Apocalypse

by Dean Crawford

  Ethan stood his ground before Katherine’s wrath, but it was Lopez who stepped forward and spoke.

  ‘This isn’t a witch hunt, it’s a murder investigation,’ she said. ‘We couldn’t give a damn if Joaquin Abell and IRIS have found a cure for cancer, taken man back to the moon and found the original copy of the Bible. Everyone is a suspect when there’s a possible motive, no matter how trivial or unfair it may seem. As a lawyer, you of all people should understand that, or maybe you’re just too close to the client to have an objective view of what’s happened?’

  Katherine Abell glared at Lopez, but then suddenly all of the anger went out of her and she slumped back down into her chair. She rubbed her temples with one hand.

  ‘I know how it looks, but surely it was just an accident?’

  Lopez looked at Karl Sears, who nodded once.

  Lopez slipped her hand into her pocket and retrieved a printed image taken from the cellphone of the kid who had witnessed the car wreck. The pixilated photograph showed a huge blond man turning to flee the scene. She turned it around and laid it on the table beside Katherine.

  ‘This image was taken on a cellphone by an eyewitness,’ Lopez said. ‘Do you recognize this man?’

  Ethan watched carefully as Katherine looked down at the picture, and he saw her lips part and her hand clench tightly around the tissue in her hand. Lopez didn’t miss her reaction.

  ‘Who is he, Katherine?’

  Katherine shook her head. ‘I don’t know who he is.’

  ‘You’re lying,’ Lopez said.

  Katherine looked up sharply and for a moment Ethan thought that bolts of lightning might blaze from her eyes and strike Lopez down.

  ‘I said that I didn’t know him,’ Katherine hissed, her words laden with venom, ‘not that I didn’t recognize him.’

  ‘Where have you seen him before?’ Ethan asked.

  ‘He was in the public gallery,’ Katherine replied, ‘watching the case.’

  ‘Are there cameras in the courtroom?’

  ‘Yes, but they’re not routinely turned on,’ Katherine replied. ‘Besides, what difference does it make?’

  ‘He was driving the car that killed Macy,’ Lopez said. ‘Believe me, he had something to do with it all right. My partner and I chased him for three whole blocks. He got away but uniforms are looking for him. The car he was in belonged to the man in the passenger seat, who is dead. We’ll have to wait for autopsy results to find out whether he died in the wreck or was killed by this guy beforehand.’

  Katherine looked down at the image of the fleeing man.

  ‘But if it was done on purpose then who would have wanted Macy dead? No supporter of IRIS would have wanted it, as it would have jeopardized my defense, and our detractors would have keenly awaited Macy’s prosecution evidence. It doesn’t make any sense.’

  ‘Unless the accusations have a basis in fact,’ Lopez pointed out, ‘and somebody at IRIS needed the prosecutor to be silenced.’

  ‘Based on the evidence of a suspected murderer?’ Katherine challenged. ‘You really think that there was something in those documents?’

  ‘We don’t know,’ Lopez admitted, ‘but we’re here to find a killer, not bring IRIS to trial.’ Lopez took a deep breath and decided to go for broke. ‘Were you aware that earlier today an aircraft with almost twenty IRIS employees crashed, out in the Florida Straits?’

  Katherine nodded.

  ‘Yes, I was. It was a terrible tragedy.’ Her shoulders sagged. ‘It’s been a tragic day.’

  ‘Can you think of any reason why IRIS might want to silence members of its own staff?’ Lopez pressed.

  ‘You people just don’t quit, do you?’ Katherine uttered incredulously. ‘You think that those scientists were killed on purpose?’

  Lopez leaned in toward Katherine.

  ‘We dived on the wreck of the aircraft,’ she said. ‘The black box had been removed. Whatever happened to that airplane it wasn’t an accident. We were then attacked and barely got away with our lives. It’s highly suspicious that so many people who might have been in a position to possess incriminating evidence with respect to IRIS have died recently: Macy, the scientists on that plane and Charles Purcell’s family. Purcell himself is on the run. Doesn’t that concern you?’

  Katherine rubbed her face with her hands in exasperation.

  ‘Of course it does, but I don’t understand what’s happening here! Two hours ago I was defending my husband in a court case. Now one person is dead and you’re effectively implicating Joaquin in a homicide!’

