by Barbara Arthur
Disclaimer can be found in part one. Comments are welcome at Barbart@globalsite.net Rick I exchanged glances with A.J. I tried to convey to him that we could
over power this guy
Hawthorne. We used to do it all of the time when we were partners. No
reason why, if we played
our cards right, we couldn't do it again. My brother gave me a slight
nod, so slight I was sure
Hawthorne didn't notice. I'd seen that nod many times. It meant A.J.
understood my intentions.
He began to talk nonsense to the guy. "We can't walk too well, Hawthorne. It's a family problem, all of us
have it. Mom, Dad had it.
That's how they met, you know? Our parents met at a bad feet
convention----" Despite our predicament, I could hardly keep a straight face. A.J.,
the suave man who always
looked so serious, had a great sense of humor, and a great sense of
timing. Hawthorne was
staring as if he wasn't sure he was hearing correctly. In the meantime,
I was inching a little
closer to him. A.J. went on. "It's sad but true. Our feet are what
makes us a unique family,
we---" "Hey, cut it out!" Hawthorne yelled, but it was too late for him to do
anything to stop me. I
stepped right up to him while he was absorbing A.J.'s feet story,
grabbed his arm and shoved. Of
course it was a dangerous move which could get one or all three of us in
the room killed.
Fortunately, no one was killed or even wounded. A.J. ducked when I pulled the stunt. The gun went off, but the bullet
missed him. He then
knocked the gun out of Hawthorne's hand as I was getting a good hold on
the security fellow
from behind. All three of us were breathing hard by that time. "Okay,
fella," I panted, as A.J.
picked up the knocked free pistol, "Tell us where we can find another
gun." "You won't get by with this," he growled. "There are others waiting,
they'll---" "Spare us, Hawthorne!" A.J. yelled. "We'll be careful. Now, the other
guns? They are in here,
aren't they?" Hawthorne nodded his head up and down, then pointed to the very chest
we had been eyeing.
"That thing is loaded with guns." "Good news," I said. "Okay, you open it for us, then we'll decide what
to do next." "No," Hawthorne said. I put a hammer lock on him. "No, you say?" I said. "All right," he choked out. "All right. Let me go." I loosened my grip. "Open the chest," I instructed. He pulled a set of keys from his pocket, searched out one, and opened
the chest. He had been
truthful. "Wow!" A.J. exclaimed. "Look at that! An arsenal!" "Interesting," I said. Without further ado, my brother and I chose a gun from the treasure
chest of weapons. There
was ammunition there as well, so we helped ourselves to that. Once we
had loaded the guns, put
Hawthorne's revolver inside and relocked the chest, I had a question for
our captive. "So,
Hawthorne, before we bid you farewell, why don't you tell us what's
goin' on here?" "Yes, who all is involved, is my brother the target, me, or both of
us?" This from A.J. "And
where are we to be ambushed?" Hawthorne smiled an asinine smile. "I don't have to tell you that," he
said. A.J. pounced all over him. "Listen, Mister, I can either shoot you on
the spot or have my
brother here choke you to death! Which way would you prefer to go?" Hawthorne went limp in my grasp. His expression said he was resigned
to the fact he would
have to come clean with us. I did not loosen my grip all that much and
A.J. kept a gun pointed at
him. "You are both targets, but it's you that is the ultimate goal for
them." He was looking at me. "I thought so," I said. "And," he went on, "With, uh, your ex not caring what happened to
you----" "So Janet is in on it?" A.J. interrupted, realizing that was who
Hawthorne now spoke of. "Sure, she's been a big help," Hawthorne grinned. "She and her boy
friend." A.J. I was hearing what the man said, but I was having trouble digesting
it. Oh, it wasn't that I didn't
suspect, and suspect strongly, for, as I've already stated here, I'd
come to the realization that
Janet had been giving me some sort of drug. Still, hearing it confirmed
was difficult to swallow.
"Her boy friend?" "Yes, you met him in San Diego, Mr. Simon," Hawthorne said, matter of
fact. "Don't tell me
you don't recall?" He sneered at me as he asked the question. "You know very well I don't
recall, Hawthorne!" I
blasted him. "What has she been giving me and for how long?" "We can learn that later, A.J.," Rick cut into the discussion, and
then asked a question of his
own. "We need to know other stuff first. For instance, I'm curious to
know if this boy friend of
Janet's was the man who got himself killed in the dining room tonight." "The very same," said Hawthorne. "Too bad, though. He wasn't supposed
to die. You were not
supposed to react as you did, A.J." "And what was I programmed to do?" I asked. "Shoot Rick Simon," he replied. "The powers that be were sure you
would want to do it so bad
yourself, you would hurry up the job when you saw someone else aiming at
him. They were
wrong." "Thank God for that," I murmured. Rick turned his head away, and I knew my words had struck him
emotionally. He was quickly in
control, however. He had something to say when he turned back. "What are
we workin' with
now, Hawthorne, plan B?" "Plan B?" our captive played innocent. "Yea, since the first plan, and I don't understand it all yet, didn't
work, have you gone to your
next plan of action?" Along with my brother, I waited for Hawthorne's answer. We needed to
know what we were up
against. At last, he said, 'I guess that's what you call it. And I'll
tell you this much, it won't
matter what you do to me, or what I tell you, they've got you
surrounded." "We'll see about that," I snarled at him, but very much feared what he
said was true. "Yes, you will," he snarled in return. Angry, Rick knocked the guy into the wall. " We're not through with
you yet, Hawthorne, so
don't get smart!" I believe the man feared for his life at that moment. "Okay, okay.
