“I doubt you’ve done anything dumber than what you did tonight, and for God’s sake would you please stop referring to yourself in the third person… and quit calling me Payaso!”
“You started this El Muerto thing,” Nick reminded him. “Remember, many people are in deadly fear of clowns. We should make you a costume, Payaso. You could assist El Muerto with an evil and deadly clown mask at times, where El Muerto doesn’t need his trusty sidekick to act as getaway driver.”
“No thanks.”
“Okay then, think about this. If I hadn’t walked into Sharon Tennington’s store after Rachel’s craving for chocolate chip ice cream, I would never have spotted Kroneg. She would be dead now, and Kroneg still on the loose if not for us. It was a miracle.”
“It’s not a miracle when one serial killer can spot another serial killer.”
“That’s hurtful, Payaso.”
Gus chuckled. “I admit it. Your noticing Kroneg, and our research into his background turning up a trail of dead women across the country in the places he’d been was pretty cool. I had my doubts until these past few days watching Kroneg stalk her. How did you know tonight would be the night he moved on her?”
“He didn’t go to the store for the first time. Did you have any luck with Phil? I have three more book signings scheduled, but then we have to move on. I could postpone the dates though if you want. At least you spent time with Katie. I don’t have to be at the wedding anyway. Let Phil be your best man. You can’t blame Phil and Julie for not wanting anything to do with seeing me again.”
“Bullshit! I don’t want Phil as my best man. If not for you, they’d both be dead. Yes, I loved seeing Katie, but it makes no sense for them not to meet you, Rachel, and Jean before the ceremony. He said they might stop by the book signing tomorrow at the Harvard Book Store with Katie.”
“Neat. That’s a nice venue to say hi in, and reassure them I’m not going to thread into their lives with my murderous but heroic Muerto tendencies.”
Gus took a deep breath. “What the hell was I thinking when I tagged you with the El Muerto label as a joke. I should have known you’d take it to the undiscovered country of insanity. Rachel, Jean, and Tina will be accompanying us tomorrow for a change. Their interest in the old Harvard Book Store overcame the boredom factor.”
“They know they can leave whenever they want to,” Nick said. “Add in meeting Phil, Julie, and Katie to the mix, and we have a very comfortable gathering. Cassie expects to see hundreds there for the signing with a possibility of a thousand attending. This has been a great experience since enlisting you as my sidekick Payaso, along with sharing the signing events as Jed, my character Diego’s partner.”
“Jed, yes… Payaso, no, you tool!”
Nick grinned. “You know you love being Payaso, the heroic sidekick of the great El Muerto. I hope tonight’s adventure doesn’t get blown out of proportion, or our cover story of night research at Boston harbor will be dead in the water with the girls.”
“Rachel will be so on to you, Muerto,” Gus replied, enjoying what he considered a done deal with the media headlines sure to come. “If you’d skipped the picture taking idiocy, you may have had a chance. Posing with the woman, and with your foot on Kroneg’s dead neck, I believe you can kiss any chance of anonymity goodbye. Rachel and Jean will be on your case so fast it will make your head spin.”
Nick considered the situation with grim amusement. The thrill he felt lance through him when he choked Kroneg to death as Gus’s comic creation, El Muerto, did not fade at all since the deed. His interaction with Sharon Tennington added a humorous flavor to the sanction of Kroneg beyond justice. Nick considered it a small payment for his many sins. Without payment from a sanctioned contract, Kroneg’s final accounting for his sins could be thought of as Nick’s own penance. Nick sighed. Who am I kidding? I did some good. It felt good, and I killed a bad guy. No use getting delusions of grandeur.
“I think it will end up on the back page, Gus. The media won’t know what to think of it. The police will keep it on the down low because they had nothing to do with it. By the time any mention of it gets published or on the TV, Rachel and Jean will be wrapped in some other trip endeavor.”
“I hope you’re right, Muerto, but I know you’re wrong.”
“Trust me, Payaso, my doubting sidekick. All will be well.”
* * *
“What the hell have you done now?” Rachel stormed into the kitchen with a very amused Jean, waving a copy of the Boston Herald.