  Ethan thought for a moment. ‘Where is Joaquin, right now?’ he asked her.

  ‘On his yacht, out in the Florida Straits,’ Katherine replied.

  Lopez stared down at Katherine.

  ‘You need to think carefully about what’s happening here, Katherine, because one way or the other we’re going to get to the bottom of it all.’

  Lopez let the statement hang in the air for a moment and then turned and made for the exit, leaving Katherine looking down at the image of the blond giant as the others left the room behind her.

  Ethan turned to look at Lopez as soon as they were out of earshot. ‘Nice work, but we really need to speak to Joaquin Abell himself.’

  ‘Agreed,’ Lopez replied, leaning on the wall outside the room with her arms folded. ‘There’s only so much we can do with Katherine if she’s innocent of any involvement in this.’

  ‘No,’ Kyle Sears insisted, and jabbed his thumb at his own chest. ‘We need to speak to Joaquin Abell. This car wreck is a homicide and therefore a police matter.’

  Jarvis shook his head.

  ‘It’s a DIA case for now, Karl, and that’s the way it’s staying. Either way, right now we’ve got no grounds to bring Joaquin Abell down here from his lofty perch.’

  ‘I don’t care how high and mighty this guy thinks he is,’ Ethan replied, joining Lopez against the wall of the corridor, as lawyers and cops bustled past them, the entire building now a crime scene and closed down. ‘He’s got something to do with all of this, something to hide. The sooner we can get in his face the sooner we’ll figure out what that something is.’

  ‘This is a civil case,’ Sears insisted, jabbing a finger at Jarvis. ‘Nothing directly to do with Charles Purcell. I want my people in the loop.’

  Jarvis looked back thoughtfully at the closed door behind which Katherine Abell sat.

  ‘Joaquin Abell’s too well-connected,’ he said finally. ‘I don’t see how we can get to him on evidence this thin – it’s all circumstantial, and his wife seems as surprised by all of this as we are. I don’t think she can help us, at least not yet.’

  ‘Leave that to us,’ Sears said confidently. ‘Threaten a lawyer with a prison cell and they’ll soon start squealing.’

  ‘Katherine won’t,’ Ethan said. He’d seen enough of her to tell that she was fiercely protective of her family but equally dedicated to upholding the law. ‘She’s too principled a lawyer.’

  ‘Not so principled that she’d betray her husband and family,’ Lopez pointed out. ‘Maybe we can turn that to our advantage. Let’s have a word with the uniforms and see if we can take her back to Joaquin ourselves.’

  ‘Like hell,’ Sears snapped, pacing up and down in the corridor. ‘She’s potentially a suspect and I’m sure the Chief Justice will agree. There’s no way I’m letting her out of the state.’

  ‘How do you figure that will help?’ Jarvis asked Lopez, ignoring the detective.

  ‘She’s innocent,’ Lopez said. ‘Sure, she might know more than she’s letting on, but she didn’t pull a trigger. Let’s get the police off her case here, and in return maybe we can find out if our big blond friend is on Joaquin’s yacht and if there’s any ammunition aboard that’s been dunked in Rubidium-82.’

  Jarvis’s phone trilled in his pocket and he slipped it out and held it to his ear. Ethan watched the line of the old man’s jaw harden as he nodded, listening, and then ended the call.

 
‘What’s up?’ Lopez asked.

  ‘That was the Coastguard,’ Jarvis replied. ‘They turned up on the sandbar where N-2764C went down.’

  ‘They find the black box?’ Ethan asked.

  ‘Nope,’ Jarvis said, ‘they didn’t find a damned thing.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Sears said.

  ‘The wreck’s gone.’

  31

  FLORIDA STRAITS

  June 28, 13:37

  The IRIS helicopter skimmed low over the waves, the crystalline blue rollers churning beneath it. Through the windows, Ethan could see the shadow of the helicopter racing across the surface of the ocean.

  Ethan Warner sat next to Lopez in the rear of the helicopter, with Doug Jarvis sitting opposite them flanked by two armed DIA soldiers. Katherine Abell had chosen to sit in the cockpit alongside the pilot, which at least gave Ethan the chance to speak freely given the engine noise in the cabin. As a precaution, Jarvis leaned forward so that he could lower his voice as he spoke.

