Bloody Shadows

by Bernard Lee DeLeo

  “He’s a sick man, John,” Gus stated. “Admit it.”

  “Sorry, Muerto, but you are a sick man.”

  “Taking pride in what you do, and doing it well, should not be a target for critics who do nothing but bitch and moan, Payaso. I’m very disappointed in you, Kabong. This insidious mutiny within the ranks of the Unholy Trio will not be forgotten by El Muerto.”

  “We have to go, John. When he starts talking in third person, my teeth start aching.”

  John chuckled. “We’ll be working it, Muerto. Good luck.”

  “Good luck? That’s blasphemy, John,” Nick replied, maintaining his outrage.

  * * *

  Brook Wargul locked the outer office door, his heart pounding in anticipation. Watching Heather the entire day, Wargul fought down his nearly debilitating desire for the woman. Since starting the affair a month ago with his office manager, he endured the monotonous daily workload with a careless attitude toward business he never experienced before. The inadvertent smiles, touches, and whisperings acted only to draw his illicit attention to each day’s ending tryst. The fact they were both safely married to inattentive partners made their pairing easy, and urgent, without worry about pressure being brought to bear making more of the affair than there was. To Wargul, it was the best of all possible worlds. He and Heather acted out their lovemaking foreplay all day long in exciting doses made all the more erotic by the presence of their coworkers. By day’s end, their desires could only be satisfied in a short, nearly violent romp, the ecstasy of release their only mutual goal.

  Heather awaited Brook, sitting on the corner of his desk, her legs crossed with skirt riding upwards past her thighs. He grunted approvingly, noting her panties and bra were tossed in a ball onto an office chair. Her unbuttoned red silk top opened slightly as she hunched forward provocatively, her breasts pushing against the material. She allowed her long blonde hair to hang loosely over her cheeks, untethered from the restraining tie during the work day.

  Brook moved toward her after closing his inner office door with slow deliberation. The moment before he initiated contact, acted as the catalyst each day to end their mutual foreplay, and begin the much anticipated coupling each sought release in. His hands framed her face, lips brushing together at first in gentle acknowledgement, turning into a writhing urgency, hands kneading and caressing all within reach. Heather moaned, arching to meet his busy hands.

  “My God, Heather… you drove me insane today! I couldn’t think of anything else.”

  Heather allowed Wargul to push her skirt up while she unbuckled his pants. “I want you inside me now! Don’t you dare come either for a few moments. Then, I’ll turn… then I’ll want it hard, fast, and final with everything you’ve got, baby!”

  “Anything… anything,” Wargul whispered against her mouth.

  * * *

  “How far are you away, Muerto? John and I may have misjudged the climax of this sinful union,” Gus said.

  “I anticipated it somewhat from past times we studied. I knew I’d need to avoid the cams we had gone over location for on the way to his office. I’m approaching his outer office door now.”

  John sighed in relief. “Good, because I think you should enter the office now. Then move to his inner office door.”

  “Believe this,” Gus added, “Wargul will not hear you open the inner door. Open it slightly, and wait for our cue. I hate to say it, but I believe you may have predicted yet another horrific moment to be logged into the El Muerto file of the sacrilegious and profane.”

  “I must agree with my brother, Payaso,” John added. “It is a good thing this is not St. Valentine’s Day. Cupid would arrive to avenge this travesty you’re about to attempt.”

  “Cut the comedy act!” Nick whispered, while bent to his task with a smile.

  The final tumbler moved on the outer door lock as Nick pulled open the door in a quietly rapid motion as he pushed down on the door handle. He slipped inside, closing and locking the door once again, his black Nitrile gloves keeping a firm grip on the handle until the door was completely secured in place. Nick approached Wargul’s inner office door with a grin. The sounds of the office’s occupants made it plain to Nick they would not hear him open the door, even if it did make a little noise. He quickly put on his El Muerto mask, and then retrieved the syringe destined for Heather’s journey into unconsciousness. As he gripped the handle, Gus gave him a warning.

  “Get the door open, and syringe in hand, Muerto. The final stage in this play is how should we describe it, John?”

  “Shooting to a conclusion?”

