Wow, who knew that some brainfart from another story could lead to this. Fifty Chapters. That must be some milestone :D
Richard76310: Yes, that's how it would work ;)
Egamer25: Cliff Hanger is like that guest you can't get rid of for long ^^
Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters that appeared in the show.
"There he is." Penny said, watching her target with the corner of her eye to avoid having to turn her head.
"Is he smoking?" Leonard asked, unable to see the man from his position.
"Just lit one up." she confirmed, not nodding but smiling to made it appear that she was saying something else to Leonard. "Yeah baby, suck on it."
"That sentence brings back memories." he chuckled. "Have you recognized the brand?"
"No, one of his underlings handed him the cigarette." she shook her head. "Even lit it up for him."
"Is Enrico with him again as well?" Leonard asked.
"Yes, he's there." she confirmed. "And now he's staring at me."
"Given that sundress you're wearing, I'm not surprised." he winked. "Especially since you're not wearing a bra."
"A bra would ruin the look." she argued.
"Not arguing here, just pointing out." he smiled.
"Okay, they're getting into their cars." she described the scene. "And they're gone."
"Here's hoping he didn't change his mind today and that he smokes a few more times." he said.
"Yeah." she sighed. "I hate that this is all dependent on something I can't control." she cursed.
"At least, if this works, you will have made a name for yourself." he winked. "That might be worth all of this."
"True." she nodded. "And the money is nice as well."
"We'll have to ask Howard to set us up a cover system for your money, so you don't have to hide it." he told her. "Have you thought about a believable job for you as cover?"
"No, since I can't do anything really." she sighed. "Remember, I didn't really learn a job. Anything I thought of so far is unfeasible."
"Why?" he asked.
"Because it needs licenses or paperwork." she replied. "I thought of being a private investigator, like your dad, or maybe an artist, but that would require me to have sales records."
"Well, you have proven that you can be an investigator, and Howard can easily hack you some credentials." Leonard said. "Some states might have some official unions for investigators but investigator would kinda limit you by location."
"That's true." she accepted. "Your cover job also requires paperwork, doesn't it?"
"Yes, but I can hide behind confidentiality rules when it comes to superficial investigations." he shrugged. "Remember, this is really just for the taxes, and when you pay all of your taxes, they usually don't even blink an eye."
"Right." she realized. "So I could do something like an artist."
"Yes, but that brings the danger of the other side being investigated and then they might find out that the other side doesn't exist." he counseled.
"I don't understand." she was confused.
"Okay, lets say you pretend to have sold a painting or statue or whatever you designed for a quarter million dollars." he said. "The paperwork is all fine, you paid your taxes on the sale but they might become suspicious about who paid for that piece of art and if they then look, they can't find the buyer."
"Ugh, I can see why so many in our organization use tax havens." she huffed.
"Well, to be fair, the problem I described deals with large payments. Most payments stay in the five digit range."
"How are you dealing with the fifty million dollar you got from that job you did while I was training?" she asked.
"I'm getting monthly sums, disguised as payment for consulting services rendered." he replied. "Outside consultants for the things I do are quite expensive and since I'm a private contractor, I can have several clients at the same time. I get two hundred grand per client and I have between three and seven clients a month."
"Clients that only exist on paper?"
"Oh no, they exist." he chuckled. "I had Howard vet them, they have large consultancy fees they pay out every month without listing exactly who gets them, so it's easy to hide my part."
"Can they do that?"
"Sure, it sometimes looks fishy, and that can be used to launder money but the amounts are relatively small given their staggering cash flows." he continued. "And if anyone asked, they would get a detailed list of which company got what amount of money. But as I said, I pay all my taxes so the likelihood of someone looking deeper at my returns is relatively low."
"I'll think of something." she said. "Maybe I could do something like outside vetting service or something similar."
"Or security consultancy." he suggested. "I do computer security, you could do physical security."
"You think I could do that?" she doubted herself.
"Yeah, you're perceptive and you have proven that you can see things others can't when we helped with that case on Monday."
"That's true." she smiled proudly.
"You know what?" he just thought of something. "I'll have Howard build you a training course."
"Another one?" she was confused. "What for?"
"He'll build it like some corporate warehouse." he explained. "And he will add security issues into it that you will need to find. If you can find them all, then security consultant is actually a good idea."
