by Ramy Vance
When Rueben got out of the shower, the conference room had transformed into a war room. Several whiteboards and easels full of Buzz’s hasty scribbles were stationed throughout the room, detailing “Operation Z.”
“What the…” Rueben’s words trailed off as he spotted multiple computer workstations, each with two monitors and a laptop. Aki sat at one station and Martha and Carolyn sat at two across the room. On the table closest to the door was a computer printout with everyone’s names and their “current assignment.” Rueben scanned the page and found his name. Buzz had tasked him and Aki with using CIA resources to find Rueben-Z’s current location.
That didn’t sound too difficult. He sat in front of the laptop next to Aki, already tapping away on her keyboard. She didn’t say anything, only gave him a slight smile as she stared into her screen. He was surprised when her sock-covered toe rubbed his up and down. He grinned and reciprocated the gesture while he logged into the online CIA portal.
Across from them, Carolyn frowned into her screen. She wore reading glasses, and Rueben reluctantly admitted that the glasses added a homey-ness that made her look maternal.
Rueben turned back to his workstation and started using the CIA’s resources to search NYC for signs of Rueben-Z. Aki had already cleared her and Rueben’s absence from the CIA so the roster listed them as “on assignment.”
Sometime later, Buzz walked in with a tiny circuit board. He sat at a spot near the front of the room and began to tinker with it.
“What are you working on?” Rueben finally asked.
“Something that might help us.”
“Cryptic much?” Aki smiled.
“It’s…far from finished. But it’s good to keep my hands moving. Helps me think.”
Rueben could understand that. He worked at his laptop for a few hours until his eyes needed a break and his legs needed stretching. He leaned over and checked out what Aki was doing. She had a possible sighting of Rueben-Z at a clothing store. She told him to stretch his legs without her so Rueben got up and ambled out of the room.
He heard the low hum of classic rock music coming down the halls, and he followed it to the billiard room where his father was playing pool by himself.
He glanced up at Rueben. “Had enough of that computer nerd bullshit in there?”
“Dad. You can cut the act. Mom told me all about how you used to be in the computer science field before you went into law enforcement.”
Marshall appeared to have a comeback, but he thought better of it and shrugged. He handed Rueben his cue stick and nodded at the pool table.
Rueben leaned over, lined up a shot, and sent a ball swirling into a corner pocket.
“Good job, son. Your technique was shit, but you got it in there.”
“Thanks.”
Marshall eyed him soberly with one hand resting on the pool table. “Look, son, I know I’ve been a hardass to you nearly all your life. Well, after your mom left. And there ain’t no cause for it. I guess I lost track of what mattered. Grew into a mean old man.”
“Dad, you’re forty-five.”
Marshall sighed and slapped a hand against his gut. “Feels much older when you don’t take care of yourself.”
“It’s never too late to start, is it?”
Marshall chuckled. “Your optimism reminds me of your mother.” He paused and drew a heavy breath. “I never wanted any of this for you. I hoped you wouldn’t get that time-warping gene or whatever it is like your mother.”
Rueben nodded.
“I knew it was a possibility you’d be like her when you grew up, but I wasn’t going to let it run your life like it did hers. I’d hoped you would have a long, long, happy life before you got mixed up in all of this. Maybe settled down with that girl Aki. Maybe died of old age.
“This power, it’s like a curse. Or, a reference you might get, it’s like what’s his name, Spiderman’s uncle tells him. ‘With great power comes great responsibility’ and all that bullshit. Well, it’s true, and I don’t envy you and your mother for what you can do. I don’t know if I’d be strong enough to…” Marshall’s words choked off, and he cleared his throat.
Rueben reached out and patted his father’s arm. “It’s okay, Dad. It’s all okay. I haven’t exactly been the best son either, although I do try.”
Marshall tensed. “You know, your hash browns aren’t as bad as I make ’em out to be,” he said quietly.
“What?” Rueben said.
