The Ilium Obligation (A Matt Savage Adventure) Chapter 41

[seymoure]

The moving hand writes, and having writ, gets an eraser

 

“We should all relax about life

because you don't have a clue

as to what's really going on.”
-Barry Sonnenfeld

 

As we walked down the ramp, we could see both Gerald and Rayleen waiting for us.

I was struck by Gerald’s sunglasses. It wasn’t an overly sunny day. Perhaps he had spent far too long in a dark laboratory, but I doubted that this was the reason.

Hugo and Rayleen were not to the point where they ran to each other and embraced, but they did find themselves standing before each other and he reached out to take her hand. It was irresistibly cute.

I walked to Mr. Ng and handed him the box, saying, “I need to know everything about the box and the paper inside that you can tell me.”

We were walking towards the gate as we spoke. I got the pair of us a bit of a lead, since the other two were more than willing not to pay attention to anyone but each other.

“Who did it, Gerald?” I asked.

He looked down and away from me and said, “I will find out who did it if it is possible . . . .”

I reached out and pulled the sunglasses from his face. He was sporting a big shiner on his right eye. He looked up at me with a face screaming of shame.

“Please, Mr. Savage,” he said as he again covered his eyes with the glasses, “Don’t make it a problem. You can’t scare them enough to leave me alone while you are not present. I fear next time I will just disappear. It happened often to members of my family before we came to this country.”

This was my fault. Hugo and I had tried to intimidate the cops who had made trouble for him before, and they had preyed on him while we were out of town.

I stepped back and said to Hugo, “Stay with Gerald. Don’t do anything but protect him.” The big man looked a bit puzzled but nodded his understanding. “He needs us to back off and not try to scare anybody. But we need to make sure no one hurts him again.”

The truth dawned on him and he started to explode in fury, but I put my hand on his shoulder and he got hold of himself. He kissed Rayleen’s hand and then walked up to stand at Gerald’s side. Gerald lowered his head in thanks and then the pair of them walked on.

As we finished the walk to the parking area, she told me, “Mr. Burton called from Washington and said he was at the airport and about to board his plane. That was an hour ago. We have a car waiting to bring him to the office.”

“Before the FBI office?” I was a bit stunned.

“You have to have priorities,” she joked.

We got into the cab she had waiting and pulled out.

That was when I recognized the driver.

He had a single eyebrow that rested across his Neanderthal features.

I was pretty sure we were not going to beat Rusty to our office.

© C. Wayne Owens
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