8- Duality

8

Duality

How Leonard retells this part of the story…

Leonard had made his way back to the hotel fast.  He placed the small sub-machine gun under a newspaper he had found discarded in the street in order to not draw attention to himself.  Slipping in the front door, he made his way to the front desk.  The teller was a perky little twenty-something girl with blonde hair.

“Can I help you with something, sir?”  She looked up and saw the spattering of blood on his face from the van crash.  “My God!  Are you bleeding?”

Leonard shook his head and placed his free hand on her shoulder.  “Calm down, it’s not my blood.  I need you to call the police and get them here now.  Russian assassins have taken my wife hostage and are holding her against her will in Penthouse 1.  Do you understand?”

The girl nodded and picked up the phone.  Leonard began to move toward the elevators with purpose in his stride.  The girl at the desk cried out to him.  “Sir, where are you going?”

“Can’t wait for the cops, I’m going to have to do this myself.”  Leonard said, without turning back.

“Your wife is a lucky woman!”  The desk clerk called out to him as he stepped onto the elevator and pushed the button for the top floor.

“She knows.”  Leo said coolly as the door shut.

The lift began to pull him toward the top and he checked his gear.  Pulling the clip out, he saw he had half of it, sixteen bullets left. That should be enough to do what he had to do.  He jammed the clip back into the handle of the gun, then racked the slide before thumbing the safety off.

The elevator hit the top floor and dinged before opening.  Leonard stepped to the side, just in case something was waiting for him in the hallway.  When no shouts or gunfire came, he began to move through the hall, gun at the ready.

He made it to the door without a problem, then decided to knock.  “Housekeeping.”

He heard the movement inside and then the door began to open.  It was go time.

“Don’t move!” He yelled as the Russian opened the door and came face to face with the rage of a determined husband.

Leonard watched the man’s eyes go to his own machine gun hanging at his side, then back to Leo as if sizing up whether or not he could get to it before Leonard let loose with a burst.

“Go ahead.  Make my day.” Leonard said with a smile.

The Russian snapped his hand to his gun but he wasn’t nearly fast enough.  Leonard put pressure on the hair trigger of the Oozie and the gun barked, sending a stream of bullets into the target.  The Russian’s body twitched as the bullets entered it making him dance like some kind of deranged marionette.  He then fell to the floor, his blood pooling into the carpet.

“There goes my deposit” Leo quipped.

Stepping from the dining room was the biggest Russian Leonard had ever seen.

Scratch that, the biggest person Leonard hard ever seen.  A towering Goliath with short blonde hair and a hard, angled face.

Leonard pulled the Oozie open and tried to shoot him but the gun clicked in his hand.  The thing had jammed.  The gun was old and cheap and it was only a matter of time before it crapped out on him.

The big man pulled a .45 caliber pistol, pointing it and firing at the stylishly dressed American who had thrown a wrench in his plans.  Leonard tossed the useless gun away and dove into the kitchen just in time as the bullets slammed into the woodwork and carpentry around him.

The Russian followed Leo into the kitchen but Leo was already grabbing a frying pan and with one swing knocking the gun out of the Russian’s hand.  He then brought it back into the Russians face.

The monster staggered before kicking his meaty leg into Leo’s chest, staggering him back against the wall making him drop the pan.  The monster advanced, catching Leo’s throat and lifting him by it with one hand.

Leonard kept his cool knowing he would have to outsmart his opponent.  He quickly knife-hand-chopped the Russian’s throat.  The beast choked and dropped Leonard back to his feet.  Leonard leapt into the air and dropkicked the Russian with both his legs to the man’s chest, sending the beast backward through the door to the dining room.

The Russian crashed through the door breaking it off its hinges.  He hit the floor and began to bring himself to his feet.  Leonard dropped into a classic Bruce Lee pose, snapping his thumb to his nose twice to pay homage to the great warrior before charging.

Leonard’s blows were fast and many, raining down on the big Russian.  His punches seemed to strike him everywhere and all at once, stumbling him backward in to the living area in front of Josephine.

“Leonard!  I knew you’d come!”  She yelled, ecstatically.

Leo smiled, finishing his combo with a leaping karate-style jump kick.  The Russian went backward through the glass patio door and over the edge of the railing, toppling to the pavement five floors below.

A single white dove landed on the railing then flew away.

“Damn you are so good, and attractive!  What would I do without you?!” Josephine said as Leonard untied her.

“I don’t know, babe.  I am pretty awesome, aren’t I?” Leonard responded with a smile.

The ropes came lose and the two embraced, happy to be together again…

 

How Josephine retells this part of the story (how it really happened)…

Leonard burst through the front door of the hotel panicked out of his mind.  So much so, he had not thought to hide the machine gun that he was carrying while running around the city.  He turned and saw the perky woman at the counter who had yet to notice him.

