Chapter 70: The Big Step

Originally posted on: Sun Jun 28, 2009 6:38 pm

It was time. The visit to the church had given me the last piece I needed to finally get serious about cleaning up the problem in Las Vegas. Unfortunately it had also handed me a problem I had not, could not possibly have, anticipated. So now that I had a way to the man himself, I was scared to death of Elliott Bastion. With no idea how to proceed I decided to go back to the basics; time to go see Allison.

I got the response I expected.

"Holy ... Shit!" Allison is usually the level headed one. We had started out sitting in the sunken area of the cabana and now she was up pacing the room.

"That explains everything," she said. "No wonder they couldn't touch him in court, he told the witnesses to change their stories. That shot the first case down. The second time he just told the jury to acquit him. Jesus, Jimmy, this is fucking scary!"

"You're telling me," I said. "If I hadn't been with Jamie I might already be caught. She intercepted the suggestion before it could do any harm, but if she hadn't been there..."

"Jimmy, this changes everything."

"How do you mean? Yeah, it's scary, no doubt about it, but I don't see how it changes..." She stopped pacing, shook her head, and held both hands up. I took it as an interruption and stopped talking.

"Jimmy, no one can help you now."

"What? What do you mean no one can help..." Then it hit me. "Oh, because anyone else he locks eyes with he may be able to control. Yeah, I thought of that, but I figured..."

"No, Jimmy!" she said. "That's not it. Jimmy, you can't even tell them about him."

Huh? "Okay, you have now totally lost me."

She jumped back into the little pool and flopped down beside me, "I'm sorry. Jimmy, call Bob for me, get him to come over, I don't want to have to do this twice."

"Do what?" I caught myself. "Never mind." I didn't bother with my phone; I just made his phone ring. "Bob, we've got a problem and Allison wants you here."

"I see, how soon do you need me?"

"You're not alone?"

"No."

"Rebecca?"

"Jimmy! Give me a little credit."

"Sorry, don't worry about it," I closed the phone, and pulled Bob out of his dream, leaving a twin behind so Rebecca wouldn't know anything was wrong. The question was where to bring him in? What the heck? He was going to be shocked to find himself here as it was, so why settle for only one surprise.

Allison burst out laughing and started kicking her feet uncontrollably as we heard, "Aaahhhhh!" and a loud splash from out in the lagoon. This was followed closely by, "Asshole!"

I popped him into the pool with us, drying him off along the way. "Sorry, couldn't resist."

"Try harder," he said, doing his best not to smile too much. Finally he gave it up, shook his head and said, "You're a dick, Matthews! And I hope if I ever have a son he's half the man you are. You took care of Rebecca?"

"No, she's too old for me, and I don't poach. You're taking care of her; I left a double behind so she won't even realize you're gone."

"You can do that?" He shook his head. "Stupid question; hello, Allison, Jimmy said there was a problem? That's never good and one bad enough to pull me in like this worries me. What's up?"

"We're in deep shit," Allison answered. "Thanks for coming, sorry we had to resort to this but Jimmy went to the church and saw Elliott Bastion, a.k.a. Lord Hightower, today."

"I figured he would, it is the reason he went to Vegas after all. What does... ?" he stopped and looked at her for a moment. "You were saying?"

"He found out his secret."

"On the first visit?" Bob asked, surprised.

"He wasn't exactly trying to hide it," I said.

"I don't follow you," Bob said.

"You know that hypnosis thing he does?" Allison asked. Bob nodded and she went on. "I think we already decided he's at least as good as Jimmy?"

"Maybe better," Bob answered.

"He can do it from across a crowded room, without touching his subject or even speaking to them," I said. "Eye contact is all he needs."

He was speechless, staring first at me, then at Allison, and then back and forth as if waiting for one of us to confirm it was a joke.

I held his eye the next time he looked back at me and shook my head slowly back and forth. "I noticed as he was preaching he was making eye contact with pretty much everyone in the room. You remember how Phoebe described it when he looked at her?"

"Like she couldn't breathe?"

"Yeah, the first time he looked at me I felt like I was the only one in the room. The next time he looked at me Jamie freaked and said we needed to get out of there as fast as possible."

"Why?" Bob asked.

"Because he had tried to plant a suggestion and she said if she hadn't been there it might have worked. The next time he looked our way, we switched places and I actually heard him, or a voice anyway, speaking to me, kind of the way Lizzy does when she doesn't want anyone else to know."

His eyes snapped to mine, "I knew you two were up to something! Jimmy, this is astonishing, astounding..."

