Max decided to lay low and survey the situation. Across from him was a stack of crates. He thought he could make a quick dash to them safely.
Max sprang into action and ran towards the crates. A few shots hit the ground and other crates around him as he progressed. He neared the crates and dove to safety behind them.
Max peeked out from the left side of the crates to see where the shots came from. He saw one guy in the rafters and looked around for others. A shot hit the front of the crates and he ducked back behind them.
Max checked the ammo in his newly acquired gun as he prepared to face his foe. He started to lean out to the right of the crates and take aim at the guy in the rafters when he felt lukewarm steel and surging pain across the back of his neck. He let out a deep gurgling “umpf” as he dropped to the ground and rolled onto his back. The silhouette of a man wearing an ear-to-ear grin came into his sight as he lost consciousness.
* * *
Max could hear people talking. He slowly opened his eyes. To his left he saw the body of the man he killed on his way into the warehouse. His eyes started to close again. He felt a finger tapping on his forehead and the familiar smell of garlic permeate his nose. He opened his eyes and looked up to see the ugliest mug he had ever seen, inches from his face. “So, how was your nap?” Don asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. “It probably was not as good as mine. Let me help you back to sleep!”
Don’s face moved out of Max’s view to reveal his cocked fist. Max braced for the impact of knuckles to chin. “That’s enough, Don!” A German accented voice yelled. “You shouldn’t be so rude to our guest! After all, he brought us the sack you lost.”
Don’s fist was about an inch from Max’s chin. Don pulled his fist back and gave Max a look of utter contempt. Max looked in the direction that he heard the voice come from. He saw Mr. Heinrich at the top of the altar, dressed in some very ornate robes, with the sack in his left hand. To the right of Heinrich he saw two men who had Polly restrained.
“Max, are you OK?” Polly asked with concern.
“Never been better, dollface,” Max replied as he stood up and dusted himself off. “I see you haven’t found a breath mint yet,” Max said to Don. Don scowled at Max as he moved in between Max and the stage, his gun trained on Max the whole time.
Heinrich said in a satisfied voice, “I must thank you for delivering the contents of the sack to me in one piece.”
“OK, I’ll bite: What’s in the sack?”
“It is with the utmost delight that I will reveal the sack’s contents to you,” Heinrich said as he raised the sack up and grasped it in both hands. He continued, “You see my attempts thus far at reviving my fallen friends to help with my criminal empire have been short ‘lived,’ to say the least.”
“So you have something to do with all the criminal corpses turning up all over the city?”
“Yes I do. I must apologize to the mayor for littering so much. But with this relic you have brought me…” Heinrich paused briefly as he reached into the sack and slowly pulled out its contents. “…I will become the ruler of this city and will not have to apologize for anything.”
“You’re off your rocker, Heinrich,” Max said. “How is a relic supposed to help you rule the city?”
Heinrich explained, “According to legend, the relic can revive the dead permanently. My previous attempts resulted in an eight-hour reanimation. Hardly enough time to start an undead criminal empire.”
“All right, Heinrich, you have your relic, now let Polly go,” Max said in a stern voice.
“I suppose you did fulfill your end of the bargain.”
Heinrich looked to his henchmen and nodded. They released Polly and she ran down the steps into Max’s arms. She hugged Max with all her might.
“Sorry to interrupt your reunion,” Heinrich apologized sarcastically. “Let me give you a demonstration of the relic’s power. It will be my way of saying thank you for returning it to me.”
Heinrich raised the relic above his head and began to chant. Max had never heard this language before; it was eerily beautiful. To him it sounded like a combination of French, German and Spanish.
Polly leaned into Max and whispered, “What are we going to do, boss?”
“I’ll figure something out. Heinrich must be stopped.”
Heinrich’s chants became louder and the relic began to glow pale blue. Max noticed that the body at his feet began to twitch. The corpse began to rise slowly as if it were attached to strings, like a puppet.
Max looked back to the altar and noticed that Heinrich’s henchmen paid more attention to the body being reanimated than to him. He glanced at Don and noticed that he was also focused on the body.
Max got an idea. He slowly bent down and gently lifted his pant leg. He reached into it and released his derringer from its holster.
Max slowly stood back up and took aim at the Heinrich. A shot rang out and silence fell across the warehouse. The body that had started to rise up fell to the ground with a loud thud.
Max looked at his derringer and realized that he hadn’t fired a shot. He looked down to see blood streaming from his chest.
Polly screamed as Max fell to the ground. He looked up and saw Polly leaning over him crying. He noticed Don behind her smiling with a still-smoking gun clenched in his hand. Then all went black as Polly’s crying first became unbearably louder and then faded away.
* * *
Polly hugged Max’s body as she sobbed uncontrollably.
“Well that was quite a shame. No need to cry, my dear,” Heinrich said in a confident, reassuring voice. “Bringing Max back from the dead wasn’t part of the plan. But he will still get to see and feel the relic’s power. Stand back while the relic works its magic.”