Nick arose at five in the morning as was his custom. He had been writing continually in the hotel room suite’s kitchen after walking Deke. Rachel and Jean went through their usual morning routine upon waking at nearly nine. They took a morning walk, and had breakfast, leaving Nick alone during his favorite writing time. Unfortunately, Nick could see El Muerto’s adventure did not escape the Herald’s front page. Deke ran around behind Nick’s chair at Rachel’s tone.
“You’re supposed to protect me from this type of attack, Deke, you slacker,” Nick told the dog, shaking his finger at him. Deke grunted, while peeking out at Rachel who dumped the paper in front of Nick, pointing at the front page pictures with headline ‘El Muerto Strikes Again’.
Nick perused the article with growing uneasiness. It covered El Muerto’s torture killing of Dominic Leka, the serial killer Nick had sanctioned under CIA contract. Although acknowledging his saving the two young women trapped in cages for months by Leka, the vigilante tag kept recurring throughout. The Herald did list the facts admitted to by the police concerning the proof Nick had given to Sharon Tennington, describing her ordeal the past night in detail. The paper condemned El Muerto’s supposed vigilante justice while revealing that the police were investigating horrific murders now tied to Gavin Kroneg. Nick smiled at Sharon Tennington’s glowing recount of her savior’s actions.
“This guy, El Muerto, is pretty neat,” Nick said. He pulled Rachel close, running his hand over her protruding stomach. “How is the newest member of our family doing this morning? He’s kicking like hell.”
“Don’t sweet talk me.” Rachel’s tone softened at Nick’s touch. “Jean and I aren’t stupid. We know who El Muerto is. You’re smarter than this, damn it. What the hell happened to your rules that coincidences should be avoided at all cost?”
Nick pasted a surprised look on his features with the ease of a killer who could act out a performance rivaling the greatest actors in any century. “You think I’m El Muerto?”
Jean giggled, and pulled out his black silk El Muerto mask from behind her back. “I found this in your leather coat, Dad. I planned on asking you about it, but then Mom and I found out without having to ask.”
Uh oh. “You little sneak!” Nick played the outrage card as a last resort to no avail.
“You saved another woman,” Jean stated. “That was a great thing. We don’t want you sent to prison though. Did you take your sidekick Jed along, since the cover story was book research?”
Nick shrugged. “My sidekick’s name is Payaso. Yes, he went along.”
Jean gasped. “Payaso means clown in Spanish. What does Gus think about that?”
“Not much, I bet,” Rachel said. “If you get Payaso thrown into prison, Tina will shoot you on sight.”
“Payaso is fine with it. He created El Muerto. I’m more worried in connection to our daughter, the little snoop.”
“She confirmed your transgressions, Muerto.” Rachel walked to the kitchen TV. She retreated with the remote in hand, powering it, and switching to a news channel. It only took moments before finding a complete videotaped interview with Sharon Tennington.
The three watched in stunned silence. Rachel brushed away tears. She hugged Nick. “You were right. You and Payaso did real good. I’m sorry I thought about losing you first instead of considering the wonderful thing you did for Sharon Tennington.”
Jean pumped her fist as they showed the photos of El Muerto. “This is so cool! You’re a real su
perhero!”
“With a secret identity,” Nick pointed out. “If El Muerto is exposed, we’ll have to run for it. I don’t think my reluctant sidekick, Payaso will like that very much.”
Rachel leaned her head into his. “Are you really going to do this from now on?”
“It was kismet, Rach.” Nick explained how he saw Kroneg in the convenience store while buying ice cream. “Although as my disrespectful sidekick Payaso reminded me after I told him it was a miracle, it’s not a miracle when one serial killer recognizes another serial killer. I knew instinctively what Kroneg planned, but we did our research, and watched him. I’m using a modified version of El Muerto’s adventures in the new novel, ‘Assassin’s Folly’. If I recognize or happen upon a similar circumstance, I will act on it within reason. Hey… I am kind of a psychopath, but I enjoyed saving Sharon. That should count for something.”
Jean joined in the hug. “You’re our hero too, El Muerto. I love this. I think you need a small action figure accompanying and assisting you in your duties. I could learn to handle dual daggers and be known as El Muerto’s vicious sidekick, Dagger.”
Rachel was a couple steps too slow to capture the elusive Dagger, who fled with Deke at her back. “Damn it! Oh, what’s the use? I’m going to hell anyway. Please don’t take Dagger with you on anything resembling a mission, El Muerto.”
