Chapter 12
Joe's Bar
Methos starts to read the Chronicle entry he had found.
"I don't know how much longer I can stand by and watch this Immortal kill innocents. I thought he only held these tournaments once every 25 years or so but after watching his aid with the black envelopes I know he is planning another one. He must be the most accomplished duellist in the world but he still believes he has to prove it and just fencing isn't enough.
The money he offers turns normally rational men into killers and for those that the money doesn't stir he'll use anything to get them into the game. I've watched as he has had women and children kill just to get the father or husband to this tournament. They come from the corners of the world to compete as long as they survive the first round. Why he had to do this I really don't know.
I managed to get into his aid's office today and had a quick look through the envelopes and none of them were the names of Immortals. In all the 30 years I have watched Lopez he has only once sort out another Immortal. I wonder what he is afraid of. He prefers to use mortals for practice and never once are they told that the deck is already stacked against them. How easily some mortals will throw away their lives especially if they think there is easy money to be made."
Methos paused as he took another drink of beer. "It then goes on to describe the second round of the tournament. It lists 5 names Jonathan Knight is 1 of them".
"So who faced Lopez?" Joe asked.
Methos sighed as he read on, he then looked up at Joe "They are then pitted against one another until only 1 remains, that person faces Lopez. There were 2 killed and 2 badly injured...Jonathan won through to the final."
"And we know the out come of that match" Joe said as he poured them both another beer.
"This is the bit that is strange. It says here that each contestant that survived the first round got $20,000 and then another $20,000 for each match they won after that paid straight into their bank account. Jonathan Knight never claimed any of the money; he never gave them an account to pay it into. When Lopez questioned him just before the final where he wanted his money deposited, Knight told him that he didn't want anything from him except his life. From what it says here it appears that Lopez killed his wife."
Methos eyes scanned the rest of the page and the next couple "Well?"
"Sorry Joe, it doesn't tell me who she was or why it happened but from the Watchers account of the conversation between Knight and Lopez he knows about us and how to kill us".
Joe nearly choked on his beer "He knew about Immortals! Do you think Sandi knows too?"
"That is something we still have to find out." Methos said as he slipped from his barstool. "I think I need to spend a little more time with this book to get some more answers. I'll be in touch".
"Don't forget I'm gona need that back" Joe called after him. Methos raised his hand as he walked out of the bar still reading the Chronicle.
Washington
Lopez's aid opened the large wooden door and allowed his boss to enter. Lopez handed his aid his coat. "Jeff, have there been any calls?"
"No Sir" Jeff replied as they both walked towards Lopez's study. They hadn't gone more than a few steps when Lopez felt the presence of an Immortal. He turned to his aid "That will be all. I'll have breakfast at 7:30 tomorrow".
"Very good Sir" Jeff replied a little puzzled at being dismissed.
Lopez slowly opened the door to his study but he couldn't see anyone at first, it was only when he turned on the lights he could see Helena sat at his desk.
"What the Hell are you doing here? How did you get in here?" he said as he quickly closed the door behind him and strode across the floor towards the desk. Helena seemed to have ignored Lopez's tone as she slowly took her feet off of the desk. "You forget it's what I do. I've come to tell you that I refuse to work with those idiots of yours and if you want the English woman dead then it will not be with my help".
"But we had a deal?" Lopez spluttered.
Helena stood up shaking her head "Well, I've just renegotiated the deal."
She could see the anger building in Lopez and her hand cautiously went to the gun in her right pocket. "You can't do that. I've paid you good money for this deal".
"Dealing with other Immortals wasn't part of our deal. Those idiots you hired have blundered in without finding out who they are dealing with. I arrived just in time to rescue them today and stop them telling all to 2 Immortals." Helena said as she wandered around the desk.
"What have Immortals got to do with this?" Lopez questioned as he walked over to the sideboard where a bottle of brandy sat. Helena leaned against the desk "The woman is a friend of theirs, if your men had bothered to do some research you might have known that."
"But they know nothing about Immortals?" Lopez said as he poured a brandy, he then gestured with the bottle towards Helena, who shook her head. "Maybe not but if you heard the name Duncan MacLeod you would have known."
