Terry Neale - Jo-el

Eventually I asked Sally by thought. “ What can I do about Fuentes?”

Sally’s image appeared on the heads-up display. She was wearing black, cotton pants and a light blue top, cut across the shoulders. She looked sophisticated and totally stunning. The sins of the shower were forgotten. “ Well let’s see. You could just ignore him and let him live out his life in Chicago. He’ll probably get caught someday, anyway. You could confront him and say that you know who he is and what he’s done, but that might elicit an unpleasant response which might not be conducive to your health.” She was smiling. I’m sure if anybody had noticed my expression, sitting there alone, they would have thought I’d farted and felt good about it. My computer was becoming very cheeky. I growled silently to show my indignation. “You could terminate him. Well technically, I would do that, but on your orders.” The smile was now a grin, almost a laugh.

“What! What did you say?”

“Get rid of the dude, it’s really simply.” She said.

“ How?”

“Well I could slice him up real bad, but that’s messy.” Now my eyes had widened to their fullest extent and I nearly coughed up my coffee. “ Or, I could induce a heart attack. He’s a bit young, but no-one will care, he’s not a pleasant fellow, is he?” She had placed her hands on her hips and was grinning from ear to ear.

I was speechless for a moment, my brain all knotted up. I glanced around the coffee shop. Had anyone heard us plotting murder? No one paid me the slightest attention. I swallowed hard, holy crap, this was difficult to get used to.

“ How?” I queried, placing my coffee on the table before I spilt it.

“ What, slice him up?”

“ No! the heart attack thing.” She was having fun with me.

“ Well, pretty easy actually. I just fire a burst of atoms at him. They penetrate his chest cavity, leaving no trace of course, and form into a clip that attaches to his aorta. That cuts off his blood supply and you can guess the rest.” Again she grinned as if killing this guys was like going for a bike ride. “ The clip dissolves after a while, no trace.”

I’m dumbfounded again. “ Have you done this before?”

“Nope! This would be the first. I’ve been longing to try it though.” She looked like a schoolgirl at that moment.

“ It doesn’t seem to bother you?”

“Why should it? He’s a nasty person. Right up there in your bad category. Anyway, it would be your decision. I just do what you say.” Ah! the military answer, I was just carrying out my orders. There was a pregnant pause as I tried to figure out what the hell was happening here. Was I some pawn in a game? It was all crazy, I’m not killing anyone, murderer or not. We have a justice system in the US. This is not the way civilized people acted.

“ It’s not going to happen, Sally, no way.”

Her face frowned, a stark look of disappointment came over her. Then a smile crept along her mouth. “ How about we send an anonymous email to Ricky Gomes’ brother?”

“Who?”

“The last guy Fuentes killed, Gomes. His brother wants to find Fuentes. I’m sure you can guess why? We send him an email with Fuentes address in Chicago.”

“ And let him kill Fuentes?”

“Yep. Your hands would be clean. Neat huh?”

“It’s the same thing, Sally. I’d still be the conduit to Fuentes death. No!”

“Oh, you’re no fun!”

I was wrestling with this discussion. “I’m having a problem here young lady,” I said to Sally. “ I don’t see myself as a vigilante. However bad our justice system is, we do at least have a system. If Gomes’ brother knows that Fuentes killed Ricky, why doesn’t he go to the police?”

“Come on, Dave, you know why. Thick as thieves. Snitches. Those people don’t do that. They take care of their own business.

I guess she was right. “ So what are the police doing about the Gomes murder?” I asked.

“ Nothing. They know who did it, but they can’t prove it in court. The witnesses won’t testify. They know Fuentes has moved to Chicago. They’ve informed the local police force where he lives and they’re happy to see him gone. One more bad guy off their patch. You have a system in the US but I’m not sure you can say it works. Do you know how many crimes go unpunished? About eighty-two percent.”

I picked up my coffee and finished what was left. I’d lived in America for thirty years and I’d never suffered any violence. Was I just lucky? The media was alive with disasters, murders and all the horrible things that happen to other people. I followed it and frowned about it and criticized every mistake by the authorities, but I didn’t do anything about it. I mean, what could I do? But now I could do something and I was shying away.

“ Sally, can you make a video of the Ricky Gomes murder and send it to police officer in charge of solving the case?”

“Sure, I can. But you better think through the implications. Someone, the defense council for Fuentes, will ask where the video came from. How is that going to be answered? Last thing you need is your name and face plastered all over the press. Imagine trying to explain how you came to have the video?”

“We could send it anonymously.”

“We could and for one or two cases that may work. But there are thousands of unsolved murders every year. It would look sort of strange if videos started turning up for all those cases.”

She was right. Okay, enough of this. I checked the time, it was gone five. The mad rush home had begun. I had no reason to suffer the misery of breathing the stale odor of bored commuters. I headed back into the mall and out onto Geary. Every hotel had a bar and every bar had Black Label. That lifted my spirits and the pun brought a smile to my face.

The second double was as good as the first. Every time my mind tried to steer its way back to Sally and the madness that had entered my life, I fought hard to veg out and close my thoughts. The bar was now full of like-minded individuals and hotel guests. That early drinking crowd knew what they wanted. ‘Leave me alone, don’t say a word and let me revel in the peace and quiet of my own thoughts and of course the buzz.’ The few people chatting were sitting at tables away from the hardened alcoholics leaning forlornly at the bar. It was serene and comfortable and I told myself that I should make more of an effort to come into the city, instead of drinking alone at home. Oh, the joys of aging.

Maybe I should have left it at two, but I was fighting off Sally and the people of Cirion. I needed more fuel. More of what I described as my ‘Nectar-of-the-Gods’. That third double was probably why I ended up terminating Fuentes, but he would never know the real reason. Or maybe it was the two glasses of Merlot that accompanied the superb Spaghetti Pescatore in the hotel restaurant.

Eventually Sally came back, I couldn’t resist. I called her in my mind while sipping after dinner coffee.

“ Okay. Let’s do it.” I said to her.

“ Do what ?” She inquired.

“ Terminate Fuentes.”

Sally leapt onto my heads-up display. A small doll-like figure just a few inches high. Dressed now in jeans and a white t-shirt. Her blond hair flowing in an imaginary wind. Her lips full and pouting, glistening with red lipstick. Quite simply, fucking gorgeous. She grinned with delight.