Notes: Count Manzeppi had a screen in The Night of the Eccentrics, so I figured it wouldn't be too out of the way for Dr. Loveless to have one, too. And the episode Arte references at the end is The Night of the Bogus Bandits.
Chapter Eight
Jim was still in the control room with Dr. Loveless, observing his latest creations and admiring them in spite of himself. Not only had the mad doctor invented an audiophone system, consisting of pipes snaking all over his compound in order to speak to people in every room, he had developed some sort of visual tracking device. Jim was not sure he understood how it worked, but as they were standing here, they were observing Arte, Jeffers, and Karen on a screen.
"Well?" Loveless said in delight. "What do you think, Mr. West?"
"Fascinating," Jim deadpanned. "I'm always impressed with what you come up with, Doctor."
"As well you should be," Loveless beamed. He sobered just as quickly. "But what you don't understand, Mr. West, what no one understands, is that this is why I should rule the world. Especially California. This land is mine!" He thumped the console.
"I'm sorry to disagree with you, Dr. Loveless, but this land belongs to the United States Government," Jim said. "Unless you've legally purchased some of it, you don't have a claim."
Loveless trembled. "Legally purchased. Oh yes. I own this miniscule piece of land. And soon I will own far more than this. But I will be taking it by force! It belonged to my family years ago. I shouldn't have to pay for it now!"
"Unfortunately, you will," Jim rejoined. "But you might not find anyone very sympathetic to your cause after you've tried more than once to destroy the world."
"I want to save the world, from people who are destroying it themselves!" Loveless exclaimed. "You'll see, Mr. West. Someday I shall succeed. And that someday is almost upon us."
"You said something about unleashing the boll weevils on a crop to test them," Jim said.
"Yes! I'm going to see how hungry they are for rice." Loveless grinned. "We're not far from the edge of the Sacramento Valley. People have been experimenting with growing rice there. It will be a perfect testing ground!"
"If we don't stop you."
"Oh, you won't be able to stop me. I'll see to that." Loveless walked past Jim, heading for the door. "And once you've witnessed my triumph, I'll watch the final act of your life."
"Charming. Although I'm afraid I won't turn out as entertaining a performance as Hamlet."
"Trust me, Mr. West. Observing your death will be far more satisfying than Hamlet's!"
"If you say so."
The door opened. Both men looked up in surprise. Antoinette was standing there, holding an orange cat.
Jim stared. "What's this? It doesn't have anything to do with how you're planning to kill me, I hope."
"Of course not, Mr. West." Loveless headed towards his favored assistant. "Antoinette has just brought us a visitor. Haven't you, Antoinette?"
Antoinette held out the animal. "He was scratching at the door downstairs," she said fondly. "I made Kilgore let him in so he could be fed. Isn't he beautiful, Miguelito?"
Loveless reached for the cat, taking it in his arms. "Beautiful indeed, Antoinette." He stroked the soft fur and the cat meowed.
Jim stood by, watching. "Isn't it strange, that it would turn up here, of all places?"
Loveless glanced to him. "Not at all, Mr. West. Animals know they can trust me. I'm always willing to give a needy animal food and shelter.
"People behave more like wild beasts than animals do, you know. They're the ones who aren't worthy to have this world."
"And you've made that decision all on your own."
"Why not? Someone has to clean up the mess they've made."
One of the assorted lackeys came to the doorway, about to speak. But when he noticed the cat in Loveless's arms, he jumped away in horror. "It's here!" he yelped. "It followed us!"
Jim raised an eyebrow. Loveless glowered. "What are you babbling about?"
The henchman pointed a shaky finger at the cat. "That . . . that thing!" he cried. "It was sitting by Jeffers when we found him in the alley. When we tried to pull him up, it attacked us! It chased us all the way out of the alley. And now it came here to get him back!"
Loveless was not impressed. "Don't be ridiculous. Why would an unknown cat defend that man? It would only have that kind of loyalty if it had known him for years."