"Fucking dangerous!" Allison interrupted. "Bob, what would happen if someone like Atkins found out the truth about him, about how he really got out of those murder charges when they thought they had him cold both times? How he got those auditors to rat them out to the judge? What would happen?"

He didn't even hesitate, "No doubt about it, they'd want him under their control, whatever it took, including amnesty for all the charges they have against him."

"If they could catch him," I said.

"Oh, please!" Allison said. "Jimmy, if it wasn't for Jamie spotting the tail they would have gotten you on your first date with Britney. If they hadn't been so damn curious they could have taken you any time they wanted. A dart from a blind corner, a spiked drink, sleep gas into the house to knock everyone out and you're just gone in the morning when everyone wakes up. Hell, if he needs eye contact, a blind guy in the bathroom with a loaded syringe could probably take him"

"She's right," Bob said. "And once they had him all it would take is a little experimentation to discover if his trick worked through things like glass, mirrors, cameras; after that they can easily avoid eye contact. They could use drugs and other remote techniques until they have the control they need; then he becomes a weapon for whoever holds his leash. All they have to do is get him close enough to whomever they need something from, or whoever they want dead."

"That is why you can't tell them, Jimmy," Allison said. "You can't tell them the truth or he gets away with everything and I don't even want to think about what they would use him for after that."

"But it's still over, either way. They can make him stop it all, isn't that what we want? Isn't that... ?" I couldn't even ask the question because I already knew what my answer would be.

Allison asked it anyway. "Enough? Is it Jimmy? Is it enough? Hell no it's not! Not for me, not for you, and no way in hell is enough for those girls! They deserve justice, damn it, not to be brushed under the rug."

Bob's voice was cold, "They wouldn't brush it under the rug. They couldn't take the chance. Besides, after the threat was removed they couldn't possibly keep it under wraps."

"They'd kill them all, wouldn't they?" I asked.

"Kill them? Jimmy, how dare you suggest that our government would even consider being party to something like that." Oh yeah, I know sarcasm when I hear it. He went on, "You remember that buried murder-suicide thing we talked about?"

"You think he'd somehow trigger them all and they'd do it themselves." Allison said. It was a statement, not a question. "Then if it ever came out they could say it was him and they didn't know about it, which technically they don't, but they would before it happened."

"Unless?" Bob asked.

"Unless," I cut in. "Unless it's automatic if anything happens to him. Fuck ... me! I am so screwed." I dropped my head into my hands and stared down at the little orange fish swimming amongst the coral beneath us. My voice got louder as my anger grew until I was practically shouting by the time my head came up and I finished the question. "How the hell am I supposed to stop this guy if when I do, everybody fucking dies?"

Allison stroked her hand up and down my back, "We'll think of something. Meanwhile, are we all agreed that we can't tell Rebecca or Atkins about what Bastion can do?"

"Yeah, got that," I answered. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," she said, leaning in to kiss me on the cheek.

"Absolutely," Bob said. "The fewer people who know about this the better. Is there anything else?"

"Ooh, someone's in a hurry," Allison cooed. "Must have been getting interesting before Jimmy snatched you away; she's such a lucky girl."

He was too embarrassed to even look at her.

Allison bit her lip to keep from laughing, "Have you guys set a date yet?"

"Oh, right. Jimmy, talk to your sister about how much trouble I'd be in if I announced that before Rebecca did."

"She knows," I assured him. "She's just pulling your chain. Sorry for yanking you away like that."

"No," Bob said. "This was important; you did the right thing, buuuut ... if you don't mind..."

I didn't bother with the door, just sent him away. Then I turned to Allison, "That sounded a lot like a cry for attention."

"She's afraid," Jamie said.

"Allison?"

"Make love to me Jimmy..."

"Told you."

" ... or just be with me tonight. I miss your arms around me when I fall asleep at night." She gave a derisive sort of snorting laugh. "I'm in a safe house surrounded by federal agents and I haven't felt safe all week. I miss you, Jimmy." Her voice began to change as the emotion got thicker, "And I worry about you. I've cried myself to sleep almost every night since you went away. Huddled in my bed, hugging a pillow, praying I'll wake up and you'll be there. Hold me, Jimmy, please. Make me feel safe."

