Lawson hesitated, and then just came out with it. “She’s blonde again.”
About ten minutes later, Yuri called back. Agent Arnold told Lawson to put him on speakerphone.
“Yes, the plane has landed, people are coming out now.”
“Yuri, you’re on speakerphone.” Lawson warned him. “Be careful what you say.”
“Okay, no worries. Mika looks nervous; she’s fidgeting in her seat.”
“Good, let her fidget,” Alex added.
“She can’t see you? Right?” Carrie asked.
“Of course not, Carrie. I am reading the paper---wait, there’s an old man coming through now, maybe it’s---
“Yuri, are you still there? Yuri?” Arnold told everyone to keep silent. Only he would talk.
“Yes, I’m here. It’s Sava!”
“What?”
“The old man is Sava---you understand---Mika’s grandfather is Sava. He’s alive.”
“That’s impossible. The SDB confirmed that she killed Sava two weeks ago.”
“She did.” Alex cried. “I was there when she did it.”
“Shut up, Alex---Yuri, are you there.”
“Yes, I’m here and I’m telling you it’s Sava. I’d know him anywhere. He just gave Mika a big hug,”
“Okay, well stay with them---
There was a loud commotion on the phone. People screaming and shouting.
“Holy fuck!” Yuri screamed. “Something’s going down.
They could hear it all over the phone. “Sava Kosonavic, you are under arrest for crimes against the United States of America and against humanity.”
Everyone in the shop was speechless, even Lawson. Commotion still emanated from the speakerphone. “Mika Kosonavic, you are under arrest for crimes against the United States of America and against humanity.”
“They’re arresting Sava and Mika.” Yuri whispered through the phone.
“Who’s arresting them?” Arnold asked.
“I don’t know? I think it’s the N.S.A.”
“Fuck! Stay with them, Yuri. We’re on our way.” Lawson grabbed the phone and headed for the door.
“What about us?” Phillip asked. “Does this mean we’re not in protective custody anymore?”
“Just stay here, all of you. I’ll call as soon as we find out what’s happening.” Agent Arnold followed his partner out of the shop.
CHAPTER 60
Carrie couldn’t sit still. She paced back and forth between the counter and the display window where she would stop briefly and peer out the window. Each time all she saw was Cosmo’s Lexus parked out front and each time she felt bad that Cosmo was still in the drunk-tank at the 125 precinct. Unfortunately, Cosmo was the least of their worries. At least he was safe.
The waiting took its toll on them in different ways. Phillip lay flat on his back on the sofa and stared at the ceiling. He didn’t speak.
Alex diddled around the shop looking at the obsolete televisions, radios and other useless electronics Turbo had collected over the years. He was noticeably sad.
Turbo tried to make small talk, his way of dealing with the wait. “Hey, Alex, that noise we heard on the shortwave earlier, you think it was really Martians?”
Alex heard what Turbo said, but didn’t respond.
“C’mon, you’ve contacted Mars before. What did it sound like?”
“That’s exactly what it sounded like. Go ahead and laugh.”
“I’m not laughing. I believe you; I did the first time you told me. It’s not that far of a stretch. My uncle contacted Mars.”
“I know, but we can’t understand them, it’s useless.” He changed the subject. “How could Sava be in America when I watched Mika shoot him? He died in my lap.”
“Maybe she faked his death, like Rudy did.” Carrie said.
“No Carrie, it’s not possible, his blood splattered all over me.”
“Why don’t you ask me that question, Alex?” Rudy and Buddy entered the shop from the backroom.
Carrie screamed and ran over to them. She hugged Rudy. “Oh my God, where have you been?”
“Wait, don’t answer yet.” Phillip jumped up from the sofa. “I want to hear this one.”
“We all want to hear this one.” Turbo echoed.
“Not me.” Alex proclaimed. “I want my ten-thousand-dollars.”
Rudy had a befuddled expression on his face. He probably didn’t expect such a cold reception. “Everyone just relax.” He told them. “Especially you Alex, in a minute you’re gonna want to give me another ten grand.”
“How did you get in here?” Carrie asked.