"Don't be so sure, Doctor," Jim said, although he was not sure himself. "Cats get these ideas about what they want. And they don't like it when they can't have it."
Loveless frowned, peering at the cat. It looked back.
Hoping that maybe he had an opening, Jim continued. "Surely you'll let Jeffers and his family go now. If you really think so highly of animals, and this one thinks so highly of him, you wouldn't want to let it down, would you?"
"It's a poor, unenlightened creature," Loveless said. "If it really understood what humanity is like, it wouldn't want to be around any of them at all."
"It doesn't look like a cat that had the advantage of a good home," Jim said. "Look at the fur. It isn't brushed. And there's even some missing. It's been fighting recently. Maybe it's never lived anywhere except on the streets. And what animal would know better about the evils of humanity than a ragged alley cat?"
"Or worse—a cat that had a home and was then abandoned," Loveless snarled.
"We have no way of knowing that it didn't and wasn't," Jim said. "But there's one thing I can tell you right now. Even if it's been kicked so many times it should want to stay down, even to hate, it's different from you and a lot of other people. It hasn't given up and declared war on the human race. It proved that by trying to protect Mr. Jeffers, if it's really that same cat. In any case, it's also proving it by coming here and letting you and Antoinette hold it."
". . . That makes sense, Miguelito," Antoinette frowned. "What are you going to do?"
Loveless handed it back to her. "First of all, Antoinette, you will feed it, as planned. Then, perhaps, we will lead Mr. Jeffers to it and see if it really does carry some sort of misplaced loyalty to him."
He turned back to Jim. "I want all of my guests to view my triumph, Mr. West. And maybe, after you and Mr. Gordon are dead, I will allow the Jeffers family to go free. If they follow certain provisions, of course."
"Of course," Jim nodded. "And you'd better hope they will."
"They will, Mr. West," Loveless said. "I'm sure of it."
"You were wrong about Mr. Jeffers going along with your plan to get the envelope," Jim remarked.
"Only because Mr. Gordon happened to be there," Loveless said. "Without him, Mr. Jeffers would have had no security. He would have assisted me out of the fear for his daughter's life, just as young Betsy cooperated at last out of the fear for her father's life."
Again he headed for the door. "Let's finish the tour, Mr. West. When we're done, I believe you will be right where I need you to be for my plan to work. And the others will likely be present as well. You'll finally see Mr. Gordon again."
"I'm looking forward to that," Jim grunted.
It was about the only thing he was looking forward to.
xxxx
Betsy was bewildered and frustrated. She had been roaming the tunnel from her room for what seemed ages. And no matter how far she went, it remained as dark and confusing and foreboding as ever. All she had for light was the kerosene lamp she had taken from her room. The oil was low by now; it would not last much longer. And she was not looking forward to plunging into the dark.
It was possible that the exits just looked like parts of the wall. She was continually trying to press on one side of the wall and then the other, but always to no avail. Either the exits were very well hidden or they were not there at all.
Without warning the floor gave out underneath her. Shrieking, she descended to the next level. She landed on her feet, but nearly tumbled to the floor from the impact.
A hand shot out of nowhere, reaching to steady her. "Whoa there. It's not every day a beautiful girl falls through the floor." The voice was rough, matching the feel of the hand around her arm.
She jerked away. The smell of liquor was strong in the air. "Who are you?" she demanded as she whirled around.
A strange man leered at her. "You can call me Thatch. And I know who you are, Betsy Jeffers." He reached for her again, with both hands. "C'mere. I won't hurt you none."
Betsy did not believe him. She struck out, fighting him off with flailing arms. "No! No!" she screamed. "Stay away from me! Stay away!"
Thatch cackled, Betsy's resistance only exciting him further. He came at her again. Betsy shoved him back, turning to run. Thatch lunged.
Suddenly a harsh punch from the side sent Thatch crashing into the wall. "Keep your filthy hands away from my daughter!"
Betsy spun around. "Daddy!"
