Dues of Mortality (45 page)

“
Who
sent you?” Xavier asked. “Was it Wallace? Does he know
who I am?”

Bonaparte answered with a sharp
hand-heel to Hawkins's left ear. He could see his face now and it was
a sure bet the Kelmer geek wasn't this good a fighter.

The two men tussled along,
trading punches until Bonaparte finally managed to deliver a right
cross that had the former MP seeing stars. He pinned Hawkins to the
ground and clutched his throat with both hands. Xavier quickly felt
his face go puffy and his ears about to explode. Son-of-a-bitch was
strong! Xavier struggled to get an arm free, but the assassin had
planted his knees perfectly into both biceps.

“
Hey,
asshole!” someone hollered.

Bonaparte looked up to see a
frazzled woman looking at him and waving her arms like she was
flagging a cab. The Jameson bitch!

Glenda had no idea what she was
doing. She only knew that Xavier was dead if she didn't do something.
When she busted that stool over the assassin's back, she had every
intention of grabbing his gun, after he fell unconscious. Only, he
didn't fall unconscious. He just fell.
Always
worked in the movies
, she'd thought. Once he started
shooting into the smoke, Glenda had no choice but to flee. And now he
had gotten the better of Xavier, just as she'd feared.

“
I'm
over hear, shit-for-brains!” she shouted.

Xavier
felt a release of pressure against his biceps. The result of the
assassins reflex to switch targets. He got his arms free and dealt
the assassin a jolting uppercut. Xavier then hammered his opponent's
solar plexus with a two-fisted punch. The assassin's diaphragm locked
up tighter than a bank vault and he keeled over, half-paralyzed from
the sudden lack of oxygen. Xavier then unloaded on the assassin,
dealing a series of thunderous punches to the left side of his face.
Xavier stopped only when he felt no resistance on the last
follow-through. When he decided the assassin was out, Xavier unhanded
him and sucked in a delicious serving of piney forest air. He was
exhausted. He wanted so much to find his own spot on the ground and
settle in for nap. Instead, Xavier raised off of his defeated foe and
hobbled valiantly in Glenda's direction.
She started toward
him and he raised a hand, stopping her cold. He closed the distance
between them on his own.

“
I
ought to kick your butt,” he growled. Xavier had wanted to
shake Glenda by the arms when he found her lurking around the forest
like a lost three-year-old in a super-mart. He'd scanned her image
into the hologram projector for a reason. What was the point of him
lugging the damn thing with him if she was just going to run outside
and get her ass shot off? “I told you to say put! What were you
thinking, leaving the house?”

“
I
was thinking you needed someone to watch
your
back for a change,” Glenda
retorted. She waved her hands at him, in a tizzy. “I'm sorry! I
screwed up, okay? I
made
a mistake
.”

Xavier,
shook his head. He knew she wasn't talking about leaving the house.
She was talking about Peter Simonton. He straightened a finger in
front of her, made sure it wasn't sticking in her face. There was a
thin line between being scolded and being denigrated. “Don't
you ever do anything like that again,” he said.

“
Alright,
alright, I'm sorry. How many more times do you want me to say it?”

Xavier
glared at her just long enough to be satisfied that he'd been heard.

Glenda
recognized
the look right away
.

He
still cares
, she
thought and suddenly felt all warm inside. She had feared her
confessing about Peter had changed something. She was
deliriously happy to see she was wrong. She was overcome with the
urge to wrap her arms around Xavier and never let go.
This
is why men think we're all crazy
, she thought.
We
really do need to piss them off sometimes
. She bit her
lips and folded her arms.
But
it's still their fault. How else are we supposed to know they give a
damn?

