Deadrock (16 page)

The office was
dark and empty. Big Red, the paper mache rat creaked and spun gently as Max
closed the etched glass door. A buzz rang out and he ran to the elevator. The
light above the closed doors lit B for Basement. He ran to the stairs and
swiftly slid down the banisters to the bottom floor. Silently he opened the
stairwell door and crept his way along the dark basement wall. Silently, he
entered the vault room, heard a voice, and froze.

"Gloria!
Gloria?" called Ted in the darkness.

Max ducked down
behind a stack of empty cartons. Ted passed near him as he trailed his fingers
along the basement wall and groped for the light switch.

"Ouch!"
Ted said, "Darn cart!" His hand finally found the switch and he
turned on the light. Cautiously, he made his way through the mountains of empty
cardboard boxes and peered inside the open vault.

"Gloria?"
He heard a loud CLICK and spun around to find Powers aiming a gun at him.

"Powers!
You nearly scared me half to death! What's going on?"
           
"Don't
come any closer, Ted," said Powers. "I got your passport from your
desk." He tossed the passport to Ted. "Put it in our pocket. You're
going to need it for your trip."
           
"But
I'm not going on a trip," said Ted.

"Oh, but
you are. A nice long cruise. Of course, you don't reach port for a hundred
years," said Powers.

"
Powers,
hold on a minute –"

"But don't
worry, Ted, I'm sending Gloria with you. After I kill you, I'm going to ask her
to help tidy up. Then I'll kill her, too. Everyone will think you two left the country
with the money I've embezzled from the company."

"You! I
knew someone was – but why
?!
"

"You know
I love to gamble, Ted. And those bookies can get so grouchy when you can't pay
up. So I borrowed the company money, signed a few checks and withdrawals in
your name, that kind of thing."

Ted moved
slightly forward. "Look, Powers, we can work something out, or you can pay
me back!"

"No time,
Ted. We're going to pipe you aboard now. So if you'll just back up a few steps
onto the gangplank…" He moved forward menacingly but Ted hurled the
passport into his face and rushed him. They scuffled, the gun fired, and Ted
slid to the floor.

Powers tugged
his blazer down and straightened his tie. "Rough waters there for a moment,
Powers, old boy, but it's smooth sailing ahead," he said to himself. He
went to the vault timer and set it. "Okay, Ted, all aboard!" He bent
down to drag Ted into the capsule.

"Hold it
right there, Powers!" Max cried.

Powers looked
up in surprise and dropped Ted. Max suddenly realized that he didn't have a
weapon. He gaped at Powers then, THUNK! Everything went beautifully black.

Max floated in
the lovely, soft darkness. He had a nagging feeling that he needed to do
something but it didn't matter. He'd just float. He felt pain floating with him,
but it didn't touch him.

He drifted on
the black river for a thousand years until he hit a snag. It hurt his head and
burned his eyes. Let me sleep! I just want to sleep. But the drifting stopped
and the pain set in. He heard his father's voice, "Don't open your eyes,
just
play possum." Why is Dad here? Where am I? Whose
voices are those?

"How'd
the kid get here?" someone said.

"Shut up!"
a woman said.

Who is that
woman? Don't open your
eyes,
don't open your eyes…a loud,
familiar CLICK and Max's memory billowed up. He opened one eye a crack and
stared at the backs of Powers' shoes.

"Gloria!
What a surprise! Quick thinking, knocking out the kid that way!" said
Powers nervously. "I was just going to call you, sweetie. All according to
the plan."

"So I
heard. And you had a little surprise planned for me, didn't you, Captain Bligh?
A one-way ticket on the Titanic!" said Gloria.

"That was
a…that was a joke, Gloria! Ha-ha. You can put that gun away now. Can't you take
a joke?" he said.

"Sure. In
fact, I know a really funny story that I'm going to tell you while you drag the
hero here into the vault," she said, pointing to Max. Max shut his eye.

"Gloria, sweetie…"
wheedled Powers.

"Heave
to, sailor!" she barked. Max felt himself dragged onto the cool steel
floor of the vault.

Gloria's voice
came from the vault doorway. "My funny story is about two partners who get
killed and put into a time capsule by their secretary. Are you laughing yet?"

