Payback (20 page)

Nikki waved the Glock. The trio picked up their feet and practically scampered to a set of French doors. Nikki aimed the gun and shot off the lock. She blew imaginary smoke from the barrel of the gun. The trio moaned as they grasped at one another.”

“Great shooting, girl!” Kathryn said. “Lights, people!”

Elaine scurried to a row of switches inside the door. Kathryn and Nikki both blinked. It wasn’t a room, it was a cavern. They took a minute to look around in disbelief. Oriental and Aubusson rugs, inlaid marble, French parquet, stained glass skylights and windows, priceless paintings, brocade-covered furniture, spindly tables with spindly legs. Nikki looked upward at the vaulted ceiling that had cherubs and angels floating overhead. “What’s this room?” Nikki asked, directing her question at Elaine.

Elaine looked like she was trying to decide if there was a right or wrong answer to the question. “It’s just…a room. We don’t use it.”

“Then why do you have it?” Kathryn asked.

“To…to hold our treasures. We…we call it the French room. Everything in this room is priceless, one of a kind. Things a collector dreams about,” Elaine responded. She appeared relieved that she’d apparently given the right answer.

“We sent your servants on a little vacation. The chauffeur and the garden crew, too. There’s no one here but us,” Nikki said as she continued looking around.

“Where is your home office? According to this,” Kathryn said, pulling a folded sheet of paper out of her shirt pocket, “it’s next to a suite of rooms on the second floor. Who wants to lead the way? And your home theater, where is that?” Derek pointed to the doorway on the left.

“Where’s the safe?” Nikki asked.

“We don’t have a safe,” Derek bleated.

Kathryn waved the paper. “Rule number one. Don’t lie to us. If you do, you will be punished,” she singsonged. “Take us to the office. Lead the way, Junior. Mummy and Daddy, follow Junior.”

Junior led the way through two more cavernous rooms — a Japanese room and a Chinese room. Kathryn and Nikki rolled their eyes at one another. The rooms were
stuffed
with treasures. “Does this remind you of a museum?” Nikki whispered.

“Yeah, one where the curator has really bad taste. Ah, we’re here,” Kathryn said, poking her head into the Monarchs’ private office. She whistled at what she was seeing. Nikki simply gawked.

“Yo, Derek, what is all this?” Kathryn asked, waving her arms about. “Remember rule number one when you answer.”

“Tell them, Derek,” Elaine said, clutching her husband’s arm.

“Don’t tell them anything, Pop. This is a home invasion,” Ethan squawked hoarsely. “You’re going to pay for this,” he squawked again.

Nikki waved her gun. “I-don’t-think-so! Lookee here, we’re the ones with the gun.” Ethan clamped his lips shut.

“It’s a duplicate of Monarch’s home office,” Derek said. “Everything is at my fingertips. Tell me why you’re doing this.”

“Really,” Kathryn drawled. “This is Washington. You gotta keep up with the trends. I’m thinking this is a trendy operation. No more questions. Show my friend how everything ties together while your wife shows me where your home safe is. But before we do that, Junior, strip down and then sit down. Well, what are you waiting for, strip!”

“Oh, my Godddd!” Elaine dithered. Her eyes sparked momentarily as though she understood she would be next. “Is it really necessary to do this? We’re cooperating with you. Why do you have to humiliate us?”

“Because we can,” Kathryn said coldly. “Humiliation is the least of your worries.”

Ethan stared defiantly at Nikki and the gun she was holding.

“Do you really want me to count to three?” Nikki aimed the gun and mouthed the numbers one through three. When Ethan made no move to undress, she fired at the point of his shoe. Shiny black patent leather and splinters of hard-wood flew upward. And a waterfall of blood mixed with black nylon from his sock. Elaine stumbled. Kathryn didn’t look back.

“Where the hell is the safe, Elaine? We’ve been walking for a long time here. You better not be stalling me,” Kathryn hissed angrily.

“It’s in the private wing of the house. We really don’t use this section. It’s for…”

“I know, housing your treasures. You should get one of those moving walkways.”

“We looked into it but it didn’t…seem feasible,” Elaine whined. “This is the beginning of the private wing.”

Kathryn looked around. More cavernous rooms, more priceless rugs and paintings. “OK, show me the safe and open it up.”