Yes, there's a plan B. When
you, Rick, came to Gethers' cabin and asked to visit your brother, he
decided not to stop you. We
notified the guard to get lost---" Rick interrupted then to laugh. "No wonder it was so easy. Then what?" "And then, while you were together in the holding tank, we docked and
unloaded everyone who
isn't in on the deal." "And how many were left on board?" I quickly inquired. "And does their number include Brenda Smart?" Rick added.
Hawthorne sneered again. "Ten and yes." "Damn!" Rick exclaimed loudly. "Take it easy, Rick," I told him. "So we both have women who've turned
on us. We'll get out
of it." "What I want to know is how you got docked and people off without our
knowin' it," Rick said. Hawthorne was pleased to reply. "You were still in the holding tank,
the two of you. There's no
P.A. system in there." "Ah hah!" Rick nodded. "So, we've been docked a while. Where are the
fearless ten?" "I don't have to tell you that, and I won't," Hawthorne announced.
"You're going to kill me, or
use me as a shield, or something, anyway, so there's no use giving away
all of our secrets." "We'll find them," I said. "But how would you feel about telling us
the plot?" "The plot?" "Yea, the storyline," Rick said. "Why do you have it in for me? And
why did you decide to
involve my brother?" "The second part is easy," said the so called security officer. "Janet
said A.J. was somewhat
unhappy with you. She felt she could make him much more unhappy.
Therefore, the plan was to
use him to kill you eventually. This has been in the works for years." "And the first part?" Rick pressed, his voice hard. "That's a long story." "Start at the beginning," I instructed. "Better yet," Rick said. "Just tell us if this had anything to do with
a case A.J. and I solved.
Does it have anything to do with somebody we sent to prison?" I glanced at my brother. Had something occurred to him? "Rick, what
are you thinking?" "I'm askin' this guy a question, Kid. Let him answer." Hawthorne suddenly took an interest in the ceiling. He stared at it
long and hard. Finally, he
replied. "You could say that, yea. You sent a group of people to prison,
folks just trying to do a
job, folks trying to stop something from happening that should not have
been happening. That's
what you did." "And did you know these folks up close and personal?" Rick probed,
while I tried to come up
with the case referred to. "One of them was my brother," Hawthorne spit out. "And one was
Gethers' brother. You two
aren't the only brothers in the world, you know?" I glanced at Rick. He smiled slightly, and I returned the gesture. I
said, "No, we're not. Is
Hawthorne your real name?" "No," he replied curtly. "It's either Green or Hathaway," said Rick. The names hit me like a ton of brick. "My God," I murmured. "Not---" "Oh yea," Rick said. "One of our finer cases, Kid. Remember?" "Yes, I do. The gang related thing." "The very same," my brother chuckled. "And now, we evidently
have---but wait, why am I the
target? A.J. and I worked that one together, just like always." "Well, in a way, we're both targets now, Rick," I said. "No, this sleaze said I'm the one they wanted the worst. Why?" Hawthorne laughed. "Because you're the one who wrote the book, who
told the secrets of the
group-----" Rick and I made eye contact. I'd read the book, of course, but my
concentration had mostly
been on the portion about myself and how unfair I believed it to be. I
could see by my brother's
expression that he knew exactly what Hawthorne was speaking of. I wanted
in on it. "What
secrets?" I asked. Rick glared at me. "A.J., don't you remember? I wrote a whole chapter
on this case. Oh, I
disguised it, didn't give real names, but I detailed how we went about
humiliating the gang of
which this fellow's brother was evidently a charter member." "I'm sorry, I don't----" I began, but then it hit me. "Ah, yes. It was
a big part of the movie as
well. I take it this exposure further hurt the G&H gang in its pursuit
of criminal activities in
which to participate." Rick laughed his short, high pitched chuckle, while Hawthorne looked
daggers at me. "Yes, as
a matter of fact, it did. So much so that, although my brother and
Gethers' brother were willing
to operate from prison, we can't get anything going." "Well now, I hate to hear that," I told him, causing Rick to chuckle
again. "It disappoints me, too," said my brother. "But I wouldn't think it
would set off this elaborate
plan you people have evidently concocted with Janet's help. What role
does Brenda play in all of
this? She have a relative in the gang?" Hawthorne grimaced. "Hers is dead, Simon. Thanks to you, her husband
was killed." "Oh boy," I said under my breath. "Yea," Rick agreed, letting out a deep breath. "So, Brenda was the one
who was willing to set
me up big time?" "Brenda is a very bitter woman," Hawthorne announced. "And she was
willing to do almost
anything to bring you down, even live with you." Rick seemed somewhat stunned by the revelation. I touched him on the
arm. He glanced at me,
shrugged, then said to the fellow we were holding at gun point. "Where
is she now?" Rick--- I couldn't help but be taken aback when I received the news about
Brenda. Not that she was the
woman of my dreams, or anything like that. She wasn't. But she had been
a good companion,
both day and night. It was hard to comprehend that she'd played me for
such a fool. It wasn't the