Marshall loudly cleared his throat again and shook his head in a manly sort of way. “Uh, I said I appreciate all you do for me. Food, meds. That stuff. You do a lot for me. And how do I thank you? By drinking too much and turning the TV up. By pushing you farther out of my life each day—”
“Dad.” Rueben clapped a hand on Marshall’s shoulder.
Marshall shrugged it off. “No. I’m not done. You know those mugs that say ‘World’s Best Dad?’”
Rueben nodded.
“Well, you gave me one when you were eight for Father’s Day. I mean, Carolyn bought it and wrapped it and you probably signed the card, but it meant a lot to me at the time. I never used it for fear I’d chip it, but it meant the world to me, and I kept it on my dresser so I’d see it every day when I got up.” He paused heavily. “After your mom left and I fell apart, I tucked the mug away in the cupboard, too ashamed to even look at it. Because truth is, I’m the world’s most irredeemable asshole.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is. Your mom’s leaving made me weak.”
An idea came to Rueben. “I don’t think it was just Mom.”
Marshall’s face was a contorted mess of anguish. It eased up for a moment as he turned to his son. “Huh?”
“Thorne.”
Marshall’s face paled a shade, and he stammered. “Th-Thorne? What’s he got to do with anything?”
“What you did,” Rueben said. “When he hijacked the bus, and you came and rescued me and the other kids. Then Thorne escaped and ran off into the woods, and you went in after him and followed…”
Marshall’s shoulders rolled forward, and he huffed out a sad sob.
Rueben watched as his father tried to fight becoming a soggy mess. “I think you think you’re a bad person for what you did. But I don’t think so. I’m not sure how it all went down in the woods, and I don’t need to know. What you did was beyond loving, and I think it really messed you up inside.”
“The coroner,” Marshall began, “the coroner said it wasn’t my shot that killed him but trauma from the bus crash. He’d hit his head or some shit. He was good as dead regardless of if I’d shot him. But I did shoot him. I shot him in the back as he ran. Because he wouldn’t leave my family alone.
“You didn’t see Carolyn back then. She was barely keeping it together. And there was you to look after. I thought once Thorne was gone the world would go back to normal. Hell… son, I ain’t never told anyone this stuff. It feels good. Like I’m lighter or something. Maybe I shoulda went to the shrink to get checked out afterward. I don’t know. But…” He met Rueben’s eyes. “Thanks.”
Rueben smiled and nodded, and Marshall ran a meaty hand through Rueben’s head as if tousling a child’s hair. Rueben laughed and so did Marshall, wiping away a tear.
Marshall now stood a little taller than he had in years, his shoulders thrust back proudly. Rueben beamed, feeling a bit lighter himself. Now, with his eyes rested and his legs adequately stretched, it was time to go back to the conference room and get back to work.
Chapter Twelve
Wednesday, May 24, 7:08 p.m.
Martha sat at her workstation, going blind as she stared at her screens. On the force, she never had to be on a computer for this long. She went on patrols, which often involved writing citations, making arrests, and occasionally chasing down criminals.
This was pure torture.
She’d spent the last several hours going through New York police reports in the hopes of running down a lead on Rueben-Z. After Aki
had found blurry security camera footage of him in the city, they had worked together and found the hotel Rueben-Z was staying at. He’d paid over the phone in advance with one of Rueben’s credit cards.
How he got the card information, they didn’t know, but Rueben-Z might have snuck into Rueben’s and Marshall’s place back before the Pout mission and written it down in case he needed some quick cash. Now maybe he was trying to anger Rueben or flush him out into the open by using his credit card.
No matter the reason, they now had a rough location for Rueben-Z. The only problem was, it might very well be a trap for them.
Martha and Aki both had security footage pulled up on their computers, but the footage they really needed was from the pawnshop across from the hotel. The problem was, it was closed circuit, and there was no way to hack into it from any computer.
