream," she says. "Tell me, did the dream help you to
remember what had happened?"
Riston frowns, "I remember many things now. But the dream didn't
show me everything."
Suddenly, somebody shouts at Riston. Riston turns around.
"Riston, Riston, play with us please!" shout children that are playing
with a ball in the middle of the village.
Old Witchita smiles and says: "Go play with them. We will talk later,"
she stands up and disappears in the jungle.
Riston looks around. The village looks beautiful in the morning sun
shining through the trees.
A child comes to Riston and says: "Witchita said that you are a really
good player!"

"Play with us!" says another child.

"Pleeeeease!" they shout together.
Riston looks at them and smiles: "So, how do we play this game?"
"Look! There is a ball! And we need to kick the ball so that it goes
between these two trees! And you need to kick the ball so that it goes
between those two trees!"
"Good. Who starts?" Riston asks.
"You!" they shout together.
The children run to the trees on the other side and Riston kicks the
ball.
"Ouch!" he shouts and looks at his left toe.
"What happened?" they ask.
"I don't know. Something is wrong with my left shoe."
The children kick the ball from the other side and Riston kicks it back.
When the children kick the ball the third time, it gets too close to the
fire in the middle of the village.
Suddenly, the ball starts burning.
"Oh, no!" shout the children.
Riston runs to the fire to save the ball but it is too late. The children
are very sad. Their eyes are wet. "What will we do?" asks one child.
"I am afraid there is nothing we can do," says Riston.
"That is so sad," frowns another child.
One of the children suddenly shouts: "Look! There is a green bird!"
The child points at the jungle.
The other children smile and disappear between the trees.
"They have already forgotten the ball," says Riston to himself and
laughs. He goes to a table in the middle of the village. He looks at his
shoes.
"What‘s wrong with your shoe?" a native sitting next to Riston asks.
"I don't know, but I think something is inside."
Riston takes the shoe off and looks inside. He doesn‘t find anything.
"Let me have a look," the native says. Riston gives him the shoe and
the native looks inside. "Nothing," he says and frowns. He turns the
shoe around in his hands and looks at all sides. "I think there is
something here," he says and points at the front of the shoe. "You
need to cut it."
"Do you have a knife?" Riston asks.
"Here you go. You can keep it," says the native and gives a knife and
the shoe to Riston.
Riston cuts the front of the shoe with the knife. Suddenly, something
falls out of the shoe.
"That's a beautiful stone," the native says.
"It's a diamond," Riston says. He looks in the shoe again and finds
more diamonds inside. He takes them out and looks at them.
"They are beautiful," the native says.
But Riston frowns. "I am a thief!" he says to himself.

Chapter 5, Seller
Riston hears shouts from the other side of the village. He turns
around to see what's happening. The children and other natives are
running somewhere.
"Where are you running?" he asks.
The native shouts: "A seller came from the city!"
Riston follows the native to the other side of the village. The native
explains: "Sometimes the seller comes to sell things to us. He comes
with a car. A big car! And he has many things to sell! But he is not a
good person. He wants only money and he takes many of our things
away."
They come to the seller's car. The seller is standing next to it. The
natives are looking at him. The back of the car is opened and it is full
of shoes, clothes, broken glass, bottles of water, and other things.
Many natives are pointing to these things and shouting: "I want this!"
or "I want that!"
The seller frowns: "Money! Give me money first."
"We don't have money!" the natives shout.
"I know you don't have money," the seller laughs. "What do you
have?"

One native points at his shoes. "Look, these are very good shoes! I
don't need them, I have other shoes in my house. I will give you my
shoes and you will give me those clothes!"
"Show me the shoes first!" the seller says.
The seller takes the shoes and looks at them.
The native says: "Those are very good shoes."
But the seller frowns: "No, I will only give you a bottle of water for
these shoes!"
"What? No, I want the clothes!"
"No!" the seller shouts.
"Good, I will take the bottle," the native frowns and takes the bottle of
water.
One of the children that were playing with Riston shouts: "Look, he
has a new ball! I want the ball!"
The other children look at the ball in the back of the seller's car and
shout: "We want the ball!"
The seller looks at the children and says: "Go away, you don't have
money!"
"But we need a new ball," the children shout, "because the old one
was destroyed by fire."
"I said go away!" the seller frowns.
"Do you sell food as well?" another native asks.
The seller shouts back: "I have everything if you have money!"
"Money! People from the city think only about money!"
"Riston!" shouts somebody from the other side of the village. Riston
turns around. It's Witchita.
"Come here," she says.
Chapter 6, Goodbye
Riston follows Witchita.
They are not going to Witchita's house. She turns to the left and goes
around the house. There is a small but beautiful garden between the
house and the jungle. The garden is full of flowers, trees, and birds.
Riston takes a big flower from the ground and gives it to Witchita.
She smiles and says: "I see there is a gentleman in the jungle."
"I am not a gentleman. I am a thief."
"Tell me what happened in the dream."
Riston looks at the trees. The trees are full of birds. He hears them
singing. "I don't remember everything," he says. "I was at a garden
party. There was a fat man who wanted to show everybody his
diamonds. But somebody stole the diamonds," he looks at Witchita.
"It was me. I stole them," he says and shows the diamonds to
Witchita. "I found them in my left shoe."

Witchita looks at the diamonds and gives them back to Riston.

Then he says: "There was also a girl at the party. I stole the diamonds
while she was talking to the bodyguard. But I don't think she knows
that I stole the diamonds."
"Women know more than men think."
"Maybe," Riston looks at her, "Anyway, I still don't know how I got into
the river."
"Your next dream will show you. Do you know what happened to the
girl?"
"No, we left the party together and that's where the dream ended."
"What about the fat man. Does he know that you stole the
diamonds?"
"Yes, the bodyguard told him that."
"Then the girl is in danger. You must find her."
"I remember the name of the girl's hotel was San Pedro. Maybe the
seller will take me there."
"That's a good start. But hurry up, I think the seller is already leaving."
"Thank you for all your help," Riston says.
"You are welcome, my dear," Witchita smiles. "Goodbye," she says.
"And Riston, remember that not everybody who helps you is your
friend."
He smiles and looks her in the eyes. "But you are. Goodbye,
Witchita."
"Goodbye, Riston," she puts her warm hand on his head, "and good
luck."

Chapter 7, Drive
Riston leaves the garden behind Witchita’s house. He sees that the
seller is already putting things back into the big car. The natives are
still around him, looking at all the things that they couldn’t buy.
The children are also there. They are still looking at the ball in the
back of the car.
Riston comes to the seller and asks: „Can you take me to the city?”
The seller turns around, looks at Riston and says: „Money! Show me
money first!”
„I don’t have money.”
The seller laughs, „Yes, nobody has money here, silly people. I don’t
know why I keep coming to this village. Nobody has money,” he says
and looks at Riston’s shoes. „Give me your shoes then, as everybody
else did.”
„No,” says Riston. „But I can live without this knife,” he says and
shows the knife to the seller.