Elaine Monarch moved toward a door in the center of what looked like a sitting room that held no less than seven ugly couches and eleven ugly armchairs. She opened the door, stepped through the opening and then opened another door. She stood to the side. Kathryn gaped at the heavy steel door. A vault similar to those used in banks. Her insides started to twitch. “Open it!”

“It can only be opened at three minutes past the hour. The time is precise.” Elaine looked down at the diamond studded watch on her wrist and then at the digital clock mounted in the vault door. “We have five minutes to wait,” she said nervously.

Five minutes later a tiny ping of sound could be heard from the mounted clock on the vault door. Elaine moved forward and punched in numbers. It took all her strength to turn the huge wheel but finally the door moved and then slid silently to the side on well oiled hinges. She pressed another switch that flooded the room with light.

The inside of the vault was possibly eight by ten feet in size with floor to ceiling shelves on all three walls. A small chair and metal table sat in the middle of the room. An overhead fan whirred to circulate the air. Probably so the money lining the shelves wouldn’t dry out, Kathryn thought inanely.

She turned to her hostess and said, “I really don’t have time to count all this but how much money is on those shelves? Remember rule number one.”

“Twenty-five million dollars,” Elaine mumbled.

“And the jewelry? That is jewelry in those velvet boxes, right?”

“Around sixteen million,” Elaine mumbled again.

“All right, let’s just leave this door open for now. Is there a shortcut back to your offices?”

“Yes.”

“Then hit it, lady. Don’t mess with me again. Why did you take me on the scenic route instead of the shortcut?”

“Why should I help you? You’re going to kill us, aren’t you? You people have no mercy.”

Kathryn chewed on her lower lip. “No, we don’t. Have mercy, that is. Come on, pick up those stilettos and let’s move. We wasted enough time with your scenic tour.” Elaine teetered on her spike heels but did as Kathryn ordered. Both women were breathless when they entered the Monarch home office.

Both senior and junior Monarch were stark naked. It wasn’t a pretty sight. “You’re next, Mom,” Nikki said, waving the gun. Elaine started to cry. “Don’t make me help you.” Elaine complied. A naked Elaine was not some kind of pretty. “OK, sit down,” Nikki said, indicating three small chairs on casters as she pulled a roll of duct tape out of her back-pack and tossed it to Kathryn.

“Oh, God, why are you doing this to us? I opened the safe. Take the money and leave us alone.” Elaine sobbed.

Nikki shoved her gun into the belt of her slacks the moment Kathryn secured the little family to the swivel chairs. Cell phone in hand, she called Charles but not before Kathryn whispered in her ear. “All our chicks in the area are secure. Tell me what to do.” Nikki scribbled furiously. “Got it. I’ll get back to you,” she told Charles.

“Turn them around so they can see the monitor.” Kathryn turned the chairs and waited.

“I’m only going to ask you these questions once. If you stall me, give me the wrong answers, you will feel” — she pointed to the cattle prod Kathryn was holding upright — “some severe pain. How do I access the business account?”

Derek blurted the information, his eyes never leaving the cattle prod. Ethan glared defiantly. Elaine continued to sob.

The question and answer routine went on for twenty minutes. When Nikki had all the information she needed she nodded to Kathryn.

A picture of a small blonde girl flashed on the screen. It was followed by pictures of a middle-aged man and then an elderly lady in a white shawl. Picture after picture appeared on the screen. The Monarch family looked at each picture not understanding what they were seeing but they didn’t ask any questions.

Then a series of pictures, possibly a hundred or so, appeared on the screen. They were all small children from newborns to children five or six years of age. All looked listless, their arms dangling at their sides. They looked like tiny robots.

Thirty minutes later, Nikki finally stopped popping pictures. She held up a thick stack of photos six inches thick. “Do you know who those people are?” she demanded.

“How could we possibly know that?” Elaine cried. “Just take the money and leave us alone. What are you doing? What do you want from us?”

“We’re going to give all your money away. To people like those you just saw on the screen. And, to these,” Nikki said, wagging the stack of photos in their direction. “Those people are your subscribers. You denied their claims. Most of them died because they couldn’t get the care they needed. The children were all born with Erb’s Palsy because their mothers were sent to a doctor Monarch approved of. When they were born, there was no doctor in attendance, the families tried to sue Monarch. Once again, you greedy people ordered arbitration by retired judges who were on your payroll. Needless to say, the verdicts were always on Monarch’s side because those judges didn’t want to lose the income you provided. Someone has to pay for that. We find you guilty as charged so you are going to pay. We’re going to bankrupt all three of your Monarch HMOs. And we’re going to ruin all the people who have helped you launder that money sitting in the vault in your personal quarters. When we’re done with you, we’re going after the doctor, his staff and all those bloodsucking judges on your payroll.”

