Alternating Current: A Tesla Novel (26 page)

Carrie couldn’t
sit still. She paced back and forth between the counter and the display window
where she would stop briefly and peer out the window. Each time all she saw was
Cosmo’s Lexus parked out front and each time she felt bad that Cosmo was still in
the drunk-tank at the 125 precinct. Unfortunately, Cosmo was the least of their
worries. At least he was safe.

The waiting took
its toll on them in different ways. Phillip lay flat on his back on the sofa
and stared at the ceiling. He didn’t speak.

Alex diddled
around the shop looking at the obsolete televisions, radios and other useless
electronics Turbo had collected over the years. He was noticeably sad.

Turbo tried to
make small talk, his way of dealing with the wait. “Hey, Alex, that noise we
heard on the shortwave earlier, you think it was really Martians?”

Alex heard what
Turbo said, but didn’t respond.

“C’mon, you’ve
contacted Mars before. What did it sound like?”

“That’s exactly
what it sounded like. Go ahead and laugh.”

“I’m not laughing.
I believe you; I did the first time you told me. It’s not that far of a stretch.
My uncle contacted Mars.”

“I know, but we
can’t understand them, it’s useless.” He changed the subject. “How could Sava
be in America when I watched Mika shoot him? He died in my lap.”

“Maybe she faked
his death, like Rudy did.” Carrie said.

“No Carrie, it’s
not possible, his blood splattered all over me.”

“Why don’t you ask
me that question, Alex?” Rudy and Buddy entered the shop from the backroom.

Carrie screamed
and ran over to them. She hugged Rudy. “Oh my God, where have you been?”

“Wait, don’t
answer yet.” Phillip jumped up from the sofa. “I want to hear this one.”

“We all want to
hear this one.” Turbo echoed.

“Not me.” Alex
proclaimed. “I want my ten-thousand-dollars.”

Rudy had a
befuddled expression on his face. He probably didn’t expect such a cold
reception. “Everyone just relax.” He told them. “Especially you Alex, in a
minute you’re gonna want to give me another ten grand.”

“How did you get
in here?” Carrie asked.

“Carrie, the man
faked his own murder, I don’t think breaking into Turbo’s shop was that hard.”

“Shut up, Buddy.
Nobody asked you.” Carrie’s eyes were like daggers to his heart.

“Rudy, why are you
here?” Turbo asked. “And how long before you bolt out the back door.”

“That’s funny,
Turbo. Now, if you’re done with the bullshit, I have something to tell you
all.”

The room fell
silent.

Rudy sat on top of
the television. “Now listen carefully. After Mika killed Dr. Armaly, I knew she
would go after Dr. Trump. I called my friend Millard Jones, a student of Dr.
Trump’s. We’ll he’s really an agent, but Trump doesn’t know that. Anyway, I
told Millard to protect Trump until I got there, but he said I was too late.
Trump had packed up his wife and kids and hit the highway. No one’s seen or
heard from him since. He was the only scientist left that could help us with
the formula.

“Then I thought
about Dr. Armaly’s son. I know he’s a moron, but I figured he might have his
father’s notes and I wanted to search his father’s laboratory. Unfortunately,
by the time we got there the lab had burned to the ground and Junior and his
boat were gone.”

“What about the
girl.” Alex asked right away.

“The girl? What
girl?” Rudy played with him. “Oh, you mean Aluna? Did you know she’s your
sister?”

Alex didn’t
answer. He couldn’t speak. Aluna walked out from the backroom. She embraced her
brother.

“She doesn’t say
much.” Rudy emphasized.

It didn’t matter.
Brother and sister were together for the first time in years.

Everyone hugged.
Carrie even hugged Buddy.

As the exuberance
waned, Carrie asked Rudy how he knew they were sister and brother. “Carrie, do
you know the first thing a good agent does when someone hires him.”

“No, what?”

“He checks the
file of the person that hired him.”

Carrie was
impressed.

“By the way, Alex.
We’re even.”

Alex smiled.

“And to answer
your question. The man Mika killed in Belgrade was a communist agent who came
up through the ranks with Sava. His protégé. When the party dissolved, Sava
recruited the man to take his place, plastic surgery and all. The real Sava
went to Belize to live out the rest of his days in peace.”

“But why did he
need someone to take his place if he was retiring?”

“That’s a good
question, Phillip. He didn’t want anyone to know he had retired. He knew the
day would come when someone came asking about Teleforce. He knew you would come
someday, Alex.”

“What about Mika?
Is she really his granddaughter?”

“Yes, Sava’s
daughter was killed when rebels blew up the building across the street from his
apartment in Belgrade. Mika was with the babysitter. Sava had raised her
since.”

