You're Clear

by JL LeGerrette

  He traced the air with his hand to form the number two. “If this was so, then there must be a number one. And together this would open... what? Made from a rock, a shape that looks like it is one half of another rock. You have no idea how this puzzled me and how much sleep I have lost for many years. Oh, the secrets that my dad took to the grave with him when he, well, so unexpectedly... passed.” He paused to let that sink in as he sneered. “Passed, and so untimely,” he added, a fake frown adorning his chin.

  “You killed your own dad?” Jahnni whispered with more sadness than fear.

  “Let’s just say he had a drowning accident on the Deschutes River,” Perry corrected, “while collecting water samples.” He added, “how else was I going to get access to his Will and safety deposit boxes?”

  Jahnni was beginning to feel fear creeping up and clinging to her back. The hair on her arms stood up and she felt chills go up her neck, into her hair. She shook it off with a shiver. “All this for water?” she asked incredulously.

  “No,” Perry answered. “All this for what’s owed me! For all the years my dad spent developing a water purification system with good ol’ Uncle Zale... I hated calling him that!” Perry raised his voice in anger and slammed his hand on his desk. “He wasn’t my uncle! But he may well have been with the amount of time they spent together. It was always Uncle Zale this and Uncle Zale that—he was always working with Uncle Zale. My dad couldn’t make a single one of my ball games! Didn’t have time to take me to the father/son boy-scout campouts. Never came to my piano recitals.” He was now pacing and sweating. His jaw moved back and forth like he was grinding his teeth. “I WAS ROBBED OF MY CHILDHOOD BY THIS, THIS, WATER!” He then coughed and gathered himself together, realizing that Jahnni was staring at him in his moment of lost control, and Mr. Tropopoulis was looking at him with sad eyes. He continued, “And now... I believe, I deserve to... own it. At least until I sell it for more money than you can even possibly imagine in your little brains.”

  Jahnni didn’t know what to say. This seemed so bizarre to her. Sharing long held plans about what he would do about everything in the future was risky. Jahnni knew that she now knew too much, especially about Mr. Prattle’s father’s death. Mr. Tropopoulis knew even more. She asked Perry, “So, what now, I mean right... now?”

  “I have waited a long time for this very day,” Perry mumbled with a monotone voice. Then, he stared at Mr. Tropopoulis, “This very unfolding of such grand exposure. I knew he would come for the vault eventually. I put the pieces together and I know the vault is below... somewhere. When I finally figured out what the rock was for, I knew there must be another one, and once I have them together, I could open the vault. He needs me just as much as I need him now. If Arnie doesn’t have it, then obviously, Zale does.”

  Silence settled in the room. Craigs and Benson didn’t even seem to flinch. He must have included them in his plans, Jahnni thought. But, Jahnni bet that soon Perry would make sure that they would have an ‘accident’. He didn’t appear to be the type to share.

  Chapter 16

  Never Underestimate the Old Guy

  Very calmly, Mr. Tropopoulis asked, “May I use the facilities please?”

  “No!” Perry snapped.

  “I am old Perry, and have need to relieve myself immediately. Please sir.”

  Perry nodded at the portly Craigs. “Go with him. Two minutes!”

  “What are you going to tell the news crews, and FBI? What about TSA and Homeland Security? They are down there waiting.” But what Jahnni really wanted to ask was when he planned to get rid of her and Mr. Tropopoulis, and how he planned to do it. Maybe we could escape, she realized, but the thought seemed unlikely as her eyes landed on Craigs and Benson. Maybe Beau would figure out something and rescue us. Ya... maybe that’s what is going on right now. Beau is probably figuring this all out and is going to help us somehow, but I’m not waiting on anyone. We’ll have to find a way to get away from this deranged maniac on our own.

  “Well, funny you should ask, doll. I have security data showing you, yes you and Arnie, accessing bypass doors. And it appears that you have three other accomplices. Why Benson and Craigs didn’t find them is just a trivial matter. I have all the proof I need. Sounds like you are in big trouble, missy! Your other friends I saw on camera earlier; well as soon as we catch them too... gee... I’m sorry to say that you won’t live long enough to make a conflicting statement,” Perry calmly shared.

