by Unknown
Willy didn’t like the direction this was heading. The kids were starting to feel empowered now after their initial shock. He wished he was still in his transparent state—they would have just crab-walked out of here without any of their drug-fueled courage returning.
He leveled his gaze at the one called Matt. “Don’t come near me with that rope, son.”
Matt laughed, and pushed his toque higher up on his forehead. “You not sum tuff guy, man. You jus an ole man. Put yer hans behind yer back.”
Willy shook his head. “I know you just want drug money, boys. I feel sorry for you, but I don’t keep money around. Please, just leave.”
Brody was starting to get impatient now. “Do what Matt said! Put yer hans behind yer back. I sure there’s money in that big house. And maybe a pretty ole wife we can have funs with, too. We’ll find out. But, you be out here, listenin to her scream.”
Willy sensed a rage building inside his gut now. He no longer felt sad for these kids. The implied threat against his wife had pushed his emotions in a different direction. He wished to God they’d taken his offer, but now they’d just have to deal with the consequences. For an instant, he pictured himself back in that trench in Korea, firing his rifle wildly into the air, aiming at a relentless enemy that seemed to be showing no mercy to five soldiers who were clearly no match.
Well, he was a match for these scum and they were going to find that out fast.
Brody thrust his hand out at his buddy. “Go git him! Wrap that fuckin rope round his neck stead. That teach him.”
Matt sneered and rushed at Willy, both hands extending the rope out, intending to snare his neck.
Willy’s hands moved in a blur. He grabbed the outer edges of the rope and twirled it around Matt’s neck.
The little coward’s face lost its sneer—replaced instead by a look of panic as Willy pulled tight on the ends of the rope, squeezing the boy’s scrawny throat into a choking, hacking tube. He was struggling now, swinging his fist wildly at Willy’s head. Willy let go of the rope and grabbed Matt under his armpits.
Then, he simply thrust him upwards with a force propelled by rage, totally devoid of any restraint that he might have felt a few seconds before.
The ceiling of the studio was ten feet high. Matt took the full impact on the top of his head, grunted, and crumpled harmlessly to the floor.
Brody gasped, swore, and rushed Willy at full speed, knife slicing the air. He was met by an open palm to the nose. Willy’s arm was straight as an arrow, locked at the elbow, and didn’t recoil even an inch. Brody fell backwards. It was as if he’d run into a brick wall.
He wiped the blood from his nose, crawled to his feet and took a swing at Willy’s head with the pocket knife. Willy ducked, then grabbed Brody under the chin with one hand and thrust him backwards, sending him airborne a full twenty feet into the workbench.
Both thugs were out for the count.
Willy looked down at them, relieved that the situation was now under control, but sad that he’d had to do this. Despondent that they hadn’t heeded his warnings.
He rushed out the door, along the driveway, and into his house through the back.
He went into the kitchen and pulled his cordless phone off the wall mount. He punched in the numbers.
A groggy voice answered on the third ring.
“Hello?”
“Wyatt, it’s me. I need your help.”
In a voice that seemed even groggier than when he’d first answered, Wyatt said, “Dad, can’t this wait until morning?”
“No. I’ve hurt a couple of kids. I need you to come over here.”
Suddenly, the voice was wide awake. “I’ll be right there.”
Chapter 14
“I’ve always thought that the Jet Propulsion Laboratory was part of NASA.”
“No, not at all—although, we did work closely together on a lot of projects.”
Wyatt leaned over the kitchen counter and refilled Allison’s wine glass. “So, who’s behind the JPL?”
She raised her glass. “What shall we toast to?”
“Well, how about new opportunities and new horizons?”
Allison laughed. “Sounds good—also kind of a coincidence.”
Wyatt motioned with his glass towards the door to his deck. “Let’s go outside and you can tell me why that’s a coincidence.”
She followed him outside and they stood side by side at the railing, looking out over Kootenay Lake 150 feet below. She sighed, and Wyatt stole a glance. She was wearing a New York Yankees baseball cap today, and her long brown hair was tied into a ponytail sticking out of the back of the cap.