"Cool." she grinned. "But I'd need some information on how warehouses work."
"You will get that." he nodded. "So, what do we do now?"
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"We still have four more days here to keep up appearances and we already did pretty much everything that there is to do here." he replied.
"Well, I think we should go back to the cabin and then I will keep working on my full-body tan." she giggled.
"I could relax more in the pool." he suggested.
"Honey, I just told you I'm gonna sunbathe in the nude, I expected a different reaction." she moped.
"If you think I will act like a horny teenager and have sex with you once you turn on your stomach to tan your back, then you are completely right." he winked.
"Can I get you anything else?" the waitress interrupted them to clean their empty plates.
"Can I get some ice cream?" Penny asked. "Chocolate and vanilla."
"Of course." the waitress nodded. "Something for you too?"
"I'm good." Leonard refused the offer.
As Penny ate the ice cream, she looked at the other restaurant where her target had hopefully eaten the food she had prepared.
He didn't feel good. It had started a few hours ago. A general weakness in his bones, as if he was exerting himself. As he took another drag from his cigarette, he heard the whimpering of his newest wife. He might have taken her too young this time. While every woman saw it as an honor to be his wife, all that bravado and pride seemed to go out the window when it came to consummation of the marriage.
"Rico!" he called out to his primary bodyguard.
"Prophet?" the man bowed his head as he came in.
"Take her back." he pointed to his wife.
"Yes, my prophet." Rico nodded and walked over to the bed, helping her to put her clothes on before lifting her up, feeling a twang in his guts when he saw how young she was. "Maybe this will be the one to give you an heir."
"Yes, maybe." he nodded and felt another flutter in his chest.
"Prophet, are you feeling well?"
"I'm just tired." he told his underling. "I will retire to bed early today. After you have taken her back, you can retire as well."
"Yes Prophet." Rico bowed. "Thank you prophet."
"Who is on guard duty tonight?" he asked.
"Kovac and Nico." Rico gave him the two names.
"Right." he nodded. "Before you retire, can you send Manuel to me?"
"Of course, prophet." Rico bowed again, still carrying the whimpering girl, and left.
He got up and walked to the window, drawing on his cigarette for the last few drags before putting it out. For some reason, he felt even worse after reaching the window, as if he was falling asleep where he stood so he sat down at his desk and leaned back before deciding to look at the pictures his men had taken of that beautiful woman who had run into him the week before.
Rico had sent men to observe them and they had brought back interesting pictures. This woman was a stunning beauty, especially when naked. Full-figured but also lithe and strong. And today, after exiting his favorite restaurant, he had seen her again, wearing a very revealing sundress that made her look even more beautiful than she already was.
He felt a strong wish to switch places with the man she was with, to enjoy her as he surely must be. He would give a lot to convert her. He would make her his favorite wife, shower her with gifts and make children with her. He would even free her from the requirement to have the tattoo on her arm, so her perfect skin wouldn't be marred. He would...
"Prophet?" a voice interrupted his thoughts. "You asked to see me?"
"Ah yes, Manuel." he said, cursing under his breath for allowing himself to let his mind wander. "How do you feel?"
"Um..." Manuel was clearly confused by that question. "I feel fine, prophet. Why? Are you unwell?"
"I feel a bit strange." he admitted. "I thought it might have been the meal today."
"Should we call a doctor?" Manuel asked, concerned. "Or call for an ambulance."
"Don't be ridiculous." he waved his taster off. "I just wanted to make sure that I don't have food poisoning and since you are fine, then I'm just tired. You may leave."
"Yes, prophet." Manuel bowed and left him alone.
Calling an ambulance was the last thing he wanted. The government has been after him for a long time, and him going to a hospital would be a field day for them, since he couldn't close it off for him. He turned off the lights, then went to the window and opened it, just in case someone wanted to take a shot at him.
He took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes, trying to get a feel of his body. He listened to his heart beat and noticed that it seemed slower than normal. He grabbed another cigarette and lit it up, taking a few drags to maybe get his heart rate to climb. When he finished, he felt worse than before, so he decided to take Manuel's advice, albeit only partially. He took his phone and dialed a number.
