“I want to make this clear,” I said to Batsarov who sat there looking in vain for his self-confidence. “You will cooperate with the police and be a witness against Andy Rand. ”
“Why should I help?”
The Captain walked up and joined the conversation. “You will, of course, be charged with murder, kidnapping, terrorist activities—. ”
“And not having a work permit for any of that,” Roee added. Batsarov didn’t get it.
“If you would like to have any break at all in your sentencing, you better cooperate,” I said.
“You declare me guilty? This America am innocent until proven guilty, go ahead, spend millions to try me. I get best lawyers. ”
“The other option, of course,” the Captain said, “is to deport you as an undesirable. I don’t think that there is any question that you are undesirable. ”
“Fine. I would like to go to Brazil. ”
“Well, no, we’ll send you back to Bulgaria,” Roee said. “Actually we were thinking of putting you right into the hands of Krassimir Indzhova”
Batsarov looked up at us. It was funny how he tried to hide the fear in his eyes.
“I’ve been talking with Krassimir,” Roee continued. “I guess you pissed him off pretty bad when you left Bulgaria with 3 million of VeriGroup’s funds. He said he would love the opportunity to talk to you about it. ”
“American justice has just become your best friend,” I said. “I suggest you give the police full cooperation. ”
Batsarov said nothing. Then he nodded, closing his eyes to further hide the fear from us.
Sometimes satisfaction is hard to fine.
I walked over to Paul Hinckley, now strapped to a gurney inside the medical helicopter. I asked Joan and Hillary to give us a moment. Hillary was still crying. I wanted to pat her on the head, or some such useless gesture, to assure her it was all over and that all would be okay—in time. But I didn’t.
“Jesus Christ, Fixxer, how could you get me involved in all this?” Hinckley demanded to know.
“Unless I just aced a course in ‘Fooling Yourself for Fun and Profit’ I rather think it was you that got me involved. ”
“Yeah, well…. What the fuck was it all about? A stupid treatment?”
“Veritas is real. ”
“What? Oh, my god! So you have it now? Great! Look, how can I get involved?”
“Shut-up! You’re lucky to be alive. Why didn’t you stay put, like I told you?”
“Well… . ”
“You put your wife and child into mortal danger by being just plain stupid!”
“But—. ”
“I’d cause you pain right now if you weren’t already in it. ”
“Look—. ”
“And forget the treatment. It doesn’t exist. ”
“But—. ”
“The 250 thousand you were paying York… . ”
“Ye—yeah?”
“It’s mine. ” I walked away, giving him no chance to protest.
Chapter 20
The Prop Thickens
The helicopters took off with the dead, the wounded, the fragile, the criminal and the stupid. The Captain, Roee and I went to Hinckley’s house to talk. Sitting near it was the Aérospatiale Dauphin.
“That’s how I was brought here?”
“Yep,” the Captain said.
“How did you follow?”
“Let’s go inside and relax. Then we’ll explain. ”
*
We had some drinks. My vodka tonic quickly made an impact, reminding me that I had not eaten in over 24 hours. We went into the kitchen and put together a meal. Roee talked as I ate.
“We were obviously surprised when the helicopter did not head for LAX. At first, we thought it was heading for the desert, but when it veered towards the mountains I pretty much figured Arrowhead or Big Bear. We got up there as fast as we could. Once we found out where you were, we looked for a place to observe from. Many of the houses on the lake are unused most of the year. It was no problem finding an empty one we could base at. We set up the observation equipment, but there wasn’t much interesting to see until your little run with the dog. That was a neat trick. ”
“Yeah. Promise me you won’t tell the animal rights people. ”
“That confirmed to us you were in trouble. Which we suspected when Petey’s homing device stopped sending a signal. They found it?”
“Well, let’s just say Batsarov zeroed in on it but not out of cleverness. Which reminds me… ” I excused myself and went to the bathroom. “Should I save it?” I yelled back out at Roee. “Can Petey fix it?”
“No. He said it’s disposable. ”
After a not pain-free separation of the homing device from the home of my manhood, I flushed it down the toilet.
When I got back, Roee continued. “Luckily I had taken the precaution to plant another homing device on the helicopter. ”
“Scuba?”
“No time to get the equipment. ”
“This crazy son-of-a-bitch swam across the lake buck naked in the dead of night,” the Captain said.
I looked at Roee.
“No problem. We did a lot of skinny dipping at the Kibbutz. ”
“Still, it must have been cold,” I said. “You don’t like the cold. I appreciate it. ”
“Thank you. Pats on the head are always welcomed. We saw them take you to the chopper. Anne wasn’t with you. ”
“She’s still there, with Rand. Unharmed so far, I’m guessing. ”
“We thought about going in to get her, but… ” The Captain started.
“No. You were right. If they were taking me off alone, you could have only assumed that she was already dead, or safe for the moment. ”
“Yeah, that’s how we saw it,” Roee said. “We headed down the mountain, watching the track on the chopper. I wasn’t surprised when it stopped at Paso Robles. We made our way to the 101 and headed up. The Captain was able to get the way cleared for us with the CHP, so we made good time. Still, this place is remote. Once up here we had to approach it slowly to figure out the best way to get close to you. The locals wanted to help, but the last thing we needed was a party. So we asked them to wait off stage with the choppers. ”
“How did you get on the ranch?”
