Authors: Richard Jackson
I pull out the Bloodstone, letting it catch what little light there is. Kara grows even more uneasy, if that were possible. At this distance, Meredith might be able to use the ring for a spell instead of just focusing energy into it.
“We both know how this is going down. Now tell me the truth.”
Meredith waits. He knows how much I want this. How much I need to know. The seconds tick by all too slowly while I struggle against the urge to attack him now. “It’s true. I did try to kill you all those years ago. It wasn’t personal. You just got in my way. It’s a bad habit you picked up from somewhere.”
He favors me with a smile as he reminisces. “I was young back then, an amateur in so many ways. My father taught me the arts but for all his knowledge he lacked the drive to do what it took to get ahead. Me, I had too much drive. I moved too fast. It caused me to make a mistake with you and the girl. My actions frightened my father. My mother thought sending me away from the city would change me for the better while my father wanted to avoid a scandal and the police. It was the best thing they could have done for me. There, I learned patience and perfected my magic. The result is what you see here today.”
A small part of me wonders how someone could be so bent out of shape. The larger and more important part of me doesn’t care. When you get right down to it, Meredith had a choice. He had everything; fame, fortune, and most importantly the freedom to choose what he wanted to do with his life. A lawyer or a social worker might be able to make excuses. They might blame his parents or his environment. They could say he is insane and they would be right. They will say all this in an effort to avoid the truth. People have been hurt. Others have been killed and Meredith is responsible. No one forced him down this path or made him do any of this. This is what he choose and he would do all of this over again without a shred of remorse or guilt.
There is no turning back now. I toss him the Bloodstone. I know he has no intention of letting me leave this park alive. Either, I’ll be the next victim of the Alphabet City Strangler or Meredith’s fall guy but not before he wrings every bit of life and magic from my corpse. I let him enjoy his victory. I even say the words he’s been expecting me to utter since coming here.
“You’re not getting away with this. I’m taking you out.”
Meredith just laughs. It’s the sort of laugh you reserve for a clown in a circus that is more pathetic than funny. “You can’t beat me, even if I were to indulge you infantile mano a mano heroic fantasies. The park is surrounded by my men and you are unarmed,” Now, his smile turns nasty. “Your adventures end tonight, Count. Think of it as payment for the tooth that you knocked out.”
I don’t bother to check my watch. Enough time has passed to get this started. It’s time to spoil Meredith’s moment of triumph. “Your men won’t be troubling us. Hagan is dealing with them right now,” That gets his attention. Hagan is no joke and Meredith knows it. He has a reputation for being very lethal and good at what he does. Meredith’s men, wherever they are hiding, will be too busy dying to come help him. Even better is the look he gives me, part accusing and part disbelief. He actually thought I would come alone and without backup. Sure, I have a reputation as being a stand up guy and always keeping my word but I’m not stupid. Not everything you hear about me is true. I’m not above cheating and playing dirty when the stakes are this high. If Meredith had come alone, Hagan would have stayed out of it. His code won’t permit him to disrupt a duel or a personal challenge. I knew Meredith wouldn’t play straight with me. Why would he? In his opinion, I am beneath him. A lot of sorcerers think they are above anyone unable or unwilling to use magic. They figure anyone who believes in magic and doesn’t study the art is stupid. It’s why I am not friends with many of them. In my case, I don’t practice sorcery because my own talent interferes with any spells I might try to cast.
Now, Meredith is angry; it shows in his expression and posture. He’s underestimated me but he still isn’t worried. He’s got the Bloodstone. He can use its power. I push a few more of his buttons. “And don’t think you’ll be able to use the Bloodstone, it’s been shielded against your power.”
“Impossible. You and your friends didn’t have enough time to work such a spell.”
He’s right. There wasn’t enough time for a spell like that. Instinctively, Meredith draws on the ring as I surge forward. Kara whispers a warning to me and I laugh. I don’t know what sort of spell he is trying. With the ring backing him up, it will probably be enough to get past my talent. Scott and Sol spring my next surprise on him.