first time in my life I'd been attracted to the wrong woman, and, if I
survived the current
nightmare, it wouldn't be the last. "She's with the others," Hawthorne finally answered me. "And where's that?" I growled. "C'mon, Hawthorne, tell us or I'm gonna
choke you out. I
swear----" "They'll make themselves known, Rick," A.J. said, calm. "No use to
hassle him. What are we
going to do with him when we leave?" "Well, we don't have rope or handcuffs," I lamented. "I don't really
know. Maybe we'll have to
take him along." "He did mention something about us using him as a shield," my brother
said. "Yea, how about that, Hawthorne? Would you like to go for a walk with
us?" I tried to read his reaction. He didn't show much emotion one way or
the other, making it
difficult to tell whether he would feel safer left behind or going
along. "Well?" I pressed, when
he didn't reply. "It won't matter. They are waiting to kill you both and they won't
mind killing me. You see,
I'm not in their good graces right now." Another angle. "Oh?" A.J. said, raising his eyebrows. "That why they
sent you to see what
we're up to?" "Yes, it is," Hawthorne replied in a dejected manner. "What'd you do, object to plan B?" I asked him, more to make a joke
than anything. I was
trying to stay on top of the conversation. This could be a break for us,
and I believed A.J. thought
so too. "You might say that," he said. "Which part did you object to?" asked my brother. "I haven't told you about any of the parts," the man said, "And I
don't intend to." I put on the pressure. "Hawthorne, it sounds like they don't have much
use for you. Now, if
you'll help us, we'll return the favor as best we can for someone who'll
be in trouble big time.
We won't set you free or anything, 'cause my brother and I don't operate
that way. But we will
try to get you a good deal." "How about it, Hawthorne?" A.J. asked. He seemed to be seriously considering the offer. We waited for his
decision. While I waited, I
wondered if we were being wise. After all, we might be playing right
into his hands. Hawthorne,
or whatever his real name was, might lead us into a trap we couldn't
possibly extract ourselves
from. At last, he replied. "I can take you to the women and let them decide. You'll have a better
chance with them----and
so will I." "The women?" my brother and I asked in unison. "Yes, Janet Simon and Brenda Smart." "You mean," I began, "That they are someplace separate from the others
in on this?" Hawthorne nodded. "Yes, they're in Brenda's cabin." "Wait a minute," A.J. took up the discussion. "Let's back up here a
few steps, shall we?" I could not help but grin. My brother was beginning to sound just like
he had when we worked
together as investigators. His tone of voice and everything. It made me
smile, while at the same
time, made me want to cry. "Get it out of him, Kid," I said. A.J. glanced at me with that intent look he could give, and then
smiled. "Yes, I need to do
that." He then turned back to Hawthorne. "Look, there are so many holes
in your story, I mean, I
believe you to a certain extent, but I don't believe Rick and I should
walk out of here until we
know more. And first, I need to know why you were sent back here to us.
You say, you aren't a
favorite among your peers at the moment, but that's not good enough for
me. Why aren't you the
favorite?" I grinned. And waited for the fellow to reply. A.J. was himself, the
brother I knew and---yes, I
loved him, never more so than at that minute, although I still didn't
know everything I needed to
know. "Tell us everything, Hawthorne. You can cut corners if you want.
Just the overall picture
will be fine. See, that's our underlying problem right now, we don't
know the overall picture." My brother turned his gaze on me, and I met it. We both grinned
slightly, then he spoke. "My
brother has a way with words, but like he says, you don't need to get
fancy. First of all, there's a
contradiction in your story." "Like what?" Hawthorne frowned. "You said Brenda was with the others, now you say she's with Janet in
Brenda's cabin," A.J.
said. "Which is it?" "Good point," I said. "And tell us the truth or you won't survive to
see what happens to us." A visible shudder went through Hawthorne's body. "All right. They were
all together when I
left them. On shore. But the women were going to Brenda's cabin to----" "To---?" A.J. prompted. "To wait," he said. "For us?" I asked. "I'm supposed to take you there, that is, if you will cooperate. You
see, this is all a very clever
game they're playing, and if one plan won't work, then they'll try
something else. They told me
that if I could get you to go to the women, they might let me live." "And we were about to fall in to your trap very cleverly," my brother
snarled. "So we were," I laughed. "But we still don't know why it is you're on
the outs with your own
people, Hawthorne. I'm really curious." A.J.--- It was a good thing my headache was gone. This was very difficult to
follow, this story Rick
and I were dragging a little at a time out of our captive. I waited
along with my brother for an
answer to our latest inquiry. Hawthorne finally obliged us and was
forthcoming with one. "I don't, uh, and never have----" "Yea?" Rick urged a continuance, moving up to be directly in
Hawthorne's face. "You never
have what?" "I never have thought your book or the movie, Mr. Simon, caused us
much of a problem.
