100 Lives Black Jack Savage Part 2of4

BJS: Life’s a Beach, Then You Die…

SECTION 2 of 4; Continuation:


~*~*~*~

Murphy picked through the keys obtained at the Nurse’s Station, found the one that unlocked the door to the late-model Mercedes that Tarberry had leased for his extended stay on San Pietro. Compared to his patched together jalopy – a mid-to-late ‘30’s sedan that had served as the Island taxi in a previous life – the car was a breeze to drive; and Logan found his mind wandering. He was just beginning to realize the amount of responsibility that he had agreed to take upon himself. Realized, also, that his white lie of being a relative was the only reason Barry had had someone with him in ICU after surgery. Logan shook his head, finding it difficult to understand how someone who had so much could be so alone. For all his wealth, the one thing Barry Tarberry could not afford was friendship.


The drive to the Bay of Isabella took him by the St. Claire residence, and Logan found himself slowing down, and turning into the long drive. If Danielle St. Claire was home, he would ask her to go with him to Blackbird Castle. Not only did he find her beautiful and charming, but she was one of the few females on the Island who treated him like a friend. And, after dealing with Vasquez and the hospital staff, he was looking forward to her warm, outgoing personality – it would be a welcome change.


Danielle answered the door before the chimes died away. She seemed pleasantly surprised by his presence. “Logan, how good to see you. Please, come in.”


“Oh, I can’t stay, Miss St. Claire. I’ve got Mr. Tarberry’s car and I left mine at the Governor’s palace. I have to go to the Castle, and I was wondering if you would go with me.”


“What has Barry done to you now? And why do you have his car?” She led the way into the sun-dazzled parlor, indicated a chair and sat across from him on the sofa.


“You don’t know? About Mr. Tarberry, I mean…” Logan trailed off, uncomfortably aware that he would have to explain about that, too.


She smiled. “I asked you, remember?”


“Well, I was on my way out to the Bay, to see Mr. Tarberry. I needed to see him about taking care of some… financial arrangements, and his car passed going in the opposite direction. So I turned around to follow him, but his car is a lot faster than my old cab, and by the time I caught up with him at the palace, he had already gone inside. I decided to wait, and that’s when it happened.”


It took a few seconds for her to realize that he had stopped talking. “Something happened?” She prompted.


“The ambulance…”


Her look said clearly to get to the point. “The ambulance arrived,” he went on, “I didn’t know it was Mr. Tarberry they brought out. Vasquez didn’t tell me about the shooting until I asked – just let me stand there, nattering on and on about—”


“Wait, wait,” she broke in, “what shooting?”


“Vasquez said that some men were there to see Mr. Tarberry about a loan or something, and shot him instead.”


Danielle’s expression was as shocked as his must have been, and she paled. “Was he – Is he--?”


“No, no,” he hastened to assure her. “He’s alive. At least, he was when I last saw him, in ICU.”


She got to her feet, reached for her purse. “”I must see him.”


Murphy shook his head. “They told me right after I saw him that he needed rest, that they would be giving him pain medication that would cause him to sleep for several hours. They said I could come back around ten tonight. Right now, he needs rest and time to recover. I managed to talk to his doctor, but he wasn’t too helpful.”


“Why not? What did he say?”


“A lot of medical mish-mash. Basically, it boiled down to he really doesn’t know, but he’s optimistic about Mr. Tarberry’s recovery. If his own surgeon doesn’t know anything, how are we supposed to know?”


“I know it can be trying at times, but at least he wasn’t completely noncommittal. When they start avoiding direct answers, that’s the time to worry.”


“Maybe… I don’t know. You didn’t see him; you didn’t hear him. He wants me to do some things for him. That’s why I’m going to the Castle. And I really don’t want to do this alone, so I thought I’d ask you to help me.


“It’s okay if you don’t want to. I understand that you think he’s not the greatest guy in the world—”


“Logan—”


“But you should have seen him, Miss St. Claire; you should have heard him. You wouldn’t have been able to say no, just as I couldn’t. I know you think he’s obnoxious, and self-obsessed, and—”

“Logan,” she grabbed his arm, “I’ll be glad to go with you.”


“You would? That’s great. Let’s go.”


~*~*~*~


Murphy gave her a more detailed account as they drove along the Bay. “…I guess I should have broken the news to you earlier, but I figured it would be on the TV or radio or something by now… A lot of people knew about it,” he finished.


“A lot of Vasquez’s people knew about it,” Danielle corrected angrily. She stared out over the calm waters of the Bay as she spoke. “And if our Governor General decides that it’s to his best interests that something didn’t happen, then it didn’t happen.”