“Wow, that just
about explains everything.” Alex was impressed and heartbroken at the same
time.

“Well, not
everything.” Rudy exclaimed. “Those Martian’s you heard. It’s a recorded loop
put up by some musical nerds at Berkeley. The powers to be at the school can’t
find the server.”

“You found that in
the C.I.A. computer?” Carrie asked.

“Nah, I just
Googled it.”

They all had a
good laugh.

“Well, now that
we’re all friends again. There is something I need from Turbo.” Rudy stood up
and unzipped his jacket.

“Oh, what’s that,
Rudy?”

“The Edison Medallion.”
Rudy pulled out his gun.

They all gasped.

“Rudy, you said no
guns.” Buddy walked over to talk some sense into him.

Rudy put a bullet
in his shoulder. Much like Mika had done to Alex at Barnes and Noble.

“I’m not kidding,
Turbo. Give me the medal.”

“Oh my God, you’re
a fucking idiot.” Turbo let him have it. “All you care about is money. And all
this time we thought you were our friend. Go to hell.”

“I am your friend,
and it’s more complicated than money. Give me the medal and save yourself and
your friends.”

“From who? Mika
and Sava? They’re already in jail and you will be too soon.”

“No Turbo, I’m not
going to jail.” Rudy lowered the gun. “I’m going somewhere worse, and so are
you if I don’t walk out of this shop with that medallion.”

“Well, let’s go
then, because I don’t have the fucking medal. I never did.”

“Don’t bullshit
me, Phillip said--- Rudy stopped midsentence.

“You
son-of-a-bitch.” Phillip lunged at Rudy. “You had them beat me up.” Alex held
him back.

“It’s not what you
think.”

“No, it never is
with you, Rudy” Phillip struggled to break free. “You got any more surprises
waiting in the backroom for us?”

Rudy hung his
head. Everyone stood stock-still and stared at the backroom door, just in case.
Heavy silence fell over the room, but only for a second.

The tiny bell on
the front door broke the silence. Ten men in black suits and white sneakers
entered the shop. One wore a heavy overcoat.

The goons formed a
semicircle around the seating area of Turbo’s shop. The one in the overcoat,
presumably the head goon, stood directly in center. They stood in position with
their feet slightly spread apart and their arms crossed behind their backs,
similar to an “at ease” position. Their dark sunglasses protected their eyes
from the sun and prevented any inkling of personality from slithering out. They
were far from at ease.

Their suits were
elegant, black, three-button, custom tailored. The lone overcoat was cashmere. A
window-shopper out front might think they were secret service, protecting a
dignitary or politician. Until they looked down.

Phillip looked
them over, head to toe. They all had similar features. Black greasy hair, olive
skin, dark, but not tanned. Clean-shaven, except for a dark bushy patch below
each bottom lip. If they carried guns, he couldn’t tell it. The custom-fitted
suits revealed no bulges. All bets were off when it came to what was under the
overcoat. He thought back to when they beat him. He didn’t remember seeing a
gun then, either.

“Hello, Mr.
Phillip.” The goon on the far end said. “Nice to see you again.” He broke rank
from the others, walked up to Phillip and examined his face. “You’re wounds
have healed nicely, it would be a pity if they returned.”

Phillip turned his
head. “I’d still look better than you.”

Turbo laughed.

“You must be
Turbo.” The goon examined Turbo’s face, too. “For you it won’t matter, bruise
away.” He raised his hand and two goons held Turbo while another pounded on his
face.

Carrie screamed
and lunged toward them. The goon closest to her got a surprise when he tried to
hold her back. He received an Aikido kick to the jaw. His sunglasses flew
across the room. They landed near Buddy, still bleeding on the floor. It took two
goons to subdue her.

The head goon
lowered his hand and the beating stopped. “Turbo, don’t do this, give us the
medallion and we will leave quietly.”

“But you don’t
understand, I don’t have it---I never had it.”

The goon glared at
Phillip, then snapped his fingers. Three goons pounced on Rudy. His gun fell to
the floor during the struggle.

Alex kicked it
under the recliner.

The head goon put
a switchblade to Rudy’s neck. “We had an agreement. Where is the medallion?”
Rudy didn’t move.

“He doesn’t know anything
about it. He was just trying to make a buck.” Turbo said.

The head goon
lowered the blade.

“Then I guess it’s
all on you, Mister Turbo.”

“That’s right, so
why don’t you let everyone else go and we’ll work it out, Mister---

“Fawzi.”

“What?”

“Fawzi, My name is
Fawzi.”