"Gloriaaaaaa!"

"Wait, it
gets better, Powers. The secretary covers up her crime by tearfully telling the
police that she's discovered the partners' plot to embezzle money and leave the
country. She can even show them the books."

"Glooooooria!"

"Then,
after a reasonable time, the secretary leaves for Bali with the embezzled
money." Max peeped through one eye and saw Gloria wave a huge wad of cash
at Powers.

"My
MONEY!" he screamed.

"It's not
safe to keep so much cash in your apartment, Powers. You could get robbed,"
she said.

"Give me
my money!" He sprang at her, she shot, and Powers fell. Holding the gun on
him, she approached him slowly, cautiously. She kicked him slightly with her
pointy toe. He lifted his head weakly.

"Gloria?"
he wheezed.

"Die!"
she hissed.

"Blast!"
He slumped and was forever still.

Gloria
retrieved the passport and Powers' gun and threw them into the vault. She
turned away toward Powers' body and grabbed it under the arms.

Now's my
chance, thought Max. Get up and rush her! He lifted his head and a wave of
nausea broke over it.

Gloria
struggled on her high heels and half-dragged, half-shoved Powers into the
vault. She turned to drag Ted in to join them. "Room for one more, Teddy!"
she said.

Now, Max
thought! Get
up,
it's your last chance! He got to his
hands and knees and looked up into the barrel of Gloria's gun.

"And
where do you think you're going, little boy?" she said.

CLICK!

"PPPPbbbbhhhh!"

"AAAEEEEIIIII!"
Gloria screamed.

"PPPPbbbbbhhhh!"
snorted Bluebell.

"It's a…."

"Buffalo,"
said Bird, snapping forcecuffs on her wrists. "Though I'll admit she's oversized.
Won her in a poker game." He threw Gloria's dropped gun into the vault,
then bent down to smile at Max. "Hey, Max, nice work! Bluebell, give Max a
hand!"

 
Bluebell nipped the back of Max's shirt
in her teeth. She walked him like a giant marionette to a pile of boxes where
she gently released him. Bird pulled out his Linker and pressed some numbers.

"Bluebell,
blow that paper money back into the vault and close the door on it, please,"
said Bird.

Gloria
shivered fearfully and hugged her cuffed hands up to her face as Bluebell passed
by. The big buffalo stamped and snorted, wafting the paper money into a
fluttering pile in the vault. She disappeared inside and rummaged around
noisily. Max held his throbbing head and wished for the peacefulness of the
black river.

HICCUP! BANG!
BANG! BANG!

"Bluebell!
Don't eat the guns! Now you'll be up all night with gas. Come here and take
charge of the prisoner."

"BBBBWWWHHH,"
blasted Bluebell, covering Gloria with spittle.

"Don't
let him eat me!" she cried, holding one toothpick-thin leg out against
Bluebell.

"Don't be
silly, she just had a snack," said Bird.

"HHHMMMPPPP!"

Bird laughed
and looked from Bluebell to Gloria. "Oh, good one, Bluebell! Yeah I get it
– buffalo floss!" Chuckling, he went to the pile of boxes where
Bluebell had deposited Max.

"Bird,
you were supposed to warn Nickie."
           
"I
was supposed to witness a crime, Max."

Max bent
forward and rubbed the back of his head. "You knew about Powers all along,
didn't you?"

"We
gamblers tend to think alike," shrugged Bird. "Besides, I had Big Red
rigged up with a camera. I taped everybody's doings all day long."

Max pointed to
Ted, still lying on the floor outside the closed vault. "What do we do
with him?"

"I think
he falls under the Policy of Non-Involvement," said Bird.

"He's
sniffing me!" yelled Gloria from under Bluebell's nose.

"I've got
to get her out of here. We'll go to the stairwell and get
an
immediate
prisoner retrieval. Are you alright, Max?" asked Bird.

"Yeah,
you go ahead. I'm going to sit here for a minute."

"He's
going to eat me!" Gloria howled.

"Hey, don't
worry, she's a vegetarian," said Bird. "Most of the time."
           
