Alternating Current: A Tesla Novel

by Agostino, John

  Turbo listened, unsure if he should take anything seriously.

  “How dare you ask if I know Mike Armaly? Anyway, you’re in over your head now. So, here’s what you’re gonna do.”

  Turbo leaned closer.

  “On your way out, tell Dr. Haley that I think you’re my son and that I’m demanding you come back to see me tomorrow. Come back about this time and make sure you bring something, anything---a vase, the rearview mirror from your car, I don’t care. As long as it’s obscure. Don’t show up with a book or a box of candy, nothing you would normally bring a patient.”

  “If I show up with an empty vase they’ll think I’m crazy.”

  “No, they won’t, I’m a collector, and they all know it. You should see all the shit in my room. They’ll think I asked for it, same way I asked for the key.”

  “Okay, if you say so.”

  “Good, now get outta here before that crazy bitch comes back. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  CHAPTER 49

  Agent Lawson parked the Escalade in the doctor’s parking lot. The triage nurse knew exactly why they where there. “He’s still in surgery; he’s lost a lot of blood.”

  “How much longer?” Lawson asked.

  “Probably forty-five minutes to an hour.” The nurse smiled.

  “Great, that’s plenty of time for us to get acquainted, hey, Arnold, can you watch the desk?”

  “No, that’s okay. I’d like to keep my job. I’ll get Dana to cover for me.” The nurse grabbed her sweater, hooked Lawson’s arm and they headed for the cafeteria. “Corey, you coming with us.”

  Agent Arnold trotted to catch up. “Shelley, when you gonna dump this guy and go out with me.”

  “Soon as you’re wife says okay.” She laughed.

  “C’mon, I’m starving; I want to get back before the anesthesia wears off. I’m gonna be the first person Alex Gaye sees when he wakes up.”

  “Relax, Honey, he’ll be in recovery for at least an hour before anyone can see him.” Shelley grabbed a tray and started through the food line. “I told his girlfriend to come back at three o’clock.”

  Arnold dropped his tray. “Girlfriend?” What Girlfriend?”

  “I don’t know, she said she was his girlfriend---tall blonde girl, had an accent.”

  “When was she here?” Lawson asked.

  “I don’t know, not long before you got here. She said she had to go to Macys and she’d be back at three.”

  Lawson gave her a big kiss. “Sorry, baby, but we gotta go.” He jumped over the divider rail and waited for Arnold to do the same. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

  “I’m hungry. She’ll be back at three. We’ll get her then.”

  “The hell we will. She’s at Macys now, let’s go.”

  Arnold crawled under the rail. “Goodbye Shelley, it was nice almost having lunch with you.”

  Lawson blew her a kiss and they were gone.

  ***

  The Macys on Fulton Street was three blocks from the hospital. The agents set out on foot, the short walk much faster than finding a parking space. “What do you think she’s shopping for?” Lawson asked.

  “Could be anything.” Arnold tried to keep up. “She’s a woman, isn’t she?”

  Once inside the store they decided to split up. “You check down here and I’ll go upstairs. We’ll alternate floors until we find her.” Lawson attacked the escalator. A leisurely lift to the second floor wouldn’t do, he skipped every other tread and nudged a mother and small child aside on the way up.

  Arnold, winded from the jaunt over, attacked the cosmetic counter with less vigor. The plush stool at the end of the counter called out to him. He attacked it just fine. Perched atop the stool offered an unfettered view of much of the store. The Lingerie Department was to his left. Far away enough for the mannequins to appear sexy at first glance. Their sheer bras and panties, upon closer look, revealed rock hard breasts without nipples and other non-anatomically correct body parts, for which Agent Arnold was grateful.

  The plus size woman’s undergarments were to the right of the Lingerie Department. Bras, panties, girdles and more, most big enough to frighten small children. Women’s Fragrances sat directly opposite the cosmetic counter and Designer Handbags beyond that. Arnold had a good view of it all.

  The Macys Associate behind the counter offered him a makeover.

  “Oh, no thanks, I’m just waiting for my wife. She’s around here somewhere.” He started to get up, but sat back down. The associate’s remark made him think. He grabbed the large mirror on the counter and looked at himself. He thought about a makeover, was there really anything they could do. Probably not.