"I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting him," Lopez said as he walked around the desk to sit in the chair Helena had been sitting in when he arrived.
"Then you're more of a fool then I first thought" Helena said as she looked over her shoulder. At the merest movement from Lopez, Helena had got up and spun round her gun pointing at Lopez's chest. Slowly he laid his sword down on the desk "I wouldn't try double crossing me Lopez I'm as good with a sword as I am with a gun".
"I wasn't ...." Lopez stuttered.
Helena smiled her cold piercing blue eyes starring intently at Lopez "Of course not but remember fighting mortals is nothing like fighting a seasoned Immortal and I think you're a little out of practice on that front. Now I came here to let you know I will fulfil my part of our deal on the rest of the list but if you want the woman your men will have to do it."
Lopez sat back in his chair the beads of perspiration on his forehead just starting their journey down his face. "Do you mind putting that away?"
Helena nodded and returned the gun back into her pocket but Lopez found it hard to take his eyes away from that pocket as he spoke "But surely these Immortals are something you could deal with?"
She sighed "You paid me to deal with mortals and that I will do but I am not risking my head for anyone. I make a point of knowing my enemy before I challenge. You might not of heard of Duncan MacLeod but I have and this is one battle I don't like the odds. You either take the new deal or the whole thing is off."
When Lopez didn't answer Helena started to walk towards the door "Wait. Ok, my men will deal with the woman but there can be only 5 left."
"Don't worry there will be" Helena replied before disappearing out of the door.
The dojo
He sat in the office just staring across at the 2 blue bags in the corner; Joe's words ran through his mind. Slowly, he got to his feet and walked over to them picking up the largest bag, putting it onto the desk.
His hand hovered over the zip for several minutes before he could bring himself to pull down on it, opening the bag. He rubbed his hand over his face before reaching in and pulling the object wrapped in pink silk out of the bag. He walked round to the chair behind the desk, sitting down he placed the silk wrapped package on the desk in front of him.
Sandi had already checked around the back of the dojo to see if Duncan's car was there, it was and she hoped that he was in the loft. She walked up to the metal stairs that led up to the dojo; she had only gone up a couple of steps when she stopped. She still hadn't decided how she would deal with Duncan if he was there.
Duncan played with the red rope that was holding the silk in place, he could see from the shape some form of sword was inside. He sighed before he pulled the rope free of the silk and slowly unfolded it, until it laid flat on the desk and there resting on it was a swept hilt rapier. Taking it in his hand he held it up, as the light glinted on the blade he could see that this was no fencing weapon.
Sandi was worried that those men from the other night were watching the dojo and just being here was putting Duncan and herself in danger. She knew that she had to get her fencing gear soon, so she had no choice; she was supposed to find out where the venue was in the next couple of days and this was one tournament she wasn't going to miss. As she was just about to go up the steps, a group of young men came out laughing at something that had just happened inside. As they reached the bottom step Sandi spoke "Err, excuse me but is Duncan MacLeod inside?"
The men all looked at each other before the one closest to Sandi spoke "Yeah, his in the office".
"Thank you" Sandi said all hope that he was in the loft faded. She took a deep breath as she decided that it was better to get this over with. As she continued up the steps she couldn't help over hearing the young men as they walked off. "I don't know how that guy does it but if he bottled it I'd buy some."
Duncan looked up from the rapier that he had wrapped back in its silk cover just before the door to the dojo opened. He got to his feet as Sandi opened the door and walked across the wooden floor towards him.
"It's good to see that you're ok," Duncan said as he walked around the desk to block her view.
"Duncan, I don't want to bother you anymore. I just want my fencing gear and I'll be on my way". Sandi replied as she got to the doorway.
"Well that depends?" Duncan replied.
"On what?" Sandi said as she looked over to the corner, she could see that only the small bag was there. "You telling me what you've got yourself mixed up in".
Sandi crossed the room picking up the small bag "Look Duncan you've been very kind to me but this is none of your business".
"Oh, you made it is my business when you asked me to train you, not to mention Charlie was a good friend of mine and he would want to know what you're doing."
