Chapter 94
Buy ReWire now on Amazon for only $3.99
Jack counted on them finding one and probably two of his toys. He knew they would spend energy and time looking for more, but he didn’t think they’d find four. And, he knew what was in the other bundle without being shown. The devices had looked clever and elegant through his fevered eyes in the flickering light of the highway department workshop. Now they looked like the petulant work of a messy boy; one who’d been found out. Everything from sloppy solders to the electrical tape wrapped connectors, said amateur. The weight of the hours in the workshop and on the trail settled. He remembered every frozen minute of the trip down the creek to plant the bombs and the agony of the trip back. He let his head slump to his chest.
The paralyzed witch spoke again, “Now I will show you.”
The screen dropped down along the wall in front of the clocks. He watched the thermal images of his treks in the snow, assembling his tools, entering the compound and all the rest. On film he stumbled like a drunk.
“We knew that you were too clever for such a straightforward assault. It was quite clever to let us find out about the bombs and pretend you were caught trying to plant them. One of our informants told us about your real plan just hours before you entered the compound. You did not have a chance. God’s work will not be stopped. I will tell you of our mission, so you may know of the sin of your fight. But, first, how much do you think the life of this…is worth?” she asked with the pent-up hatred and jealousy of the old and infirm toward the young, fit, and beautiful.
“One million dollars,” Jack said with as much resignation as he could muster.
Her Grace laughed. The fact that the bitch’s voice, even laughing at him, was surreally beautiful was pissing him off more each time she spoke. “Twenty million,” she said, and then stated Lee’s bloodlines as a member, an important member, of a family worth over a half billion US dollars. Jack argued her numbers were flawed, inflated by the government of the PRC to extract higher taxes. She countered, saying the numbers were from audited financial statements.
Jack responded. “Lee isn’t an important member of the family, such as an oldest son or grandson, but a second-youngest granddaughter.”
They settled on eight million dollars US.
“I will have four million wired now, the rest when I see Ms. Hong live on San Francisco’s Cantonese station tomorrow night,” he said.
The witch laughed, each note a symphony, “I think this is suitable.”
Lee broke in, “I hate to fuck with your plans, bitch. I’m not leaving without Jack.”
Kurt lunged forward and again the snap of the woman’s voice stopped him short. The monster calmly and gently regarded Lee, the hatred that had been so openly displayed before now hidden behind something more frightening.
Buy ReWire now on Amazon for only $3.99