Charles got out of his Range Rover and grabbed his briefcase. The resolution in the Senate to pass electrical power legislation was doing well so far and should benefit their oil interests. The United Nations was moving forward as well. Closing his door, he walked towards the entrance of the mansion and pressed his hand against the security panel. The lock clicked, and he stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
Their security people were responsible for the outside. The whole purpose of the mansion was to keep secrets. Secrets he, David and Fred spoke about openly within the walls of this building. They had cleaners come in, and then security swept the house for anything the cleaners might have left behind.
Since the three of them weren’t living here, this happened once a month.
He walked through the foyer into the bar, set his briefcase down and quickly made himself a rum and Coke. Hanging his coat on the rack, he grabbed his drink and case and continued down the carpeted hallway into the library.
He stopped at the chessboard and raised an eyebrow. Fred had moved, but it was a strange one. Charles’s eyebrows drew together as he studied the board with more focus, trying to fathom the reason for the move. If he didn’t know better, he would swear Fred paid a ringer to play for him.
Charles put down his briefcase and took a sip of his drink, thinking through all of the different moves and countermoves. He stood there almost five minutes before he recognized the trap.
He might be in trouble.
Charles frowned. This was too subtle for Fred. He either did pay someone to help him with this move, or he got lucky and had no idea that twelve steps in the future, Charles would be in trouble. He took another sip and moved his Queen to Bishop’s three before bending down and picking up his briefcase and walking further into the room. He had almost made it to his chair when he stopped.
Drink halfway up to his mouth, he stared at the dusky-skinned beauty sitting in David’s chair. It happened to be facing away from the chessboard, the back too high for him to see sooner that someone was occupying it.
Someone that shouldn’t be here.
“Who are you?” he asked her.
“Tabitha. Why don’t you sit down, Charles? Fred and David have just arrived and will be joining us shortly.”
Charles didn’t move but pointed at Tabitha using the hand with the drink, anger coloring his voice. “You are not supposed to be here, this is private property.” He looked around the room to see if anyone else might be hiding.
“When did rules mean anything to you, Charles?” Tabitha asked, standing gracefully, her hand trailing along the back of the leather chair as she walked around it. She was dressed in a black pantsuit, sleeves slit down the length of the fabric, her tanned arms peeking in and out of view.
Charles could hear his two partners coming, talking to each other when David abruptly changed tone and spoke, his voice louder, “Guard, you are not supposed to be inside this house! I will call and inform your company they will be docked for failure to… Good God, stop pointing that pistol at me!”
“What is the meaning of this?” Fred snapped, and Charles turned to see his partners practically pushed into the room by another Asian security guard who was aiming a pistol at them.
“Seriously, Jun?” Tabitha asked him.
“It was part of the outfit, Kimosabe, and it was easier than listening to their complaints.”
Tabitha spoke to the three older men, pointing to their chairs. “Take a seat gentleman, you’re going to be here a while.”
“Why?” David burst out. “You will be arrested and charged with…”
She interrupted, “I’m not one of the three people on trial here, dickwad!”
Fred, his mind trying to parse the coarse language coming from the woman in front of him, turned to Charles, stupefied.
“Well Fred, seeing how we don’t have the pistol, why don’t we humor the woman?” Charles said as he took the two steps necessary to get to his chair and sit down.
The other two men less graciously made it to their own chairs and sat. Tabitha walked over to them and put out her hand. “Briefcases, please.” The men looked at each other with questions on their faces. Jun cleared his throat, and the three looked disgusted but turned their briefcases over to Tabitha.
Taking them, she walked back to the table and set them down. She reached to her right and picked up a small diary. “Why don’t we start with what you guys have written in this book, shall we?”
“That’s personal!” Fred burst out. “Don’t you know a diary when you see one?”
“With a lock, no less,” David added.
Tabitha didn’t turn around, she just read a couple of notes. “Ten thousand for a bet from C to D re: Jailing TQB CEO.”
“So, we happen to like to wager amongst ourselves, that is hardly a crime, young woman,” Charles retorted.
Tabitha nodded. “That’s true, it isn’t. At least, it isn’t something I particularly care about.” Tabitha turned to another page in the book. “Here is one wager I find relevant, and it says you won, David. ‘C & F bet D $10k TQB CEO doesn’t fight.’” Tabitha touched the page a couple of times. “It says here you won that David, due to lack of evidence over two years ago.” She looked at him. “Unfortunately, you won on a technicality, as you three are about to find out.”
“What are you talking about?” Charles asked, suddenly realizing who she worked for.
“Why, you already know, Charles,” Tabitha said. “Or at least you have a good idea.”
“Do you, Charles?” David asked him.
“I have a good guess,” Charles admitted.
