Birds of a Feather

"What are you going to do with them, Mr. Tromble?"

"Julie, you and I, together, are going to take them out into the ocean and dump them in."

"Murder them, both of them?"

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"Sir, if that's what you want, then I'm there for you. And, to tell the truth, I've been praying for the two of them to die for the last ten years." Her answer brought a deep belly laugh from Jack.

"Well tonight, in a way, both our prayers will be answered. Julie, bring me one of my celebratory cigars, one of the Cubans."

"Yes, sir. I know the ones. I'll be right back." While she was out of the room, Jack looked at his two condemned prisoners. "See how easy it was for me to get someone to help get rid of you, someone who looks forward to killing each of you. You're both scum and everyone who meets you knows it. Tonight, I get rid of you both, and I get your sixty million to make any guilt I might have melt away in the heat of the Caribbean sun. Me and my personal little slave girl Julie will live the good life from now on"

Julie returned, holding one of his prize Cuban cigars and his lighter. He took the cigar, twirled it around between his fingers, and looked at Cassie and Ken. "You guys know I always smoke one of these cigars after closing any big deal or winning a big case. Getting the both of you out of my life and getting all your money, well, this sure as hell warrants celebrating." He stuck the cigar in his mouth, held up the lighter and puffed until a glowing ember lit the end. He took a deep drag and puffed out little smoke rings. Satisfied, he strutted toward the window. He looked out, again watching the restless ocean, contemplating his future, his fortune, and the long, easy life that lay ahead.

Strangely, Jack began to feel his legs wobbling. He grabbed a chair back to steady himself, then collapsed into the chair. A look of shock came over his face. He looked at his cigar, then at Julie. She smiled at him. "The venom works much faster if it is inhaled instead of ingested. I used a syringe to inject some into the cigar."

Julie took a deep breath, held it, and walked over to her boss. Holding the cigar with a tissue, she stuffed out the lit cigar in an ash tray, then backed away and breathed. "I'll let the air clear a minute, then we have a little chore to take care of."

Julie left the room and returned minutes later carrying Mr. Tromble's laptop computer. "Let's see. What should we type?" She casually placed the keyboard beneath Tromble's hands. Lifting his hands, she moved his fingers around until she had typed out, "I can't live with what I've done. I'm sorry."

"There. Short and sweet, typed with your finger prints all over it. This is working out exactly as I hoped." She grinned and glared at her boss. "Julie do this, Julie do that. You think because you got me out of that shit hole that I'm your personal slave? I've heard you call me that. For your information, I'm nobody's slave. Not only that, Mr. Big Shot Lawyer, after all these years working for you, helping you with each and every shady scheme you concocted for your clients, little Julie learned a few things.

"I helped you set up those Cayman accounts for Mr. Shaw. I know where every penny is hidden. In fact, I have the accounts all recorded, with the passwords, in my phone. I checked the balances last night. About sixty million dollars. And I will be the only person on earth who even knows the money exists after the three of you are taken care of."

Julie left the room for a few minutes and returned with a small glass vial. She walked to Ken Shaw, who opened his eyes wider at her approach. His cheek twitched. "Looks like you are getting a bit of feeling back in your face. We can't have that, now, can we?"

She pried open his mouth and used a dropper to place not one, but three drops on his tongue. She pushed his mouth closed and repeated the procedure on Cassie and then, finally, on Jack. She left the vial of toxin in Jack's hand, carefully squeezing his fingers around it and putting his finger prints on the lid. "That should do it," she told herself. She looked around the room at the three silent bodies. "Well guys, you all have maybe an hour to live. I guess it's time for me to accidentally discover you and panic like a school girl."

With a devilish smile, she dialed 911. "Come quick. I'm in my boss's yacht and I think he poisoned two people and is trying to take his own life as well. Please hurry." After some conversation about her name and the location, she hung up.

She looked disgustingly at the three alert but motionless bodies. She walked to her boss and thumped his nose. "They'll be here soon and they'll do their best to save your sorry asses. But the antidote is made in Australia. Oh my, that's on the other side of the world isn't it. I don't think they'll get it here in time, do you?"

She walked to her purse, reached in and took out some pepper spray. Squirting a drop on the floor, she touched her finger to it and then dabbed at her eyes. Within seconds, her eyes reddened and tears streamed down each cheek. "Do I look distraught?" she asked, teasing her victims.