Elaine continued to wail. Senior and Junior glared. They were getting good at it.

“Now, give me your personal bank information and that also includes all your off-shore accounts. Come on now, don’t be shy. Kathryn you might want to…ah…prod them a little to move things along.”

Kathryn yanked at the charged up cattle prod and gave Junior and Senior a none too gentle prod. They screamed in pain just as a knock sounded on the door. Elaine stomped her bare feet and tried to shout something but the duct tape Kathryn quickly put on muffled the sound.

“Oh, gee whiz, company,” Nikki said as she busily clicked the keys in front of her. She nodded to Kathryn who obediently trotted across the room to open the door. Julia waltzed through, followed by her husband. Kathryn slammed and locked the door.

Mitch Webster looked around the room, the color draining from his face.

Julia walked over to the duct-taped family members, leaned over and said, “I’m a doctor. Are you all right?” Her tone clearly indicated she didn’t care one way or the other. She dipped her hand into one of the pockets of her wrap and brought out a bouquet of hypodermic syringes. “You name it and I got it,” she said cheerfully.

“Julia! What the hell is going on here? Who are these people?”

“Well that one and that one,” Julia said, pointing to Nikki and Kathryn, “are my friends. These three are scum of the earth. Strip down, Mitch!” Julia looked at Kathryn and said, “I don’t smell it, do you?” Kathryn shrugged, not understanding the question. Julia laughed. “Testosterone! I think it evaporated.” She turned her attention back to her husband, the bouquet of syringes still in her hand. “Strip or you get one of each!”

“Are you crazy?”

The charged up cattle prod snapped outward and Mitch doubled over. Kathryn struck a second and third time. Mitch took off his clothes. Kathryn clucked her tongue. “You bad boys never seem to learn.”

A knock sounded on the door.

“Oh, gee whiz, more company,” Nikki gurgled as she sent blizzards of numbers flying across the screen.

Kathryn tossed the roll of duct tape to Julia who shoved her husband onto the last chair in the office. “My goodness, where
are
my manners? I’d like you all to meet my philandering husband, Senator Mitchell Webster. Mitch, these lovely naked people are the Monarchs of the infamous Monarch HMOs. We’re giving away all their money and making restitution to their subscribers. Actually, what we’re doing is bankrupting them and their company.”

Mitch opened his mouth to snarl something but Julia slapped a strip of tape over his mouth.

The door flew inward as Kathryn backed up. Two black clad figures brandishing swords danced into the room. Only their eyes were visible in the black hoods. Yoko advanced, brandishing a wicked-looking sword as she yelled, “
Eyow!
” she followed up with a high pirouette. A puff of smoke exploded from her hand before a steel star sailed through the air to land between Ethan Monarch’s legs. Urine squirted high in the air.

Not to be outdone, Alexis whooped, whirled and dipped as she, too, delivered puffs of smoke and loud bloodcurdling shouts.

“Ninjas!” Derek Monarch moaned pitifully, his eyes on the star between his son’s legs.

Elaine screamed at the top of her lungs.

Derek looked down at his privates and then at the swords in the hands of the black clad figures. Mitch tried to cross his legs. “Just think of us as a bunch of party animals, Mitch.” Then Julia laughed. And laughed.

“By the way, we’re all together,” Nikki called from her computer station. “It’s time to divvy up,” she called out cheerfully. She pointed to Kathryn. “Do you have any special causes?”

“Let me think. Can I pick anyone I want?”

Nikki nodded.

“Let’s donate twenty thousand to Green-peace. Another twenty thousand to the Sierra Club. Two million to the ASPCA. Twenty million to Emily Sanchez’s family.” Kathryn turned to the Monarchs. “Monarch said the bone marrow Emily needed was unnecessary. Emily died. Nah, make that twenty-five million. I heard the Cartoon Network is in financial trouble. Let’s give them a hundred thousand. Murphy loves watching cartoons.”