Princes of Mannsborough, Part 22

by Vulgar Argot

(MF, rom, anal, viol-nosex)

Thule called Matika back once he was on the road, "Can you talk?"

"Yes," said Matika, "I'm headed to Mannsborough right now."

"What do you know?" Thule asked.

"Not much," said Matika, "Jake called me on my cell. Apparently, Randy and Ivan had some kind of fight about Mrs. Vandevoort. Randy left and came back with a gun. Randy shot Ivan. Jake shot Randy. At some point, Randy shot Jake. It's all very confusing."

"Is anyone dead?" asked Thule .

"No one was when Jake called me," said Matika, "Jake's wound was superficial. He thinks he hit Randy in the stomach. There's some sort of private ambulance up at the estate right now. Jake said there was a lot of blood and Ivan was unconscious by the time the doctor got there."

"Where's Randy?" asked Jake.

"He slipped out in the confusion," said Matika. There are security teams all over the woods, looking for him.

Something clicked in Thule 's mind, "Are you saying that the police don't know anything about this?"

"Right," said Matika, "They're trying to handle it all privately right now."

"Matika," said Thule as calmly as he could, "how soon will you be in Mannsborough?"

"Fifteen more minutes," said Matika.

"I need you to go up to the estate and see if there are any local police cars up there," said Thule, "Just because they didn't go through official channels doesn't mean that the police don't know. Start calling the team. We need to move on this thing tonight if it's going to happen before Vladi becomes too suspicious to play along."

" Thule ," said Matika quietly, "there is no team anymore. In order for Anne to get the indictments, we had to make an accounting to the higher ups. We're all on pending administrative action. Only I'm still authorized to have anything to do with this investigation. If any of the others get involved, they'll be kicked out of the Bureau for sure."

"Fuck," growled Thule , "the Bureau thinks that this investigation only merits one agent?"

"No," said Matika, "they've assigned a team. My partner Anders is leading it. Before you say anything, Thule , he's a good man. He didn't want to believe the rumors about the Vandevoorts, but when the evidence was there for him to see, it made him sick. He's got nearly twenty years of experience in the field. Please, listen to what he has to say."

"Fine," said Thule , "tell him to get to my house. We have to move on this."

" Thule ," said Matika, "he's called off the sting we set up. He wants to go about it a different way."

Thule gave an incoherent growl of frustration, "Tell him if he wants my fucking cooperation, he's to be at my house by eight pm. I'll listen to what he has to say. But, if I don't like it, I'm going through with this, with or without the FBI's help."

" Thule , I..."

"Just tell him," growled Thule , "eight pm." He snapped his phone shut.

Thule fumed for a few minutes as he drove. Marigold said, "That didn't sound good."

"It was one of the disaster scenarios I played in my head when I had to decide at what point to go to the FBI," said Thule . "So, it's not entirely a surprise."

"What exactly happened?" asked Dawn.

"The FBI decided to send in a professional to take over this case," said Thule , "He apparently does not care for my plan for tomorrow."

"What does he propose instead?" asked Marigold.

"I have no idea," said Thule , the anger in his voice barely contained, "He didn't bother to ask my opinion, find out why I made the plans I did, or secure my cooperation. "

"Maybe you should try to look at it from his perspective," said Dawn quietly, "He's an experienced FBI field agent. He doesn't know you, except that you're some high school kid playing in his sandbox. Why would he consult you?"

Thule bit back an angry retort, looking at Dawn's face in the rear-view mirror. She looked like she was ready to be hit or screamed at for speaking up. He took a deep breath and counted to five before speaking.

"I'll give him a chance to explain his perspective," said Thule evenly, "But his actions so far suggest that he's not going to give me the same chance. I've been preparing for this over the last four years. I doubt he's been privvy to it for four days. He's making a mistake if he thinks I have nothing to contribute."

"You sound mad," observed Dawn.

Thule sighed, "I thought I was doing a pretty good job of not sounding mad."

Dawn shook her head, "You sounded like you were trying not to sound mad and not doing a very good job of it. That's even scarier."

Thule took another deep breath, "Sorry," he said, "I need to not make any decisions when I'm that angry. That's how really awful mistakes get made. Thank you, Dawn."

"So," asked Dawn, "if you have to do this without the FBI, does that mean I can help?"

Thule winced, "Not if I can help it."

"Help with what?" asked Marigold, "What is your plan for tomorrow anyway?"

Thule sighed. He'd held off telling Marigold his plan this long and hoped to not have to explain it to her until it was completed, "I need to know where Vladi put June Kane's body. I suspect that there will be more bodies there. Mannsborough High has had an unusually high suicide and runaway rate over the last four years."

He took a deep breath before going on, "I've been over a hundred scenarios in my head for this. They all require a corpse. Since neither Randy or Vladi has invited me into their confidence regarding victim disposal and I'd rather not wait until they do, I need to produce one. I could try to get a real one, but I don't even want to think about what sort of response I would get if I tried to acquire a corpse young, fresh, and pretty enough to fool Vladi. I toyed with the idea of actually killing Brianne. But, what I ultimately came up with was this..."

Thule took another deep breath before committing to say it, "The plan is to take Matika, have her soak in a bathtub full of ice to bring down her body temperature, then make her up with blue body paint, lipstick, the works, wrap her in a plastic tarp, put her in the trunk and call Vladi over to help me get rid of her. He'll lead me to where he disposes of bodies. Once I know where that is, I can call in the cavalry."

"But, Thule ," asked Marigold, "Vladi's not going to just stand there while you call for support, is he?"

"No," said Thule , "I'm going to have to kill or incapacitate Vladi."

"So," asked Marigold slowly, "if Matika won't do it, you're going to use Dawn?"

No one spoke. Despite the early summer warmth, Thule felt a chill.

Finally, Marigold looked up at him, "Are you sure you couldn't just kill Brianne?"

"Mari," said Dawn, "please don't pull rank on me here. I keep..."

Marigold shook her head, "As appealing as the idea is, I'm terrified of enclosed spaces. I would have a screaming fit if someone put me in a trunk." Suddenly, and idea dawned on her, "Unless you could chloroform me."

"It wouldn't work," said Thule , "I need whoever is in there to be able to hold their breath when I show them to Vladi. Breathing would be a dead giveaway that you're not...you know, dead."

Thule 's phone rang. A glance at Caller ID told him it was Matika.

"There are no police cars up at the estate," she said, "What should I do next?"

"Shouldn't you ask your partner?" asked Thule .

"He's in transit," said Matika, "He told me to sit tight."

Thule sighed, partly in relief, "Keep watching the estate. I need to know if they're going to call Vladi or one of their other cops in."

"I'm not sure I can do that," said Matika, "I drove past once, but they've got a ton of guys watching the front gate. I can't just sit across the street and, if I drive by too many times, they're going to figure it out."