The cavalry arrived, bags in hand, and boarded the huge boat. Entering the room, they quickly went to work, examining the three paralyzed people. "Any idea what kind of poison this is," one asked, holding up the vial he took from Jack's hand.

"No," Julie answered between sobs. "I can't even imagine," she answered again, blubbering, her shoulders heaving.

"They're breathing, but all three seem to be paralyzed," one of the techs observed. He noticed eye movement. Holding Ken Shaw's head, he looked into his eyes and instructed, "Sir, blink once if you can understand me." Ken Shaw blinked. "Son-of-a-bitch," the medic exclaimed. He pulled out his radio and called the base. "Get me the chief," he asked the dispatcher.

"What do you need?" the chief asked when he got to the radio.

"I promise never to rag on you again about being a boy scout. You were right. After that article in the Times, some idiot did decide to use that Australian spider toxin. Did you order enough anti-toxin for three victims?"

Julie's skin turned a gray-white pallor and she collapsed against a counter, her mouth open, slack jawed.

"Thank goodness. Bring it here stat. Yeah, three doses. There's enough time. From their vitals, I'd say we have about an hour before their organs shut down. But if..., yes sir, okay. See you in ten."

The gleeful paramedic turned to Julie. "Don't worry miss. You're in luck. We have just the thing for this particular poison. After we inject the anti-toxin, your friends will be up and talking their heads off within the hour."

Julie looked about the room. Gonna be one hell of a conversation. A conversation I'd do well to avoid. She quietly picked up her purse. "Excuse me. I need a break. I know you guys are used to this sort of thing but looking at..." She waved her arm around at the bodies. "Mind if I walk along the pier to clear my head?"

"Of course ma'am. Do you need any help?"

"No. I'm fine. I'll be right outside if you need me, though I can't imagine what I could do to help."

Julie left the room. "Poor girl," one of the medics commented.

Julie casually walked down the pier, gathering speed the further away she got, almost running as she neared her car. Grabbing the door handle, she opened it and jumped inside. She pulled out of the parking lot and raced for the interstate. Which way, she thought. Doesn't matter. Whichever way gets me out of town faster. I can't be around when they wake up. I'll end up in prison for life. My one chance to be rich—all gone because some damn paramedic decided to be prepared. She looked at the speedometer."Shit," she muttered, forcing herself to slow down. Can't afford to get stopped by the cops.

The chief arrived and the young paramedic reached for the cooler his chief held toward him. "This it?"

"Yep. Should take care of the problem. Three doses, just like you asked for."

The paramedic reached inside and started to remove the plastic safety cover on one of the syringes. At the last moment, he paused and read the label. "Chief, this isn't the spider venom anti-toxin. This is that snake venom anti-toxin we talked about. This won't help. Totally different chemical pathways."

The chief grabbed the hypodermic and read the label. "You're right. Damn. I ordered the wrong one. He looked up with a stunned expression. "This means..."

"Yeah. They're all gonna die without telling us how this happened."

Julie raced north. She checked her watch. They must be talking by now, she thought. hoping she could get to Canada before the cops put some kind of BOLO on her. She wondered if she could change her name, how hard it would be to get a flight to a non-extradition country, how people get a fake identity. As those thoughts bounced around her head, her hands trembling on the steering wheel, Jack Tromble drew his last breath.

Consumed with worry, she over-reacted when a drunk driver swerved into her lane. She jerked right, sending her car careening out of control. It came to rest smashed against a concrete embankment. Inside the smoking, twisted hunk of dead metal, her body lay trapped, equally twisted and just as dead as the metal tomb that surrounded it.

A short time later, paramedics arrived and pronounced Julie Hendricks dead at the scene. "So sad," one EMT commented. "Young woman like that probably had a lot to live for."

Finis

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Now, dear readers, some trivia. The Australian spider neurotoxin is a real thing. And yes, it can render the victim paralyzed but still completely conscious. The Aussies get all the fun poisonous animals, snakes, frogs, spiders. Lucky them.

There is a similar situation that can arise with some anesthesia, where the patient has a reaction that leaves them awake but paralyzed and unable to tell anyone. A few sad cases have happened where the patient underwent surgery, fully awake and feeling every knife cut, but unable to speak or scream their pain.

My goal is to entertain. I hope this story had enough twists that at least one surprised you. If so, I'm glad.