by Kyle West
Insp. Clark tells Keith, "Keep talking, and you'll be first to get it. Just keep your damn mouth shut!"
Vivian refuses to believe Keith. She says to him, "Keith, I saw you in the hotel room, with the dead guy! I don't believe a damn thing that comes out of your mouth!"
Keith shakes his head, holds up his hands and says to Insp. Clark, "So what you gonna do man?! You gonna cuff me or what guy! I know who you are! Now what?!"
Insp. Clark doesn't respond. Keith continues, "Vivian, remember when we was up in the room playing cards with the dude in the suit (Starr)? He told us about this guy! Tim Novak from Boston! Remember? Well you know Jesse and those guys were running after the money and away from the C.I.A. It was their own bosses in the Agency who was trying to kill them! Just to make sure they kept quiet about all the dirt they did for the government recently, and what they knew that the C.I.A. was into. When those six guys, six, Jesse and his boys, got ambushed, they all got away except for one guy! This one! Tim Novak! I guess Jesse and those guys didn't know this dude actually survived the ambush!"
Vivian interrupts, "How do you know all of this? You don't know nothing about nothing Keith!
"I’m not gonna tell you ‘cause you won't believe me anyway. But you gotta trust me Vivian!" A now jittery Insp. Clark tells Vivian to walk up ahead to his car, while he calls N.O.P.D. on his cell phone to come arrest Keith.
"Don't go! Listen to me Vivian! Listen! The C.I.A., so to cover their ass, told the National Security Council that this guy here, Tim Novak, was killed in a mission gone wrong. Then said that Jesse and the remaining guys, the guys you and me had the misfortune of dealing with, deserted the military and stole top-secret material. So Jesse and those guys were labeled as criminals, as spies, the dredges of the earth, and that's why they ran. They had to run. The top-secret material? The three hundred million dollars.
Vivian is speechless as she listens along as Keith continues, "Tim Novak, this guy right here, comes back from the dead and knocks his crew off, one by one, by one and so on, until it’s just him and the three hundred million left standing! He’d never has to look over his shoulder! Ever!"
Keith adds, "So again Vivian. I sure hope you didn't find the money today, or even worse, give it to this guy? If you did, we’re not getting out of this park alive tonight."
Vivian is now a little scared, and extremely confused. She looks at Insp. Clark and meekly asks, afraid to really get an answer, "Did you know Jesse?"
Insp. Clark responds, "Mrs. Baylor, Vivian, look, I don’t want you listening to this guy. You are safe. The local police will take care of this guy, he’ll be off to the federal penitentiary for a long, long time. Vivian, my car is right up in the parking lot, straight up the walkway there. Here are my car keys. You go up to the car, get warm and I'll wait for the police and take care of Keith here. I'll meet you up there. Go ahead."
Vivian doesn't move, as she doesn't know what to do. Keith senses that Vivian somewhat believes him. He says to Vivian, "I'll be dead before you put the key in the ignition! I understand if you don't trust me. That's okay. Just call the police! Call Det. Roussel right now! Call him Vivian and tell him where we are so he can arrest me! I'm quite sure you'd like to see me arrested and Det. Roussel would love to cuff me! Call him Vivian!"
Vivian is now thinking strongly that Keith might be telling the truth. Vivian looks at
Insp. Clark and hesitantly says, "I went to your office. You're with the F.B.I.? You're one of the good guys, right?"
"Mrs. Baylor everything here is under control, don't worry. He can't hurt you. Let me walk you up to my car. I just have to wait for police to get this guy, then we’ll take care of the money ok!"
Keith yells, "Good! You didn’t give him anything yet! Good! You do, and we're both gonna wind up like Jesse and the rest of those guys! If the police do get here, give them everything, not this guy!"
Vivian is really confused at this point. She stops walking with the Inspector, turns around and walks towards Keith and says, "I saw you in the hotel room! That guy was dead, all shot up on the couch! You killed him!"
Insp. Clark interrupts, "Vivian it doesn’t matter now. He’s done, it’s over now. Let’s go.” Keith starts to walk towards them, “Vivian, I thought you was in the room hurt or something, that's why I was in there! This guy here did it! Listen to me!" Keith continues walking towards them, hands in the air, and says to Insp. Clark, "Where are your handcuffs man?" Insp. Clark raises his pistol at Keith.
Keith stops and shouts to Vivian, "If this man is with the F.B.I., why ain't I under arrest?!" Keith puts his hand behind his back, turns his back to Clark and Vivian, and says, "C'mon, take me in! If I killed somebody today, he should be taking me in right, Vivian?!" Vivian looks at Insp. Clark for him to do something, but he doesn't.
