DUKE

Chapter Eight: That Fateful Burglary

"There's a market for ten billion dollars income out there, and see what we've got,---we're set back to square one."

Vivien bursts out, "I had no choice! I was told, if the cops seized what was in that lab they'd have the evidence to nail us!"

Zellie then grumbles, "Your tutor, Vivie, fingered us. I reckoned he was a cop or working for the cops. I had a fight with Rich over bringing that guy in, but then Rich was getting into his second old age childhood."

Vivien screams, shaking the newspaper at her aunt.

"Just you shut your mouth, 'cause I don't want no word like that about my grandfather!"

"Oh, I bet you don't want words like that, because..."---Zellie catches herself and clams up.

Vivien then challenges her.

"Because what?"

A lengthy tense pause settles in.---Vivien takes a rather menacing pose against her aunt, awaiting a reply. But everyone is very quiet.

And Vivien insists, "So what were you going to say...next?"

She pauses; then she speaks, furiously.

"I'm waiting..."

The whole house and the room are abruptly jolted. Everything sways and shakes in a rolling earthquake tremor. Vivien is almost knocked off her feet and catches herself on the back of a chair. The ceiling light goes off for several seconds, then flickers back on. Something falls with a crash in another room. Sharker draws a pistol from a shoulder holster under his jacket and holds it aimed, glancing around, ready for action. Hart looks around nervously, up at the ceiling, at the swaying ceiling light, and half-rises from his chair, before settling back down when the shaking abates.

Zellie springs to her feet.

"Is this the cops again?"

Vivien steadies herself and regains her composure, placing her hand with the newspaper against the back of a chair. Zellie is standing and looking around, very alarmed. Studs is tense. Sharker is very much on edge, holding his weapon ready for action. Hart keeps looking up at the ceiling apprehensively.

"It's an earthquake," he finally states.

Vivien waves her newspaper flippantly at Sharker and begins smirking.

"Sharker, put your gun away," she says. "Are you going to put out a contract on that earthquake?"

Sharker retorts, "Yeah!"---He pauses.---"I'd like to do that."

But somewhat sheepishly he reholsters his firearm. Even Zellie calms down and resumes her seat. Vivien again places her hand holding the newspaper against the back of a seat. The newspaper is folded out awkwardly, and Vivien looks at it. There is a smaller photograph and title near the bottom of the front page. Vivien frowns in a puzzled way.

The photograph in the newspaper shows the face of the young man Jeff who spoke to Vivien in the symphony hall. The boldface title above reads:---MUTILATION MURDER BAFFLES THE COPS.

The face is smiling blandly like for a high school snapshot.

<<<>>>

Everyone is still there, in the same chamber. Hart begins slamming his fist on the table.

"We've got to protect our market! Blow up city hall, blow up the jail, if that's what it takes! Spread rage, spread terror, we're at war! I feel this...this...this fury surging through me! It's the killing times,---headhunting times! The assassin, pulling the plug on anyone, is the ultimate master. Everyone else survives only at his pleasure, in effect as his slave!"