by Fred Holmes
“When’s it due?”
“I think it’s less than a year.”
Carleton groaned. “There goes the company, our stables, your wife, everything. Everything. If he gets back, he’ll have us in jail in fifteen minutes.”
“We’ll have to make sure he doesn’t get back,” said Ralph. “But how can we stop them? She just has to give him the capsule. He swallows it, and it breaks his mutated formula, and twenty seconds later he’s back here in her skinny arms.”
“I’ve got the answer,” said Carleton. “You know the programming and your teeth are modified. So, you go back and take care of Rummy, come back here, take care of Lida, and everything is back to normal. You got this started, so you can end it.”
“What … what do you want me to do, kill them?”
“You were ready to kill me when I was trying to save Stonewall, weren’t you? And that was over a measly fifty thousand.”
“Sixty thousand, and I could never kill you.”
“You couldn’t? The mini ball came within two inches of taking my head off, and if the road hadn’t given way, you would have made a kebab out of me with that bayonet. Don’t tell me you can’t do it.” Carleton paused for a few seconds, “That’s dumb; we don’t need to kill him, There’s an easier way.”
“What way? How?”
“Ralph, all you have to do is relocate him. You program a capsule to send him to, say, England. We have viable DNA from several eras. We just bought some from the corpse of King Richard the Third, wasn’t it? You slip him the doctored capsule and twenty seconds later Rummy is drinking mead and chasing wenches. That would work, don’t you think?”
“Carleton, you’re brilliant! I’ll get right to work on it. Brilliant!”
Chapter 17
CARLETON VENABLE, VII was seventh to head the Venable family, settlers in northern Virginia from before the Revolutionary War. All firstborn males of the family were named Carleton and over the years were enlisted in the military. They attended The Virginia Military Institute and served in the U.S. Army. Except for Carleton Venable II, who served as an officer in the army of The Confederate States of America.
After the Civil War, the plantation would have failed but for the dynamic personality of Kara Queen Venable, and her name graced the plantation. “The Queen” experienced hard times, as did most Southern plantations. The land was sold off piecemeal to keep the place operating until the original twelve-hundred-acre plantation shrunk to a five-hundred acre farm. Cotton gave way to tobacco, and moral pressure caused the farm to switch to chickens.
The Queen limped along until the 21st century, when Carleton was induced by Rumfeld Dixon and one million dollars to travel back in time using a method discovered by Rummy’s company, Dyna-Tyme Genetics. Rummy convinced Carleton that his mission was vital to save countless lives and send the country in the proper direction, politically and economically.
The changes didn’t turn out as planned and after Carleton saved the day, Rummy was sent back in time and kept there by a special program in the Remote Temporal Synchronous Link system. All was well until Lida Mitushi decided to bring him back to serve her selfish aims.
Carleton was not about to risk his successful stables and Venable Farms, or bankrupt his son Carleton VII and his wife Katie, who was several months along expecting another Venable. No, Carleton had too much to lose. He decided to lean on Ralph, but was prepared to go back and stop Lida and Rummy himself. His teeth were still hollowed and prepared to transport capsules. Dr. Mark Jamison, in charge of RTSL for medical applications, had gained access to all the RTSL programs and data. He could copy the instructions and replicate any capsules already made. Convinced that RTSL could change medicine dramatically, he was concerned for the security of the system, which led him to develop a close friendship with Carleton. Together, they planned to tighten up internal security. Their next step was to check out Mike Beasley, figuring that, if he had the correct motives, with his experience in security they could wrap the system up tight, inside and out.
Beasley had done a good job defending the system from external invasion, but it required additional security on the inside. For now, Carleton was going to watch Ralph and make sure he followed the plan to keep Rummy away from Dyna-Tyme.
* * * * *
Crawford put the oars in the oarlocks and guided the skiff into the mainstream. He let the oars rest on the gunwales as the current pulled them away from the two figures rapidly receding from view.
“Did you hit them, James?” Rummy asked.
