“When I took over I stopped their attacks on the RAC. I wanted both forces to work together. I’d command the most powerful paramilitary outfit in the world. I’d run the show, Dennis. I’d be the most powerful man in the country—more powerful than Martinez or the President, but those goddamned Blues wouldn’t cooperate. They just wouldn’t cooperate.”
Dennis was still not sure where this was going. He knew the history of the Lightning Squad. It was part of his training, but he’d never heard it straight from Casimir’s mouth before.
“So I got rid of them. They were too dangerous, but I have a healthy respect for them; which brings us to my point.”
At last, thought Dennis.
“The mistake we’ve been making was going up against the Blues with a few traffic cops. But what we have going for us are numbers. We have over four hundred thousand Squad members and RAC soldiers across the country, and we can use our sheer force of numbers to beat them. I can’t outwit them, but I can use our numbers to encircle them, tighten the noose, and leave the Blues and our Eugene Sulke with no place to go.
“Think of it, Dennis. Wherever Sulke goes a whole bunch of those Blues show up. They watch his house, his parents’ house; and when we stuck him in Hell House they somehow knew he was there, and with lightning action they rescued the brat and burned down our house. You can bet they’re still around Sulke. Now we’re not just going to recapture him, we’re going to capture the whole lot of them.” Casimir was smiling now, and his face brightened further as he continued with his grand idea.
“You see where I’m going now, don’t you, Dennis? We’ve got an opportunity now I never thought I’d live to see. We capture Eugene Sulke and we capture maybe a dozen Blues. We stick them all in Hell Houses and start the Blues again—only, this time, under our control.” Casimir was beaming now.
“I’m putting you in charge of executing the plan. Think of yourself as Genghis Khan.” Now, Jaydan took the piece of paper he was holding and slid it over to Dennis.
It was a budget—a million dollar budget—to be used for recruiting Squad soldiers and necessary resources. “It’s all I could get,” he continued. “I tried to get more money from Martinez, but he’s so tight-fisted. Nevertheless, we can use this money to bribe people at every rest stop, gas station, inn—shit, every place those guys would stop at. They’d just observe and report. Then we use the Lightning Squad to come at them from all different directions—you know, tighten the noose. We’ll overwhelm them with force of numbers, just like Genghis Khan and his Mongol horde. By the time those guys realize what’s happening, it’ll be too late. We’ll have them.
“Now, Dennis, this is all going to take careful planning. I need intelligence: how many there are with Sulke, where they are, what they are driving—shit, everything. Then use the money from our budget as a reward for your recruited spies. Whatever is left from this budget is yours to keep. Furthermore, if you are successful, there’s a twenty-five thousand dollar bonus and a significant promotion. You’ll be way more than a brigade commander. You’ll be my permanent assistant. Are you ready, Dennis?”
“Yes, sir!” Dennis O’Reilly said, beaming.
“Or should I call you Genghis?” Casimir began laughing now. His white teeth gleamed like he just discovered he’d won a million bucks, but then he turned serious. “Don’t let me down, Genghis.”
Dennis returned jubilantly to his office. He took another snort from his flask, this time as a victory swig. Then he started reflecting on his new power and responsibility and felt overwhelmed by it. The more he thought about his task, the more unworkable it seemed to him. Four hundred thousand Squad men surrounding Eugene Sulke and his friends. How much would that cost me? What’s a million divided by four hundred thousand? About two bucks? How can I make this work? I’m supposed to be this Khan guy and I’m just a Squad leader. Christ! I’m a traffic cop!
Chapter 13:
The New Pilgrims
“Commandant, Captain Paoli is on Line three.”
“Casimir here.”
(After a pause), “What is it?”
(A few minutes later), “Jesus Christ. Are you kidding me? What the hell happened, Paoli?”
(After another pause), “Grifton? Oh, for Christ sake.”
(After another minute), “Shit! All right. I’ll be there in about an hour.”
Pamela and Eugene were just entering Iowa with Ray and Cassandra behind them. As they drove up to the state border check, Eugene braced for their first encounter. Eugene was given a fake ID with the name Phillip Mulligan from Dearborn, Michigan. He was driving with his sister, Jennifer Mulligan. They were going to visit their sick mother in Idaho.
The first border stop was easy. The northern half of Iowa was neutral territory, and they didn’t care for any of the paramilitary organizations or the need for exit visas, which Pamela had copied onto passports issued by a friend.
No special preparation was made for Ray and Cassandra. If the Squad had sent information that they were wanted, the O’Reilly’s may have had to take drastic action. Ray calmly told the border guard that he was with the Mulligans. The guards motioned them through.
“Do you love me, sweetie?” Catherine said.
“Yes, I love you, my sweets.”
“How much do you love me?”
“I love you more than there are stars in the sky.”
Catherine just smiled and kissed her husband. Gene loved everything about her: the sweet moist warmth of her breath, the feel of her touch, and the lovely clutch of her embrace.
“What do you love most about me?” she prattled on, playfully.
“Everything.”
“But what do you love the most about me?”
Eugene thought about it, smiled, and said, “Your eyes.”
Catherine smiled, playfully. “What about my eyes?”
“They’re the first thing I noticed about you. They’re so beautifully shaped and bright; so feminine….” He hesitated; not sure how to express himself.
Catherine put her head on Gene’s lap and smiled upward at his awkward responses. Eugene returned the smile, wanting to give the perfect responses and fumbling through them. It was what Catherine loved most about him. He was real, unpretentious, and he cared so much to please her. “You have such a beautiful smile, my husband.” She reached up to him and kissed him voraciously.
“Tell me you love me, Genie.”
“Gene.” Eugene sat there with a soft smile on his face.
“Eugene!” Pamela said, more insistently.
Eugene’s smile was gone as he turned to look at her.
“You looked so lost in thought.”
“Oh, sorry. I was just remembering something my wife used to do.”
“You must miss her very much.” Eugene didn’t respond and seemed to prefer to be alone with his thoughts.
It wasn’t until around two p.m. that Jaydan Casimir reached Brigade Unit 187 of the Joliet district. Captain Paoli completed his investigation and escorted Commandant Casimir down to the basement of Joliet Hell House.
“Doc Grifton will be all right,” the Captain said to Commandant Casimir.
“How could this have happened?”
“Fortunately for us, Doc Grifton was able to give us a full report, which is still so fantastic that I’m having trouble understanding how such a thing happened. I’ll relay the essential parts of the report to you now, and then I’ll send you the full report sometime tomorrow, when we’re able to complete it.”