Polly clung to Max’s body as Heinrich chanted. Suddenly she felt Max move. She released her hold a bit and slowly leaned back. His body began to twitch. She stood up and wiped the tears from her eyes. Max’s body began to rise as Heinrich’s chanting became louder. She couldn’t believe what she saw. Max stood in front of her with his eyes closed.
Max could hear Heinrich chanting, but it sounded as though the chanting was inside his head. He thought the whole incident must have been a dream. He tried to open his eyes, but for some reason he couldn’t.
“I command you to open your eyes, Max!”
Suddenly Max’s eyes flew open like a stuck door that finally gave way. He looked around the room and it appeared as he remembered. He stopped when he got to Polly. Tears began to stream down her face as she smiled with hesitation. Max asked, “What-- What happened?“
“Unfortunately, your act of stupidity ended up getting you killed. You were brought back from the dead by the relic. Now you are the first servant in my legion of undead!” Heinrich exclaimed in an overwhelmingly excited tone.
“I’ll never serve a madman like you,” Max replied sternly.
Max noticed he still had the derringer clenched in his hand. He raised it quickly and aimed at Heinrich. A puzzled look came across his face as he attempted to pull the trigger but couldn’t. It was as if his hand had a mind of its own.
Polly yelled, “Quick, shoot him, Max.”
Max strained as he responded, “I-- I…can’t.”
“Oh Max, where is the gratitude for bringing you back from the dead?” Heinrich sighed. “Whoever controls the relic controls anyone reanimated by it. You are now my minion, Max, and you cannot resist me! I am your master! Hmmmm…What should we have Max do first Don?”
“How about shoot Polly to show his loyalty to you Mr. Heinrich?” Don answered with a devilish inflection in his voice.
“That seems a bit harsh Don,” Heinrich replied. “But I did ask you what you’d like him to do. Max, please do as Don asks and shoot Polly”
Max’s arm moved towards Polly. Try as he might, he could not control it.
As the gun inched closer in Polly’s direction she trembled as she said, “Fight it, Max! You can do it!” Her tears of j
oy turned into tears of fear.
“Make haste, Max. I have luncheon to attend with the mayor,” Heinrich said nonchalantly as he checked his watch. “Of course, he doesn’t know I’m coming.”
Beads of sweat formed on Max’s forehead and slowly rolled down his face as he strained to regain control. “Polly…I’m sorry!” he said with a disheartened voice.
Polly closed her eyes. She heard the gun go off but felt no pain. She heard Heinrich scream, “What have you done?”
Polly opened her eyes. Max had the gun pointed at Heinrich. She looked at Heinrich; he was holding a piece of the relic, which now glowed blood red. The red glow seemed to be growing brighter and pulsating as it encompassed Heinrich and his henchmen.
Polly grabbed Max’s hand and pulled him towards the exit. The hallway became illuminated by the red glow as they entered it. Heinrich let out a bloodcurdling scream. Max and Polly dove behind some crates as the glow got intensely bright. Suddenly the light from the relic faded and they were surrounded by darkness and silence.
Epilogue: They Call Him T-Bone
Polly and Max stood up. Polly hugged Max. They embraced in silence for a few minutes. In the distance they could hear sirens drawing nearer. Max stroked Polly’s hair, moved back, took her hand and they walked into the warehouse. There was a strong smell of burnt popcorn and everything around the altar smoldered.
Polly asked, “Do you think they made it out?”
Max paused as he took in the whole scene then answered, “Judging by the piles of ashes where they once stood, I doubt it. Looks like the legend of the relic ends in a blaze of glory.”
Polly looked at the wound in Max’s chest with concern. She asked, “Are you OK?”
Max took a moment to take in Polly’s question. He looked at the wound in his chest. It looked bad but didn’t hurt at all. He knew he was dead, but his body seemed to be acting as if nothing had ever happened.
“Surprisingly, I feel quite well for being dead,” he responded with a puzzled tone.
“What should we do now? Do you want me to take you to Doc Johnson to see what he can do?”
“Actually, right now I’m extremely hungry. What do you say we go to the diner for a nice T-bone steak and figure out what to do from there? I always think better on a full stomach.”
Polly kissed Max on the cheek and said, “That’s my Max, always thinking with his tummy.”
The warehouse door burst open as the police flooded in. Max buttoned up his jacket to cover his wound as Captain Gordon approached.
“What happened here?” Captain Gordon asked as he looked around the warehouse.
“You know, Gordon, I’m kind of hungry. How about we discuss this over dinner?”
Max put his arm around Polly and walked down the hallway and out of the warehouse. Gordon stood there with a confused look on his face. He turned and hurriedly tried to catch up to Max and Polly.
The End
Max Helms: Curse of the Relic By Walter C. Hammett
Prologue: The Streets of San Francisco – 1930s Edition
Chapter 1: All Aboard African Airlines
Chapter 2: Home Sweet Home by the Bay
Chapter 3: Max Helms Private Investigator
Chapter 4: The Chase Is On
Chapter 5: Joey’s Apartment…What a Mess
Chapter 6: Back at the Office…
Chapter 7: Down on the Docks
Epilogue: They Call Him T-Bone
Max Helms: Curse of the Relic (Max Helms - Private Investigator Book 1) Page 3