Jack Kane and the Statue of Liberty (17 page)

“Sir, we’re not here for your thanks or your money. We need to find out if you have any idea why someone might be targeting your company. Not only was the ship carrying your cargo sunk, but an attempt made to recover the ivory was also thwarted by a second explosion. The reason we came in with your piano wire was because we wanted to be there should someone make an attempt to stop that from arriving safely. We think that whoever has done this might strike again.”

Now she had his undivided attention, but the woman with the cane had Jack’s. She went from examining the eagle on the end of her cane to looking through narrowed eyes at Betsy. The color in Jack’s lenses flickered from green to red to amber to something between black and orange. Rather than concentrate on the man’s responses. Jack lost track as Betsy asked questions, but every now and again she would shift her glare to him. He hoped she wasn’t able to see him sweating.

The large man’s laughter brought Jack back to reality. The lenses glowed a soft green. Good, honest laughter. The woman’s shoulders dropped slightly, and she seemed to have let out a long-held breath. Jack felt as though he’d only begun breathing.

“Elizabeth Wilkes, let me introduce you to my lovely, and quite business savvy, daughter Eleanor Sohmer. You’ll have to forgive my initial rudeness. I’m afraid business has been good, but for some reason supplies have been slow in arriving. Eleanor and I were on our way to get some lunch. I was hoping that when we got back, I’d see some more materials arrive. It’s quite difficult to manufacture pianos without wood or ivory.”

“My partner and I quite understand, Mr. Sohmer,” Betsy said. “In fact, we were wondering if you were expecting any further shipments today that may be in danger. We’re hoping we’ll be able to capture the culprits in the act and stop any further interruptions with your work.”

Mr. Sohmer’s face darkened as he glared at Jack. “I don’t know that I can trust a man whose face I haven’t laid eyes upon.”

Jack flicked the lever to pop up the lenses on the eyelets. “I assure you I have your best interest at heart, sir. I wish to keep my identity a secret while I do so.” He dropped the lenses.

“I guess I can appreciate that. Don’t want any backlash on your personal life, eh? Fine. Fine. I do have another shipment coming in. It was supposed to be here a couple of days ago, but the train got waylaid. They assure me the maple is on its way. The first load came from Grand Rapids near Lake Winnipeg, then down into Minnesota in Saint Cloud. The other train went through Cleveland. I’m thankful it’s almost here. Should be here today, in fact.”

Betsy nodded at Jack. “I think we need to be at the station when it arrives. Which station will that be, Mr. Sohmer?”

“Ms. Wilkes, you know everything comes through the Park Avenue Station. They should be unloading it in a couple hours. I was hoping to have word once I got back from lunch.”

Jack perked up. “We should get over there right away.”

“Slow down, slow down.” She held a hand out to keep him from rushing out of the building. “Mr. Sohmer, we will contact you if there is anything wrong with your shipment. If possible we’ll follow it back here to ensure nothing happens to it.”

Mr. Sohmer’s daughter frowned and put her cane between Betsy and Mr. Sohmer. Ms. Sohmer held it by the foot, and Jack couldn’t help but notice the detailed eagle’s claw grasping a large, green gemstone. It captured his attention until Eleanor spoke in a clipped tone. “We can’t afford personal security for a shipment.”

Betsy placed a finger on the tip and redirected it toward the floor. Her tone was polite, but careful as she spoke. “It’ll be at no cost to you. We want to make sure that whoever is doing this is stopped and that things can get back to normal around here.”

“Back to normal. Right. That’s what I was thinking.” Mr. Sohmer tilted his head and looked at Jack. “And you say it’ll be at no cost to us?”

“Precisely.”

Betsy didn’t address this to Mr. Sohmer, but instead to his daughter. Both women were locked in a stony stare. Both were bathed in a soft, green glow. Both appeared to be as unmovable as the Waldorf Building.

Shaking his head, Mr. Sohmer cleared his throat.

With a flick of her hand, Ms. Sohmer flipped the cane and caught it by the gemstone headpiece. “It appears we shall be in your debt should this shipment of wood arrive safely. We have an agreement.”

“Very well. Jack, we should be on our way now.” Betsy started toward the door.

Mr. Sohmer smiled. “I’ll see the two of you out.”

“Hold on, Father. Please escort Ms. Wilkes. I wish to have a word with her nameless, masked friend.”

