“Terry Kincaid, you old dog. How’ve you been? Long time no see, buddy. What was it now, Seventy-nine? Good to see you. Join us for a drink. Come on, I’ll introduce you to someone special.” I sat down, still holding Terry’s right hand, and holding onto his elbow with my left. He had no choice but to sit or sprawl face first on the table.
The way we were seated was perfect. Terry himself shielded me and anything I might do from the rest of the area. The look in his eyes was too good not to enjoy.
“I’d like to introduce you to a very dear friend of mine, Colonel Godsen, Director, RCMP slash Interpol, Covert Operations and Counter-Terrorism, Canadian Division. For today, anyway. Tomorrow, who knows? Colonel Godsen, I’d like you to meet Terry Kincaid. He works for Mark. But I don’t think Terry likes that anymore, so Terry’s been doing some work of his own, now haven’t you Terry?”
“I’m very pleased to meet your acquaintance, Colonel.” He turned to look at me. “I’d be even more pleased if you’d explain the greeting you’re giving me here Jeffry. I thought we were on the same side, even if we’re not on the friendliest terms otherwise. What gives?”
“Have a drink, Terry.” The glass with the G&T was in front of him, and he looked at me again.
“I don’t drink anymore. I quit a few years back. Doctors told me it wasn’t good for my health, but thanks anyway.” The way he said it, I just knew he wasn’t being sincere. I figured it was time to let him know where he stood with me.
“I didn’t ask you to have a drink Terry, I told you to. As far as ‘not being good for your health’ goes, I don’t think that counts anymore. It’s way down there on the list of dangers to your health tonight. I’m at the top, by the way. Of the list, I mean.” All the while I’d been patting him down, and relieving him of his own arsenal, which amounted to nothing more than a nine mm automatic pistol. I slid it across the table, where Godsen made it disappear faster than the best new release at the video store the minute you walk in to ask for it. He wasn’t even wearing a vest. I was beginning to wonder why he was putting up with this action on my part when he spoke.
“I understand the precautions regarding weaponry, with such a high-ranking member of the international law enforcement present, but I certainly don’t understand how you pose a threat to me of any kind, never mind attempting to act in a manner injurious to my health.”
“Colonel, would you mind calling Bob over here?”
“Certainly, Major.” She got up and walked out of sight around the corner to the bar.
Terry was looking straight ahead, and I could see the anger building.
“Dangerous stuff, Terry. Emotions. They’ll mess you up. You ought to be more detached, you know? Relax a little. Have a drink.” I’d known for years that Terry was a ‘recovering’ alcoholic.
“No. You’re not going to make me drink. Who the hell do you think you are, anyway? You’re just a punk. I could step on you the way I’d step on a bug. I’m not the same man you used to know. I have connections these days, and I’m not talking about Mark, either.”
I reached up with my right hand to casually scratch my ear and my hand came down with a four-inch pure carbon blade. He sat up a lot straighter in the seat.
“You’re right. I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do. Yet. Although I do want to talk to you for a while first.”
I didn’t even look as Godsen and Big Bob came around the corner of the booth, but Terry did. If looks could kill, Big Bob would be dying hard right now. As it was, he looked pretty damn scared.
“You let him know I was coming, didn’t you Bob? Kind of spoiled the surprise. Now we’ve gotten off to a rocky start.”
I twirled the carbon in the air just above my fingertips, creating the optical illusion of manipulating it without touching it. Only Godsen didn’t fall for it, keeping her eyes on the rest of the bar from her standing vantage point.
“Start at what, Terry?”
He swallowed hard, and made one attempt to lie, then backed out of it.
“At a reconciliation between us, Jeffry. I mean, if you think it’s the right time for it now. Neither of us is getting any younger, after all…” I cut him off.
“For the love of Terry, have you become senile in your old age? A boy scout wouldn’t buy that one. You’ll have to try a lot harder next time.” I laughed then, and I could see the anger continuing to build. Good. Rule number whatever, mad is stupid, and I wanted him stupid. I wanted him to talk to me, and talking to me would definitely be stupid from Terry’s perspective.
