L A Woman
His eyes glinted and he smiled. Good, I thought, we have a bragger. He said, “After my men procured the MAVs and were preparing to take them to the airport, Sunday came out of nowhere, took out all four of my men, and stole the MAVs.
We chased him through the city for most of the day, losing him several times, and then finding him again.” He shook his head and had a half-smile while reliving the action. “I had forty men looking for him. Forty. He was very, very adept.”
I said, “He almost made it, didn’t he?”
“Sunday was a magnificent foe. But in the end, John Wesley killed him.”
Hondo said, “And then you couldn’t find the MAVs.”
“So we started our search for his daughter, who we were sure knew where they had been hidden. We went to their house in Culver City, but she was already gone.”
I said, “And now here you are, trapped with no way out. So why don’t you surrender to us and we’ll call it even.”
Berenko said, “You’re wrong. I have a way out.”
“Don’t tell me,” I said, “You’re gonna say, ‘Beam me up, Scotty,’ right?”
He sneered, “The reason John Wesley isn’t inside the mansion to take care of you is that he’s preparing insurance for our escape.”
“You better make that past tense, Ajax. Your cowboy is toast out there on the lawn.”
Berenko leaned back so he could look out beyond the balcony at the mansion grounds. His face darkened, then he said, “Then he accomplished his mission.”
“What mission?” Hondo said.
Berenko angled himself to face Marcus and his camera, but not exposing his flank to Hondo or me. The magnificence of Los Angeles spread out behind him and he knew it, maneuvering his footing so the background would play better. Ajax stopped with his heels only an inch or two from the big leaf blower, but he wasn’t aware it was behind him.
He talked into the camera, “There are devices planted in the cockpit of a passenger jet at LAX.”
He glanced at the wall clock and said, “This jet is now airborne, with a full load of passengers. These devices will cause the death of everyone aboard unless my demands are met: One LAPD helicopter will carry us to a location that I will disclose to the pilot. If any measures are taken to stop or detain me in any way…I will push this button,” He showed us a second button, a red one, on the plastic, “And all the passengers on that plane will die.”
Marcus held the camera steady, but I saw the sweat on his face. Ajax said, “You have five minutes to meet my demands.”
I started laughing.
Berenko’s eyes narrowed. “This is funny to you?”
I laughed so hard, tears came to my eyes. I got a little control and said, “Do you not ever watch TV? It’s been all over the news. I saw it playing on the TV downstairs when I came in the house.” I pointed at Emma and Marcus, “They were there, they know. That’s why they followed John Wesley here, to get the rest of the story.”
Ajax was agitated, and getting mad. He said, “What are you talking about?”
I slapped Hondo on the shoulder and said, “Can you believe this guy?”
Hondo went with it and grinned, saying, “Nope.”
I said, “The FBI was at the airport on another stakeout and saw John Wesley. They had him on camera the whole time he was doing his thing. Then they went on the plane and made it safe.”
Ajax said, “If that’s true, why didn’t they arrest him?”
I shook my head as if I couldn’t believe his stupidity. “Duh, Ajax. Because they knew he would lead them to you.” I spread my hands and said, “Which he did. How do you think everyone got here so fast?”
He wasn’t sure; I could see it in his eyes. I nodded at Emma and said, “She was there. Tell him, Emma.”
Emma stayed cool and said, “He’s right.” She pointed at Marcus’ camera and said, “We still have it right here on film. We can show it to you if you like.”
While Ajax focused on Emma, Hondo and I eased a step closer. Ajax didn’t know what to say to her. He looked at Emma, then at me, then back at Emma before saying, “Bring the camera here and show me.”
We moved another step closer.