“I think I hit the girl. He pulled her out of the water, but the last I could see she wasn’t moving. I mighta killed her. I didn’t mean to … I just wanted to scare them away.”
“I don’t rightly know why they’re after us,” Traweek said. “But if they’re Union, they’re probably trying to capture us. Say, where’s the shotgun?”
“Could be bounty hunters. And I dropped the shotgun in the river. We were out of shells.”
“I dunno. I don’t think Feds would have a bounty up that fast. We’ve only been out of Elmira, what? Maybe three days, now. That’d be pretty fast, and who would they decide to go after? We got at least four other pairs of prisoners all going in different directions. And then, there’s the girl. She ain’t no bounty hunter. What do you think, James?”
“I think they’re after Rummy. Back there in the water, they were definitely after him. Come clean Rummy. What do you say about that?”
Rummy knew he wasn’t going to get away with stories about spells and magic. He had to give them something solid they could believe in, something appropriate to 1864.
“Well, I guess you got me there,” said Rummy. “I never fought with the Stonewall Brigade. I was working as a courier, or smuggler if you wish, for Southern Express. Not many knew it, but Southern was owned, partly at least, by Adams Express Company. Adams accused me of embezzling fifty thousand dollars, which I didn’t. But I had smuggled some cash through the Yankee lines to deliver to Southern. That’s when I got caught by those Pinkerton detectives. They stuck me in Elmira until they could make arrangements to get me in court. They probably had their hands full and figured I wasn’t going anyplace. They must have decided they could leave me in that hell hole until they could find time to take me back North.
“Then, when I escaped, Adams Express again put the Pinkertons on me.”
“Yeah, but that don’t explain that girl. She wasn’t no Pinkerton.”
“You don’t know that. I worked around many Pinkertons, and they were starting to hire quite a few women. Started with Kate Warne. She was successful and could go places men couldn’t, so they hired more. I expect the woman chasing us is a Pinkerton.”
Crawford asked, “Where could a woman go a man couldn’t?”
“For one, she could go on the arm of a Confederate Officer to a fancy ball, and you know how women like to talk. All she’d have to do was keep her mouth shut and her ears open. Yep, a woman can go places a man can’t. You’ve heard of the Yellow Rose of Texas? She had Santa Anna between the sheets when the Texas boys attacked. Nothing like fighting with your pants around your ankles.”
Both Traweek and Rummy laughed, and Crawford said, “That lady chasing us could get all the Rebel secrets I’ve got.”
“But you ain’t got any information worth her time,” said Rummy.
“I could tell her how we escaped, Rummy.”
“That won’t do her no good. You’d have to tell her our route.”
Traweek laughed. “And we don’t know many details. Except … South … Say, you all hear that?”
They heard a loud roar. “It sounds like a big storm coming.”
They rowed around a bend and saw what proved to be the roar of water falling over a factory dam.
“We’re running the millrace to get by the dam,” Traweek called to the other two. “Hold onto your hats, here we go!”
With a whoosh, they maneuvered the skiff into the millrace and managed to make it through wit
h only the loss of an oar that they recovered downstream. The skiff continued down the Chemung River, passing a small village on their right where it joined the larger, Susquehanna River. They navigated the Susquehanna, encountering several more dams. They negotiated each one successfully. Some, they ran the millrace, if there was room, others they shot the dam. Some were too dangerous, and they had to portage. Somehow they managed to navigate all the dams and covered about seventy-five miles that day.
Tired of the river, they eventually abandoned the skiff, hiked into the mountains, and rested for the balance of the day.
* * * * *
Nina checked her watch. Nine o’clock, that gives me three hours before I’m due to meet Vinnie at the Leesburg Airport Inn. She needed to get going. She looked her desk over, making sure it was its usual mess. She logged out with Betty Sue, took the elevator to the first floor, checked out with Larry, dialed a taxi, and soon, a Cadillac whisked her away.