Betsy’s eyes widened, but Jack waved her off. He touched the button on the side of the mask and the lenses slid up to expose his eyes once again. He gave her another reassuring nod to let her know he’d be all right.

After a short pause, Betsy and Mr. Sohmer made their way to the main exit of the plant. Ms. Sohmer walked slowly in their general direction. Jack felt compelled to follow, but not too closely. He started to say something after Betsy exited while Mr. Sohmer held the door open, but didn’t get a chance as Ms. Sohmer whirled and poked her cane into Jack’s chest.

“I’ve seen you before. I know I have. You’re the one who’s been in the papers doing good deeds and such.”

Not knowing what to say, he nodded.

“You’re some sort of late night vigilante,” she continued. “Yet here you are, at my father’s piano company in broad daylight, escorting a woman who seems to be the one really running the show. Isn’t that interesting?”

Being a rhetorical question, he didn’t know how to respond. Once again, Ms. Sohmer grabbed her cane by the foot and shoved the green gemstone close to his face.

“Look at the stone on this cane. Look at how the stone shifts in color and shape. See how the claw lets go of the stone…”

The stone mesmerized him with the way it grew and shrank as well as shifted color and hue. He sucked in a deep breath with amazing at the exacting detail of the eagle’s claw as it opened and let go of the stone which then floated in mid air right before his nose. The spinning and shifting made his body feel as if it’d turned to marshmallow. His mind reeled. Ms. Sohmer’s voice echoed inside his head, but he couldn’t make out what she said or if she was, in fact, saying anything at all.

A waterfall appeared to his right. Not a waterfall like one would expect to see in New York by heading over to Niagara Falls, but something out of a storybook where one would expect to see a unicorn or centaur drinking as fairies flittered nearby in the colorful flowers and lush trees. The wind made musical sounds as it blew the perfumed air to his nose.

He found it difficult to keep his eyes opened. The peaceful tranquility of the place lulled him into a slumber. His legs started to give way, and the grass spread out before him as a large bed welcoming him in to its warm embrace.

“Mr. Kane! How dare you stand a lady up! How dare you stay here looking like an idiot while I wait for you outside? I’ve been waiting for you for nearly fifteen minutes. Jack Kane! Are you even listening to me? Hello!”

It took several blinks before he realized that not only was he still inside the piano company with Betsy in front of him and not Ms. Sohmer, he had one piece of his mask in each hand. He was at a loss.

“What happened in here? I leave you alone for a couple of minutes and what did you do?”

“I-I-I’m not sure what I did. Where is Ms. Sohmer?”

“She and her father left. She told me you’d be along right behind her, and I find you standing here with a faraway look on your face as if you were a million miles away. Were you that enamored with her?”

“With her? What do you mean?”

Betsy’s eyes shimmered as if she were on the verge of tears.

“I’m so sorry. I have no idea what happened,” he said, looking from her to the two halves of mask in his hands.

Tears ran down her face. He wanted to say something else, but she turned and strode out of the building.

He followed behind, putting his mask away. Something in his pocket vibrated. He pulled out the tracking cube. Its light glowed a soft red. He would make it up to her later. He had to.

~ * ~

There was something to be said for businessmen who didn’t ask questions of their customers. Especially businessmen who sold explosives to customers like Felonious. Lenny grunted as he threw the crate into the back of the spyder.

“Hey Lenny, look who’s over there,” Squiggy said, pointing. “Ain’t them the same two we seen on the Waldorf Building and over by the dock?”

He looked over to where Squiggy indicated. Sure enough, it was the same guy and dame they had already seen twice before. Twice when things had gone badly.

“Yes, that’s them again,” Lenny affirmed. “Nice job, spotting ’em like that.”

“Gee thanks.” Squiggy sounded pleased. “What should we do now?”

“You keep an eye on them while I get the spyder warmed up. I think we need to find out where those two are going like the boss ordered.”

“You got it!” Squiggy stepped around the spyder fully so he had a direct line of sight to the two.

Lenny shook his head and climbed into the cockpit. He pressurized the hydraulics and prepared to raise the machine. “Get in, Squiggy. I’m ready to get this beast moving. You see ’em?”

“Sure do,” Squiggy said as he scrambled in and sat beside Lenny. “They caught one of them zepcabs. See, that’s them leaving the street now.”