“So, out with it,” Fred said.
Charles nodded towards Tabitha. “She works for TQB.”
The two others looked back at Tabitha. Finally, Charles’s eyes widened. “You’re her!”
Tabitha flicked a stray hair back over her shoulder. “Her who?”
Charles pointed. “You’re the one who was in the security footage.”
“Not possible, that lady was butch,” Fred protested.
Jun snorted, and Tabitha shot him a scathing look promising payback later. “Probably, but you must have horrible cameras to make me look butch.”
“What do you want?” David interrupted. “We can double, triple, hell we can set you up with your own small country. Just name your price.”
Tabitha looked at David with sympathy. “Oh dear. David, I’ve already drained your bank accounts. By now, the money is hitting about fifty different shell corporations, banks overseas, and moved into precious metals and other investments that aren’t liquid.”
“Like what?” Fred asked.
“Like food,” Tabitha answered. “It’s so nice of you to be buying food for those who just got hit by the tsunami. Well, them and those who are leaving Earth to fight for our precious blue ball.”
“We’ll do no such thing!” Fred argued.
“We’ve already done it, haven’t we?” Charles asked, his shoulders slumping.
Tabitha pointed at Charles. “Bingo! You’re the prize kid in this class, Charles.”
“How much?” Fred asked.
“How much what? How much of your money did I find?” Tabitha asked. “Gentlemen, I’ve been looking for you for years. I’ve acquired so much information that was,” she put up her fingers, “this close to nailing your asses before. Now, with the final pieces in place, I’ve probably tracked over ninety-two percent of your total assets. Well, not including the money and other instruments in your two safes.”
“Three,” Jun corrected, “Ryu just found another.”
Fred’s face turned hopeful, before schooling it to neutral again.
“Tell them to keep looking,” Tabitha said to Jun, her eyes flicking back away from Fred.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Boston, MA, USA
“You can tell them to look behind the medicine cabinet on the third floor,” Barnabas said, entering the room. “They’ll find a small lock in the lower left-hand corner the
y need to pick before the back part will separate.”
“Who the hell are you?” Fred asked, looking over his shoulder as Barnabas stopped beside the chess set. “I’m Barnabas,” he answered and then moved a piece. “And this game is now won by me moving Bishop to Queen’s three in five moves.” Barnabas continued into the room.
He was wearing a dark pinstriped suit. “I am,” he told the three staring men, “the person who is going to decide if we,” he pointed to Tabitha and then himself, “take care of this here and now, or we bring the Queen in on this.”
“What Queen?” David asked, “You don’t mean that trumped up piece of...”
“Can I call her now?” Tabitha interrupted, looking towards Barnabas, her eyes pleading.
“No,” Barnabas answered.
“David, shut up.” Charles ground out.
“No, David,” Tabitha said, her voice sounding annoyed. “You should really continue, as Barnabas needs a little more persuading that Bethany Anne should come down here.”
“Why us? Let’s talk about her. Why is she hoarding medical advances? Let’s put her ass on trial.” Fred argued. “We’re sitting here growing frail when totally useless, money-grabbing, self-centered bastards from Ivy-League schools are raping and pillaging our companies. Doing it for their own benefit, when we could still be around, with a little help from her,” he practically spat the words, “for decades longer and make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Barnabas pursed his lips. “Your defense, for all of your actions, is health?”
“Like you would know about aging,” Fred replied, flopping back in his leather chair. “You’re what, late twenties, early thirties or so?”
Tabitha snorted and looked away from Barnabas, trying to keep a smile from her face.
“No,” Charles said, his eyes narrowing slightly as Barnabas turned to face him. “You just look younger. There is wisdom in your eyes, something that a young man wouldn’t have.”
This time, Tabitha rolled her eyes where Barnabas couldn’t see her.
“My age is irrelevant to this discussion,” Barnabas said. “We are here to find out why you did the multitude of things you did. At the moment, it seems a common desire for more power, more money and more… just more.”
“Challenge, proving one is better than others, there is more to life than having more things,” Charles replied. “Certainly someone with your experience understands the desire to prove oneself?”
Tabitha turned and looked back towards Barnabas. “How about now?” she asked.
Charles threw an ugly look in Tabitha’s direction. “We,” he pointed to the other two men, “are responsible for over a hundred thousand jobs in the Northeast United States alone. If we are truly as destitute as this woman says we are, who is going to take care of those families?”
Barnabas turned to Tabitha. “You drained them dry?”
She said, “Asshole response 101, hit them in their pocketbook. ADAM is taking care of the results.” Barnabas nodded.
“What about our damned families?” David asked, “Are they not part of your equation? You won’t get away with this, either. I don’t know how you think you’ll walk away from this at all. Our security gates and these grounds are tracked continuously.”
