“That’s a long time to have to subdue someone!”
“We can use your handcuffs if necessary.”
Alan
was slightly disconcerted at Gelling’s level of awareness in the circumstances. Obviously his genius extended well past the fields of science and business. He parked the car in front of the large Georgian style building and they walked to the heavy oak double front doors together. Gelling pressed the button on the intercom at the door and Devlin responded, “Linus?”
Gelling answered, “Yes, it’s me.”
The door buzzed open and the professor turned to Alan before they entered, whispering, “When he confronts you, keep his attention for as long as you can while I get behind him.”
“I’ll do my best but don’t waste any time.”
Alan drew his Glock and followed Gelling in and down a wide hallway toward the cavernous living area. Alex Devlin was seated at a huge antique desk with his back toward them, typing at a computer terminal. Without turning, he spoke, “Come in Linus; I’ll just be a minute.”
As they approached,
Alan began to assess the room in his peripheral vision until he suddenly froze in his footsteps as the muzzle of a gun pressed into the small of his back. The assailant’s approach had been undetectable and Alan instantly knew the futility in trying to overcome such an obviously well trained mercenary from such a position. The blood drained from his face as he raised his hands in surrender.
Gelling
reached out a trembling hand to take Alan’s gun. Devlin continued typing calmly and said, “Welcome to the lion’s den Mr. Beach.” Then he got up from his desk, turned to face them and continued, “I’ll take it from here Linus. I know this was very difficult for you but I can assure you it is absolutely necessary for the security of Project Hallucineers. Take the car and go back to Blue Sky. I’ll be in touch tomorrow.”
Gelling
, shaking nervously, asked, “What will you do with him?”
Devlin
shot the professor a stern glare and repeated, “I’ll be in touch tomorrow. Now go!”
Gelling
looked apologetically at Alan and said, “I’m sorry detective but my work is too important.” Before handing the Glock to Devlin’s thug and turning to leave.
Devlin
ordered Beach to slowly take out his handcuffs. Alan did as he was told and Devlin told him to sit on a large sofa behind a massive cast iron coffee table with a glass top. “Cuff your hands through the ironwork of the table and don’t try anything or this man will not hesitate to shoot you.”
Again, Alan obeyed.
“Now lean forward.”
As Alan
complied, Devlin drew an SSCH device from his pocket and pushed it against the back of the detective’s neck. The instrument emitted a quiet click and Alan winced slightly then jerked back with a horrified look on his face.
Devlin
lowered his weapon and relaxed, turning to look out through the huge sliding glass doors overlooking his property.
“What have you done to me?!” Alan
asked; his voice full of dread.
“All in good time Detective
but first I want to have a little chat. Stay calm; I don’t want you falling asleep just yet. As long as you keep your pulse down, you’ll remain awake for up to twenty minutes - long enough to satisfy your curiosity. ”
Alan’s face took on the look of a beaten man.
Devlin gave him a sympathetic smile and continued, “I must say that I’m impressed by your tenacity and dedication. I even admire your idealism and sense of justice…” then his smile changed to a menacing glare. “…but your bleeding heart attitude disgusts me. On balance, I think you deserve an explanation and I deserve the pleasure of watching the look on your face as you discover the truth.”
Devlin
grinned with satisfaction at his captive’s obvious fear as Alan shrunk in his seat. “You have caused me a great deal of inconvenience. I find it quite surprising that one insignificant policeman could be such a fly in the ointment.”
Defiant, Alan said sarcastically, “Glad I could help.”
“Your witticisms don’t amuse me detective. Are you sure you want to waste your final minutes on futile gestures of defiance?”
Alan looked up at the tall, slender man and saw single-minded evil in his
deeply set brown eyes. His sheer presence was intimidating and Alan could clearly see why he was such a feared and respected business mogul. His hair was a distinguished salt and pepper, silver at the temples, and his long face had high cheek bones and a strong jaw line surrounding thin, angry lips. Still defiant, Alan said, “It’s your dime. How the hell did you convince a guy like Professor Gelling to participate in premeditated murder?”
Devlin’s cruel mouth
creased to form an evil grin. “Are you really so naïve? Linus is nothing more than my pet genius – he has no idea that I used his invention to kill. If he knew the truth about Helen Benson and the others, he would be horrified, and I may well have had to silence him too. No; Rothstein is my only inside man at Blue Sky and the only one I need since he controls the content of the hallucination scenarios. Gelling is all about the science and saving people – rather misguided altruism – but I have to respect his scientific prowess.”
Devlin continued, feigning lament.
“Dr. Benson’s death was the result of an unfortunate assumption on the part of my Head of Security, Kurt Rygaard. Regrettably, I was not informed that she had inadvertently seen the hallucination scenario we designed to implant into Damien Fraser’s brain to get rid of Congressman Taylor and Matt Lewis. If I had known, we could easily have convinced the good doctor that it was simply one of Rothstein’s video games and she would still be alive – quite lamentable. If she hadn’t been so efficient in her work, Kurt’s error in judgment may have jeopardized my plans. “Don’t worry, he has been suitably reprimanded.” He smiled coldly.
As soon as I was informed of Linus’
hallucineering theory, I could see its true potential and all I had to do was play on Rothstein’s greed to get what I wanted. A small price to pay in the scheme of things. You see, Devlin Industries represents only a portion of my true wealth and power - the rest is carefully hidden from public scrutiny. It has taken almost thirty years of single minded dedication but now my influence is well beyond measurement by current global standards.”
“If you’re so powerful, why do you need
technology to influence the President?”
“Now you’re getting to the issue detective, you’re a bit of a plodder but I knew you would get there eventually.