Sandi looked around Duncan and caught sight of her foils bag on the desk "Well, Charlie isn't here. He's dead remember?"
Duncan moved to block her getting to the desk "I know that and he would want me to stop you ending up that way too".
Sandi sighed and closed her eyes for a moment "Do you remember me tell you that we all have things either we can't or find difficult to explain. Well this is mine".
"What's all this training been for?" Duncan said as he took a step towards her.
"The tournament" Sandi replied
"Where? And don't say Washington because there isn't a fencing tournament at any venue there this year." Duncan said as he put his hands onto his hips. Sandi rubbed her neck "Oh, there's a tournament all right".
Duncan twisted around picking up the rapier from the desk throwing at Sandi "Is that what this for? It's no fencing weapon. Who are you planning to kill?"
Sandi just managed to catch the sword, her heart pounding, this man had given her so much over the last few weeks. He had taken her mind off the one thing that had driven her for the past 2 years, giving her a brief peace but she couldn't risk him trying to stop her, she had worked so hard for this.
The phone in the office started to ring and Duncan pointed at Sandi "Stay there, we haven't finished".
As she watched Duncan start towards the telephone, tears started to form in her eyes.
"Oh but we have" Sandi said as she ran for the door. Before Duncan could react Sandi had reached the door.
"SANDI WAIT" He shouted after her ignoring the telephone.
As she slammed into the doors she hadn't seen Richie on the other side and she knocked him to the floor.
"Hey watch it" was all he said before Sandi raced through the outer door. A few seconds later Duncan was there "Are you all right?"
"Yeah I'm fine. What was that all about?" Richie said as he got to his feet.
"No time I'll explain later" Duncan said as he pulled the outer door open. There was a sound of a revving engine and as Duncan stepped outside the world seemed to go into slow motion. In front of him he could see Sandi running across the road, just inside his vision, a car that had been parked further down the road pulled away it's tyres squealing, sending plumes of smoke into the air and it headed straight for Sandi. "SANDI LOOK OUT!"
Joe's Bar
Methos starts to read the Chronicle entry he had found.
"I don't know how much longer I can stand by and watch this Immortal kill innocents. I thought he only held these tournaments once every 25 years or so but after watching his aid with the black envelopes I know he is planning another one. He must be the most accomplished duellist in the world but he still believes he has to prove it and just fencing isn't enough.
The money he offers turns normally rational men into killers and for those that the money doesn't stir he'll use anything to get them into the game. I've watched as he has had women and children kill just to get the father or husband to this tournament. They come from the corners of the world to compete as long as they survive the first round. Why he had to do this I really don't know.
I managed to get into his aid's office today and had a quick look through the envelopes and none of them were the names of Immortals. In all the 30 years I have watched Lopez he has only once sort out another Immortal. I wonder what he is afraid of. He prefers to use mortals for practice and never once are they told that the deck is already stacked against them. How easily some mortals will throw away their lives especially if they think there is easy money to be made."
Methos paused as he took another drink of beer. "It then goes on to describe the second round of the tournament. It lists 5 names Jonathan Knight is 1 of them".
"So who faced Lopez?" Joe asked.
Methos sighed as he read on, he then looked up at Joe "They are then pitted against one another until only 1 remains, that person faces Lopez. There were 2 killed and 2 badly injured...Jonathan won through to the final."
"And we know the out come of that match" Joe said as he poured them both another beer.
"This is the bit that is strange. It says here that each contestant that survived the first round got $20,000 and then another $20,000 for each match they won after that paid straight into their bank account. Jonathan Knight never claimed any of the money; he never gave them an account to pay it into. When Lopez questioned him just before the final where he wanted his money deposited, Knight told him that he didn't want anything from him except his life. From what it says here it appears that Lopez killed his wife."
Methos eyes scanned the rest of the page and the next couple "Well?"
"Sorry Joe, it doesn't tell me who she was or why it happened but from the Watchers account of the conversation between Knight and Lopez he knows about us and how to kill us".
Joe nearly choked on his beer "He knew about Immortals! Do you think Sandi knows too?"