  “That’s the one,” Gus confirmed.

  Nick shook his head with Gus and John chortling in his ear. He retrieved the syringe from his long coat pocket after pushing the door open slightly. Listening intently to the last stages of an energetic lovemaking session, Nick waited behind the door with patience practiced and perfected over the years, his heartbeat nearly the same as if he were eating an apple while sitting on a park bench. A distinct crescendo was reached in loud mutual gratification by its participants.

  “Now, Muerto,” Gus directed.

  Nick slipped inside, closing the door behind him silently. He hurried to where Wargul lay partially atop Heather’s back, panting nearly in cooing harmony with his paramour. Nick reach around Wargul’s flank, and used the syringe on Heather’s right buttock.

  “Ouch!” Heather tried to push away from the desk in reaction to the sharp pain.

  Wargul remained where he was, not sure if he heard her right or not. “What did you say, Hon?”

  Heather’s movements to break free of her lover merely hastened the drug’s effect, rendering her unconscious seconds later, her last sound a sleepy groan. Wargul massaged the unconscious Heather’s shoulders, while straightening slightly, still coupled to her.

  “Oh baby, that was the best.” Brook smacked Heather on the butt, grinning at her completely relaxed state. “Wore you out, huh?”

  The stun-gun electrodes catapulted Wargul against the desk, and then into a vibrating heap on the floor. Nick roughly dragged him into an office chair with armrests. As Wargul tried to keep from passing out, Nick duct taped him into place on the chair at his wrists, ankles, knees, and chest. He stuffed a small ball into Brook’s mouth, and sealed it with another piece of duct tape. Nick checked Heather’s pulse before transferring a white cardboard sign with newspaper clipping headline letters reading ‘ADULTERESS!’ from his briefcase onto her back.

  “That’s cold, Muerto!”

  “If you’re offended, Payaso, look away and do your job of watching for building security. The sign will give the cops numerous other false avenues to follow.”

  Nick slapped Wargul into coherent thought with light, sharp, smacks. When Wargul was fully aware of his surroundings, with wide staring eyes, and blubbering speech, Nick waved a hand in front of his face.

  “Hi, Brook. Your days of dealing with terrorists are now over. I know you’ve been doing naughty things, passing your client Uthman Sadun’s notes to Milton Formsby, and Pence Didricson as a traitorous gopher. I have only one question for you; but first, I need to let you know I’m like a human lie detector. I’ll notice what we call ‘tells’ you won’t even know you’re doing. Then the bad times start happening, like this.”

  Nick stun-gunned Wargul’s balls. The man jackknifed against his restraints, the intense high pitched squeal emitted in an unending sound of horror around the ball in his mouth. Once the pain subsided, Nick leaned down to stare into Brook’s eyes. “Did you get the message of what will happen if I detect any lie at all?”

  A violent up and down affirmation of his head indicated Wargul’s complete understanding.

  “Good, because if I detect a lie, the ball goes back into the mouth, and you get three more doses of electro testicle treatment.” Nick removed the duct tape and ball. He positioned himself to look directly into Wargul’s eyes once again. Nick shushed the whining Wargul. “Quiet. This will all be over sh
ortly. Did you share the information you received with any other human being?”

  “No!” Wargul stared back at Nick unblinkingly, terrified his answer would not be accepted. He wanted to plead, but the cold darkness in the eyes gazing into his made him fearful he would be tortured for added sound.

  Nick grinned. “Good. I’ll fix you for the janitor to find.”

  Nick stuffed the ball back into Wargul’s mouth with sealing tape over it. He took out his .22 caliber pistol with noise suppressor from under the false bottom in his briefcase, and shot Wargul in the back of his head three times. Nick checked over the room with care, along with his additional scene structure.

  “I’m leaving. How’s it look, Payaso?”

  “All clear. The security guard is out front taking a smoke break. The moment you leave, John and I will wipe all trace of you away. Call if you need us.”

  “Will do. I should be home at a decent hour, probably in enough time to discuss the deadly danger ahead for Sadun. Someone murdered his lawyer – a truly heinous deed. We must make sure our buddy Uthman is safe.”