  Before he placed the mirror back on the counter, he noticed the Macys Beauty Salon was located behind the Cosmetic Department over near the elevator. The tiny salon was packed; women under hairdryers, women at manicurist’s tables, and women in salon chairs attended to in every way. One woman in particular caught Arnold’s eye.

  Tall, athletic, and brunette, she was his fantasy girl, although he’d never told anyone about his fantasy. Not his wife and especially not his partner. She only existed in his mind, until today. He set the mirror down and turned for a better look.

  She was exactly how he’d imagined her. Slightly taller than him, but not so much that he had to stretch his neck to kiss her. And athletic with ample breasts and all the right curves and contours. Arnold watched her walk out of the salon and toward the exit, staring at her feet and slowly raising his gaze upward. The hem of her jeans clenched her legs just above her ankles and flowed seamlessly along her legs, over her buttocks and low on her waist. Denim and flesh melded together. Not a wrinkle or air pocket in sight.

  Arnold glanced upward and downward from legs to buttocks and buttocks to legs, her muscles expanding and contracting with each step. A thoroughbred in slow motion approaching the finish line. Flawless, except for the bulge of the 9mm in the small of her back.

  Agent Arnold nearly fell off the stool. He called his partner at once. “Get down here, quick. Meet me out front. Hurry---I know what she’s shopping for.”

  Lawson skied down the escalator, rushed through Women’s Fragrances and Designer Handbags and out to the parking lot. Arnold was already there. “Slow down, Partner, it’s too late. She’s gone.”

  “What do you mean, gone. Why didn’t you call me sooner?”

  Arnold didn’t answer, too embarrassed to say what happened.

  “What’s wrong with you? You look like you saw a ghost.”

  “I’m fine. C’mon, we need to get back to the hospital.” Arnold started walking. “Are you coming?”

  “Yeah, I’m coming.” He caught up with Arnold. “What did she buy?”

  “She didn’t buy anything?”

  “But you said you knew---

  “She went to the hair salon. Mika’s a Brunette now. She looks good. Damn good.”

  “Easy partner, she’s still a killer.”

  CHAPTER 50

  Turbo rummaged through the shop searching for something to bring Dr. Ganz. There wasn’t a vase anywhere and he wouldn’t dare yank the rearview mirror from Cosmo’s new Lexus. He reached for an empty cookie-tin on the counter; it once held sugar cookies, a present from Mrs. Fuda. “No, that’s no good.” He mumbled. “They’ll think it’s full of cookies.” He continued searching.

  “What are you mumbling about?” Cosmo asked from the recliner. “And what are you looking for?”

  “I don’t know, something---anything.”

  “Oh, good, we got plenty of that.”

  Turbo found an old flashlight behind a busted boom box. “This’ll work.” He opened it and the bulging batteries fell to the floor. “Hey, I need your car again.”

  “What? You can’t leave. Jansen will be here at two.”

  “I’ll be back before then, now gimme the key.”

  Cosmo didn’t put up a fight.

  Turbo rushed to Bellevue; on the way there, his cell phone rang. It was Carr
ie. “Hey, Carrie, what’s up?”

  “Turbo, it’s been two days, I’m going crazy, when can we meet?”

  “Maybe tomorrow, I have an appointment today with that guy who wants to buy my shop.”

  “You’re not gonna sell your shop, are you?”

  “I don’t know. I’m thinking about it.”

  “But you don’t know who the buyer is, what if it’s those guys with the white sneakers?”

  “I never thought about that. Hey, Carrie, I got to go, I’ll call you later, bye.” Turbo pulled into the Bellevue parking garage.

  The Mental Ward nurse remembered him from the day before. “Hey Joey. You here to see your dad?” The nurse winked. She pointed to the door and swiped her card to let him in. “I know your name is really William, but Dr. Haley said we should all play along for now.”

  Turbo whispered, “Thanks.” Then he spoke louder, “I brought the flashlight my dad wanted.” He winked at the nurse.