* * * * *
The little bug on the back of the locket had done its job. Now Mike needed to determine what they had planned for him. He pulled out in his nondescript Ford and, keeping a safe distance, tailed the Caddy across town. He found a parking space across the street from Beauty Plus. He checked out the building, found a door on the side, and took up surveillance where he could observe both doors. A couple of women exited the building, but neither of the first two was Nina. After two interminable hours, a stunning blonde stepped into the street and entered another taxi. That wasn’t Nina, either, but something about her bearing rang his hunch alarm. He had spent years studying people and reading body language. One of the physical characteristics overlooked when creating a disguise was the unique way of walking each person had. He decided to follow her.
The car pulled up to the Inn at the Leesburg Airport, and she entered the hotel. By the time he parked his car and entered the lobby, she had disappeared. He picked up a newspaper, found a seat where he could observe the elevators, and hid behind the sports section. It was a bit harder since the newspapers had reduced in size, and he sat there doing the thing he hated most: waiting. This is a good reminder of why I left the Bureau.
* * * * *
Nina knocked on the door of 413, and Vinnie opened it a crack.
“I wish I could buy what you’re selling, honey, but I got business. Maybe later.”
“Vinnie, it’s me, Nina. I’m in disguise. It wouldn’t be smart for me and you to be connected.”
“You coulda fooled me. Come on in. Drink?” Vinnie asked. Bruno lounged on the couch behind him.
“No, I don’t have much time. I have a job, you know.”
“You ever want to quit that job and move to New Jersey, I’ll take care of you. You’ll never have to work again.”
That’ll never happen, you fat grease ball, was all she could think.
“Thanks, Vinnie,” Nina said out loud. “I’ll keep that in mind. What can I do for you?”
“It’s this guy Beasley; he’s meddling in our business. We got people anxious to get this system and pay big bucks. We got an investment, you know, and you’re in on this as well. We need to neutralize him, and we need to get our gal, Lida, back on track. She’s getting big ideas. She just needs to get us the system. Tony, our boss, he’s not so patient.”
“So, what do you want me to do? I can’t set up a meeting. That’d ruin my cover. Unless …” she thought out loud.“Unless I did it as Grace or Delilah. That might work.”
“Wadda ya talking about?”
“I’ve got an idea. How long are you in town? It’ll take me a few days to set a meeting up. Probably this weekend.”
“What do you think, Bruno? Want to stick around here for a few days?”
“Yeah boss,” said Bruno. “I always wanted to see these Civil War battlefields. I’m a buff.”
“I didn’t know that. Okay, Nina. I guess we can hang around for a while.”
“From now on,” said Nina, “when I’m incognito—
“What?”
“In disguise. Call me Delilah. I’ll be in touch after I get things set up, okay?”
“Sounds good, Dellia,”
“Delilah—oh, never mind.”
* * * * *
The blonde who walked like Nina exited the elevator into the lobby, passing Mike with his nose buried in a newspaper he had read twice, so far. He started to get up and follow her, but he figured she was going to reverse her tracks, so he decided to wait and see if the boys from Jersey would come down. Sure enough, in about ten minutes two big fellows exited the elevator and walked to the front desk. Mike heard them asking the front desk clerk where the action was, and there was no mistaking the accent. They were from Joisey.
Mike looked at his watch and thought of a few shortcuts. He jumped in his car, and by re-routing, arrived at Beauty Plus in time to return to his post just before the blonde showed up. She rang the bell and entered through the back door. Thirty minutes later, the plain Nina Rains exited out the front and boarded another car. He chuckled to himself.
She changed everything except for her walk. Some things are hard to disguise.
He went back to work and, when he passed her desk, she was busy talking on the phone. He returned to his office, pulled out his yellow pad, and under the heading “Opportunity,” he put another check mark. But he still had two M’s with question marks.
* * * * *
Vinnie was bored. They had been in town three days and were losing on both fronts, women and gambling. There was nothing to do except watch TV and play Gin Rummy, and Bruno was a terrible player and was down fifty bucks already. Finally, Vinnie called Tony.