“Carrie, the man faked his own murder, I don’t think breaking into Turbo’s shop was that hard.”
“Shut up, Buddy. Nobody asked you.” Carrie’s eyes were like daggers to his heart.
“Rudy, why are you here?” Turbo asked. “And how long before you bolt out the back door.”
“That’s funny, Turbo. Now, if you’re done with the bullshit, I have something to tell you all.”
The room fell silent.
Rudy sat on top of the television. “Now listen carefully. After Mika killed Dr. Armaly, I knew she would go after Dr. Trump. I called my friend Millard Jones, a student of Dr. Trump’s. We’ll he’s really an agent, but Trump doesn’t know that. Anyway, I told Millard to protect Trump until I got there, but he said I was too late. Trump had packed up his wife and kids and hit the highway. No one’s seen or heard from him since. He was the only scientist left that could help us with the formula.
“Then I thought about Dr. Armaly’s son. I know he’s a moron, but I figured he might have his father’s notes and I wanted to search his father’s laboratory. Unfortunately, by the time we got there the lab had burned to the ground and Junior and his boat were gone.”
“What about the girl.” Alex asked right away.
“The girl? What girl?” Rudy played with him. “Oh, you mean Aluna? Did you know she’s your sister?”
Alex didn’t answer. He couldn’t speak. Aluna walked out from the backroom. She embraced her brother.
“She doesn’t say much.” Rudy emphasized.
It didn’t matter. Brother and sister were together for the first time in years.
Everyone hugged. Carrie even hugged Buddy.
As the exuberance waned, Carrie asked Rudy how he knew they were sister and brother. “Carrie, do you know the first thing a good agent does when someone hires him.”
“No, what?”
“He checks the file of the person that hired him.”
Carrie was impressed.
“By the way, Alex. We’re even.”
Alex smiled.
“And to answer your question. The man Mika killed in Belgrade was a communist agent who came up through the ranks with Sava. His protégé. When the party dissolved, Sava recruited the man to take his place, plastic surgery and all. The real Sava went to Belize to live out the rest of his days in peace.”
“But why did he need someone to take his place if he was retiring?”
“That’s a good question, Phillip. He didn’t want anyone to know he had retired. He knew the day would come when someone came asking about Teleforce. He knew you would come someday, Alex.”
“What about Mika? Is she really his granddaughter?”
“Yes, Sava’s daughter was killed when rebels blew up the building across the street from his apartment in Belgrade. Mika was with the babysitter. Sava had raised her since.”
“Wow, that just about explains everything.” Alex was impressed and heartbroken at the same time.
“Well, not everything.” Rudy exclaimed. “Those Martian’s you heard. It’s a recorded loop put up by some musical nerds at Berkeley. The powers to be at the school can’t find the server.”
“You found that in the C.I.A. computer?” Carrie asked.
“Nah, I just Googled it.”
They all had a good laugh.
“Well, now that we’re all friends again. There is something I need from
Turbo.” Rudy stood up and unzipped his jacket.
“Oh, what’s that, Rudy?”
“The Edison Medallion.” Rudy pulled out his gun.
CHAPTER 61
They all gasped.
“Rudy, you said no guns.” Buddy walked over to talk some sense into him.
Rudy put a bullet in his shoulder. Much like Mika had done to Alex at Barnes and Noble.
“I’m not kidding, Turbo. Give me the medal.”
“Oh my God, you’re a fucking idiot.” Turbo let him have it. “All you care about is money. And all this time we thought you were our friend. Go to hell.”
“I am your friend, and it’s more complicated than money. Give me the medal and save yourself and your friends.”
“From who? Mika and Sava? They’re already in jail and you will be too soon.”
“No Turbo, I’m not going to jail.” Rudy lowered the gun. “I’m going somewhere worse, and so are you if I don’t walk out of this shop with that medallion.”
“Well, let’s go then, because I don’t have the fucking medal. I never did.”
“Don’t bullshit me, Phillip said--- Rudy stopped midsentence.
“You son-of-a-bitch.” Phillip lunged at Rudy. “You had them beat me up.” Alex held him back.
“It’s not what you think.”