“Yes, and they are all connected on the Internet for downloads. Conversely, that means they are online for uploads, as well,” Tabitha said. “Achronyx took care of your chiquitito security system, Señor.”
“I’m going to sue your asses into oblivion,” Fred said as his finger pointed to Barnabas, then Tabitha and back again. “You won’t have enough to buy toilet paper to wipe your ass when you shit under a bridge.”
Tabitha looked over at Barnabas. “How about now?”
Barnabas shook his head and shrugged. “I tried.” He looked out through the large window to the trees beyond. “You can call her.”
Tabitha closed her eyes as she heard David ask. “Call who?”
“Bethany Anne,” Charles answered. “Fred, you are a world class jackass.”
“Why? What’s she going to do?” Fred retorted.
“Not helping, idiot,” Charles warned.
Fred’s chair squeaked. “Bahh, these two are just playing good-cop, bad-cop. We know Bethany Anne is somewhere off Earth. By the time she can get here, the cops will be swarming this place.”
Bethany Anne?
One moment, she replied.
Tabitha kept her eyes closed, she didn’t care to see these three assholes any longer.
Okay, done kicking Eric’s ass, what’s up?
Barnabas has given me permission to ask what you want to do with the three assholes that were behind the attack on the Jaydens?
Little Anne and her family? Bethany Anne’s voice came back, going frosty over their mental link.
That’s correct.
Where are you? she demanded. Tabitha could almost feel the fire in her eyes as she walked out of wherever she was towards her room.
Boston, Massachusetts, in a private home on wooded property outside of town.
Where is the G’laxix Sphaea?
Right on top of our heads, well a few miles above us, but not much.
Let me grab Ashur, and I’ll be there in about… Hold on. I’m figuring… say ten minutes.
Understood, Tabitha finished.
She opened her eyes to see all four men watching her. “She’ll be here in ten.”
“Hmph, impossible,” David said.
“Not if we have bad intel,” Charles siad, sitting back in his chair.
“If you believe,” Barnabas spoke, “that she is with the large station you would be right.”
“Not that I’m curious, but I’m curious. How do you know this?” Tabitha asked Charles.
“Hmm, basing it on the length of time they hadn’t seen her,” Barnabas answered when none of the men said a word.
The three looked sharply at Barnabas.
Tabitha walked over to the table. “Well, that secret is still a secret, it seems.” She picked up the first briefcase. “Wow, talk about old technology.” She turned to Barnabas, “Should I pick it?”
“No, you would find the status of their present projects, a few secret files they shouldn’t possess, a ham sandwich in David’s briefcase and other various stuff you would expect.”
“How the hell do you know that?” David asked.
“He’s reading our minds,” Charles slumped lower in his chair and turned to look out the window to the trees beyond. “Checkmate.”
“Why are you giving up?” Fred said. “These two aren’t killers and neither is the woman coming.”
Charles looked at Fred. “You need to open your eyes a little more, Fred.” He pointed to Tabitha. “She’s the one that jumped out of the third-story window in Germany. Remember that video?”
Fred looked at the woman in the attractive pantsuit and then back at Charles. “What of it?”
“She’s a modified human, Fred.” He pointed at Barnabas. “He’s God only knows what. But, he’s either,” Charles pointed to his own head, “reading our damned minds or can see through our briefcases, unless they have some magic trick I can’t fathom.” He pointed at Jun behind them men. “They have replaced all of our security, can travel faster than light somehow to get here from outer space and,” he turned to face Barnabas, “how old are you, really?”
There was a pause before Barnabas answered, “A thousand years and then a few.”
“Well… shit.” Charles muttered. “I hadn’t expected that answer.”
“How could you?” Barnabas said. “It’s a pretty well-guarded secret.”
“Secrets are our tradecraft,” Charles said. “At least, we thought they were.”
The men all got lost in their own thoughts for a few minutes.
A quiet enveloped the room and then a sense of unease permeated the men. Both of the brothers adjusted themselves in their chair and Charles started looking around.
“She’s here,” Tabitha sai
d. “Vengeance has arrived.”
The men, unsettled by Tabitha’s comment, looked at each other before turning to the door. They heard footsteps, multiple pairs. The first they saw come through the door wasn’t human.
It was the biggest damned white German Shepherd any of them had ever seen.
It trotted over to Tabitha and looked up at her until she broke. “Fine, fine, how are you Ashur, besides begging for a head rub?” she asked as she scratched behind his ears. He chuffed to her, and she chuckled. “Yeah, the hound finally ran down the foxes, big guy.”
The Kurtherian Gambit Omnibus 05 - The Fans Version: My Ride is a Bitch - Don't Cross This Line - Never Submit Page 40