Pink Lemonade Ch. 04

I closed my eyes a moment, feeling myself back on the Fairgrounds, feeling that tug that had saved me from Keeler's shot, then seeing Oldeeds taking the bullet in the back, the look of horror on his face, and Steven Ikea's... feeling the bullets whizzing by me...

I opened my eyes. I had fallen asleep. Bowser had come downstairs, jumped on the sofa next to me and put his head in my lap, which had awakened me. I petted him on the head, letting my hand stroke down his back as my head fell back again...

"Well, Commander Troy," said the husky female voice, "you're really looking in the wrong place..."

"Wha?" I gasped, opening my eyes. I could only see in black and white, and I was sitting in a chair in a dark room of limitless space, only a cone of light from a fixture above me beaming down on me and illuminating the dust particles... and there she was, right in front of me... Angela Harlan, the Black Widow...

"Yes, Commander, my darling Commander Troy..." Angela said, "I tried to help you, I really did..." She was standing in front of me, naked except for black high-heel pumps, her firm, luscious breasts standing out, her nipples hard and standing spikes inviting attention... her black-fringed pussy lips gaping open, desiring to be filled...

"I tried to help you, you have to look in the right place..." the Black Widow said. And then the vision faded.

I opened my eyes. I was in my den, seeing in color, seeing Bowser's yellow fur as he looked around the room. He got off the sofa and began sniffing around where Angela had seemingly stood. He looked around the room, as if looking for something but not seeing it. I could sympathize.

As I sat back, feeling a cold shiver run through my body at the memory of the Black Widow, it hit me what she had been saying... the clue she'd left, trying to 'help' me... Yes... yes, of course...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Would you like some sherry?" he asked his guest. "It's a rare and expensive brand, but a woman of your excellent tastes can appreciate it."

"Certainly. You're very kind." said Katherine Woodburn. He handed her the glass, and she swirled the dark liquid and sniffed the pleasant aroma, then tasted it.

"Mmm, excellent." she said.

"I'm glad you appreciate it." he said. "It's not often I find other people who are able to properly understand a fine drink."

"Yes." Woodburn said. "So... it's late, so please excuse me if I come to the point directly and ask why you wanted to see me tonight?"

"Yes, I do understand." he said. "Mr. Sharples did significant damage on our behalves, and exposed the Enemy's operations in California. But in doing so, he's no longer in a prime position to help us within the Town & County Police Force. Our resources there are growing thin."

"Yes, they are." said Katherine. "And I'm hearing that the Iron Crowbar is clamping down. Computer information is no longer nearly as easily accessible. Even Brownlee has been cut off."

He sighed. "Brownlee. My God, that such idiots are allowed to exist on this earth... Katherine, you are a rare exception to the norm of humanity. Do you know how staggeringly mind-numbing it is to have to deal with the idiots that most people are? The total lack of intelligence that I have put up with in these leeches, these scumbags?"

"Well, that cannot be said of the Iron Crowbar." said Katherine.

"Even he, my dear." he said. "Even he is not a worthy opponent. As you will soon see."

"I was surprised," said Katherine, "that he saved Priya Ajmani. Even went against his wife to do that. I know he pretends to be a man of integrity, but that was interesting, don't you think?"

"He hates the CIA." he said. "If he didn't, he would've joined them years ago. I'm sure he is eagerly awaiting for his wife's retirement from that filthy institution of secrets and betrayals. I so enjoy turning their agents, and agents of the FBI, to my side, and having them totally betray the Government they claim to love."

He continued: "And speaking of those: have you considered, Ms. Woodburn, how Mr. Sharples just clammed up about the investigation into Agent Reubens's death, as a guilty man should... but he so vehemently protested his innocence when accused of giving Ms. Ajmani the information about Janet Riordan and the California undercover operation?"

"Uh, Priya said it was Sharples' name on the envelope, and his cell phone that sent the text telling her where to get the information."

"And you accept that at face value?" he asked. "I certainly wouldn't, especially when the Iron Crowbar is nearby."

"If you say so." Katherine said, finishing her drink. "Well, I must go. Politics are heating up. Jack Lewis is ready to announce over the Labor Day weekend, and the Republicans have no one to challenge him. It should be a shoo-in."

"Don't be so sure." he said. "Val Jared may yet be persuaded to run again."

"What about Brownlee?" Katherine asked. "What are your instructions for him?"

"My dear Katherine," he said, "leave that piece of dog shit to himself. As I said, he is truly an idiot. Let him be washed away with the receding tide of the ocean of stupidity. He is of no value to us; indeed, he is becoming a liability. He is a hopeless fuck-up."

As she turned to go, he said "I leave you with this one thought: just how was the Iron Crowbar able to detect the location of Ms. Ajmani, and therefore go to rescue her? How did he know where she was?"

"I... I don't know--" Katherine said, but he raised a hand to stop her, the long fingers pressed together.

"Don't answer now. Just contemplate." he said. "Just contemplate." And so Katherine would as she went to her car and drove off into the night...

He got up and prepared to leave, not to go home but to his next meeting. It was at Ward Harvester. He chuckled to himself, thinking how Katherine, Priya, and their associates had no idea of his involvement with the group that colloquially called themselves 'The Four'... and 'The Four' had no idea of his involvement with Katherine, nor with his marked cards on the Town Council, nor his marked cards within the University. The right hand did not know what the left hand was doing, as the Bible said.

It's good to be the King, he thought to himself. Something that filthy Iron Crowbar would never be allowed to understand...

Finis.