  ‘You do realize that if Joaquin is involved in this, he may decide to keep us aboard his yacht or feed us to sharks or something. We’ve only got two guards as escorts.’

  ‘This isn’t a Bond movie, Doug,’ Ethan pointed out. ‘If Joaquin has killed a lawyer as well as twenty-or-so scientists, having all of us iced is going to be one coincidence too many.’

  ‘Is it?’ Jarvis challenged. ‘Or is it possible that there is simply nothing that this man will not do to achieve his goals?’

  ‘He could flee,’ Lopez pointed out. ‘He could make Mexico or even Brazil on his yacht before anybody would know.’

  ‘Which would kind of defeat the object of being a famous humanitarian,’ Ethan replied. ‘He’s carved himself a niche as the world’s nicest guy and he’s not going to want to lose that popularity. If it goes public, he won’t go down without a fight.’

  The helicopter descended and slowed as Ethan saw the wake of an enormous yacht cruising the Straits. The helicopter slowed until it hovered alongside the yacht’s stern, and Ethan caught a glimpse of the yacht’s name emblazoned there: Event Horizon. The helicopter drifted slowly across over a large helipad and then settled down onto the deck. Immediately, men in blue jumpsuits ran out to secure tether lines to the helicopter’s fuselage and open the side doors. Ethan jumped out into the down-wash of the spinning blades and jogged to the edge of the platform with Lopez and Jarvis close behind.

  The helicopter’s engines whined down as Katherine Abell climbed out and walked toward them. As she did so a door opened in the yacht and Joaquin Abell strode out from the interior, his black suit stark against his white shirt and the clinically clean white decks. He jogged up the steps onto the helipad and held his arms out to his wife. Ethan watched as the pair embraced tightly and he felt something pinch his throat as an image of Joanna appeared unbidden in his mind’s eye. He missed that; the intimacy of returning home to someone who’d actually missed you.

  Joaquin reluctantly released Katherine and turned to look at Ethan.

  ‘You didn’t tell me you were bringing guests,’ he said. ‘Or armed guards.’

  ‘I didn’t know that I would be,’ Katherine replied, casting a wary eye at Ethan and his companions. ‘Joaquin, this is Ethan Warner.’

  Joaquin shook Ethan’s hand. The billionaire’s skin was soft, unblemished by the scars of honest work. Ethan introduced him to Lopez and Jarvis, who gestured to the two soldiers.

  ‘Mr. Abell, these men are charged with searching this vessel for evidence of weaponry that we suspect may be linked to crimes committed in Miami yesterday and today. They cannot legally enter your vessel without your permission, but I trust that won’t be an issue.’

  Ethan watched as Joaquin processed what Jarvis had said. He couldn’t tell if the man was affronted or confused by the thinly veiled threat, so unconcerned did he appear.

  ‘What crimes?’ he asked finally.

  ‘Homicides.’

  ‘I have nothing to hide,’ Joaquin said, ‘and we have no weapons aboard. If you must search this vessel then at least do so without damaging anything.’

  Jarvis nodded to the two soldiers, who immediately began scouring the yacht. Ethan turned and followed the others inside.

  Ethan had never really known luxury in his life. Although his parents had raised himself and his sister in comfort, they were a working-class military family and lived as such. Coupon days, holidays out by the lakes rather than abroad, buying used instead of new. Ethan had learned to live with a certain austerity and had been happy to do so. Now, he found himself marveling at every aspect of the yacht. Sumptuous carpets adorned the floors of even minor passageways, the wooden doors to various cabins polished to a deep mahogany. Oil paintings the size of tables depicting naval battles lined a gallery in the center of the vessel, that itself faced an ornate staircase leading up toward the bridge. Deep carpets, the tasteful decor, the paintings and the fittings – everything was highly polished and in its place, even the chrome railings and handles buffed to a mirror finish. And this was just the guy’s yacht, for Christ’s sake. Ethan couldn’t even begin to imagine what Joaquin Abell’s house might look like.

  ‘This way, please.’

  A young man dressed in black pants, white shirt and a bowtie waved them into a large, oval-shaped room ringed with cream leather couches that faced a plasma screen bigger than Ethan’s entire lounge. The room was overlooked by a broad bay window that revealed the panoramic ocean beyond the yacht’s stern.