Keith continues, still with his back to Insp. Clark and Vivian, "Man, your beef ain't with me, or Vivian! The C.I.A., and the military screwed you! Your boys screwed you! But not us! Not me, not Vivian! Let her go, you got me! Just leave her be!"
Clark, with his gun still pointed at Keith responds, "Nobody is going anywhere. Mrs. Baylor is staying with me!"
With fear all over her face, Vivian says to Clark, "Please, tell me he's lying about everything!
Arrest him! Do something!" In the distance, faintly heard, are police sirens.
Keith turns around, facing Clark and Vivian, "Vivian, you don't have to believe either one of us now! Police will be here in a minute. We'll just wait right here and let them handle all of this! Right? Novak?!"
Insp. Clark still has his gun pointed at Keith. Keith notices the inspector’s gun hand, and says, "That’s some grip there. Surprised you don't break your finger like that. Hard to aim with a grip like that I'd think, right?" Insp. Clark is holding the gun with a ‘two-finger grip’. His middle finger is on the trigger, not the usual index finger. He doesn't respond, but does look a big edgy as he hears the police sirens getting closer.
Keith adds, "I never saw anybody shoot a gun like that. Doesn't the gun jump up, and damn near hit you in the face? No! No! Vivian what did you say? A gun doesn't jump, it kicks! That's what you said a few nights ago, right?!"
Keith's question triggers Vivian to remember where she heard that before. Vivian now remembers Starr in the hotel room while he was cleaning his gun. She stares at Keith, and finds him staring back at her as if to tell her something with his eyes.
Insp. Clark, now with desperation in his voice, aggressively tells Vivian to give him the flash-drive and CDs. Vivian notices Insp. Clark's right hand jacket sleeve, the hand that is pointing the gun at Keith. His sleeve has run up his arm. Vivian notices his cufflink, it’s the unique cufflinks that Starr also had on a few nights ago. The same cufflinks she told Keith and Starr in the hotel room that Jesse owned, but never wore. The ‘Gold Wing’ cufflinks. Vivian remembers Starr telling her that President Clinton gave a set of ‘Gold Wing’ cufflinks to every member of the M.I.C.O. commando soldiers team. Vivian is now paralyzed by fear.
Vivian slowly starts backing away from Insp. Clark, and softly says, "Oh my God. It is you..." A speechless Insp. Clark, still with his gun pointed at Keith, takes one step toward Vivian, then stops. Keith shouts to Vivian to run. Insp. Clark quickly turns his head back to Keith and fires four shots…hitting him twice, once in the upper left rib area, and once in the left shoulder! Keith is spun around, and collapses to the ground. Vivian inexplicably stops and freezes in her tracks, as she looks at Keith lying motionless on the ground!
Chapter 22
Inspector Clark really is Tim Novak. Novak has exacted revenge on his military partners, the former M.I.C.O. soldiers, Jesse Baylor, Greg McKenna, Marlon Starr, Ross Barone, and Jerome "Rome" Dixon. Tim Novak felt that his covert military partners purposely left him behind, or at the least, didn’t make enough effort to rescue him during the ambush in Ecuador. Some part of Novak did feel that his military brothers didn't want to cut him in on the stolen money. Novak was wrong. The commando s
oldiers saw Novak seriously wounded, with enemy C.I.A. sponsored paramilitary group closing in on them. The soldiers thought Novak was most likely to die, if not already be dead, from his wounds
They were wrong.
Novak looks down at Keith's motionless body, lying on the park ground for a few seconds. Novak then whips his head back to see Vivian, who seems to have her feet locked to the ground. She is so scared she cannot move. Novak slowly starts walking towards Vivian with a look of derangement as he takes his black leather gloves out of his jacket pocket, and puts them on. Vivian starts to retreat. Novak’s maniacal eyes are fixed on Vivian as he starts aggressively walking towards her!
Vivian finally turns and runs. A police spotlight then shines on Novak, right in his face. From about fifty feet away several voices yell, "Drop it! Drop the gun now, motherfucker!"
Novak looks around to see where, and how many police officers have surrounded him. He puts his hands up, still with gun in hand. Up the walkway from the parking lot, Novak sees two N.O.P.D. officers in a Ford Explorer SUV, with searchlights blaring down on him. Meanwhile Vivian has ducked behind a large trash bin about fifty feet away.