“Tony, it’s me. Things are pretty slow, waiting until this chick sets things up. I was wondering if we have any collections that we can make while we’re killing time. Or if you got somebody that needs killing? We got the time, haw, haw, haw.”
Vinnie listened for a minute.
“Sorry boss. Yes, I know you take business seriously. OKAY, boss. I’ll be serious. Yeah, I remember that Bailey. In the insurance business, right. He owes us twenty-five large, hey? Sure we’ll give him a call and set up a meet. See what we can do. I’ll have to be careful and not get the clients mixed up. You know. Bailey and Beasley. Might muscle the wrong one. Haw, haw. Okay, okay, boss. I know you’re serious. Yessir, I’ll keep you posted.”
Vinnie hung up the phone and shrugged. “No sense of humor.”
Chapter 18
ARTIE SMALL and his brother arrived at Legacy Woods. Lida met them at the door.
“Artie, I’m glad you could make it. Is this the Doctor? There’s a close family resemblance.”
“This is Charlie, my younger brother … and yes, to both. He’s the family white sheep, so to speak. You know, thriving family practice and a pillar of the community. That said, he’s willing to help me when I run into something a little shady. For example, even though this gunshot wound was an accident, according to Lisa, you should report it to the police. Charlie will take a look at it, and if it doesn’t require hospitalization, he won’t turn it in. If she gets a bad infection, we’ll have no choice but to report it. Fair enough?”
“Okay with you, Bunny?”
“I don’t have much choice. Go ahead, Doctor; we’re wasting time.”
Charlie removed the cloth and after swabbing the wound with a disinfectant, he started examining the multiple holes left by the lead pellets.
“Interesting, very interesting. You said it was a buckshot wound on the phone. I’ve seen a lot of those, and this one, in particular, is very unusual.”
“How’s that?” Bunny asked.
“Well, for starters, the holes are inconsistent in size and bit more jagged than usual … more like what one would expect from really old, hand poured lead shot. Factory shot would be perfectly round and the edges of the wounds less jagged.” He paused. “But that’s not the most interesting part.”
“It’s not?” this time Lida chimed in.
“No,” Charlie continued
. “The most interesting part is that there are no exit wounds, and the shot isn’t in there, either.
Lida and Bunny’s eyes met, as Lida calmly responded, “That is interesting. Not sure how that could have happened.”
The Doctor paused and looked briefly at each woman, in turn, with skepticism. “Well, I don’t get paid to asked questions, so let me just patch you up and I’ll be on my way.”
“There. That’s the last one that needs stitches. Seems it was only six double-ought buckshot. Sometimes the shell contains eight to ten pellets. Now we wait a few days, and if there are no complications, Bunny will be back to nibbling carrots.” Charlie packed up his bag. “Change the dressing and watch the wound for infection.”
“Is she liable to get lead poisoning?” Dee asked.
“No, you contract lead poisoning after long term exposure to the heavy metal. Painters, metal workers, miners, and school children. Exposure to paint, dust, and materials containing lead over long periods is a good way to develop lead poisoning. Then the treatment is nasty and requires chelation therapy. Specialists inject a binding agent into the blood and the lead binds to the agent, which removes the lead from the blood. Takes several treatments. In this case, strangely, there is no lead. Her greatest danger, now, is a normal infection caused by dirt and bacteria. I left her ten days of antibiotics. Give them all to her and keep the wound clean.”
“How much do we owe you?” Lida asked.
“Five hundred dollars.”
She gulped. “Well …”
“It’s one hundred for the doctoring and four hundred for my silence.”
Lida dug in her purse and produced five one-hundred-dollar bills.
“Thanks for your help, Doc.”
“No problem,” he said, and the Small brothers left.
“I guess that’s the end of our time traveling escapades,” Dee said. “Bunny won’t be ready for at least ten days. I suspect it would be impossible to keep a dressing on the wound during time travel, huh Lida?”