Using a phone app on her laptop, Martha called her partner Jake at the precinct. After solving the Pout case, she had some clout at the precinct, and she was able to get Jake to order an officer over to the pawnshop to get a copy of the security footage. She told him it might be a lead on a perp she was tracking down in her free time. He told her that she ought to relax on her time off, and she thanked him and said she’d be around to pick it up sometime.
Martha hung up and turned to Aki. “Rueben not back yet?”
“Nope. His legs must really have needed stretching. Maybe he got lost.”
They both giggled, then their tired eyes met, and they said in unison, “Drink time?”
They laughed again. Martha was beginning to see what Rueben saw in Aki. She was a fun person to hang around with, and she was capable at her job.
Aki glanced over at Buzz, still tinkering with some type of circuit board. “Hey Buzz, where’s the nearest bar?”
Buzz grinned. “One moment ladies, and I’ll show you the most relaxing room in this whole place.”
Martha and Aki exchanged a glance. Then Buzz rose from his work. “Follow.”
He led them down a long hallway. The lair was a maze. When Martha first got here, she thought it was just the bunk room, the living room, Buzz’s room, and a bathroom. Then she’d discovered the hot spring and the billiard room. This place was practically an underground mansion carved out of stone.
Buzz took them farther into the earth, the sconced lighting along the tunnel hallways occasionally flickering. She winced. She wasn’t sure if she liked being so deep in the ground with iffy lighting.
Buzz remarked, “The lighting is intentional. In imitation of flickering torchlight. Don’t worry. The electricity down here is flawless.”
Aki noted, “I would think you’d be off the grid here.”
“We are. It’s a natural energy recycling system that runs off groundwater. I have a mini private power plant above ground.”
They went deeper and deeper down a few more hallways, and eventually, he flipped open a set of fancy gold doors.
He ceremoniously announced, “The massage room.”
Paintings of tranquil nature scenes hung on the cave walls, and dark red leather couches and beds abounded. There were even a couple of padded massage tables where you laid down, with a cutout for your head. There was also a small unobtrusive table with a remote control on it and some tanning beds off to one side. One of them showed lights as if it was in use.
Aki asked him, “Is someone in there?”
He winked. “Not just anyone.” He clapped his hands. “Biddie.”
The top part of the tanning bed opened, and out climbed the most beautiful woman Martha had seen in a while. Her mouth dropped. She was tall and blond and wore black short-shorts and a black halter that showed off the biggest boobs she had seen in person. She had really tan skin and wasn’t wearing any eye protection or the proper clothes for tanning. “Good afternoon, Buzz. I missed you. Where have you been?”
He winked. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
She laughed and ran her palm along his arm. “You’re so cute. Isn’t he just the cutest?”
Martha and Aki glanced at each other. “There’s no way to answer that.”
Buzz blushed. “I want you to take extra-special care of my friends, Martha and Aki, here. They’re VIP guests, all right?”
Biddie turned to them and pursed her thick lips. “VIP guests, huh? Well, we’ll have to set you up right.”
Buzz left the room, and Biddie sashayed up to them. She clasped her hands over her heart and told Aki, “I just love your look. I like, want those shoes. Chanel. Yes.”
Aki glanced down at the ballet flats she wore. “They are Chanel.”
She turned to Martha. “I love your hair. So pretty. How do you get it to do that? What is your secret? Ohhh, can I touch it?”
Martha shrugged. No one had ever gushed over her hair before. “Sure.”
Biddie fingered a lock of her hair. “Oh my God, so soft. I just love it. Oh my God, I just love you two. We are going to have so much fun. Now, what can I get you guys to drink? Come on, don’t be shy. Buzz has a home gym, so we can work it all off later and just have sooo much fun now.”
Martha ordered a beer, and Aki went with an apple martini. When Biddie left, Martha thought she might have a headache from all of Biddie’s energy. She asked Aki, “So you don’t think she’s…”
“Real? Oh God, hell no.”
They both laughed.
Martha shrugged. “The compliments were nice, though.”
“I think that’s the point of her existence. You think she’s a massage robot?”
