“Confessions” Serial, Tech Wars 28
After the meal, Gloria suggested that the guests might like to take a stroll down to the lakeside. The view was spectacular from there, she added.
“Will you folks come with us?” Andy asked.
Gloria smiled and replied, “Forgive me if I don’t come with you. I have a few household matters to attend to.” She turned to Oscar. “My darling, I’d like you to help me if you don’t mind.”
Oscar nodded and smiled apologetically at the trio. “Just follow the path by the side of the rose bushes. It’ll take you directly to the lake.”
The trio set off along the path. It was a cool but sunny day. Perfect for walking. It also gave them a chance to assess their next step. As soon as they were out of earshot of the house, Jauncey looked at the others. “So how do we play this?”
Sally spread her hands wide. “I think we need to trace all the companies on the flash drive before we make a move. Then present our findings to the fraud squad and let them move in and mop up.”
“You don’t think Oscar will close his operation down in the meantime?” Andy asked.
“Why should he? We haven’t made any overt moves against him. As far as he knows, we’ve completely bought into his story.”
They reached the edge of the lake and stared out at the magnificent view. The far shore was surrounded by the forest, reaching almost down to the lake itself, with a ring of mountains rising from the greenery. Sally wondered wistfully what in the hell she had been doing in the city all those years.
Jauncey turned to the other two. “So, what’s our next step?”
“We need to get to a safe base where I can track down the other companies that Oscar’s laundering money with.”
“Where do you suggest?”
“Peter’s offered to take us on board. I reckon we should go there.”
“Good idea,” Andy replied. They chatted on for a few minutes before Jauncey said it was time to get back to Oscar and Gloria. The trio made their way along the path and found Gloria trimming some roses. She smiled at them. “Enjoy the walk?”
“Perfect weather, stunning scenery and great company … what’s not to like?”
Gloria chuckled. “Welcome to the magic of Big Bear! … Oh, by the way, there’s something I want to show you. Come with me.”
The trio obediently followed Gloria into the house. She led them to a room at the back, opened the door and ushered them through. It was a tastefully furnished, small sitting room with a large TV screen set against the far wall.
Sally’s first thought as they entered was that Gloria was going to show them a video of some kind. However, their elegant hostess ignored the TV remote and went straight to a tall cupboard set close to the only window in the room. She opened the door of the cupboard, reached inside and withdrew an Uzi submachine gun. This reliable open-bolt, blowback-operated weapon standardly held 32 rounds.
Jauncey went cold. He had owned an almost identical weapon and knew just how effective it could be. The trio were unarmed and basically defenseless – if, as it seemed, the woman intended to use it against them.
As she turned around, Gloria’s friendly charm was replaced by a hateful scowl. “You think we’re stupid, don’t you?” She reached into the pocket of her slack suit and withdrew her cell phone. With one hand she flicked the rapid dial and waited for some moments before barking into the phone, “Bring him in!”
Sally tried the woman-to-woman approach. “I know that men are generally stupid creatures but what in the hell are you thinking? We came here …”
Gloria rapidly stepped forward and slapped Sally hard across her face. As Andy started to react, she swung the Uzi in his direction and snarled at him, “Don’t think of it … the stupid ones here are you three. I had mikes set up all along the pathway to the lake. We captured every word. Anyway, you won’t have to worry about digging into our company connections. The only digging you’ll be doing is a hole deep enough to cover your bodies. Whether you enter your grave dead or still alive depends on how you behave in the next few minutes …”
At that moment the door opened, Oscar was ushered into the room. He looked frightened. Jauncey suddenly realized that it was not Oscar who ran the criminal organization, it was Gloria.
Gloria waved at Oscar with the Uzi to stand to the side of the trio. She gave him a grim smile. “OK, here’s the scenario. Time to clean up.” She addressed Oscar, “You’re a goddam fool. Always have been. How could you leave the flash drive where it could be found?”
“I didn’t,” Oscar stammered. “I can only think Johannsen left it in his bedroom and somehow these … clowns found it. My copy’s still in my safe.”