The seller is still looking at Riston shoes. Suddenly, he takes the knife
and says: „Good.” He turns around and gets in the car. He looks out
through the window and shouts at Riston: „Let’s go! I don’t have all
day,” he puts a cigarette in his mouth and says: „And close the back
of the car for me, will you?”
Riston goes to the back of the car. There are many shoes, broken
glass, bottles, and the ball that the children wanted. Riston takes the
ball and throws it to the children. He turns around and looks at the
natives. „Goodbye, my friends,” he says.
„Maybe we will see you again!” says a native.
„Maybe,” smiles Riston. „You never know.”
Riston sits down next to the seller in the car and looks at the natives
through the window.
The seller starts the car and drives away from the village.
Riston hears the children shouting from behind and knows that they
are playing with the new ball.
The seller says: „Do you hear them? They are always so happy when I
come,” he laughs, „I think I am the most important person in their
life!”
Riston looks at him. He doesn’t like the seller at all. He asks: „How
long does the journey to the city take?”
„Very long,” smiles the seller, „and I can’t wait to be out of this silly
jungle. There is no food, no water, there is no money! I have a
beautiful shop in the city, you know! You will never have such a
beautiful shop, you haven’t even seen such a beautiful shop in your
life! And do you know what I sell in my shop?”
„Shoes?”
„Yes! How did you know?”
“The car… It’s full of them, isn’t it?” says Riston. He is bored.
“Hey, did you feel that?” says the seller.
“What?” says Riston.
The seller stops the car. „I hit something with the car. I need to have a
look,” he says, gets out of the car and goes around it.
Riston is very bored. “What’s happening?” he shouts.
„Here!” says the seller from the back of the car, „Come, have a look!”
Riston gets out of the car and comes to the seller. “Where? I don’t see
anything.”
„There! Have a look!” says the seller and points under the car.
Riston looks under the car and the seller hits him in the head from
the back.
Riston falls on the ground unconscious.

Chapter 8, Club
Riston is dreaming again. He remembers everything that had
happened before the natives found him in the river. In the dream,
Riston and Tess leave the garden party in a hurry. It's almost
midnight, and the city looks beautiful under the yellow street lights.
"Where are we going?" Tess asks.
"Right there," Riston says and points to a small club named Alberto's
Bar. "I have to say hello to my friend. I've known Alberto for a long
time. He makes the best drinks in the city. His drink called Friendly
Cashew has no competition."
"Really?"
"For sure. If you don't like the drink, we will throw Alberto in the
river."
"Okay, let's try it then," Tess smiles.
They enter the bar. It's full of people who are dancing salsa. Alberto is
serving drinks. When he sees Riston, he shouts, "Cat! Dear Cat Riston!
Is that you? I haven't seen you for so long!"
"How are you doing, Alberto?" says Riston and points at Tess: "Meet
Tess."
"Nice to meet you, Tess! What kind of drink would you like? Jaguar
Milk, Caipirinha, or...?"
"The one you are famous for."
"Great choice!" laughs Alberto.
When they taste his drinks, Riston asks Tess for a dance. She is a
great dancer, and Riston enjoys dancing with her a lot. He looks her
in the eyes and slowly kisses her.
He takes her hand and they leave the bar. They walk down the street
until they get to the river. The moon shines above them.
When Riston tries to kiss Tess again, she pulls away and points at a
phone booth on the other side of the street, "I really need to make a
call. I will be back quickly, okay?"
"Sure," says Riston.
Tess steps into the phone booth. Riston is looking at her through the
glass. He frowns. He feels something is wrong but he doesn't know
what. He wants to tell her the truth about the diamonds, but he
doesn't know whether he can trust her. He decides to hide the
diamonds instead. But where?
He looks at the ground and gets an idea. He takes some random
stones from the ground and puts them into his pocket instead of the
diamonds. Then he hides the diamonds in his shoe. He turns around
just when Tess comes out of the phone booth.

Chapter 9, River
"It is beautiful here," Tess says, looking at the stars. They see each
other in the moon light. "It's beautiful, but...," she says and frowns at
Riston, "you are a thief!"
Riston frowns. He hears police sirens in the background.
"What do you mean?" he asks, but before Tess can reply, a police car
stops right next to them.
A policeman comes out of the car and looks at them angrily.
"What is this?" Riston asks.
The policeman looks at Tess.
"Riston...," she says and looks at the ground, "I called the police. I am
so sorry..." Then she shouts, "I couldn't let you go away with it! You
stole the diamonds! I know you stole them!"
"Look, Tess, you don't understand..." Riston replies.
"You used me!" she shouts at him. "You left me there with the stupid
bodyguard while you stole the diamonds from the second floor!"
"Well, I am sorry for that," he admits, "but I am no thief. I haven't had
time to explain it to you, Tess," says Riston.
"I don't want to hear anything!" she shouts with tears in her eyes.
"We don't have time for this," says the policeman suddenly. He
shouts at Riston, "Give me those diamonds right now!"
"You'd rather shoot me," says Riston.
"No," smiles the policeman, "I'd rather shoot her!" He grabs Tess by
her hair and puts the gun to her head. Tess screams and pushes the
gun away but the policeman punches her. She falls on the ground.
The policeman points the gun at Riston, "This is your last chance!"
"You will pay for this," says Riston, grabs the stones from his pocket,
throws them in the policeman's face, and then jumps into the river.

Chapter 10, Rio de Janeiro

Riston wakes up from the dream. He opens his eyes. He has his
hands tied with a rope behind his back. Everything hurts him,
especially his head.
He looks around and finds out that he is in the back of the seller’s car.
They arrived to Rio de Janeiro.
Riston looks at his feet. His shoes are gone. The seller must have
known about the diamonds. Riston quickly takes a piece of broken
glass and cuts the rope around his hands just in time to kick the
seller when he opens the back door of the car. The seller falls on the
ground and Riston jumps at him.
When the fight is over, Riston searches the seller’s pockets.
“Look what we have here! I think I will take these back,” he says and
takes the diamonds. He looks into another pocket and finds a wallet.
There is a business card inside. It reads, Mr. Steingold, Diamonds and
Jewelry, Rio de Janeiro.
“I should pay this guy a visit,” says Riston to himself, “but first…” He
walks to a phone booth, opens a public address book, and dials the
phone number of the hotel where Tess stayed.

“San Pedro Hotel. How can we help you?”

“This is Cat Riston. I have a message for Ms. Tess. Is she still there?”
“I am afraid she is not. But if you have a message for her, I think you
should contact the police.”
“What? Why?”
“She was arrested several days ago.”
Riston hangs up the phone and frowns. Then he calls a taxi.
When the taxi arrives, Riston shows Steingold’s business card to the
driver.
“Steingold’s Diamonds and Jewelry? Oh, I know where that is,” smiles
the taxi driver and starts the car. “I had a girlfriend in that part of the
city. You see, I am not from Rio, but I love it here. I love the ocean, the
food, the women... ”
Riston smiles, “Maybe the women first, before the ocean?”
“And maybe an ocean of women! Just look around. There are so
many of them!”
“That’s right,” smiles Riston, as he looks out of the window at all the
beautiful women on the street. He thinks about Tess and why he
wants to help her when there are so many beautiful women to
choose from. “I guess it’s not only about the looks now,” he says.

