3rd World Products, Book 16

by Ed Howdershelt

  “You’re paraphrasing a bit, but it’s close enough.”

  “Good. I’m going to have another drink. Want one?”

  I glanced at my glass. It was down to a small splash in the bottom. “Sure. This one seems to have disappeared.”

  Tanya took my glass and headed for the kitchen.

  Chapter Ten

  I glanced at the deer again. It heard something and practically flew over the board fence. When I turned around, I saw Tanya unbuttoning her blouse by the sink.

  She glanced at me and said, “Spilled something on it.”

  As she put her blouse in the sink and ran water on it, I walked over to the sink and offered to finish making the drinks. She protested.

  “No, just give me a minute. I’ll let this soak a while.”

  She was being very matter-of-fact, which had to be an act given her behavior the rest of the day. Unless, of course, that had been an act and this wasn’t. I shrugged mentally and noted she filled her bra without overflowing. Very nice. Shoulders were very nice, too. And arms. And throat. In fact, everything I could see was very nice.

  But I’ve learned caution. A woman who feels comfortable enough with a man can sometimes overstep and not realize it, especially after a strange, tiring day and a dose of booze. And I couldn’t figure out why she’d have suddenly become so comfortable with me out by the car.

  This time she added a dash of lime juice to each drink before she handed me one and mock-toasted. I dutifully clinked my glass to hers with a smile. Tanya sipped hers as I sipped mine, then canted her head and grinned at me.

  “You want to know if I’m for real, don’t you?”

  I nodded. “Yup. You weren’t like this before we came back from dinner. Now you’re all cheery and taking off clothes. What happened?”

  “You did. You asked, ‘What will I win or lose?’ and I realized right then that it didn’t really matter a good goddamn to you what I thought about anything. You’re here for my mom. And you don’t really need me to help you, do you?”

  Sipping again, she said, “And then I realized something else. You didn’t waste any nostalgizing over the pictures you found. They were just pictures of people in places to you. Except for that one Leipzig story, you didn’t bend my ear about mom or what things were like when you worked together. And when you saw my dad’s picture, he was just another guy. Not an old friend or an old enemy. Not the guy who stole your girl or anything like that. So mom isn’t an old flame. Right?”

  I nodded. “So far, yes.”

  Taking a breath, Tanya hoisted her glass to me and said, “Well, anyway, here’s to you, guy. I haven’t figured out why the hell you really want to help me — or my mom — but here you are, and I’ll damned well accept.”

  Watching Tanya’s face until her grin became artificial and her eyes locked on mine, I said, “It’s because she was one of us, Tanya. Something horrible happened to her and I might be able to help her. That’s all there is to it.”

  After a moment, Tanya said, “You know, I expected you to say something like ‘because she’d do the same for me‘.” Pausing, she added, “But you don’t think so, do you?”

  “I probably wouldn’t count on it.”

  “Not at all, then.”

  I sighed, “Okay. Not at all. We didn’t get along well back then and we haven’t spoken since ‘73. I’ve no reason in the world to think she’d do the same for me. Or that Will or Connie would if they could. Hell, they didn’t even tell me about their investigation or her accident.”

  Sipping her drink, Tanya said, “After I knew about you, I wondered why you didn’t show up. That’s one of the reasons I was trying to be careful about contacting you.”

  Sipping again as she studied my face, she said, “And then you said what you said out by the car. I think that’s when I decided you’d sleep here tonight.”

  Laughing, she said, “Maybe I’m just plain damned stupid, Ed. I had this idea about seducing you to help. Turns out I didn’t have to, but I ended up seducing myself for you.”

  I took a drink and said, “I’ll play along if you want. You’d never know I didn’t do all the seducing.”

  She laughed and shook her head. “Nope. Too late. The whole seduction thing is all fucked up now that we both know about it. I guess we’ll just have to skip the stupid games and go straight to bed.”

  I gallantly sighed, “Well, I’ll do my best anyway, milady. Just for you, because you’ve been so nice to me and gave me some booze. It’s only fair.”

  With another laugh, she asked, “Doesn’t it bother you that I’m the daughter of an old acquaintance and co-worker?”