Gloria shrugged, “Whatever. You’ve outlived your usefulness. I can copy your handwriting perfectly, as you know. So, your suicide note will reveal that you killed these three but couldn’t live with what you had done and decided to blow your brains out. I’ll leave evidence that you were actually scamming after all, in case these geniuses have already sent the contents of the flash drive to the authorities. I, of course, knew nothing about it. I’m quite wealthy enough by now to close the whole thing down…”
Andy broke in, “And when the whole chain of companies is uncovered, what’s to stop them revealing that you, not Oscar, have been the mastermind?”
Gloria smiled her sweetest smile. “The problem with that is no one – except Johannsen who’s dead anyway – ever knew I was behind it all. So, now we do the cleanup. The three of you will be shot right here trying to escape. Oscar will then take me at gunpoint, which’ll be unloaded by then, of course, force me up to our bedroom where he’ll write out the suicide note and then shoot himself in front of me, as his final act of repentance.”
Jauncey shrugged, “Tricky. It could work but don’t bet on it. Here’s an alternative. Surrender to us now, blame everything on Oscar. We’ll back you up for a portion of your wealth and you get home free.”
Gloria sneered at him. “I didn’t get to where I am today by being conned. I’ve learned enough about the game to know that you’re making a feeble attempt to stay alive. OK, party time. Let’s hope the guards outside buy my hysterical and innocent wife’s performance … I’m a good actor, by the way.”
Gloria aimed the Uzi at Jauncey, sensing he was the most dangerous of her three prisoners. Jauncey tensed. He was out of options. There was a sudden flash of movement and a gasp from Gloria as she dropped the gun. Both Andy and Jauncey reacted almost simultaneously. Fortunately, they both had different targets. Jauncey dove for the gun and Andy for the woman.
Sally stood open-mouthed as she tried to fathom what had happened. She saw a knife protruding from Gloria’s forearm and looked across at Oscar. He was weeping but he had once again saved their lives.
Andy quickly overpowered Gloria even though she kicked and tried to bite him. Andy twisted her arm behind her back and applied pressure. Jauncey meanwhile had picked up the gun, and Sally noted that Oscar had made no move to stop him even though he was closer to the gun than anyone else.
Gloria screamed at Oscar, “You stupid little shit. I made sure you had left your knife in your workshop.”
“Just as well I always carry a smaller knife, just in case.” He smiled briefly through his tears and addressed the trio. “I’ve loved this woman for over twenty years. Even though she bullied me and got me to do terrible things … I … couldn’t halt my infatuation for her and her beauty. Until now … but I couldn’t bring myself to kill her. It was enough to stop her killing all of us.”
Jauncey shook his head in disbelief. “I think we should hire you as our personal bodyguard, except of course you realize that you’ll have to do jail time for your part in the scams?”
Oscar nodded miserably. “I guess I’ll turn State’s Evidence and hope to reduce my sentence.” He looked at Gloria who glowered back at him. “Finally, the spell is broken. I see you for what you are, a greedy, bitter and self-obsessed woman.”
“In a word, a psychopath,” Sally interjected.
Oscar nodded. “OK. So how do we get past the guards outside the door? They’re Gloria’s men, not mine!”
An ExoTech Ltd shareholder, Chris is currently authoring two of the four books to be published the day ExoBrain launches and has helped to create ExoBrain’s introductory video to the Confidential Technical Briefing. Chris has spent his working life in the film and television industry, starting with BBC Television in London, then ATV in Birmingham becoming, at the time, the youngest Studio Manager in Britain.
Later, in South Africa, he wrote and directed film and TV commercials, having four South African entries at the Cannes Advertising Festival. After a number of years of writing and directing or producing documentaries (eight international awards) and corporate videos, he concentrated on writing feature film screenplays (five screened) and television series (seven screened). He has a novel, ”Pursuit of Treachery,” with a literary agent and is currently obtaining finance for an action adventure feature film he has written and is co-producing. He is a published poet and has given many readings.