Chapter 11, Taxi

“Do you know what happened to me yesterday?” says the taxi driver
when he stops at the red light. “I saw a beautiful girl. She wore nice
earrings and red lipstick... Beautiful!” he closes his eyes. “So, I went to
her and said, 'I would like to call you. What’s your phone number?'
She said, 'It’s in the address book!'
'Well,' I replied, 'Then what’s your name? I need your name to look up
the number, right?'”
“What did she say?” asks Riston.
“She said, 'My name is in the address book too!'”
They laugh.
“Here we are,” says the taxi driver after a while. “That house should
be Steingold’s jewelry shop.”
“Alright,” says Riston. “Wait for me please. If I am lucky, I will be back
in a minute.”
Riston enters the house. It does not look like a shop from inside. The
room is dark and full of smoke.
An old secretary with glasses appears out of nowhere and asks,
“What do you want?”
“I came to see Mr. Steingold,” says Riston, and shows her the
business card which he took from the seller.
The secretary looks at Riston doubtfully, “Do you have something to
sell?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe is not enough.”
“In that case,” says Riston, turning around to leave, “Goodbye.”
“Wait,” the secretary frowns. “Follow me.”
They enter another room, which is even smaller and darker. There
are no windows, but there is a big cloud of smoke. Somebody is
sitting in a chair facing the other direction.
“Mr. Steingold,” says the secretary, “this man showed me your private
business card.”
There is a moment of silence, interrupted only by a “click-clack” when
Steingold loads a gun.

Chapter 12, Jewelry

Steingold turns around in his chair. He has a gun in one hand and a
cigarette in the other. He looks tired and drunk.
"Where did you get my business card?" he asks.
"From a friend," Cat Riston replies with a smile. "I need information."
"My business card is not enough to ask for information."
Riston puts one diamond on the table.
Steingold looks at it closely. "This diamond," he says with the
cigarette in his mouth, "is a part of a necklace. There must be more
diamonds. Do you have them?"
"I do," Riston says, "but I want to get some answers first. You must
have heard about the arrest at the San Pedro hotel. Does the name
Tess ring a bell?"
Steingold frowns. His cigarette burns slowly in his hand. He points
the gun at Riston: "This is my lucky day," he says. "I know who you
are. Taurino put a big price on your head."
"I am flattered," Riston says.
"Give me the rest of the diamonds," Steingold says.
Riston looks around to assess the situation.
"There is no way out of this," Steingold smiles. "You got yourself
trapped."
Riston has no other choice than to hand the diamonds over.
Steingold locks them in a safe and then shouts at his secretary: "Call
Villa Atlântica and tell them we caught that stupid Cat Riston. And
bring me a drink." Then Steingold turns back to Riston and says:
"Funny thing is that you just come here and ask questions. What
were you thinking?"
Riston smiles. "It was worth the risk."
The secretary enters the room. "Your drink, Mr. Steingold."
When she hands the drink over to Steingold and he lowers the gun,
that's all Riston needs.
He jumps up, pushes the secretary, and she falls and spills the drink
all over Steingold.
Riston kicks the door open, runs out of the building, and jumps in the
taxi.

Chapter 13, Chase

Cat Riston jumps in the taxi and shouts, "Go!"
The sleeping taxi driver wakes up and replies, "Who? Where? What?"
"Go, man, go!" Riston shouts again. The taxi driver starts the car and
drives away just as four bodyguards run out of the jewelry shop and
get in two other black cars parked nearby.
"What the hell happened?"
"I will tell you later!" Riston says, "Let's get out of here now."
"Finally some action!" the driver says happily.
They are heading toward downtown Rio de Janeiro and are closely
followed by the two black cars.
The taxi driver is switching lanes to find a quicker way through the
traffic.
"Don't worry, you are with the best driver in Rio!" the taxi driver says
and takes a quick left turn to a shopping area full of shops and
people.
The people are jumping out of the way and shouting. Riston looks
behind. One of the black cars hits a wooden cart full of vegetables
and turns upside down.
"Yes!" the taxi driver shouts, looking in the mirror.
But the other black car gets closer and closer. The taxi driver makes
another quick turn. "I will show them," he says and drives to a bridge.
"Watch out, police cars are blocking our way!" Riston says and points
at the police cars at the other side of the bridge.
"Check this out!" the taxi driver turns left at the very end of the
bridge.
"Aaaaa!" Riston shouts as the car falls off the bridge.
They land on the street below followed by the black car.
"This is the wrong direction!" Riston shouts. They almost get hit by a
truck driving towards them, but the taxi driver slams on the brakes
and drifts to the left. Instead, the truck hits the black car behind them
and the impact throws it away to a street lamp.
"Now who is the best driver in Rio again?" the taxi driver smiles as
they drive away to safety.

Chapter 14, Diego Diaz

The taxi driver parks the taxi next to a big yellow gate at the top of a
hill above Rio de Janeiro.
"Here we are," he says to Cat Riston. "If you need a good driver again,
you know who to call."
"For sure! You are the greatest," Riston laughs.
They shake hands and Riston gets out of the taxi.
He looks at the yellow gate. It reminds him of many good memories.
He rings an electrical bell and soon hears a voice coming from the
intercom: "Mr. Diaz, how can I help you?"
"It's me, Cat Riston. Let me in."
"Riston? Really?!"
The gate opens.
Riston enters a small square with a fountain. Diego's house is right
behind it. The main door of the house opens as Diego comes out
shouting, "Riston, my friend! I was worried about you! You must tell
me what happened!"
Riston follows Diego into the house.
"Where is your wife?" Riston asks.
"She went shopping. You know, women…"
They enter the living room.
They sit next to a window with a beautiful view over Rio de Janeiro.
Diego brings two drinks.
"So tell me, what happened?"
"According to the plan, I took the diamonds at the garden party,"
Riston says.
"Really? Congratulations! Show me the beauty."
"Wait... I had bad luck. You see, I met a girl..."
"A girl! Cherchez la femme. Women always mess up men's plans!"
"Yeah… Well, her name is Tess. She called the police before I could
explain anything. The policeman turned out to be a bad guy."
"What do you mean?"
"He is probably on Taurino's payroll. Before I could do anything, he
punched Tess, she fainted, and I had no other option than to jump in
the river."
"Seriously?"
"Wait, that's not all. I must have hit my head in the river because I
woke up in a jungle and couldn't remember anything. Then a seller
took me to Rio de Janeiro but not before he tried to steal the
diamonds from me. In his pockets, I found a private business card of
a jeweler named Steingold."
"I heard about him. He belongs to Taurino's group."
"Well, it didn't take me long to figure that out. Although Steingold
took the diamonds, I overheard the name of Taurino's hideout. I bet
we will find both the diamonds and Tess there. The place is called
Villa Atlântica. Do you have any idea how to get there?"
"No," Diego says, "but I know people who do."