“Okay, Mister
Fawzi, Let everyone go and we’ll discuss the medallion.”

“I would love to,
really, but you see I am a terrorist, we never negotiate.” He walked over to
Carrie. “Do not worry, dear, I would never bruise that pretty face.” He put the
switchblade up to her neck. “However, I have no problem slitting your throat.
For the last time, Turbo, give me the medallion.”

Turbo stood
frozen. Helpless. He thought back to the night he met Carrie and Phillip. How
excited they were. And everything they had been through since. What good
friends they had become. He stared at the knife blade pressed against Carrie’s
neck. The shiny steel mesmerized him and rendered him unable to act, unable to
lift his arms or move his legs. Unable to close his eyes or look away. Unable
to save his friend.

A shot rang out.
Turbo heard it clearly, but he still couldn’t move. He watched in slow motion,
the shiny switchblade fell to the floor. Mr. Fawzi, too, a bullet rattling
around in his head.

The commotion that
followed propelled Turbo out of his haze. Buddy was propped against the
recliner, Rudy’s gun still in his hand.

The goon in the
overcoat exposed two AK47’s strapped over his shoulders and started shooting up
the place. Everyone dove for cover, even a few of the goons.

Then the shop’s
display window shattered, a waterfall of glass deluged the display area. The
goon with the automatic weapons fell to the ground dead. The N.Y.P.D.’s finest
flooded into the shop.

Once the S.W.A.T.
Team had everything under control, Lawson, Arnold and Yuri Petrovic entered
through the busted out display window.

Aluna ran to Agent
Lawson.

The tiny bell rang
and Cosmo entered the shop through the front door.

The street outside
of Turbo’s Electronics Repair Shop hadn’t seen that much traffic in years.
Police cars, S.W.A.T. trucks, fire trucks, emergency vehicles, ambulances, C.S.I.
and Coroner vehicles and two black Escalades were all parked haphazardly around
Cosmo’s Lexus.

Inside the shop, paramedic’s
tended to Buddy, the coroner zipped up Fawzi’s and the other goon’s body bags
while the C.S.I. team collected shell casings and other evidence. Officers led
the surviving goons in handcuffs out of the store. Rudy was in custody, but
still inside the shop, on orders from the C.I.A.

Carrie asked a
paramedic if Buddy would make it. Then she found Turbo and Phillip, they had a
group hug. Everyone gathered around the counter to thank Lawson, Arnold, and
Yuri.

“Don’t thank us.”
Lawson said. “Thank Cosmo.”

“Yeah, thank
Cosmo.” Arnold echoed.

Yuri looked at
Turbo and nodded his head.

“But Cosmo was in
the drunk-tank.” Carrie was confused.

“Yeah, some
friends I got.” Cosmo said.

“I still don’t
understand.” Carrie said.

Lawson asked Cosmo
to explain.

“Well, I didn’t
wake up till around Noon and man did I have a headache. This nice Police Woman,
her name was Betty---I mean, Officer Riley. Anyway, Officer Riley was nice
enough to get me a cup of coffee and a cinnamon bun to help with my hangover.
She gave me a couple aspirin, too, but don’t tell nobody; that’s against the
rules. So, I asked Betty, are my friends in the lobby waiting for me? And she
says she hasn’t seen anyone, yet. So, I tell her I want to leave, but she won’t
let me out.”

“Let me see if I
can speed this up a bit.” Lawson added. “The officer couldn’t let him out
without authorization, so she called our office and they called us and long
story short, Cosmo got out of the drunk-tank. Okay, Cosmo, pick it up from
there.”

“So, I leave the
125 precinct and then I remember my car is here at the shop. So it was either
walk home or walk here. Well, the sunlight made my head hurt even more and the
shop was closer, so I headed here. Thank God I saw those goons through the
window. I ran all the way back to the 125 precinct and they took it from
there.”

Carrie hugged him
and kissed his cheek. “Oh my God, Cosmo, you saved us. You’re a hero.”

“Yes, he is.”
Lawson agreed. Then he looked at Aluna and smiled. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

She smiled back.

“What about me? I
saved her life. That should count for something.” Rudy was under police guard
on the sofa.

“I’ll put in a
good word for you with the judge.” Lawson joked.

“Well, I won’t.”
Buddy called out from the stretcher. “I want to testify against him.” The paramedic
ordered him to remain calm.

“Who were those
guys in the sneakers?” Phillip asked.

“We better let
Yuri explain that one.” Lawson said.

