CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
“Really, Doctor Straus, I thought it would be much harder to see you face to face again. I have only been waiting for you here in your luxurious automobile for less than two hours. I was expecting a much, much longer wait.”
“Alexander,” Straus said, “Whatever it is that you want or need, I can help you. What those doctors did to you by lying about your death and smuggling you to me all those years ago was wrong. Completely and utterly wrong. But I did my best to keep you safe, didn’t I?”
“Indeed you did, Doctor Straus. Indeed you did. You kept me safe from having a family. You provided me the safety of never having a friend or, dare I say, a love interest. You kept me safe by reminding me that the world would never accept me. You locked me away, fed me, instructed me, and saved me from any resemblance of a normal life. And now, Doctor Straus, I am here to repay your kind acts. It’s you who needs safety now.”
“Is your father telling you what to do?” Straus asked, his hand finding the door handle. “If your father is behind all those murders and this whole scheme, I will defend you to the authorities.”
“My father reached out to you in good faith just a few days ago, but you rejected his offer of negotiation.”
“I saw what happened at my lodge. I saw you walk outside covered in blood, and I saw what you did to that man walking up the street. Your father didn’t want to negotiate, he wanted to kill me.”
“No, no, no, Doctor Straus. I was the one with the desire to kill you. It was I who killed Jacob Curtis and that pathetic Peter Adams. Though I cannot claim Mark Rinaldo’s and Henry Zudak’s demise, as you certainly should know, I can proudly say that I’ve dispensed of your entire team. Poor Brian Lucietta. He was so innocent, wasn’t he? Just a simple doctor, wishing to be left alone as he experimented with my body. So immune from guilt. Beyond reproach, I believe his journal stated.
“Oh yes, yes, yes, Doctor Straus. I read his journal. Each page, including those that referenced your Plan B should I ever become a public figure. How brave of you, Doctor Straus, to say that Doctor Lucietta was nothing but gallant in his quest to learn the secrets of my life. And what a martyr you were willing to be by proudly saying that you would defend his honor and ensure that he would suffer no repercussions as long as he followed your prescription. Tell me, Doctor Straus, did you extend that same, noble promise to Jacob Curtis? How about to Michelle? And speaking of her, I do miss her. Have you kept in touch with nurse Michelle?”
“Alexander, please. I’d like to speak with your father.”
“My father was more than willing to negotiate with you. You never showed up to your lodge to listen to his offer. But now, having learned that you saw the proceedings at the lodge that day, I am led to believe that you did arrive. Hide in the bushes, did you Doctor Straus?”
“Where is your father now, Alexander?” Straus asked loudly, hoping to catch the attention of any remaining police officers outside of the hospital. “I am willing to negotiate in good faith,” he spoke even more loudly.
“Detained. My father is detained. Shall we visit my old stomping grounds together Doctor Straus? If my memory serves, Ward C is but two floors above us. Shall we?”
Straus pulled hard on the door handle and launched himself out of the car. He yelled, hoping his voice would capture someone’s attention as he fell out into the darkness. He hit the cool, damp concrete floor hard, then quickly scrambled to his feet. Then, though he thought it impossible, the darkness around him turned even darker.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Ken O’Connell could always sense when things were getting out of hand. He could spot ideas taking on a life of their own from miles away. In business, he knew when to pull the plug well before his partners, investors, and employees could even sense that a change was needed. In his life, he loved to follow possibilities and trends out to their expected ends. If the end looked positive, he would go forward, always being sure to design a way out should things begin turning in the wrong direction.
Arranging a meeting with Straus in order to extort money was, in Ken’s mind, a sound idea. He did all his due diligence before putting the plan into action. He verified the story that Michelle Mix told him. He got visual confirmation that Alexander Black was actually alive and was being held exactly where his sources suggested he would be. Ken made certain that Straus had enough savings and investments to make it worth his efforts. He then confirmed that Rinaldo, Zukak, Mix, Curtis, and Lucietta also had attractive portfolios, making them ripe for picking.
Once Ken was able to arrange a means of contacting and connecting with Alexander, his first test was to see if Alexander would make a willing and an appropriate associate. Ken was quickly impressed by his unknown son’s intellect as well as his personal desire to exact his own unique flavor of vengeance.
It took months of surveillance before one of Ken’s resources came up with a plan.
“Straus leaves the lodge every Tuesday morning and doesn’t return until late Thursday evening. During that time, the only people in the lodge are any guests, of which there are very few, and Alexander. He has a security system in place, complete with cameras and sensors on every door and window. However, the main door to the lodge is not monitored or alarmed. Straus probably didn’t want to make his guests feel like they are being watched.
“Alexander is held off of the main entrance way, down a short hallway which is accessible only by a pass code and key locking system. The code was easily stolen since his system uses a WiFi to control and monitor the entire system. I hacked the network and stole all access codes in under fifteen minutes.
“Picking the lock should take no more than five minutes, during which time Alexander will most likely be able to hear us in the hallway. He will be secured in his suite of rooms, which are, thankfully, very secure. However, should he want to alert someone, he does have access to a panic button that will set off a silent alarm which I believe will be sent directly to Straus.
“Assuming the panic button is not pressed by Alexander, you will be able to speak to him behind the safety of the hallway door that leads into his suite.
“Straus does have a hired gun within an hour of the lodge. Worst case scenario is that Alexander presses the panic button, Straus dispatches his hired gun, and Alexander blows your whole plan out of the water.”