Ebb Tide Ch. 04b

"Do you want me to back you up?"

"How so?"

"I will walk in with you if that's what you want," I offered. Long pause.

"Where do you want to meet?"

"So we can meet to plan how to fight our way out, or after?"

"No. I will go and get the medicine. She is insane. She isn't likely to try to kill me again tonight. She might still decide to keep you and let the others die," Jo said.

"My place then."

"Okay. Give me twenty-five minutes." She hung up. Back inside for me.

"David, stay here. The rest of the ladies are poisoned and I have to deal with that before dealing with that matter we discussed. If you aren't back when I return, I will understand. If you are here, we'll work out your options then," I lied. He nodded. I took the girls back to my place. They were all too scared, or too conscious of dragging Sarah further into this, to talk much.

[...]

TC was yet another woman unhappy with me. I had all sorts of blood on me, the three party girls I had left with were now shell-shocked and I was more glacially calm than she'd ever previously witnessed, so I told her an abridged version of the truth ... including the address of the carnage.

She was going to send a patrol car out there. I suggested she send five, pick up a few semi-reliable (in her book) plain clothes and lead the charge. That got her out the door before Jo showed up. I met the assassin where the driveway hit the road. Trust was running shallow.

She gave me the vials and I gave her an address.

"What's there?" she asked.

"A guy looking for Thulsa Doom. His Yakuza family relations sent him this way to get him killed. He had my back in the arena."

"And you are sending me to him?"

"Yeah. He needs to go to a hospital with the beating his ribs have taken. Even if he walks out of one, he is going to keep asking around and we both know where that leads," I sighed. "I'm saving as many people as I can."

"I don't save people, Vardan."

"Then make it quick."

Yeah ... I needed to start cleaning stuff up. Most likely Jo didn't know about the trouble David still breathing would cause before now, but Reagan and Sycorax might have and I didn't need either holding his existence over my head.

I had to figure out what sort of problem he would be and that would take hours I didn't have right now. Also, at this juncture, I couldn't afford to NOT tell Jo about the danger he posed.

Once Jo was out of sight, I made four fast calls. One was to a cab service which promised five minute pick-ups. David had seven minutes at best. The second call was to Clark County Sheriff's Deputy Rothschild. She was to hotfoot it (by car) to an intersection and pick up a guy, then sit on him all of Sunday (until I retrieved him before she had to go to work Monday morning).

The important thing was he was injured – not by me, and he might try to leave – which would lead to his death. She decided this was going to cost me $2000 ~ FFS! I damn near felt raped. She reminded me I wanted her to illegally detain a person at her domicile for 24 hours for no good reason in her book.

She likewise suggested I could call her Colette, instead of Sheriff's Deputy Rothschild, when we were off the clock. Then she said she wanted to show her appreciation to me for helping pay off her student loans before hanging up. WTF?

My third call was to David, with some time-sensitive instructions. A taxi cab was coming to take him away from the 'safe house', but first he had to sabotage the furnace to start a fire. I verbally walked him through the steps, had him shut the door and race down the block to where he would rendezvous with the cab. He was on the phone until the cab pulled away. My fourth call was to the Fire Department reporting the fire. How Jo explained this wasn't my problem for the moment.

I went inside, administered what I hoped would be the proper cure, then we sat around as the clock ran down. The girls wanted to cry and hug. Not my thing. I was saved by the phone. Caller ID and everything.

"Mrs. Cho," I answered, once I was in the kitchen.

"By now things should have turned out positively," she stated.

"You would appear to be correct."

"Good. We should get together and talk."

"How are Reagan and Kristoff?"

"Still at the hospital ~ not answering questions, while my lawyers run interference."

"As was my intention," I told her.

"To keep them safe?"

"No. To keep Reagan somewhere I could find her if Dabney, Georgiana and Sarah died. Then, if I decided to take action, I could do so with minimal risk to myself," I related.

"Reagan is under the impression you two are friends," Mrs. Cho commented.

"I hold friends accountable for their mistakes too. By now I am sure Jessup has told you I am that type of bastard."

"He has hinted you were persistent," she mused.

"No Ma'am. Moles and voles are persistent ... pests. I'm a person not worth fucking with as the Lord of the Labyrinth is about to discover."

"Jareth?"

"Yes."

"Not the Tempest Witch?" London.

"No. She broke her covenant with you and the Lord of the Dead. She squared accounts with me."

"I'm sure she will be glad to hear that," Mrs. Cho chuckled.

"By that, am I to take it she came over to your place to make peace before her erstwhile ally tossed her into the path of the Lord of the Dead?"

"I will leave it to you to fathom her intentions, Mr. Vardanyan."

"I said that mostly to make this next bit that much more clear. On Monday at noon, I am seriously considering offering the services of me and my crew to the Lord of the Dead. I honestly considered working for you. This morning I decided only one of us should be lying to Kristoff at a time," I informed her.

"And you need to remain his friend?"

"Yes and no. After all the shit that just went down, Reagan better be open and honest with him this time around. If I was working for you, I wouldn't lie to him about it, and that just wouldn't work. Since you are now going to protect him, I am free to seek vengeance."

"You killing him will still be a problem." By 'him' she meant Lloyd Pharris.

"I have never planned to kill him," I corrected. That was the truth. See, I planned to both weaken Lloyd and render him irrational enough so his enemies did the killing for me.