“Thugs.” Yuri
said. “Basically they’re a bunch of thugs. They claim to be C.F.F---Croatian
Freedom Fighters, one of the terrorist groups that took credit for bombing The
Statue of Liberty in 1980. Although, other groups also claimed the bombing. But
the C.F.F. hasn’t been heard from since 1987; therefore, these thugs were
probably just flaunting credentials they didn’t have. Bottom line is they’re a
for profit mercenary group that Sava hired to retrieve the medallion.”

“So this is all about
a silly medallion, not the formula?” Carrie asked.

“Hardly, Carrie.
The formula for Tesla Water is a big part of this, but not for reasons you
might think.”

“I’m still lost.”
Carrie said.

“Me too.” Alex
added.

Yuri tried to make
it clear. “Tesla Water doesn’t work. It’s as simple as that.”

“That’s not true.”
Alex said. “My father said it could work.”

“I’m sorry, Alex.
But it doesn’t.”

“He’s right, Alex.
It won’t work.” Aluna finally spoke.

“I knew that bitch
could talk.” Rudy jumped up from the sofa. The officer pushed him back down.

Alex looked at his
sister.

“It’s true, Dr.
Armaly told me on many occasions.”

“You spoke to
him?”

“No, but he spoke
to me all the time. Whenever Junior was off fishing. He needed somebody to talk
to, it made him feel good, and since I was a mute, he didn’t worry about what
he said. He said many times that the water was a diversion.”

“A diversion? From
what?” Alex asked.

“From Teleforce. He
said that Tesla probably devised the water to ease his conscience.”

“Now I’m confused.”
Turbo said.

“Dr. Armaly truly
believed that Nikola Tesla purposely created the concept to delay the world
from developing Teleforce. And it worked. The U.S. stopped working on it
immediately upon finding the water concept.”

“That makes sense,”
Yuri added.

“No it doesn’t,”
Turbo cried. “My uncle was a genius. The water will work, we’ll show them,
won’t we Alex---

Turbo fell to his
knees and bawled.

Carrie comforted
him.

“Carrie, I’m so
sorry, you too, Phillip. I’m sorry I got you into this. What a waste of time.”

“It wasn’t a waste
of time.” Agent Arnold exclaimed. If it weren’t for you, Mika, Sava and Marco
over there would still be out on the street. Not to mention those C.F.F.
thugs.”

“He’s right.”
Lawson told them. “Hell, Turbo, you helped us capture someone on the most
wanted list for more than forty years. I know he was your cousin and all, but
still.”

Turbo went silent.
Arnold and Yuri went over to deal with Marco.

The paramedics
wheeled Buddy out on a stretcher. Carrie stopped them before they reached the
door. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“For what?” Buddy
asked.

“For saving my
life.”

“Oh, that. Don’t
mention it. Will you visit me in the hospital?”

“Of course, I’ll
be there when you get out of surgery.” She kissed his cheek.

“Make sure they
give you lots of morphine,” Alex added.

Aluna nudged him.

“What? I’ve been
there. That shit hurts.” They followed the paramedics outside.

Carrie went back
over to console Turbo. “Well, at least we’re not dead.” She joked.

“Might as well
be.”

Carrie called
Phillip and Cosmo over to help. ”C’mon buddy.” Phillip said. We still have
Alex’s notes and Dr. Ganz. Besides, Dr. Trump is bound to show up sooner or
later.”

“No, Phillip, I’m
done. I lost my wife and kids because of him.” He pointed to the portrait on
the wall.

“You’re talking
crazy.” Cosmo said. “You got a half-million dollars coming. You can move to
Florida.”

“Thanks for
reminding me, Cosmo. I want to talk to you about that.”

Carrie and Phillip
turned to walk away. “No, come back, I want to talk to all of you.”

“Okay, so talk.”
Cosmo said.

“It’s about the
money, I’m gonna split it with all of you.”

They were
dumfounded. Cosmo spoke first. “Nah, I already got my Lexus, that’s all I need.
Keep your money.”

“Yeah, Cosmo’s
right, you’ve worked hard all these years, keep your money.”

“No, I’m splitting
the money, I’m gonna give you each a hundred-thousand. And Phillip, you’re
going to college like your grandmother wanted.”

Phillip hugged
him. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Yes, I do, and I
don’t want to hear anymore about it.”

Turbo noticed Alex
and Aluna talking to Lawson just outside the door. He grabbed the duffle bag
from behind the counter and brought it to him. Lawson and Aluna were making
goo-goo-eyes at each other. They hardly noticed him. He handed Alex the duffle
bag and asked what his plans were.

“I will stay in
America for a while, but I will go to Belgrade soon. There is an attendant at the
Tesla Museum that I must thank.”

“Well, make sure
you come see me before you leave, there is someone I’d like you to meet.”

Alex promised.