She looked adorable, and he marveled to himself once again how adept she was at ‘dressing down.’ Here she was, this billionaire, standing with him on his deck dressed like she’d come right off the farm. He loved that about her already, and this was only the second time they’d been together.
She gushed, “Oh, Wyatt, this is just stunning.”
“Yeah, it is, isn’t it? It’s a very long lake, actually just an extension of the Kootenay River, which eventually merges with the mighty Columbia River and then they head off together on a rough and tumble journey to the Pacific Ocean.”
“Do you have a boat?”
“No, but I want to get one. Well, that’s not entirely true—we have a police boat.” Wyatt pointed. “Moored at the marina down there.”
“That’s kinda sexy. A Miami Vice cigar boat?”
Wyatt laughed. “No, far from it—a Sea Ray, but very fast. The bad guys can’t get away from us on this lake.”
Allison nudged his arm. “What bad guys? Spitters, litterers?”
“Ha, ha. Think you’re smart, don’t you, big city woman? Well, we get some action once in a while. Dognapping is very popular here. When we put out dragnets, we have to include ‘kibbles and bits’ in order to flush out the location of our victims!”
Allison smiled and took a sip of her wine. “You love it here, don’t you?”
Wyatt nodded as he gazed out over the lake. “Yeah, I do, Allison. I did the big city police stuff and, while I enjoyed it, I think it prepared me for this. I was ready for a lifestyle change.”
“I can understand that. I envy you.”
“Hey, you haven’t answered my question yet. Do I have to sit you down in the interrogation room and shine bright lights in your eyes?”
Allison rested her wine glass down on the ledge of the railing. “I forgot what you asked me. This gorgeous view has a way of numbing the mind. What was your question again?”
“I was asking about the JPL.”
“Oh, yes. Well, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is actually a part of the California Institute of Technology. We did a lot of testing of new technologies and helped build components that NASA needed in its space program.
“NASA never did much building or innovating themselves. A lot of people would be surprised to hear that. Their main role was, and still is, to envision and set goals and objectives—then just operate the missions. Just like most large companies these days, they outsourced a lot of what was needed to make those missions happen.
“For example, we at JPL designed and built the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft. Then, we worked with NASA to direct that mission. With the space shuttle program, the Canadian aerospace industry actually designed and built major structural components for the shuttles, including the space-arm, nicknamed Canadarm. That was what was used to do repair work, retrieve cargo, load cargo, et cetera. So, Canada can be proud to have been a big part of NASA’s history.”
“I didn’t know that. You’re just a little wealth of information, Allison.”
“Not really—that was just my life before the hotel business.” She suddenly snapped her fingers. “Oh, I remember there was something else I was going to tell you. You said that we should toast to ‘new horizons,’ and I said that was a coincidence, remember?”
Wyatt lit a cigarette. “Yeah, what did you mean?”
“We
ll, the JPL also had a big part to play in that New Horizons Space Probe—you know, the one that’s sending back pictures right now of Pluto?”
“Really? Those pictures are amazing—we’re learning so much more about that little planet now. Or…is it still a planet?”
“I’ll always consider it a planet, and I’m an astrophysicist. So, you should pay attention to me.” Allison giggled.
Wyatt couldn’t help but smile at this powerful woman who was a paradox. Brilliant, educated, a wealthy businesswoman—but also a silly little girl when she wanted to be, or more likely when she just wanted to let her guard down.
“I find it easy to pay attention to you. Maybe it’s that Yankees baseball cap.”
She shook her head, flinging her ponytail in his face. “I think you just like my ponytail. Makes you think I’m a country girl.”
“You do seem like a country girl. Honestly, you don’t seem like a hotel tycoon. And, I mean that as a compliment. You don’t seem like an astrophysicist either.”
“What’s an astrophysicist supposed to be like?”
“I dunno—perhaps someone kind of geeky. You’re far from ‘geeky.’”
