Hampton Manor (27 page)

“Yes, sir. I’ll do that right away. I’ll tell the staff to conserve water until service is restored. I took an inventory of the bottled water the other day. We have twenty five-gallon bottles stored under the grand stairway. We’ll need to ration them until we know the status of things.”

“I know I can count on you to manage things. Do the best you can. If it’s going to take too long, we’ll just move out until things return to normal. The West Wing will be a problem, though. Tomorrow, when we know more, we’ll see if we can move my father to a private facility. In the meantime let’s not keep that duck waiting. Suddenly I have a ravenous appetite.”

At 8:30, Adam entered the West Wing. John greeted him and Adam filled him in on the water situation and plans to evacuate the wing if the water problem became prolonged. “See Milton about getting some extra water bottles for the toilet tanks. Set the floaters lower to preserve what little water we do have.”

“I’ll take care of that right away. I’ll bring four bottles and store them in my office.”

“Adam picked up his father’s chart, scanned it for any warning flags, and motioned to John that he was ready to meet with his father.

John turned to one of the nurses. “Neil, will you make sure Mister Hampton is ready to visit with his son.”

“Sure, John.”

As Neil was leaving the reception area, John turned to Adam. “I shut off the recording devices as you requested.”

“Thanks John. Why don’t you keep the dogs here with you tonight. They distract my father sometimes and I need his full attention.”

“Not a problem. I have some dog biscuits and some squeaky toys that should keep them amused for a while. I enjoy their company.”

Neil returned, and held the door open for Adam.

Adam headed back to his father’s den determined that by the time he left he would know the name of the “mystery heir”.

Adam was surprised to find his father dressed in a blue suit with a red “power” tie. His father gestured to Adam to sit in the chair opposite him.
John should have warned me. The old man is acting as if he’s holding the meeting. I don’t like the look of this.

He looked into his father’s eyes.“I asked you to meet with me today because I need to get a few things straight.”

His father looked surprised. “What on earth are you talking about? I called this meeting and I’ll thank you to sit there quietly until I’m finished. You can speak then, but I warn you that I won’t tolerate any insubordination from you
.
”

Adam was startled by his father’s behavior.
What the hell has gotten into him? This wasn’t going to be as simple as he thought it would be. Why does everything have to be so difficult.

Chapter 43

Neil Gordon waited until he saw Adam enter his father’s den. He closed the door and reached for his cell phone. As he hit the “on” button, he heard John call his name.

“Neil, I need you to help me with something.” It was John and he was standing at the door to the main building.

“In a minute, John. I have to make a quick call.”

“Now, Neil,” John said with a firm tone. “You should know that personal calls are not permitted in the West Wing during Mister Hampton’s visits. Put that phone down and give me a hand. The water system is out and we have to bring in at least four five-gallon bottles of water as backup for drinking and for the toilet tanks.”

Neil placed the phone on John’s desk and reluctantly headed for the door.

John saw the look on Neil’s face and added, “Look, as soon as we get the water in here, you can take a break and make your call, but you’ll have to make it fast and from the main building.”

“Thanks, John. It’s important or I would wait until my shift is over.”

“Okay, then, let’s get this job done.”

They made their way to the faux panel under the main staircase. John pushed the panel and slid it one side. He flipped the light switch and a dim light filled the room. It was a credit to Milton’s housekeeping that the bottles of water and boxes stored there were free from dust and cobwebs as one would expect. The bomb that the Assassin planted was immediately above their heads, expertly concealed by slats of wood.

The bottles were heavy and it took them a few minutes to carry them down the hall to the door of the “wing”. John had to put his bottle down to unlock the door.“John, why don’t you just prop the door open with one of the bottles?”

“Can’t do that. Mister Hampton would have my head. The door must be closed and locked at all times. It can’t remain open longer than sixty seconds. If the sensors they set up detect any threat the “wing” acts as one big “panic room.” All doors and windows lock down and can’t be released until either Milton or Mister Hampton deactivate the system. Fortunately we’ve never needed to use it, although it’s tested every month.”

“Wow, I’ve never heard of anything like that. I guess if you’ve got the bucks you can get the best protection that money can buy. Where should I put this bottle?”

“We’ll put them against the wall over there, for now.”

John hoisted his bottle to his left shoulder as he shifted his body to hold open the door. As he did, the keys slipped from the his fingers and fell silently to the plush carpeting. His foot kicked them behind a wastebasket as he moved quickly to the wall.

“Boy, these mothers can be hard to handle if you don’t get a good grip on them.”

“You got that right.”

“Let’s get two more. Then you can take that break.”

They stepped through the door and it closed automatically behind them. They picked up two more bottles from storage and when they arrived back at the door, John began a frantic search for his keys, patting each pocket several times.

He turned to Neil and asked, “Do you have the keys?”

“No. Why would I have them? You must have dropped them somewhere. I’ll go back to the storeroom and look around.”

“I think that we would have heard them if they dropped on the concrete floor. They probably dropped out of my pocket in the office.”

“Well, I’ll check the storeroom anyway. We’ve got nothing to lose.”

“You do that, Neil. In the meantime, I’ll find Milton. He has a backup set. God, how could I be so careless? This is so embarrassing. It has never happened to me before.”

They went in opposite directions. Neil to the storeroom and John towards the kitchen, where he knew Milton would be planning the next day’s meals.

Neil checked his watch. Perspiration began to appear on his forehead as he realized that it was almost eleven minutes since Adam Hampton III had gone into his father’s den.
What if he finishes early and leaves. What can I tell the man. He may want his money back and half of it is spent already. I should have kept my phone with me. I’ll never make that mistake again
He looked around the storage area, but couldn’t find the keys, so he returned to the West Wing door to wait for John.

