by M. V. Kallai
“That’s good, then. I will locate Leitner right away.”
“Oh, Dana, only use the phone line from my office. It is completely secure and untraceable.”
“Wow. Impressive.”
“Um, yes…well…ok.
Lee made his way through his private lab entrance to have a conversation with the lady at the front desk. She was hired by Camden and must certainly know Ari.
When Lee got to the lobby, he seemed surprised to find it empty and dark for a moment before he remembered that it was the middle of the night to most people. He looked at his watch.
“Four a.m. I guess I have to wait,” he grumbled and returned to his lab.
Dana was still in his office just ending a phone call. She waved him to come over when she saw him come back in.
“Dr. Tripple. I reached Bearden Leitner. He will be here at 7:30 to meet with you. I asked him to go directly to the conference room and I will make sure it is unlocked for him.”
“Good, good. I will continue the day’s work after this has been straightened out. I need to make some notes.”
Dana took that as her cue to leave.
“If you need me, Dr. Tripple, I will be in the back getting some rest, if that’s ok.”
“Yes, fine. I will see you at seven.”
She felt relief at the extra hour and fifteen minutes he awarded her to sleep as she wandered in the back and plopped in the big green cushy chair in the lab’s dining area.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Mace’s New Plan
At 5:00 A.M., Major Mace Magner finished the last gulp of his strong black coffee, straightened his uniform in front of the mirror, grabbed his briefcase, and left his house. He would take his personal transport to work today so he could make his ‘off the grid’ stop at Sergeant Leitner’s flat. On a normal day, Mace preferred public transportation. He felt such superiority looking into the faces of the ignorant working class whom he protected on a daily basis. Most were easily intimidated by his stature and uniform and he liked it.
Bearden woke up groggy to heavy pounding on his door. A little disoriented, he dragged himself out of bed and pulled on a pair of cut off sweat pants. He didn’t bother to wipe the sleep from his eyes but went to see who the hell was banging on his door at 5:20. Three possibilities flashed in his mind and he turned the knob as his brain began catching up to his feet. Ganesh, Magner or Dana. He suddenly wished he had dressed all the way and brushed his teeth. Too late, the door was open and he stood face to face with Major Mace Magner. Shit. He thought.
“Good morning, Sergeant,” Mace said and walked past him into his flat.
“Sir! Good Morning, Sir!” Bearden said and saluted the Major. Mace had already made himself comfortable on a tall chair at the kitchen counter. Bearden felt extremely embarrassed. Though he was not a slob, his flat was certainly in no condition for Major Magner to stop by. He was a young bachelor, after all.
“It seems we have a lot to discuss this morning, young Sergeant,” Mace said casually.
“Um, yes, sir. We do. Might you give me a moment to get myself together? I wasn’t expecting your visit.”
“That’s odd. Did you not leave a message for me requiring my help?” Mace loved sarcasm in the morning.
“Yes, sir, I did…and thank you for coming. I just need a minute to…”
“Go. One minute, Soldier. I don’t have all day.”
Bearden ran to the bathroom and splashed cold water in his face, quickly brushed his teeth, and threw on a clean but un-pressed uniform. Best I can do. He thought.
He came back out and went to the front door to grab his shoes. As he was tying, he asked.
“Can I make you some coffee or tea, Major?”
“Coffee. Black.”
Bearden scrambled to the kitchen and got busy.
“So it seems that you have difficulty following orders, Leitner.”
Bearden scrunched his forehead. He wasn’t expecting this and didn’t say anything back to Mace who continued.
“I need a trustworthy soldier and since you’ve proven yourself to the contrary, the only way I can feel secure about our new little relationship here is to drill into your thick skull that I will kill you if you don’t directly obey my orders from here on out.” Mace’s voice raised at a steady incline as he spoke.
Bearden dropped the small bag of sugar he had gotten from a drawer for his own coffee. His face was blank, then angry…with himself.
“Shit, sir! Is this you helping me?”
Mace laughed.
“No one is going to help you Leitner, you broke the rules. The only reason you are not being arrested is that you have something I need.”
“I broke the rules??” Bearden decided playing dumb was his best option.
Mace laughed again.
“Don’t insult me, Soldier. Colonel Ganesh is too smart to give you that letter without giving you a direct order not to read it. Should we call him to verify?”
“No, sir, you’re right. I did disobey a direct order. So…what now? ”
“Just give me the damn letter, Leitner, and know that I now own you!”
Bearden’s head went hot with panic.
“I, um, don’t have the letter anymore.”
Mace banged his fist hard on the counter and stood up. Bearden flinched.
“What do you mean you don’t have it anymore. Now you are hiding evidence in a major government investigation. Who the hell do you think you are?”
“I delivered the letter to Dr. Lee Tripple last night, sir.”
Mace was turning purple and Bearden wondered if he would stroke out right there in his kitchen. How would he explain that? Then, Mace took a long, deep breath and sat back down. He looked hard at Bearden standing there in his wrinkled uniform, obviously terrified.
“Tripple will call you, won’t he?”
“It is likely. The nature of the letter was that I was to be given a position in his lab.” He decided not to mention Dana, or that she had already called him.