“Ma’am you have to call the police there is-“ Leonard was abruptly cut off as she noticed the man in a blood covered novelty shirt waving a machine gun.

“He’s got a gun!” She screamed at the top of her lungs and dropped behind the desk.

“No, no I-“ Leonard tried to explain but was drown out by the bar patrons, continental breakfast eaters, and loungers waiting for a room, collectively screaming and panicking at the thought of being mowed down by a lunatic with an Oozie.

“Oh, come on!” Leonard yelled.  “Just call the police when I’m gone!”

Leonard ran onto the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor.  He would have to find a way to do this himself.  He had a short minute to check the gun and try to figure out how it worked or how much ammo was in it or even how to turn the safety off.

Realizing he had no idea, he would just have to rely on the threat of violence instead of violence itself.

The elevator dinged and Leonard jumped, having forgotten for a second where he was.  The doors slid open and he moved toward the room.  He knocked.  “Housekeeping!”

He heard the footsteps inside as someone came to the door, it began to open and Leonard yelled.  “Don’t move!”

Caught up in the excitement of the rescue attempt, Leonard, a man who had never held a gun much less a machine gun with a hair trigger, tensed slightly.  This was all it took and the gun began to unload.  Bullets ripped through the door and into the unknown person on the other side.  Leonard had also failed to prepare for the recoil.  The continued recoil pushed the barrel up at the ceiling and carved out a chunk of plaster which fell on Leonard who staggered before the, now empty, gun clicked.

“Jesus…” Leonard said in the sudden silence afterwards.

He pushed the bullet riddled door open and saw the dead Russian on the other side.  “I’m really sorry about that.”

“You have got to be kidding me.”  The booming Russian voice came from the inside of the hotel room and Leonard looked to see the biggest man he had ever seen shaking his head in confusion.

“All the wars and missions we have been on together and one idiot who doesn’t understand how machine guns work brings him down.” The Russian said as he lumbered toward Leonard.

Leonard tried to stay strong.  “I… I… I just want my wife.”

The big man gave him a mocking surprised look.  “Oh, is that right?  You think you are in a position to order me around?”

The big man pulled a pistol and put it to Leonard’s head.  “He deserved a better death than you.  Now I will punish you.”

The Russian tossed the gun away and grabbed Leonard by the throat hurling him sideways into the kitchen.  Leonard staggered into the stove, grabbing for anything that he could to try to get himself out of this.  He snatched a frying pan and brought it toward the beast’s head.

The Russian caught it.

He smiled and punched Leonard in the face.  The experience was unlike any other Leonard had in his life. At first when the punch connected it was like a second of nothing, as if the force of the blow had momentarily stopped his brain.  Then it came back online just in time to tell him he was falling.

Then, the waves of pain shot through his head.  He could see his noise leaking blood onto the tile floor.

The giant grasped his throat with his hand, lifting him into the air.  This cut off his air supply. Desperately, he tried to punch the hand that gripped him.  The blows had no effect other than to make the Russian grin.

The beast then hurled Leo upside down into the door to the dining room.  The top hinges gave way and Leo crashed into the floor awkwardly.  The big Russian began to kick through the rest of the door to get to his prey.

Leonard was convinced now that comic book characters were real and he was fighting an evil Hulk.  He began to crawl away.  Moving in the opposite direction of the Siberian death machine behind him was the best idea he could come up with.

He crawled because he couldn’t remember how to tell his legs how to walk.

“Leonard?” The confused voice of Josephine was to his left.  He had crawled into the living area in front of where she was taped to a chair.

“Oh.  Hey babe.  I’m here to rescue you.”  Leonard sputtered out through the blood leaking into his mouth.

“You’re going to get yourself killed!” Josephine’s concern for her husband was obvious.

“That is a distinct possibility.”  Leonard said.  He would have giggled but the giant, size fourteen boot kicked him across the face.

The Russian had caught up.

“Leave him alone!  I’ll tell you where it is!” Josephine pleaded for her husband’s life but the plea fell on deaf ears.

“Too late for that, my team must be avenged!”  The Russian dragged Leonard upright and punched him again sending him backwards through the glass patio door.  Only the railing kept Leonard from falling five stories down to the concrete pavement.

The glass had torn his shirt and cut his body in hundreds of small places.  It was over.  Leonard had failed.  He and his wife were going to be killed.

The Russian began to advance but Josephine, who had been working hard to get free, had managed to get her left leg loose.  She stuck it out and caught the Russian’s ankle.  He tripped and went forward, face-first into the remnants of the broken glass door.  A large shard driving directly through the man’s eye and into his brain.