  “You’re going to KILL US?” Jahnni said breathlessly, leaving her mouth open and her eyes wide with fright. Her knees felt rubbery, barely able to keep her standing. Her mind was a screen of flashes, pictures from yesterday, last year, her youth. It’s not time! I... I... don’t know how to be nothing. I didn’t do anything to deserve this! And I can’t marry Beau if I’m dead! What is wrong with this guy? He’s ruining everything! She looked at Perry’s mouth as more words spilled out.

  “Eventually,” Perry said, taunting her with the unknown time frame. “But for now...” he stopped to watch Mr. Tropopoulis and Craigs come back into the room, “I have a statement to make to the press and I have an official meeting to ascertain how to capture those other two terrorists that are roaming the airport to make things difficult for me. You see, being the Port Manager, if I call them terrorists, that is all I’ll have to say. The word alone will make them want to shoot first and ask questions later when they corner them.”

  Perry stared back and forth between Mr. Tropopoulis and Jahnni. His eyes seemed to dart around like his brain was on overdrive. “It was quite fortuitous of me to think to tell the Port Police earlier today that I received a call threatening our precious fountain. Did you hear my fake gunshots and shattering glass sounds I played over the intercom in the C concourse after the EVAC message played? That was my beautiful theatrics to get the concourse cleared if anyone was still milling around.” He laughed out loud a little too long, as if he was the best comedian anyone had ever heard. After glancing at himself in the mirror and adjusting the top of his hair and sweeping the sides back with his palms, he added, “That should keep anyone else away from my favorite bypass door at the end of the concourse. If I need it later. And, once I gather up your other three friends that have been frolicking through the airport bypass doors with you...” Perry paused to glare at Craigs and Benson and asked, “So tell me why you didn’t find the other three and bring them too?”

  But Craigs and Benson both shrugged and looked at each other, not understanding who he was talking about. Craigs answered him after extending a palm up and motioning to Jahnni and Mr. Tropopoulis, “We thought we happened upon this employee and her grandpa while we were looking for ‘Johnny.’ We didn’t see anyone else.”

  “What? Don’t you get it? This. Is. Jahnni!” Perry growled while opening his hand and extending his arm like he was introducing them. “You still didn’t figure it out when I spoke to Arnie here?”

  Jahnni interrupted the ongoing side-conversation Perry was having with Benson and Craigs to protest, “Wait. One is just a kid! He, in fact all of us, are innocent! We haven’t done anything to deserve to be treated like this! We are simply trying to get out of here! You have to at least leave the kid alone. He is just a U.M!”

  “Not likely. We can’t be responsible if your airline lost a kid in the confusion, and someone else, someone unscrupulous probably, found him with all the other passengers being shuttled away from the airport,” he said, taunting her with fake concern and laughing at his own wit. “Such bad publicity for First Class Air... again. And you being a terrorist and all, trying to plant a bomb in the fountain. I mean, what a great asset you have become to me. I couldn’t have planned it any better. While the Port is guarding the fountain upstairs, we will be opening up the wall and finally gaining access to the previous system down below. I know it’s there. I know it.”

  By this point, he was sitting down in his chair, leaning back and watching them for a reaction. “See here!” he added, “While you were galliv
anting around the airport, I already started working on your suicide confession they will find in your pocket when they find your body. Your conscience will get the best of you and you won’t know of any way to make amends so you’ll... you know... check out. In fact, as soon as I realized that you had devious plans, I...” at this he made some key strokes and deactivated her access to any part of any secure area in the airport. “I will inform the authorities that I was able to track you by your badge. I’ll let them know how I cornered you by allowing your badge to stay activated temporarily. Craigs here will be more than happy to do the job. And now, I will also deactivate our other little friends in white, now that I figured out who they are. I can’t believe I didn’t figure this out sooner; working here in my airport, under my nose as baggage handlers,” he mumbled. “Oh, and your friend Samantha. I recognized her from the PDX Customer Service team meetings too. I am deactivating her also. If they’re still down there, they’re stuck until we find and eliminate them as well. You have really made my plans difficult, but at the same time, oddly improved.”