"How are you at climbing trees?" Thule asked.

"Actually, I used to be quite the tomboy," said Matika.

Thule explained how to get into his house, where to find the required surveillance equipment, and where his fake duck blind was.

" Thule ," said Matika, "I want you to listen to what Anders has to say. He has a lot of experience. But, if you're still determined to go through with this, I'm in. But, it may mean the difference between whether or not I have a job when this is all done. So, please listen to him."

"All right," said Thule , "I'll listen. But, I can't make any promises."

-=-

As they pulled into his neighborhood, Thule said, "Dawn, lie down."

Dawn did, "Not ashamed of me, are you?"

"No," said Thule . "Marigold, take my cell phone off of my belt and hand it to Dawn. Dawn, dial up the number for Matika stored there. Tell her to get to the house as quickly as possible. I'm pretty sure we just passed Randy's car in the woods back there."

Dawn dialed and listened, "No answer. It went to voice mail."

"Shit," said Thule , "try again."

"Still no answer," said Dawn.

"Leave a message," said Thule , "Then, call Anne. Tell her to get a hold of Anders and tell him what's going on."

As Thule pulled into his garage, he reached into the glove compartment, pulled out the pistol, and said, "We have a couple of minutes at least. Act as natural as possible. Remember. We're not even supposed to know that Randy has been shot. We've been out of town and out of touch all weekend."

"What do you think he wants?" Marigold asked.

"I don't know," said Thule , "but I don't like any of the options."

Inside, Thule said, "If anybody starts shooting, I want you two to get out of there as fast as possible. Run for the woods and don't look back. Call the FBI field office and Jonas. You'll want to stay and help, but you're not going to be much help if he decides to shoot you."

The knock came at the door. Thule said, "Get to the back door." Marigold and Dawn stood motionless, so he added emphatically, "Go. If he starts shooting and you don't bolt like a couple of rabbits, I'll..." he sighed, "Just make sure you run."

Marigold and Dawn walked to the back door, watching as Thule drew his pistol and went to the front door. Standing to the side, he opened it.

"Dule," said Svetlana, "you have to help Randy. He's been shot."

She was barely holding Randy up over her shoulder. He seemed barely conscious, but held a sleek, black handgun firmly. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt, soaked through with blood. Her own cream-colored blouse and blue jeans were smeared with it.

Thule took Randy over his own shoulder, "Marigold," he said, "there's a big first aid kit under my father's bed. Get it. Dawn, call 911. He needs a doctor."

"No 911," said Randy, "and no doctors. I'm fucked up pretty bad, but I'll live if I can get this damned hunk of lead out of me."

"There's a lot of blood," said Thule , laying Randy down on his bed, "You really should see a doctor."

Randy laughed, wincing as he did, "I need to keep this quiet, Thule . This isn't the first time Vandevoorts have shot each other. I just need to get patched up and get to Amsterdam before this thing blows up. I have...allies in the family there." He winced, "At least, as much as Vandevoorts have other Vandevoorts as allies."

As he spoke, Marigold had cut away his shirt and was examining the wound with a small flashlight. Randy looked down at her, "Marigold, would you excuse us?"

"I need to get this bullet out," said Marigold.

"It's been in there for hours," said Randy, "a few more minutes won't kill me."

Marigold frowned, but left the room. Svetlana closed the door behind her.

" Thule ," said Randy, "things are not going to go as smoothly as I hoped. But, this may be an opportunity. There's been a split in the family for a long time, between the Dutch and the American branches. I think we can reunite both, but you'll need to marry Tryne for that."

Thule scowled, "We can discuss that later. Let's get you patched up and on your way to Amsterdam ."

"We need to discuss it now," said Randy, "I saw you at the prom Friday. I know how much you must really love Marigold. I can even see why. You need to break that off before it goes any farther or you'll never want to marry anyone else." As he spoke, he looked at Svetlana, whose eyes were starting to mist up.

"If you marry Tryne," said Randy, "I can build alliances in Amsterdam . I have friends there who want to see the family unified. With you and Tryne in charge of the family here, we could do that."

"All right," said Thule , "I'll think about it."

"No," said Randy, taking Thule 's wrist with the hand that didn't have a gun, "promise me."

"All right," said Thule , "I promise. Now, let's get that bullet out of you."

Thule opened the door, letting Marigold and Dawn back in. With Dawn assisting, Marigold got set up so that she could work on the wound. As Thule stepped back toward the doorway, Dawn backed up to rest against him and whispered, "Why are we helping Randy?"

Thule hugged her from behind, "We're trying to keep him calm until the FBI gets here. He's still got a gun and he's still dangerous. Besides, I want him alive to testify against Ivan."

"We should let him die," said Dawn.

"That bullet won't kill him," said Thule , "not for a long, long time. He'd get other help before it did."

Whatever Marigold was doing to him, Randy cried out in pain.

"Easy there," said Thule . He reached for Randy's gun, "You're going to shoot somebody if you're not careful."

Randy pulled the gun away from Thule , "I need to protect myself."

Thule crouched down, looking concerned, "Do you want something for the pain?"

Randy nodded, "Whatever you've got."

Thule crouched down in his closet, "I think I've got some...oh, wait. I moved it. Hang on."

He came back in with a glass of dark rum and a bottle.

"Give me the bottle," said Randy.

"Start with the glass," said Thule , handing it to him, "I don't want you so drunk that you can't defend yourself or run for it."

Randy nodded, "Good thinking. Always watching my back, aren't you, buddy?" He drank down the glass of rum in three swallows.

"You know it," said Thule .

"Wow," said Randy, looking at the empty glass, "I must be hurt worse than I thought or else this stuff is really..." A look of realization and betrayal crossed his eyes. He slurred, "Hey, you..." Then, he yawned hugely and was out cold, the gun slipping from his hand and thudding on the floor.

Before anyone else could move, Svetlana crouched down and picked up the pistol while pushing Randy's sweat-soaked hair back and kissing him on the forehead, "My poor Randy," she said, "He has had a very hard day."

" Thule ," said Marigold, "hold him in place. I've almost got it."

Thule placed his hands on Randy's ribs and leg, holding him down. Marigold worked a pair of tweezers into the wound, working something inside back and forth. After a few tense minutes, the bullet came free with a sucking sound, fresh red blood oozing out behind it.

Marigold waved Svetlana over, indicating a fresh pack of gauze she'd put over the wound, "Hold that in place. If it soaks through, don't pull it away. Just add another pack on top of it. Just, don't let it slip or you'll undo all of the good you're doing." She put her hand on Randy's gun, now in Svetlana's hand, "Let me take that. I'll keep an eye out while you do that."

Svetlana looked to Thule , who smiled at her reassuringly. She let go of the gun. Tears of relief were rolling down her face.