  “Oh yes, we must make certain of that, Muerto,” Gus replied, with John laughing in the background. “Are there any suspects in the death of that poor lawyer?”

  “I’m thinking the butler did it.”

  “You’re in a law office. They don’t have butlers.”

  “Maybe they should. Then, something like this could have been prevented.”

  “Get the hell out of there, Muerto, before the janitorial staff arrives,” Gus ordered.

  “On my way, Payaso. Your attitude tonight has not been very professional. I found you to be disrespectful and sarcastic in our interaction. This will not look good on your record.”

  “I’ll survive. You would have to physically find the Twilight Zone to recruit someone to take my place.”

  “That simply isn’t true, Payaso.” Nick slipped out the emergency exit he had disarmed while passing the day in the building until it was time to keep his appointment with Wargul. “I could pay someone off the street a few hundred dollars per week to insult me when I have a mission.”

  “Oh barf!”

  “Did Rachel pick up Jean okay?”

  “Yep. I sent John with her anyway, in case there were any holdovers from the flag bashing idiots. It seems that particular bunch have decided to curb their baser tendencies, since you influenced a lot of the parents to file complaints against the instigators.”

  “We took Sonny home, and Rachel went in to meet the Salvatores,” John added. “She said it turned from a ‘hi, and how are you, pleased to meet you’, into an interrogation. Rachel said Mr. Salvatore wondered how they met, what she did, what you did when you weren’t writing pulp, and what you used for inspiration. Then, according to Rachel, he snuck in a grinning joke about all your supposed badges from different federal entities.”

  “Oh boy,” Nick muttered. He stopped at the corner of a building nearly three blocks away. He stuffed his long coat and bowler hat in the brief case, changing into the Giants ball cap and black windbreaker from the case. Nick drew the hood over the ball cap, tightening it in place before proceeding on to the BART station. “As long as everyone survived, we’ll stay away from the Salvatores, and let Jean develop her friendship with Sonny on her own. I’m headed to the BART station right now. All quiet on the Western Front. Start tuning into the news, and keep me updated.”

  “Will do,” Gus replied. “That scene you left them should be enough of a mystery to keep them busy for a long while. We’ll let you know when the janitor discovers the bodies. How long will the woman be out?”

  “Probably until midnight or so. She’ll definitely be on display for the janitor. You guys go ahead and watch the monitors, and news. I have a ways to go.”

  Nick made it to the Market Street Station in good time, amongst a crowd of people at the normally busy station. At SFO International, he retrieved his car, and headed for home without anything happening on his way that would call attention to his trip. A couple of hours later, Nick walked in the front door, having made great time. John greeted him.

  “They only just discovered Wargul and his girl. The janitorial staff had to make due with two fewer workers from the snatches of conversation we heard between them and the security guard. The police arrived a few minutes ago. Rachel and Jean are in Jean’s room. Go say goodnight. Gus and I will keep track for you.

  “Thanks, John.” Nick fended off the excited Deke who flew down the stairs to greet him. “Easy Deke. Have you been taking care of our women folk? Let’s go check in with them, and then I’ll give you some exercise.”

  Jean rushed over to give Nick a hug as he cleared the doorway behind Deke. “Dad! You made it home before ten. Nice.”

  “Yep. My small business trip was good, and I’ll have a favorable report for Tim and Grace. I heard you and your Mom had quite the meet and greet at the Salvatores.”

  “That’s an understatement.” Rachel came over to embrace Nick. “I handled the interrogation pretty well. You’re right as usual. There’s something going on we are not aware of. I’m certain Sonny doesn’t have a clue. He was giving his old man the fisheye at some of the questions. The Mom is in on the game though.”

  “I’m not messing around with Sonny anymore,” Jean stated. “His parents are weird. Heck, we’re weird, but we mind our own business.”

  “True, but you don’t have to stop being Sonny’s friend,” Nick said. “Your Mom and I will continue to be polite, but I think we’ll stay away from the Salvatores. They want to know a lot more than a couple of regular parents would want to know. His ties to a couple of very suspect people in government, and then being demoted to the West Coast might mean he’s a bit upset with me.”