  “Wait, why would I commit suicide? That doesn’t make sense,” Jahnni asked, puzzled with his ramblings. “Why would I call in a bomb threat?”

  “I don’t know! You are the one who did it, and is going to have regrets. Who knows what the mental ramblings of a lunatic mean. Let them figure that out,” Perry snapped back. “You’re probably upset about something. I’ll just blame everything on you.”

  “Whatever. Anyone who knows me knows that I would never do something so stupid. You aren’t going to get away with any of this. Besides, if you can see us on the cameras then the Port can see us as well. So, they are probably looking for us already,” Jahnni said hopefully, to call his bluff.

  “Nope! Everything was shut down... for them... during that time. I am the only one who had access. Even the doors are deactivated for everyone else. For everyone... except me and the few doors that I have released,” he said, his pride in himself beaming like a child. “That’s the only reason your badge worked anywhere. I still control a specific portion of the security doors.”

  Any hope Jahnni had suddenly began seeping away. Her mind was numb with the thought that maybe no one else even knew she, Sam and the others were missing. The more she let go of hope, the worse she felt. She asked if she could sit. The rubbery knees were back and her heart was pounding, sending the beat whooshing in her ears. She realized Beau must be right. The masked gunmen, or rather gun people, were really the good guys. The Port Police, or rather these security guys, Craigs and Benson, were the bad guys. This all must have played out sooner than they expected and these new guys hadn’t gotten back their SIDA and Customs clearance for their badges yet. Or maybe they are just security and not hired at the Port? That must be why he was remotely scanning them in each door. I wonder how he finagled private security guards for himself... and what reason did he give to have it okayed? she asked herself. Somehow, we need to get to Beau, Samantha and Crutch. Then maybe we can go to whomever... the Police, TSA, and FBI, whoever will listen and protect us while we try to tell our story. Hopefully, they went ahead and crawled up the bag belt to get help. She lifted her head and stared straight ahead.

  “Craigs, Benson,” Perry ordered.

  “Ya boss,” they said in unison.

  “Benson, you come with me. Craigs, keep an eye on them until I get back from my meeting. Then I’ll decide when to... just keep them here until I get back.”

  Perry shrugged his jacket on and tightened his tie in the mirror. Benson stood at attention. Craigs stared at Jahnni and Mr. Tropopoulis like he wanted to be the one to deliver the fatal blow. She was marked as already “guilty” but she knew the truth. She wasn’t going to give Craigs the benefit of thinking she was afraid him, even though she was. Her eyes met his and she told herself, hide all emotion on my face, but look at him blankly, holding his gaze until he turns away. I refuse to cry. I’m stronger than this. Mr. Tropopoulis needs me.

  Jahnni slowly reached over to Mr. Tropopoulis and held his hand. She watched as Perry grabbed a pile of papers off the printer, then he reached for the door. Perry and Benson walked out the door without looking back.

  Mr. Tropopoulis sat upright and appeared calm. He looked all around the room slowly, like he was admiring the décor. He smiled at Jahnni and winked before turning his head to speak to Craigs. “May I choose a book off the shelf to read? To pass the time until Mr. Perry Prattle return?”

  Craigs snarled, then slowly walked toward them. He nodded and walked with Mr. Tropopoulis to the bookshelf, keeping Jahnni in his sights and himself between the door and them both. He waved his hand to indicate to go ahead.

  “Janie, would you like a book also?” Mr. Tropopoulis asked innocently. “There are so many to choose from. Even classics. See?” He pointed directly to a spot on the shelf.

  “Huh?” she said as she looked up. “No, no thank you. I couldn’t make sense of the words at a time like this.”

  “Sure, you do Janie... Choose book from these right here,” he pleaded politely as he pointed again at the same spot. “I choose one that is good for... the noggin’,” Mr. Tropopoulis said as he smiled and tapped his head. “Unless, uh, you are... still having tummy ache?”