Barnes and Janet---" "Barnes?" I interrupted. "Yes, Carter Barnes, that's the man you shot." "And you say----" I began, but then I remembered something. "What is it, Kid?" Rick asked, seeing that my expression had changed. "I remember him now, remember having met him in San Diego. Yes, of
course, and I didn't
like him. He was----" "Was what?" Rick pressed. "Was evil, somehow. I remember wondering how Janet could stand him,
much less date him.
Of course, my mind must have been terribly mixed up then, but still, I
didn't care for him at all." "Well, you took care of him tonight, and they were gonna charge you
with his murder," my
brother reminded me. I questioned Hawthorne. "What were you going to say about Barnes and
Janet?" "Well, you were married to her, so you must know. She can be quite
evil herself," said
Hawthorne. "Janet, evil?" I reacted. "No, she's not. She's uh----" Rick took over. "Janet's not evil, not when she's herself. Oh, she has
jealous tendencies, she
was always jealous of my relationship with A.J., but evil, I wouldn't
say so." "She might be if she, herself, was on something similar to what I've
been on," I said. "Ah, hah," Rick caught on to my meaning. "You think Janet has been
given somethin', and
then, in turn, was persuaded to give you somethin'?" "Could be." "Not only could be, but is." This piece of wisdom from Hawthorne.
"Barnes got a hold of her
soon after your book came out. He got her on a mind controlling drug,
then she got you, A.J. on
one. That's how this all got set up." "So Janet isn't really responsible for her actions, either," I said,
grateful if it was true. "Not really," Hawthorne confirmed. Rick whistled and shook his head. "What a mess." "Yes, it is," I agreed, then turned to Hawthorne. "Take us to Janet. I
want to talk to her. And
don't try anything, anything at all, or you're dead." Hawthorne nodded. "I will, but I can't guarantee what the others might
have decided to do by
now." "We'll take our chances," I told him. "Yes, we will," Rick added. And so we left the security office, Rick and I forcing Hawthorne to
walk in front of us. Our
journey didn't last long, that is, with Hawthorne in front of us. The
change in program came
early on, came so unexpectedly, it is still a wonder to me we survived.
I was falling back into the
mind set of a P.I. and I knew Rick was as well. We were being extremely
careful, although we
were now armed. Hawthorne was giving us no trouble and then someone
screamed my name. Rick--- It was Janet. I recognized her voice although it would have been easy
enough not to recognize
it, because the high pitch scream could have been anybody. The sound
came from off to our left
as we walked along a corridor of the ship. "It's Janet!" I yelled. "I know," A.J. responded, and then we both saw her coming---along with
Brenda Smart. My
brother yelled to his ex wife. "Janet, take it easy. I 've got something
to tell you." But Janet wasn't taking it easy. The closer she came, the easier it
was to see the expression in
her eyes, on her face. Wild. She looked wild. Totally out of control. It
shocked me to see her,
and I knew if it shocked me, it must be even worse, if possible, for
A.J. "She's out of it, Kid," I warned. "And she's got a gun." "She doesn't know how to use it," he said. "Yes, she does," Hawthorne disagreed. "She and Brenda are both-----"
And those was the last
words the man ever spoke. Janet proved what Hawthorne was about to tell us. She could use it and
did. Her target was not
the man she killed, or, at least my brother and I didn't think so. When
she fired, both A.J. and I
hit the deck. Our captive did not, and the bullet struck him in the
heart. He was killed instantly,
with no time to tell us his final thoughts. She could have fired again when she saw she hadn't so much as injured
her intended victim.
My brother and I prepared ourselves for such a possibility by diving
behind a post. We both had
our own gun out and pointed at the women by then. Instead of firing
again, Janet was persuaded
quickly by Brenda to run from us. "Let's go," A.J. said to me, and started to run after them. "Wait!" I yelled. I didn't suppose he would stop, but he did. Walking back to me, he questioned my reluctance to give chase. "What
are you waiting for,
Rick?" he asked me. "We'll lose them if---" "Don't you think we'd better take a moment here to mourn Hawthorne?" A.J.'s eyes bugged out, so incredible did he find my query. "What!" "Look, Kid, I know how you feel, but---" "How do I feel?" He demanded to know. "Did your ex-wife ever try to
shoot you?" "Put it in perspective, A.J.," I said, stern. "Janet's no more aware
of what she's doin' than you
claimed to be earlier when you were thinkin' about shootin' me." That gave him pause. He sighed and slumped his shoulders. "Even so,
Rick, we need to know
where they are." "Maybe," I agreed. "But maybe we should make em come to us. This is a
big ship. No one will
see where we hide. I still think we can swim to shore and get help." "We don't even know where we're anchored," he protested. "Rick, they
are just toying with us.