"Thank you both," said Svetlana, "I told Randy he could count on you."

A few minutes later, Thule heard a car pulling up outside and a door slamming shut.

"Who is that?" Svetlana asked.

Dawn looked out the window, "Older woman, maybe early forties, short blonde hair, navy blue suit."

"That sounds like Anne," said Thule , "Marigold, would you take over for Sveta, please? She'll want to meet Anne."

Thule and Svetlana went out into the living room to meet Anne. Thule let her in the front door before turning to Svetlana. When he turned, he said, "Sveta, Anne is investigating the Vandevoorts. She'd like to talk to you about some of Ivan's..."

Svetlana's face had gone white with rage. He hand flew up to slap Thule . Thule caught her wrist. She reached up with the other hand, slapping him on the as-yet unmarked side of his face. Then, she pulled away and bolted for the back door.

"Much better," said Thule , rubbing his cheek. Anne looked like she was going to give chase. He put a hand on her shoulder, "Let her go. I doubt she's done anything you can hold her for and she might come around. Randy's in the bedroom."

As they walked in, Marigold was taping fresh gauze onto the wound.

"Is he...?" Anne asked, hand flying to her mouth.

"No," said Thule , "he's unconscious. I gave him a cocktail of rum and Rohypnol. We'll want to get him to a doctor soon, though. I couldn't afford to be too subtle with the dosage. If you take him to a doctor in the area, there's a chance you could get him killed. Is there a staff physician at the field office in New York ?" Anne nodded.

"Great," said Thule , "that will get him out of danger and give me time to get what I need to do done before anyone is the wiser. He may come to before you get there, though. What are you driving?"

"My minivan," said Anne, "I came straight from home."

"All right," said Thule , "we'll have to secure him there. He might wake up between here and there. Take his gun in case...Where's his gun?"

Marigold looked around, "I must have put it down when I was working on his wound. I guess Svetlana picked it up."

"Well," said Thule , "at least she didn't shoot me. We'll just have to make sure he's well secured. Marigold, is he ready to travel?"

Marigold nodded, "as ready as I can make him."

Thule carried Randy out to Anne's minivan. With Dawn and Marigold's help, he secured Randy's legs to the back seat. Dawn took out her borrowed handcuffs and secured Randy's wrists to the other side of the seat before handing Anne the keys.

"Try to bring those back if you can," she told Anne, "I may still have a use for them."

"Maybe I should wait for Anders," said Anne uncertainly.

"I don't know how long Randy is going to stay out," said Thule . "You'll want to get moving. Besides, I need you to do this for me, Anne. If Anders isn't here when you leave, he can't give you any orders you'd have to disobey in order to help me."

Anne looked like she was going to say something. Thule said, "I know you want to help me or you wouldn't be here. I'd rather it didn't cost your job."

Anne shook her head, "Thank you, Thule , but I'm pretty sure none of us, with the possible exception of Matika, are going to have jobs after this, one way or another. I know John and Helene are ready to follow you to the gates of hell and I suppose that I am, too. Just tell me what you want and I'll tell them."

Thule nodded, "You have no idea how much I appreciate that. Tell them I expect to move tonight and to be ready. I'll talk to Anders, but I doubt he'll be amenable to working with me."

Anne nodded, "I suspect you're right. He's very 'by the book.' I'll let the others know." She kissed him on the cheek and ruffled his hair as best she could before getting into her van and driving off.

While he was still standing on the lawn, Thule 's phone rang. It was Matika.

" Thule ," she said unevenly, "I need help."

"Where are you?" asked Thule .

"I'm not sure," said Matika, "one of Ivan's goons took a shot at me as I was coming down from the blind. I think I got him, but I also think I broke my ankle when I fell. I'm in a lot of pain and not sure how long I'm going to stay conscious this time."

"What do you see around you?"

Matika paused long enough that Thule thought she might have passed out. Then, she began to describe the scene. When she mentioned a stream, Thule interrupted her, "I know where you are. Stay put and call Anders."

" Thule , I'm sorry," said Matika, "I called Anders first. He told me to call you, since you probably know the terrain better."

"No, you did the right thing," said Thule . "Hang tight. I'll be there as soon as I can. Give me Anders's number."

She recited it. Thule repeated it back to her for confirmation. Then, he said, "I need to get off the line for a few minutes. Will you be okay?"

Matika gave a pained chuckle, " Thule , I am an FBI field agent. I'll manage."

"Okay," said Thule , "hang tight."

Thule went into the house, quickly explaining where he was going as he changed into black clothes.

"Dawn," he said, "call Jake. Make sure he can speak freely before you say too much. Ask him to come down here and bring guns for you two if he can."

Dawn nodded. Thule took her and Marigold into his arms and kissed them both.

"Leave the bed the way it is," said Thule , "Don't wash or destroy the bedspread. I'm going to be using it to add credibility tonight. Once Jake is here, go to town and buy a half dozen bags of ice. I'll be back as soon as I can.

In his car on the way over, Thule dialed the number Matika had given him.

"Agent Harter," said Anders when he answered the phone.

"Agent Harter, this is Thule Roemer. I'm on my way to where your partner is. How close are you?"

"I'm in Mannsborough, headed towards the Vandevoort estate," said Anders, "But, I have no idea where the fuck I'm going."

Thule described the route Anders needs to take. Anders said, "Got it. What the fuck was she doing out in the middle of the woods anyway?"

"There's a platform I built out there that has a clear view of the Vandevoort estate. She was watching the estate."

Thule heard Anders give a sharp intake of breath. When he spoke, it was obvious that he was trying to control his anger. He said evenly, "Kid, if anything happens to her, you'll regret it."

"I don't need you to tell me that, Agent Harter," said Thule , "You'll want to be careful out in those woods. They're probably still crawling with Vil Umanski's men."

"And I don't need you to tell me how to do my job, Mr. Roemer," Anders said, breaking the connection.

"Prick," said Thule before putting his phone back.

By the time he reached the pull-off, there were already two cars there. He hoped they were Matika and Anders's. Drawing his gun out of his waistline, he clicked the safety off and headed to the platform at a trot.

As he neared the tree, he saw a figure in black lying supine on the path. A quick glance made checking for a pulse unnecessary. The man had an absurdly-neat bullet hole in his forehead and a look of surprise on his Korean face. Bracing himself, Thule took the M-16 from the man's grip and the pistol from his holster. Slinging the automatic rifle over his back, he kept one pistol in each hand as he moved up the path. When he reached where he expected Matika to be, he saw another figure in black crouched by a rock.

Thule dropped into firing position, "Freeze," he shouted, "flat on the ground."

"Pick one, kid," said the figure in black, "Personally, I'd rather finish patching up my partner's ankle so we can get the hell out of here."