“No, it never is with you, Rudy” Phillip struggled to break free. “You got any more surprises waiting in the backroom for us?”
Rudy hung his head. Everyone stood stock-still and stared at the backroom door, just in case. Heavy silence fell over the room, but only for a second.
The tiny bell on the front door broke the silence. Ten men in black suits and white sneakers entered the shop. One wore a heavy overcoat.
The goons formed a semicircle around the seating area of Turbo’s shop. The one in the overcoat, presumably the head goon, stood directly in center. They stood in position with their feet slightly spread apart and their arms crossed behind their backs, similar to an “at ease” position. Their dark sunglasses protected their eyes from the sun and prevented any inkling of personality from slithering out. They were far from at ease.
Their suits were elegant, black, three-button, custom tailored. The lone overcoat was cashmere. A window-shopper out front might think they were secret service, protecting a dignitary or politician. Until they looked down.
Phillip looked them over, head to toe. They all had similar features. Black greasy hair, olive skin, dark, but not tanned. Clean-shaven, except for a dark bushy patch below each bottom lip. If they carried guns, he couldn’t tell it. The custom-fitted suits revealed no bulges. All bets were off when it came to what was under the overcoat. He thought back to when they beat him. He didn’t remember seeing a gun then, either.
“Hello, Mr. Phillip.” The goon on the far end said. “Nice to see you again.” He broke rank from the others, walked up to Phillip and examined his face. “You’re wounds have healed nicely, it would be a pity if they returned.”
Phillip turned his head. “I’d still look better than you.”
Turbo laughed.
“You must be Turbo.” The goon examined Turbo’s face, too. “For you it won’t matter, bruise away.” He raised his hand and two goons held Turbo while another pounded on his face.
Carrie screamed and lunged toward them. The goon closest to her got a surprise when he tried to hold her back. He received an Aikido kick to the jaw. His sunglasses flew across the room. They landed near Buddy, still bleeding on the floor. It took two goons to subdue her.
The head goon lowered his hand and the beating stopped. “Turbo, don’t do this, give us the medallion and we will leave quietly.”
“But you don’t understand, I don’t have it---I never had it.”
The goon glared at Phillip, then snapped his fingers. Three goons pounced on Rudy. His gun fell to the floor during the struggle.
Alex kicked it under the recliner.
The head goon put a switchblade to Rudy’s neck. “We had an agreement. Where is the medallion?” Rudy didn’t move.
“He doesn’t know anything about it. He was just trying to make a buck.” Turbo said.
The head goon lowered the blade.
“Then I guess it’s all on you, Mister Turbo.”
“That’s right, so why don’t you let everyone else go and we’ll work it out, Mister---
“Fawzi.”
“What?”
“Fawzi, My name is Fawzi.”
“Okay, Mister Fawzi, Let everyone go and we’ll discuss the medallion.”
“I would love to, really, but you see I am a terrorist, we never negotiate.” He walked over to Carrie. “Do not worry, dear, I would never bruise that pretty face.” He put the switchblade up to her neck. “However, I have no problem slitting your throat. For the last time, Turbo, give me the medallion.”
Turbo stood frozen. Helpless. He thought back to the night he met Carrie and Phillip. How excited they were. And everything they had been through since. What good friends they had become. He stared at the knife blade pressed against Carrie’s neck. The shiny steel mesmerized him and rendered him unable to act, unable to lift his arms or move his legs. Unable to close his eyes or look away. Unable to save his friend.
A shot rang out. Turbo heard it clearly, but he still couldn’t move. He watched in slow motion, the shiny switchblade fell to the floor. Mr. Fawzi, too, a bullet rattling around in his head.
The commotion that followed propelled Turbo out of his haze. Buddy was propped against the recliner, Rudy’s gun still in his hand.
The goon in the overcoat exposed two AK47’s strapped over his shoulders and started shooting up the place. Everyone dove for cover, even a few of the goons.
Then the shop’s display window shattered, a waterfall of glass deluged the display area. The goon with the automatic weapons fell to the ground dead. The N.Y.P.D.’s finest flooded into the shop.
