by Paul Byers
“What’s this?”
“Pantyhose. Lay her out on the bed and tie one hand with it to the bed post, then rip open her blouse.”
“What?” he nearly shouted. “I can’t do that.”
“You’re pathetic,” Marilyn said as she shoved him out of the way and ripped her shirt. “Now tie up her hand you idiot.” She shoved him in the chest then went back over to the table and pulled a small vial out of her bag and hid it under the cloth napkin that was sitting beside a bottle of champagne and two glasses.
“What is that?” Tony asked, seeing her hide the vial.
“It’s GHB. It’s a date-rape drug; that’s why we’re doing all this. The wine, tying her up, the torn blouse, we’re making this look like a plan that went horribly wrong. Now hurry up, we don’t have much time.”
Marilyn walked over and laid one of the chairs at the table over on its side then tipped over one of the lamps beside the bed. She looked at it for a moment then decided to stomp on it, breaking it into pieces. She stepped back and studied the room for a moment, like an artist studying her canvas. Putting on the finishing touch, she filled one of the champagne glasses half full, then knocked it over.
Satisfied, she began looking in her bag, and then patted her pockets, “Do you have the knife?” She asked.
Tony nodded, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a red Swiss Army Knife. “Who are we setting up?” he asked.
Marilyn grinned wickedly. “The man who owns that knife.”
Senator Harlen “Pug” Williams walked confidently but quietly down the hallway, his mind overflowing with curiosity and lust. Mallory was right, the thrill and mystery of the unknown heightened his anticipation but this wasn’t his first rodeo and he was no fool by taking Mallory’s peace offering at face value.
Although he had Bobby do most of the work on the computer, he was pretty handy with the keyboard, a fact that he liked to keep to himself, and with a little digging he was able to verify the name on the cardkey. As he opened the file and checked the registration, he was surprised at who it was. At first, he had thought it might have been a bored socialite or even that young blonde reporter, Tab, Tabby, whatever her name was, but it wasn’t.
Looking at her registration picture she was not the kind of woman who usually did things like this, but sometimes the quiet ones were the most passionate. The more he looked at her picture, the more his lust grew and best of all, he knew Mallory had not set him up, that this was the real deal. After all, she wouldn’t want to expose their little rendezvous and risk tarnishing the reputation of their golden boy.
As he casually strolled, he had several well-practiced, polished, and believable reasons why he was walking alone in this part of the barge at this time of night. As he rounded the corner he saw the door and his heart skipped a beat. Would the encounter be met with wild abandon, would it take on the form of shy flirting or would he have to woo her and overcome any hesitation or second thoughts? Oh, the thrill of the hunt!
He came to the door and looked at his watch; 7:00 on the dot. If nothing else, he was a punctual man. With a lustful grin, he opened the door and quickly stepped through, closing it behind him. As promised, the lights were off and he stood there for a moment, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. “Hello?” he said quietly.
“I’m over here.” He heard the sound of a soft, feminine voice calling him. With eager anticipation, he took one step forward then felt a powerful hand grasp his mouth and pull his head back. Before he had time to react, he felt a sharp pain penetrate his chest, then another and another. He felt the hands release their grip and he crumpled to the floor.
As he lay there gasping for breath, he knew he was dying. The last thoughts he had were not of his wife or family but of disappointment because he would never become president and he died wondering who would fill his vacant seat in the Senate.
Marilyn turned on the lights and looked at the Senator lying on the floor. She bent down and ruffled his hair, untucked his shirt a little and undid his belt buckle. Then she stood in front of the senator’s body, held up the knife and dropped it. “That should do it.”
She looked over at Tony. “You don’t look as queasy this time. Easier second time around, lover?”
“Not easier, just different because I didn’t know him.”
“Yeah, well you can drown your sorrows while baking in the sun on the deck of a 150 foot yacht floating in the blue-green waters of the Mediterranean.”
A slow smile crept to Tony’s face. “I wanna drive.”
Marilyn reached up and patted him on the cheek, “Of course you can. Now let’s double-check the room and get out of here. I have to get back to my room and call George; I want to check on my cats, I think Bubbles has worms.”
Chapter Forty Three
Pike was feeling good about himself as he walked down the hall. Professionally, his career was probably shot. He had just said no to the richest man in the world and he had no doubts that if he wanted to, Cain could ruin him. But he was also grateful to Cain for helping him realize that money can’t buy everything, especially integrity, self-esteem, self-respect, and a clear conscience knowing that he did the right thing for the right reason.
On the flip side, his personal life was looking better and better. He had also discovered that while you could go through life alone, what was the point? People were what mattered, not the almighty dollar. Easy to say now while he still had two nickels to rub together but a principle he knew was true. He wasn’t afraid anymore.
He took a deep breath as he stood outside K.D.’s door. He didn’t know if she felt the same way but there was only one way to find out. With fear, hope, dread, and a thousand and one other emotions, he knocked.
As he did, the door popped ajar. He stuck his head in and knocked again, calling her name. The room was dark so he flipped on the light. Nothing in the world, in the universe, could have prepared him for what he saw. He was stunned and frozen in place. K.D. was lying on the bed, one hand tied to the bedpost and her shirt ripped open. The room was a shambles and Senator Williams was on the floor, floating in a pool of blood.