"Agent Harter," said Thule , "so nice to finally meet your back. We need to get out of here. Our cars are at the most likely point of egress from this part of the woods. Any team coming out is bound to see them."

Anders looked over his shoulder to say something, but interrupted the thought, "Jesus Christ, kid. Were you going for Rambo or Chow Yung Fat and do you even know how to use those things?"

"Some day, if we have time," said Thule , "I'll be happy to show you what I know."

"All right," said Anders, "Now that you're here, I'm going to carry her to the car, then. I'm trusting you to cover me."

Thule led the way back to the cars, vaguely disappointed that no one came after them or took a shot. Driving out, he led them the slightly longer way down the other side of the mountain and around to his house, so that they wouldn't have to pass the Vandevoort estate again. By the time they got to the house, Matika was conscious again and able to hobble inside by leaning on Anders's shoulder.

"Whose car is that?" asked Anders.

"Jake's," said Thule . "He's an ally. I asked him to come by and protect the girls."

"I don't think so," said Anders. "I saw that car outside of the Vandevoort estate."

"I know," said Thule , "He also helped us set up the sting with Brianne. He's on our side."

"You were involved in that?" asked Anders, standing upright. Matika stumbled and almost fell before both men caught her and carried her the rest of the way.

Inside, Jake was standing in the living room explaining some aspect of firing a pistol. Marigold and Dawn both had pistols of their own and were copying his action, meaning that all three were facing Thule 's bedroom.

When the front door burst open, all three pivoted to face it, Jake dropping into firing position.

"Jesus Christ," said Anders, "are you running some sort of apocalyptic cult here?"

"I'll give you a pamphlet later," Thule deadpanned. He turned to Matika, "Let's get you prone and get some blankets over you. I don't want you going into shock."

Anders started to walk towards Thule 's bedroom. Thule said, "No, not in there. But, Anders had already seen something that interested him."

"Mother of God," he exclaimed, "did you butcher a pig in here?"

"No," said Thule , still standing in the middle of the living room, supporting Matika, "that's Randy Vandevoort's blood." He led Matika into Dawn's room.

Anders followed close behind, "What the fuck is going on here? If that's Randy Vandevoort's blood, where the fuck is he?"

"He's on his way to your New York branch office," said Thule , "Anne is taking him."

"Anne from legal?" asked Anders. "She was ordered..."

"She decided this was more important than her orders," said Thule quietly.

Anders scowled at Thule as Marigold shouldered past him with the first aid kit, "A lot of good people are going to lose their jobs because of you, Roemer."

"I know," said Thule , sighing. "I didn't want it to work out like this." He sat down on the opposite side of the bed from Matika, "Agent Nazarov tells me you have a different idea for getting Vladi to tell us where the bodies are buried. I'm willing to listen to what you have to say."

Anders glared at him, "I would think it would be simple. Show him the video you took. You've got him dead to rights. Grant him a deal if he cooperates. We do it all the time."

"It won't work," said Matika from the bed.

Anders looked at her, "What? Why won't it work?"

"Something bothered me about it from the start," said Matika. "I talked to Anne about it and we figured it out. Right now, we've got him maybe on rape charges. But, without a body, we've got nothing else. He's a cop, Anders. He's going to figure that out. Do you really think he's going to turn over a bunch of bodies and expose himself to prosecution on multiple murders in order to protect himself from a single count of rape? It just doesn't make sense."

"Anne said this?" asked Anders.

Matika nodded, "Yes."

"We don't know there's more than one corpse or that this cop will take Roemer to the same place," said Anders.

"I'm betting there are and he will," said Matika. "I can name at least six girls I would bet my eye teeth are buried there."

"Shit," said Anders, "it makes sense. Now what?"

"Listen to Thule ," said Matika. "His plan is a good one."

"No," said Anders. "It's too dangerous and puts too many civilians at risk. The Bureau would never approve something like that."

"It's not a Bureau operation," said Thule . "I'm doing it with or without your help. As soon as it gets dark, I'm calling Vladi. Once he shows me where to bury Dawn, I'll call you with the GPS coordinates. You can do what you want with them."

"Or," said Thule , standing face-to-face with the older man, "you can arrest me now. Those are your choices."

"I have a better idea," said Matika. "You two can drop your pants and we'll settle this with a ruler."

Marigold tried to turn her head so that Thule wouldn't see her laughing. Thule unpuffed his chest and took a step back, "I'd like to have you watching my back," he said quietly. "Matika says you have a lot of experience with this sort of thing and really know what you're doing."

Anders glared at him for a few seconds, but couldn't maintain it. "Fine," he growled. "Nobody I work with is going to have a job after this anyway. Why should I? I can still retire with a seventy-five percent pension if I have to. What do you need from me?"

"Hang on," said Thule , "I'll get my maps."

-=-

"Jesus Fucking Christ," shrieked Dawn from the bathroom.

"It sounds like she's being murdered in there," said Jake.

Thule shook his head, "They're just adding ice to the bath. She needs to be cold when I show her to Vladi." As he spoke, he unfolded the area map he'd brought out. There were two wide circles drawn centered on Mannsborough. He said, "According to the timestamp on the camera, Vladi left with June Kane at four oh five pm. He checks back in with dispatch at eleven twenty. Assuming he didn't stop to have dinner with a dead girl in his trunk and didn't want to risk speeding too much even in a squad car and giving him one to two hours to dispose of the body, I figured out that his destination should be within these two bands. Obviously, this is not an exact science, but it should give us a rough idea of where we're headed."

Anders nodded. He didn't look impressed, but he had stopped scowling.

"Obviously," said Thule, "most of the circle can be ruled out because it falls over water or crosses into Canada . Of what's left, I think this area is the most likely." Thule pointed to the map.

"The Pine Barrens," said Matika. "That makes sense. There would be a lot of places to hide a body down there."

"It seems a little too obvious," said Anders, frowning. "What about upstate? They wouldn't have to cross state lines, then. It would be safer."

"I considered upstate," said Thule . "But, it seems like there's a long history of dumping bodies in New Jersey . I've never heard of anyone doing it upstate. I had to pick some place that was more likely. I picked the Pine Barrens."

Anders grunted noncommittally.

Thule ignored him, "I want you to head down to the northernmost point. There's a town here called Keyes. Wait there for my call. Once I have the coordinates, I'll let you know."

"What if it turns out that you're wrong?" said Anders. "If it turns out to be upstate, I'll be at least six hours out of position."

"Well," said Thule , "if you think that upstate is more likely, head that way. If it turns out to be New Jersey , you'll still be six hours out of position."

Anders stared at the map. Making a decision, he said, "I'll get my team in position in Keyes."

"Thank you," said Thule . "You might also want to consider calling John, Anne, and Helene. They still want to help with this."

