by Dave Hazel
The elevators were behind the wall where Julie’s desk was. Mykal had to walk into the hallway of the first floor rooms and turn to face the elevators. He stepped aboard one of the elevators without drawing attention and rode it to the second floor. When the door opened he was startled to see two men standing in front of the elevator. The two had been taken by surprise. They were both big husky men who looked like they could be enforcers for the mob. Their suit and ties didn’t hide their bully appearance.
“What the hell?” One said when they saw there was no one inside the elevator. Instinctively his hand reached for the handgun in his waistband.
“Stop, Dominick,” the other said and placed his hand on Dominick’s arm before he drew his weapon. He stepped closer and poked his head into the elevator doorway. “It’s nothing.”
Mykal squeezed by the man after he pulled his head back out of the elevator. Mykal sidestepped to get away from both of them but then froze in place to see what they would do. He hoped they wouldn’t be able to smell him since his uniform was filthy dirty. He hoped the clean parka covered over any odors, or maybe the frigid cold outside killed the stink he was worried about. ‘Could the ring make aromas disappear too?’ He wondered and knew it would be something to research later.
“What is it Randy?” Another voice spoke softly from the far end of the corridor. “Is he here?”
“False alarm,” Randy replied in a hushed tone.
Mykal looked to see there was a pair of goons at each end of the hall to guard the stairwells. Mykal watched as another stepped into the hallway carrying two cups of vending machine coffee. ‘Damn, at least seven besides Jill.’
“What’s going on?” The coffee carrier asked.
“Nothing, we thought he was coming up the elevator,” Dominick explained and covered his weapon with his jacket.
“His ETA should be fifteen to twenty minutes,” the coffee carrier clarified. “A welcoming party like this will not go over well. Get out of sight until we get the goods.”
“Yes Sir,” Dominick and Randy said in unison. Together the two of them went down a couple of doors to a utility closet. They kept the door open just enough to peek through.
‘Oh man, they’re gonna friggin kill me,’ Mykal contemplated while leaning against the wall. ‘What the hell am I gonna do?’
He stepped back in front of the elevator, opened the door and got on to take it back down to the first floor. He knew that would confuse the two goons hiding in the utility closet. The two at the front desk didn’t notice and were probably deaf to hearing the ding of the elevator door. They probably heard it so many times a day and probably didn’t notice when people use the elevators anymore.
While still invisible he rushed to his car and retrieved the bogus case and hid it under his bulky parka. Mykal rushed back inside the lobby and stood still once he got inside the door.
“What the hell is with that door tonight?” Julie asked after being disturbed from her paperwork. “Go see what’s wrong with it.”
The male co-worker slowly rose from his chair. “It’s you and Heather,” he whispered playfully. “You and Heather probably conjured up some ghosts with all your spooky talk,” he teased Julie and snickered at her fear. When the assistant strode by him, Mykal realized he suddenly didn’t like the way he looked and had an urge to punch him on the side of the head.
‘Why the hell would I think that?’ He wondered. ‘It would be funny, but that urge was out of anger. Is the ring causing me to have violent and angry urges now?’ He decided to dwell on it later. Mykal made his way to the elevator. He wanted to laugh at the discussion Julie and her co-worker had about the door.
The elevator door opened on the second floor with a ding. He stepped out into the hall and knew the goons couldn’t see him. He waited. He saw Randy and Dominick open the utility closet door to get a better look.
“It must be a malfunction,” Randy whispered and he closed the door so only a crack of an opening allowed them to see out.
Mykal moved to room 214 and paced back and forth quietly. He tried to formulate a plan. He considered different things to say and tried to play out in his mind how everything would unfold. He felt sure if he handed the package over to Jill their intentions were to kill him. A surge of anger flared up. Mykal got an idea of going to the goons at the stair-wells to kill them. He wanted to show Jill he could become Jill’s and the President’s deadliest enemy. That wouldn’t work because he would be on the run for the rest of his life which meant he would be throwing his family away.