Bonaparte
slipped his index finger inside the trigger-guard of his 380 Ruger
and took grip of the handle. He had heard just about enough of this
crap and decided it was either now or never. It was unfortunate, that
the same arm that probably had a fractured wrist was the one he had
to use to retrieve the Ruger. It hurt like hell and Bonaparte wasn't
positioned right to reach across his body to the outer ankle without
lifting his leg or sitting up. And either of those actions, would be
too conspicuous, even in this darkness. Bonaparte eyed his targets
hungrily. The Ruger held seven rounds and he'd use every one of them
if need be. He could certainly get a head-shot at Hawkins, but the
Jameson bitch was a big maybe. He thought once more of Pedro and
decided it didn't matter. He took a breath and did a three-count.
One...two...three.

The
wretched bang and its congruent muzzle-flash cleaved the darkness of
the forest. Xavier went down, taking Glenda with him as he hit the
dirt. Glenda screamed at the top of her lungs, her heart drumming
against the inside of her chest.

There
had been only one shot. A clean entry and exit right through the
skull, of all things. A definite kill. Far more perfect than the
shooter ever expected.

Richard
Kelmer had been stricken stiff as a statue, watching the barrel of
his M9 Beretta dispense smoke like a metal cigar. If Kelmer hadn't
been the only one left holding a gun, one would think
he
had been shot.
Did I just
...He
couldn't finish the thought. He had only fired the gun one other time
and that was to scare off a passel of opossums that had taken up
residence too close to his outdoor trash compactor. But he'd never
even thought of using it against another human being. Never imagined
he would have to.
I did
,
he thought to himself.
I did
just...Oh lord
.

Xavier
whipped his head between Kelmer and the freshly dead assassin. He
then gazed at the former in awe. He had seen where the shot
originated, but hadn't expected it to be from a friendly in any
event. He peered down at Glenda who was still trembling beneath his
body.

“
Are
you alright?” he asked.

Glenda
just hemmed and hawed, offering no definitive answer.

“
Glenda,
are you okay?”

“
Y...yes,
yes, I'm fine,” she said finally.

Xavier
raised from her and then offered her a hand up. Once she was on her
feet, he cautiously walked over to Kelmer and gingerly cupped the
barrel of his pistol. The doc was as white as a sheet. Kelmer gave no
resistance, as Xavier relieved him of the weapon.

“
I...I...f...found
the bullets,” Kelmer said. “I thought they...c...could
help.”

Xavier
took another peek over his shoulder at the corpse. The unequivocal
head wound was glossy with blood that had yet to stop flowing.
“Better late than never.”

****

“
We have to get out of
here,” Xavier said. The three of them had walked back to the
house, trying to cast off the last of the adrenaline pumping through
their systems. They gathered by the side of the house where Xavier
had detached the nylon hose that came in so handy. Xavier slipped
back into his brother's leather coat. He wondered if Benny would let
him keep it now that it had been on a dead man. “Wallace is
going to be expecting a sit-rep from these guys soon.” He
nodded in the direction of the darkened woods. “I was thinking
we might be able to do something about that, until Quick Draw here,
came to the rescue.”

Kelmer
looked shocked. “I'm sorry...I”

“
I
was just joking, doc,” Xavier said, raising a hand to the still
shaky Kelmer. “You really looked freaked out, thought I could
lighten the mood.” Xavier inverted his hand, pointing the
fingers back at himself. “Bad call.”

“
How
did he know we were here at all?” Glenda asked.

Xavier
looked more frightened
now than Glenda had ever seen him
.
“
That's
what worries me
,”
he
said.

“
Dana?”

“
Or
Benny,” Xavier countered.

Glenda
cupped her mouth. “Oh, no. No!”

“
I’m
coming with you,” Kelmer said, most unexpectedly. He appeared
as if he had made up his mind that he could do no worse than kill
another person in cold blood. He might as well take off all the
gloves now.

“
Not
sure that’s wise,” Xavier responded. “You’re
the best shot at bringing this thing back to Wallace if we don’t
make it. We’ve been doing the footwork this long. We might as
well go the rest of the way.”

“
W...w...well,
at least take this.” Kelmer reached in his pocket and pulled
out the box containing the neuro-implant he’d shown them
previously. “If worse comes to worse, it may be all you can
give the authorities to plead your case.”