Anders looked at him, "I want to keep them in reserve. I'll take four people from my team to Keyes. I'll leave two in New York with those three. If it turns out you went upstate, they'll move in that direction while we catch up and coordinate."

Thule considered protesting, but instead nodded, "Fair enough," he said, "You should get moving. I'll call Vladi in about two hours."

Anders nodded. At the front door, he said, "Be careful, kid."

After he had closed the door, Thule turned to Matika, "If he calls me 'kid' one more time, I swear to God I'm going to shoot him."

Matika laughed, "Don't take it too personally. He still calls me kid, too. I think it's meant affectionately."

"Maybe with you, it's meant affectionately," said Thule . "I'm pretty sure he wants to take a swing at me."

"I doubt that," said Matika, "on account of the fact that you're still standing. Anders is seriously by the book because any time he varies from the script and has to make judgment calls, he becomes Mr. Poor Impulse Control. There were a few times I was sure he was going to haul off and clock you. You really know how to push your luck."

"That," said Thule , "is one of my few skills in which I have no doubt."

Marigold stuck her head out of the bedroom, "She's ready for the make-up."

Thule nodded, "Jake, keep watch, please. Matika, if you could help us apply the makeup, we can get this done faster."

In the bedroom, Dawn sat in her black bathrobe, wet and shivering. Thule brought in a tub of blue body makeup.

"How are you doing?" asked Thule .

"F-f-freezing," said Dawn.

"I know," said Thule , "It's necessary, I'm afraid. I don't trust my ability to make it look like I shot you. You need to look and feel drowned."

"I know," said Dawn. She slid her robe off of her shoulders, "Let's get the makeup on."

Thule took a double fingerful of the makeup and ran it up Dawn's belly, pushing her down so that she lay flat on her back.

"Don't be shy," said Thule . "I don't need this thing going wrong because we were afraid to apply makeup."

Matika looked down at her blue fingers, "Maybe I should let you two apply the makeup and help Jake keep watch."

Dawn looked up at her, "Matika, time is really of the essence here. If you're not comfortable, stay in the safe areas. But, we really need to get this done."

Thule nodded. He was about to make a comment about how brave Dawn was being when he noticed a devilish smirk on her face that Matika couldn't see. He shook his head, chuckling. If Dawn could find some amusement in this process, he wasn't going to stop her.

They were about a half hour into the application when Marigold said, "We've got a problem."

Dawn looked up through half-lidded eyes, "What?"

Marigold said, "There's no way to do your belly button properly. If I get the makeup down in there, it's going to irritate the hell out of your piercing, maybe cause an infection."

"All right," said Thule , "There's nothing we can do for that. I'll just have to cover her so that it doesn't show."

"What if Vladi decides he needs to see that part?" asked Dawn.

"Then, I'll have to shoot him," said Thule darkly.

Once the initial coat of makeup was applied, it was necessary to smooth it in and even it out. There was no way to do it but through deep rubbing. A few minutes after the three of them started rubbing, Dawn started giggling.

Thule smiled, "Get it out of your system now. Giggling later would be disastrous."

Dawn nodded. She giggled a while longer, but eventually quieted down. Then, she started to gasp a little.

Dawn had been right. Time was of the essence. But, he still had to say, "Matika, if you'd like to let Marigold and me finish this..."

"No," said Matika. "As long as it's okay with Dawn, I'll stay and finish."

Dawn, who had started to writhe, nodded emphatically, eyes shining.

"All right," said Thule . He glared at Dawn with mock severity, "But, no undulating for you."

"I'm just trying to get it out of my system," she said breathily.

Thule shook his head. In order to change the focus, he asked, "Matika, what do you know about a Korean man named General Pak?"

Matika shook her head, "I've never heard the name. Should I have?"

"I don't know," said Thule . "He's an associate of Ivan Vandevoort's. He and a boatload of his security men were at the party."

"The Korean guys in the black uniforms?" Matika asked.

Thule nodded, "Yeah. That was his security detail."

"It's just as much a mystery to me as it is to you," said Matika.

Thule walked out to the living room where Jake was sitting, "Jake, what do you know about General Pak?"

Jake shrugged, "Not much. He's loaded and he's in some sort of shady business. Every time Ivan was getting ready to meet with him, he got real nervous."

"Did you ever hear what they talked about?"

Jake nodded, "Yeah. But, they only spoke Russian. What's your interest?"

Thule shrugged, "He's a loose end. I don't like loose ends."

Thule was still contemplating the new mystery when Jake gasped, "Holy fuck."

Thule turned around. Dawn was standing there in her black robe. Her skin was bluish all over, her lips blue, her eyes sunken and dark, her hair wet and bedraggled. Over her left eye, a realistic head wound had been added with stage blood.

"How do I look?" she asked.

"Dead," said Jake, "I'm going to have nightmares for a month from this."

"All right, folks," said Thule . "This is the zero hour. If anyone has anything to add, now's the time. Otherwise, I want the three of you to head to Jonas's house and wait there."

"Be careful," said Marigold. She went to hug Dawn, but Thule caught her by the shoulder.

"It's better if nobody touches her at this point," he said. "We don't want to smear anything."

Marigold nodded and hugged him fiercely, then kissed him twice as fiercely on the mouth, "Give that to her for me once this is over."

Thule nodded. He turned to Jake, "I don't know what the hell's going on in this town tonight, but it would take a huge weight off my mind if you'll stay with Jonas and Marigold until I get back." He turned to Matika, "You, too."

Jake nodded, "The wife is staying with family in Cambridge . So, I don't even need to call anyone."

"Great," said Thule . "Get going, then."

They filed out, Marigold looking over her shoulder at them as she pulled the door closed. Thule smiled reassuringly at her.

Alone, Thule turned to Dawn, "Go get your bathing suit on and we'll get started."

"Why do I need a bathing suit?" asked Dawn.

"This is going to be uncomfortable enough without you having to be naked," said Thule .

"But, why would I be wearing my bathing suit in the tub?" asked Dawn.

Thule shrugged, "I could have drowned you in the pool."

" Thule ," said Dawn, "your pool is dry and, besides, I don't smell like chlorine."

Thule sighed, "I'm packing a duffel bag with clothes, chemical hand and foot warmers, flares, and a few other things you may need if you and I get separated for any reason. In the top of that bag, I'm also packing a clear rag and a bottle of chloroform. If you feel yourself starting to panic, pour some in the rag, hide the bottle, then press the rag to your nose and breathe deep. Try to focus on getting the rag away from your face before you go unconscious. As much as you can, keep your mouth near the hole you drilled."

"It broke my heart to drill that hole," said Dawn, "but I should be able to putty it up pretty well after this is over."

Thule nodded, "That will be good."

"Well," said Dawn, "let's get this over with."

"We've got a few minutes, yet," said Thule . "I don't want to do this until it's dark."

" Thule ," asked Dawn, "are you scared?"