I find our politically correct systems and procedures rather tiresome. This is the most powerful nation in the world but our government is so busy tiptoeing around everyone else’s sensibilities that we look more like simpering cowards than the greatest superpower the world has ever known - and I own a significant portion of this nation so its future is of great concern to me. To answer your question detective, simply put, I am orchestrating the approval to use tactical nuclear weapons to put an end to the stupidity once and for all.”
Alan looked at him incredulously
. “You know you’re insane, don’t you?”
Devlin
laughed aloud. “Is it insanity or genius detective? They say the two are closely related but I don’t expect someone of your inferior intelligence to properly understand or agree with what I’m saying. You’re just like all the other sheep that do what they’re told and scamper when they’re frightened. It takes true courage and discipline to challenge the status quo, to face danger and adversity head on, and do what needs to be done.”
Alan shook his head
, smiling as if dealing with an unruly child. “Quite insane.”
“If your goal is to infuriate me, you’re wasting your final minutes of life.”
Devlin said calmly. “You will soon fall asleep then awaken to feelings of overwhelming despair in the knowledge that you will be convicted of murdering the three men I sent to kill you, and lose everything you ever had in life. The whole thing will be too much for you to bear and you will put your service weapon in your mouth and pull the trigger. There is nothing you can do to change that. The SSCH is summoning sleep hormones as we speak and the hallucination Rothstein designed will soon take over your conscious mind.”
Dread fell over Alan’s face as he
watched Devlin’s evil grin and laughing eyes.
“So, now I’ve got your attention
. Shall I continue?”
Alan nodded in resignation.
“I thought so. Now tell me detective, can you honestly say that you’ve never wished we would just drop a bomb on those ignorant, greedy, violent oil rich nations of the Middle East and be done with it? Aren’t you tired of America being held to ransom by third world royalty and psychotic dictators?”
“So you think we should allow a greedy, insane, self serving
, behind the scenes dictator like you to run the show instead?”
“You’re welcome to your opinions Mr. Beach but I’m the one with the power so the decisions lie with me
. I for one will no longer allow our precious resources to be wasted on futile games of international politics. I for one refuse to allow insignificant banana republics to continually outvote us at the United Nations when we dutifully give the same countries tens of billions of dollars in charity each year as our budget plunges ever deeper into the red. It’s time the ungrateful realized their folly in underestimating our resolve. It’s time we put America first and stopped pussyfooting around with these vacuous fools. What have they ever contributed to the civilized world but misery and suffering?”
“You’re talking about wiping out millions of innocent people!
Can’t you see how wrong that is?” Alan stressed.
“There is no innocence in those countries.” Devlin retorted.
“Do you really think that the men, women and children of these countries, who have grown up generation after generation, numbed to violence, and taught to despise us and our ideals of liberty, are innocents? You must be sadly misinformed. I can assure you that there are children as young as six years old in these countries, who would happily kill you just because you’re American. They are taught to hate us from birth by corrupt religious fanatics who bend the teachings of their holy book to suit themselves. Nuclear obliteration is the only way to rid ourselves of this menace and as a personal bonus, I will become even richer; since I own most of the facilities that are capable of manufacturing the weapons.”
“You can’t really think you’re going to get away with this
Devlin!”
“Oh, I’m quite certain I will.”
Devlin pointed to a security camera mounted on the ceiling and continued, “Do you see that camera Detective? When you fall asleep, it will begin recording and when you awake and kill yourself, it will be indisputable evidence. When you’re gone, Alex Devlin, the well known billionaire philanthropist and successful corporate executive, will call the police and they will quickly close your case and that of the three dead men in Jersey City.
Your friends and family will
mourn your loss with a bitter taste in their mouths and I will use Gelling’s invention like a puppeteer to manipulate global and domestic policy. Within two years, I will have ridden this country of simpering fools like you. I will cleanse the nation of the corrupting influences of false religions, welfare dependents, cowards, and criminals. America will soon rise past its former glories to fresh heights in my new world order.”
Alan shook his head disdainfully
but decided it was futile to antagonize the obviously power mad Devlin further so instead he asked, “Why did you need to kill Congressman Taylor and Matt Lewis?”
“
I could not afford to have that clever little weasel nosing around in my affairs and the congressman was the only remaining powerbroker in Washington who could have upset my plans. They had to go.”
“But how did you know Lewis had
damaging information on Devlin Industries and that he was meeting with Taylor about it?”
Devlin
smiled malevolently, “Senator Davies has been under my control for over five years and he called to warn me of Lewis’ plans immediately after he told him.”
“So Davies is on your payroll?”
“No, Davies is too ethical for bribery but too useful to kill. Good old-fashioned blackmail was what I used on the venerable senator. I arranged for a very attractive young woman to entice him into a well hidden affair some years ago. One moment of weakness and he’s mine forever.”
Alan yawned widely
and Devlin smiled. “You’re getting sleepy. It seems we are coming to the end of our discussion detective.” Then he called out toward the kitchen door, “Please, do join us Mr. Riley - and don’t try anything foolish. I’m sure you’ve realized by now that what my friend lacks in stature, he more than makes up for in cunning.”
Startled,
Alan looked up to see Jake being led in at gunpoint by the strange little man wearing an overcoat and hat. His heart fell in dismay to see the seemingly infallible Jake Riley at the mercy of this odd little assassin. His shock quickly turned to concern for his friend and he asked, “What are you going to do to him?”
The little man
, keeping a safe distance, had moved around his considerably larger captive to his right side. He smiled cruelly and in his thick South African accent said, “Where I come from, this is how we control unruly prisoners.”