“Interesting…well, this may work out after all. It’s not everyday we can plant someone in such a guarded area. Kill two birds…one stone…access to that crazy man’s bio-technology…” His voice trailed off.
“Are you saying you want me to spy on Lee Tripple?”
“Well, look who just caught up! Where the hell is that coffee?”
“Oh, right here, sir.” Bearden poured the coffee and slid it across the counter to the Major. He took a sip.
“What the fuck is this? It’s terrible! Are you trying to poison me?”
“No, sir.” Bearden sniffed his own cup and it smelled fine to him.
“Oh, never mind. There isn’t time for any more pleasantries this morning. Here, take this.” Mace pulled a small card out of his front jacket pocket.
“This is my private line. You get in touch with me the second you hear from Tripple Laboratories and we will set up another meeting like this. And Sergeant, if you speak to anyone about this, you are dead. I’ve got constant eyes on you now!”
Bearden reluctantly took the card and walked to his front door with the Major.
“Sir? What should I tell Colonel Ganesh when I see him today?”
“Tell him nothing. I doubt you will see the Colonel today anyway. He’s working on something new. Sergeant.”
“Major.” Bearden gave him a quick salute and closed the door.
He walked back into his bedroom and collapsed face first into his bed. What have I gotten myself into? A half hour later, he got back up, undressed, and ironed his uniform.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Bargaining
Ganesh sat up on the officer’s lounge couch, groggy from his uncomfortable night’s sleep. He tied his boots and began to make his way down to the soldier’s quarters where his computer and safe were secure in a locker…and where Sergeant Quinn was sleeping.
To his surprise, when he opened the door, a smiling Quinn was bouncing on the balls of his feet in front of th
e door to the lounge holding two steaming cups of coffee.
“Morning, sir.”
“You’re up early, Sergeant. I was just on my way down to see you.”
“Well, I’m flattered, Colonel.” Quinn handed Ganesh a coffee.
“Too early to be a smart ass, Quinn,” Ganesh said and took a sip.
“Noted, sir.”
“I think in about another hour it will be safe to return to my office. I expect General Pike will have the file with the details of our assignment on my desk before lunch.”
“Are you going to report the attempt on your life yesterday?”
“No, Quinn. You see, assassins who believe their attempts have failed tend to fall out of the woodwork. I’ll know soon enough who is behind it and why. Don’t you worry about that.” Ganesh looked sideways at Quinn to see if he showed any signs of guilt or suspicion. There were none. Ganesh was a patient man. He would get to Quinn before Quinn got to him. Although there were probably plenty of others in this building who would benefit with Ganesh out of the way, it made no sense to place someone with Quinn’s talent at his side if he wasn’t meant to do the job. Yet, two things bothered him about this theory. One, Quinn did sort of save his life yesterday and two, he liked the kid. Damn, he’s good. Ganesh thought and re-convinced himself that yesterday was just Quinn’s way of earning his trust… even though he wished it weren’t.
Ganesh worried how Camden would react to the new position that was being thrust upon him. He felt guilty about being responsible for his friend’s predicament but what else could he do? He didn’t know how else to try and control the situation. He had to find a way to stop the weaponry unit from creating those indestructible monster machines or at least figure out a way to disable them. Yes, going to Camden was the only option, he thought on his way to his office after breakfast.
“I’ll go in first,” Quinn volunteered as they approached Ganesh’s office. “I’m sure your brain is worth more than mine.”
Ganesh nodded, but thought, I highly doubt that.
Sergeant Quinn grinned and tiptoed into the office. Ganesh rolled his eyes. Suddenly, Quinn dropped to the floor, held his head, and started shaking.
“Very funny, Quinn. Get up.”
Quinn looked up and saw that Ganesh was already at his desk and in perfect health.
“That was risky of you, sir.”
“Let’s just say you don’t have a future in acting…Sergeant Secretary.” But the truth was, Ganesh knew the room was safe the second Quinn volunteered to go in first. He must have known the exact timing of that pulse bomb.
“Should I pick up where I left off yesterday? On taking inventory in here, Colonel?”
“No, Quinn. Sit down. I want you to write out everything you know about the projects taking place in the basement laboratories here.”
“Well, that shouldn’t take me long. I don’t know much. I work upstairs in the public relations offices, usually. Never even been down to the labs before.”
Ganesh doubted that too.
“Nonetheless, write it down.”
“Right away, sir.” Quinn smiled, but Ganesh saw his eyes cut sideways for the briefest of moments.
Ganesh opened his computer and smiled to himself behind the monitor.
Seconds later, there was a knock on the door. A woman walked in and handed a file to Colonel Ganesh from General Pike. Quinn stopped writing for a moment and Ganesh took a deep breath.
“Here we go,” he said after the woman left when he opened the file.
Several floors up, Mace Magner was making his way down the corridor of interrogation rooms to visit his prisoners. He had already had an exceptional morning and was looking forward to another round with Camden Riles just for the hell of it. But first, he wanted to question the woman his men had brought in last night who was trying to visit the son of a bitch. He greeted the guards in front of her window.