Thule shook his head, "No. I'm too numb to be scared right now. I'll be scared later."

"Well," said Dawn, "I'm terrified."

"We can still call it off if..."

"No," said Dawn, "it needs to be done, doesn't it?"

"Yes," said Thule , "I guess it does."

"Well, then..." said Dawn.

"Dawn," said Thule quietly, "I want you to know that, whatever happens, I love you."

Dawn lowered her head, "You're just saying that because I'm dead."

"No," said Thule , "I'm saying it because it's true."

Dawn grimaced in frustration, "It's so unfair of you to say that when I can't cry or kiss you."

"I'm sorry," said Thule . "I just didn't know when I would get another chance."

"Did you decide this just now?" asked Dawn quietly.

"No," said Thule , "I think I knew when Marigold asked me this weekend. It wouldn't have been right to tell her before I told you."

"I love you too," said Dawn. She reached out and hugged him gently.

Thule nodded, hugging her back, "It's time to get in the trunk."

Dawn smiled, "The words every girl wants to hear."

In the garage, Thule put a duffel bag into the trunk. Then, he laid the bloody bedspread inside. Dawn climbed in on top of it, letting Thule wrap her up so that only her nose and eyes showed.

"Okay," said Thule , "from this point on, you're dead." Dawn did not respond.

Thule picked up a hoe, wielded it, and shattered the single, bare light bulb, bathing the garage in darkness. Then, he went in the house. Picking up his landline, he dialed the phone number Vladi had given him.

"Vladi," he said, sounding near hysteria, "fuck, man. I called Randy and he said you could help me. I killed her man. I just meant to scare her, oh shit."

Vladi said calmly, "It's all right. Who is this?"

"It's Thule," said Thule , panting. "Randy said you could help me."

"Maybe I can," said Vladi. "Tell me what happened."

"This girl, Dawn," said Thule , "I've been letting her live her for, you know." He sniffed, "Well, tonight, she started talking crazy...said she'd been spying on Randy and had some proof that he killed June Kane. I...I got so mad, I drowned her. I just meant to scare her, but there was so much blood..."

"All right," said Vladi. "I can help. Where is she now?"

"I...I put her in the trunk," said Thule . "She's in my car. I...I'm home."

"All right," said Vladi again. "Just sit tight. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Thanks," said Thule , catching his breath. "I owe you big time, man. I owe you my life."

Vladi laughed and Thule could hear the anticipation in the laughter. He imagined the cop already had a favor in mind for when Thule could make good the debt he was incurring. He said, "I'll be there in like ten minutes. Don't worry about it, man. You called exactly the right guy."

Thule hung up the phone. He allowed himself one satisfied smile before painting the worry back on his face.

-=-

Vladi glanced at Dawn in the darkness for maybe a half second before slamming the trunk shut. For how much he looked, she could have been fully dressed and her makeup applied in ten minutes. Apparently, he was so anxious to get Thule into his debt, it was making him incautious. Thule frowned a little to himself. No one appreciated good craftsmanship anymore.

Vladi said, "Do you know how to get to the Garden State Parkway from here?"

"Yeah," said Thule , "yeah. I do."

"Okay," said Vladi. "Get on it going south. And, get comfortable. We've got a long drive ahead of ourselves."

"How long?" asked Thule .

"Three hours if traffic is good," said Vladi. "Whatever you do, don't speed. But, don't go too slow, either. How long has she been dead?"

"Less than an hour," said Thule .

"If we're lucky," said Vladi, "she won't start to stink too much before we get there. When it's a little bit hotter or they've been dead for a while, they smell like dead fish by the time we get there."

Thule was torn between letting the enormity of what Vladi had just revealed go past and looking like he was deliberately not responding. He decided to give a moderate response.

"You've done this before?" Thule asked.

Vladi nodded, "Yeah, once or twice. I'm kind of Randy's go to guy in the force. Now that you're going to be his right hand man, I'm you're go to guy, too."

Thule took out a cigarette with shaking fingers, "Well, you're a real fucking life saver tonight."

Vladi shrugged, "I'm surprised you couldn't handle this yourself. A resourceful guy like you, I would have thought you'd have a contingency plan for this sort of thing."

Thule laughed nervously, "I'll have one next time. I just didn't expect to have to kill anyone this soon."

"Tell me about it," said Vladi. "I was on the force like a week the first time I had to make one of these trips."

Thule was amazed. He had hoped to draw Vladi out about this, but the man was just spilling his guts unprompted. All Thule had to do was listen and smoke cigarette after cigarette to represent his very real nervousness.

"Find some place to pull over," said Vladi after they had gotten off the Parkway, off the interstate, and on to a county road, "I've got to drain the lizard."

Thule said, "Sounds good. I want to get some more cigarettes, too." About ten minutes later, he spotted a combination gas station, convenience store, and bait shop. As he pulled in, he read the sign. It said, "Keyes Gas and Go."

Thule tensed up a little. There was almost no town of Keyes to speak of. Besides the Gas and Go, there was a post office and maybe a half-dozen houses. He began to surreptitiously look around for any sign of FBI agents. Seeing none, he stepped into the Gas and Go. There, sitting at the counter and drinking coffee, was Anders. He didn't even break in his monologue with the cashier when he saw Thule walk in. He also gave no look of recognition.

Of course, to Thule , Anders looked every inch the FBI man--tall, crew cut, black pants, t-shirt, and vest, black aviator sunglasses. Thule wanted to scream at him to get away from the place. Instead, he walked calmly back to the bait section and picked out a styrofoam cup full of live minnows. Then, he went to the front counter, bought two packs of cigarettes and the bait.

Once he got back to the car, he drained the water from the minnows and tossed the cup on the floor behind his seat. Reaching around, he shoved the cup out of sight.

When he looked up, Vladi was coming back from the bathroom at a trot.

"Drive," said Vladi. "Be casual about it, but get us out of here."

Thule drove out of the parking lot. Once he was about a mile away, he said, "What's up?"

"I ran into a cop back there," said Vladi, "a real ball buster, local guy. Thinks he's king shit. Gave me a real hard time last year. I didn't want to give him any excuses to make trouble today. Besides," he sniffed the air, "that girl's starting to stink. I didn't want anybody to catch wind of it and start asking questions."

After another twenty minutes, there was nothing to see on either side of the road but trees. Vladi said, "We're coming to a side street soon. It doesn't have a name, but it's paved. It'll be on your left."

Thule found it, turning onto it. For about ten minutes, it went uphill. There were a few dilapidated houses that no one had bothered to board up out here. A few had collapsed. More seemed to be held up solely by the kudzu that had grown up over them. As the road topped out and started on a decline, the houses disappeared all together as did the paving.

"Turn left here," said Vladi.

"Where?" asked Thule . "There's no road."