  Dr. Ganz was already in the visitor room. He hugged Turbo as he entered and made a big deal about the flashlight. “Oh, Joey, thank you. This flashlight has been missing for years.”

  The nurse smiled and closed the door. They were alone.

  “I thought you would bring a vase.”

  “I couldn’t find one, you’re lucky you got the flashlight.”

  “Thanks a lot, the flower I picked this morning will look great in it.” The doctor smiled. “Is Mike Armaly dead?”

  The remark caught Turbo off guard. He hesitated and then nodded.

  “I figured he was the moment I saw you yesterday. I knew you were trouble.”

  “How could you know that just by looking at me?”

  “Easy, I’ve been here thirty-years and you’re the first visitor who wasn’t wearing a three piece suit and government issued Ray-Ban’s. Not to mention you got that Slavic look, you look a little like Sava.”

  “You know my cousin?”

  “Oh, so you’re cousins, I wondered the relationship.”

  “Yeah, but how did you know Dr. Armaly was dead?”

  “I figured he had to be, he wouldn’t have told you about me unless he was close to death. He was a true friend.”

  “You were friends?”

  “Yes, we worked at N.A.S.A. together, until they killed our wives and my daughter. His little boy was the only survivor.”

  Turbo didn’t speak. His stomach tightened. Did the United States government really go around killing people at whim? He thought about Phillip’s grandfather. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “That’s okay, Joey. I’ll keep calling you Joey until you tell me your name.”

  “Turbo, call me Turbo.”

  “Turbo, huh, short for Trbojevic?”

  “Wow, how did you know?”

  “Your grandmother was Angelina Trbojevic, Tesla’s sister.

  “Yes, Tesla was my uncle.”

  “Yeah, well that son-of-a-bitch is the reason I’m here.”

  Turbo took offense. He wanted to berate the doctor for cursing Tesla, but thought better of it. Dr. Ganz was their only hope. He let the remark slide. “Dr. Ganz, I don’t know how long before that nurse Sue kicks me out of here, so I’d like to ask some questions.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Sue’s off today. Why do you think I told you to come back today?”

  “Good thinking.” Turbo was impressed. The doctor obviously still had his faculties, and Turbo was glad of it. Still, one thing bothered him. Why would he fake insanity all these years? “Do you know about the water?”

  “Electrostatic Deuterium Oxide, of course I know about it. Fucking shit doesn’t work, never will.”

  “How do you know?”

  “It was never meant to work. Don’t you get it? It was Tesla’s payback. Think about it. Why would the most brilliant electrical mind ever fool around with some stupid water?”

  “I don’t know? It was safer than electricity?”

  “Listen, son, I’ve heard all the arguments and all the theories. Free energy, the end of tyranny, the government has the real formula, there’s a page missing, and so on. We’ll, I have a theory of my own. Your uncle finally got tired of being shit on, so he concocted this crazy formula before he died as payback for all the injustice he received. He knew the government and the big corporations wouldn’t stop until they figured it out. That’s why I gave up on the project years ago. I’d rather pretend I’m crazy than work on that damn thing ever again. Your uncle really was a genius, would you agree?”

  The doctor’s theory overwhelmed Turbo. The one thing he didn’t need was another theory, especially one that disproved the very concept he’d waited for his entire life. The one that would redeem him with his wife and make him wealthy. Still, either the doctor had a good point or he was a loon. Which one, Turbo wasn’t sure.

  “Well, would you agree or not?” Doctor Ganz asked again.

  “What? I’m sorry, what?”

  “Would you agree that your uncle was a genius for doing this? For purposely leaving the world a bogus concept.”

  “Yes, my uncle was a genius, but not for that reason. He wouldn’t do anything to purposely hurt someone.”

  “How does the Tesla Water hurt anyone?”

  “There are a lot of people dead because of it. Your wife and daughter for starters.”

  There was a long silence. Dr. Ganz examined the flashlight and pushed the switch to turn it on. He pointed it at Turbo. “Wish I had some of that ‘free energy’ right now.”

  “There’s another page. I saw it with my own eyes.”

  “I told you already, I don’t care.”

  “What if you’re wrong?”