"That is something we still have to find out." Methos said as he slipped from his barstool. "I think I need to spend a little more time with this book to get some more answers. I'll be in touch".
"Don't forget I'm gona need that back" Joe called after him. Methos raised his hand as he walked out of the bar still reading the Chronicle.
Washington
Lopez's aid opened the large wooden door and allowed his boss to enter. Lopez handed his aid his coat. "Jeff, have there been any calls?"
"No Sir" Jeff replied as they both walked towards Lopez's study. They hadn't gone more than a few steps when Lopez felt the presence of an Immortal. He turned to his aid "That will be all. I'll have breakfast at 7:30 tomorrow".
"Very good Sir" Jeff replied a little puzzled at being dismissed.
Lopez slowly opened the door to his study but he couldn't see anyone at first, it was only when he turned on the lights he could see Helena sat at his desk.
"What the Hell are you doing here? How did you get in here?" he said as he quickly closed the door behind him and strode across the floor towards the desk. Helena seemed to have ignored Lopez's tone as she slowly took her feet off of the desk. "You forget it's what I do. I've come to tell you that I refuse to work with those idiots of yours and if you want the English woman dead then it will not be with my help".
"But we had a deal?" Lopez spluttered.
Helena stood up shaking her head "Well, I've just renegotiated the deal."
She could see the anger building in Lopez and her hand cautiously went to the gun in her right pocket. "You can't do that. I've paid you good money for this deal".
"Dealing with other Immortals wasn't part of our deal. Those idiots you hired have blundered in without finding out who they are dealing with. I arrived just in time to rescue them today and stop them telling all to 2 Immortals." Helena said as she wandered around the desk.
"What have Immortals got to do with this?" Lopez questioned as he walked over to the sideboard where a bottle of brandy sat. Helena leaned against the desk "The woman is a friend of theirs, if your men had bothered to do some research you might have known that."
"But they know nothing about Immortals?" Lopez said as he poured a brandy, he then gestured with the bottle towards Helena, who shook her head. "Maybe not but if you heard the name Duncan MacLeod you would have known."
"I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting him," Lopez said as he walked around the desk to sit in the chair Helena had been sitting in when he arrived.
"Then you're more of a fool then I first thought" Helena said as she looked over her shoulder. At the merest movement from Lopez, Helena had got up and spun round her gun pointing at Lopez's chest. Slowly he laid his sword down on the desk "I wouldn't try double crossing me Lopez I'm as good with a sword as I am with a gun".
"I wasn't ...." Lopez stuttered.
Helena smiled her cold piercing blue eyes starring intently at Lopez "Of course not but remember fighting mortals is nothing like fighting a seasoned Immortal and I think you're a little out of practice on that front. Now I came here to let you know I will fulfil my part of our deal on the rest of the list but if you want the woman your men will have to do it."
Lopez sat back in his chair the beads of perspiration on his forehead just starting their journey down his face. "Do you mind putting that away?"
Helena nodded and returned the gun back into her pocket but Lopez found it hard to take his eyes away from that pocket as he spoke "But surely these Immortals are something you could deal with?"
She sighed "You paid me to deal with mortals and that I will do but I am not risking my head for anyone. I make a point of knowing my enemy before I challenge. You might not of heard of Duncan MacLeod but I have and this is one battle I don't like the odds. You either take the new deal or the whole thing is off."
When Lopez didn't answer Helena started to walk towards the door "Wait. Ok, my men will deal with the woman but there can be only 5 left."
"Don't worry there will be" Helena replied before disappearing out of the door.
The dojo
He sat in the office just staring across at the 2 blue bags in the corner; Joe's words ran through his mind. Slowly, he got to his feet and walked over to them picking up the largest bag, putting it onto the desk.
His hand hovered over the zip for several minutes before he could bring himself to pull down on it, opening the bag. He rubbed his hand over his face before reaching in and pulling the object wrapped in pink silk out of the bag. He walked round to the chair behind the desk, sitting down he placed the silk wrapped package on the desk in front of him.
