Kaleidoscope

by Chariss K. Walker

  While Nelson went to answer the door, I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. My throat felt like chalk from the tension and heated discussion. That’s when I heard a commotion in the hallway as Nelson tried unsuccessfully to stop the intruders. Two men angrily shoved him ahead of them and forced their way into the dining area. Sarah was still seated at the table. Nelson tried feebly to protect her by putting himself between the men and his wife.

  These men had come for me and they were intent on acquiring me. I began to calm my breathing. It was more logical to stay put and wait for a chance to make a move. It wouldn’t do to rush into the fray until I knew exactly what I was up against.

  “Who are you and what do you want?” Sarah demanded angrily. “You don’t have the right to come into our home uninvited. Nelson, call the police.”

  “We’re here for the elusive Mike Lewis and to dispose of you and your family. You’ve become a liability, Dr. Fitch, and the company wants to be done with you. Where is the infamous Mr. Lewis?” the leader of the pair asked, ignoring Sarah and talking directly to Nelson as he scanned the room from one side to the other.

  “Why? What have I done?” Nelson asked frantically. “What do you mean I’m a liability? I’ve only done what I was asked to do.”

  “Well, doc, that didn’t include telling Mr. Lewis the company’s secrets and we’re here to make sure you don’t tell him anything else. Where are your kids?” the assailant coldly asked Sarah.

  “That’s none of your business,” Sarah nervously replied. She was frightened.

  “Go get them,” he ordered, but Sarah was frozen in her seat at the implications of such an order and didn’t make a move.

  Nelson instantly realized that his home was bugged. These men had overheard the admissions he’d made tonight. They meant what they’d said. Nelson faced his mortality in a split second. The reality was too much for him; he’d never imagined it would end this way. As a result, he did the worst thing he could’ve done in a situation such as this; he panicked and lost his temper.

  “Now, you wait just one minute!” Nelson yelled. “You have no right! My wife and children don’t know anything. You leave my family out of this!” He pushed clumsily at the man closest to him and his action caused a disastrous chain of events. The man reacted violently and whacked Nelson upside the head with the butt of a gun. The blow knocked Nelson unconscious. Sarah screamed as he fell heavily to the floor. When his head hit the wooden planked floor beyond the rug, it made a loud and sickening thud. I was sorry that I wasn’t already in a position to protect Nelson, but the next best thing was to keep his family safe. It was surprising that the children remained in their rooms. Maybe they didn’t hear the commotion.

  I edged around the corner to assess the damage and the situation. Both men had a gun, but only the one who hit Nelson had his weapon in hand. The smaller of the two men stood on the rug to the right of the dining area. His gun was in a holster clipped to his belt. The other man still stood to the left where Nelson lay prostrate on the floor.

  “Go get your goddamn kids and get them down here now!” he sternly ordered Sarah again.

  I made my move. I ran into the dining room with hands up waving wildly getting as close to the man with the gun as possible, “There’s no need for all this, I’ll go willingly. If you leave them alone, I’ll do whatever you want. I don’t want any trouble,” I said using the best terrified voice I could muster. I was grateful Sensei had insisted I practice for just such an occasion. The two men laughed.

  “Look at him, Jesse,” the spokesman said to his partner as he foolishly waved the gun around for emphasis, “he’s about to piss his pants. Some big job this turned out to be. The boss must be misinformed if he thinks this guy is a threat. He’s a pussycat if ever I saw one.” He laughed again. Both men had a hearty chuckle at my expense, which meant I had succeeded. I noticed the gun held a silencer. These bastards were serious. They really did plan to quietly disposing of Nelson and his family just as they’d said earlier.

  “Yeah, Mickey, he looks like he’s going to puke any minute,” Jesse replied, not to be outdone by Mickey.

  Step one. Sensei would be proud; I convinced them I’m a harmless wimp.

  I continued to wave my hands and mutter unintelligible words. Hearing me this way frightened Sarah more than I could’ve imagined, but I refused to worry about that and continued the act. While the waving hands distracted Mickey, I moved my left hand onto the right side of the gun and my right hand onto his wrist.

  Step two.

  Mickey was so surprised that a sniveling and cowardly man like me had made such a bold move, he didn’t react in time. Now, the threat was very real as a hand of steel controlled his wrist. I easily pivoted my body to his right side making a counter-clockwise circular step between his feet.