  “I’m not wrong, I may be wrong about Tesla’s motivation, but I’m not wrong about the concept. It doesn’t work.”

  “Okay, let’s say I believe you that it doesn’t work, but I don’t believe your revenge theory. There’s still a whole bunch of dangerous people going around killing people for that damn formula, and the United States Government is one of them.”

  “Exactly why I stay right here.” Dr. Ganz smiled.

  Turbo got up to leave. “I have to go.”

  “Thanks for coming. Next time, could you try to find a vase?”

  “Next time? I’m not sure there’ll be a next time.”

  “That’s too bad, because there is one other theory about the Tesla Water. It’s not mine; I got it from an old friend.”

  “An old friend? Who?”

  “Tomorrow. Bring a vase.”

  CHAPTER 51

  Turbo stopped at a five-and-dime on his way back to the shop. He purchased the first vase he saw. Back at the shop, Mr. Jansen was watching “One Life to Live” with Cosmo. Turbo cleared his throat to get their attention.

  Mr. Jansen jumped up at once. “Mr. Trbojevic, nice to see you again.”

  They shook hands and walked over to the counter. Cosmo stayed behind, although he did get up and reduce the television volume.

  “I have to say, Mr. Trbojevic, I was surprised when Cosmo called me yesterday. You’re smart to accept our offer.”

  “Who said I was accepting your offer? Cosmo, did you tell him I was accepting his offer?”

  “I didn’t tell him shit; I just said you want to meet.”

  “No, Mr. Trbojevic, I just assumed you---

  “I want four-hundred-thousand, no wait, five-hundred-thousand.”

  “Mr. Trbojevic, let’s be reasonable. The building’s only worth a hundred-thousand.”

  “Not to me, you gonna tell me who’s the buyer?”

  “Now you know I can’t do that.”

  “I’ll tell you what, you tell me who the buyer is and I’ll do four-hundred-thousand, otherwise half-a-million. Thanks for stopping by.” Cocky and confident, Turbo went into the back room. Would Jansen accept his offer? Did he have the authority? Turbo hoped he would, especially after Dr. Ganz’s theory about Tesla Water. If it was worthless, his building was all he had left. He would split the money with Cosmo a
nd move to Florida.

  When he went back out front, Jansen and Cosmo were in heated conversation by the front door. “I pay you to change his mind and this is what I get.”

  “I can’t help he’s got a hard head. Just tell him who the---

  “Yeah, Jansen, just tell me.” Turbo walked in front of them and blocked the door. He glared at Cosmo. “Well, now I know how you got that car, at least you’re not selling drugs.”

  Cosmo hung his head and didn’t speak.

  “Mr. Trbojevic, don’t be too hard on him, it’s my fault.”

  “You’re damn right it’s your fault, now either tell me who wants to buy my shop or get the fuck out of here.”

  Jansen looked at Cosmo. “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

  Cosmo flipped out. “You sumatabitch, I can’t take no more. You can sue me and you can fire me, but I can’t take any more of this bullshit.” He paused and took a deep breath. “It’s fucking Con-Ed! There, I said it. It’s Con-Ed, Turbo. They’re going to build a new headquarters right here. Part of some urban revitalization project, they’ll get millions in tax credits.”

  “Is that true Mr. Jansen?”

  Jansen nodded.

  Turbo went over to the recliner. He just sat there.

  “You’re taking this calm.” Cosmo said.

  “Nothing to get upset about. The deal is off. Have a good day, Mr. Jansen.”

  “The deal is off. What the fuck you mean the deal is off.” Cosmo ran over to the recliner, jumped on top of Turbo and wailed. “You fucking idiot, don’t you know what this is . . .”

  Turbo didn’t fight back. He raised his hands to cover his face.

  “. . . it’s your last chance to get outta here, to be with your wife and kids . . . we don’t get no customers anyway . . . you’re not gonna fuck this up, you hear me . . . I won’t let you fuck this up. . . .”

  Cosmo tired out after about five minutes. He fell back onto the sofa and panted for air. Jansen stood still by the front door.

  “Mr. Jansen, Cosmo’s right, but I can’t sell my shop to Con-Ed. Not after what they did to my uncle.”