Jeffers stood over the dazed Thatch, breathing heavily, his eyes flashing with rage. As Arte and Karen ran up as well, they also clearly displayed their fury.
"And if he doesn't beat you to a complete pulp, I'll be more than happy to finish the job," Arte vowed.
Thatch stared up at both of them. "I didn't mean any harm," he retorted. "She's just such a pretty thing that I couldn't resist."
"I don't want any explanation from you," Jeffers snarled. "Just tell us where Mr. West is."
"He's with Dr. Loveless in the console room," Thatch grumbled. "I'll take you there."
Jeffers hauled him up. "You'd better," he said. "You don't want to lie to us."
Sullen but seemingly cooperative, Thatch did indeed lead them down the corridor and to a particular door. He pushed it open, gesturing inside. "Here," he muttered.
"Just to make sure there's no tricks, you're going in first," Jeffers said. Arte was in full agreement.
Thatch glared but complied. He headed into the large room, walking over near Loveless and Jim. Jim, seeing Arte and the others, hurried to them. The cat ran at his feet, immediately going to Jeffers.
"What's this?" Jeffers asked, confused.
"Apparently Mr. West was right," Loveless said in annoyed disgust. "This cat adores you, Mr. Jeffers."
Baffled, Jeffers bent down to pet it. "I've never seen this animal."
"No," Jim said, "but if Dr. Loveless's men are to be believed, it's seen you."
He looked to his friend. "Arte," he greeted. "It's been a while."
"You'd feel like that even more if you'd seen what Mr. Jeffers and I came through," Arte said with a shudder. "Dozens of identical hallways! It's enough to drive anyone mad!"
"That, Mr. Gordon, was exactly what I had intended!"
Everyone looked up with a start. Loveless sneered, pulling down a lever on the side of the console. Thatch sneered as well. The familiar humming of a force field now separated them from their prisoners.
"I should have guessed," Arte said, all the more aggravated now. "Now he's got us trapped again!"
Thatch pressed a button. A second force field went up in the doorway, preventing their escape from the now-enclosed area.
"Trapped, Mr. Gordon, but very available to witness my demonstration!" Loveless exclaimed. "After Antoinette and I celebrate my success."
Antoinette smiled, bringing her guitar. As their prisoners stared, they performed a harmonious duet of Beautiful Dreamer.
Jeffers' jaw dropped. "He's going to destroy a rice field and he's singing a romantic ballad first?"
"You get used to it," Jim deadpanned.
As they brought the song to a close, Loveless drew a deep breath of pleasure. "Now, for that glorious moment." He pointed to a rising curtain behind him. Beyond it, the boll weevils were climbing around in a new glass case. And beyond that was a strange and dark tunnel leading to who knew where.
"What's that, Dr. Loveless?" Jim frowned. "You didn't get around to mentioning it on our tour."
"No, I didn't, did I." Loveless regarded the group with glee. "This, Mr. West, is a wind tunnel. All I have to do is pull another lever and the wind will become a pulling force, carrying my beloved boll weevils out of the building and to greener pastures outside. Then we shall witness the total destruction of the rice field! And from there, countless other crops will be eaten! Mr. West, I have won."
Jim's eyes narrowed. "I wouldn't count on that, Doctor." He pressed a button on his belt buckle, releasing a small capsule into his hand.
Jeffers stared in disbelief. "What's that thing? It looks like a pill."
Arte smiled. "It's not. Everyone, I must request that you stand back. Don't bump into the other field, but stand as far away as you can without touching it."
Bewildered, the Jeffers family and the cat complied. Jim threw the object at the first field, shielding himself as it hit.
The explosion rocked the entire room, perhaps the entire building. The force field dissipated. The overhead lights flickered and flashed. The controls went mad. Dr. Loveless was thrown back, unable to pull the switch.
Jim charged ahead, just in time to meet Loveless's converging henchmen. Arte and Jeffers were close behind.