“But let me tell you this,” I leaned over and whispered in his ear, “I can and will kill you—with complete immunity by the way—if Bob here even catches a bad cold before he reaches old age and starts collecting his social security cheques.” I pulled back. I was still doing the thing with the carbon blade, and it was getting to Terry.
“Now look at me.” He turned my way, but couldn’t take his eye off of the blade. So I made it disappear. Not too hard for a magician, but a magician wouldn’t use a blade that was razor sharp on both sides, and had no handle to speak of. Terry was losing face at rapid pace.
“Now. I want you to do three things, Terry. Apologize to Bob. Join us in a drink, and talk a little.”
“Fuck you and the horse you rode in on. I don’t need to take shit from you or your kind anymore Mister Claxton.” Getting madder all the time. Good, but there was more to come.
“I’m getting the distinct impression that you’re going backwards, not forwards, Terry. Colonel, would you mind pulling out your badge and helping Bob clear out this end of the pub? I think we’re going to start drawing a crowd here.”
Godsen responded wordlessly. She pulled out her gold shield, which even I had to admit was impressive, and worked with Bob to clear the pool table area, including the one other booth across the room from ours. Then the velvet rope went up and the sign was unfolded.
This section had been a storeroom for the original business that had been here before the pub had been built. The walls on the inside were the original dark red brick, decorated with small murals of Greek Gods here and there, and one of Pegasus, the winged horse. That was my personal favourite. There were big wooden beams halfway down the room on each side, meeting at the top of the walls and running the length of the roof. There were no windows here. Who wants a window in a storeroom? When it was refurbished for the pub, the overall effect had been good without them, so there still weren’t any. The side wall we were sitting next to had three air conditioners punching through the brick and the stone cladding on the outside.
Bob came back to the middle of the room, where Godsen was leaning against the pool table.
I used my knee to shove Terry out of the booth and onto the floor. Then I got up. As Terry tried to do the same I stepped on his hand, effectively pinning him down. I had no weapon in my hands now.
Leaning over from behind him on his right side, I said softly, “You can get up now, and leave, if you want to.” Then I moved my foot off of his hand and backed up two paces, quickly.
Terry was on his hands and knees, and he wasn’t a happy camper at all. He got to his feet slowly, as I circled him so as not to allow him to get in between Godsen or Bob and I. When he was standing, he finally looked me in the eye.
“You’re going to pay large for this, asshole.”
“Terry Kincaid! How can you say that to someone who was once part of your secret fraternity?”
“You were never a part of our team. You always had to do it your way. You were a loose cannon, and you should have been dumped out of the ranks before you ever got to Covert Ops.”
“I’m pleased that you feel that way about me, Terry. Really. The feeling is mutual, by the way.”
“I told you before asshole, fuck you and the horse you rode in on. Do you have any idea of who I am now?”
“The clock’s ticking, Jeffry.” Godsen was tapping her watch and making the whole thing much more tense for our poor Terry.
/> “So sorry, Colonel. I’ll get us back on track. Where was I? Oh, yes. Who is Terry Kincaid after all? I do know, Terry. You see, that’s your problem right now. You’re the man who sent the limousine to pick up the Colonel here this morning. That pissed me off, Terry, and those guys, talk about unresponsive! They don’t talk much, do they?”
He paled so fast that I knew I’d hit a nerve. He started off answering in a near whisper, then caught himself, and tried to make his voice normal again.
“That was you this morning? I had nothing to do with that Jeffry, and you’ll run into a brick wall if this is your idea of an interrogation.” Despite being very pale, he was sweating now.
I reached under my jacket and pulled out the Japanese blade. Walking over to where Terry stood, I casually flicked the blade through the air. It was impossible to follow it in motion, just a silver blur, like a barracuda attack.
So many people think the shark is the scariest thing in the oceans, but the truth is that corals, urchins, crustaceans, shellfish, and simple sea worms are the most likely killers you can run into. People who don’t know what they’re doing touch them, and it’s game over. Talk about heavy toxins.