  “Sonny’s really nice. He apologized for his Father today at school. Like Mom said, he was confused at the way his parents were acting. I could tell he thought they’d be nicer.”

  “Get some sleep. The Dekester and I will be escorting you to school. I’ll say hello to Tim and Grace for you.”

  “Goodnight, Dad. I’m glad you’re okay. I was worried. I knew tonight was important, and I saw Uncle Gus and Uncle John’s faces. I could tell they were worried.”

  Nick kissed her on the forehead. “Thanks for worrying. See you in the morning.”

  Rachel kissed Jean goodnight, and followed Nick out. “I’m going to bed, Nick. That Salvatore guy wore me out. It’s lucky I didn’t have my stun-gun with me. I would have lit him up. Are you going to walk Deke tonight?”

  Nick glanced down at Deke, who cocked his head quizzically as he walked next to Nick. “Yeah, I’m taking him out. I have to stay awake for a while until I see how my business does in the media. If it’s not on the late night news, I’ll have done real well staying under the radar.”

  Rachel bumped against Nick, grabbing his hand. “Wake me when you come to bed.”

  “I will do so, would you like a little of this?” Nick stepped away, trying to launch into the pantomime Rachel did not like, but she jumped him.

  “Don’t you do it!”

  Nick instead played roving hands for the next few moments until Rachel pulled away breathlessly, at which time Nick completed his hand pantomime with Rachel slapping his hands.

  “Damn you!”

  “You won’t be able to think of anything else now. I won’t have to wake you. You’ll be lying awake waiting to be ravished in your favorite manner.”

  Rachel blushed, and gave Nick a push. “It’s not my favorite. Get away from me.”

  Nick backed away, holding his hands in a surrendering gesture. “Okay… but I warned you. Only a loving husband could make his very pregnant wife so sexually aroused.”

  “Revolted would be more descriptive, Muerto,” Rachel replied in a hissing whisper.

  Nick spun away from his planned perusal of the news with his unholy trio partners to quickly repeat his revolting tagged gestures, drawing a gasping intake of outraged breath from Rachel, much to his amuseme
nt. He continued on his way down to where his friends monitored both internet and mainstream news.

  “Nothing yet, Nick,” Gus said. “John and I exited surveillance at the scene. The homicide detectives are probably just arriving now. The moment the janitor gets released from questioning, he’ll be outing the whole experience to the news media. How much you want to bet he took camera phone pictures of your scene too. If those get leaked with the executed Wargul, the coverage will be all over the place, blaming the husband, the mob, and even getting it right by blaming it on a serial killer.”

  John turned away, enjoying Gus’s pronouncement the media would be right if blaming Wargul’s death on a serial killer. “Very funny, Payaso. I’m going to sip one, and then take Deke for a walk. I think we’re done for the night. It doesn’t matter what they fantasize about now. They’ll have to wait for our adulteress to awaken, and for the initial CSI results. You two can take off. I’m calling Tim and Grace on the walk, and let them know to begin suggesting Sadun’s transfer.”

  “I do not like to mention these messy details, but we need to empty our special freezer. I know the Sadun thing is a priority. If you plan to also make Sadun disappear in line with the escape being planned by Sadun’s friends, we need to clean our body vault.”

  “Agreed. I haven’t been considering details lately concerning our room temperature guests in the Valley. You’re right about Sadun. I need to make sure no one ever finds him. I’ll fill you in on my Tim and Grace call tomorrow. Let’s meet on the beach.”

  “At nine?”

  “Yeah. I’m escorting Jean to school. It’s getting late. I think I’ll sip one when I get back. C’mon Deke. Let’s walk our buddies out.” Nick grabbed Deke’s leash. He set his security system after the men cleared the doorway.

  “I’ll walk with you, Muerto. I need some air,” Gus said. “See you tomorrow, John.”

  “Okay, Gus. That op was very well done, Muerto,” John said, waving as he walked to his car.

  Gus and Nick started out walking Deke with Nick calling Grace and Tim. He heard Tim’s voice. “It’s done, Tim. After the news hits tomorrow, you and Grace can start making your case to move our friend.”