The tears had reached the point where surface tension was no longer enough to hold them in check and one by one they began sliding down her cheeks. I transitioned us to the big bed, with me on my back and Allison spooned to my side with her head on my shoulder. This was the way we usually slept, or at least how we always started out, except this time Jamie was spooned to her back, leaning on one elbow gently stroking Allison's hair from just above her ear all the way down to her shoulder and on down her arm. It was an amazingly intimate contact regardless of how casual it may have looked from the outside. We were all naked of course, but there was nothing even remotely sexual in any of the contact. Suddenly the weight distribution changed and I felt a new body joining us. I glanced down to see that Allison's lower half had rotated away enough for Lizzy to fit between us. Allison still had my shoulder, but Lizzy's head was against her stomach, just below her breasts, her back pressed firmly to my side and her exposed arm draped over Allison's hips, her hand on Jamie's thigh. The bed had grown to accommodate us all comfortably, it was like a giant had reached down, sliced open the mattress and inserted a new piece with Lizzy on it, then sown it all together again.

As I watched the bed grew a little wider and Amber settled in on my other side in a pose mirroring Allison's, except there was no one else between us; just her breasts pressed into my side, her long legs twined with mine, and her arm across my stomach so her hand could touch Lizzy's hair.

"This is my family," I thought to myself. I felt a moment's regret that I didn't think of my parents as part of it but that passed quickly as the realization of the moment deepened. No one spoke, they all just lay there with their eyes closed, piled like puppies around me, secure in the feeling of touching me and each other. I don't know if you could really call it sleeping — Jamie and I at least were both wide awake, but the rest might as well have been asleep as they lay motionless except for the rise and fall of chests as they breathed in and out.

And while they slept, I lay awake watching the shadow shapes of the Vegas dreamscape dance along the walls of the cabana around us. The ghostly images of dreams, nightmares, and memories drifted around me and every now and then one would swim into sharper focus, moving off the wall to take on that extra dimension in the space above the sunken pool. I recognized several of the dreams, I'd seen them before. It was the girls' memories of times with Lord Hightower. Location and action varied but the headless priest from hell was there nonetheless. Each time it appeared my mind filled in the blank for me, and an even more ghostly image of Bastion's face appeared where before there was only empty air.

I had wanted to speak to Rebecca about the woman Boris had told me was behind turning my world upside down, but right now I had more important things to do. As I watched the images moving in silence around me, I looked down at my sister, huddling frightened against my side; my sister, Allison, scared! And I thought to myself, "I know who you are, you bastard, and I'm coming for you."

"We're coming for you," Jamie corrected me. I glanced at her and found here eyes locked to my own. I don't know if the fire in hers shone in mine as well but it didn't matter, it was there nonetheless. I nodded my head and she went back to gently stroking Allison's hair and arm.

Morning seemed to come quickly after that. Did I mention I hate waking up alone? I quickly dressed and headed out for a quick run. When you run as much as I do, you lose it very quickly if you stop for any length of time. It had been less than a week but still I didn't want to push too hard the first day back so I held it to what felt like about five miles. When I got back I went straight to the big pool, took off my shirt, shoes, and socks and slid in for some quick laps. I had also been surprised at how quickly my body had become accustomed to the different muscle usage. After only a couple days I found that I was comfortable swimming for a much longer time. Swimming after a run also cut down on the amount of stretching I needed to do so even though the overall time I spent was longer, a far greater percentage was spent in actual exercise and less on stretching and cooling down. I thought it was a really good trade off. If only we'd had a bigger pool at the house...

I shouldn't have gone there as it just ticked me off and spoiled my mood. Not the best way to start any day, much less the week. I was halfway through my shower when suddenly it all seemed to evaporate and my mood instantly improved.

"You're welcome," Jamie said. "Don't dwell on it; don't thank me, just let it go and move on. We're supposed to be at Tony's office at nine."

Tony's office, as you would expect for a practicing attorney, was downtown near the court building. It was a busy office, but apparently he had described me to his receptionist.

"Good morning, Mr. Malcolm. Mr. Cicarelli is expecting you, right this way please." She took off her headpiece and escorted me to a small conference room. "Please have a seat, Mr. Cicarelli will be with you shortly. Can I get you anything? Coffee? Water?"

"Water would be fine, thank you," I said, taking a seat. She returned a few moments later with a small pitcher of water and two glasses, then left again. Tony came in a few minutes later with another young man."

"David," he said, reaching for my hand. I stood and shook his hand. "This is Mark Davis..." it was a real struggle not to react to the name," ... he'll be walking you through your basic incorporation paperwork and then I'll review it with you later this afternoon. Don't worry; it will only take a couple hours for the preliminary work. I've got a deposition in about twenty minutes that's going to take me most of the morning so why don't we meet me for lunch at say ... one-thirty. That will give me time to go over everything."