Chapter 15,
Four Little Thieves
"Wait, I need to take this," Diego says and picks up a box of
chocolates. "Don't look at me like that," he adds when he sees
Riston's look. "We will need it."
They leave the house and get in Diego's car.
Diego drives the car through the yellow gate and down the hill.
"So where are we going? Who are these people that know the
location of Villa Atlântica?" Riston asks.
"The four little thieves. They hang around crowds so they hear and
see everything that happens in Rio."
"Little thieves?"
"Yes, I am trying to teach them a couple of tricks, but they just don't
listen! It reminds me of our younger days," he laughs.
Diego turns right and they enter a poor neighborhood. There are
many small wooden houses packed one next to the other on the hill
above Rio de Janeiro.
People are looking and pointing at the expensive car that Diego
drives.
After some time, Diego parks in front of the dirtiest house Riston has
ever seen.
"Here we are," Diego says as they get out of the car.
Diego knocks on the wooden door.
"What?" an old woman says from behind the door.
"It's me," Diego says.
"Who me?" the old woman opens the door.
"It's me, Diego!" he says, looks at Riston, and rolls his eyes. "This
happens every time. She pretends not to remember me!"
"I don't know you! Get out of my house!" the old woman says.
"Okay, here you go," Diego gives the chocolate box to the old woman.
The old woman takes the chocolate box, weighs it in her hands, and
smiles at Diego. "Oh, my lovely Diego. Why didn't you say it's you? My
dear! Come here." She gives him a hug.
Diego and Riston follow her inside. The old woman disappears into
the kitchen.
"Where are the boys?" Diego shouts after her.
The old woman shouts back from the kitchen, "On the roof!"
"As always," says Diego and turns to Riston. "Follow me."
They come to a small ladder and climb on the roof.
They find four boys in dirty clothes drinking beer and looking at the
city below.
"Hey, Diego!" one boy says.
"Here, take a beer!" another one says.
Diego laughs. "I see you are having a good time as always!" He points
at Riston and says, "This is my old friend Cat Riston. He needs to find
a place called Villa Atlântica. Have you ever heard of it?"
"I did," the youngest boy says. "It's close to Copacabana."
"Okay," Diego says, "you will show Riston where it is. And the rest of
you," he points at the three other boys, "will drive downtown with
me. You must keep your eyes and ears open. Find out everything you
can about Taurino and his group," Diego says.
"Okay!" the boys say. They stand up but only to take a couple of cold
beers and then they sit down again.
Diego frowns at them.
"What?" they ask innocently.
"We are leaving right now."
"Okay, okay," they turn the beers upside down into their throats and
shout, "Let's go!"

Chapter 16, Villa Atlântica

"Let me call a taxi," Cat Riston says to the youngest boy of the Four
Little Thieves.
Riston dials the number of the taxi driver he met earlier.
"Riston, it's you?" the taxi driver says. "Give me five minutes. I will be
right there."
When the taxi arrives, the boy gives the driver directions to Villa
Atlântica.
They drive through the streets of Rio until they arrive at a big colonial
building close to the beach.
"Here we are," the taxi driver says, "What do we do now?"
"I need to get inside," Riston replies.
They get out of the car and hide across the street from Villa Atlântica.
"There is a bodyguard guarding the entrance," the taxi driver says,
looking at the main door.
"Look there!" Riston points at a big black car coming from the left.
It stops in front of the villa.
A policeman gets out of the car.

"That's him," Riston says, "the bad policeman."

The policeman pulls a woman out of the car.
"Tess!" Riston says quietly.
Tess tries to resist the policeman, but he drags her to the main door
of Villa Atlântica. The bodyguard guarding the entrance stops them
and asks something.
Riston can't hear what they are talking about, but the policeman
suddenly shouts, "Are you stupid, or what? I won't be standing on the
street with her!" He points at Tess and says, "Let us inside right now! I
will tell the boss how stupid you are!"
Tess is still trying to free her hand and run away, but the policeman is
holding her tightly.
"What's going on?" somebody shouts from inside the villa. 
Taurino comes out of the villa. The bodyguard turns to him and says,
"Hey, boss! This policeman wants to enter the villa."
"Of course, you idiot. He is with us, don't you see?"
"But..."
"If I have one more problem with you, you are dead, do you hear
me?"
"I am sorry, boss. I didn't want..."
"Shut up!" Taurino says and turns to the policeman. "Let's go inside
before somebody sees her," he points at Tess, and they disappear
inside.

Chapter 17, Market

Cat Riston's cell phone starts ringing. He picks it up.
"It's me, Diego! Listen, we have new information about Taurino. I just
saw him. They locked Tess in the villa," Riston says.
"Tonight is your last chance to save her... and to get those diamonds.
The diamonds will be sent to Africa by ship tomorrow."
"Okay, I am going to get inside the villa and see what I can do."
"Riston, just don't forget to suit up. The villa is going to be full of the
richest people from Rio. You need to look like one of them."
"Where can I get a suit?"
"I've got a tailor at the public market. His name is Mr. Rodriguez. Do
you have a pen? I will give you an address."
"Wait a second," Riston says, and asks the taxi driver for a pen. The
driver finds one in his jacket and gives it to Riston.
Riston writes the address down. "Let's go," he says to the taxi driver,
"we need to hurry."

A couple of minutes later, the taxi driver parks the car in another part
of the city. "The public market is right around the corner," he says.
They walk around the corner and enter the public market. There are
hundreds of stands selling all kinds of things, like toys, clothes,
vegetables, and seafood.
"The smell of fish! I love it," the taxi driver says. "It reminds me of…
Never mind. Look over there." The driver walks to a souvenir shop
and picks up a plastic object. "I will show you a great trick to get the
girl of your dreams. Look at this."
"What is it? Plastic car keys?"
"Man, not just any car keys. These are Porsche keys," the taxi driver
says. "Nobody knows they are fake. They look real."
"Well, I think it's quite obvious..."
"Trust me, if you let a girl see such Porsche keys, you can take her
home the same night. One drink, and she won't recognize the keys
are fake."
Riston laughs, "No chance that will work."
"You never know until you try. Just make sure you choose a girl and
get out of the bar quickly, or somebody will rob you. Take it, as a gift
from me," the taxi driver says and pays the price for the fake keys.
"Oh, and this is for your protection," he buys Riston a plastic gun.
"Seriously?"
They laugh.
"Anyway, put it in the car. I need to find the tailor," Riston says.
"Sure." The taxi driver starts smoking a cigarette, looking at the
hundreds of people walking here and there between the stands.
Riston disappears in the crowd.
He walks around the stands, looking for the tailor. He finds a small
door matching the address Diego gave him and enters the shop. It's
really old-fashioned. There are posters of old theatre plays on the
walls. The only light comes from three big candles.
"Hello?" he says out loud. "Mr. Rodriguez?"