Vladi pointed, "between those two trees."

Thule turned, driving slowly now. There was no road, only two old ruts surrounded by greenery. The only sound was the car's engine and the distant chirp of cicadas.

"Take it slow," said Vladi. Thule didn't know how he could take it any slower and not stall. Then, all of a sudden, he saw what the caution was about. He was on the edge of a deep precipice. He gasped and hit the brakes.

"Turn right," said Vladi. "There's an old service road that leads down into the quarry."

Thule now saw that this was, indeed, a quarry. As he found the steep road down, he could see that there was a huge pit, the bottom of which was filled with murky, brownish red water so wide that he almost couldn't see the other side.

"What the hell is this place?" he asked.

"Strip mine," said Vladi. "It's one of the oldest properties in the Vandevoort portfolio. They bought it back in the 1800s for pig iron. It ran out in the 1930s. That water's like a thousand feet deep. You could kill the whole town of Mannsborough , sink them in there, and no one would be the wiser."

"How many bodies do you think are down there?" asked Thule .

Vladi shrugged, "Dozens. This is my ninth trip here and they were using it before I joined the force. Plus, we're not the only ones who use it."

"We're not?" asked Thule .

"No," said Vladi. "Ivan has friends that occasionally need to make things disappear. We've got the bottomless quarry. It's a match made in heaven."

As they got to the bottom, Vladi got out of the car. As Thule fumbled to unlock the trunk, he asked, "So, what do we do?"

Vladi said, "We weigh her down with rocks and drop her in."

Thule reached past Vladi, pulling the shovel out of the trunk, "So, I guess I won't need this."

Mentioning the shovel was a mistake. Vladi turned to see what Thule was talking about just as Thule swung it around. It should have hit him solidly in the back of the head. Instead, it struck a glancing blow off the side. Cursing, Vladi reeled backwards.

Thule reached for his gun, but Vladi was faster, pulling his clear of the holster before Thule could get his out. He screamed, "Drop it, motherfucker."

Thule dropped his gun. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw motion from the trunk. Knowing he had just seconds before Vladi shot him, he fell to his knees. Vladi tracked him with the gun.

"Please," Thule blubbered, "please don't kill me. I didn't mean it. Please."

Vladi looked puzzled and disgusted for a second. Then, he raised his pistol again. Thule threw himself at Vladi's feet, shrieking, "Please." Vladi stepped back in alarm and disgust.

Thule looked up just in time to see Dawn rising like a naked, blue avenging angel from the trunk, rag in hand. Her other arm wrapped around Vladi's chest and she sank her teeth into his neck. Vladi shrieked and tried to spin Dawn off, but she held on with hands and teeth.

Vladi fired his pistol, but it went wild. Thule went up on his knees and, calling on all of his training in martial arts and unarmed combat, punched Vladi in the nuts as hard as he could. The cop crumbled, but still Dawn held on. Vladi was obviously woozy, but managed to slam back against the car, finally dislodging Dawn and the chloroformed rag.

Thule punched him in the face. Vladi started to rise. Thule punched him again. Dawn rolled under the car out of the way. Thule launched himself, shoulder-first into the back bumper of the car, then grabbed Vladi by the hair and slammed his head back against the car as hard as he could. Vladi tried to get purchase on Thule 's hair, but found none. Dawn darted out from under the car far enough to sink her teeth into Vladi's wrist. Vladi shouted in pain and dropped his gun. Dawn grabbed for it, but succeeded only in sending it off into the sunken quarry with a skitter and a plop.

In a rage, Vladi wrapped his arms around Thule 's ribs, pinning one of his arms. Thule vividly remembered watching Vladi dismantle opponents as a high school wrestler. He started to feel his sight start to black out from lack of oxygen. Striking out desperately with his free arm, Thule managed to find Vladi's eye by feel and drive his thumb deep into the socket.

Vladi roared in pain and rage, releasing Thule . As he staggered backwards, Thule struck out with both hands, boxing the cop's ears. Vladi staggered backwards.

Thule punched Vladi in the nose. Seemingly in slow motion, the man tumbled backwards, landing head and shoulders over the edge of the quarry. Thule leapt down on him, wrapping his hands around Vladi's neck. He wondered idly why he'd never noticed before that Vladi had a neck like a bull. He could barely get his hands around it.

Thule didn't need to choke the man, though. He just needed to get Vladi's head under water. Then, he realized that he had badly underestimated the distance from the edge of the quarry to the water's surface. Even pushing Vladi as far as he would go, only the top of his head was submerged. Thule drove the heel of one hand as hard as he could into Vladi's chin, snapping his head back. Vladi had gotten his nightstick out and was flailing ineffectually at Thule 's back and shoulders with it, unable to get a good angle.

Thule drove into Vladi's chin again and again, keeping the big man stunned. It wasn't going to win him the fight, though. He doubted he could break Vladi's neck, even if he had a tire iron.

" Thule ," yelled Dawn. He looked up. She was holding the cross-shaped lug wrench out to him. Thule reached out for it, barely catching hold as Vladi bucked under him with a roar. Thule released his neck, letting his head come up just as Thule brought the wrench down across his nose.

The first blow was awkward. Thule 's hand was slick with sweat and he barely had a grasp on one end of the wrench. The second blow was solid, but Vladi bucked his hips, knocking Thule off-balance. Vladi started to rise and Thule was falling backwards the third time he connected, a blow made more out of desperation than technique. Vladi fell backwards, the wrench sliding out of Thule 's hand and following Vladi's gun into the water below. Thule leapt up, turning to Dawn, "Where's my gun?"

"Under the car," said Dawn, "I couldn't reach it."

Thule reached into his pocket and handed her his keys, "Pull the car forward."

Dawn took the keys, "Is he dead?"

"No," said Thule , "he's stunned. Go."

Far too soon, Thule saw Vladi shaking his head and starting to rise. Cursing himself for packing the clothes on top, Thule dug through the duffel bag he'd packed for Dawn, looking for the flare gun. With another roar of rage, Vladi threw himself at Thule . If he hadn't roared, Thule wouldn't have been able to leap out of the way. As it was, he barely did so, sidestepping, spinning around and shoving Vladi with both hands in the direction he wanted to go. Vladi ducked to avoid hitting his head on the trunk. Thule reached up and slammed it down on him, once, twice, three times before the car lurched forward, sending Vladi sprawling onto the hard ground, right next to the now-exposed gun. Thule leapt, catching the gun as Vladi caught his ankle.

"Lay flat!" screamed Thule , bringing the gun up to cover Vladi, "Lay flat now!"

Vladi crouched to rise, ignoring Thule 's instruction. Thule screamed again, "On your belly, Vladi!"