Nick shook his head in uneasy amusement at his stepdaughter’s offer, knowing she was indeed deadly serious, whether it happened now or in the future. “I will not allow it, even if I have to bind and gag her before I leave. Know this though, Rach – she’s hooked, and I don’t have any idea how to prevent her from following through on the notion. I will train her, and my plan is to urge her to join a good ROTC college program, where she can cool her jets doing something in uniform while continuing her training. She could very likely get into West Point or Annapolis with the contacts I have. This is not your fault. It is what it is, babe.”
Rachel kissed Nick lingeringly, slipping down onto his lap. She eased away after many hand explorations later by the attentive El Muerto. “It’s not your fault either. Jean’s not stupid, and she hates being a victim. Believe me. I remember her words when we were on the run, and you were saving our asses every other minute – ‘I’m tired of being scared all the time. I want the bad guys to be scared’.”
Nick framed Rachel’s face in his hands. “That conversation started before you came into the kitchen that time. I admit what she said before has stuck with me since then. Jean was really mad about her Dad being killed. She said, ‘Bad guys killed Dad. Bad guys are tryin’ to kill us. Bad guys are why we had to leave New York. I kept wondering how come we can’t just kill the bad guys before they hurt us’. I didn’t have an answer until Gus hit me with the El Muerto tag. Now… I’m kind of lookin’ for trouble. I can’t take back all that you two have changed in me, and I’m afraid you two can’t take back all that I’ve changed in you.”
“Jean’s turned me to the dark side,” Rachel admitted. “I want to kill bad guys before they kill young women like Sharon Tennington, or bad women before they kill their damn kids under the guise of some psychobabbler’s label of postnatal depression. This stuff is addictive, Nick. Our son will be born into a twisted world of danger because of us; but I’d rather he know every detail when he’s old enough, rather than be a victim of whatever monster comes along to hurt him. You’ve changed everything for us. In my opinion, you’ve altered reality.”
“Mom’s right, Dad.” Jean had slipped silently by design within hearing distance again. “I’ll start training my brother the moment he gets to be eight. I’ll be Dagger by then. Let’s name him Quinn. Yeah! Quinn McCarty. He’ll be the baddest kid on the planet, next to his sister, Dagger.”
“We’re doomed,” Nick muttered, closing his eyes, and hugging Rachel tightly to him. “I don’t know where this will all end, but I vow I will be with you two, and the aptly named Quinn until I breathe my last. We have to be very careful. My sidekick Payaso may have been right about my flaunting fate with allowing Sharon to take pictures. I lost track of my mind for a moment as if I were actually reading a comic book instead of getting the hell out of the park before the cops arrived.”
“We’ll help,” Jean said. “Don’t worry about all the small stuff. Mom and I will alibi you out of anything the cops get onto you for. Plus… that guy from the CIA needs you. You’re the best. He’ll cover for you.”
Nick laughed. “I don’t think so, Dagger.”
Chapter Two
Family
“How many books did you sign today?”
“I lost track long ago,” Nick admitted. He and Gus packed their personal bags, readying to leave the store. “Cassie went home early. I can ask the store manager if you want. I guess it would probably be in the fifteen hundred range. Jed is really catching on. Did you see Tina’s face when all those women today were asking for your autograph? If not for our families interacting so well earlier, I believe Tina would have yanked you out from behind our table by your ear.”
Gus shrugged. “You sure called it right with Jed’s popularity. People really dig having a true to life character behind the fictional one. Tina will get over it. The family meeting turned out very well too, with Phil and Julie more relaxed in your presence than I thought they’d be after all the avoidance crap they were talking on the phone. Maybe Jamaica finally wore off, and seeing you in person again made them realize it. Katie loves Jean.”
“I saw Jean reading Katie stories in the children’s section. I’m glad our crew went home before boredom set in. Cassie used them as an excuse to desert us. Are you tiring of this book signing celebrity status yet?”
“I talked boats, foreign locales, and even real events in ‘Caribbean Contract’ when we threaded our way in to Florida again after that NSA asshole Frank blew up my boat thinking we were on board. Naturally I explained the difficulty navigating those perilous waters by using unrelated trips. I admit it, Nick. I’m hooked on this gig.”