“You think he’d do that? Cover up a mur—uh, an incident like this?”


“He’d do it. And more, if he thought it necessary. I’ve known him to do much worse things…”


Murphy glanced at her as her voice trailed off. The first week he had arrived at San Pietro, Danielle St. Claire had been one of the first Islanders to visit and welcome him to his new home. She was also the first, and so far the only, person who never tried to get something from him. He’d learned later that her family had settled in the Bay area from France, that they were wealthy, and, that for some reason he hadn’t figured out yet, Ms. St. Claire was actively and openly trying to oust Governor Vasquez from his office as dictator, freeing the citizens to form a democratic government. She was quite serious about it without being a fanatic. And despite her negative opinions of Barry Tarberry, Logan had sensed…something…between them from almost the beginning. It was a classic example of opposites attracting. Aside from her political convictions, Murphy had grown to like Danielle quite a bit; and from what he’d seen, and experienced, of Tarberry’s relationships with people, he wasn’t fond of the possibility of Danielle finally succumbing to his charming nature and getting hurt. It was difficult for him to remain friends with two people who were obviously not good for each other.


“At least there’s one thing in Barry’s favor,” Danielle continued, startling him from his depressing reverie. “Vasquez would be loathe to lose his monthly ‘stipend’, so he’ll do what he can to maintain his level of income.”


“Then, that’s good, isn’t it… for Barry?”


“I suppose so.”


VI


Black Jack Savage roamed restlessly through the large, empty rooms of Blackbird Castle, growing more and more aggravated at each passing minute.


~~“Blast and keel-haul your useless hide, Barry. Where are you, and what are you up to?”~~ Although his voice reached every nook and cranny of the Castle walls, no one could hear (or see) him except the Castle’s legal owner.


Striding purposefully up and down the upstairs veranda, he caught sight of the Mercedes cruising serenely down the long drive. ~~~“ ‘Bout time you showed your ugly white face! We’re going to get this thing settled right now!”~~ He faded out, reappearing in the foyer.


Arms crossed, he waited until the door opened, then charged ahead. ~~ “Okay, Tarberry, I’ve had enough of your shi— What the hell are you doing here?!”~~ He stepped back, startled, as Danielle St. Claire and Logan Murphy walked through the foyer, completely unaware of his presence. Black Jack leaned through the front door, looking in all directions for Castle’s errant owner.


Puzzled, he withdrew, and followed the other two into the living room, hoping to learn something from their conversation.


Logan sat dejectedly on the large sofa, Danielle sitting next to him. “Thanks for coming with me, Miss St. Claire… Not that I’m afraid of the ghost, or even believe in it, for that matter. It’s just—”


Danielle smiled, understanding his need for company; then she indicated the legal document that Murphy had taken from the car. “What’s that? It looks like a deed.”


“One of the things Mr. Tarberry wanted me to do. It’s the deed to Blackbird Castle.”


Black Jack moved toward them, interested. ~~“What?”~~


“…he said if… if things didn’t turn out well, that he wanted me to have it – the Castle. He already had the deed signed…”


~~“Let me see that!”~~ Black Jack sat on the other side of Murphy, reading over the opened deed, seeing Tarberry’s signature in the appropriate place. ~~“Damn that scurvy dog! He left here with that signed; he really was planning on cutting out on me!”~~ He grabbed Logan’s collar, his hand going right through the man. ~~“Tell me where the dirty double-crosser is!!!”~~ The ghost pirate’s momentum carried him forward as he encountered no resistance, and his invisible form fell across Logan. Disgusted at his inability to make them see and hear him, he got ‘up’, pacing angrily before them.


Murphy rose also, walking through the ghostly pirate; he looked around helplessly. “Can you imagine him giving something like this to someone like me?”


~~“I don’t know,”~~ Black Jack interrupted him, scowling. ~~ “Are you one of his many and various enemies?”~~


“…And after all the terrible things I’ve called him,” Logan went on, “Always pestering him to pay some trifling little bill…” He looked at Danielle, “You just really can’t tell about people, can you? Unless, of course, I’ve been right all along, and he is really is crazy”


“Barry is many things, but he’s not crazy. What else did he want you to do?”


Logan snapped his fingers, suddenly remembering. “The safe!”


Black Jack’s scowl deepened,~~“He’s anything but!”~~


Danielle followed Murphy into the study, watching as he went to the wall safe. Colored touch pads formed the lock, and Logan hurriedly consulted the back of his left hand. “Let’s see… red, blue, blue, green…” Indicator lights went from red, to yellow, to green, which flashed twice with a low beep. The door opened easily, and Murphy reached inside, pulling out several lock boxes, followed by countless stacks of neatly bound, large-denomination bills. “Wow, look at all of this. No wonder he never has a checkbook; he doesn’t need one – it’s all here. He’s got more here than the banks have in their vaults. There must be thousands here, hundreds of thousands...!” He stared somewhat glassy-eyed at all the cash, “thousands of thousands…” his voice trailed off in awe.