For all Meredith’s skill, he has been getting by using raw power; power he has gotten from sacrificing people. It was all part of his strategy to keep up the pressure. This time the strategy backfires on him. The problem with relying on brute force is it can make you lazy and sloppy. Thanks to Scott’s knowledge of counter magic and Sol’s experience the First Magics, Meredith falls into my trap. My friend’s magic works through Meredith’s spell using it as a conduit to safely tap the ring’s energy. It allows them to release the energy stored within the Bloodstone in a controlled manner.
Usually there are no visible effects when magic is at work. This time my friends don’t care if they waste power. In fact, the more power wasted the better. A cold blue fire erupts from the ring bathing Meredith and me in its light. The grass around me withers and dies from the spell. I am unharmed as my friends release the ring’s stored power and send it skyward. It arcs out of sight, heading for Meredith’s building in the Bronx. Sol and Scott didn’t know what to use the excess power for. I suggested they use it for a little urban renewal. When this is all over, Scott will see to sealing up that place up permanently assuming I am able to do my part.
I gambled and won. If Meredith took the extra time and effort, instead of tapping the Bloodstone’s power to do things quick and dirty then things would have gone a lot differently. With the ring is drained, it is useless to him. It will be days, maybe weeks, before he can build up enough power for the Bloodstone to be a threat. By then, it will be too late. I’m on him.
The only sound in the park is that of two men doing their best to hurt one another. This isn’t an action movie. There is no witty banter or curses, just the sound of breathing and the occasional grunt of pain or explosive exhalation as a blow slips past a guard. Even with surprise on my side, he is able to blunt my initial assault.
For the last few days, he’s had his fun. He enjoyed dropping hints about our connection and playing his games. Now that I’ve changed the rules, it’s time to settle up. Meredith has had this coming for thirty years and I take it to him. To his credit, he steps up to the plate taking what I dish out. With each punch and kick, I feel his confidence and arrogance wither. Everything is unraveling. I hope it’s tearing him up inside.
I match my skill and experience against his strength and power. It’s his quickness against my ability to second guess him and Kara’s warnings. I stick to the plan and do everything right. I use the patterns drummed into me by my teacher and the hard knocks I have taken over the years. I don’t look for openings, I create them.
Meredith has never been in a fight like this. He’s a bully and a killer but not fighter. This is a new experience for him, dealing with someone able to fight back. Still, he is adapts quickly. More of his punches and kicks land forcing me to spend more time defending myself. Whoever taught him self defense was no slouch.
A little over a minute into the fight, he screams something. I shut him up with a viscous knife hand to the throat but I am beginning to tire. I can’t keep up this pace for too much longer. I usually take things slow and easy relying on counter punching instead of an all out attack. The injuries from the past few days are sapping my strength and endurance but I need to keep Meredith here until Nerva has done her part. I just hope Hagan is clear by then. Who knows, I might be able to pull this off without her help. Meredith is bloody and gasping for breath. Then it happens, my right knee buckles.
I’m in trouble and he knows it. His hands close on my throat. I quickly break the hold before it can solidify into a choke. Damn it! I can’t go anywhere. I’m stuck in front of him. I try to jam a thumb into one of his eyes. The move is countered. For my troubles, Meredith kicks my buckling leg out from under me. I manage to break my fall but I still hit the ground hard. A kick drives what little air I had left out of my body like it did all those years ago. Meredith wastes no time. He gets down to business. If I didn’t need surgery before, I will now. He stomps down hard on my right knee almost causing me to pass out. I can’t salvage this. What was once a fight turns into a beating, one that doesn’t end until he is sure I can no longer fight back. He stands over me, bloody and triumphant. His foot toes me to see if there is still some life left in me before he pulls out a length of cord out from his pocket. It’s probably the same one he used on his other victims; at least I hope it is. “That was foolish. I told you that you couldn’t beat me. No hard feelings.”
Where the hell is Nerva? I told her timing is everything but I don’t see any sign of her or the police. She would pick this night to run a little late. Kara tries to comfort me but her tears get in the way. She doesn’t think I’m going to make it. I’m almost out of tricks.