He twitched twice and then stopped moving.

Leonard sat there breathing hard.  “Leonard to the rescue.”

“You idiot.”  Josephine spoke with tears of joy in her eyes.

TO BE CONTINUED…

7- Bad Guys

7

Bad Guys

It just didn’t add up to Eliza.  Josephine’s questions just kept repeating in her head.  They were questions that made sense.  People who did this kind of stuff did not hall off and kill their sellers.  If they did, no one would sell to them.

“Hello!  Earth to Liz.”  She was reminded where she was as Barkley jibed her from the driver’s seat of their standard issue four door sedan.  “What size do you want?”

They were getting lunch at McDonald’s and taking a break from the infinite room search.  She hated this place.  It was too fattening and the mere taste of it sometimes caused her to gag.  Barkley loved it, however, and he was the supervising agent so it was his choice.

When I’m done with probation, I am never eating this shit again.  She thought to herself.  “Small.”

Barkley turned back to the drive thru speaker and finished telling the minimum wage employee on the other end the rest of their order.  They pulled up, paid and got their food before pulling into a parking spot and sorting out whose was whose.

This process also annoyed Liz.  After all, if they were going to eat it at the restaurant why not just go in, instead of sitting in the parking lot like rejects.  Barkley said it was because he liked to pick the music he listened to while he ate, but Liz still thought it was stupid.

“It doesn’t add up.”  She said, finally.  She could almost hear Barkley’s eyes roll.

“Seriously, you are letting that vacationer get in your head.”  Barkley said as he munched on greasy fries.

“Look, just because she is a tourist in the wrong place at the wrong time doesn’t mean she’s wrong.”  Liz persisted.  “What reason would the shooter have to kill the man?  Even if he refused to give it to them, they would want him alive so they could get it out of him later.”

Barkley frowned.  “I don’t know, I’m not a crazy spy.  Look, there could be any number of reasons that guy shot first and asked questions later.”

Liz was silent because she couldn’t think of one that made any sense whatsoever.  The whole thing was starting to bother her, especially the gigantic Russian computer programmers on the top floor.  Barkley was treating it like everything was done except the finding of the drive, but Liz felt there was more to this.

She unwrapped the cheeseburger, if you could call it that, and the imitation meat, cheese, and bread stared at her menacingly.  She frowned back and rewrapped it, instead taking a drink of the watered down Coke.

“Where did you get the intel about the list?”  She asked him finally after swallowing.

This question seemed to get Barkley’s attention.  “A reliable source.  Why do you ask?”

Something about his reaction seemed defensive to Liz.  She just shrugged back at him.  “I’m just wondering if it’s credible, is all.”

Barkley stopped eating and frowned.  “It was a credible lead.  Bill Lentz was a traitor and that got him killed.  Look, I was the one who brought this to the department.  It is good.  Got It?”

Liz raised her hand in surrender.  “Okay, alright.  I got it.”

Liz did not get it, though.  Something was not right.  She planned to find out what that something was.

****

The bag was yanked off of Leonard’s head and he blinked while his eyes adjusted.  He was in the back of a van sitting on a bench against the right side wall.  From the slight jostling, he could tell the van was moving.

Across from him sat a large angular faced man with a Mac-10 Oozie pointed at his face.  “Don’t move.”

The words were in broken English with a heavy Russian accent but Leo had no problem understanding. “Got it.”

“Do not move.”  Another Russian to his left standing hunched over in the van between the back and the cab was also holding a Mac-10 Oozie at his face.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”  Leo reaffirmed staring at the barrel of the gun.

“Ask him about the drive!”  Another man from the cab, probably the driver.

“The drive?” Leonard feigned ignorance.

“Pavel.” The one seated in front of Leonard spoke this one word.

Leonard was then struck hard with a closed fist from the man standing to his left, the force sent him to the bench howling in pain.  Slowly he shook off the punch and sat back up.  His captors were polite and waited for him to recover.

Leo turned toward the man who had struck him.  “You must be Pavel then?”

This time he was looking at him and still never saw the punch.  It hit him just under the jaw and rattled his teeth.  He actually fell off the bench to the van’s metal floor.

The sitting man turned toward Pavel angrily and barked something in Russian.  Pavel shrugged back and the interrogator bent over to help Leonard up to the bench.  “My apologies.  Pavel does not speak English so he thought you had insulted him.”

Leo shook his head and he pulled himself back to the bench.  “Now why would anyone in my position do that?!”

The interrogator shrugged.  “This happens more often than you would think in our line of work, but you seem to be very polite and I thank you for that.  As does Pavel.”