  Pretending to give that thought, I said, “Nope. We weren’t that close and you look edible. Besides, you aren’t some eighteen-year-old twinkie. You’re a full-grown woman who hopefully knows what it takes to ring your bells. Don’t be shy about telling me what you like.”

  Tanya was enjoying our banter. She grinned as she said, “I don’t think we’ll have a problem if you’re for real.”

  “For real? In what sense?”

  Standing straight, she gracefully raised an arm to point at me and said with great solemnity, “I fully expect you to lick me silly, just like you said. Fail at your own peril.”

  She then laughed so hard she almost fell into a chair by the table and gasped, “I saw that in some movie the other night. ‘Fail at your own peril.‘ It was so corny! I loved it!”

  Laughing with her, I said, “Yeah, it is pretty effective. Promise me one thing, Tanya.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Don’t be a guilt-ridden, hung-over basket case in the morning. We’ll have enough to do without me having to punt your ass across the field to get you going.”

  With a huge grin, she marveled, “OOOooo, a tough guy, huh?! Okay, tough guy, I promise. Good times only. No guilty hangovers. Good enough?”

  “It’ll have to do, I guess. Suddenly I can’t even envision the idea of leaving here without doing my absolute best to ruin you for all other men.”

  That cracked her up again. She tried to repeat the phrase twice before she managed to get all of ‘ruin you for all other men‘ out at once. When her laughter wound down some, she got up and pulled her blouse out of the sink. After sloshing and rinsing and wringing it, she said, “Back in a minute,” and headed for the bathroom.

  I heard her conversationally say, “Damn,” and she crossed the hall to the bedroom, recrossing the hall a moment later with a fat black plastic coat hanger and a small paper bag. The bathroom door closed and I heard water running.

  I glanced at the gin bottle. Just over half left. Survivable, between two people with full stomachs. We’d feel it in the morning, but not too badly. There was a time I’d have hit the door rather than deal with the typical aftermath of an event like this, but… Tanya seemed to need to blow off steam.

  And she looked and smelled delicious. And I really, really wanted her. No self-delusions. Simple lust, the best kind. If she dragged ass tomorrow, I’d just deal with it. No way was I going to pass her up because of a little booze. If it turned out she was a lush, I’d just make myself less available later.

  Ages ago we’d teased Marie about being the real Batgirl. She’d looked a lot like the actress from the Batman TV series, so we’d pooled fifty bucks to buy her an old blue Vespa. We then offered to have the Mainz motor pool trick it out like Batgirl’s bike on the show. Big or small ruffles? Stick with purple or maybe try gloss black?

  She’d actually been interested in the bike. After riding it around the parking lot, she’d said, “Thanks, guys,” and put it in the impoundment room.

  We didn’t have a title for it, but we had a valid receipt. Someone at a JAG office fixed that for her. She green-tagged the Vespa and had it painted bright red. I wondered what happened to it. The image of Marie on her bike somehow changed to Tanya sitting on her scooter above the tree, framed by the bright blue sky and a streak of white clouds.

  Somewhere in the midst of
my reveries I’d sat at the table. Suddenly a hand landed lightly on my shoulder and Tanya asked, “What are you thinking about?”

  I turned to see her wearing a dark blue teddy. Trim, tight, and gorgeous. I stood up as I said, “I was just thinking about how good you looked on the scooter today. Above that tree with the sky at your back.”

  She grinned. “Good. How do you like this look?”

  Eyeing her from toes to nose while she sipped her drink, I allowed, “Well, it’s definitely a helluva lot better in most ways, ma’am, but you don’t have a bright blue sky at your back to frame the picture.”

  Still grinning, she said, “I think we’re supposed to have the same weather tomorrow. You want me to wear this when we fly? Could we actually get away with that?”

  “Probably. Who’d be able to catch us?”

  Tanya laughed, “You’re right! We could fly nude if we wanted to!”

  Reaching to finger a wisp of hair out of her face and tuck it behind her ear, I let my hand trail from there down her neck and shoulders, then down the outside of her arm. Goose bumps rose in the wake of my touch and Tanya shuddered, then looked at the area.

  “How did you do that? Another field trick?”