His eyes were seeing, but his mind was having a hard time comprehending the message they were sending his brain. Pike felt emotions surging inside him. He didn’t know if they were fear, anger or revenge, but they burst through like a lightning bolt, freeing him from his frozen indecision.
He leaped over the Senator’s body and rushed to K.D.’s side. He was hoping she was just unconscious but when he touched her face, her head fell to one side, revealing a blood soaked pillow and the entire side of her head covered and caked with dried blood.
“No, no, no,” he heard himself saying over and over. At least he thought the voice was his, it sounded so faint and far away, so lost. What had happened here? Who did this to you K.D.? Who? His eyes drifted over to the Senator on the floor. “Did you do this to her or did you try to save her and they killed you too?” He didn’t know if he should hate the man or be grateful to him. It added all the more to his confusion. Right now he desperately wanted to hate someone but he didn’t know who to channel his hatred towards.
As he looked at the body of the Senator sprawled out on the floor, something caught his eye. He tried to move but his legs suddenly felt like they were made of lead and weighed a thousand pounds each. Feeling more like a machine than a man, he managed to move one foot in front of the other until he was standing in front of the familiar object. He bent down and picked it up. It was a Swiss Army Knife, his Swiss Army Knife. He had had it this morning. How did it end up here?
“Quiet down now please.” Mallory was flanked by two reporters and their film and sound crews. They were moving down one of the hallways in the guest quarters section of the iceberg. Mallory continued. “As much as he’s been in the news lately, Gabriel Pike is still a man of mystery to many of your viewers and they want to know more about the man behind the leather jacket. Package it however you want, but as promised here’s an inside lo
ok at what Gabe does on his off time. As some of you may have heard, there’s romance brewing in our hero’s life.
The group of reporters followed Mallory around the corner and entered the hallway that led to K.D.’s room. “We’re in luck,” Mallory whispered, “the door’s open and the lights are on.” The two groups quietly made their way to either side of the door. Mallory silently giggled as she held her finger up to her lips and pointed at the door. As soon as the groups were ready, Mallory pushed it open and stepped through. “Hi Gabe and K.D.,” she said in a loud voice, “I hope you two are decent because you have…”
Mallory stopped speaking in mid-sentence then let out a horrific scream when she saw Pike standing over Williams’ body with the knife in his hand. Both film crews rushed in and began filming the grizzly scene.
Pike looked up at Mallory after she screamed. “Help me...” His voice was faint and sorrowful.
“What did you do?” Pike heard a voice scream.
Pike looked over to the reporter who asked the question, “Tabatha, is that you?” Pike was still in a daze when he heard another man standing in front of the camera speaking.
“We don’t have all the facts yet but it appears that the popular figure, Gabriel Pike, also known to millions as the Blast from the Past, has killed Senator Harlen Williams, in an apparent fit of jealous rage in a lover’s triangle gone horribly, horribly wrong.”
“WHAT!” Pike shouted. The reporter making the newscast may not be responsible for K.D.’s death but Pike now had someone to focus at least part of his anger on.
“How dare you? How dare you make a statement like that? I didn’t kill anyone. You call yourself a reporter? You walk into a room and make a snap judgment like that in five seconds?”
The reporter signaled to his cameraman to keep rolling, then he turned around to face Pike. Pike’s eyes grew wide when he saw that it was the Toupee man, Peter Wright.
“Hey buddy, I’m not the one standing over a dead body with the murder weapon in my hand and it wasn’t my girlfriend playing stuff the ballot box with the Senator.”
“Why you son of a…” Pike said, taking a step forward.
“GABE!” Mallory shouted. “Stop! Just stop and put the knife down, please! We can talk about this.”
Suddenly Pike realized what all this must really look like with him standing with a knife in his hand then moving toward the Toupee man with it. With a huge sigh, he set the knife down and raised his hands. “I know what this must look like but I didn’t kill anyone and K.D. was not sleeping with the Senator,” he said, glaring directly at Wright.
“Okay, everyone. Let’s just all take a deep breath here and take a step back.” Mallory said. “Gabe, I’ve called Nigel and he’s sending a couple of the crew to escort you back to his office until we can get this whole thing sorted out. Are you okay with that?”
“Yes! yes, yes! I want to know what happened here more than any of you.”
“Yeah, right.”
Pike heard Toupee Man mutter under his breath, which really wasn’t that quiet. He knew he was baiting him and it was all he could do not to rip the man’s head off. “Yes I do,” he replied as calmly as he could.
“Good. Ah, here they are now.” Just then, two crewmembers Pike didn’t recognize came in the door, one carrying a length of rope.
Pike looked at Mallory and shook his head in disappointment. “Is that really necessary?”
She looked at Pike and saw the hurt in his eyes. “No, but don’t make me regret it, Gabe.” She nodded, and the rope disappeared into the man’s pocket.
“Thank you.” Pike walked toward the door and everyone gave him a wide birth as he approached, all except Toupee, who stood where he was, making a statement to Pike by making him walk around him.
