Warren Murphy - A Pound of Prevention

When Remo turned his back on the park, his eyes were rimmed in red. He struck off across the street, heading slowly toward the hotel district. Not once did he look back.

Chapter 30

"Sometimes I really hate you."

The Master of Sinanju was sitting in the same spot where Remo had left him. His hazel eyes were knowing as Remo slammed the hotel-room door shut.

"Did you get our plane tickets?" Chiun queried.

"Cut the crap and get up," Remo snarled. "We've got work to do."

From the hall, he'd sensed someone else inside. Bubu stood from the couch as Remo crossed into the living area.

"Do you get a nickel every time you drive in and out of Luzuland?" Remo asked the native.

Bubu hesitated. "I do not mean to interrupt," he said, confused. "Master Chiun has told me that you were about to begin destroying the devices beneath the city."

Remo shot a glance at Chiun. "Did he," he said blandly. "Well, it was iffy for a while, but I guess it's made it onto the 'to do' list."

The Luzu smiled. "I am glad you have changed your mind, Master Remo," he said. "I was worried that you had taken my wish for the destruction of Bachsburg to heart."

"No fear of that," Remo replied, his face sour. "This town will stand as a testament to vice for years to come. Get a move on, will you, Chiun?"

The Master of Sinanju rose to his feet. "Bubu has something to tell you," he intoned.

"If it has something to do with the ranger shipping me off to a zoo, I'm not interested," Remo said.

"Listen," Chiun insisted. There was an urgency to his tone that Remo could not ignore.

"Okay, what? And make it snappy."

"After I left Master Chiun here in the city, I returned to my village. On the way, I encountered many aircraft. They flew above me across Luzuland."

Remo instantly thought of Deferens and his murder plot. "Were they going after Batubizee?" he asked.

Bubu shook his head. "At first I thought this, as well. I assumed the villains here had learned of the departure of Master Chiun and were hoping to attack before his return. I made haste back to my village only to find things as I left them. The helicopters from Bachsburg were not flying there, but to the evil city at the edge of Luzuland." The native nodded to the Master of Sinanju. "Master Chiun saw it on our way to the Luzu treasury."

"It is a small settlement," Chiun interjected.

"There are a few dozen homes, as well as one very large building."

Bubu nodded eagerly. "I led an expedition to the hills above this place. Many of the helicopters were there, as was the fiend Mandobar."

This got Remo's attention. "Mandobar?" he asked sharply. "Isn't he still in China?"

"The husband," Bubu stressed. "Not his wife, Nellie. She is bringing many of the evil chiefs to her right now."

Remo scrunched up his face. "Nellie Mandobar? I thought she faded away once Willie ditched her."

"No. She is here. Many are loyal to her still. The men from the helicopters embraced her."

In an instant, it all made sense.

"Nellie Mandobar," Remo said, nodding. "That's why he could be away now. He doesn't have anything to do with it."

And in a very quiet part of himself, Remo felt relief. He was glad that a man who was a hero to so many people wasn't involved in something so sinister.

"This does not make sense," the Master of Sinanju said. "Why would this female plot the destruction of this city only to remove her victims from it beforehand?"

"She doesn't know about it," Remo explained. "Caving in Bachsburg was a side scheme Deferens cooked up. And speaking of Casper the GQ Ghost..."

Spinning, he hurried into the hallway. Chiun and Bubu followed, the Luzu jogging to keep up. Marching down four doors, Remo entered the suite. When they crossed to the bedroom, they found the sleeping form of Minister L. Vas Deferens stretched out on the sheets.

"This is where you hid him?" Chiun scowled.

"I'm getting slicker in my old age." Remo grinned.

Reaching down, he tapped one knuckle against the minister's forehead. The pale man's eyes sprang open wide.

"Wakey-wakey," Remo said.

It took Deferens a moment to get oriented. When he did, panic set in. "Where am I?" he demanded, jumping to a sitting position, "What time is it?"

"Bachsburg, premidnight," Remo said. "And unless your shorts are lead-lined, you've got some bombs to deactivate."

"We were in ...my office," Deferens said as he looked around the hotel room in amazement. Remo's words brought his wandering mind back into focus. "The bombs," he gasped. "What time is it right now?"

"Almost seven."

"Seven? But they are going to go off at midnight!"

"So you'll have to work extra fast," Remo said sweetly.

"No, no, no," Deferens insisted. "We have to get out of here."

When he tried to push his way past the trio, Bubu stepped forward to stop him. A bony hand got there first.

Chiun flung Deferens back to the bed.

"How long will it take to pull the plug on all of them?" Remo pressed.

"What? No! We have to-"

He gasped in pain as a pair of talonlike fingernails squeezed the fleshy part of his earlobe.

"Four hours," Deferens yelped. "Five if traffic is bad."

"Let's hope the lights are with us, Little Father," Remo said as Chiun released his grip on the minister's ear.

He spun to face Deferens. "This is just for my benefit, but Willie Mandobar doesn't know anything about all this, right?"

"That senile old mooka?" Deferens scoffed "He and Kmpali are fools. I engineered it all beneath their very noses."

"So it was all Nellie's idea?"

His hesitation was precursor to a lie. But when a long-nailed hand appeared before him, the truth spilled forth.

"I told you before, she knows nothing of the bombs," he insisted.

"You knew it was her before?" Chiun demanded of Remo.

"Hey, he said Mandobar. So sue me for not pinning him down on a gender."

"She came to me with the crime-capital idea when her husband was still in office," Deferens continued. "I crafted it. She considers herself a leader, but she is nothing more than a homicidal maniac."

"Not like you," Remo said, his tone flat.

"I was killing for a purpose," he spit. "That fat mooka sets fire to people for sport."

"Dead's dead," Remo said thinly. "How many bombs we looking at?"

Deferens didn't even try to bluff. "Six," he admitted glumly.

"I'm no nuke expert, but that sounds like overkill to me," Remo said. "Not that any of the guys you wanted to off are even in town anymore."

"What do you mean?" Deferens asked.

"Your mistress has taken them to her city outside Luzuland," the Master of Sinanju intoned.

"City?" Deferens frowned. "What city?" Sensing truth from him, both Masters of Sinanju exchanged a quick glance.

"Guess she doesn't tell you everything, white man," Remo said. "Shake a leg." He dragged Deferens up by the arm.

"Wait!" the defense minister insisted. His eyes were calculating. "If this is true..." He looked to Remo. "May I make a phone call?"

"Um, let me think. No," Remo said. He began hauling the minister to the door.

"It could help you!" Deferens cried. "If you wish to know what she is doing, I can find out!"

Remo stopped. When he looked to the Master of Sinanju, the old man nodded.

"Chief Batubizee would no doubt be curious to know why she is there," Chiun said.

Sighing, Remo scooped up the phone and tossed it to Deferens. "Knock yourself out," he said. "But make it quick. 'Cause if we're late, anyone sitting on the john at midnight's gonna get a nuclear-powered prostate exam."

Chapter 31

"Where have you been?" Nellie Mandobar demanded.

She was in her office at the great meeting hall in her bungalow village. The noise of a raucous party pounded in through the vibrating walls. Her dark, blubbery face was bunched into an angry knot.