Once the S.W.A.T. Team had everything under control, Lawson, Arnold and Yuri Petrovic entered through the busted out display window.
Aluna ran to Agent Lawson.
The tiny bell rang and Cosmo entered the shop through the front door.
CHAPTER 62
The street outside of Turbo’s Electronics Repair Shop hadn’t seen that much traffic in years. Police cars, S.W.A.T. trucks, fire trucks, emergency vehicles, ambulances, C.S.I. and Coroner vehicles and two black Escalades were all parked haphazardly around Cosmo’s Lexus.
Inside the shop, paramedic’s tended to Buddy, the coroner zipped up Fawzi’s and the other goon’s body bags while the C.S.I. team collected shell casings and other evidence. Officers led the surviving goons in handcuffs out of the store. Rudy was in custody, but still inside the shop, on orders from the C.I.A.
Carrie asked a paramedic if Buddy would make it. Then she found Turbo and Phillip, they had a group hug. Everyone gathered around the counter to thank Lawson, Arnold, and Yuri.
“Don’t thank us.” Lawson said. “Thank Cosmo.”
“Yeah, thank Cosmo.” Arnold echoed.
Yuri looked at Turbo and nodded his head.
“But Cosmo was in the drunk-tank.” Carrie was confused.
“Yeah, some friends I got.” Cosmo said.
“I still don’t understand.” Carrie said.
Lawson asked Cosmo to explain.
“Well, I didn’t wake up till around Noon and man did I have a headache. This nice Police Woman, her name was Betty---I mean, Officer Riley. Anyway, Officer Riley was nice enough to get me a cup of coffee and a cinnamon bun to help with my hangover. She gave me a couple aspirin, too, but don’t tell nobody; that’s against the rules. So, I asked Betty, are my friends in the lobby waiting for me? And she says she hasn’t seen anyone, yet. So, I tell her I want to leave, but she won’t let me out.”
“Let me see if I can speed this up a bit.” Lawson added. “The officer couldn’t let him out without authorization, so she called our office and they called us and long story short, Cosmo go
t out of the drunk-tank. Okay, Cosmo, pick it up from there.”
“So, I leave the 125 precinct and then I remember my car is here at the shop. So it was either walk home or walk here. Well, the sunlight made my head hurt even more and the shop was closer, so I headed here. Thank God I saw those goons through the window. I ran all the way back to the 125 precinct and they took it from there.”
Carrie hugged him and kissed his cheek. “Oh my God, Cosmo, you saved us. You’re a hero.”
“Yes, he is.” Lawson agreed. Then he looked at Aluna and smiled. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”
She smiled back.
“What about me? I saved her life. That should count for something.” Rudy was under police guard on the sofa.
“I’ll put in a good word for you with the judge.” Lawson joked.
“Well, I won’t.” Buddy called out from the stretcher. “I want to testify against him.” The paramedic ordered him to remain calm.
“Who were those guys in the sneakers?” Phillip asked.
“We better let Yuri explain that one.” Lawson said.
“Thugs.” Yuri said. “Basically they’re a bunch of thugs. They claim to be C.F.F---Croatian Freedom Fighters, one of the terrorist groups that took credit for bombing The Statue of Liberty in 1980. Although, other groups also claimed the bombing. But the C.F.F. hasn’t been heard from since 1987; therefore, these thugs were probably just flaunting credentials they didn’t have. Bottom line is they’re a for profit mercenary group that Sava hired to retrieve the medallion.”
“So this is all about a silly medallion, not the formula?” Carrie asked.
“Hardly, Carrie. The formula for Tesla Water is a big part of this, but not for reasons you might think.”
“I’m still lost.” Carrie said.
“Me too.” Alex added.
Yuri tried to make it clear. “Tesla Water doesn’t work. It’s as simple as that.”
“That’s not true.” Alex said. “My father said it could work.”
“I’m sorry, Alex. But it doesn’t.”
“He’s right, Alex. It won’t work.” Aluna finally spoke.
“I knew that bitch could talk.” Rudy jumped up from the sofa. The officer pushed him back down.
Alternating Current: A Tesla Novel Page 26