  ‘I’m afraid that I do not have any refreshments prepared,’ Joaquin said as they sat down. ‘Had I known in advance of your arrival I would have alerted the galley.’

  ‘Not a problem,’ Jarvis replied, ‘we’re here on business, not for fine dining.’

  ‘They think that you killed Macy Lieberman,’ Katherine told her husband.

  ‘Macy Lieberman?’ Joaquin said. ‘The lawyer?’

  ‘She was killed in a hit-and-run wreck in Miami barely an hour ago,’ Jarvis confirmed. ‘A suspect is being hunted as we speak. Do you know this man?’

  Jarvis handed Joaquin the image of the big blond man. Ethan watched as Joaquin studied the image intently for a moment before shaking his head.

  ‘I’m sure I don’t; he looks very distinctive.’ Joaquin handed the image back to Jarvis. ‘IRIS employs a lot of people, but I’ve never seen this man before.’

  ‘Your wife said she saw him in the gallery during the hearing,’ Lopez said.

  Joaquin sighed and opened his hands palm-outward in a gesture of helplessness.

  ‘I don’t know what you want me to say. I’ve been aboard my yacht for the past day and I was in Puerto Rico yesterday. I’ve only seen what’s happened on the news channels. Perhaps this man you suspect of the killing is some kind of neo-Nazi? He looks somewhat the type, and the court case has garnered a great deal of press attention. Perhaps he disliked the Uhungu family’s lack of gratitude for what IRIS had done for them.’

  Ethan smiled thinly.

  ‘If that was the case, he’d have likely killed the Uhungu family and not their lawyer and an innocent bystander.’

  Joaquin’s features sagged.

  ‘Another murder?’ he said. ‘My God. This is dreadful.’

  ‘And that’s not all,’ Jarvis cut in. ‘Your company lost some twenty employees yesterday in an aircraft crash in the Bermuda Triangle, is that correct?’

  ‘An appalling tragedy,’ Joaquin replied softly. ‘We’re talking to the families of the victims of the accident right now to arrange compensation for their loss and to secure their futures.’

  ‘How do you know that the crash was an accident?’ Lopez asked.

  ‘I don’t,’ Joaquin replied. ‘But there was nothing to suggest that the aircraft was tampered with in any way. It simply disappeared over the ocean.’

  ‘Not quite,’ Ethan said.

  Joaquin looked at him expectantly, but Ethan purposefully let the silence hang until it became too much for their host to
bear.

  ‘What do you mean?’ Joaquin asked.

  ‘The aircraft was found,’ Ethan replied, ‘and there are some major questions being asked by the NTSB.’

  Ethan saw the faintest quiver in Joaquin’s studied expression, a tremor of unease.

  ‘What kind of questions?’

  ‘The ones that get asked when an aircraft disappears after it crashed,’ Lopez answered for Ethan.

  ‘That happens naturally from time to time,’ Joaquin countered. ‘The currents here in the straits are extremely powerful – it’s these currents that are responsible for many of the Bermuda Triangle’s legendary “vanishings”. Aircraft and ships are downed by natural causes but drift for miles across the ocean before settling.’

  ‘That’s entirely true,’ Ethan conceded, ‘but the aircraft was found, lying flat on its belly in less than fifty feet of water. The nose and cockpit were crushed, revealing that it went into the ocean almost vertically, at very high speed, before falling onto its belly.’

  Before Joaquin could answer, Jarvis leaned forward in his seat.

  ‘And underwater currents don’t open fuselage panels and remove the black boxes,’ he pointed out. ‘What’s more, Mr. Abell, when the authorities returned to the site, the aircraft had vanished entirely.’

  Joaquin gaped at them for a long moment.

  ‘As I just said, the currents in these waters are notoriously powerful. And why would anybody have removed the black boxes? I had no reason to tamper with the wreck, if I even knew where it was.’

  ‘Didn’t you?’ Lopez challenged. ‘The court case your wife was defending concerned revelations revealed by a former employee of yours, a Charles Purcell. He’s a whistle-blower claiming to have evidence of corporate fraud by IRIS. He was on the passenger manifest of that aircraft and was supposed to have been aboard when it went down, Joaquin. You see a pattern developing here?’