When
they were gone, Max lied down across a row of boxes.

"Dad?"

Max rolled
down behind the boxes when he heard Nickie's voice.

"Dad? I know
you're here!" she said.

Max peeked
between the cartons. Nickie caught sight of her father and ran to him.

"Dad!
Dad, are you okay?" She cradled his head in her lap and he opened his
eyes. "You're okay, Dad, you're going to be fine. It's all over now."

Max watched
her for a moment, and then sneaked away.

Planetary Earth Date: 21.7.2015

Max and Bird quietly
entered Ted's darkened hospital room and placed a vase of pink roses on the
nightstand. Ted glanced curiously at the baby-block vase inscribed, 'Hi Mommy!'

"They
were all out of 'Get Well'," explained Bird.

"It's
perfect." Nickie smiled at Max.

"So how
long are you going to be here, Mr. Rhoades?" asked Bird.

Ted raised the
head of the hospital bed and reached for Nickie's hand with his good arm."
Just a few days.
Then I thought I'd take a trip to
Rome. I think we need to check out a university of archeology there."

Nickie glowed.
"Let's just get you out of the hospital before we start talking about any trips,"
she said, and fluffed the pillow behind his bandaged shoulder.

A nurse poked
her head in the door. "The police are coming to question you, Mr. Rhoades,"
she said.

"Okay,
thanks." He turned to Nickie. "I still can't believe Powers. And
Gloria! Setting me up like that."

"What a
surprise," sniffed Nickie.

"He was
going to kill her, too, Nickie," said Ted.

"Don't
worry about Gloria, she can take care of herself. They're probably off
somewhere together now. I'm just glad he didn't follow through with his plan to
lock you up," she said.

"It's
strange about that. Maybe he heard you coming and-"

"Don't
think about it now, Dad, just rest."

Ted closed his
eyes and the three others tiptoed out of the room. They stood for a moment in
the flickering fluorescent light of the hallway.

"Uh,
Bird, don't you have to make a phone call or something?" asked Max.

"No, I
don't think so. No, I…ooooh, yes! Be right back." He wandered down the
hall, pulled his phone from his pocket, and without punching any numbers, began
an animated conversation with himself.

Max turned to
Nickie to say his goodbyes. "It seems like the right time to go," he
explained. "After all, the capsule's been locked and the ceremony's been cancelled."

"But I
was hoping you'd both stay on! Where are you going?"

"We've
got a new job starting right away. In…Krakow."

"Wow.
Sounds great." She lowered her head to hide her face.

"But I
have something for you." He handed Nickie a tiny, clumsily wrapped box.
She opened it and took out the tiny silver bunny that hung from a delicate
chain.

"And I'll
never see you again?" she said.

"Never's
a long time, Nickie," he said. He nodded toward her father's room. "Tell
him, tell him I was sorry," he said.

"No need
to tell him that," she said. "Please stay, please…take care of
yourself."

"Goodbye,
Nickie," said Max, and walked away.

Nickie traced
the outline of the bunny with her finger,
then
rocked
it back and forth to make it shimmer in the light. "Goodbye, Max,"
she whispered.

Max stopped a
moment to glance back at the pretty girl with the red hair clasping a chain
around her neck.

Max turned
sideways in the hospital elevator, in an effort to gain some breathing room. "Do
you think that was really necessary?" he said, pointing to Bluebell.

"She gets
so cramped," said Bird. "I should have aimed better though, I'll give
you that." He looked at the enormous blue buffalo with the gurney
teetering on her back.

"You
think she's okay, though?
asked
Max.

"Oh,
yeah, she's as strong as an ox," said Bird.

"Not
Bluebell – Nickie! You think she's going to be okay?"

"Perfectly
okay. I think she's going to make a fine life for herself."

"Yeah, it's
better this way. But you think she liked the necklace?"

"She was
very touched, I could tell. I think she's really fond of you, Max."

"Oh, and
you're an expert on women," scoffed Max.

"I've
spent a good portion of my time observing them," said Bird.

"So how
come a guy like you never married?"

"Max, you'd
be surprised at the number of women who don't like pets," he said.

"PPPPBBBBHHHH,"
said Bluebell.