  Step three.

  I looked intently into Mickey’s eyes as I wrist-locked the assailant’s right hand, turning the gun to his throat. I saw my own reflection in his eyes. He was frightened. Mickey was staring into the eyes of a lion not a pussycat. The hair on the back of his neck involuntarily rose in alarm. Mickey tried to move back but he couldn’t. He finally understood that he wasn’t dealing with a man who would piss his pants anymore. This was a man who’d make him piss his own.

  Step four.

  In the meantime, Jesse managed to fumble his weapon out of the holster. From his determined look, he intended to fire it. Using the wristlock, I quickly pivoted Mickey as a body shield. Jesse hit his partner in the shoulder while I fired Mickey’s gun at Jesse. I intentionally aimed for his thigh. He went down, but the gun was still in his hand. Mickey went to his knees.

  Step five, the dance was complete.

  “Stay down,” I growled a warning at Jesse.

  My tone and Mickey on the ground in as little time as it can take to count to five shocked Sarah even further, her hands flew to her mouth as if to stifle a scream. I stepped behind Mickey and tightly pressed a hard-right wrist against his throat, putting him asleep. I let him fall hard the way Nelson had fallen. The ensuing crack heard was a broken nose or busted teeth. Blood began to trickle onto the floor around Mickey’s head to confirm my suspicions. Jesse still held the gun.

  “Toss the gun over there,” I ordered directing him by tilting my head away from Nelson and Sarah, “and stay on your knees.” Jesse was shocked at the turn of events. He didn’t know if I’d crushed Mickey’s thorax. His partner might be dead and the thought terrified Jesse. A puddle spread out on the rug where he knelt. The uncertainty that he might die tonight chilled like an icicle through his mind.

  “Sarah,” I softened my voice, “Go get some rope or something, please.”

  Stunned and confused by what she’d witnessed happening all around her, Sarah stood up to do as I asked. She was dazed. Instead of following the directions, she began to clear the table again.

  “Sarah, dear,” I repeated, “I need your help.” I kept the gun pointed at Jesse because he still posed a threat. Sarah looked at me and nodded, then with a platter in hand, she headed towards the kitchen. “Ok, you can clear the table first,” I said trying to suppress the hilarity I felt at that current surreal and bizarre moment. Nelson and Mickey were both down, there was blood and urine on the floor, Sarah was close to losing it and two teenagers were upstairs unaware of the life-threatening ordeal their parents had undergone.

  I’d bet anything they’re wearing headphones and can’t hear this diabolical melee.

  Sarah headed towards the kitchen and then passed behind Jesse instead. She whacked him hard on the side of the head with a heavy stone dinner plate. The platter broke against the side of his skull and Jesse went down as heavily as Nelson and Mickey had. There was a nasty red welt forming on his temple where she’d struck him and a mixture of gravy and potatoes in his hair. Sarah laughed hysterically at that site and then pointed to the urine and blood that had already spread on the rug. She looked up at me with glazed eyes, looking for my approval.

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nbsp; “That was great Sarah, you really got him good, but I need your help now. Go get something we can use to secure their hands and feet. We don’t want to have to do this again, do we?” I gently urged her.

  My soothing voice drew Sarah back to the current situation. She laughed nervously as she looked around the horror-filled room. Then, she seemed to snap out of it and continued to the kitchen. When she returned with a roll of twine and scissors, she secured their ankles while I secured their wrists. I used Jesse’s belt to make a tourniquet for his leg and stuffed several cloth napkins against Mickey’s shoulder wound to staunch the blood flow. Then, I moved both guns to the decorative table in the foyer. After I knew the family was safe, I called Joe to let him know there was trouble at Nelson’s residence.

  Sarah knelt on the floor beside her husband, but she didn’t know what to do. She was still in a slight daze and picked imaginary lint from her clothing. She was angry and blamed him for this horrible situation, but she didn’t want him hurt. She didn’t want to touch him either. I watched Sarah thoughtfully for a few moments as she struggled with those conflicted emotions. Joe finally came on the line.