‘What the hell am I gonna do?’ He wondered as he stood in the hallway, though at the present time he didn’t exist. ‘I guess plan A. Roll the dice, see what happens and just deal with it. Or as my Marine buddies say, adapt and overcome.’
He made his way to the door, when suddenly the door opened and the coffee carrier stepped out of the room and went back to the snack room with the vending machines. As the man walked by, Mykal caught a big whiff of his strong cologne. Mykal didn’t know what kind it was but it smelled expensive. The coffee carrier, like the goons, dressed in a nice suit, looked clean shaven and his black hair looked greased back. He looked more like a business man than the muscle for a thug.
Mykal stepped into the room just as the door closed. After the door shut Mykal quietly flipped the security lock so the door was double locked. He was glad to see Jill’s back to him. Jill looked out the window, though his room overlooked the rear parking lot. On the nightstand beside Jill were a walky-talky and a shoulder holster with a .38 caliber revolver.
The hand held radio stood upright. Static crackled and a voice broke the silence in the room. “There is still no sign of him. Are you sure he’s coming?”
Jill grabbed the radio and put it to his lips. “He will come. When I spoke to him he said he’s coming. Trust me. He wants to be cut free from his obligation. He’ll be here. It could be this weather. It’s so damn cold here, he’s probably having difficulty getting his vehicle started. Keep your eyes open. I’m telling you, he’s a straight up kind of guy. He will be here.”
Mykal became visible before Jill turned around. “Hey.”
“Whoa, what the hell?” Jill physically jumped with shock and surprise. “Ha, ha how di-did you get in here?” Jill looked as if he had seen a ghost and couldn’t hide the shock and fear. “How long have you been standing there?” He asked and looked to the nightstand.
“I just got here. The door was open so I came in,” he said and looked at the holstered weapon Jill glanced at. “I thought you left it open for me.”
“Is that the package?” Jill asked and his eyes brightened.
“I don’t know. The guy was dead,” Mykal lied and tossed the case on the bed. “Let me know if it’s the right one. I wanna know if my mission is complete. Otherwise I’ll head back right now, cuz you wouldn’t believe the shit I had to go through to get this. I wanna be done with this mission.”
“Let me have a look,” Jill said and pulled out a hand held device to open the special locks on the attaché case.
Mykal surprised himself for remaining calm as if he didn’t suspect a thing. Mykal pulled one of the comfortable chairs to the far corner of the room and sat down. It kept him from the window and allowed him to watch both Jill and the door. While Jill manipulated the special secured latches on the case, the door opened but had stopped because of the security lock Mykal put in place.
“Hey Boss, you locked me out,” the man’s lips were pressed into the opening.
“Did you--” Jill turned to ask Mykal and was stunned to see he was looking into the barrel of Mykal’s .357 magnum. “Whoa, what the hell are you doing Myk?” He whispered at Mykal’s finger to his lips warning him not to give a warning.
“Tell him to back off,” Mykal whispered. Mykal was sure the goons would be able to figure out he got into the room.
“What are you doing Myk?” Jill mouthed the words so as not to give away a warning. Jill had never seemed to express fear before b
ut now he bore a genuine expression of terror in his black eyes. Jill’s black eyes always instilled a sense of fear and dread in Mykal, but now Mykal felt in control. The tables of power had been reversed.
Mykal didn’t say anything but instead jabbed his finger to the door. “I’m not playing,” he mouthed the words just barely above a whisper.
“Ronny, it’s okay,” Jill called out to the door. “I locked the door. It’s an important, private call, to the President. I’ll call you in just a few minutes.”
“I’ll check back with you in ten Boss,” Ronny responded and then shut the door.
“Myk, do you want to tell me what this is all about and what the hell you’re doing?” Jill’s trembling hands were in the air.
“Check the case out,” Mykal directed while waving his revolver toward the case on the bed.