  “Nope. Plain ol’ skin on skin. Y’know, I think you might be a little horny. That could explain a lot right now.”

  She laughed again and moved closer to sip the last of her drink and set the glass on the table. Her arms wrapped around me, her face lay on my chest, and we embraced for a time. She squeezed me lightly and her residual chuckles felt good.

  That’s when someone rang the door bell twice and something rapped solidly on the door three times. Tanya stiffened and looked up at me.

  “It’s almost eight,” she said, “Who the hell would be out there at this hour? Maybe Jessica came back?”

  “Why guess?”

  Sending a probe to the door, I found a man and a woman in dark conservative attire. She carried a briefcase. The man stood to one side of the door, the woman on the other side. Both held NIA IDs ready for flashing at whomever opened the door and both looked rather unhappy.

  Well, that was understandable. There was a bit of a breeze and the temperature had dropped fast after sundown. The woman pulled her collar up and shivered.

  I said, “A man and the woman who tailed us today. They’re NIA. Maybe they want their dead bugs back.”

  “Oh, hell.” Tanya turned and hurried to her bedroom.

  My probe found Avery Treat in his car, watching the scene through his binoculars. I sent the probe around the apartment building and found another guy strolling the green behind the board fence. Also NIA. What was worth four of them?

  The bell rang and the rapping sounded again. I went to the door, set a field wedge behind it, and opened the door about two inches.

  “Hi, there,” I said, “Skip the routine. You’re Rick Thompson, she’s Victoria Elgin, and Avery Treat’s the guy in the car watching us. The guy out back is Tony Marden.”

  That had the desired effect. It disrupted their usual intro patter and made them stare for a moment. Elgin moved forward a bit and lifted her ID into view as she leaned on the door and found it firm. Thompson likewise showed his ID.

  Elgin said, “We know who you are, too. We’d like to discuss a few things. May we come in?”

  “It isn’t my apartment. Give her a minute, she’s changing.”

  “Surely she wouldn’t mind…”

  Borrowing another cop’s words, I said, “She isn’t here to tell me that. What’s up?”

  Giving me a narrow look, Elgin said, “We’d prefer not to discuss matters out here in the open.”

  “I’d prefer not to discuss matters at all, ma’am. Tell you what, hang on one while I call Milton Larcon. Maybe he’ll let you all go home.”

  Thompson smiled as if he held a trump card and stated, “I’m afraid Mr. Larcon is no longer with us.”

  I used my core to check. Larcon had been promoted sideways into the NSA. A woman named Ann Fullbright now flew his desk.

  Shrugging, I said, “That prob’ly means Ann Fullbright got his job. No problem. She’ll know what to do.”

  Thompson glanced at Elgin, who said, “Okay. Sure, call her if you feel the need. She sent us.”

  Something about the NIA; unlike regular cops and the FBI, they didn’t respectfully ‘sir’ and ‘ma’am’ people much. In one sense, it seemed to display their true character. In another sense, it dispensed with the phony politeness.

  Footsteps sounded behind me. Tanya appeared wearing jeans and a long-sleeved blouse and asked, “Ed, why are they still standing out there?”

  As she stopped beside me, I said, “Because it’s your apartment, not mine.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Oh, for God’s sake, let them in. I can feel the cold coming in on my feet.”

  As they entered the apartment, the agents showed their IDs to Tanya. Elgin gave me a frumpy look as she passed me.

  Thompson said, “Thank you, ma’am. It was getting a little chilly out there.”

  Elgin said, “Miss Connor, we’d like to discuss a few things like your reasons for contacting Mr. Howdershelt.”

  I said, “First we’d like to know why you’re curious.”

  Looking directly at me, Elgin said, “We were told to come here and ask certain questions. We weren’t told why.”

  “In that case, we were hunting for golden calliopes in the deep, dark woods, ma’am.”

  Betraying no hint of irritation, Elgin shot back, “How many did you find?”

  “Not a one. Looks like we’ll have to build our own.”

  “I see.” Turning to Tanya, she hoisted her briefcase slightly and noddingly indicated the dining area as she asked, “Could we move this conversation to your table?”

  “Of course.”

  Tanya led us to the dining table. There was no sign we’d been drinking, not even glasses in the sink. We all took positions near or behind chairs, but nobody sat down.