Allison picked up her wine glass and walked over to one of the chaise lounges. She sat down and stretched her legs out. “Oh, I’ll bet you sit in one of these chairs with your coffee and cigarette every morning.”
Wyatt stretched out on the chaise next to her. “Good guess. Part of my morning routine, for sure.”
“Well, I guess I am a bit of a geek, Wyatt. I love anything to do with outer space. It’s my passion.”
“What are you doing running a hotel chain, then?”
“I inherited it. My dad, mom…and my husband, died in a car crash five years ago.”
“Oh…I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“That’s okay. My brother and I took over the company and I left the JPL. I try to put the best enthusiasm I can muster into the hotel business, and I’m darn good at it. But…it’s not my first love and not what I’d choose to do. It is my dad’s legacy, though, and before him, my grandfather’s. I can’t ignore it—I’m sure they’d be looking down and cursing me if I didn’t keep it in the family.”
“I understand. Must have been a shock to lose them all at once like that. Bad enough to lose your parents, but your husband…”
“I really loved him. And, my parents, too, of course. My mom was still so healthy and vibrant. And, my dad was really young for his age. And strong. A former Navy guy.”
“Did he serve in one of the wars?”
“No, he was too young for WWII or Korea. But, he did some tours around different parts of the world, and was actually seconded to the British Navy for a couple of years. The U.S. and Britain did a lot of cross-training back in those days. My dad was a hot-shot weapons specialist, so he was in big demand.”
“When was that?”
“He was assigned to the HMS Diana from ’55 to ’57.”
Wyatt frowned. “The Diana? There’s something I remember about that ship. Rings a bell.”
Allison lowered her voice. “Yes, it was 1956. The ship was ordered to sail through a radioactive fallout zone in the Indian Ocean. The Brits had done a nuclear test and wanted to find out the effects on sailors and the ship itself. An atrocious thing to do. Two-thirds of the 300 or so sailors have now died from radiation sickness. Lawsuits have been denied to the families due to the ‘statute of limitations’ expiring. Definitely a controversial part of England’s history, and long-forgotten by most.”
“I’ll bet your dad never forgot.”
She shook her head. “No, he certainly didn’t. It made him angry just to talk about it.”
“Was he affected by the radiation?”
“No, he was one of the lucky ones. There were a few like him who suffered no ill effects.”
“That’s strange, eh? You’d think all of them would have suffered the same way.”
Allison sipped her wine and didn’t reply.
She looked sad all of a sudden—Wyatt decided to change the subject. “So, did you work on the Mars Pathfinder mission that you were telling me about?”
“No, I was too young for that one. I did do work on the New Horizons Pluto project, though. That was launched ten years ago, so it was a long-term assignment. Now it’s finished—the space probe moves out into the dark reaches of outer space now, never to be seen again and never to take another photo.”
“Kinda sad, eh? When you worked on something so important, for so long, and then it just comes to an end.”
Allison grimaced. “Yeah, but the information the probe gathered will live on. Just like with the Mars Pathfinder. It landed on Mars in July, 1997, but it had a roving probe that wandered around taking pictures—in fact 550 of them.
“I was too young to be involved in the design of the Pathfinder, but one of the jobs I had when I was at JPL was to analyse all of those photos when they came in. Well, not just me—there were several of us physicists doing it. I was still doing some of that work when I left in 2010. Fascinating. So, it does all live on. Nothing is ever really finished, know what I mean?”
“Yeah, I think I do. I can definitely see where your passions lie, because we’ve hardly talked about the hotel industry at all so far.”
She laughed. “It shows, does it? Well don’t you worry—I’ll do a marvelous job at building our hotel here. So, tell me about your history. Any wife in your past?”
Wyatt got up from his chaise and stood at the railing.
“My fiancé died of cancer ten years ago. She was pregnant. Baby couldn’t be saved. That’s why I resigned from the RCMP and moved back here. Too many memories back in Toronto, and I needed to have a different kind of life. More meaningful.