Chapter 18, Tailor

Mr. Rodriguez comes out of the dark and says, "You must be Cat
Riston. I have prepared the suit for you. Let's not lose any time. Try it
out," the old man says.
Riston puts the suit on. It fits perfectly, but the old man frowns.
"Hmm...Let me just make the sleeves a little longer," he says, takes
the suit, and disappears into the dark.
A couple of minutes later, Mr. Rodriquez brings the suit back.
"Okay, it fits perfectly now," he nods. "Now, let me show you how the
sleeve works."
"What do you mean?" Riston asks.
"Look here." Mr. Rodriquez points at the right sleeve. There is a small
mechanism hidden under it. Mr. Rodriquez brings a pack of cards
and loads the mechanism. "You put three cards in it. Pushing this
button will make a card fall out of the sleeve, right into your hand.
Get it?"
"Awesome," Riston smiles.

"Good luck," the old man says and shakes Riston's hand.
Riston leaves the shop and walks through the market, back to the taxi
driver.
"Oh, look at him!" the taxi driver shouts when Riston returns. "Man,
you don't need fake Porsche keys! You can get any girl with that suit
alone," he laughs.
They drive back to Villa Atlântica.
"Alright, my friend," Riston says, "don't wait for me, I will stay long."
"Okay. Good luck," the taxi driver replies, shaking Riston's hand.
Riston gets out of the taxi, and the taxi drives away.
Riston dials Diego's number on his cell phone. "Diego, I am ready."
"Okay," Diego says, "I am coming right there. I will be waiting across
the street of Villa Atlântica in my car. Find Tess, get those diamonds,
and get the hell out of there. I will be waiting for you."
"Piece of cake! See you later."

Chapter 19, Cards

Riston looks at Villa Atlântica. There are many men in suits coming in
and out of the building, and expensive cars are parked all around.
The bodyguard is still guarding the entrance.
Riston crosses the street and tries to go around the bodyguard.
"Stop!" the bodyguard shouts. "Show me your ticket!"
Riston frowns at him. "I don't know what‘s your problem today! The
boss told me that you caused problems earlier when they brought
the girl. I think that's enough. Now shut up. I am going in, or the boss
hears about this!"
"Of course, sir. I am sorry, sir."
"Yes, you should be," Riston says and enters the villa. Everything
looks very expensive. There are statues by the wall and a big fireplace
in the middle. People are talking to each other, eating, and holding
drinks in their hands. Some people are playing cards. Some are
playing pool on the other side of the room.

A waiter comes to Riston and offers him a glass of white wine.

Riston takes the glass and says, "I came here to make new friends, so
to speak," he puts money into the waiter's pocket. "I heard some
people are boarding a ship tomorrow. Show me who they are."
"Of course, sir. Do you see the man over there with the big beard? I
know he has tickets for the ship."
"I see. Thank you," Riston says.
Riston walks to the bearded man. There are a couple of people
around him, smoking cigarettes. They are talking about playing cards.
It seems they have already had a couple of drinks.
The man with the big beard brags, "And I play cards every evening. I
make a lot of money that way. It's easy if you have enough
experience."
Another man says. "I don't think so. Cards are about luck. If you don't
have luck, you can't win."
"No, cards are about experience. You need to learn the basics first.
Then you need to practice."
"Look, my friend has played cards for several years. So he has lots of
experience, but he lost his own car in a card game last week anyway."
"How can he be so stupid to play for a car? I only play for money."
Riston joins the conversation. "No, that's boring."
They look at him.
The man with big beard laughs. "Look at him. He is twice younger
than me. What can he know about it?"
"It's related to your intelligence," Riston says. "I always win when I
play cards."
"No, I always win!" the man with the beard says.
Riston takes the fake Porsche keys out of his pocket and shakes them
in front of the man's beard, "Do you want to play?"
"Yes, and I will win your stupid car!"
They come to a table, sit down, and somebody deals the cards.
"So I bet my car. What about you?" Riston asks and puts the fake keys
on the table.
"Money?"
"No, I said that's boring. It must be something special."
"Something special? Okay..." the bearded man says and throws a ship
ticket on the table. "Is this special enough for you?"
Riston smiles, "Yes, that's gonna work."
The other men standing around frown.
"Don't do it! That's an important ticket! You can't play for it."
"Shut up, and bring me a drink."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I am sure, alright? I'm gonna win. Now let's play!"
They start playing.
Riston loses a couple of times, but then he starts using the
mechanism in his sleeve, and his luck changes.
Meanwhile, the hall fills up with people. Riston sees Steingold on the
other side of the hall. He is talking to some other people before he
disappears into the next room.
Then Riston hears somebody talking behind his back.
"Steingold brought the other diamonds. The necklace is complete
now."
"What will we do with the girl locked in the wine cellar?"
"We don't need her anymore. You know what to do."
"Yes, boss."
Riston understands that he is running out of time. Finally, he wins the
last game.
"You cheated!" the man with the beard shouts.
"No I didn't," Riston lies, "But you did!"
Riston turns the table over. The table fells on the floor upside down,
and the bearded man falls on the floor, too.
Everybody in the room looks at them, and the music stops playing.
"You see, he cheats," Riston shouts, so that everybody in the room
hears. Riston points at the overturned table and a stack of cards
which are attached to its bottom.
"Cheater!" somebody shouts.
"I played with him, but I could never win!" somebody else shouts.
"I think I want my money back!" A short fellow jumps at the bearded
man, and is soon followed by many others who lost their money.
Riston slowly gets away without anybody noticing.
He opens a small door at the other side of the hall and enters the
room into which Steingold had disappeared.

Chapter 20, Cellar

"Oh, did you scare me!" an old woman shouts. A broom fell out of her
hand when Cat Riston entered the room so suddenly.
"Shh! calm down!" Riston says and looks around. There is nobody
else in the room but the old maid. Riston picks up the broom and
hands it back to her.
:Thank you, my dear," the woman says. "Oh my God, was I afraid of
you! You can't do this to an old woman, you know," she smiles.
"I am sorry," Riston replies, while thinking how to explain what he is
doing there. "I am… ehm… They told me to take a bottle of wine from
the cellar, but… I don't know where it is."
"Yes, I heard they have a good wine there, very good wine, yes. Oh, I
know where it is, my dear. But I have never been there. They won't let
me in, you know. But I will tell you where it is, okay? So, just go out of
this room through that door," the maid says, pointing at the door on
the other side of the room. "Then, go down the stairs, and it's the
second door on the left, okay?"
"I got it. Thank you."
"You are welcome, my dear. You are welcome."
Riston slowly opens the door and looks into the stairwell. Nobody is
there, so he goes down the stairs and follows the old maid's
directions.
He comes to a dark corridor. He looks around the corner, but the
room is too dark to see anything.
Suddenly, something hits him hard in the head.
"Ouch!" Riston falls on the floor.
"Oh my God, Riston! I am so sorry. Are you okay? Riston!"
Riston lies on the ground. He sees dancing stars in front of his eyes
and has blood all over his forehead. "Ow... That hurt."
"I didn't know it was you, Riston, I am so sorry..."
"Wh... What... Tess?"
She helps him stand up.
"What a dangerous woman," he says.
"Hush! We need to get out of here quickly," Tess says, "I think I heard
somebody."
Riston sees another man lying on the floor next to the door. He
points at him and looks at Tess.
"What?" Tess says innocently. "It took you too long to save me, so I
helped myself! And I am on my way out of this stupid cellar. Come
along if you want, or stay here!" she says angrily and walks out of the
dark corridor.
Riston smiles. He takes a bottle of wine and follows her.
They go upstairs.
"Wait," Tess says. "We can't go this way, there is a maid."
"She is alright," Riston says, and enters the room with the old maid.
"Oh, my son! What happened to you? You have blood all over your
head. Come here," she says and wipes the blood with a clean rag
before he can stop her.
"And who is this?" she says, pointing at Tess. "How did you get here,
young lady?"
"That's my girlfriend," Riston says.
"Am I?" Tess raises her eyebrows.
"Shh, play along," he whispers to her and then continues. "She is
confused. That's why we need to get out of here secretly."
"Oh, yes, I can help you!" the maid says. "Follow me, my dear."
They follow the maid through the building, until she shows them a
small exit door.
"This is my side door. I come and go through this door every day, you
know," she smiles.
"Thank you," Riston says, taking Tess's hand and exiting the building.
Then he suddenly stops, looks at the maid standing at the door, and
comes back to her. "I almost forgot! This is for you," he says, and
gives her the bottle of wine.