Vladi launched himself at Thule . Thule fired at his head. The big man stumbled backwards, a red hole appearing in his forehead. Then, he began to sway forward. Thule lowered the gun to chest height and fired three more shots into Vladi's chest. For a terrifying moment, Vladi stood suspended in midair, the momentum of his forward charge and the bullets in sickening equilibrium. Then, he crumbled to his knees and fell backwards.

Dawn came racing out of the car. Thule caught her in his arms, burying her face in his chest. "Don't look," he whispered.

Dawn pulled away enough to look up at him. " Thule ," she said quietly, "do you think I'll have more nightmares if I do or if I don't see him?"

Thule nodded, turning her in his arms so that she faced away from him, then turning himself so that he faced where Vladi lay.

The big man lay in a pool of blood, three fountains of it still pumping slowly out of his chest. Thule 's first shot had taken out the back of his head. There would be no horror movie moment of the alleged corpse making one last, desperate lunge at our hero. He was dead.

Thule put his face down on the top of Dawn's head and began to laugh. It was a chuckle at first, but soon his whole body was shaking with it. Dawn let it go on for a good minute before she asked, "What's so funny?"

Thule said, "The next time I have a plan where I say, 'I'll have to subdue him,' and the guy's built like Frankenstein's monster, I would appreciate if someone would point that out."

Dawn turned in his arms, tilted her head back, wrapped her own arms around the back of his neck and kissed him. The lipstick Thule had put on her tasted like synthetic blueberries.

"I love you, Thule ."

"I love you too, Wildcat. And I now know why Jake calls you that."

When they parted, Thule said, "Get some clothes on and let's get out of here."

Dawn went to the trunk, pulling out the duffel bag, "Before we do, we'll need to change the driver's side tire in the front. It burst when I pulled forward."

Thule groaned, "That's going to be a trick with the wrench at the bottom of the quarry."

Dawn dressed quickly. Thule leaned down and tried to loosen the nuts by hand, "I don't think they're going to budge."

"They won't," said Dawn, "I made sure they were on good and tight."

"Well," said Thule , "it is a lovely night for a walk in the woods."

Dawn nodded, pulling on Thule 's flannel shirt, "After a long ride in the trunk, it'll feel good to stretch my legs."

Thule cut the half of the bedspread that was not soaked in blood in half again, wrapping one piece around Dawn and the other around himself.

"What's that smell?" Dawn asked.

Thule reached into the back seat of the car, extracting the styrofoam cup of dead minnows, "That's you, I'm afraid." When Dawn looked at him, puzzled, Thule added, "The one aspect of your being a corpse that I did not consider was that you would start to stink at some point on this trip. Vladi has apparently made this trip enough times to expect it."

Dawn looked out over the water, deceptively beautiful in the moonlight. Thule could almost see her trying to guess how many bodies lay beneath its surface. She wrapped the makeshift shawl tighter around herself, "Let's get out of here."

Thule reached into the car, opening the glove compartment, and drawing out his GPS tracker, a pen and paper. He stored the coordinates, then wrote them down. It never hurt to be too careful.

They hiked up the steep quarry road, pausing at the top to catch their breath. Thule also took the opportunity to change clips on his pistol. Dawn had tucked the flare gun into the back of her own waistband.

"Still no signal on your phone?" asked Dawn.

Thule shook his head, "Coverage is kind of spotty in the pine barrens."

They walked in relative silence up to the dirt road and along its length, empty houses watching them like hollow skulls. As they crested a rise, Thule caught Dawn and pulled her back, having spotted the outline of a van in the moonlight.

"Mr. Roemer," called Vil Umanski, "you can come out. My driver is sound asleep and will not wake for some time."

Thule signaled to Dawn to stay behind the rise and stepped forward.

"You took longer than I expected," said Umanski, leaning heavily on his cane. "Did Officer Yudin give you any trouble?"

"A little," said Thule . "The man is built like a bull."

"Good Cossack stock," agreed Umanski affably. "You are to be commended, Mr. Roemer. Very few men have pulled the wool over my eyes as thoroughly as you have. You never had any intention of helping Randy, did you?"

Thule shook his head, "No."

Umanski shook his head, chuckling, "I should have considered that possibility more closely. I truly am becoming a foolish old man. Why all of this, then? What did you accomplish?"

"A settling of old scores," said Thule .

Umanski shrugged, "Fair enough. I suppose it will all come out soon enough. You will want to pull my driver out of the van, put on his cap with my logo, and gray uniform tunic, of course. This will allow you to get past my and the General's men. There are a fair number of them in these woods by now."

"Why?" asked Thule .

"Because they are looking for you, Mr. Roemer," said Umanski. "You had less than an hour's head start before the General and I figured out what you were up to."

"No," said Thule . "I meant, why are you doing this for me?"

"If I could have stopped you, Mr. Roemer, I would have," said Umanski. "But, you play with the pieces you have left on the board. And sometimes to win, you must play without ego." He looked off into the distance, as if he were done speaking, but then added, "The family will be much better off with Tryne in charge. You didn't actually have any plans of marrying her, did you?"

Thule shook his head, "No."

"A pity," said Umanski. "That would have been something. Mr. Roemer, I would appreciate if you could hurry up a little and take me hostage. I have a bit of trouble with my hip and it is starting to ache."

Thule went to the van, pulled the driver out, stripped him of tunic and cap, and put them on. He turned to Vil Umanski, "How do I look?"

Umanski viewed Thule in the uniform that theoretically marked him as one of Umanski's own employees, "Somewhere between a dream come true and my worst nightmare, Mr. Roemer."

Thule signalled towards Dawn and called, "Dawn, you can come out now."

She emerged, keeping the flare gun pointed at Umanski.

"Young lady," said Umanski, "you should really get more sun. You do not look well. I must say that I am relieved you are not actually deceased. I was not certain Mr. Roemer would stop at murder to undo my employer."

Dawn ran to Thule , hugging him.

"Ah," said Umanski, "young love. Surely, it is the most destructive force in the universe."

-=-

The van and the uniform got them past the General's men, who were patrolling the area.

"Why don't they just go to the quarry?" Thule asked.

"I told them that I did not know where it was," said Umanski.

"Who is General Pak?" asked Thule . "Nobody seems to know much about him."

"General Pak is an international arms smuggler," said Umanski. "But, that does not begin to describe what he does. He runs an organization that is in the business of...freelance regime change."

Thule mulled over the phrase, "He overthrows governments for a living?"

"And for the highest bidder," said Umanski. "And he's very good at it. Ivan was a damned fool for dealing with him. Have you ever heard of a country called Jayanesia?"

Thule shook his head in the negative.

"It is a small, but sovereign Pacific nation, notable for the fact that it is recognized as independent by the United Nations and even expected to receive a UN seat in the near future. Ivan believed that he could, with General Pak's help, gain de facto control of Jayanesia and become a sovereign power unto himself."

Thule