“I know that sounds kind of ‘new age,’ but it’s the way I felt at the time. And, I’m glad I did it. Life’s too short to be constantly barraged by some of the horrible stuff I used to see with the Mounties. You can take those memories to bed with you only so often, until they start to eat away at your soul. So, now, I prefer the spitters, shoplifters and dog nappers in Nelson instead.”
Allison joined him at the railing, and rubbed his shoulder. “I’m so sorry about your fiancé and child. Sounds like we’ve both had to deal with some major heartbreaks in our lives.”
Wyatt gazed into her mesmerizing blue eyes and, for just that moment, he could see that this powerful businesswoman was letting her guard down a wee bit more. There was genuine compassion in those eyes—that wasn’t something even the most manipulative power broker could fake.
“Let’s change the subject. It sounds like your meeting yesterday with city council went well.”
“Yes, it did. They’re all very excited and so am I. The next step is to choose the site and file a plan with council. Then, after we get the approvals, we’ll break ground. I move very fast—you’ll be impressed, I promise.”
Wyatt blushed. “I’m already impressed.”
She rubbed his shoulder again. “Wyatt, I don’t think your dad was too impressed though. He seemed really nervous and unsettled this morning, back there in his studio.”
Wyatt’s mouth went dry. He was hoping she hadn’t noticed Willy’s mood.
“I think he just has a tough time letting people see where he works, see his unfinished creations. That studio is kind of his sanctuary.”
“Are you sure he’s okay?”
“Yeah, he’s fine. He’s thrilled about his draft-dodger sculpture finally getting center stage.”
“Okay. But, he seemed a little upset when I noticed that other thing he’d been working on.”
“The sphere? I’d never even seen that one myself. I’m surprised he didn’t have it covered—he usually does that with the new things he’s working on.”
“I loved the draft-dodger sculpture. It’s really special and we’ll give it prominence at our new hotel, for sure. But, he never talked to you about that sphere project before? Never explained it to you?”
“No, and he didn’t seem to have much of an explanation this morning either when you asked him about it. Remember, though, he’s an artist. Sometimes I think those types are just possessed, and don’t really know why they do things. I’ve seen a couple of other weird sculptures that he never had any explanations for.”
“That sphere is beautiful though—and such a perfect ball. And those canyons and mountains are so precise. He even drilled in tunnels. Seemed like he was working off some kind of model.”
“He is good, isn’t he?”
* * * * *
Back in her room at the Kootenay Palace, Allison reflected on the lovely afternoon she’d spent with Wyatt. She turned on the radio and tuned in to a classical music station. Then flopped back onto the ‘heavenly’ bed and closed her eyes.
She really liked Wyatt. Such a gentleman, but at the same time so confident and curious. A man who was easy to talk to, and actually interested in things she had to say. Men like that were rare. In fact, she hadn’t met a man like that since her wonderful husband.
She enjoyed her job as the CEO of Diamond Hotels, but at times really resented her role with Majestic 12. There were so many lovely people she met who she couldn’t be totally honest with. She hated being deceptive, especially to a special man like Wyatt Carson.
She couldn’t tell him that in their analysis of the Mars Pathfinder photos they had discovered something utterly shocking on the surface of Mars. Some of the photos had been leaked and some conspiracy sites had already put two and two together. But, no one paid attention to those sites, and the photos were deliberately made ‘grainy’ by the JPL, so the conspirators couldn’t really tell what they were looking at—at least not with any certainty.
But, Allison and others had seen the full resolution photos.
On the surface of Mars was an exact full-size replica of the same Sphinx that sat mysteriously in Egypt’s Giza Plateau. The tourist attraction that everyone thought was just, well, ‘one of those things.’ A once in a lifetime sight, if you were lucky enough to travel to Egypt.
Or…to Mars.
Allison also couldn’t tell Wyatt that her elderly father, before he died, had incredible strength, a full head of hair, and still had every single one of his original teeth.