BAD WINE CRAPPY CHOCOLATE

CHAPTER SEVEN-4

"Tell her what happened. I don't think she'll leave her mountain, even if the security people storm the house. But tell Lupe I said she should get out of there, for all the good it will do."
Max bowed his head for a moment. He would miss the quiet nights spent with the sad-eyed woman in his arms.
"And another thing: grab Nathaniel and hold him for me," Max continued. "That son of a bitch set me up. So did Gino Chou, but I think he's still in Chicago. There's a sack in the supply room that belongs to a friend of mine. It has a bunch of silver boxes in it. Bring it with you. Head for that place we looked at in the west. I think we'll be setting up shop there. I've got to go. Make sure you take the head with you so I can keep in touch."
Reggie rushed off to follow his boss's instructions. He didn't notice that Nathaniel had been standing in the shadows.
The streets were deserted at this late hour, but the ever-present security imagers made traveling by stealth a necessity. They arrived at the waitress's building. Brandon used his false irises to gain entry. They took the car to Tiffany's floor. Brandon received no response after activating the communication station on her door. Overwrought now, he intended to break the door down before Bardy stopped him.
"Easy, professor. We don't need a bunch of curious neighbors in the hall. Use your stick, or whatever you call it, instead."
Brandon used his probe to unlock the door. They found Vince sitting on the bed where Cori lay in a stupor. The drug he slipped into her drink had rendered the young woman helpless. She could barely utter the word bastard as he began to remove her shirt.
"I really like this thing," Max said as he walked up behind him with the taser.
The would-be rapist was instantly on the floor. Bardy kicked him for emphasis as Brandon spoke to Cori.
"You're all right." He straightened out her shirt and gently kissed her forehead.
Bardy went into the other room and found Tiffany unharmed, but in the same condition as Brandon's mother.

"He was going to turn Cori over to the stiffs," Max said when he came back.
"How do you know that?"
"I have an instinct about these things. Vince must be working for Nathaniel. But I'm sure he
didn't tell anyone where she could be found. The degenerate would only do that after he had his fun." They waited several hours for the women to regain consciousness. Vince recovered long before his intended victims did. Brandon touched his forehead with his probe. The silver obelisk emitted a signal that disabled Vince's Mibil. Bardy then tied him to a chair and started to question him. The expression on the interrogator's face took on the frightening form Brandon remembered from the knob.
"Who told you to do this?"
"Some guy that I owe credits to. He said I'd be even with him if I delivered the woman." "Was the guy named Gino, or maybe Nathaniel?"
Vince didn't answer, so Bardy slapped his face hard.
"It wasn't either of them," Vince responded. "Teddy Lane asked me to do it."
"Do you know him?" Brandon asked Max.
"No. But I'm sure Gino and Nathaniel do."
Max walked over to the counter and picked up the container of pills belonging to Vince. He
dropped three of the capsules into a glass of water.
"You're gonna drink this," he told the would-be assailant. "That way I know you won't be
contacting anyone after we leave."
Max pulled his head back by the hair and poured the liquid down Vince's throat. The drug worked very quickly. The terrified object of Bardy's scorn began to lose consciousness.
"How does it feel, scumbag?" Max said to him with utter disdain in his voice. "I wish I could
send you to prison. The sodomites there would love to have you." "That dose could be enough to kill him," Brandon observed.
"Those who live by the sword..." Max replied in a sinister tone.

Though Brandon despised the man sitting before them, he could never have forced him to ingest a lethal dose of the drug. Max Bardy had become a very vicious individual in the years since they had known each other. Brandon started to wonder if Jesse had been right; the scientist also secretly wished, in this instance, that he had the grit to act on his basest emotions.
Cori and Tiffany began to regain their senses. They were still very groggy, but managed to put one foot in front of the other. Brandon took the invisibility suit from his satchel and gave it to Cori. He didn't have one for Tiffany.
"That's no problem," Max pointed out. "No one's looking for her. Where are we going? "That's a good question. I'm calling Cybil."
Brandon used his Mibil to contact her.
"Where are you?" she asked him.
"I'm with Bardy and our mother in a private apartment. We need somewhere to go."
Cybil thought for a moment.
"Chris is away. You could stay at his place for the time being. They won't look for you there." "Max Bardy in the home of Chris Cane," he responded with a laugh. "The old man will have a conniption fit if he ever finds out. I'm really disappointed he won't be there. I have something to show him."
Cybil wondered what that might be, but didn't take the time to ask.
"You remember the tunnel that leads under his house? The entrance is about a hundred yards away, near the shore. I still use it occasionally when I visit him."
"You're developing bad habits," Brandon told her. "Don't the people have the right to know what their future senator is doing?"
"Not every minute of every day. I get tired of all the attention sometimes. How will you get to the shore without being seen?" Cybil asked him.
"We'll use something from the 21st century." "I'll meet you at the house."

The four of them left the apartment. As Tiffany was still feeling the effects of the drug, Brandon had to support her from time to time. To the passersby this looked very strange, since he could not be seen.
They only saw a disoriented young woman being guided by an invisible hand.