The interrogator looked to Pavel and said a couple of things in Russian and Pavel nodded.  Leonard had the strange feeling that he had somehow fallen into the twilight zone.  “Thanks.  Glad I could be of help.”

“Now, if you don’t mind, where is the flash drive?” The interrogator asked.

Leo frowned.  “I really don’t know what you are talking about.”

The interrogator looked at Pavel and nodded once.  Leo again saw stars, this blow connecting just over this left eye and again he crumpled to the floor.  “Oh my, you would think you would have been prepared that time.”

Leo spit blood on the steel of the van from a freshly cut lip.  “Why would I be prepared?  You just thanked me for being polite!”

Again the interrogator helped him back to a sitting position on the bench.  “My friend, you misunderstand.  That punch was not for lack of politeness, it was for lying to us.  You do understand what is happening here, correct?”

Leonard stared for a second then looked up at Pavel then back to his interrogator and spoke questioningly as if searching for the right answer.  “You are torturing me to find out where the flash drive is?”

The interrogator’s face brightened and he nodded.  “Yes.  Yes, you have it.”

The nod was completely misunderstood however and Pavel cracked Leonard again in the face.  “What the fuck?!”

The interrogator shook his head and again barked at Pavel in Russian.

Again Pavel shrugged despondently.

“Again, I am sorry.  This is less confusing in one language.”  The interrogator said as he pulled out a cell phone.  “I will expedite this process.”

He hit a button and waited while the phone on the other end rang.  Someone picked up and after a few words in Russian, the interrogator handed Leo the phone.

 Leo took it as if it was a bomb.  A feeling in his gut made him sure that this was going to be bad.  “Hello?”

“Leo don’t tell them-“ Josephine on the other end spoke desperately and then was cut off by the phone being hung up.

Leonard’s face dropped and the smiling almost chipper interrogator politely took the phone back.  “You see the stakes, yes?”

Leonard stared back.  It was over.  As if the world was punishing them for their good fortune, the Devereuxs where about to be killed by Russian terrorists after winning $50,000,000.

Karma was real, and it sucked.

“Da.” Leonard said, it was the only Russian word he knew and it meant yes.

“Ah, you are such a wonderful captive.”  The interrogator responded happily.  “Even meeting us half way on the language iss-“

It was at this point karma again decided to shift.

Pavel turned to tell the driver that Leo had given in and the driver turned.  In that moment he failed to avoid the large pothole in the road ahead.  He hit it going 40 MPH.  Any normal driver would have experienced an uncomfortable bump, maybe the tire would blow, but that would be the end of it.

This, of course, excludes people standing in the back of vans with hair trigger Oozies.  The bump toppled Pavel backwards, the surprise caught him off guard and he jerked as he fell, accidently depressing the trigger, spraying Leo’s interrogator with bullets into his chest and abdomen.

The interrogator slumped backward, his hand with his Oozie falling to the bench next to him, the impact depressing his finger on his Oozie’s trigger sending a three round burst of automatic weapon fire through the back of the driver’s seat and through the back of the driver.

They driver made a gurgling noise then slumped forward on the wheel.  The van took a hard right, too hard.  It tipped and rolled sending Pavel bouncing around the back of the van and snapping his neck on the final impact.

The van had stopped moving and was completely silent.  It laid in the street rocking back and forth after its long and deadly roll.  Inside, Leo had a small crisis of self.

He decided no one could have survived the roll.  This conclusion was supported by a lot of evidence. Three bodies of evidence.  Two of them were sprawled on top of him limply.  He was also covered in their blood, from the random gun misfires.  Added to this was the fact no one had been wearing any kind of safety harness or restraint and Leonard Devereux was dead by any mathematicians calculations.

He took a deep breath and realized that he was not dead.  Somehow during the crash all the bullets had missed him while he simultaneously crashed only into the bodies of his captors, cushioning the impact damage he would have taken slamming against the interior of the van.

It appeared he had come to the wrong conclusion about Karma after all.

He remembered Josephine, tied up in their hotel room.  The other Russians had her.  He grabbed one of the Oozies and kicked open the back doors.  “I’m coming Joe.  Just hold on!”

****

The air in the car had gotten stale in the wake of the agents argument.  The only sounds were that of them chewing their subpar meat products when Liz’s phone buzzed.  Thankful for the ice breaker, she answered.  “Agent Eliza Adams.”

Barkley watched as she listened to the voice on the other end then she hung up.  “What was that about?”

“That was police dispatch.”  She answered.  “They have just gotten unconfirmed reports of a man fleeing the scene of an accident covered in blood and holding an Oozie.  The reports are saying he was wearing a goofy tee shirt.”

Barkley sighed.  “Going to be a long day.”

TO BE CONTINUED.