  Elgin reached into her case and produced some photos. The one on top was of Tanya and me conferring over her laptop at Wendy’s. Lifting that one and setting it in the middle of the table, Elgin said to Tanya, “We suspect you contacted Mr. Howdershelt because you wish to try to… circumvent… the law in the near future, Miss Connor. Would that accurately summarize the situation?”

  Before Tanya could answer, I said, “Wishing isn’t illegal yet, though I’m sure someone in the current regime is working diligently to fix that.”

  Giving me another direct gaze, Elgin said, “For what it’s worth, I personally sympathize with Miss Connor and her mother. Also for what it’s worth, you should be aware that some very specific steps have been taken to prevent Marie Connor’s removal from her current facility.”

  Thompson gave her a surprised glance, then masked it quickly by looking beyond her and asking, “Is there someone else in the apartment?”

  Ignoring him, I asked, “Specific steps, ma’am? Could you be a little more specific about those ‘very specific steps’?”

  With a tiny smile, she replied, “Of course not. We were only sent to warn you about trying anything similar to what you did with three lawyers and an Arizona woman.”

  “If I’m supposed to have done something illegal, why haven’t I been arrested, milady?”

  She shrugged. “Political convenience, I’d expect. Most everything hinges on that these days.”

  Thompson gave her another questioning glance, but said nothing. Elgin pulled out a chair and sat down. Thompson remained standing as Tanya sat down, then looked at me. For whatever reason, he wanted to be the last to sit. Heh. I pulled my chair out, but only placed it out of my way as I reached for the other pictures in front of Elgin.

  Her hand came down on them as my hand reached them and she asked briskly, “What are you doing?”

  Meeting her gaze, I asked, “What are you doing? Did you haul those out just so you could not show them to us?”

  “They’re confidential surv
eillance photos, and I’d prefer to select the ones to show you.”

  As I withdrew my hand, I had a probe pass through and record the thin stack of photos on the table, then buzz through her briefcase.

  I said, “So start selecting, ma’am.”

  Lifting an eyebrow, Elgin leafed through the stack and tossed three more pictures on the first one. The top picture was of Tanya entering a motel room. I recognized the place from a sign in the background. The second was of Tanya placing her camera under my neighbor’s mailbox. The last one was of me during the incident in Floral City.

  I shrugged. “So? You took some pictures here and there. Where’s the good stuff?”

  Thompson asked, “It doesn’t bother you that Miss Connor has been stalking you?”

  “Nah. I caught her at it and we talked about it. What currently bothers me is that you’ve been stalking both of us on suspicion of thinking wishfully. Or something like that.”

  Elgin softly chuckled, “There’s a little more to it than that. Three lawyers and an astronomer more. I can understand your frustration with certain laws, but they are what they are. For now, at least. We were instructed to inform you that if you try with Marie Connor what you’ve done with the others, there will be repercussions.”

  Looking at Tanya, I said, “Hundreds of US citizens — maybe thousands, by now — have visited overseas Robodocs, yet how many are in prison for it?”

  She said, “I have no idea.”

  I looked at Elgin for an answer. She regarded me in silence, as did Thompson.

  Again looking at Tanya, I said, “None, milady. Some have paid fines. All have been sworn to silence, likely by threats of retroactive punishment. But that doesn’t really work too well. There have been some fairly thorough news articles about them. Media vultures are pretty good at digging up info… when they want to. Chances are good some of them watch the Robodoc clinics for visiting US citizens.”

  Retrieving my coffee mug from the sink counter and sipping, I said, “This ‘preemptive visit’ by the NIA might actually be someone’s real and rather stupid attempt to intimidate us. Or it could also be that someone would love for us take a shot at springing Marie, probably to stir up controversy in an election year. If we were caught and prosecuted to the full extent of the law, there’d have to be a show trial and we’d become social and political martyrs. Politicians would ride the issue like a racehorse. Everyone who’s ever been to a Robodoc would be dragged out into the open and a big public debate would ensue about what to do with them. Jail? Amnesty? Endless streams of rhetoric and political sniping. Exposing prior support for the laws could end careers.”