“Don’t pass out on my, Albritton. I want you awake for this,” Meredith gives me a shake to make sure I am still with him. “You don’t know how much you have irked me. I don’t know what annoyed me more; your escape all those years ago or your pitiful efforts to stop the inevitable.”
He kneels down and I feel the cord around my neck. The bastard doesn’t throttle me yet, he wants this to last. Meredith can’t just kill me, he has to humiliate me and that’s fine by me. He’s given me time, time that I need and hope. “Can’t you hear them?” I croak.
His smile of triumph is replaced first by uncertainty then fear. He doesn’t want to believe his ears. The police will be here in moments but my part isn’t done yet. Meredith can still get away. He could flee into the night with the Bloodstone. It hurts to smile. I do it anyway as I whisper the words that will drive him over the edge. “You’re done, Meredith. I beat you. Even if you make it out of the park, Hagan or one of the others will nail you.”
Meredith’s face turns red with anger. He tightens the cord around my neck and I struggle to hold on. The night becomes blacker as the police charge into the clearing. They don’t yell freeze or anything. There is the sound of thunder and a flash of lightning. Meredith falls away from me. I can breathe again. Kara holds me as I slip the rest of the way into the darkness. Before everything goes black, my vision is filled with Nerva looking down at me, better late than never.
“That’s another one you owe me,” she says.
Chapter Fourteen
I leave out as much as I can about my friends. That was part of the plan, another part of the plan no one was thrilled about. Someone had to take the heat. I volunteered for the job when I confronted Meredith in the park. While I healed, the others scattered to the four winds.
Scott went back overseas to take care of some business at his family’s estate. From there, he planned on making arrangements to acquire Meredith’s property in the Bronx. Whatever that thing in the stone is, it’s too dangerous a loose end not to tie up. Still, Scott didn’t forget about me. He saw it as his duty to look out for me, plan or no plan. He is taking care of my hospital bills. He also made sure to put one of his attorneys at my disposal just in case.
Hagan, who has enough legal troubles to last at least a dozen lifetimes, left town. Knowing him, he was probably on his way to Philadelphia. He had friends there and a lot of good memories. Like him, the city was rich in history with many stories to tell. Hagan wouldn’t be gone long, just long enough for the police to forget about him. They always do. Sometimes it takes a week, sometimes it would be longer. People who aren’t friends and close associates tend to forget about him. Hagan called it a mixed blessing which kept him out of the news and history books.
For all intents and purposes, Sol dropped off the face of the planet. He retreated to the confines of his library, temporarily severing his few ties to the mundane world. It was already difficult to contact him. Now, it was almost impossible. Sol had the least to fear from the authorities. It puzzled me as to why he went into hiding. Now, I have a good idea why. He figured this wasn’t over and was playing it safe. You don’t get a name like Solomon the Wise by being careless.
In contrast, Nerva is hiding in plain sight. With her powers, she can avoid unwanted attention from the authorities. Even if they knew her usual haunts, the police would be hard pressed to catch her. She won’t make it easy for them or anyone else to get a hold of her. It’s a matter of self-preservation and Nerva is very good at taking care of herself. Hopefully, I won’t need to reach her or Sol for a while.
My visitors move away from the bedside to converse. Time seems to slow to a crawl as I study them. Something has been nagging me since they arrived here. Yes, their look and demeanor still scream the word “Fed”. It’s not that. They are returning to my bedside, fanning out to surround me. This feels more wrong with each passing second. I realize I haven’t seen them flash one bit of identification. The medication I’m on is definitely me throwing me off.
Marino’s voice is calm and almost reassuring but not quite. “We believe your story. We need to transfer you to someplace more secure and bring you up to speed. It’s not safe here.”
I am about to ask for some id when I feel a sense of pressure against my arm. I look to the side to see Marino’s doctor inject something into my IV tube. The other man holds me down before I can yank the tube out. He doesn’t even try to be gentle about it.
“You’re not with the FBI.”
I don’t know whether they laugh or not. I am more interested in how pretty the room looks when it spins in time to the theme song from the Tonight Show.