One officer, Patrolman Harrison, gets out of the police vehicle and is now behind the driver side door of the police SUV, aiming his shotgun at Novak. P.O. Harrison orders Novak to drop the gun, which he does. The other officer, Patrolman Pierce exits the truck from the passenger side door, and rushes down the walkway over to Keith, who is bleeding on the pavement.
P.O. Pierce bends down to check Keith's pulse, and shouts to his partner, "He's still alive, but he's losing a lot of blood! Call a bus!" Novak has been ordered to spread eagle on the ground. P.O. Harrison, carrying the shotgun, approaches Novak lying face down on the pavement in his designer suit, to handcuff and arrest him. P.O. Pierce has walked over to check on Vivian, who is still kneeling on the ground behind the trash bin. He asks Vivian if she is okay, she vigorously nods her head yes. Vivian then looks to see Novak lying on the ground, staring at her with the officer's shotgun aimed at the back of his head.
P.O. Pierce thinks Vivian might be hurt, so he tells her, "I want you to stay put right here, until the ambulance gets here!" The patrolman remains behind the trash bin with Vivian, as he talks on his two-way radio, giving a status report on the situation to his superior.
Meanwhile, P.O. Harrison tells Novak to lock his fingers behind his head, which he does.
Novak says, "Officer, I'm with the F.B.I. If you look in my inside pocket you'll find my identification."
After a few brief questions, Harrison tells Novak to get to his knees, and cross his feet. Again, with shotgun pointed at Novak, the patrolman shouts, "Slowly, reach into your jacket pocket with your right hand! Keep your left hand on you head! Got it?!" Novak slowly pulls out his wallet, and a folded sheet of paper from his inside jacket pocket. P.O. Harrison tells Novak to throw his identification to him, a few feet away. "It's windy out here Officer. It will blow away. It’s my federal identification, and my order of assignment here in New Orleans. The wounded man over there is my 'perp'. I need you guys to help me bring him in. He is in custody. Is he still alive?"
P.O. Harrison responds, "Put the fucking paper on the ground, put your wallet on top, and keep your hands up!" The officer slowly and carefully approaches Novak, with shotgun aimed right at his chest. P.O. Harrison, holding his shotgun with one hand, and the other hand reaching for Novak's ID, bends down to pick up Novak's personal information. In a blink of an eye…Novak knocks the shotgun away from his chest with his left hand, as he kicks Harrison's legs from under him, sending him crashing down on the hard pavement! Novak methodically overpowers the officer. Novak maneuvers himself behind P.O. Harrison to un-holster the officer’s service pistol, which is on his right hip. Novak brutally fires four shots into the back of P.O. Harrison's neck, and his upper back! P.O. Pierce, who is still with Vivian behind the dumpster, hears the shots, and quickly stands up with pistol drawn, to see if his partner’s life is in danger. He sees his P.O. Harrison on his knees, with his life slowly ebbing away…he yells over his radio, "Shots fired! Shots fired! Officer down! I need assistance!"
P.O. Pierce fires wildly at Novak who ducks behind the mortally wounded Officer Harrison, and picks the officer up to his feet. With one arm around P.O Harrison's chest, Novak carries him like a shield, while rushing toward P.O. Pierce, who is shooting at him! Vivian has taken off running east down the pathway to the end of Riverfront Park, towards the renovated section of the Riverwalk. Vivian is running towards the old Fort Dupre military fort. Novak throws the lifeless body of P.O. Harrison down on the ground and runs behind a tree about fifteen to twenty feet away. P.O. Pierce is still behind the trash bin, shooting many rounds at Novak.
At a break in the heavy gunfire from P.O. Pierce, Novak figures out his next move. He finds a rubber ball lying nearby, picks it up, and rolls it through the long grass, towards the officer. P.O. Pierce thinks he hears Novak's footsteps rushing towards him. He springs from behind the trash bin, and starts firing rapidly in the direction of the rolling ball!
Novak stands up, and moves to P.O. Pierce's blind side, and fires four shots, hitting the officer three times, killing him instantly!
Novak looks for Vivian, he spots her running down the pathway towards Fort Dupre, about three hundred yards ahead. Most of the area is blocked off for construction. Vivian is not aware that she is running into the direction where there is no exit from the park for the most part, a dead end!