“Damn, this is not the package,” Jill declared and turned around from the open brief case. “Now please explain to me why you are pointing a gun at me? Are you trying to change our agreement? Are you demanding more money? I don’t have the authority to do that Myk,” he said calmly and sat on the edge of the bed.
Mykal couldn’t believe Jill played him for stupid, but then if William wouldn’t have said anything he wouldn’t have known.
“Myk, say something. What’s going on here?” Jill acted cool so naturally. Jill didn’t give Mykal any hint that Mykal was on a hit list.
“First of all, I’m not here to change our agreement. I’m a man of my word. If I say I’m gonna do something, I’m gonna do it even if it means a loss for me. So since this is not the right package I’ll gladly go back and try to find the right one.”
“Well great, that’s why the President and I are glad to have you in charge of this mission. But I don’t understand why you’re coming at me with this heavy artillery,” Jill said and nodded to the threatening .357 magnum.
“I gave my word I would give it my all to try to find Mister X and his special case. All I wanted in return was my freedom. To be left alone with my wife and kids. Nothing more. I’m not gonna be a burden or a threat to anyone.”
“That’s what our agreement was,” Jill replied and sounded shocked. He looked surprised that Mykal brought this up. “I don’t understand.”
“William killed Boris.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Jill replied without even a hint of surprise. His words sounded insincere.
“Boris was one of my best friends. He was family to me.”
“I’m really sorry Myk. Why did William kill him?”
Everything added up. Jill’s lack of surprise, lack of concern and emotion coupled with his disingenuousness confirmed for him that Jill was pleased and accepting of the fact that William killed Boris. It was as if he had been expecting that to be said. Mykal felt confident with all the “muscle” Jill had on the premises with him, Jill was going to silence Mykal after the true package had been turned over to Jill.
“Why did he kill him?” Mykal repeated Jill’s question while eyeing Jill’s body language and facial expressions for any signs that would help him. “William said that it was his job to make sure Boris never came back to the real world.”
“William said that?” Jill asked and this time looked truly surprised.
“Yeah, he did. William’s dead too.”
“Oh no. What happened?” Jill showed true emotion as he scooted to the edge of the bed.
“I killed him,” Mykal said casually without any hesitation spying for Jill’s reaction. Though he didn’t actually kill William he knew the Goblins would. “No, it wasn’t out of revenge for killing Boris, one of my best friends.”
“What did you kill him for then?”
Mykal got the impression that Jill was sizing him up to see if Mykal had it in him to kill a man in cold blood despite all the stories told of the warfare in Towbar’s world. “Because he tried to kill me,” he replied stone faced.
“Wh-why? Why would he try to kill you Myk?”
“Because I did find Mister X, and I did retrieve thee package, Football 2,” he added to verify he knew the nickname of the package that Mister X and the others gave the precious cargo. “Just before William tried to shoot me in the head he explained that once the package was returned, there was a need to silence me. That you guys need me to be dead.”
“Wh-what?” Jill looked shocked again, but this time he looked fearful.
“Don’t frickin’ play stupid with me you sonovabitch,” Mykal snarled and raised his revolver so the barrel was head level.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Myk, Myk, Myk please,” Jill begged while he squinted his eyes and turned his head away to keep from staring into the barrel that would blast the slug to easily take his life. “Don’t shoot, don’t shoot.”
“I gave you motherless bastards my life. I gave everything of me to get your precious package. I did the friggin impossible,” he snarled between clenched teeth. “I did all that only to find out you scumbags were planning to stab me in the back and kill me to keep me quiet.”
“Whoa Myk, please hold on. That’s not true,” Jill stammered and moved his hands in front of his face, not that they would make a difference if Mykal shot him in the head.
“If I woulda handed you the right package I would be dead right now or I would be on my way to being dead,” Mykal accused him.
“No, no, that’s not true Myk,” Jill protested.
“Then why the hell are there at least seven armed dudes out there waiting for me to show up?”