  “No really, I’m... okay, maybe I will.” She had changed her mind when she looked at the area on the bookshelf that Mr. Tropopoulis was pointing to. “Maybe it will help take my mind off... my stomach ache too.”

  All three stood at the bookshelf. Jahnni and Mr. Tropopoulis perused the many books like they just couldn’t decide which one to choose. She held her arm across her belly, making a light, painful moaning sound every few seconds, wincing enough for Craigs to see it.

  “Janie, I just cannot decide! I believe I will choose... two... right now,” Mr. Tropopoulis said as he smiled.

  Suddenly Jahnni doubled over and started making slight gagging noises and seemed to be holding back from hurling all over Craigs’ shoes. She covered her mouth as if that would hold it all in. Craigs looked down at his new shiny shoes and grimaced. While his head was down, looking between Jahnni’s gagging and lurching, and his shiny shoes, Mr. Tropopoulis grabbed the rock. The rock. Number II. The bookend that was holding up a row of classic literature. Then with a swift swipe, he reached up and whacked Craigs on the back of the head. He fell forward and crashed into Jahnni just as she was raising back up. She tried to hold him up with her arms, but she couldn’t, and she fell to the ground with him. He was now on top of her as she struggled to get out from under his large menacing frame. She scooted her lower body out from under him but every time she tried to raise herself up, her head was yanked backwards. She stopped struggling to reassess how to get free of Craigs and realized her hair was simply caught on his watch. She finally just grasped the lock of hair and yanked it free, breaking it off mid-shaft. She raised up, checked the back of his head and noted that he wasn’t bleeding too much. Still, she checked his pulse. She wanted to escape, but she didn’t want to add manslaughter to her activities today.

  She looked at Mr. Tropopoulis and asked breathlessly, “How did you get up the nerve to do that?”

  “Oh... Well... I needed to rescue you. So, I did.” He stepped over the big lump on the floor.

  Jahnni lurched behind the desk and saw that the security program that controlled the employee badges was up and running. She saw that her name as well as Samantha’s had been moved over to the “EXCEPTION-FULL BLOCK” side of the page. Great airport security, leaving the program open you idiot, she thought. She clicked on her name and moved it to “FULL ACCESS.” She didn’t know what category she was in before, as there were several categories depending on where people worked and what their title was. But full access was fine with her right about now. Next, she moved Samantha’s name over to the full access side. While she was at it, she saw the two foreign names that she couldn’t pronounce, but recognized on the flight manifest, and moved their names back to full access as well. These must be the two in tho
se weird white hazmat- looking suits. I hope Beau is right cuz I just gave them permission to chase us if he isn’t. Or do something horrible if they are up to no good. She then clicked SAVE, and exited the program. In the flurry of the mayhem, she realized that the security badge program wasn’t supposed to be run out of Perry’s computer.

  He must have created some type of access because the Port Badging Office controls the authorization of badges, she thought. I have no idea what is going on here, but at least I can slow him down for a while.

  She reached to begin the process to completely shut down the computer but on a whim, right clicked the program’s shortcut that was on Perry’s desktop on his computer screen and deleted it, sending it to the recycling bin. Then she held the start button down until the computer just shut down completely. She glanced around trying to figure out how else to slow him down when he returned, then she just pulled the plug out of the wall. Not feeling satisfied, she yanked the plug out of the back of the computer and shoved it into the large potted plant over by the book shelf, practically shoving it into the dirt. “Happy hunting,” she said under her breath. Then looking at the computer tower, she thought, I should have thrown his name into the NO ACCESS side. Damn! There’s no time now.

  “Janie... hurry! We must get away!” Mr. Tropopoulis begged.

  They both crept to the door to try to hear what is on the other side. Although she wasn’t sure who may be there, besides the one security guard monitoring the screens, she decided to slowly open the door and check. Again, it is only the one deeply concentrating security guard staring at the monitors and busying himself with computer clicks. She brushed back her hair with her hands, smoothed her clothes and arranged her badge. They walked out the door quietly, but with their heads up as if they are supposed to be leaving. He didn’t look up.