The brawl was a knockdown, drag-out fight. Men flew over the consoles and slammed into walls. Fists flew into faces and stomachs. Not wanting to be left out, Betsy and Karen attacked Loveless's men with whatever they could find handy—including chairs, loose console buttons, and falling curtains.
The cat yowled, dropping down onto one of the two men who had first hauled Jeffers out of the alley. The man cried out in horror and alarm, clawing at the little beast that was stubbornly attached to his head. "Get it off me! Get it off me!"
Jim allowed a smirk of amusement. He socked the man's partner in the eye, sending him to the floor. Arte sent another lackey soaring over a chair, taking it down with him.
In all the commotion, Loveless slipped away, grabbing the lever in his determined hands. "I'm still going to win, Mr. West!" he declared as he began to pull it down.
Betsy was the only one near enough to see and hear what was going on. The roar of the wind was already coming into the tunnel. The boll weevils were beginning to be pulled towards it.
"No!" Betsy cried. Dr. Loveless had already left with Antoinette, more than likely plotting their escape. Betsy snatched the lever, pulling it back up. The wind stopped.
Thatch looked over, his eyes narrowed and his face twisted in hate. Betsy had refused his advances and was now putting a stop to Loveless's plans. Not that Thatch really cared about those plans. Right now, all he wanted was revenge. He drew his gun, taking aim at the young woman from behind another console, where she could not even see him.
"Betsy!"
It was Jeffers who darted into the way before either Thatch or Betsy could process it. The bullet struck him in the side, sending him to the floor. Betsy screamed.
The two sounds abruptly stopped all fighting. Everyone on both sides looked over, stunned and confused.
Thatch lowered the gun, surprised as well. But then he smirked. "Well. I probably did the worst thing I could to her," he said.
And then Jim was next to him, punching him in the face. "You're right," he said coldly. As Thatch fell, Jim stepped on his gun and drew it away.
Arte stared as Betsy sank to her knees, sobbing as she reached for her father's limp body. "He's dead," he murmured.
"Shot the same as Tucker shot his double," Jim remarked, coming back to where Arte was.
They stood in solemnity, their hearts heavy.
Karen, across the room, went pale. "James?!" she cried, trying to make her way over the fallen and stunned gunmen on the floor. The cat abandoned its target, scampering over with wide eyes.
"It's strange," Arte said quietly as Betsy collapsed in tears against the still man, unable to bear turning him over to see the damage. "Jeffers' double was willing to risk Betsy's life for his scheme."
"While the real Jeffers was willing to die for her," Jim added. They looked at each other, finally moving forward. Someone should guide Betsy away.
But Betsy had other ideas. She sat up straight, brushing her hair away from her eyes as she gripped Jeffers' shoulder. With care she turned him onto his back.
Her eyes widened. "There's no blood." She untied the red smoking jacket he had still been wearing from the past night. Stunned, she took out his cigar box.
Arte stared at it. "The bullet stopped in this." He took it from her, poking his finger through the hole in the lid. Sure enough, the bullet had buried itself in one of the cigars at the bottom of the box.
Jeffers jerked, his eyes weakly opening. "Betsy?" he mumbled.
Betsy exclaimed in joy, gently bending down to embrace him. "Daddy!" she cried. "Oh Daddy, you're alive! You're alive!"
"James!" Karen echoed, reaching them and crashing to her knees. The cat was right at her heels, meowing.
Arte straightened, passing the cigar box to Jim. ". . . You know, something similar happened to me on one of our previous Dr. Loveless cases," he said, wincing at the memory. "The bullet lodged in a sketchbook. It left an awful bruise. When I woke up, I could hardly believe I wasn't dead at first.
"It's odd, that the same thing would happen again now, to Mr. Jeffers."
Jim watched as Jeffers pulled his daughter and his sister into an embrace and looked to the cat in amazed bewilderment. "Some things aren't meant to be explained, Arte," Jim said, with a quiet smile of satisfaction and joy. "Just accepted and given thanks for."