  “Trouble seems to follow you, Mike,” he said with a laugh and then got serious, “Two of my agents were following you. Something’s wrong or they’d be in there by now. I’m headed that way. Can you go outside and check on them? I’ll hold while you take a look.”

  “Yeah, I’ll go out and check, but can you send an ambulance. They hit Nelson pretty hard and he’s still out. He might have a concussion. I’m sure he’s going to need medical attention when Sarah gets through with him,” I said and chuckled softly.

  “She didn’t know,” Joe said thoughtfully. It wasn’t really a question and he already knew the answer, so I didn’t say anything more about that. I could hear Joe barking orders to one of the agents to send a bus to Nelson’s home location. I looked around the dining room one more time before I went outside. Jesse was beginning to struggle but Mickey was still out. Sarah remained sitting next to Nelson crying softly. She was too close to Mickey’s downed body for my comfort. I grabbed Mickey’s bound ankles and dragged him over next to Jesse.

  “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay put, Jesse,” I said before I went outside to check on Joe’s men. “Holy shit, Joe,” I said when I found the car with the federal agents, and then, I whistled softly.

  “It’s bad?” Joe asked.

  “Yeah, it’s bad, Joe. It’s real bad,” I replied and hung up so I could take a closer look.

  One of the agents was still in the driver’s seat with a double gunshot wound to the chest. He didn’t have a pulse and it looked as if he’d been shot from the angle of the passenger’s door. The other agent was a couple of steps away from the car facing down in front of a tree. It appeared he’d gone to take a leak. There was a bullet in the back of his head and, from the size of the wound, it was obvious he was dead. Mickey and Jesse used the piss break to get the drop on the one still in the car. When the passenger door opened, he never expected it to be anyone other than his partner. They’d taken care of the agents before coming inside. With the silencer, no one in the house had heard the shots or been any wiser to the impending attack headed that way.

  The reality was acidic; they really had intended to kill Nelson and his family. Nelson had no idea his home was bugged and that the company was listening. It was the price he paid for greed. I stopped that pattern of thinking as soon as I recalled that Adom made choices when he was too young to make such decisions. Nelson made the agreement with the company as a youth in college also. He didn’t know what he was getting into either and could’ve never imagined it’d end this way.

  After Joe and four more agents arrived, they first checked to make sure the house was secure and the threat was contained. At that point, Sarah finally sprang into action. I was glad to see that she was functioning again.

  Joe sent her upstairs to make sure the children stayed there. The crime scene van arrived to investigate the death of the two agents. Joe motioned for me to follow him as he walked the perimeter inside the yellow tape. He shook his head in confusion and anger.

  “I sure wish those bastards hadn’t gotten the drop on my agents. They were good men and it’s a terrible loss for me personally and the agency. Why the hell did they kill them?” Joe asked, stunned at the carnage.

  “They were about to kill Nelson and his entire family,” I said. Joe raised his eyebrows questioningly. “Yep, they told Nelson that he’d become a liability. That’s why they killed your guys, Joe. They were about to kill an entire family and couldn’t afford to have any witnesses.” I slipped the tape recorder out of my jacket pocket and handed it to him. “It’s all there. I taped everything from the minute I got inside Nelson’s home.”

  “Jesus!” Joe exclaimed. “You saved their lives, Mike. You saved Nelson’s entire family!”

  “No, Joe, don’t make me out to be a hero. I’m not a hero. I’m the reason these men came here tonight.”

  No, I’m sure as hell not a hero; I’m going to stand and fight as long as I can and then I’m going to run.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Sarah and I talked the next morning. I made coffee and took it and the phone to the deck to have a morning cigarette. I asked about Nelson.

  “Nelson is still the same—unconscious. He hasn’t stirred since we got here last night,” Sarah replied. “Listen, Mike, I need to let you know that I got Daniel and Katy flights out to Indianapolis last night. I sent a cab to take them to the airport. I called Joe so he could make better use of his agents. He had his men follow them to the airport to make sure they got on the plane,” she said. I waited for her to continue. “I wanted to talk it over with Nelson, but Joe said we only had a few days before they strike again. It couldn’t wait. I need my kids to be safe. I need to feel safe. Those damn rugs in the dining room are going to need cleaning,” Sarah said and then laughed in the same weird way she had the night before. It gave me a chill. It was only a hint of the distress I’d seen in her the previous evening. Everyone knew that a person could only take so much before he or she snaps.