Chapter 21, Lorenzo

"Over there!" Cat Riston says and points at Diego's car.
Riston and Tess quickly get in the car.
"Let's go before they notice that Tess is gone," Riston says to Diego.
"Tess, I finally meet you," Diego says while driving. "Riston told me a
lot about you. She really is sexy, Riston, you were right!"
"We never talked about that," Riston replies and looks at Tess. "Be
careful, you are dealing with a dangerous person."
"Don't worry, I will be nice to her," Diego says.
"I mean she is a dangerous person. You are harmless," Riston laughs.
"Very funny," Diego says. "What about the diamonds?"
"I wasn't lucky this time. But I have the ship tickets for all of us. We
will get the diamonds during the cruise."

"What are you talking about?" Tess asks. "I have nothing to do with
this whole thing. I am not stealing any diamonds, nor am I stepping
on a ship. Take me home! You brought me into this!"
"I know, I am sorry, okay? But there is no way out right now. We need
to play this game."
"What game? Riston, this doesn't make any sense. Let me go right
now!"
Diego stops the car and says, "Okay, you can go."
"What?"
"You can go. Go where you want," Diego says.
"Diego, what are you doing?" Riston asks. "She will be dead by the
morning. They are still after her. After all of us."
"If she wants to fight on her own, I won't stop her."
"All right, take it easy, both of you. Tess, please close the door. Look, I
know we barely know each other, but trust me, okay? You will
understand everything when the right time comes."
"No, I want to understand now!" Tess shouts.
"Okay, listen. I have these cruise tickets for us. We will get on the ship
that leaves tomorrow in the morning. We are going to Africa."
"Africa? Is this a joke?"
"No. We need to board that ship, Tess."
"Oh my god. This is crazy!"
"We will sleep in the house of our mutual friend Lorenzo tonight.
Taurino's people won't find us there."
"And then what? What are we going to do in Africa?"
"Do you remember those children working in Taurino's factory?"
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"We will save those children, okay?"
"Really?"
"Yes, I promise. Just go along with the plan for now."
Tess turns away from him and looks out of the window, shaking her
head.
"Let's go, Diego," Riston says, " we don't have much time. Lorenzo will
be waiting."
They arrive at Lorenzo's house hidden in the mountains above Rio de
Janeiro in the middle of the night.
Lorenzo comes out of the house to greet them. "W-w-welcome, my
friends!"
"I don't want to talk to anybody," Tess says. "Show me my room and
leave me alone."
"Wh-Wh-What is wrong with her?" Lorenzo stutters.
"Don't worry about her. She will be fine by tomorrow," Riston says.
Lorenzo shakes hands with Riston and Diego and they enter the
house.
The house is lit by a green light. Many weird things are lying around.
"What the hell is this?" Tess says when they enter the living room. She
is holding a weird electrical object in her hand.
"Don-Don-Don't touch anything, please," Lorenzo says as he runs to
her, takes the thing from her hand and puts it back on the floor.
"Oh my god. This is a crazy house. Great. Where is my room?"
"I will sh-sh-show you. Come," Lorenzo says and Tess follows him into
another room.
Lorenzo comes back without her.
"Sh-sh-she is a bad girl," he says.
"That's right," Riston smiles.
"Lorenzo, how is it going with the fake diamonds?" Diego asks.
"They are almost re-re-ready."
"Great."
"Listen," Riston says, "do you have something to eat? I'm starving."

Chapter 22, Sunshine

Riston wakes up the next morning with a green-light shining into his
eyes. The curtains are closed so there is no daylight coming through
the windows.
He hears Lorenzo arguing with Tess in the next room: "No, no, please
don't!"
"This is mad, you need to let the daylight in!" Tess replies, "It's healthy
for you!"
Riston opens the door and sees Tess opening the curtains in the
living room.
"Look who woke up!" she says, "Mr. I'm-So-Smart. Did you know that
your friend hasn't seen sunshine in the last ten years?"
"He is allergic to it, Tess."
"Ouch, ouch, ouch!" Lorenzo shouts falling on the ground in the
corner of the room trying to find a shadow. His skin turns all red.

"Oh my god!" Tess shouts and quickly closes the curtains.

Riston comes to Lorenzo and helps him stand up. Lorenzo is
breathing heavily.
"I am so sorry! I didn't know!" Tess says. "Are you okay?"
"He will be fine," Riston says.
"Oh my god!" Tess shouts and puts her hand on Lorenzo's head. "He
has a fever!"
"Tess," Riston says and takes her hand away, "he will be fine, okay?
Just leave him alone."
She follows Riston out of the room looking back until Riston closes
the door.
"He will be fine. The allergy is not that bad. We just need to leave him
alone for now, okay?"
She looks at him with tears in her eyes: "Okay... I am sorry."
Diego is eating ham and cheese for breakfast and reading
newspapers.
"Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Did the lady sleep well?"
"Yes, she did," Tess says, "until she saw you."
"Riston, we will need to teach this lady some good manners," Diego
shakes his head and smiles. "Eat quickly, you two, we don't have
much time. Everything else is ready, the ship is waiting."
"Did Lorenzo prepare everything?" Riston asks.
"Oh, yes; he did a good job."
"What did he prepare?" Tess asks.
"A couple of small things, darling," Riston says.
"I am not your darling, okay? And I hope you are not pushing Lorenzo
into something dangerous as you did with me!"
"Don't worry, he knows how to take care of himself," Riston says.
Lorenzo enters the room.
Tess quickly jumps up and comes to him: "Are you okay? Come, sit
here, I already finished my breakfast, you can eat something now,
what would you like?" she says so fast that she didn't even breathe.
"I'm – I'm alright, thank you," Lorenzo says.
"Are you sure? Would you like a cup of milk? Or tea?"
"N-no, I mean, m-milk please."
Tess gives Lorenzo a glass of milk.
"Th-thank you," Lorenzo says and looks at Diego: "I t-think, it's time,"
he says and points at the clock.
"You're right!" Diego shouts, "We need to go!"
"Lorenzo," Riston says, "thank you for your help."
"W-welcome. Next time you have a j-job, let me know."
"Sure!" Diego says.
They shake hands and leave the house, but before they get in the car,
Lorenzo shouts at them: "You forgot the r-r-rope!"
"Oh yeah, the rope," Diego says and runs back to get it.
"What do you need a rope for? This is going to be something
dangerous again…" Tess shakes her hand.
"No worries, we've got it under control this time," Riston says.