Most often a snorkel diver at only six to ten feet of depth, and armed with only a rudimentary knowledge of the oceans and the life forms therein reach out to touch something interesting as they swim by; and ten seconds later when their bodies float to the surface it’s already too late. Dead as doornails, and it wasn’t any shark that did it. It’s astounding how many things in the oceans of the world are deadly poisonous to man. Then there’s the one exception to the rule, the Arabian Gulf, or the Persian Gulf, depending on which side of the Gulf you’re standing on at the time. There are more deadly poisonous sea snakes in the Gulf than in all the oceans of the world put together. It’s not an attractive quality for swimming, sailboarding and the like, yet people show up to do it every day of the year. And pay the price.
Now, the barracuda is another story altogether. The shark can’t hold a candle to the barracuda. Sometimes they kill for food, sometimes for sport, and sometimes for no reason at all that’s fathomable to humans. When the barracuda attacks, the speed at which they travel through the water is something that has to be seen to be believed. One second they’re floating motionless three to ten feet down in the ocean, the next second they’re gone. In the blink of an eye. If you see a barracuda attack, all you see is a blur of silver, then the blood starts to flow from their victim. That can be a six-inch Red Snapper, or a fully grown man. They don’t do the shark thing, trying to bite off what they can on the first attack pass. They come in like lightning, and then they’re gone. What they do is cut the victim like a razor hitting with the full force of their natural speed. It produces a strong blow, and the teeth do the rest. Then they come in again, for a large victim, and with a small ‘cuda, they may hit five times in the space of ten seconds. They always retreat and stop, motionless, deciding what to do next. Hit or run. I’ve seen a ‘cuda hit a man two, three times, then swim off leaving the victim bleeding to death. I’ve seen a ‘cuda take a fifteen-inch Red Snapper in half with one hit. Then circle back at their leisure to eat.
I once swam for about a hundred yards with a four foot ‘cuda swimming slowly beside me the whole way. We eyed each other the whole way to the pier. Fortunately for me he was just curious. A four foot ‘cuda is almost big enough to cut a ten-year-old child in half with one hit. I was ten at the time. The ‘cuda that took the Red Snapper in one hit was just a baby, maybe ten inches long. The Snapper was on my line, and before I could get the hooked half out of the water he’d come back and taken it right off my hook. The water was about four feet deep. They’re fast. Unbelievably so. That was when I lived in Bermuda.
Ask any island dweller what fish is the most dangerous, and sharks don’t even get mentioned. You can actually fight a shark if you know your stuff, but you can’t fight what you can’t see, and a ‘cuda in fifth gear isn’t visible. If you’re in the water at the time all you’ll see is a streak of silver, like an afterimage from a flashbulb. Silver torpedoes. With a mouth full of razors.
Terry’s tie fell to the floor. He wasn’t hurt, but he had no respect left to fall back on. When he raised his eyes from the hand painted silk tie lying on the floor, there was no evidence of a blade. Again.
“Yes Terry, that was me this morning. Guess what?” Now I was smiling a strange smile, and he couldn’t figure where this was going, which made him sweat all the more. “I’m back. Ask the Colonel what I did to get her out of trouble this morning. Go ahead, ask her. She was there, after all. Broad daylight, no problem, right? Everyone saw everything. ASK HER!” I could see that I was starting to make him downright jumpy.
“All right, I’ll play your little game here. Colonel, what did Jeffry do to ‘extricate’ you from your predicament this morning?”
“I have absolutely no idea. Nor do any of the other dozen or so people who were there, and saw the whole thing.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Well, neither does anyone else, so don’t feel bad.”
It started to click then. He was furiously thinking, and what he was thinking was all of the stories that used to circulate when I was active. About how it was my supernatural powers that got the job done, about how I wasn’t like the others, about how I could change shape in the night, about how I’d never left an enemy alive or a team member behind. That, at least was true. Finally, he spoke again, this time he held a little more nervousness in his voice. Not much more, but it was there.
“You’re back.”
“Give the man a cigar! Do you know what I think Colonel?” All the while, I had my eyes on Terry. “I think he has the information you want.”