“On a couple of stealth horses. ”
“Sounds logical. ”
“Logical but butt breaking,” the Captain added.
“The locals know all about the Western town, of course. Hinckley’s considered a good citizen for bringing in the business. Knowing Batsarov, I figured he would have you and the Hinckleys there rather than here at the house. When we got close, we could hear what was going on. I took the saloon roof. The Captain took the general store. ”
“You had no problem sneaking up?”
“He had no guards posted. From his point of view, he had no need. He really did think he was in the lawless Old West. ”
“That’s the problem with hobbies,” I said. “They can be self-defeating. ”
*
Now we had to prepare to take Rand. I told the Captain that just pulling up in police units with the arrest warrant in hand was not going to do it. Rand would not give up that easily. He still had Miguel. And who knows how many armaments? And he had Anne and York: A perfect hostage situation. With the international connections Rand had built over the last five years, all he would need is to get out of the country. Places to live the good life outside of our legal reach would not be hard to find. He would take York and Veritas with him, of course, and could continue with his plans. He would just need front people: A ready commodity for a free spending buyer.
“What do you suggest then?” The Captain asked.
“Plenty of cowboy clothes around here. I’m going to dress up like Batsarov. His hat is probably still out by the tree. Roee will pass for the Basque. We’ll take the Aérospatiale back to Arrowhead. Hopefully they’ll suspect nothing as we land and come up the tram. With luck we can get
close enough to make Miguel ineffective before we’re recognized. At that point Rand should be fairly harmless. ”
“You know, the Aérospatiale stopped for fuel once on the way up here.
The tanks will be pretty depleted. ”
“Call your buddies in the local police department. See if we can get some fuel out here immediately. ”
“Okay. What else?”
“Alert the San Bernardino Sheriffs. We’ll drop you off just outside of Arrowhead at their pad. Get them to the lake, but out of sight. And prepare them for “the switch”, just in case. Add Anne to that. ”
“Okay. At what price?”
“At what it takes. If everything goes smoothly, we’ll signal you, and you can come in with the sheriffs through the front door. Have a rent-a-car available for Anne, Roee and me to leave in immediately. ”
As the Aérospatiale Dauphin sped towards Lake Arrowhead with Roee at the controls, I contemplated the passing landscape below. Such arrogance man has, to have found ways to lift himself off the ground, to damn the fates of physical realities, and to manipulate the laws of Nature to achieve that which any cursory reading of Nature seems to inform us is not ours to achieve—such wonderful, inspiring arrogance. Would that all arrogance had such lift.
“Worried about Anne?” Roee asked mistaking the mask contemplation had given me.
“Worry is a useless emotion. It expends energy best applied to dealing positively with that which you are worried about. ”
“What if there is nothing you can do?”
“Then it is even more useless. Resignation would be the only recourse in that case. ”
“But you are concerned?”
“I suppose if you must have some humanizing emotion to tag me with at this moment, Roee, then concern is as good as any. But to be honest, I am more curious as to what may have been going on at the Chateau de la Lune since we’ve been away. And the possible ways to rectify the situation if things have been negative. ”
“Jesus Christ, Fixxer,” the Captain joined the conversation. “You’re talking about a beautiful woman who didn’t have to get herself involved in this, except for your asking. ”
“Which makes her my responsibility. Worry and concern are just false ways to prove to observers that you take your responsibilities seriously. Analysis, planning, and action, are ways to fulfill your responsibilities. ”
“Yeah, well, sure, but—. ”
“If it will make you feel better Captain, know that when everything is finished, emotions will catch up with me. They always have in the past. ”
*
We dropped the Captain off at the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Search & Rescue helicopter pad. Things were already in preparation and the Captain took command of the operation easily. Then we ascended again. I put on Batsarov’s cowboy hat. We eased our way to the lake. It was late afternoon.
“Fixxer?”
“Yes?”
“The pontoons?”
“The switch up there. ”
Roee hit the switch and the multi-layered Mylar pontoons inflated out of the skids and we descended down and landed on the water by the dock. We got out of the helicopter acting as casual as possible. Roee did some checks of the craft, as would be expected, and I chatted with him. Then we started moving off the dock towards the tram with no perceivable ulterior motivation beyond getting from point A to point B.
“STAY BACK!’ came a female voice from the promontory. We looked up. “JUST STAY BACK YOU BASTARDS!” From under a blonde head there was a small, smoky disturbance, then the weirdness of watching a small missile head down towards us. We both hit the deck and the missile passed over us and slammed into the Aérospatiale Dauphin. The craft exploded with a frightening boom, an orange ball of light, and a rain of debris that only by luck missed injuring us. “DON’T MOVE. JUST STAY IN THAT POSITION!”
It was Anne. The how and why I was very curious to know. I tried to lift my head.
“LIFT IT HIGHER AND I’LL BLOW IT OFF!”
“Anne!” I tried shouting, but shouting into the wood planks of a dock has a tendency to muffle even your best efforts.