Chapter 23, Ship

Diego Diaz parks the car close to the harbor of Rio de Janeiro.
Together with Cat Riston and Tess, they join the queue of passengers
waiting to board the ship.
"Oh my god, that's a huge ship!" Tess says. "It has five stories. I have
never seen something like that. It must have a capacity of thousands
of people!"
"And that's good for us. We will be able to blend with the crowd,"
Diego says.
"It's going to be a long wait though," Riston says looking at the queue.
"I will buy us a snack." He walks to a stand selling fried fish.
"Three times please," he orders and then gives one snack box to Tess
and one to Diego.
A little bit later, they board the ship.
"Now turn right and go straight," Riston explains to his companions
looking at the ticket. "We have two cabins. One is on this floor, the
other one is on the third floor."

"Look!" Tess shouts enthusiastically. "That's a swimming pool! Maybe

I am going to enjoy this after all."
"Here," Riston says when they find the first cabin.
"This is a cabin for two people. Tess, you will be here with me."
"Forget it," Tess replies decidedly. "There is only one bed!"
"Yes, that's for me," Riston says and winks at her. "You will be
sleeping on the couch."
"I want the other room! Diego will be here with you."
"No," Riston replies. "Look, this is for your safety. They are still after
you, remember? If you are alone and they find you, you are dead."
"Stupid," she shakes her head and leaves the cabin.
"She will calm down," Diego says to Riston. "Anyway, see you later. I
am going to find my cabin."
"Okay. See you."
Riston starts unpacking his baggage. He finds the plastic gun from
the taxi driver. "I have never thought this might come in handy," he
shakes his head and hides the gun because if Tess finds it, she will
have too many questions.
"Riston!" he hears her shout from outside.
He comes out on the deck. Tess is pointing her hand in the distance:
"Look! He is on the ship! And his girlfriend too."
"Who?"
"Taurino! He is looking at us!"
Riston gives Tess a long kiss.
"Is he still looking?"
"No..."
"Okay," Riston pushes Tess away. "That was a good disguise but don't
get any ideas."
"Stupid," she smiles.
Chapter 24, Disguise
"The kiss worked well the last time, but we should take better
precautions," Cat Riston says and gives Tess a bottle of red hair color.
"You can change your hair color with this."
"Okay, and what's your disguise?"
Riston sticks a fake moustache onto his face. She starts laughing.
"Hey people," Diego shouts from outside, "I found my room. I have a
good view over the swimming pool. Riston, what the hell is wrong
with you?"
"Don't worry, I've got one for you too," Riston says and gives Diego
another fake moustache.
"No way I am wearing this..."
"Hmm, when I think about it, you don't even have to. Nobody knows
you."
"Right," Diego says and throws the moustache away. "I need to speak
to you, Riston. Let's have a walk."
"Okay..."

"Riston, who do you have my ticket from?"

"I don't know. From some random person at Villa Atlântica."
"Listen, my cabin is right next to Taurino's cabin!"
"But that's good for us! He has never seen you, has he?"
"No, he hasn't. So he doesn't know who I am. He is here with two
bodyguards and his girlfriend. Now listen what I heard. He said to his
girlfriend that he wants to keep the diamonds in sight all the time. So
I guess she is going to wear the necklace."
"Okay. We need to steal it today, so that we have time to get off the
ship before it arrives to Africa."
"Exactly. I also heard that there will be a blues performance tonight.
Taurino is going to be there. Do you know what I'm thinking?"
"That's our chance to steal it. Plus, it will be easy to get off the ship
during the night..."
"Exactly! So do you have any ideas how to get the diamonds off the
girls neck?"
"We can't steal it without him knowing..."
"So why not steal it with him knowing!"
"We have the fake diamonds, he has the real ones."
"And if we tell him that it's the other way round..."
"We might get a chance to make an exchange."
"Sounds like a plan."

Chapter 25, Plan

Riston, Tess, and Diego are getting ready for the evening show.
"Tess, let's go!" Diego says. "It starts in five minutes."
"Shut up!" Tess shouts from the bathroom.
"Hmmm, I am curious whether the blues singer will be any good,"
Riston says to Diego. He takes the plastic gun and hides it under his
suit. "Do you have the fake diamonds?"
"Sure I do," Diego looks at the clock and shouts, "Tess, are you
ready?"
Tess comes angrily out of the toilet.
"Finally," Diego raises his eyebrows.
Riston looks at her: "You look beautiful, darling."
"No darlings, okay?" she says. "Now let's go."
They leave the cabin. It's already dark outside. The ship floats silently
in the ocean.
They see people gathering to the main hall. The blues singer is
already on the stage adjusting the microphone.
"There is our table," Riston says.

They go through the crowd and sit down just when somebody dims
the lights and the blues singer starts singing.
"Right on time, I like that," Diego says and calls a waitress.
They order drinks and food while listening to the song.
"He is sitting five tables to the right," Riston says quietly.
"Who?" Tess asks.
Diego nods ignoring her. "Those two bodyguards are with him."
"Who are you talking about?" Tess asks again looking around. "Oh
no... Is it...? Oh no!" she says when she spots Taurino.
"Don't worry, we have a plan," Riston says.
"A plan? What kind of a plan?"
"It's easy," Diego says. "We will pretend that me and Riston are from
the secret service and that we have found you with the real
diamonds."
"Then we will tell Taurino that his diamonds are fake because you
stole the real ones from him. That way, we will exchange the fakes for
the real ones. Get it?"
"What? Wait, wait... I don't want to have anything to do with this,"
Tess says shaking her head.
"What are you talking about, it's a perfect plan!" Diego smiles.
"Yes, it's a good plan, Tess. And it's the only plan," Riston says.
"Indeed. We just have to play it well, that's all."
"When do you want to do this?"
"Now."
"Now? Are you crazy?" Tess says and looks at Riston, "You both are
crazy!"
"It will be okay. Me and Diego will do all the talking, you just play
along."
"It is too dangerous!"
"Diego, your sunglasses," Riston says and both of them put on black
sunglasses for a better disguise.
He takes the plastic gun.
"What… what are you doing?" Tess asks, completely terrified.
Riston stands up and points the gun at Tess.
"You are under arrest!" he shouts loudly.
Chapter 26, Grand Theft
The blues singer stops singing and everybody in the hall looks at Cat
Riston, who is pointing the gun at Tess.
Tess lowers her head sadly and says: "You really are crazy."
"You are a suspect of a diamond robbery!" shouts Diego at her so
that everyone hears. "You will come with us."
The people in the hall start whispering.
Tess stands up resignedly: "So where are we going?"
"We are taking you into custody!" shouts Riston.
The whole hall is looking at them.
Riston whispers to Diego: "Take Tess and go to our cabin. I will take
care of Taurino."
Riston slowly comes to Taurino's table and says: "I belong to the
Brazilian secret service, sir. I am sorry to report that your diamonds
have been stolen."
"What are you talking about? Those diamonds are right there," he
points at his girlfriend's neck angrily.