They made a mistake, or so it would seem, in shooting Hawthorne, but
they'll hunt us down
again. They're probably watching us this very minute." "Okay. Okay, Kid. What do you want to do?" "They're out of sight now, Rick!" he squalled. "Thanks to you!" "I'm sorry," I told him. "Maybe you're right, maybe we should have
given chase. Let's go back
to my cabin, think it over." "Rick, we're going to die on this ship." I studied my brother carefully after his profound statement. I didn't
feel like we were going to
die, still had lots of hope of escaping. I also knew I had to snap A.J.
out of it or he would drag us
down. "Can't think like that, Kid," I said to him. "We're better off
than we were. We've got
weapons, ammunition, two of the enemy have bitten the dust. NOW's no
time to become a
pessimist." He shook his head. I wondered if the drug was taking hold of him
again, but didn't see how
that could be. He finally said something. "They'll track us down. We're
still outnumbered." "Look at me, A.J.," I requested. "Look me right in the eye." A.J.--- I could tell by Rick's tone of voice and by the request he had made
that he thought something
was wrong with me, with my mind. I did as he asked. I looked him
directly in the eye and said,
"I'm okay, Rick. It's just that I'm, uh,---" "What?" "I'm not used to dealing with reality, I guess," I answered. "It's
hard to tell how long it has
been since I've done that. I suppose I'm afraid, if you must know the
truth." Rick grinned at me and quickly brushed my face with his hand. "You'll
be all right with me,
A.J. Remember what you told Janet that time in Florida?" I nodded. I did remember, but didn't trust my voice to say so. "You told her," Rick said it for me, "And I quote, you said, 'Rick
will take care of me.'" "And she got so mad she took off in my car," I further recalled. "She didn't believe it then. But, if she knows anything at all now, I
mean, if her mind works at
all like it used to, then she knows I will take care of you. And, she
knows you'll take care of
me." "But I wonder if she thinks I'm still under the influence?" I asked. "She might, although they seemed to have figured out we'd gotten back
together," Rick
speculated. "That should have shot down any idea that you still wanted
to kill me." "Yes," I said, and then didn't know what to say. "Let's break into a cabin, A.J. If they find us, fine, we'll fight it
out. If not, we'll wait a few
hours and then take a sneak peak to find out if we can swim to shore." I shrugged, willing, at that point, to let Rick take care of me. We walked away from Hawthorne's body. I thought it was a good idea
what Rick had said
about breaking into a cabin. It would be foolhardy for us to return to
either his or my quarters.
There were scores of cabins on the ship and unless they had some way of
seeing us, which I
wasn't sure they didn't, then it might take them a while to find us. "Let's try this one," Rick said, stopping in front of a door. "Why this one?" I asked. He gave me that look of his which was both scornful and full of humor
at the same time.
"Because this is where we are. What better reason?" I laughed. "Rick, you'll never change. This one it is." He smiled warmly at me then. "It's really good to be with you, Kid.
Have I told you that yet?" "Sort of," I said. "And it's good to be with you, too. If we survive
this, let's not let
circumstances separate us again." "Sounds good to me," he said, using his credit card and once again
opening a door. "Well, here
we are." We entered the cabin. It was quite dark of course, but he switched on
the light. "Maybe we
shouldn't use a light," I suggested, just as Rick's hand came away from
the switch. "No, well, they might see it, yes," he followed my thinking. "But I
don't really think they'll find
us or bother us here. They know we'll try to escape later." I fell on the bed. "I'm exhausted from all of this. I don't know if I
can swim very far." "A.J., you are an athlete, you----" "Was an athlete," I corrected him before he could go any further. "I'm
out of shape, Rick. You
probably are, too." He grinned. "Well, I'm forty four. Been livin' pretty high on the hog,
not gettin' much exercise.
But you never know what you can do when you're desperate." "We could call for help, use your phone," I said, just as if the
thought had just occurred to me.
Actually, it had occurred to me several times. Why not call someone and
tell them what was
happening? "Yea, I've thought of that," Rick said. "But once they got here
Gethers would probably
convince them you're a murderer and they'd take you into custody. They'd
kill me then, and
there would be no one to believe you." "I guess we won't call somebody," I said. "We're on our own, and we can handle it." "How long should we wait?" I asked him. "You're lettin' me make all the decisions, A.J.," he said. "How long
do you think we should
wait?" I smiled at him. "I thought you wanted to take care of me." "How long do you think we should wait?" he repeated, a slight grin on
his lips. "Until daybreak, if possible," I replied. "That's what I think, too. We can't swim off of here in the dark,
can't see where we are.