~~“Eight million, six hundred forty-three thousand, seven hundred fifty and no cents. Ha! Especially the no sense!”~~ Savage grinned, pleased with his play on words, and regretting that neither of his visitors could hear, and therefore appreciate, his scathing wit.


Murphy stacked the money neatly on the desk, wondering how he would carry it all, and where he would put it for ‘safe keeping’ – after all, what was safer than a safe? He thumbed through a stack of $100 bills, then glanced up at Danielle, “Gee, Miss St. Claire, I wonder what he meant…”


“Logan, what do you mean?”


“Mr. Tarberry said to take what I needed…”


~~“Oh, wait just a friggin’ minute here!”~~ Savage interrupted, to, of course, no effect whatsoever. ~~“I can maybe understand your getting rid of this beautiful, historic piece of property – after all, not everyone has the regal bearing suited for a Castle. And,”~~ he added darkly,~~ “if you think I’m teaming up with Conan the Geek, you’re sadly mistaken; but – the money, too?!? Barry, you’re either crazy or dead, and either way, you’re gonna have to face me!”~~


“But did he mean to take enough to pay just the hospital costs, or enough to pay everything?”


“I would think, that in his present condition, Barry would want to clear all his debts.”


Savage laughed harshly. ~~ “Dream on, wench!”~~


“Yeah, you’re probably right. Now, all I need to do is find something to put it all in.”


~~“That’s right,”~~Savage urged, ~~“steal him blind! Take that $1200 attaché case he’s so crazy about – the one with F-*-*-K-I-N-G-R-I-C-H as the combination. And the $5,000 matched set of Moroccan leather luggage should take care of the rest.”~~


“C’mon, let’s check the kitchen. Maybe there’s a cardboard box or something big enough to hold all of it.” Danielle followed Logan from the study.


Black Jack hung his head in disbelief. ~~“Only a clueless geek would put eight and a half million dollars in a cardboard box…” ~~ he groaned,~~“God, Barry, what are you doing to me…?!”~~



VII


Black Jack was fast approaching the end of his patience. Nearly two hours had passed since the couple had shown up, and he knew no more now than he had then… other than the fact that Tarberry had serious intentions of ridding himself of Blackbird Castle.


They had finally decided to put the money in a footlocker they found in a storage room off the kitchen pantry, and now they were in the living room again, watching an inane game show. In an obvious attempt to impress the lady with him, Murphy was giving the answers before the questions were completed. It didn’t improve the pirate’s temper, or help in his ‘geek’ estimation of Logan, that all his answers were correct.


Jack stood in front of him, hands on hips, and leaned down, his face scant inches from Murphy’s. ~~“Answer this question, Einstein: Where is Barry Tarberry?”~~


Logan leaned forward excitedly, answering the final big-money question on San Pietro’s local version of JEOPARDY! “What is the Convent of the Anxious Virgin?”


Black Jack hung his head, again, sighing deeply; any second now, he’d be running in circles, screaming with frustration. Instead, he turned to Danielle. ~~ “Talk, Wench!”~~


“We interrupt our regularly scheduled program to bring you this Special Bulletin from Governor General Vasquez…”


All three turned their attention to the TV. A young island beauty appeared on the screen, looking properly serious. “This is Maria Benita Vasquez Montego-Juarez, of Channel 2, SPTV, bringing you a special news bulletin.”


The scene faded to a sharp image of the Governor’s Palace. “At ten a.m. this morning at LaPlaya, the Governor’s Palace, our illustrious leader, General Abel Vasquez—“ The image was quickly replaced with the self-satisfied dictator preening proudly in yet another elaborate uniform. “—foiled an attempt by Miami-based gangsters to gain a foothold in the free island of San Pietro. The General single-handedly – and unarmed – subdued several heavily armed militants when they ambushed the General in his office while he was discussing ways of increasing the income and improving the standard of living for all the people of San Pietro with a well-known financier currently residing at San Pietro’s picturesque and historic Blackbird Castle…”


With disgust, Black Jack watched the cocky little governor. ~~“Tell me something, Vasquez: Do you ever/i} wear the same uniform twice?”~~


“…the insurrection was brought to a quick and victorious end with a minimum of casualties. Our beloved Governor General escaped unharmed and will hold a press conference tonight at nine o’clock.