Nick saw their security guard escort approaching. “Hi Al. All closed tight and secure?”
“Yes Sir, and thank you for the bonus. There’s a limousine waiting outside, but a man I didn’t recognize gave me this note to give you. He said he would be waiting to take you and Mr. Nason to your hotel. Let me know if there’s a problem.”
“I will, Al. Thanks.” Nick opened the sealed envelope. “It’s Paul Gilbrech. Damn it! I’ll bet the prick’s going to rake me over the coals for the comic book adventure. I told you I’d probably be forced to kill him. No one respects creativity anymore.”
“Calm down, Nick,” Gus urged. “You’re jumping to conclusions before we know the facts. This may be completely innocent. He hasn’t paid us for the Leka hit. Maybe it’s payday.”
“Good call, Gus. I like Paul, but I keep figuring he’s going to force me to remove him because I keep imagining him pulling the same crap Frank did. I have everything in my bag. Let’s go see what Paul wants.”
“You don’t trust him because he’s a psychopath like you. When explaining your take on him to me, I saw a glint in your eye. Paul’s too much like you, and it throws you off your game.”
Not for the first time did Nick wonder how his partner made very accurate leaps in recognizing inner thoughts Nick had not expressed. “I think you know me a little too well, Payaso.”
“I better,” Gus stated, “and stop calling me Payaso.”
* * *
“Well, well… if it isn’t El Muerto and his sidekick, Payaso,” Paul Gilbrech greeted them outside the Harvard Book Store, shaking hands with each man with a welcoming smile, while holding the limousine door open for them. “Get in, gentlemen. I’d like to pay off our prior debt, and discuss this new realm of activity you two seem to be exploring.”
Nick glanced at Gus. “I told you I’d have to kill him.”
A flash of fear streaked across Gilbrech’s features momentarily. Gus patted his shoulder before entering the limousine.
“Pay him no mind, Mr. Gilrech. Nick’s a little edgy today. He signed a lot of books, and met a lot of people. I would advise you to avoid off the cuff references to my partner’s new afterhours adventures.”
“Noted,” Gilbrech stated, unsure whether it was a good idea to get into the limo or not. He decided to gamble on Gus Nason’s take on things. When he was seated opposite Nick and Gus, Gilbrech motioned for the driver to proceed. “Do you have your laptop with you, Mr. Nason? I will transfer payment for Leka immediately if you do. I had to wait until the video Nick took of Leka’s demise reached the right people. To say they were pleased would be an understatement.”
Gus arranged his laptop for Gilbrech’s transfer into their account. Gilbrech did so, and handed the laptop again to Gus. After checking the amount, Gus nodded at Nick.
“Okay then, Paul. I assume our business is done,” Nick said after his long silence. “Gus is right about my being a bit edgy today. I apologize, but I have the distinct feeling you’re not done. I assume you are aware of Gavin Kroneg’s death, and the fact Gus and I used Company resources to investigate that shithead’s background. If you’re showing up to give us a ride for the purpose of forbidding any future ventures I deem necessary, we may have a problem.”
Gilbrech relaxed for a moment before handing Gus a packet. “There are CIA, FBI, and US Marshal credentials in the packet, Mr. Nason. We want you in with us on an official basis. It means if Nick deems it necessary for the two of you to investigate something in public, you will have the proper credentials. I know the US Marshal link is a bit beyond our arena, but because of Nick’s connections with the Justice Department through Agents Stanwick and Reinhold, they have been a newly cooperative entity for us. I do not want to lose what you two have been inadvertently building.”
“And…” Nick left the one word hanging in midair.
“I’m not going to pretend I have a clue about this new El Muerto and Payaso reference. Through back channels, I was able to insinuate the demise of Gavin Kroneg into a done deal we felt needed action immediately because a young woman’s life was at stake. I played off the comic book references, but kept a very tight perspective on the result of this adlib. It can work. I wish we could have worked it so the FBI would have been able to claim credit for Kroneg’s demise, but I can’t think of a way. In any case, I believe this new perspective could garner us a number of competing entities into our corner, especially if we can direct some credit their way.”
Cold Blooded III: Sins and Sanctions (Nick McCarty Assassin Series Book 3) Page 2