After all the computer work they’d done today, a massage might be just what the doctor ordered.
They kicked off their shoes and sat next to each other on one of the dark red leather couches. They looked more expensive than any of the couches in Buzz’s mansion, and when Martha fumbled at the controls on the side to try to recline her section, the entire couch started to vibrate.
Martha facepalmed.
“That feels so good.” Aki searched on her side of the couch for any more special features. Martha had to admit that it did feel damn good. She found the recline button, kicked back, and closed her eyes.
Biddie arrived a few minutes later with their drinks and a tray of steaming food. “I brought you guys quesadillas—low-cal, of course. But let Mexican night officially begin. Quesadillas and girl talk.”
Martha wondered what the hell time it was. Was it already late? How long had they been staring at computer screens?
Her stomach suddenly grumbled, and she realized she was hungry. But “girl talk?” Martha turned to Aki and saw she had the same expression on her face. “Thanks, Biddie. That’ll be enough for now. I was hoping to uh, spend some time alone with Aki.”
“Oh, totes. Like, BFF bonding, I just love it.” She blew them double-kisses. “No worries. Love you, bitches. I’ll catch up with you later. Just holler if you need me.”
She started to leave and turned back. “Oh, and if you want to listen to some of Buzz’s music, the sound system remote is on that end table. I’ll let you in on a secret…it’s orgasmic.” Then Biddie left the room, and Martha and Aki burst into laughter. “So bizarre,” Aki said.
Martha agreed. “And so different from Binnie.”
“Yeah, Binnie was more sultry, and this one is like…”
Martha winced. “Ugh, girls like that get on my nerves.”
Aki sipped her drink. “Hey, I used to be a girl like that.”
“I won’t hold it against you. You’re all right in my book.”
“Thanks.” Aki smiled and tried a bite of her quesadilla. Her eyes rolled back in their sockets. “Wow, these are really good.”
Martha tried hers. Aki wasn’t kidding. “How did Buzz’s robots learn to cook so well?”
Aki swallowed some of her food with her apple martini. “I don’t know, but Rueben and I were talking about going on a normal date sometime soon. To tell you the truth, I’d take these robot-prepared quesadillas any time over going to the movies.”
Mart
ha paused. “You really like him, don’t you?”
Aki cocked her head. “He’s interesting. He might look ordinary, but he has so many surprises.”
Martha didn’t know how to interpret that, and an awkward silence followed. “Music?” She tilted her head at the remote control on the small end table.
“Hells yeah. I can only imagine what kind of tunes Buzz has ready for us.”
“It’s orgasmic,” Martha mimed in a parody of Biddie’s voice, and they started laughing again. Martha set her beer to the side, got up, and went over to the table with her quesadilla in her hand.
Right before she reached the end table, a dribble of melted cheese leaked out from her quesadilla, and she bent to wipe it up with her finger. That’s when her cop’s eyes spotted the button under the table.
“What are you looking at?” Aki asked.
Martha crawled under the table so that she could get a better look. She could barely make out a small black control panel under the table with some words beside it. “It’s a button. And the words, ‘Make it okay.’”
Aki scrunched up her eyebrows. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I don’t know. Buzz didn’t mention anything about it. Think I should push it?”
Aki shrugged and sipped her apple martini.
Martha pushed the button. There was a loud whoosh, then nothing. She frowned and returned to her comfy spot on the couch beside Aki. “It didn’t do anything.”
Aki kicked back her side of the couch and sighed in an exaggerated manner. “I love our little group.”
Suddenly Martha felt a wave of sentiment rush through her like adrenaline. “I do too. I love all of you guys. And Marshall is such a sweetie. He acts all tough and sarcastic, but sometimes I want to give him a big hug, you know?”
“Oh, I know,” Aki said with a completely straight face. “And Carolyn, such a great mom. I wish my mom was more like her.”
“I know, right? She makes the best cookies.” Martha’s eyes suddenly widened and strangely, she felt like a kid again. “You know what would make this moment even better?”