“I see them,” Lenny said. “Figures they would take a zepcab. They must have realized we’re onto them and are trying to lose us.” He raised the body of the spyder and put it into motion. “You keep those eyeballs of yours peeled. We lose ’em, and we’ll have nothing for the boss. He’ll demand an explanation.”

Squiggy shuddered. “That’s good enough for me. Turn right here.”

“That’s the way, Squiggy.” Lenny guided the spyder along the street and made the indicated turn. He could just see the zepcab meandering across the rooftop of a building. “Strap in. We’re going to have to go over buildings if we don’t want to lose ’em.

Squiggy clicked the straps closed. “I’m strapped.”

Lenny nodded and maneuvered the machine onto the side of a six-story apartment, remembering in the nick of time to strap himself in. The machine chugged and lurched its way up the wall. He ignored the yells and protests of the building’s occupants and the people on the street below being showered by debris.

The spyder struck a water tower as the machine crested. Twenty thousand gallons of water spilled out of the tank and onto the roof then gushed over the edge and down on to the street. Screams from ground level rose up to them. The clanging of bells sounded along the street.

He increased the speed. They had to make themselves scarce before the police arrived. If they were caught, especially with the load of explosives, they would be in deep trouble.

Over an adjourning building, the zepcab sedately floated away.

He directed the spyder down the building and across the street. People peppered them with fruit and detritus. The spyder quickly climbed the building the zepcab crossed. He saw the floating machine as it moved beyond the tower. It was time to make a bold move or they would never catch up with the spies.

He triggered the jumping mechanism. The spyder leapt from halfway up the building’s wall to the top.

“Geez. You could warn a guy, ya know,” Squiggy complained. “My head almost bounced off here.”

“Sorry,” Lenny said. He searched for the spies. Their zepcab was just over the next building.

One more time. He boosted the jumping power. “Hang on! We’re going again. I’m going to try and land on that zepcab. Maybe we can force them to the ground so we can take them back to the boss.”

“I’m ready,” Squiggy said.

Lenny activated the jumping mechanism again. The machine crouched then leaped forward, sailing off the building toward the zepcab, which abruptly dropped. Unable to stop, the spyder soared over the top. Instead of a building, only open harbor beckoned. The spyder plunged into the water. A massive wave of water splashed out then rolled back in to engulf the spyder, which sank without a sound.

Minutes passed. A few bubbles erupted from the water. Then, coughing and sputtering, Lenny surfaced, an arm around Squiggy’s neck. As the water cleared from his eyes he could see the crowd gathered gawking at them. No sense trying to hide. He dragged Squiggy through the water to the shore.

Helping hands pulled the pair out of the water. Squiggy lay on the boardwalk and didn’t make a sound. Lenny flapped his partner’s arms up and down to clear the water from his lungs. The whistles of approaching police sounded in the distance.

He hefted Squiggy over his shoulder in a fireman carry and searched wildly for some form of transportation. He spotted another zepcab and threw his friend into it.

“Get us out of here!” Lenny shouted.

The driver looked back at the big man. He started to say something, then stared hard at Lenny’s face. “Yes, sir.” He activated the zepcab. It rose from the street and floated out over the harbor. “Where to, sir?”

Lenny thought quickly. “Take us to the nearest medical clinic. My friend needs help.”

“Yes, sir.” The zepcab adjusted its direction and floated away from the approaching police and headed toward medical help.

Squiggy lay on the seat of the cab, breathing shallowly.

Thirteen

“Would you two mind explaining to me what the heck that was?” the cab driver asked.

“I do think it’s called a crawler or a spyder. They’re notoriously slow,” Jack said matter-of-factly.

“I know what they’re called,” the zepcab driver said. “I mean why was it following you guys? Are you doing something illegal or something? Perhaps I should drop you two off on the nearest rooftop stop and be done with this. You know, I got seven kids to take care of, and I don’t need no bad business like this. I can find me plenty of legitimate fares, you know. Lots of people need rides to where they’re going, and they ain’t done nothing wrong.”

Betsy, keeping her mouth shut, handed him a five-dollar bill.

“So you said you wanted to get to the Park Avenue Station,” he said as if nothing was out of the ordinary. “Sure thing. I can get you there faster than any other zepcab in town. Just you hold on. If there’s any more funny business, you can be sure I’ll drop the two of you off in a heartbeat. I don’t care how many fivers you throw my way. You got that?” The driver pumped a lever three times and yanked another back.