9:48 pm
Vivian runs up to the front of Fort Dupre, a historic Spanish fort that dates back to the War of 1812. Built of masonry and brick. Vivian is afraid to enter the dark and eerie relic. She sees a spacious, dilapidated, dank building, with large gaping holes in sections of the parapets. (the outer edge of a defensive wall that shelters the defenders of the fort.) The ground is dirt and pebble, with mud in most areas. Squirrels and raccoons have nested all throughout the run down edifice. She looks around to see if there is another way out of the park, but quickly realizes that she has run into an area of no return. Vivian sees Novak running towards her, about a hundred yards away. With no choices available, Vivian runs into the fort.
The mid-February moonlight serves as the forts only source of light. Fort Dupre has two levels. The upper level is more of a chenin-de-ronde (walkway) around the perimeter of the fort, with four sentry boxes that sit at each corner above the fort. Vivian notices construction vehicles, a small crane, a wrecking ball, a bulldozer, as well as heavy-duty power tools such as jackhammers, power saws, and gas torches, all over the parade/courtyard of the fort.
Vivian frantically searches for a place to hide before Novak enters the fort. She makes her way over construction materials, and finds the stone and earth rampart up to the second level of the fort, immediately to her left. Vivian runs up the insecure and treacherous stairway!
She gets halfway up, then looks out of an embrasure (window to shoot weapons from), to see Novak just about to reach the entrance of the fort. Vivian ducks away from the embrasure, then quickly continues up the stairway. Novak rushes into the fort, and stands in the entrance, snapping his head from side to side, desperately in search of Vivian. Novak slowly walks to the parade of the fort, and yells out to Vivian to lay the flash-drives and CDs disk down on the ground, and to simply leave the fort. He promises not to hurt her.
Vivian does not respond.
Novak slowly and carefully walks around the main level of the fort, slipping in the mud. He looks behind the construction vehicles and equipment, and some large wooden crates. He yells out to Vivian, "I promise I will not hurt you Mrs. Baylor! Again, may I call you Vivian?! Think about it! If I really wanted to kill you, I had plenty of opportunity wouldn’t you say! Come out and let's talk ok!"
Vivian does not come out of hiding.
Novak continues searching around for Vivian, “There’s no reason to be afraid of me, I was not the one to cause of all of this you know! To tell you the truth I, just
like you, am a victim in all of this craziness Vivian! Jesse and the rest of the guys in my team, pretty much left me in the middle of South America to die! I was the victim in all of this! Yes! I was captured and tortured by a hit squad, that was hired by a government that I swore to protect and serve and by a band of brothers that I worked together with for ten years! I was royally fucked by everybody here! They took everything that I lived for, everything that I stood for!"
Vivian is on the upper level hiding, trying to stay as quiet as she possibly can. Through the wooden slats of the upper level, Vivian can see Novak walking under her.
Novak shouts out to Vivian, "You know what torture is like Vivian? They pulled my toenails right out of my feet! All ten! Then made me stand in a bucket of salt! The pain was so intense that I just passed out! They stuck cigarettes in my ear, yanked out some of my teeth with a pair of pliers!"
Novak casually continues, "It hurt so much, I wished I was dead. I'm not kidding you Vivian, that's how much it hurt!" Novak chuckles, "Thank God my dad, a dentist, was able to fix my smile up for me! Teeth can be replaced in this day and age, but my gums are beyond repair."
Novak adds, "Vivian, I begged them to put a bullet in my brain!"
She quietly stands in one of the stone sentry boxes, looking off the edge to see if she can jump, and escape to safety. Vivian sees a drop of about thirty feet to the steep fort revetment (embankment), that slopes down into the Mississippi River. She decides not to jump.
Novak continues looking for Vivian, slowly stalking around the ground level of the fort, talking aloud to Vivian. He yells out to her, "We're being honest here. I came back a vindictive, angry, and bitter man! I was on the brink of death and I blamed the entire world! I wanted Jesse and the rest of my buddies to pay me back in their blood! I left a lot of mine in that cage that they put me in for almost forty days! How does the saying go? Don't get mad, get even! So when I found out that these guys, my 'Brothers in Arms', brought all of this on us for money and in essence, sacrificed my life, for this money; me a man of integrity, honor, and loyalty, I feel like I have nothing left to lose! Just listen to the irony to all of this is Vivian! On paper, I'm not even dead! The U.S. Government killed me! Or think they killed me! But I'm dead to them! I'm a deserter! Absent Without Leave like I left them! Isn't that a disgrace?! Well, I say fuck them! Fuck them all! If I have to die doing it, I will be compensated for my over ten years of honorable service, and honorable friendship! I vowed that I would make sure that I get that money!"