“To repeat: Our supremely brave Governor—”


Murphy mercifully turned off the TV before the whole story was told again in glowing mis-detail. “Minimum casualties?” He repeated, incredulous. “What are they talking about? Insurrection? I didn’t see anything like that. That’s not what happened. Vasquez didn’t capture ‘several’ armed militants…


“The Governor somehow got Mr. Tarberry to his office so those two ‘gangsters’ would have an easy shot at him. Mr. Tarberry is fighting for his life in the hospital, and that guy is taking credit for saving San Pietro from the clutches of evil everywhere.”


Savage followed Murphy’s every step as the younger man paced angrily about the room. “Barry’s in the hospital? Dying? He can’t. He can’t die; we still have 87 more lives to save. Hospitals… Doctors… Butchers, all of them… Especially surgeons…”


Logan reached down, grabbed Danielle’s hand, and pulled her to her feet. “C’mon, we’re going back to the hospital. He’s got to pull through; he’s got to be okay. I won’t let Vasquez use him to further his political career or image…”


Black Jack followed them eagerly, still angry, but also concerned. If there was still life in Tarberry, he would get the whole, sorry story out of him.


And he’d try not to kill the scurvy dog himself.



VIII


Logan and Danielle arrived at he hospital about twenty minutes later, with Black Jack in tow. Checking at the admitting desk, they were directed to ICU on the third floor.


The elderly nurse, her nametag reading “Robbins”, recognized Murphy from earlier in the day. “I’m sorry, sir; the doctor is with him right now.” The blinds were drawn in the cubicle, concealing all activity within. “There was a minor complication, nothing to worry about. Come back in an hour or so, and you can see him then.”


As Danielle and Logan walked back to the waiting room, Black Jack backtracked in front of them. ~~“What ‘minor complication’? What’s the matter with you two? Go back in there, demand an explanation… who knows what they’re doing? There’s no such thing as a ‘minor’ anything where those butchers are concerned. Get back in there!”~~ He stood firm, hand on hip, other hand flung out, pointing resolutely back the way they came.


Both calmly walked through him, if not over him.


“She did sound optimistic, though, didn’t she?” Logan said hopefully.


“They’re paid to sound optimistic. No point in panicking the people who are paying the bill.”


Murphy was taken aback at her uncharacteristic sarcasm. Perhaps her nerves were more on edge than she cared to admit. A change of scenery might help, something to occupy her mind until they could see Barry. “There’s a great restaurant nearby – we could walk. We missed supper – at least, I did – and this time, money’s no object.”


She smiled. “I’d like that, Logan. Thank you.”


Murphy’s smile was broader as he escorted her outside. The last thing he had expected of this day was a late dinner date with Danielle St. Claire. It was almost as if his good luck was in direct opposition to Barry’s bad luck. And that was a thought he didn’t care to dwell upon…


~*~*~*~


Left alone, Black Jack slipped through walls and floor, finally locating Tarberry’s room in Intensive Care. Arms crossed, he leaned over the doctor’s shoulder as the surgeon finished dictating new instructions to the young nurse. “…and if there’s the slightest variation in readings, call me at once.”


“Yes, Doctor.”


They left, and Savage wandered over to the bed, surveying Tarberry from head to foot.~~ “What did you do to end up here, Tarberry? I guess it’s pretty obvious that I’ll get nothing form you now, but I can wait. I’ve waited centuries; I can wait a few more hours.”~~


Uneasy, he glanced about, all too aware of his vulnerability to unexpected Snark attacks. Anytime he left the sanctuary of Blackbird Castle, the ‘Bounty Hunters from Hell’ had a clear shot at him; and if they captured him, it wouldn’t matter what Barry was planning, because he, Black Jack Savage, would spend eternity in Hell with no reprieve in sight. And Tarberry would be credited the 13 lives they’d managed to save thus far, and left to his own devices to complete the contract for 100 lives…


Like hell…


There was only one way Black Jack could avoid the Snarks. He would be more difficult to find if he could locate some lower life form to inhabit. Unfortunately, hospitals were the least likely places to find four-or-more-legged creatures scurrying about. He drifted toward the cafeteria – a mouse, a roach, a fly… anything that would enable him to remain in the hospital in comparative safety.


There was nothing in the cafeteria itself, even less in the food preparation area. He checked pantries and storage rooms, and encountered his first stroke of good luck. Tucked away in the corner of a storage room was a large, well-fed Siamese cat. It lay curled up in an oval basket, sound asleep. Someone was obviously breaking strict hospital rules, and Savage was grateful that they had. It was far more preferable to inhabit a feline than a fly – he could never get used to all those multiple images.


CONTINUED IN PART 3: "100 Lives Black Jack Savage Part 3of4"