The Immortality Plot

The Immortality Plot - chapter 19

Lucius Gynt was trembling with anticipation. Even the bears were excited. Today was the day when he was to meet Herman Letski and clarify instructions for his final project and beyond.

He was surprised at how quickly it had come about. There was usually a respectable amount of time between the sacrifices of his whores to the bosom of the Almighty. It was not like Herman Letski to rush into things. In one sense, Gynt was happy. The sooner he received his reward for services rendered the better. He tried to imagine where it would take place. New York City was the favorite and obvious location but it was up to Letski. As he went through his preparations and his wardrobe selection he wondered what would be entailed. Would it hurt? How long would it all take? Now that he was close to achieving his dream he felt uncommonly nervous. He hummed a little tune as he drifted around the apartment and checked elements of his outfits with his bear audience.

He wondered too about Herman Letski. Was this really his name? He had hinted it wasn’t. He had explained how easily he could just vanish and his entire operation with him. Could Gynt really trust him? Could he truly believe him?

He paused and replayed past conversations. He tried to recall firm promises with details and he found his memory straining to remember anything with absolute certainty. Gynt’s life experience had taught him the value of caution and of precaution. He stopped in the center of his apartment, poised like a gymnast preparing for the parallel bars. He was suddenly and depressingly swamped with doubts. Lucius Gynt didn’t like doubts. They disturbed him. It was time for a board meeting.

He assembled his bears in order of seniority and placed them in a semicircle. He sat cross-legged before them and posed a number of questions – the ones that bothered him most now that he was close to achieving his ambition and before he left to meet Herman Letski. He always took note of the bears’ wise counsel. He listened without interruption as they advised him about the precautions he should take. What came out of the consultation was a simple plan of action. This was not just a matter of avenging his flouted desire and ambition – should that happen. Gynt had suddenly realized how vulnerable he was to the perfect double-cross. At any moment he chose, Letski could shop him to the authorities anonymously. They were so desperate to find ‘The Priest’ that they would undoubtedly follow up any intelligence they received.

Gynt would have to remain alert and attuned to the slightest hint that he was not next in line. Letski could simply vanish without trace leaving Gynt bereft. Gynt knew that Letski had an extensive global operation but very few, if any, close confidantes or partners. This aspect needed to be explored. The most insidious thought that penetrated Gynt’s mind, placed there by the bears, of course, was that Letski could simply have Gynt taken out. Letski knew where to find him in New York, St Lucia or Nice. A dark night, a drive by shooting and that would be it.

Farewell immortality.

But then, Gynt knew how to find Letski. He had been to his main New York residence many years ago. And Letski knew this. Then again, he had a number of homes. But it was a risk worth taking. Time was of the essence. The very first glimmer that all was not as it should be and Gynt would be heading out to Long Island.

The only other annoyance in his life were the futile comments made by the self-appointed Monk lashing out and threatening him through that silly website. Whoever this Monk was, he had as much chance of tracking down Lucius Gynt as a rich man has of entering the kingdom of heaven. Gynt was amused by the image.

As he dressed before leaving from his lunch appointment he allowed himself a little thrill of excitement. It was seldom that he felt he had one over on Herman Letski but in this case he just might have that advantage. He couldn’t be certain but by putting two and two together and connecting the very few revealing comments Letski had let slip over the last year or so and coupling them with the information he had painfully squeezed out of that journalist Maria Montalban, but never recorded, he had a shrewd idea he knew the identity of Herman Letski’s right hand man.