Course, at dawn they'll be able to see us, but we have no choice." I looked at my watch. "Well, it's what? About midnight now, so we've
got five or six hours to
wait?" "Yea," he agreed. "Long time. Better get some rest." I wanted to agree, I really did, but my nerves were on edge to do
something. If I wasn't badly
mistaken, my brother was in the same condition. "Rick?" "Yea?" "I can't wait, I'm sorry." "A.J., we'll be takin' an awful chance." "Yes, but we will be taking an awful chance if we wait, too. Let's get
off of this boat, make a
swim for it." He grinned at me. "Remember the time down in Florida when we swam away
from that boat
and it blew up?" "Marlowe was with us," I said. "Yea, Marlowe. Great dog. I miss him." "Do you have a dog now?" I asked. He shrugged. "Naw, just haven't got one yet. I'll have to do that.
You?" "No, haven't stayed in one place long enough." "Have to do that, Kid," he told me. "You were meant to stay in one
place. I was meant to
roam." "Maybe, but I want you to keep in touch, whatever you do, and---" "And?" I shrugged. "I was going to say I wish you wouldn't roam, but I don't
have the right to ask that
of you. Just keep in touch." His eyes turned cloudy. "Look, Kid, maybe, if I had somethin' to do
again, you know----" "Again?" I broke in to question. "Haven't you had anything to do
lately? I mean, promote your
book, consult on a movie-----?" "I've been tryin' to write another one, but, well, once I had the
money from the first----" "You've spent most of your time getting rid of it, right?" He nodded. "Right. And I have gotten rid of it. I've had a blast doin'
it though, except----" We both were having trouble finishing sentences, I noticed. "Except?"
I prompted. "Except, A.J., it wasn't very rewarding." "I can't seem to keep from bawling tonight," I said. "I'm sorry----"
And then I left another
sentence unfinished and cried again. I turned over and cried into the
pillow of the bed in the
cabin we had chosen. "C'mon, Kid, don't do that," Rick told me, rubbing my shoulder. "Don't
do that. Are you cryin'
because my life hasn't been rewarding, or because yours hasn't been?" "Both, I guess," I managed to get out. " I don't even know for sure
what I've been doing. I
guess I've practiced law, and done fairly well at it at times, but I'm
not sure. I thought Janet and
I had a good marriage for a while, I thought you were a scoundrel for a
while, and now----" Another unfinished sentence. Rick finished it for me with words and
actions that came as a
surprise. He grabbed me roughly and set me up. "Stop bawlin', A.J. I
hope they'll be time for
that later, but right now, we've got to save our necks. After that, I'd
like you to consider being
half of a P.I. firm again, one with the unoriginal name of Simon and
Simon." Rick--- I shocked the tears out of my brother's eyes. They dried up as they
stared at me. Slowly, a grin
split his lips. "I hope you're serious, Rick." "Of course I'm serious," I told him, and I was. "We'll get out of this
and then find someplace to
practice our trade again." "San Diego?" he asked. "Well," I shrugged. "If that's where you want to practice? Is it?" "Yes," he replied, grinning broadly now. "Yes, I want to go home. I
want us to go home and do
what we do best, Rick. That's what I want." "Me too," I said. And then we laughed. We tumbled around on the bed, throwing pillows at
each other, and we
laughed. We tumbled and laughed until we were both breathless. We laid
still and rested a while,
not speaking. A.J. broke the silence. "They've surely come for
Hawthorne's body. " I sat up. " I don't know if they'd come aboard to get him or not." "It's spooky," my brother said. "Some. Listen, let's get ready to take the first step home to Mom and
San Diego. You ready?" "I suppose I am. We need to find out if we're really docked like
Hawthorne said. If so, we
won't have to swim far." I agreed. "Right. If we're docked, we'll jump off the back, swim
around to shore. If we're
anchored in a harbor, we might have quite a swim. Best strip out of our
clothes here. Did you
bring swim trunks?" "Rick!" "What!" "I didn't come aboard this ship for pleasure, I came to kill you!" "Oh yea," I mumbled. "Well, I brought trunks, but I hate to go back to
my cabin. Guess I'll
swim in my underwear. You?" "The same." "We'll be pretty for the photographers then." "What photographers?" A.J. questioned me. "The ones that will surely show up to take pictures of us or our
corpses, dependin' on how
lucky we are." "You'll never change, Rick." "Do you know how many times you've said that tonight?" I asked him. "Three or four, I guess," he replied. By then, we were both down to our shorts. 'Let's go," I suggested. "We're going to be unarmed again," he scowled at me. "If we have to go in the water, yes," I said. "Until then, we'd best
keep a gun in our hand." We left the cabin in our shorts, A.J. and I did, each of us carrying a
hand gun. It struck me as
funny, but since it was such a tense situation we were in, I didn't
laugh. We walked, keeping a
cautious eye out for other human beings who might be lurking. We saw no
one. "Let's go
topside, Kid, take a look around." "Okay." On we walked, both of us staying close to the walls. I took the lead
at first, but when we came
to a corner, I took a peek around the wall, then he went in front of me.
