The Viking Seal

CHAPTER 35 - A final Unravelling

Moira exited the elevator and glanced about the area checking to make sure it was empty then approached the receptionist.

"Mister Volk in his office?"

"May I ask—?"

"No, dear, you may not. Which is his office?"

The woman made a face and reached for the phone. It was a big mistake. In a flash, Moira was around the desk whipping off the woman's headset and winding the cord about her neck. She slid off the chair, increasing the pressure on her throat, and clawed at Moira's hands. It took only a few seconds and she sagged limply to the floor, her eyes bugging out and staring at nothing.

Moira checked the pad on her desk and saw the office number for Gordon next to his message sheet. She went immediately to the door and paused, gathering her composure once again, knocked and entered. Stefan's head jerked up and he dropped the magazine he'd been reading, his attention completely on the striking woman standing inside the door.

"I'm looking for Mister Volk. Is he in his office?"

"May I say who's waiting?" The secretary threw a nervous glance at Stefan.

"An old friend. Actually, he's probably expecting me." Moira turned toward Stefan and saw him reaching into his jacket. She took one stride and drop-kicked him square between his stubby legs. Stefan's squeal, and the secretary's scream, harmonized in an ear-splitting wail that brought Gordon to his office door bearing a large pistol.

"Aim that at me and I'll blow your face off, Gordon." Moira stood, legs apart and a two-handed grip on her gun. Gordon looked at the writhing form of Stefan and his cowering secretary and lowered his gun. "Better. Much better. Now, back inside and leave that on the floor please."

Gordon obeyed and slumped back to his desk. He heard a couple of faint bumps and then Moira came in and closed the door.

She slid her purse off her shoulder and tossed it over to him. "Take a look inside, it's what you and Wayne wanted."

He opened the purse and took out the discs and the printed material. "Why are you giving me this now?"

"I want you to decide if what's going to happen was worth it."

"What do you mean?" He sat down and pushed his chair back.

She moved to the desk and reached into her purse, taking out a couple of small packets. "Open these and cut them on the desk, Gordon."

"Is that drugs? No way, Moira."

She went to his chair and rested the barrel of the gun in his ear. "Do it, or I'll put a neat hole through here and fill it myself." She shoved it harder and he whimpered his agreement. With shaking hands, Gordon emptied the packets and began dividing the contents into long thin lines. Moira took a straw from her purse and handed it to him.

"Get to it, Gordon... all of it."

"Please... no..." The gun barrel poked painfully into his ear. He placed the straw on the end of one line and snorted.

****

Gretta ordered the taxi to a stop in front of the office tower. Her earlier debate with Cheesy and the others had escalated into a shouting match, and she had finally slammed her hand on the table and demanded silence. Her plan was to visit Wayne Jenner, and in a face to face, negotiate the return of the Viking material.

The argument was that Jenner would never negotiate and that she would find herself in another dire situation, and she was in questionable health to boot. Needless to say, Gretta won out over the protests and left the group. Mel shooting, I told you so looks at Stone. Arny pacing up and down, damning the Congress and all its members, and the professor who was working the phones for any assistance he could muster in case Gretta failed.

She climbed out and took a moment to ease the stiffness in her side. The staples holding the wound together were digging in when she sat and it took a few moments to abate. She crossed the sidewalk and entered the building, fully intending to have to bluff her way past security, when the exit door opened from the garage and Wayne Jenner stepped into the lobby, heading toward the elevator.

"Mike, anything delivered here for me?"

"Hi, Mister Jenner. Nope nothing yet. I'll keep an eye out though."

"Thanks." He started to leave when he caught Gretta's face and he stopped cold. "You!"

"The one and only, Wayne. Have you got a minute?"

His face turned a rusty red and he drew his mouth into a hateful sneer. "You've got your goddamn nerve coming to my building."

"Do you need some help here, Mister Jenner?" Mike went into guard dog mode.

"Do you, Wayne?" Gretta asked.

Jenner waved him away and started for the elevators with Gretta in tow.

"We need to talk about the Viking material." She said when they were alone on the elevator.

"I've got nothing to say to you."

"I'm willing to negotiate a settlement if you're interested."

"You? Negotiate? That'll be the day."

"Maybe you don't have anything yet," she ventured, watching his neck colour again. "That's it, isn't it? Moira never delivered the goods after all." Gretta made a point of elaborately shaking her head. "And after losing all those people too. You need to recruit a better brand of soldier, Wayne."

"Well if you're right, Miss Know-it-all, what are you going to do now?"

The elevator doors opened before she could answer, and they both stepped into Wayne's reception area. He paused and glanced around, puzzled.

"Something wrong?"

"The reception desk is never left unmanned." He walked over and leaned across the desk, his voice choking in the back of his throat.

"What?" Gretta moved to his side and saw the young receptionist sprawled on the floor, her earphone cord wound tightly about her neck. "You have a visitor, Wayne. One you should never have antagonized."

He straightened up, shaking. "It wasn't me. It was that bastard, Gordon, my aide."

"Where's his office?" Gretta pulled a gun from her jacket pocket.

"There. The green door frame. What are you going to do?"

"Make sure Moira isn't still here or if she is, stop her before any more of that." His eyes fell on the receptionist again. "Time to boogie, Wayne."

"You want me to go in there?"

"She's your stepdaughter."

"Not me. No way." He turned and hurried down the hall and around a corner.

"You just gave me a blank cheque, Wayne." She muttered to herself.