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The guard looked toward the cab where the parchment-covered skeleton had
vanished moments before. "Whatever he's on, better cut the dose down," he
said.
Chiun chose that moment to exit the taxi a second time and, simultaneously,
the opposite rear door sprang open and Remo popped from the cab like a tightly
wound jack-in-the-box.
"It's about frigging time!" Remo yelled at Chiun.
Smith's eyes darted around the empty road, grateful that it was still early
morning.
"There is no need to shout," the Master of Sinanju said calmly.
"There is every damn need to shout!" Remo shouted. "In fact, I don't think I'm
shouting enough!"
"Perhaps we should discuss this matter inside," Smith suggested nervously
through the metal bars. He ordered the guard to open the gate.
Remo wheeled on him. "Perhaps I don't want to discuss it inside. Maybe I want
to discuss it out here, in front of the whole damn world."
The guard had unlocked the gates but held the bars open only one inch.
"Shouldn't I check their ID or something?" he asked. He still wasn't sure this
wasn't some kind of bizarre security drill.
"That's quite all right," Smith said quickly. "He . is a former patient."
With a great deal of hesitation, the guard pushed the " gate open and Chiun
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breezed through.
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"Do not tip the driver, Emperor Smith," he instructed. ' 'The lazy lout would
not carry a lone inert, bundle."
"Stop talking about me like I'm some frigging hat-box,' ' Remo snarled,
storming through the gate behind Chiun.
Smith pulled the Folcroft checkbook from the pocket of his gray suit and
reluctantly filled out a generous amount to ensure the driver's silence. He
then hurriedly ushered Remo and Chiun up to his office.
Once he had closed and locked the office door and taken his seat behind his
black-topped desk, Smith asked the pair what had happened in Wyoming.
"Nothing happened," Remo groused. "Chiun got a breeze up his skirt and dragged
me from the ranch before I could make the hit."
"Would you have come voluntarily?" Chiun asked, calmly.
"Hell, no," Remo snapped.
"My actions, therefore, were justified." With the smug expression of a
television commentator, Chiun sank to a lotus position in the center of the
threadbare
rug.
"Justified, my ass," Remo snapped. He whirled to Smith. "He froze my vocal
cords over South Dakota."
' 'It was the most peaceful airplane ride I have taken in years," Chiun chimed
in.
"Master of Sinanju, am I to understand you paralyzed Remo and carried him
through a public air terminal?" Smith asked.
"Right onto the damn plane," Remo interjected.
Smith thought of all the people who had seen the tiny Asian transporting the
much larger man through
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the airport parking lot, into the airport terminal, onto the plane, off the
plane at LaGuardia, through the terminal and out to a waiting cab. His eyes
darted longingly to the drawer where his antacids and aspirins were stored.
"The Clear-Seer woman is still, er, with us?"
"Could be," Remo said sarcastically. "Unless Chiun has her stashed in the
taxi's glove compartment." He slumped into Smith's office sofa.
"This is important, Remo," Smith said. "I would like a straight answer."
Remo sighed. "Yeah, she's still alive. Chiun was too busy hauling me like a
donkey from there to here to worry about her."
Smith forced his thoughts away from Remo and Chiun's trip to Folcroft and
considered the problem at Ranch Ragnarok.
"Perhaps it is for the best at the moment," Smith said absently.
"Best?" Remo asked. "What the hell does that mean? Did you want her snuffed or
didn't you?"
Smith winced at Remo's choice of words. "It may be that you were sent in
before I learned all the facts," he said. "Was Moss Monroe at the ranch when
you arrived?"
"Barely," Remo replied. "He almost ran us down on our way in."
"Did you notice any other celebrities on the grounds?"
"Yeah, Soupy Sales tried to get the jump on us, but Chiun creamed him," Remo
said dryly. "What the hell kind of question is that?"
"I have just learned that in recent months Ranch
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Ragnarok has become popular with a great many famous people."
"Well, I didn't see any paparazzi there," Remo said. "Just a bunch of weekend
warriors with guns. And that's another thing," he said suddenly. "Everyone
knew we were coming."
Smith sat up even straighter in his chair. "Explain," he said.
"It was like they were expecting the freaking queen or something. They met me
and Chiun in the woods and escorted us through the gates like we were
royalty."
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Smith considered the information for a moment. "Perhaps this is the way they
treat all their guests," he said slowly.
"They meet them in the middle of the woods, Smitty?" Remo asked sarcastically.
"Besides, they said they were looking for two guys. Me and Chiun. They even
seemed to know where we were hiding in the bushes. They called out to us. I
have to admit, they were pretty polite about the whole thing."
"Is it possible they saw the two of you with surveillance equipment?"
Remo shook his head. "There were cameras and motion detectors and a bunch of
other stuff, but Chiun and I don't have a problem with gizmos. The only way
these guys could have known we were there is if we made noise."
Smith's mouth had grown dry. "They were somehow alerted to your presence," he
said, shaking his head. "Is it possible you made some noise you were unaware
of?"
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"Hey, I didn't make a sound," Remo said defensively.
"And I do not make sounds," Chiun said from the floor.
Smith shook his head. "It is a coincidence," he said. "It cannot be anything
else. A sentry must have seen you enter the woods. His companions merely
guessed your position."
"Brace yourself for an even bigger coincidence, Smitty. Esther Clear-Seer knew
who we were."
Smith placed his palms flat on his desk. What little saliva remaining in his
usually parched mouth dried to sand. "What do you mean?" he croaked.
"She knew it was us specifically," Remo explained slowly, as if to a
particularly thick child. "She called me Remo and called Chiun the Master of
Sinanju." A concerned frown crossed his face. "She even knew my real last
name, Smitty."
Smith felt his larynx constrict like a knotted drinking straw. He gulped but
could pull nothing down his cracking throat. "CURE," he ventured, his voice a
grating rasp. "Did she know about CURE?"
"Relax," Remo said. "She never mentioned the organization. She just went on
about me and Chiun and Sinanju."
Smith felt some of the pressure drain from his chest. He loosened the knot of
his green Dartmouth tie and forced himself to swallow calmly.
"That is somewhat of a relief," Smith said. "But until we learn more, we
cannot disregard out of hand her knowledge of Sinanju." He turned to Chiun.
"Master Chiun, is it possible that you have, er, advertised your services?"
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This had been a problem several times in the past. -Chiun would sometimes take
out a full-page ad or buy airtime on a local television station in order to
scare up business or to rail against "amateur assassins." It was possible that
one such advertisement had eluded Smith.
"I know of your desire for secrecy, Emperor Smith," Chiun informed him.
"Inexplicable as it might be, this wish will remain inviolate evermore."
Smith raised a puzzled eyebrow. "I appreciate that, Master Chiun," he said.
"You might want to check up on a guy named Kas-par and his connection to all
this," Remo suggested. "One of this Clear-Seer woman's cronies mentioned him.
It sounds like there's some sort of schism going on at the Truth Church.
Kaspar's the head of one of the factions."
"I will look into it," Smith assured Remo. With practiced fingers Smith booted [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]