Chapter Nine
In 1914, Railroad mogul, Henry Huntington, opened the most luxurious hotel in San Marino. He promoted The Huntington Hotel as a winter resort to millionaires, entertainers, and political figures from the Midwest and East Coast, looking to bask in the California sunshine. Later it became a Sheraton and then a Ritz and finally a Langham.
The Langham Hospitality group was originally an English company but was purchased by the Great Eagle Hospitality Group of Hong Kong in 1995. Ironically, the Huntington family employed more than ten thousand Chinese immigrants to lay the most treacherous part of their transcontinental railroad through the Sierra. Now the Chinese owned the very hotel that was built with money made from their backbreaking labor; a perfect illustration of the Buddhist concept of Karma.
Severina argued with Sergei Belenki from her luxurious suite in San Marino’s Langham Hotel. The tablet lay propped against a paisley pillow on an elegant red crushed-velvet chaise longue. Her boss looked irritated, but Severina wasn’t a yes-woman or an ass-kisser and she told him exactly what she thought.
“He’s delusional. He has no real training and his grip on reality isn’t just tenuous, it’s non-existent.”
“Yes, but you haven’t seen him in action,” Belenki said.
“I saw the video from the mall, and he was lucky. He attacked them with a squirt gun!”
“Filled with bleach.”
“Sir, this is your life we’re talking about here. Do you really want to put it in the hands of a mental patient?”
“If it wasn’t for Mr. Flynn, I wouldn’t be alive right now. I wouldn’t be talking to you. And you wouldn’t be working for me making whatever it is I pay you to do whatever it is you do.”
“Before I joined Blinky, I had seven-figure offers from Apple, Google, Cisco, and Salesforce. But I honestly believe you are a visionary and that’s why I work for you. Why I’m proud to work for you. And why I want to protect you.”
“I have Mr. Harper and his army of special ops soldiers protecting me, Severina. Flynn would just be an additional layer of security.”
“I think you’re making a mistake.”
“I’ve made my fortune doing things other men would never attempt or even dream of attempting. Taking chances like that requires a leap of faith. Early on, few venture capitalists were willing to take that leap. Those who did are now worth billions. Many who didn’t are still angry with me. Speaking of which, did you settle that suit with Meisner?”
“Not yet, but we’re close.”
“He’s an irrational man and always has been.”
“As part of the settlement, I’m insisting on a nondisclosure agreement.”
“Andy’s a perfect example of someone afraid to take that leap. And now he blames me for his lack of backbone. Don’t be like my former partner. Don’t be like Andrew Meisner. Take a leap of faith with me, Severina.”
“I will. I am. But I wouldn’t be earning my salary if I didn’t express my reservations.”
“And I appreciate your honesty, but I’ve made up my mind.”
Belenki’s disembodied head disappeared as he ended the call.
Severina sighed.
Sancho wondered what Dr. Nickelson could possibly want. He sat on Nickelson’s slightly saggy couch, waited patiently, and watched as the senior psychiatrist at City of Roses finished up some paperwork.
“I apologize, Mr. Perez, but Ms. Honeywell insists she needs these signatures.”
Ms. Honeywell stood right next to him, watching to make sure he signed each and every page.
Sancho worried that Nurse Durkin was talking shit about him again. She probably told Nickelson that he was shirking his duties to bullshit with Flynn. What was her problem? She had to be the nastiest woman ever. She would have made a damn scary nun.
He spent two years in parochial school and some of those nuns were brutal as hell. Smacking him on the back of the head. Pulling him by the ear. Whacking him on the knuckles with a ruler. Those nuns were always in such a shitty mood. Just like Durkin. Unsmiling. Glowering. Ready to blow her top at any moment. She especially had it in for Flynn. Something about him just set her off. It didn’t help that all the other nurses thought he was hot as hell.
Nickelson finished signing his paperwork and handed the stack to Honeywell, who offered a curt, “Thank you, sir,” before walking out the door.
Nickelson raised his gaze to Sancho, who immediately went on the defensive. “I don’t know what Nurse Durkin’s been saying about me, sir, but I’m just trying to do my best here. James likes talking to me and I don’t want to be rude or put him off or make him feel like I don’t care about him, ‘cause I do. We have a connection and I don’t know what Nurse Durkin’s problem is with him, but I just want to say that I think he’s doing really well.”
“Nurse Durkin has a difficult job, and she isn’t the warmest woman, but I do appreciate her efficiency. However, I didn’t invite you here today to talk about Nurse Durkin. I have a favor to ask of you.”
“A favor?”
“Mr. Flynn was offered a temporary position with Sergei Belenki and he would like you to accompany him.”
“A position? You’re going to let him out again?”
“Health Management System Services initially balked at the idea, but when I told them that Mr. Belenki offered to pay both Mr. Flynn and the corporation a million dollars for a few weeks of work, they reconsidered.”
“A million dollars?”
“That money could go a long way to paying for Mr. Flynn’s care and eventually help him establish a life outside an institutional setting.”
“Holy shit. I mean, wow, that’s really…that’s a lot of money.”
“Yes, it is, and I didn’t think it was right to deny him that opportunity.”
“What would he do for Mr. Belenki?”
“He wants to employ him as a security consultant.”
“Seriously?”
“He believes Mr. Flynn is someone who thinks outside the box.”
“About a million miles outside the box.”
Nickelson smiled at that. “Would you be willing to accompany him?”