  Did Sarah snap last night?

  “Do you want me to go to the house with you?” I asked.

  “No, I can’t face that right now,” Sarah replied. “I persuaded one of the nurses to loan me a set of scrubs and I took a shower here. I felt like I had to wash the stink out of my hair. I felt dirty and violated after the men forced their way inside our home. A shower and change of clothes helped though.”

  “Sarah, you don’t have to go through this alone. Joe and I are here for you. If you need something, please, let me know. I’m coming to the hospital directly and I promise not to leave your side until you order me away or Joe can take my place.”

  “I know, Mike; I don’t know what I’d have done if you weren’t there last night,” she said.

  “We’ll talk soon, Sarah. I’ll be there with coffee in a little while.”

  After the conversation ended, I turned on the burner phone and checked for messages. Sure enough, I had a text from Adom. I replied, telling him to call as soon as he got the message. The phone rang immediately.

  “Dr. Mike,” Adom said with relief, and then continued hurriedly, “I was beginning to worry about you. So glad you got the text.”

  “It’s good to hear your voice too. I needed to know that you were safe.”

  “I am,” Adom replied.

  “We have to keep this short, Adom, but you need to know the latest events.” I quickly told him about Nelson and everything that happened at his home last night.

  “I see,” Adom said.

  “This means you could be in danger too. Adom, they killed two FBI agents and had planned to kill Nelson and his entire family. He survived, but he’ll be looking over his shoulder the rest of his life unless a case is brought against the company and he can qualify for witness protection. That might be an avenue for you and your family as well. It’s something to think ab
out and it’s something to work towards. You probably know enough incriminating details to warrant a federal investigation. I can give you a contact at the FBI if you want to pursue that. I know it has to be your call, but I want you to think about it. What good is a great job with great pay if you’re dead and all you’ve worked for is gone?” Adom was eerily silent so I continued, “I promise to turn my phone on more often, so you can text or call if you need anything or make a decision.” I didn’t know where to go from there, so I waited for his response.

  “You have given me a great deal to consider, Dr. Mike. I don’t want to end up like Nelson. Keep me apprised of the situation, please,” he said before he hung up.

  After the call ended, I thought more about Adom and decided to text him Joe’s contact information. I knew that once I ran, I might not have the opportunity again. My thoughts were drawn more and more often to the option of evading the company by running. Like Adom, I needed all the information I could gather. After I sent the text, it was still too early to take coffee to Sarah as promised.

  I spent a few minutes observing the latest kaleidoscope images and then visualized the steps Sensei taught in the dojo. Visualization had enabled me to learn quickly. It was as if the lessons were downloaded into my consciousness, allowing me to excel at the practices. What should have taken years of training and study had only required weeks

  I opened and then closed my eyes again. Now, the images had changed. Sarah was in danger. I didn’t recognize the location, but it wasn’t her home or a hospital. Three men carrying weapons were coming for her. I had to protect her. I left immediately. When I arrived at the hospital, Nelson was in surgery.

  “What the hell, Sarah!” I said, shocked that she hadn’t called with the news.

  “It only just happened, Mike,” Sarah responded.

  “What caused it? How did it happen?” I rephrased the question.

  “They’ve been trying to get Nelson to wake up for the past twelve hours,” Sarah said. “They told me the longer he was unconscious, the more damage could occur. They finally succeeded about two hours ago, but when Nelson tried to communicate, he had a seizure. They ran some more tests and found that the blow to his head was causing intracranial pressure from the swelling; that blood and fluids were leaking into the skull. They took him to surgery to relieve some of that swelling and pressure and he’s been there ever since. I’ve been waiting to hear from the doctor, but Nelson’s in serious condition.” Her voice trailed off and then she began to whisper, “It’s my entire fault, Mike. I told them it wasn’t that serious…I told them that a man hit him upside the head with a gun so they treated it like a normal head injury. I forgot how hard Nelson hit the floor. He slammed his head so very hard onto the wooden floor…at the edge of the rug. Remember? That was a double blow and I forgot. Oh my God, Mike I forgot and this is my fault. I might’ve killed my own husband. They could’ve helped him sooner if they’d had all the facts!”