We were picking up
exactly where we left off as P.I.'s. A.J. said so. "It won't take us
long to be back in the swing of
things." "No," I said. "I hope, though, that we can work in our clothes," he said. "I feel a
bit conspicuous." I grinned. "Why, no one is watchin'?" "Let's hope you're right about that." he said. We came to a set of stairs. "Up we go?" I asked. "Sure, up we go. You go first." "How nice of you," I said, and took off on the climb upward, my
brother directly behind me. A.J.--- We were having fun. That sounds peculiar, considering the
circumstances, but it's true. Rick
and I were enjoying the walk in our shorts, guns in hand. Oh, we both
knew we were in serious
jeopardy, that we might not survive even, but, still, we were enjoying
it. I followed my brother
up the stairs. When he reached the top, he gave me a hand signal which
meant wait where I was.
I did so, while he peeked quickly around to see what he could see. "No one in sight," he turned to tell me. "Can you see where the ship's anchored?" I asked. He stretched his head out, then took two steps. I then stepped up to
where I could cover him. He
took two more steps. We were on the deck of the ship, the deck where
passengers were supposed
to sunbathe and enjoy themselves. "We're in a harbor," Rick said. "Yes, I see," I responded, disappointed because I'd really hoped we
were docked. "We'll have
to swim." "Yea," Rick agreed, then pointed, "There's the shore. Not many lights.
Must not be a big city." "Where could it be, then?" I wondered. "Don't know. Let's get back out of sight and hope they didn't see us." I started to step back, but then, all hell broke loose. "Evidently, we'll need a lot of practice before we're ready to go back
in business, Kid," Rick
said. "I guess you're right," I agreed. The reason for our decision about our readiness to practice as
investigators again was that we
had been caught completely off guard. We were suddenly surrounded by the
enemy. Gethers,
two other men, Janet and Brenda, all there, staring at us, and all with
pistols pointing at our
hearts. Rick began to verbally spar with them. "Well, if you folks don't mind, we'd like to go get dressed. We
thought we were alone on the
ship." "Shut up!" Gethers squalled. "Shut up, or we'll kill you both. Now,
Brenda will take your
guns. Don't try anything." I glanced at my brother as the woman he'd evidently been sharing a
home with stepped
forward. I saw that it pained him greatly to see her. I then glanced at
Janet. My ex-wife was not
looking at me. Instead, she was watching Brenda, watching and no doubt
hoping Rick would do
something foolish so that she could justify shooting him before
proceedings went any further. I said. "Classy lady you have there, Rick." "Yea, she's about as classy as yours," he said, then to Brenda. "What
the hell? You could have
talked to me about it. I thought you liked me, I still think you did.
You won't get by with this,
Brenda, and then-----" "Shut up, Rick!" This from an irate Janet. "Shut up! You've been a
problem in my life for way
too long!" "In what way, Janet?" I spoke again. "Why do you hate him so?" I could see Gethers and the other men were not happy that Rick and I
were engaging the
women in conversation, or trying to. How long they would allow us to do
so, I didn't know. I
saw it, and I knew Rick did as well, as perhaps the only way now to save
our rears. I waited to
see if Janet would bother to answer me. She did. "You know why I hate him, A.J.! I can't have you, because of him." Rick opened his mouth to object, but I put my hand out as a request
that he hold his tongue. I
would do the talking here, if at all possible. "That's ridiculous,
Janet. It always has been. And for
the four years that we were married, he wasn't around at all." "Only because I manipulated your mind so that you thought you hated
him as much as I did,"
she said. I sighed deeply. Thoughts of disorientation, headaches, bad feelings
toward my brother that I
couldn't seem to control came to mind. "Yes, I can see that now. But
Janet, we learned from
Hawthorne, or whatever his name is, that you've been manipulated too.
You are no doubt under
the influence of a drug right now." "Certainly not!" my ex wife denied. "I most certainly am not!" "Yes you are, Janet," Rick told her. "You've been used by these
people, used so that you would
use A.J. to get to me. It's a big mess, Janet." Gethers made a verbal move to put a stop to the direction of the
conversation. "That's enough!