Sandi had already checked around the back of the dojo to see if Duncan's car was there, it was and she hoped that he was in the loft. She walked up to the metal stairs that led up to the dojo; she had only gone up a couple of steps when she stopped. She still hadn't decided how she would deal with Duncan if he was there.
Duncan played with the red rope that was holding the silk in place, he could see from the shape some form of sword was inside. He sighed before he pulled the rope free of the silk and slowly unfolded it, until it laid flat on the desk and there resting on it was a swept hilt rapier. Taking it in his hand he held it up, as the light glinted on the blade he could see that this was no fencing weapon.
Sandi was worried that those men from the other night were watching the dojo and just being here was putting Duncan and herself in danger. She knew that she had to get her fencing gear soon, so she had no choice; she was supposed to find out where the venue was in the next couple of days and this was one tournament she wasn't going to miss. As she was just about to go up the steps, a group of young men came out laughing at something that had just happened inside. As they reached the bottom step Sandi spoke "Err, excuse me but is Duncan MacLeod inside?"
The men all looked at each other before the one closest to Sandi spoke "Yeah, his in the office".
"Thank you" Sandi said all hope that he was in the loft faded. She took a deep breath as she decided that it was better to get this over with. As she continued up the steps she couldn't help over hearing the young men as they walked off. "I don't know how that guy does it but if he bottled it I'd buy some."
Duncan looked up from the rapier that he had wrapped back in its silk cover just before the door to the dojo opened. He got to his feet as Sandi opened the door and walked across the wooden floor towards him.
"It's good to see that you're ok," Duncan said as he walked around the desk to block her view.
"Duncan, I don't want to bother you anymore. I just want my fencing gear and I'll be on my way". Sandi replied as she got to the doorway.
"Well that depends?" Duncan replied.
"On what?" Sandi said as she looked over to the corner, she could see that only the small bag was there. "You telling me what you've got yourself mixed up in".
Sandi crossed the room picking up the small bag "Look Duncan you've been very kind to me but this is none of your business".
"Oh, you made it is my business when you asked me to train you, not to mention Charlie was a good friend of mine and he would want to know what you're doing."
Sandi looked around Duncan and caught sight of her foils bag on the desk "Well, Charlie isn't here. He's dead remember?"
Duncan moved to block her getting to the desk "I know that and he would want me to stop you ending up that way too".
Sandi sighed and closed her eyes for a moment "Do you remember me tell you that we all have things either we can't or find difficult to explain. Well this is mine".
"What's all this training been for?" Duncan said as he took a step towards her.
"The tournament" Sandi replied
"Where? And don't say Washington because there isn't a fencing tournament at any venue there this year." Duncan said as he put his hands onto his hips. Sandi rubbed her neck "Oh, there's a tournament all right".
Duncan twisted around picking up the rapier from the desk throwing at Sandi "Is that what this for? It's no fencing weapon. Who are you planning to kill?"
Sandi just managed to catch the sword, her heart pounding, this man had given her so much over the last few weeks. He had taken her mind off the one thing that had driven her for the past 2 years, giving her a brief peace but she couldn't risk him trying to stop her, she had worked so hard for this.
The phone in the office started to ring and Duncan pointed at Sandi "Stay there, we haven't finished".
As she watched Duncan start towards the telephone, tears started to form in her eyes.
"Oh but we have" Sandi said as she ran for the door. Before Duncan could react Sandi had reached the door.
"SANDI WAIT" He shouted after her ignoring the telephone.
As she slammed into the doors she hadn't seen Richie on the other side and she knocked him to the floor.
"Hey watch it" was all he said before Sandi raced through the outer door. A few seconds later Duncan was there "Are you all right?"
"Yeah I'm fine. What was that all about?" Richie said as he got to his feet.
"No time I'll explain later" Duncan said as he pulled the outer door open. There was a sound of a revving engine and as Duncan stepped outside the world seemed to go into slow motion. In front of him he could see Sandi running across the road, just inside his vision, a car that had been parked further down the road pulled away it's tyres squealing, sending plumes of smoke into the air and it headed straight for Sandi. "SANDI LOOK OUT!"