The Bluff City Butcher

by Steve Bradshaw

  “Elliott just got back from England yesterday, something about Scotland Yard and a Serpentine Strangler getting away. What more do you want from me, Rudy?”

  “Is he coming into this willingly?”

  “Elliott understands his lineage. He’s a strong, successful man, way more qualified than I ever was. I am confident he will be an exceptional patriarch one day.”

  “What about weaknesses, Alfred?”

  “He has internal battles. His photographic memory keeps the horror of his life too close. Carol seems to be the best thing to ever happen to him. She fuels his ability to battle these inner demons. When he met Adam, Elliott saw his brother trapped inside a monster. I think the experience helped him understand his battle.”

  “Miss Mason is the perfect vessel for Elliot. We developed her the right way, Alfred. We introduced her at the right time. The rest happened naturally.”

  “Are you certain Carol knows nothing? She’s been talking about Gilgamesh. Elliott’s asking me about it, too. They won’t stop until they know.”

  Rudy smiled. “By the time they get anywhere, Elliott’s future patriarch will be a toddler.” Rudy’s smile faded. “Unfortunately, when Adam killed his brother, we lost our insurance policy. Jack had a role—to reduce risk. We live in a complex and dangerous world, Alfred. The Bell family must be protected.”

  “It’s always been about protecting the assets, hasn’t it?”

  “That sounds cold. I think it’s about protecting family. We don’t have a lot of time. You need to know we purchased BelMed. It’s buried in the books, another family asset hidden in a dozen shell corporations. Jack setup LIFE2 and BelMed in December 2004. He locked out Medino in the small print. I suspect he did not trust the man in 2004. Our people took care of the paper.”

  “Jack did trust him later. Everything Medino said was true. Did you know Mr. Chambliss attempted to get access to the Medino secret files in November?”

  “They tried to get Medino to join for years,” Rudy said.

  “His negotiations with the government did not go well.”

  “You need to accept that Medino stole from the Bell family. But I won’t go there now. Before your next appointment, what can you tell me about the status of LIFE2?”

  “Our people inside the S.E.C. have everything handled. We have controlling interest when the dust settles.”

  Rudy shifted in his chair. “What about the Medino files?”

  “What Medino files?”

  “We have gone to considerable lengths to locate his secret files, hard drives. We believe he got there, Alfred. He knows the way to biogenic immortality.”

  “How do you know that? What have you done?”

  “We searched every square foot of the Nashville farm. Found nothing. To eliminate risk of someone else finding it, we flooded the location. We’ve also been all over the Exchange Building downtown—again found nothing. We may need to demolish the goddamn building if we cannot get comfortable.”

  “You don’t know. You are just afraid of his research.”

  “The bastard stole DNA from a Bell patriarch. He spent the rest of his life trying to duplicate what belongs to this family.”

  “And how is that different from Gilgamesh having it?”

  “We’ve been over that ground. The difference is . . .”

  William appeared behind Rudy clearing his throat. “Excuse me, sir. Your first appointment has arrived?”

  “Give us a minute and bring him out, William.” Albert pointed to Rudy’s eating area. In seconds servants removed all signs anyone had been there. They laid out the new place setting and restocked the table.

  “They’re getting good,” Rudy said getting up. “We will continue this discussion. I’ll be in the greenhouse playing with the orchids. You can send someone when you’re ready for me.” Rudy left the terrace to the south. A minute later William brought Officer Starnes out.

  * * *

  Albert embraced him. “Hello, my friend.” He stepped back and held the muscular arms at the shoulders. “You’re still as hard as chiseled granite.” Willie was the strongest person Albert ever knew, until he met Adam.

  “Good morning, Mr. Bell.”

  “You look wonderful, Willie. Young and as strong as the day Rudy introduced us twenty-five years ago. You must be coloring the gray.”

  Willie got a good laugh. “No, it’s a gift from Mama. She never had a gray hair on her head. Mama lived to ninety-three.”

  They sat and William brought Willie his special coffee.

  “I understand you have something for me,” Albert said.

  Willie pulled the thin leather box from his pocket and set it on the table. After they looked at it a few seconds, he smiled and slid it across the fine, linen tablecloth to Albert, and took a long sip of his special coffee—one part hot cream, two parts coffee, and two pinches of sugar. William always got it right.

  “Help yourself to a warm blueberry muffin. And yes, that’s real butter.”

  “Thank you. Blueberry muffins and real butter, I sure know what that means.” Willie helped himself.

  “I know you do.” Albert turned the box so the embossed word in the center was right-side up. He smiled, placed his napkin over it, and took a sip of coffee. “Willie, are you about ready to retire?”

  “Well sir, ya know how I miss Mr. Bellow. I’ve been looking out for him for a long time. I’m not used to him not being round.”

  “I know, Willie.”

  “I remember, the basement of the Exchange Building, October 15, 2009, when he gave me that little leather box. Jack hugged me hard and then went down the sewer pipe. I felt like he knew it would be our last time.”

  “I know the feeling, Willie. I wish we had known Jack was my son.” Albert stared at his reflection in his coffee cup.