Chapter Forty Four
“I like you Gabriel, I really do and I would do anything for you but even with all my money there’s not a lot I can do when a news camera shows you standing over the dead body of a US Senator with a knife in your hand.” Cain said, sitting behind his desk in his office.
“But I didn’t kill him. Don’t you believe me?” Pike pleaded.
Mallory shook her head. “It doesn’t matter what we believe. What matters is what the evidence says.”
“Remember when we first met?” Cain said, “I told you that we needed the public on our side, that to them, perception was everything? That’s why we molded you into the Blast from the Past. So they would believe in and support this project. It was a bonus, a very nice bonus that you happened to live up to your billing.”
“And the public perception of you now is that of a fallen hero.” Mallory added. “We found a vial of GHB, a date-rape drug, on the table. It would appear that the Senator used it on K.D., she resisted, he got carried away and killed her. You walked in on him, went insane with anger and killed him with your knife. I’m sorry Gabe,” Mallory said shaking her head sadly, “but the evidence is overwhelming.”
“But I didn’t do it.”
You keep saying that,” Mallory replied, “but what you say doesn’t make any difference.”
“As I said earlier, Cain continued, “I really do like you but unfortunately you are just too good at your job. Although I really don’t think you can claim all the credit for your discovery because the chain of events that led us to this moment are a direct result of a butterfly effect.”
Mallory rolled her eyes, “You and your butterfly effect.”
Cain just frowned at Mallory, then continued. “Who would have thought that the simple act of spilling a glass of water would lead to the premature deaths of so many people?
“Discovery? What discovery did I make and who else is dead?” Pike pleaded, more confused than ever.
Cain smiled at Pike as he walked by slowly. He was smiling because at an early age he had learned that the old saying, knowledge is power, was true and right now he held all the power because he had knowledge that Pike wanted so desperately. He stepped up to the bar where he took a silver martini shaker out of the refrigerator, took off the lid, and set it on the counter. Next, he grabbed a martini glass and poured four ice cubes into it. “I think the term, hidden in plain sight, best fits this situation.” Cain said, all the while, still smiling like the Cheshire cat. With glass in hand, he walked over and stood in front of the massive model of the iceberg he had used at his corporate headquarters when he first revealed his master plan to the press.
“Hidden in plain sight.” He said making a grand sweeping motion over the model. “And here,” pointing to the room. “It’s all around us.” Cain enjoyed the confused look on Pike’s face.
“What’s all around us? What’s hidden in plain sight? Pike cried out in frustration.
Cain reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a cigarette lighter. He set the martini glass on top of the display case, then held the open flame from the lighter onto the top ice cube. To Pike’s astonishment, the ice cube sprouted a tiny flame like a candle on top of a birthday cake.
Pike slowly stood and walked over and gazed at the burning ice cube much the same way Moses must have stared at the burning bush. “That’s exactly what happened in the restaurant.” Pike said dumfounded.
“Amazing, isn’t it.” Cain said as he circled behind Pike, enjoying his bewilderment. “It’s called Methane Hydrate.”
“Methane? You mean like in swamp gas?”
“Yes.” Cain said as he went back to the bar. “Methane Hydrate, simply put, is methane gas trapped in water or ice. The methane is released when it warms up or the pressure on the ice is reduced. Frozen methane hydrates can contain 170 times its own volume of methane gas.”
Pike thought for a moment digesting what Cain had said, then he snapped his fingers. “That’s it! That’s what caused the explosion. There must be methane in the ice in the tunnel and when the cooling pipes ruptured, the ice melted just enough to release the vapors and Williams’ cigarette ignited it.”
Cain smiled and looked at Mallory. “I to
ld you he was good.”
Pike shook his head, “But why put such a dangerous and combustible gas into a project that would put it into such close proximity to a large population? Was it part of the process to keep the ice from melting? Surely you knew the dangers? If this entire iceberg were constructed with the methane hydrate, the potential for the level of destruction would be unimaginable. If it were to explode in the New York Harbor the blast radius…” Pike’s words trailed off as he began to realize the implications of what he was saying. He suddenly felt sick to his stomach .
“So all this is…”
“A giant floating bomb.” Cain said, finishing Pike’s sentence.
“But how, why?”
“The how is a little complicated but being an engineer, I’m sure you’ll appreciate how complex yet simple the idea is. Methane gas has great potential as a natural source for power and we discovered a huge deposit of the methane hydrate while doing exploratory drilling on the ocean floor.
“Methane hydrate is nothing new. President Clinton signed the Methane Hydrate Research and Development Act to help industry exploit the energy source. The original concept was to construct an iceberg of methane and float it to the states and process the methane here, but legal was quick to point out that no city government, let alone the Coast Guard, would allow such a potentially dangerous and lethal cargo into any US port. It wouldn’t be cost effective to build a processing plant on site, so plans were shelved.”
Cain picked up the glass with the burning ice cube in it and swirled the cubes around. Instantly the other cubes caught fire and turned the glass into a mini bonfire. “In business, I have learned never to close the door on any project completely and to always look for options and opportunities. When I saw the television program about World War II I told you about when we first met, I instantly saw the potential.