“I don’t know, sir. I’m in the middle of my last semester of classes and I’ll be honest, I don’t know if James should be doing security for anybody. As I’m sure you know, he doesn’t have a real firm grasp on reality.”
“Which is why I will be accompanying both of you. I’ll be there to monitor the situation and make sure that nothing gets too far out of hand.”
“Pardon my saying so, sir, but crap can get out of hand with James pretty damn fast.”
“Which is why I want you there as well. Just in case.”
“If I do this, I’ll lose the whole semester. It’s really not good timing for me. I’m sorry.”
“Mr. Belenki has agreed to pay anyone who accompanies Flynn a weekly stipend as well.”
“That’s really nice of him, but I just don’t think it makes sense for me right now.”
“Not even for a quarter of a million dollars above and beyond your regular pay?”
“A quarter of a mil?”
“That’s what he offered, but if you don’t—
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Not at all. So, is that a yes?”
“That’s a fuck yes!”
Nickelson laughed at that and Sancho laughed right along with him. Each one spurred the other on and the laughter grew louder and more raucous until slowly it began to wind down. Honeywell poked her head into the Nickelson’s office to see what was happening. Sancho just grinned at her. She shook her head and left as Sancho laughed again.
Nickelson raised his hand to quiet him. “We will be leaving tomorrow morning. You need to pack for a few weeks and include some formal wear if you have any.”
“You mean like a tux?”
“Or a nice suit. Apparently, there’s some formal charity event that we will all need to attend.”
“I have a suit.”
“Good. Then we’re all set. They’ll be sending a limo to pick us up here at 9:00 a.m. sharp.”
“Has Nurse Durkin heard about this?”
“This isn’t any of Nurse Durkin’s concern.”
Bettina O’Toole-Applebaum was frustrated. Ever since Flynn accused her of being an assassin, he refused to have anything to do with her. She didn’t know if he was keeping her at arm’s length because he suspected she was the enemy or if he was simply playing hard to get. After a few days of this annoying cat and mouse game, Bettina finally managed to get Flynn alone after breakfast.
She cornered him in a corridor and he immediately started flirting. He suggested they move the conversation to a quieter, more private place. She hesitated at first. Was his intention to seduce her or terminate her? After all, he did believe he had a license to kill. She didn’t want to put herself at any unnecessary risk, but the adrenalin generated by this possibility came with a generous dollop of lust. She wasn’t sure if she was more aroused by the danger or the possibility of a Pulitzer. She didn’t want to seduce Flynn, exactly. She wouldn’t take it that far. But she wasn’t above a little heavy-duty flirting, and that’s how they ended up nose to nose in an equipment closet not far from the activity room.
“So how exactly were you planning to do it,” Flynn pressed.
“Do what?”
“Do me in. Isn’t that what you’re here for?”
“No, that is not why I’m here.”
“I should frisk you for a weapon, but I wouldn’t want to overstep.”
“Knock yourself out.”
Bettina raised her hands and Flynn frisked her lightly and efficiently, running his fingers up and down her body, gently, but firmly feeling for a weapon, between her thighs and under her arms. She hadn’t been touched by anyone in quite some time and the sensation was intoxicating. She closed her eyes and couldn’t help but let a little sigh escape. When he felt under her armpits she giggled.
“Ticklish, are we?”
“Only in certain places.”
“You clearly don’t have a weapon.”
“I come in peace I promise.”
Flynn leaned in closer. “Then why do I sense you’re hiding something from me?”
“What would I be hiding?”
“Who you are and why you’re here.”
“You are not a very trusting person,” Bettina said, their lips now inches apart.
“I look in your eyes and I see hope, but I also see fear. You’ve been deceived, hurt and betrayed by those you put your faith in. That won’t happen with me. Trust me with your truth and I promise I won’t abandon you. I’ll support you and protect you and be there whenever you need me.”
Bettina teared up but didn’t know why. A huge, empty loneliness ached at her core. She put her arms around Flynn and hugged him close and he gently stroked her hair.
“Thank you,” she said.
“No need to thank me. Just tell me the truth. Were you sent here to assassinate me?”
A tear trickled down Bettina’s face. “No, but I haven’t been completely honest with you either.”
“Time to come clean then.”
“If I do, will you trust me?”
“Trust you? No. Truss you? Absolutely.”
Flynn moved so fast, at first Bettina didn’t know what was happening. He slid the canvas sleeves over her arms, spun her around, and pulled the straps of the straitjacket tight. She was firmly trussed as he looped another restraint around her ankles, attached a strap with a carabiner-like clip, and threw it over a support beam.
“What are you—” was all she could get out before Flynn tossed her over his shoulder and pulled her up by the strap until she was suspended upside down, dangling from the ceiling, bound and secure in the straitjacket. She struggled and fought to free herself. “Let me out of here! Let me—” Flynn covered her mouth with a strip of gaffer tape from a nearby shelf. Bettina glared at him as she tried to wrestle herself free, but all she did was create enough momentum to spin herself around.
“Sorry, darling,” Flynn said.
“Mmmm! Mmmm! Mmmm!” Bettina said as Flynn exited the closet and closed the door.
Sancho saw Flynn exiting a storage closet not far from the activity room. He would have asked him what he was doing in there, but he didn’t want to hear another crazy, batshit story, so instead he just asked Flynn if he was ready to go. “That lawyer lady who works for Belenki is here with the limo. Are you packed?”
“Packed and ready. As you know, I travel light.”
“Well, grab your shit and let’s go. We have a plane to catch.”