Turbo turned to go
back inside when he saw a Yellow-cab heading their way. The cab was obviously
speeding and had to lock up the brakes to stop in time. It definitely got the
attention of the Police Woman talking to Cosmo.

Turbo wondered who
would take a taxi to his shop, especially that day. His mouth dropped when
Phillip’s Aunt Edna got out of the cab. “Now don’t you leave me, I’m not gonna
be long.” She told the driver.

Aunt Edna made her
way through the maze of vehicles toward Turbo’s shop. “Wow, that’s a nice
Lexus. Whose car is this?”

Cosmo looked at
her funny. But Turbo called out to her before he said anything. “Aunt Edna,
over here.”

“Oh Turbo, there
you are.” She handed him her oversized handbag. “Be a dear and carry that for
me, it’s too heavy.”

“Sure,” he said.
“Come inside.”

Officer Riley
walked over to admonish the cab driver. Cosmo followed Turbo and Edna inside.

Edna went straight
for the recliner. Turbo set her purse down beside her.

Yuri and Arnold
were still questioning Marco. They had already moved over to the counter area.

Carrie and Phillip
were surprised to see Edna. Particularly Phillip. “Aunt Edna what are you doing
here?”

“I’m here to see
Turbo.”

“What?” Turbo
said. “Why do you need to see me?”

Phillip decided
against questioning his Aunt’s reasons for coming there. He thought it could be
due to dementia.

“Turbo, honey, I
got something for you, two things actually.” She reached in her purse and
pulled out a container of discs. One you might find at a discount store or
warehouse club. The label on top indicated there were 84 discs in the package.
She handed it to Turbo.

“What’s this?”
Turbo asked.

“It’s your papers,
the ones from the trunk.” Edna exclaimed. “Now Turbo, nobody uses paper anymore.
I scanned everything before I shredded it; it’s all there on those discs.”

Turbo took the
package of discs.

“But Aunt Edna,
why’d you put all that newspaper in the trunk?”

“Phillip, quit
being silly, I was gonna burn the newspaper anyway and I didn’t need that ugly
green trunk for anything, so I figured I’d just burn it all at once. I don’t
know why that darn furnace didn’t work.”

Turbo examined the
discs. It took a few seconds before he had composed himself enough to speak.
“Edna, thank you so much.” He handed the discs to Phillip. “Would you keep
these safe for me?”

Phillip smiled.
“But Aunt Edna, you said you had two things for Turbo.”

“Oh, Phillip, thank
you, I almost forgot.” She untied her scarf and unbuttoned the top few buttons
of her blouse. “I’ve been wearing this darn thing for forty years, I’m glad to
get rid of it.”

She pulled a gold
chain from under her blouse and lifted it over her head. The Edison Medallion
hung from the chain. “Turbo, this belonged to your uncle. Mavis gave it to me
the day Frederick died. She made me promise never to take it off. But I don’t
think she’ll mind if you have it now.”

Tears rolled down
Turbo’s face. He put the chain around his neck and let the medallion hang there
against his wife-beater. He thought about Maria and the kids.

Carrie and Phillip
congratulated him.

Arnold and Yuri
smiled as they ushered Marco out of the shop.

Marco wasn’t happy
at all. “The fucking crazy aunt, how did I miss the crazy aunt?”

Phillip walked up
and punched him in the gut. “That’s from my crazy aunt. The one who outsmarted
you.”

Turbo, Carrie and
Cosmo applauded.

“Now Phillip
Washington, why did you hit that man?” Aunt Edna asked. “I know my sister
didn’t raise you that way.”

They all laughed.

Carrie smiled and
waved good riddance to Rudy, then gave Edna a huge hug. They all fussed over
her.

Turbo slipped away
and called Maria’s cell phone. He didn’t really expect her to answer. He would
have settled for just hearing her recorded voice. But much to his surprise, she
answered the phone right away and even called him Turbo.

“Maria, honey,
it’s over. I’m done with my uncle and I’m selling the shop, please let me come
to Florida and make it up to you?”

Turbo had heard
what she said, but asked her to repeat it just to be certain. “I thought you
said come home, but I’m confused . . . home? . . . what home?” By then, everyone
in the shop had heard what he said. They were all staring at him.

“Our home? The one
in Brooklyn? You’re back in Brooklyn?” Turbo turned around and saw everyone looking
at him. “My family’s back in Brooklyn.”

Again, there was
applause. Turbo held up the phone for Maria to hear. Then he hung up and
hi-fived everyone on his way out the door. Thirty-seconds later, he came back
inside. “Hey Cosmo, can I borrow your car?”

###

Thanks for reading!