“Do you think she knows it’s us?” Roee asked.
“What?”
“Well, maybe Rand charmed her over to his side. The aphrodisiac of power, and all that. ”
“No, I just think our little ruse is working too well for the situation we find ourselves in. ”
“Well, in any case, this is a really uncomfortable position. ”
“Too bad I put this hat on tight. If it had fallen off when I hit the ground, maybe she could see that I’m her ‘brother. ’”
“That’s an idea. Can you wiggle it off, or something?”
“One little wiggle and it will be off all right. Along with my head. ”
“Well, I suppose we can just wait here for the police, then. I could use a nap. ”
“Good plan, Roee. Unless she actually is now working for Rand. ”
“Oh great. I thought it was my job to sow the seeds of doubt. Well, then, how about a quick dash to the tram, assuming her trigger finger isn’t that fast, and we can get some cover and her attention before she reloads. ”
“Good plan. ”
“No qualifications this time?” Roee asked.
“Time and place for everything. I’m sure we can think of the qualifications later. ”
“Right. ”
We jumped up and ran. The explosion was right behind us. This one blew the hat off. But we made it to the tram. “ANNE!” I yelled, poking my blond head out. “ANNE! IT’S ME!”
Her blonde head came peaking over the promontory ridge. “FIXXER?”
“YEAH! AND ROEE!”
“OH GREAT! I’LL SEND THE TRAM DOWN!
When we got up to the top Anne was standing there still holding the
Sidewinder launcher, probably the same one Batsarov and company had used at Caltech. She was smiling a big, broad smile. “Where did you learn to fire one of those?” I asked.
“Oh, about three years ago I did this really cheap B-movie for this crazy director about a bunch of models trained to be commandos. I really think he got off seeing beautiful women fingering phallic symbols. ”
“Is it out on video?”
“Yeah. Only. ”
“So, I take it you’re in control of the situation here?”
“Sure. In fact, you didn’t even have to come back actually. You could have, you know, just sent in the police. ”
“Oh. ”
“Well, what did you expect, Fixxer? A damsel in distress?”
“Uh—there’s no safe way for me to answer that question, is there?”
“I think not. ”
“Is there any chance,” Roee asked, “we can know the details?”
“Well, I couldn’t have done it without Imelda. ”
“Imelda?”
“Poor, abused girl. Besides cooking and cleaning she was basically being used to relieve these bastards’s pent-up sexual frustrations, including Rand. She’s just an ignorant peasant girl. Thought she had no other choice. But we communicated, mainly through our eyes. Especially after Rand found out last night that you weren’t my brother. He came to my room ready to take it out on me, I think, but managed to control himself. He just played the popinjay instead, telling me how Batsarov would make your death slow and painful, and how he was going to take over the world, so how would I like to be his queen. ”
“You’re kidding?”
“Well, not in those words, but I got his drift. I thought of going along with him, thought it might be my only chance—seeing how you were going to be dead and all. But it was a role I couldn’t play. I’ve had that problem before, you know. A lack of sycophantic hypocrisy is a real handicap in Hollywood. Rand was—disappointed. According to Imelda he started making plans with Miguel on how to quietly get rid of me, something to do with pushing me out of a plane over the Pacific. I think he got the idea from the newspapers. ”
�
��No, Miguel probably had the experience listed on his resume. ”
“Oh. Well, anyway, that’s when Imelda decided to do something. When she brought my meal up this afternoon, there was a steak knife hidden in the napkin. I used it on Miguel. ”
“Did you kill him?” I asked, a strange streak of alarm passing through me.
“Well, it wouldn’t have done much good just to hurt him a little. I mean he was standing there with his semiautomatic phallic symbol. You know, the world would be a lot better off if men had semiautomatic phalluses instead of semiautomatic phallic symbols. ”
“Anne, did you kill him?”
“No. I pretended to choke on the food and when he got close I stabbed him in the leg. He dropped his gun and Imelda picked it up. She killed him. You should have seen the blood!” she said with an excited amazement in her eyes.
“Blood is pretty. ”
“Yeah,” she said. “Until it congeals. ”
“Look, uh, did they use you at all to, uh, relieve their frustrations?”
“No. Told them I had a yeast infection. ”
*
When we got to the house we found Rand sitting in the captains chair in the study. It had been pushed up against one of the bookcases. Imelda sat on the glass-top desk pointing an AR-18 at him. York, Anne had told me before we entered, was downstairs in bed. He was not in the best mental state. Roee called the Captain on his cell phone and told him to move in. Then we turned off the security and opened the front gate, that done, I confronted Rand.
“It’s over. We have Batsarov and he will testify against you. ”
Rand looked up at me. He had a smug look on his face far exceeding any he had yet displayed. He was like a kid caught stealing cigarettes, refusing to look contrite for stupid old Mr. Whoever who clerked at the drug store. “Who are you?” he demanded to know, as if he, now, was Mr. Whoever.
“You can call me Fixxer. ”
It registered in the eyes. It had meaning. “I thought you were a myth. ”
“Maybe I am. Maybe you’re stuck in your own Veritas. ”
He laughed. “Well if I am, for God’s sake unplug me. ”
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