"Those are fake diamonds. We believe that our suspect has the real
ones. Please come with me."
"Your suspect?" shouts Taurino and stands up. "I know who she is! I
knew she would come back! She has already stolen my diamonds
once!"
"Please follow me and take the fake diamonds with you," says Riston.
Then he shouts at the blues singer onstage: "Please go on with the
show. Me and my agents will take care of this."
Taurino and his two bodyguards follow Riston out of the hall. They go
down the stairs, then to the other side of the ship where they meet
with Diego and Tess.
"I searched the suspect," says Diego and shows them the fake
diamonds, "As we had expected, she had the real diamonds."
"I will kill her this time!" shouts Taurino.
Riston turns to him: "Please calm down. Can you show me your
diamonds?"
Taurino hands the real diamonds to Riston. Riston looks at them and
continues: "Yes, these are fake. Agent, give me the real diamonds."
Diego gives him the fake diamonds and Riston makes the exchange.
Then he looks at Taurino and says: "We need to keep both the real
and the fake diamonds for security reasons. You will get your
diamonds back when the case is closed."
"What are you talking about? Give me the real diamonds right now!"
shouts Taurino.
"Sir, we need to..."
"Shut up and give-me-my-diamonds!"
"This is not..."
"Last warning! Or I will have my bodyguards take it from you!"
"Alright. Here you go, for now," Riston smiles and gives the fake
diamonds to Taurino. "We will need them later as a proof. It will be
best if you contact the Cape Town police as soon as the ship arrives
to South Africa."
Taurino points a finger at Tess and says: "I will find you!" Then he and
his bodyguards leave.
"Now quickly," whispers Riston. He takes a small flashlight out of his
pocket, points it at the ocean and turns it on and off repeatedly.
Soon, they see a light being turned on and off not far in the ocean.
Diego ties one side of the rope to the ship and throws the other side
into the ocean.
Then he climbs down into the darkness.
"Now you," Riston says and looks at Tess. "Climb after Diego. There is
a small boat waiting for us down there."
"Crazy," she shakes her head and climbs into the darkness too. Riston
soon follows.

Chapter 27, Captain

Cat Riston climbs down by the side of the cruise ship. There is a small
boat floating next to it. He jumps on the boat. Diego and Tess are
already sitting there.
"Welcome, my friends!" a third man says. He is holding a lamp in his
hand that throws yellow flickering light on their faces. He is dressed
like a captain. "I think we don't have much time for a proper greeting.
We better keep moving because Taurino can realize his mistake at
any moment," the captain says and starts the boat engine.
The engine roars as the boat sails quickly away from the cruise ship.
Once they are far enough, the man slows the boat down and asks:
"How did it go?"
"Exactly as we planned. Here they are," Riston says and gives the
diamonds to the captain.
"Excellent!"

"Who is this man?" Tess asks.

"This is Captain Woolbeard," Riston replies, "The diamonds belong to
him."
"What do you mean?"
"Taurino robbed him a couple of months ago. He was trying to get
the diamonds back ever since. Later, he hired me to do the job."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"There was no time," Riston smiles. "Plus you are so aggressive every
time I try to explain something."
"Oh, shut up," she says and kicks him playfully. "Nice to meet you
Captain." They shake hands. "And nice to know we are not real
thieves. We are just..."
"Righteous thieves?"
"Something like that..." they laugh.
"Hey, I think it's time to celebrate!" Diego shouts with a bottle of
cognac in his hand. "Look what I found! Hennessey? Captain, you
know what's good. On the righteous thieves. Cheers!" Diego turns the
bottle upside down as he drinks.
"Hey, leave something for me, will you?" Tess says.
"I am starting to like this girl," Diego laughs and hands Tess the
bottle.

Chapter 28, Island

The sky slowly becomes orange as the morning sun rises.
"Look! An island!" Diego says.
Riston opens his eyes.
Tess sleeps on his shoulder. Riston looks at Diego and the Captain at
the other side of the boat staring at the island. The orange sun rises
right from behind the island and makes the scenery look...
"Beautiful..." Tess says as she opens her eyes too.
"Indeed," Riston says and gives her a kiss.
"Yeah!" Diego laughs. "Finally our two birds are singing one song."
"One, two..." Tess starts counting and looks at Riston.
Riston understands and shouts: "Three!" and they both push Diego
off the boat into the water.
"Aaaaaa! Cold, cold, cold," Diego shouts and quickly climbs back in
the boat. "Riston, you...!"
"Sorry, I couldn't help it."

"And here we are," Captain says when they come closer to the beach.
He throws the anchor in the water and they jump in the sand.
"Over there," Captain says pointing at the other side of the beach.
There are two parked motorcycles waiting for them. Captain and
Diego sit on one, and Riston and Tess sit on the other.
"Follow us," Captain says to Riston as they start the engine.
They drive up the hill and soon arrive to a complex of historical
buildings.
They hear people and children playing behind the gate.
"What is this place?" Tess asks.
"Welcome to the School of Life!" Captain says as he opens the gate
and they enter a small square enclosed by historical buildings. There
are people of all ages playing, talking, eating, and reading...
everybody is just having a good time.
"Follow me please," Captain enters the biggest building.
"Captain built this place," Riston explains to Tess. "It's a university for
people of all ages. For anybody who wants to understand life."
"Amazing," Tess says looking around.
They follow Captain to his study room.
There is a breakfast waiting for them on a table and classical music
playing softly in the background. The yellow sun light shines through
the mosaic windows.
"Oh, I am so hungry!" Diego says.
"Me too!" Tess agrees and they start eating.
"Riston," Captain is looking out of the window lost in thoughts. "You
risked a lot to get the diamonds back. They mean a lot to me. Not
because they are diamonds, but because of their past," Captain says
slowly. "I can't thank you enough, but at least..." he takes a suitcase
from under the window. "Here is your reward."
Riston looks at the suitcase but does not take it. "Listen... This school
of yours," he says and looks at Tess. "I was thinking... Would you find
place for more children?"
"There will always be place for those who need it."
"Then keep the suitcase and rather do me a favor."
"What is it?"
"Taurino's factory employs kids who are forced to work on weapons.
We've got to bring them here. They need a new life."