I had to hand it to Tony: He had the incorporation track down pat. There would be a short delay for the legal machine to chug through the motions, but once it had done its thing, everything would be automatic. He even held a bank of post office boxes that he pre-rented to be available for clients as needed. If the client desired, and I did, the bank account would be open and checks ordered within twenty four hours of the final filing; basic stationery printed and ready to go within two more business days, providing of course you didn't have graphics that had to make it past copyright first. I hadn't given any thought to graphics so I held off on stationery.

After discussing it with Tony, I was going with Allison's suggestion and doing it in layers. A parent corporation, ShaMar Enterprises, Inc. would be the umbrella for everything else. I was pretty sure Allison would appreciate the name. David Malcolm would be working for the subsidiary company, Finders Incorporated. It was more expensive to set up this way but it had the benefit of providing extra security for me personally as well as allowing me to branch out into other areas as needed under the parent company. I could even work for different division using other identities if necessary. Kind of like the company James Bond always worked for when he was on assignment: Universal Exports.

Things were going pretty smoothly, we had finished the incorporation paperwork; Mark and Doreen had finished selling me her car and making arrangements to pay off the loan. Tony and Mark and I had just finished lunch, where Tony had spent a great deal of time confirming that Mark had answered all my questions and completed all the documents. We stopped in at the Bellagio where I got enough money out to handle everything we had done so far, plus leave a nice retainer with Tony's office to cover future business, including drawing up a lease for my new office.

Doreen was beside herself when I called and asked if I could lease her husband's old office. With the built-in apartment it was perfect for my needs. When we got back to the office we got started filing my lawsuit against a certain airline. Tony was a little skeptical at first about what I had in mind but once I explained my goals he laughed and assured me this would be a slam dunk. He would have liked to see me ask for more in the way of damages for both myself and Christine but at the same time he liked my approach.

"I have to say, David, you're an impressive young man. You really don't want anything out of this do you?"

"Of course I do," I answered. "I want that asshole pilot to get what's coming to him, but I don't really want to punish the airline just because he's a dick. I only flew with him once but it was a smooth flight, so I assume he's a good pilot, he just needs to learn to behave himself and have a little more respect for the people he works with, and women in general. I don't want to end his career or anything; I just want to teach him a lesson."

"Well, this should do it. It's a win-win situation all around and they'd be nuts not to jump at the offer, but I can't guarantee they won't take it out on him. He could still lose his job."

"I can't help that," I said. "I'm trusting you to make sure they understand it's not my intention that they should fire him, just that they make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Well, like I said, they'd be nuts not to take it," he said. "I'll get the paperwork started; Mark can take your initial statement; we can probably have everything ready to file by tomorrow. You understand that, depending on how they react, we could be with an extended timeline here? It could all go smoothly, or it could get ugly. If everything plays out it could go very quickly, but if it goes the other way ... The minimum amount of time the law allows for depositions is forty-five days from the time we serve notice. If this idiot was as stupid as you say then it's likely to go well. The other members of the flight crew will undoubtedly be called in and questioned; all we need is one of them to corroborate her statement and we're good. Are you sure this is what you want? I'm sure they'll go for it if anyone comes forward but I have to tell you, you could do a lot better."

"Tony, I'm not doing this for the money. I want Christine protected from retaliation and compensated for what he's putting her through. I'm not after his job but if it happens, it happens, and he brought it on himself so I'm certainly not going to lose sleep over it. He stands to lose a lot more if this goes bad so he should consider himself lucky and take it as a relatively inexpensive lesson. Like you said, they'd be nuts not to jump at a settlement like this. Just be sure to pay yourself a decent fee. I know cases like this are usually paid as a percentage of the settlement, but we're not really going for money so ... Does ten thousand sound fair?"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, let me think, I'm going to have about six hours work tied up in this tops ... yeah, I think I can live with that. Besides, there's always the chance they'll be stupid and then I can go for the brass ring. You're sure you can produce witnesses willing to testify?"

"At least two members of the flight crew," I assured him. "Maybe even some passengers but I'd need more information from Christine to be sure."

"Slam dunk," he said. "I'll send Mark in to take your statement."

By three o'clock I was through with my statement and so far it had been a really good day. I should have known better. Have you ever noticed that when things go wrong, they tend to do it all at once? I think the old expression is, "When it rains, it pours?" I have found this to be especially true in my life.