“I-I, I need protection. Just in case you did show up with the package I couldn’t take the chance of it falling into the wrong hands. You gotta believe me, Myk.”
“No I don’t, asshole. I gotta believe William’s dying words just before he tried to kill me. All I wanted was to be left alone. I wouldn’t have bothered you guys for anything, and this is how you repay me?” He hissed while he twisted his face into a tortured expression of hatred. Mykal clenched his teeth and cocked the hammer back.
“Please Mykal. Please, please, please,” Jill begged and slid off the bed on to his knees and kept his hands in the air. “Don’t do this. I know you’re pissed off, but let’s keep our wits about ourselves.”
“Why? According to what William said, I’m a dead man. So if I’m dead, I’m going to leave the package in Towbar’s world and I’m gonna take as many of you scumbags with me as I can.”
“Don’t do that Myk. Please, hear me out,” he begged with his faced turned away from the revolver. “Please put that down and let’s talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. You wanna kill me, so I’m gonna kill you first, you friggin mutt.”
“Myk, I know you’re a family man. I am too. I have a wife and three little kids. Don’t do this to them. We can work this out. We, we ca-can come to an agreement,” Jill said and sounded desperate since Mykal didn’t lower the monstrous revolver.
Mykal suddenly felt sad because he knew how his wife was going to feel if they killed him. He was leery that Jill was playing him. “What do you have for kids?” Mykal asked and lowered the handgun slightly.
“A boy and two little girls,” he said with a sigh and relaxed his hands when he saw the barrel lowered. “My real name is Purcel Mathisson. My son is ‘Little’ Percy.” Jill smiled broadly. “He’s eight. My girls are Lizzy, Elizabeth who is five and Sharon who is four. They are my life,” he added and his voice sounded like it was on the verge of cracking.
“What the hell? Why do you guys want me dead after all I’ve done for you?”
“Myk, please try to understand, it’s not that we want you dead, but we have to protect the President. We can’t have any slip ups. If any of this was to get out it would ruin him and his Presidency. It’s never been personal. It’s business.”
“Yeah, but I told you guys I would never say anything. When I give my word I mean it. All I care about is just being with my wife and sons. I don’t care about politics. I don’t care about this party or that party. It don’t m
ean shit to me. What pisses me off is you guys were planning to kill me from the start. You don’t know what the hell I’ve been through in the past ten days. You don’t know how many people I watched die and I still got that damn Package without any friggin complaints. All I wanted in return was to be left alone. That’s all I wanted!” He snarled with hatred.
“Myk, I just follow orders. But,” he quickly turned the mood. “I have the President’s ear. And I’m in close with all his advisors. You just proved to me that you won’t damage the President. You just proved you’re a straight up kind of guy. You had the chance to kill me and you didn’t.”
“Yet,” Mykal retorted to show he was still undecided. “I didn’t kill you yet,” he repeated viciously through clenched teeth.
“Yet, okay, fair enough. Mykal, I can give you my word that if you go back to Towbar’s world and get the Package and bring it back here, I’ll give the order to stop the plan to eliminate you. I have the authority to issue such an order.”
“You make it sound so neat and orderly. Where I’m from you put a hit on me.”
“I know Myk. My job is to protect the President at all costs and our thinking was to err on the side of caution. I know Boris was your friend, I understand he was close like your family, but do you know what would happen to the President if it ever got out that he wasn’t really killed in prison and we released him to satisfy you? The press and the people would crucify the President. The press is always looking for something to use against and to go after the President with anyways. It would have been worse than Watergate. Since Boris can never come back to haunt the President I’ll work with you.”
“I understand about Boris. But how do I know you’re not going to screw me over?”
“Myk, you’ve made it very clear you’re all about your family. Since we understand what is at stake and I can see that you are sincere I’m willing to make this agreement. Since you’re holding a gun to my head, please understand what I’m about to say is not a threat, but I know you’re aware that if you violate this agreement we make, you’ll be putting your family in harm’s way. So I know you would never go back on your end of the deal.”