Xavier
stuffed the box into his own pocket, thinking he’d have to
stash it someplace a little closer to his skin later on. “Stay
here. We’ll keep in contact. Once we make sure my brother and
everyone else is safe, we can reroute our efforts to this U.F.O of
yours. I have a sudden urge to bring the entire operation down around
Wallace’s head.”

Xavier
hung up his comwatch, for the fourth time in twenty minutes, and
stared woefully into the plane's bathroom mirror. He hated himself.
He replayed, in his mind, the call he'd made to his brother before
boarding. He had been mindful to talk fast and limit the conversation
to vague personal inquiries. He couldn't give Benny any room to
divulge knowledge of the situation. However, he knew making the call
could still be a gaff he might live to regret.
But
one Wallace won't if he lays a finger on Benny and Cassandra
,
he thought.

“
I'm
glad to hear everything is okay, bro,” Xavier had said, trying
not to sound like the mess of jangled nerves that he was.

“
Yeah,
we’re good,” Benny replied. “How did...”

“
We're
heading to the airport now. I gotta get off, but I'll see you guys
soon. Bye.”

Xavier
strained to convince himself of success. He'd forgotten just how much
hinged on the secrecy of his identity. He and Glenda could ill-afford
any more brain farts like his one with Max Porter—telling him
about Kelmer and Millenitech. Though, if Benny was being tapped, then
Wallace already knew who Xavier was and there was no real way to
parse his words accordingly. Either way, Xavier just
had
to know; he had to
hear
that Benny was safe and sound before he took another step. He
splashed another helping of cold water on his face and straightened
up. He saw his hands shaking and quickly pulled himself together. A
minute later, he returned to his isle seat next to Glenda, one of his
fists ready to punch a hole through his pocket.

“
Anything?”
Glenda asked, visibly worried.

“
No,
still no answer.”

Dana
Holliman hadn’t answered
any
calls yet, which left Xavier and Glenda praying for her safety. All
things considered, Dana was a more likely inroad to Kelmer than
anyone else. Had they been spotted talking to her? Xavier wondered.
If so, would they have even made it to Seattle? Maybe Wallace just
happened
to move in
on Dana
after
he and
Glenda talked her, not knowing of their meeting—finally got
impatient and decided to put the squeeze on Dana anyway. Or maybe
those two trigger junkies were sent after Kelmer, and then Xavier and
Glenda showed up just when they were ready to pounce; it would
certainly be par for the course. Whatever the case, it all felt
different somehow. Xavier couldn't put his finger on it, but there
was an air of
irregularity
in all of this. It had been stuck in his craw almost from the
beginning, but, now, had been accentuated by those bloodthirsty
hatchet-men from Seattle. Hardcore killers they were—maybe not
so much trained as experienced. Shit, the Latino would have danced
all night if he could have, whittling Xavier down to a pool cue with
that knife. Xavier beat his fist against his lips.
What
am I missing?

Glenda
rested her head on Xavier's shoulder, once again, falling slave to
the psychosomatic drowsiness of knowing she was safe
thirty-seven-thousand feet in the air...and next to Xavier. The smell
of her, now, bright red hair intoxicated him. How he wished he'd met
Glenda in a different life, at a different time. There was no honor
in a world that would drop a woman like this in his lap just when
he'd given up on all of life. Just when...

Xavier
gazed out the window over Glenda's head. When was the last time he
even
imagined
killing himself? His chin nested on her crown and he reveled in it
like a kiss.
She’s not
for you
, he thought.
You’re a bum,
remember. You’re nothing. Once it’s over she’ll
forget all about you. Just focus on the job at hand
.
Grandad Willie used to say that a lot. “Whenever you’re
confused, just focus on the job at hand.” Shit, he said that
about everything, to the point when it didn’t even make sense
half the time. Xavier smiled. He so missed that old man.