John rushed up with the backup keys in hand. He pushed open the door and scanned the floor. He quickly retrieved his keys, helped carry the remaining two bottles in and turned to Neil.

“Go ahead, kid. You can take a break now, but be back in five minutes. Oh, by the way, don’t say anything about this key thing to anyone. It’ll be a secret between Milton, you and me. Okay?”

“Sure thing, John. Mum’s the word. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Neil picked up his phone and walked to the bathroom down the hall.
Only John knows that I made this phone call. If a bunch of cops or process servers come bursting in here, he is sure to connect the dots, but if I can keep his secret, he can sure keep mine.

Neil’s thumbs keyed in the pager number. He waited a minute and dialed again. Finally, he made the third call.
There, my part is done.
He looked at his watch; it was almost 8:48 and the two Hamptons were still together. He had made it.
 

He urinated, washed his hands and headed back to the West Wing much more relaxed than five minutes earlier and very pleased with himself. This was the easiest money I’ve ever made. I’m going to buy my mom a real nice present.

Chapter 44

The Assassin arrived at the condominium parking lot at 8:05 p.m., five minutes later than he had planned to be there.
No harm done. It sure was beautiful to watch.
He drove into one of the visitor parking spots facing Hampton Manor and shut off the engine. He lowered the window several inches and lit up a cigarette. The Assassin was not a smoker, but smoking was a good cover for being alone in a car in a parking lot. Sometimes he’d put a cell phone to his ear and have a pretend conversation. His head was pointed away from Hampton Manor, but his eyes were busy taking in the sporadic on and off of lights in the building. He breathed a sigh of relief when the lights were turned on at the two windows he knew to be in the den.
That’s the logical place for them to meet. That must be John getting things ready. I hope everything goes off on time. I want to split this burg as soon as I can. This whole thing took a lot longer than I thought it would. Well, with a payoff this big, I shouldn’t complain.

A car pulled into the empty spot on his right. He heard the beep-beep of the remote and the shadow of a man passing behind his car on the way to the condos. He was carrying some beer. His eyes followed the man as he climbed the stairway and moved down the walk-way to the last unit on the left.
Those two six-packs will keep him occupied for the next several hours. I wonder if there’s a big game on tonight. This is Red Sox country, I think.

Back to the surveillance. It was now 8:20.
We’re getting close. Don’t let me down, Neil.
He looked at the third remote; the one with the “C” written on it by indelible black marker. This one was special. It was jerry-rigged to send an initial signal and then to follow through seconds later with a signal at a different frequency; a genuine two-fer. Back to the watch.
That’s a real nice looking building. Too bad it will be a pile of smoldering rubble in just a few hours. I wonder what my client has against those two. It must be something pretty important that he has to have them both together when they die. It really doesn’t matter, but I’m curious. I guess there is no way I’m ever going to know.

Another glance at his watch, 8:29.
Well this should be it. Do your job, Neil.
8:31, no beeper. 8:33, 8:35, 8:40, still no page. The Assassin looked to make sure that the pager was on.
Check
that
. 8:45, still no signal.
Maybe the lines are overloaded because of the flood and fire.
He dialed the motel and the desk clerk answered. He disconnected.
That’s not it. What the hell is going on?

At 8:47 the first message showed on his pager. He erased it and waited. The second arrived and was also erased. He waited anxiously for the third message.
Only
two
might
mean
that
the
meeting
was
aborted
.
There’s got to be a third.

He would not be disappointed.
At 8:48
the
last
message
showed
up
on
his
screen
. Bingo!
The Assassin picked up the remote, flipped the safety switch to the side and pressed the button. Within seconds the first device went off with a thundering boom. The flash from the blast lit up the den’s street-side windows with a brilliant ultra-violet light before changing to orange/red. Within seconds the tanks of gas, located near the flash point were detonated by the peak adiabatic temperature of the nitrex and the perfect stoichiometry of the oxygen and nitrogen joined the explosive force sending shockwaves across the west wing. Interior walls collapsed, security glass in the windows blew out and flames enveloped all contents regardless of their composition, structure or design.

John and the dogs were reduced to charred remains within seconds, never knowing what hit them. Down the hall Adam Hampton II and III were thrown to the floor as flames engulfed their bodies. They expired within minutes as the flames eagerly fed on their flesh.

In the hall, Neil Gilbert was nearing the door to the west wing as the first explosion occurred. He felt the vibration from the blast, but saw nothing as the reinforced concrete wall absorbed the impact. The shock felt like a mini-earthquake. Neil had only a second to think about what was happening before the second bomb was set off. A section of the staircase struck him in the back and propelled him into the steel front door. As the door separated from the frame his body fell onto the front porch of the manor. He was dead on impact, his clothes and skin burning brightly.

Moments before detonation of the device in the main house, Milton Cavell left the kitchen to retrieving the spare set of keys from John. He felt the tremor from the first bomb, but it was the shockwave from the second that threw him backwards onto the spear of one of several statues of aborigines that adorned the narrow hallway. There, impaled and afire, he became a human shish kebob.

Within five minutes Hampton Manor was engulfed in flame. The fire’s high temperature melted metal, vaporizing plastic and consumed all manner of structural and decorative materials as the Nitrex did its job. Two maids working on the second floor at the time were quickly overcome by smoke and perished within minutes. One of the male nurses, asleep in a room over the West Wing, was struck by a collapsing ceiling beam, pinned to the floor and succumbed to the encroaching flames. What remained of a chef’s assistant who was working in the kitchen at the time of the blast was found near the entrance to the cupboard. The Medical Examiner would have a difficult time determining the cause of her death, with so many factors were involved. This fire was going to cost the town a lot of overtime hours.