  “Mr. Albert, you know Mr. Kohl never told me neither. I would talk to you. All I knew was my job—watch out for Mr. Bellow. I should ask some questions, but just thought Mr. Bellow was a special man attracted interests of the Bell family—so very smart and a real good man.”

  “Willie, when we look back over our life and get to see most of our story, I guess it’s normal to wonder why we failed to see a lot of things when they were happening.”

  “Seems life happens and most the time we don’t keep up.”

  “At the end, Jack was desperate. He did not know who was after him, Willie. Someone killed his partner. The greedy investors stole his company. The Memphis police accused him of being the Bluff City Butcher. People were trying to steal the LIFE2 secrets. I don’t know how he lasted as long as he did.”

  “I guess it’s a lot for any man to carry alone.”

  “You took care of him, and he never knew. At the end, he came to you, Willie.”

  “I guess he trusted me a lot. That’s why I know that thing I gave you is important, Mr. Bell.” He popped another blueberry muffin in his mouth and smiled looking up.

  “Are you going to retire, Willie?” Albert asked.

  “Not much I can do now. Guess I better find me a porch to sit on.” They both laughed. Willie got to his feet. They embraced.

  No matter what I tried to give you over the years, you would only accept my blueberry muffins and give me a piece of your heart, Albert thought.

  “Willie, you’ve been a millionaire for about twenty years. You do remember the little retirement account we set up for you. Go get you a porch wherever you want and let me know, so I can come do some rocking with you, my friend.”

  “Yes sir.” Willie stopped before entering the mansion and turned back to Albert. “Mr. Alberto hiding in the greenhouse?”

  Albert smiled. “What do you think?”

  “I think he ain’t never gonna change.” Willie disappeared in the mansion.

  Breakfast with hot blueberry muffins and real butter means Alberto Bella is still round, Willie thought. Makes him ‘bout 165 this year. These peoples sure does live long round here.

  “No sir, Mr. Albert,” he said
under his breath. “Ain’t nothin’ ever gonna change round here.” Willie’s laugh faded into the depths of the Bell mansion.

  * * *

  Albert pulled the white, linen napkin off the thin leather box and ran a finger over the embossed word—GILGAMESH.

  I heard you, Willie. I have a few gifts, too. On the contrary my friend, everything is about to change around here. Albert turned an eye to the greenhouse.

  “Sir.” William approached the edge of Albert’s gaze. “May I have a moment?”

  “William. Yes, of course. Rudy is nearby so . . .”

  William leaned close. “Maxwell phoned, sir. Miss Betty Duncan is alive.”

  Albert stopped breathing.

  William poured him a glass of water, and waited.

  “She never married, sir. Maxwell said to tell you the records in Texas are fabrications. Miss Duncan had to escape, leave the country.”

  “Escape who?”

  “Maxwell did not say, sir.” He poured a second glass of water. “Miss Duncan wants to see you, if it is okay with you. She is afraid for you, sir.”

  “See me? Yes, William. Yes. Betty is alive. Where is she?”

  “Peru, south of Arequipa.”

  “William, I want you to wait for Alberto to leave before we revisit this. I want Elliott involved. We will plan a trip to South America. Tell Max to get to Memphis now.”

  “He lands at 9:00 p.m., sir.”

  “Good.”

  “Dr. Sumner is here. I put him in the study. Shall I fetch him, sir?”

  “Yes. Please do.”

  “May I ask, sir, does Dr. Sumner know Rudolph Kohl is Alberto Bella?”

  Albert smiled. “Not yet. I am confident he can handle it.”

  “I don’t know, sir. Meeting your great grandfather can be alarming, if you know what I mean.”

  William rarely offered his opinion or smiled. This was one of those special occasions, and Albert appreciated the moment with his lifelong confidant.

  “Please take this and put it in a safe place.” Albert passed the thin leather box. William covered it with the linen napkin on his arm.

  Betty is alive.

  Beneath the thick canopy of giant oaks Albert smelled his coffee and watched the sun burn the morning mist off the manicured lawns. For the first time since the death of his father, he felt peace.

  Could the nightmare be over? The woman Albert loved is alive. And he has a son. Elliott would soon learn he has another gift, one unique to Bell patriarchs, the genetic anomaly passed to the first male born.

  Like a proud father, Albert’s smiling eyes followed Elliott passing by the tall windows of the mansion on his way to the door to the veranda.

  I will tell you the truth about Gilgamesh. I will tell you Dr. Medino’s secrets. And I will tell you the responsibilities of the blood lions.

  Albert’s smile melted and pupils narrowed as Alberto Bella pulled out his chair.

  “What a wondrous day,” Albert said.

  About the Author

  STEVE BRADSHAW is a forensic field agent and biotech entrepreneur writing his unique brand of mystery/thrillers. Steve’s training and experience investigating thousands of unexplained deaths for the medical examiner’s office, and as the founder-President/CEO of an innovative biomedical device company enables him to put his readers on the front row in the fascinating worlds of fringe science, modern forensics, and the chilling pursuit of real monsters.

  Steve enjoys sharing his experiences and perspectives as a forensic investigator, President/CEO, and mystery/thriller author. Visit his website and join MEMBER GUEST so you can interact with the author, get insider information and updates, arrange for an author visit, and to be the first in line for new releases.

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  www.stevebradshawauthor.com

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