"Do I have your word on that?" she inquired after a moment.

"Yes," I didn't rush to answer.

"Very well. I will deal with matters on my end. Have a good evening. Can I expect you for brunch?"

"I'll have to call you back about that."

"What do you want done with your car?"

"It should be on Police Impound."

"No ... it isn't. It was rescued."

I had to go through a quick laundry list of possibilities including someone spoofing my brand spanking new security system and stealing my ride ... or they simply stole Dabney's keys from her when she was held hostage. I hadn't asked and the fate of my new ride wasn't a priority to her at the moment.

"Does she think this changes a damn thing?" I asked.

"She is under the impression 'boys like their toys'."

"Dissuade her of that misconception concerning me, please," I requested. "I'll pick it up when we do lunch Monday at noon. By then, I should have something worth saying and have a more civil tongue in my head."

"Okay ... and Vance ..."

"Yes."

"Never threaten Reagan again. I'll put tonight's episode down to a shared, torturous mirage the group of you shared. Things were done and said which should not and would not have been done and said. Are we clear?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"Thank you."

"You are welcome, Mrs. Cho."

Diplomatically speaking, that was a 'reset'. She was letting me off the hook for putting the only thing she truly cared about in danger. It was said for the benefit of Sycorax as well as me. I honestly felt there was a serious difference though.

In a fundamental way, Circe and I had behaved in the precisely same manner – a loved one, or ones, had been endangered and we'd lashed out. The difference was ... Sycorax really should have known better. I didn't blame her for running to Circe when Reagan escaped.

Archimago had most likely made his own getaway as rapidly as possible, letting Thulsa Doom know he had nothing to do with the plot the other two hatched. Jareth's play was also rather obvious – hand Thulsa Doom Sycorax, which was why the crafty witch was at the last place the Lord of the Labyrinth expected her to go – and live.

Mrs. Cho wouldn't kill her outright. She had given Reagan and Kristoff the antidote after all. It was her final card to play. Had she gone to the Lord of the Dead, he would have tortured her for what he wanted, then killed her ~ most likely, so Circe was the 'saner' crazy choice.

By the time Jareth's hunters scoured the haunts Sycorax would normally retreat to, it would be too late – the countdown to 'death by poison' would have passed. No leverage.

Sparing me? That had been all Jo and I now owed her the lives of my ladies. Had she told Thulsa Doom? Most likely after the fact, because I didn't see him risking Jo for them. I owed her Big Time.

**

Cast

Vance (Vardan) 'V' Vardanyan – He had thick, black hair kept short. His skin is a dark-brownish olive complexion. Medium brown eyes. Square jawed. Broad chested with powerful arms, thick neck with more body-hair than the norm. A stocky frame (six foot tall, 240 lbs.).

Dabney Curtiss – She has long, wavy light-brown hair with blonde streaks and highlights. Her skin is fair and lightly tanned and feels silky to the touch. Golden-brown eyes. Heart-shaped face. 34DD sized breasts with pale, broad areolas and puffy nipples. Athletic body type with robust buttocks, thighs and calves.

Georgianna 'G' Norquist – She is a natural honey/amber-blonde. Her skin tans easily and is currently darkly tanned and smooth. Oval-shaped face. Clear grey eyes. Her body is fit, tone and statuesque; a smidge on the slender side suggestively rendering her 32D-sized breasts looking bigger than they actually are.

Detective Lieutenant Trixie Crowe Buchannan (LVMPD Internal Affairs Bureau [IAB] –Has the quick-eyed, coltish gaze of a classic over-achieving misanthrope, hazel eyes, set in an oval face; brown hair normally worn in a ponytail that drops to the bottom of her shoulder blades. She is 5'9" and 120 lbs. reflecting minimal exercise.

Detective Sgt. Soledad Moreno (LVMPD Robbery/Homicide – Homicide) – Hispanic female, attentive blue-grey eyes set in a slender rectangular face. Her long black hair is thin as silk, shimmers in the light as it cascades loosely down to her mid-back. She is 5'8" and 117 lbs. with a physique chiseled by a strict and diverse physical regimen.

Reagan Cho, daughter and successor for Circe , Vice Lady of Lust – She is tall, fit, dark tanned skin, kind of Asian-like. Long black hair and black-rimmed glasses. Very serious and intense most of the time; taut in mind and body, but has a witty sense about her when in good company. If she has a flaw, it is her willingness to let less gifted people know she is smarter than they are.

The Vice Lords

Circe Lust; Sandra Cho

Sycorax Gluttony; London Villiers aka Rachel Stone; sometimes called The Tempest Witch

Archimago Avarice; {unnamed as of Chapter 4B}

Jareth Sloth; {unnamed as of Chapter 4B}; sometimes referred to as Lord of the Labyrinth.

Thulsa Doom Wrath; Barabbas Raman; sometimes referred to as The Lord of Wrath, the Wrathful and Lord of the Dead.

Baphomet Envy; Lloyd Pharris.

Xaltotun Pride; [Vacant]

And, because it matters to Vance:

The Sailor's Creed

I am a United States Sailor.

I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America and I will obey the orders of those appointed over me.

I represent the fighting spirit of the Navy and those who have gone before me to defend freedom and democracy around the world.

I proudly serve my country's Navy combat team with Honor, Courage and Commitment.

I am committed to excellence and the fair treatment of all.