“So, let’s take a look at the professor’s whore, shall we men?” Mace said with a laugh. He looked in the window of the room and saw Enira curled up in a ball on the small cot. Her long dark hair covered her face. Mace tapped on the window to get her attention.
When she looked up at the window, Mace’s jaw about hit the floor. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me!” he said as he made eye contact with Enira. The smugness left his face.
“Who exactly brought this woman in?” He asked the guards.
“Technically, we did, sir.” He glanced nervously at the other guard.
“What do you mean ‘technically’?”
“We picked her up last night after we got a call from one of your men looking after the professor’s building.” Then the second guard chimed in.
“She was unconscious when we got there. We just loaded her in the back of the transport and carried her to this room.”
“Idiots!” Mace yelled and then suddenly dropped to a whisper and pointed to Enira’s door. “You are all idiots! Do you know who that woman in there is?”
“The professor’s whore?” the second guard asked with a nervous voice. The first guard kicked him to shut up. Mace raised his hand like he was going to slap the guard, but didn’t. He looked back through the window at Enira.
“That woman in there, the one drugged and traumatized…that woman is the general’s wife!”
The guards shifted nervously and took turns glancing in the window but said nothing. Mace had to think fast. General Pike would notice his wife missing. He began pacing the area in front of Enira’s interrogation room. He did not like surprises that were not in his favor and he was downright shocked at this one.
“Don’t worry boys, I have a plan,” Mace said after only a minute. “Take care of Mrs. Pike until I get back. Make sure she is fed and has full use of the facilities on this floor. Get her anything she needs and don’t let her out of your sight. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” they replied in chorus.
Mace took off down the hall and walked into Camden’s room. Camden sat up when the Major entered. Mace addressed Aldretti who was back for his morning shift.
“Take him to the men’s room. Let him wash up a little.”
“Let’s go, Professor.” Aldretti motioned for Camden to go with him.
Mace sat down at the metal desk in the center of the room. He felt certain that when Camden saw that his high profile lover had been captured he would become a lot more honest. If not from fear for her safety, then for fear of General Pike’s reaction. Mace had no intention of bringing the news to the general of his wife’s affair, but his two lovebird prisoners didn’t know that.
When Camden reached the hallway with Aldretti, he was shocked to see Enira walking into the facilities, also being escorted by a guard. When he and Aldretti caught up, Camden walked in the room behind her.
“Enira,” he called out. She turned. Her hair was wild and matted and her cheeks were tear stained. Her eyes lit up for a moment when she saw Camden. She ran over to hug him, but Aldretti put his arm between them.
“Cam! Oh Cam, look at you. Are you ok? Where are we? I was so worried about you. Lee was worried. What’s this all about?”
“Shh, shh. Don’t say anything. Does your husband know you’re here?”
“What? I…I don’t know. Are we…”
“Yes, in the TRU Building.”
“Oh, this is bad…do you think he is behind this? I mean, he’s a tough man, but locking me up like this…even if he did find out about us, I don’t think he would do this.”
“I’m sure you being here is a mistake.” He reached out and rubbed her arms and shoulders to comfort her. “Where were you when they brought you in?”
“Looking for you…at your building. I know we said no surprises, but I didn’t know what else to do. I wouldn’t have gone if Lee wasn’t so…”
“Aughh.” Camden dropped his hands by his side.
Enira started sobbing.
“I made things worse for you. And me.”
Camden looked over at Aldretti
who seemed to be enjoying his interchange with Enira like it was a good movie.
“I’m surprised you haven’t stopped our conversation, Aldretti.”
“Why would I stop something this juicy? I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes next time you are face to face with General Pike.” Aldretti started laughing. Camden turned his back to him and put his arm around Enira’s shoulder and brushed the hair from her face.
“Look, there’s no use in feeling sorry for yourself. What’s done is done.” He tried to speak to her with a loving tone but his words sounded a little cold. Their relationship had never been about love, at least not for him.
“You’ll feel better when you get cleaned up. And chances are, your husband doesn’t know anything. I sure wouldn’t want to be the soldier who broke it to him.” He managed a smile and his lip started bleeding again. Enira pulled herself together and walked to the sink and started dabbing her eyes with cool water. Camden turned to Aldretti.
“I’ll wait outside and give her some privacy. And you should too, that is the general’s wife after all.” Aldretti snapped out of his gaze on Enira. “We’ll just be down the hall, Ma’am,” Aldretti said to her and grabbed Camden by the arm.
Enira ran to the door, to Camden again.
“Cam, I’m scared.”
“Don’t be. I’m sure you will come out of this just fine.”
“Then, I’m scared for you.”
“You’ve got to stop thinking like that now. I’m going to be just fine,” he lied. “Our lives will be back to normal in no time.” Camden turned to leave.
“I don’t want to lose you,” she called after him. Camden paused, sighed, and walked out with Aldretti yanking on his arm. He didn’t look back.
Enira stood there alone, ashamed of her outburst. She was normally extremely discreet and in control of her emotions, but the stress of this situation had pushed her over the edge. She spent the next hour pulling herself together in the restroom and the guard outside said nothing.