Chapter 48

I told Linc the next day about the new and powerful POTENTIAL enemies I might have made: Goldberg Eisenstat Partners. They were supposed to leave me alone or else I’d have to let the information I had on them go public. Then they’d REALLY be mad.

Naturally, he wanted more info. So I filled him in. All he wanted to know was: “How much did they pay to keep quiet about the bribery?”

I told him about the five million, and what I wanted to do with it.

“Oh,” he said, “You’ve got real enemies, all right. Usually, lawyers are too chickenshit to do anything. They’ll try to get you through legal or semi-legal ways. But you can never tell. They could hire somebody. You cost them a nice vacation in Barbados or somewhere. And they won’t forget it ... I’ll set you up with Maritsuki’s guys. But this is more than ‘Hey keep watch on Lexi.’ I’ll hire some of them, especially with the boys going back to class.

“It’ll probably be different guys from local police or maybe your construction guys. You’ll pay me and I’ll set it up. Seven days coverage, fifty dollars a day. Easy work for them. Probably. And you can afford it.” He smiled.

“You really think that’s necessary?”

“I don’t tell you what’s necessary with the Spirit project. Don’t tell me about security ... It’s much better to pay for security and not need it, than find yourself needing it and not have it.”

“Okay.” I mentally saluted. But after all, this is why I hired a Marine in the first place, not to be a go-to guy who I could chat with.

Later that day, we went to the bank and withdrew $1000 in crisp new twenties. I put the cash in my pocket and then went to Maritsuki-san’s dojo (which was still in the basement of his home). He was between classes and took the time to teach me some more moves.

We did some half-speed sparring, and I was surprised that I could land some punches and kicks on my Sensei. He backed off and said, “I see that I have to relearn an old lesson. All this time I have used my mental abilities to peek into your mind, and the minds of others I spar with, and see what moves are planned. I have become lazy and depended on this skill too often, and have become lax in using other abilities.

“You have learned to shield your mind from my intrusions. Thus you negated my mental gymnastics. You should learn this lesson, too. I know that you can sense an opponent’s intentions. Do not do it to the exclusion of your other senses. When you meet one who can block you, it will likely NOT be in a friendly match at half-speed. More likely it will be life and death.

“Learn from my mistakes. This may be the most important thing you learn from me.”

I offered a deep bow: “Hai, Sensei. ¡Muchas Gracias!”

He laughed at the change from Japanese to Spanish in mid-stream. “Come, ang aking kaibigan, we can have a snack before Sun Bear returns.”

“Okay, you win. What is ang aking kaibigan?”

He was smiling, now. “It means ‘my friend’ in Tagalog. One of the principal languages of the Philippines.” He led the way upstairs.

I blocked Sensei’s mental intrusions? I didn’t know I could do that.

Red, can you monitor my brain and see which sections are firing?

[No, Lexi. I can really only sense what you sense. So, if you are at one of your mental levels and thus you can see into someone’s body – or your own body – I can sense the same as you. Otherwise, I cannot. But, of course, YOU can do this.]

But somehow I blocked Sensei’s use of his mental abilities. Since I didn’t know I could do that, I wasn’t watching for it. Could I use MY mental level to watch myself, watching somebody else?

[Lexi, I have no idea how you accomplish the mental gymnastics that you do. So I can only help by replaying the recordings you’ve gotten from Maritsuki. Sorry.]

We snacked on carrots, broccoli florets, and celery with a ranch dip while we waited for Bear to return from registering for class at Shoshone Arapaho College. I just finished my glass of sparkling water when Bear came through the back door.

We chatted awhile about his classes. In a lull, I slid the envelope with the cash over to him.

“What’s this?”

“It’s payment for all the babysitting you did, this summer. It was enjoyable, yes, and we had some fun. But you could have done something else. I got a big payday recently, so ... use the money for books or a motorcycle or something.”

He took a peek inside the envelope. “This is way too much money, Lexi.” He tried to give the envelope back.

“Tell him, Soon-san. Refusing a gift can be considered an insult,” I said to his father.

“Are you sure, White Owl-san?”

“I am sure. This is only the beginning of what I’m going to do here among the Shoshone, and the Navajo, too. But this is different. He provided a service to me, as you do, and I will pay for it. That is non-negotiable. And it is money I received from a big law firm, that tried to bribe someone. It’s money from a dirty source, and I want to redirect it to do something good.”

“Thank you, Lexi,” Bear said after consideration. “Maybe I will return that borrowed Ford pickup and get a cycle.”

“WITH a helmet, Adam. Or I will find a way to stop this ‘cycle’ thing,” said my Sensei. Good! I was in favor of helmets, too.

...

[Good morning, Lexi. After you’ve done your katas this morning, I have some news.]

You know how impatient I am. I can’t concentrate when you’ve given me news like that. What’s up?

[Lexi, I found something, actually it’s a someONE. I don’t know if it’s a lead or not ... There is a kid who just finished high school. He’s in Becalbito, New Mexico, but it’s still in the Navajo reservation. He’s half Navajo and half Mescalero Apache. His name is Geronimo ‘Gerry’ Suarez. He’s an orphan and living with his great aunt. He’s got a job at the Sinclair Public Library. Sinclair is a nearby town. His guidance counselors at the high school said he should try and get a scholarship to Stanford, because he is, to use their exact words, ‘an absolute whiz at electronics. He has actually built the school’s computer that was handling the students’ records.’]

[The issue is, he’s giving up his dream of going to college and moving to Silicon Valley in hopes of catching onto a job in the tech industry. His plan is to kidnap his girlfriend. She is a two-years younger girl named Naiomi Wilson, also from Becalbito, at the same high school. He’s put all his plans on his computer at home in his journal, otherwise I’d have no idea about it. He’s actually connected via a modem to Compuserve’s network. It’s a real crackpot idea – if I may be excused for using the colloquialism. He plans on stealing his great aunt’s car, taking Naiomi on a date and just heading for California.]

[This young man may be someone you may find useful. He, apparently, buys the raw materials from China and from hobby shops, and builds his own solar panels one at a time, because he doesn’t have the funds to buy larger quantities. He does the same for his computers, He is desperate to get out of the trap he feels he is in. He plans on selling solar panels and home made personal computers from a shop in California, until he finds a job in Silicon Valley. He has no money, no shop in California, and not even a place to live. Just a romantic idea to abscond with Naiomi and move out of his aunt’s place and get away from the library job.]

Crazy plan. He won’t get to Flagstaff before he’s stopped by the police ... And you’re right. Somebody who’s a whiz at solar panels and computers would be useful ... We can certainly take care of getting him out of his aunt’s place and the library job ... Hmmm. I have some ideas.

Any more things to discuss, this morning?

[No, just the routine updates about finances. Everything progressing on plan, there.]

I went back to my plan for the early morning. I did katas. Then I showered, washed my hair, brushed my teeth, used the toilet. The usual.