Godsen piped right in.
“Good. Get it. I’m thirsty. Bob, could you get us a few more G&T’s?” Bob unclipped the velvet rope for himself and then did it up again. Two minutes later he was back with the drinks, taking up his position standing over there now, by the rope.
“So, Terry. Where were we? Oh yes. You idiotic piece of sidewalk dirt. You’re playing with the devil, and you don’t even know it. They pay very well, I’m sure, but you can’t take it with you now, can you? You can be tied to at least one murder that benefited the people I want. That means that there’s more. Lot’s more. Because you know what, Terry? I wasn’t even trying to tie you to this operation. I’d forgotten all about you. If I can nail you when I’m not trying, what do you think will happen now that I’m sure you know something I want to know?” I reached into my right side pocket, pulled out his pistol, and tossed it in his general direction. He caught it, just before it would have hit the pool table, and noting the empty clip, pocketed it immediately, bringing both hands back out where I could see them.
“I retire next year Jeffry. I purposely keep myself as inactive as possible, I push paper for a living now. I don’t know what you want, and I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”
“The problem here, Terry, is that I believe that you do know things we want to know. Now, I’m going to help you, even though I think you’re a dirty little shit. Because if you do help us, then we can help you. Wouldn’t that be nice?
Would you prefer to talk here, Colonel, or back at the base?”
Godsen spoke softly into her lapel microphone, and then listened to the response before answering my question.
“Here will be fine, it’s clean, and so is he.”
“Good. Now Terry, I want you to listen very carefully to what I have to say before I ask you any questions. Do you understand?” All I got for my trouble was a dirty look. “I’ll take that as a yes, then. Well, where to start?
A while back now, about six months or so, it came to our attention that there were some very unscrupulous people running around Europe knocking over banks. They were extremely successful at it too. Every single time they hit. Every job netted a minimum of at least three point eight million dollars. That’s not a weighted average, by the way, that�
��s just the least they ever pulled in from one of their jobs.
Then they came to Toronto and tried the same thing. It worked in Toronto too, but not as smoothly as over here on the continent. They killed four people in Toronto, one of whom was their own. That made my town’s police very angry. They don’t like bank robbers, and they just despise killers. So the investigation started. The contact your friends had inside of the RCMP Data Acquisition Department was found and eliminated as a source of information for your crowd just yesterday. She’s still dictating her statement. Her recruiter is on the run, but we have a description. It matches the description of the two recently departed members of the gang that the Colonel and I had an opportunity to meet this morning. In other words, we don’t have much to go on yet, but that’ll change.
The false I.D. was tracked and sourced right away, and now his apartment is being gone over with a fine tooth comb, as well as the one belonging to the fool who supplied him with it. We’ll find something. Eventually. Unfortunately for you, the Colonel and I don’t have the time to waste on legal procedures right now. We’re in a hurry. Places to go, people to meet, you know the drill.
Anyway, I digress. There was an additional murder in Toronto just last week. It ties in nicely with our international case. The murder victim was a banker, and he was working on a big deal at the time. A deal involving several international banks, and at least five foreign nations.”
“Do you mind if we sit down, Jeffry? I’m not as young as I used to be.”
“Aw, sure Terry. My apologies. I wasn’t thinking. Can I get you something to eat as well, or have you already had your dinner?”
He swallowed the anger as best he could, and kept up the pretense of civility.
“No thanks, I’ve eaten.”
“Good. Sit down over there.” I pointed to the table we’d recently vacated. “I’ll be right with you.” I walked over to Bob. “Is the juke box still free, Bob?”
“Yes, sir, it is.”
“Good.” I walked over to the old Wurlitzer, and started looking for a particular song. It was still there. Great, I’d always liked the Bobby Fuller Four. I punched the key combination for ‘I Fought The Law and The Law Won’, maybe ten times in a row. E-27. Then I went back to the booth, and slid in across from Terry.
The Diamond Dust on Dragonfly Wings: A Jeffry Claxton Mystery Novel Page 53