Janet knows better than that." "Maybe she thinks she does," I said. "But we're telling you the truth,
Janet. Don't go along with
their plan anymore, stop taking whatever----" I didn't finish the sentence because one of Gethers' men moved up to
punch me in the gut. It
was a hard hit, and I doubled over. Rick grabbed for me and when one of
them grabbed for him,
he elbowed the guy. I was feeling better by then, so I reached for the
gun of the fellow who had
reached for Rick. Rick then------well, suffice to say, a melee ensued. Rick--- I did not feel A.J. and I had the upper hand for quite some time after
the fun began. After all,
we were badly outnumbered and badly out of shape. Nevertheless, we
managed to confuse the
group of people who had taken it in their heads to do us harm to such an
extent, they all began to
physically spar with us. Well, spar is a mild term for it. Actually, it
was an out and out fight. Because there were more of them than there were of us, I kept
expecting it to be over, but then I
began to realize that my brother and I had knocked out all but one,
Gethers, and Janet and
Brenda, who weren't participating in the fisticuffs. They did, however,
still have guns in their
hands and access to many more weapons which had been knocked to the deck
of the ship. I was exhausted and supposed A.J. was, but he seemed to have a lot of
fight left in him. In fact,
he and Gethers were going at it hot and heavy. I picked up one of the
guns and saw that Brenda
and Janet were set to see that I didn't use it. "Put it down, Rick!" Brenda yelled at me. "Put it down. You killed my
husband!" "I never met the man, Brenda," I said. "It sounds like he got what he
deserved." I did not anticipate her reaction. She fired the gun in her hand,
fired it at my brother. "Oh no," Brenda moaned. "You've killed him, Brenda," Janet whispered. A.J., breathing hard from the battle, pulled himself to his feet. We
exchanged glances. I knew
what he wanted to do, and he knew what I wanted to do. It just so
happened, our wants were the
same. I went for Brenda and he went for Janet. Neither woman was
prepared, so wrapped up
were they in the death of Gethers. We disarmed them quickly. "Well," I said. "Now what?" "We get dressed, and get off of this damn boat," A.J. said. "Good ideas, both of 'em," I agreed. "Let's escort these ladies along
with us in case they get
silly notions in their pretty heads." "Another good idea," said my brother. "I have a question to ask them
first, though." "Do ask it," I said. He looked from one to the other, then concentrated on Janet. "Was this
man, this Gethers, was
he really the Captain of this ship?" Janet was looking forlorn by that time. And very confused. It popped
into my head she was
having difficulties with reality. She answered my brother's question,
though, she answered
straight and direct. "No, of course not. We hijacked the ship at the
point where you got on." I had a question of my own at that point. "Where is the real captain
and crew?" "They're locked in a holding cell," Brenda told us nastily. "And we
won't tell you where that
is." "We'll find them," A.J. said, sounding confident. "That won't be necessary," Janet joined in again. "I'll tell you." "No, Janet!" Brenda screeched. "No! You don't want to tell them. If
you do----" Janet swayed and A.J. reached out to grab her. She said, "If I do,
this will all be over. I can't
wait." "I think the old Janet is back, kid," I said to my brother as he held
his ex-wife in his arms. She
was weeping uncontrollably. He nodded. A.J.--- I allowed Janet to cry a bit and then pushed her back from me and
asked, "Where are they,
Janet? Where are the others? Can you take us to them? They can help to
clear me." "And can you tell us where we are, Janet?" Rick asked. "Yes, yes, I'll do both," she said. Epilogue And she did do both. We were in a small harbor off Scotland. The crew
of the ship was locked
away not far from where I had spent several hours and my brother had
joined me for a spell.
Rick and I went to the cabin where we had left our clothes, redressed,
then set the rightful
Captain and his crew free. I don't want to dwell overlong on the details. Suffice to say,
everything turned out well. It was
easy enough to prove who the bad guys were. Since I had shot one of them
I went to great
lengths to explain why I had done so. Janet verified that I had been
under the influence of a mind
altering drug, given to me through vitamins, for several years. The
dosage had been increased
when she visited me in San Diego. As for Janet herself, we learned that she had been under the influence
of the same drug,
controlled by the fellow she thought was her boy friend, the fellow I
shot and killed in the ship's
dining room. She was set free as a consequence. Rick argued as
vehemently as I for her release.
His fame did not hurt her cause one little bit. And so we are back in San Diego, my brother and me. The "Simon &
Simon" sign is being put
up as I write in our new office. Mom is happy beyond words that we are
back together. Janet and
I tried dating a few times, but the chemistry wasn't there. It had not
been, we realized, since we
originally broke up after returning from Florida. Our marriage had been
a sham. I have reread Rick's book, dwelling on the chapters which I thought
had upset me so. Sure, he
was a little hard on me in it, but now I see it as all in good fun with
no intention to hurt me. That
we could have lost so many years together because of a substance in
vitamin pills is mind
boggling to me. Today, Rick came to the office toting a sack of junk food. I grinned
at him, and he said, "I
know what you are gonna say, Kid." I grinned in return. "Same old Rick." The end
Part Five
"Dead, as in not breathin', not to be seen or heard of again, as gone
forever dead," Rick added,
tougher sounding than I heard him since meeting him a few hours earlier.
My karate training came back in a hurry, although I hadn't used it in
quite some time. When I
saw that I couldn't stop Brenda from firing, I leaped forward and gave
A.J. quite a hit. He
tumbled backward and the bullet missed him. It did, however, do a number
on Gethers. The
Captain of the ship fell dead without so much as a word.
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