"Rico, can you come to me, please?" he spoke into the phone before hanging up, not bothering to listen to Rico's confirmation and two minutes later, he heard a knock on his door. "Come in, Rico."
"What do you desire of me, prophet?" Rico asked.
"Rico, you used to be a combat medic, right?" he asked.
"In an earlier life, yes." Rico nodded.
"Is having a slow heartbeat dangerous?"
"Not necessarily." Rico said. "Athletes often have slow resting heart rates. I myself have a forty-six resting heart rate."
"So, if my heart rate is slower than it usually is, it's not necessarily bad?"
"Prophet, have you measured your blood pressure?" Rico asked. "If that is too low, we should call a real doctor."
"No, I haven't." he shook his head and let Rico do it after the man had produced a blood pressure meter.
"It's a bit low." Rico said, concern written on his face.
"How do I get it up?"
"It's not hypotension, not yet at least." Rico said. "For now, drink water, maybe do some exercise. Arousal helps as well."
"I just bedded my new wife." he pointed out.
"Respectfully, my prophet, I didn't say you should have sex." Rico shook his head. "But maybe think of her to get aroused."
"Thanks, Rico." he said as Rico put the meter away. "You are dismissed."
"Don't you think it might be safer if someone stays with you, to make sure?" Rico asked.
"Nonsense." he refused. "I will not have someone standing in this room while I'm sleeping. Now leave."
"Yes, prophet." Rico nodded and left the room, closing the door and pointing to one of the two night guards. "Kovac, check in on him now and then."
"Is something wrong?" Kovac asked him.
"The prophet is feeling slightly unwell but is going to retire to bed." Rico told him. "I just want to make sure that it's nothing bad, so once he's asleep, check in on him just to make sure he's fine."
"If we go against the prophet's wishes to remain undisturbed, he will punish us." Nico interjected.
"If he tries, tell him that I ordered you to do it." Rico said. "He can direct his ire towards me."
"Yes, Rico." Nico confirmed. "Have a good night."
While the conversation transpired outside the room, he decided against smoking another cigarette and rather lay down in bed. He could still smell the fluids he had created with his new wife and he grabbed the folder with the pictures taken by his men. He opened them and looked at the images of the golden-haired goddess, walking around in all her naked glory and giving her man a brilliant smile.
He felt his heart rate climb up, thumping against his chest. In his mind's eye, he placed himself in that room, opposite of her, seeing her bright smile directed against him as she stood in the room with her body on full display. The smooth of her skin. The roundness of her breasts. The toned stomach and strong legs. Her folds, so smooth and beautiful.
His arousal now at full strength, he felt his heart hammering in his chest, almost painfully. He put the pictures away and tried to calm down, having overdone it a tad. He lay down properly and closed his eyes after turning off the lights, the images of the goddess remaining in his mind. With a smile on his face, he fell asleep and began to dream.
He opened his eyes and could see nothing but black. He could hear rustling but he couldn't move his arms or legs. He could barely move his head. He tried to listen for what the noise was but he couldn't discern the direction or the make until it was close enough to be recognizable as footsteps.
"Who is there?!" he shouted. "GUARDS!"
"There is no one here but us." a whisper replied to him.
"Why can't I move?" he asked, trying not to panic.
"Because for what we are about to do, you don't have to move." the whisper returned.
"Show yourself!" he ordered, trying to win the initiative. "Who dares to enter the prophet's home uninvited?"
"Come now, there is no need to pretend you are a prophet of anything." the whisper mocked him but then the light turned on, revealing who was in the room with him.
"Goddess!" he breathed.
She was here! In his private chambers! The woman of his dreams, standing in front of his bed, clad in a golden dress of almost blinding luminescence. The light shone behind her, enveloping her in a halo of brilliance, her hair flowing in a breeze that wasn't there. He could swear that she was floating but her continuous smile made him ignore everything else.
"You desire me." the goddess said, not asking it.
"Yes." he confirmed, even though he couldn't even nod.
"How much?" she asked, her smile even widening as if that was possible.
"I will give you anything you want." he pleaded.
"I have only one wish." she said.
"I will fulfill it." he promised.
"Will you?" she teased.
"Yes, I swear it by my ancestors." he confirmed.
"You seem very eager." she chuckled, a sound that sent waves of pleasure through him as she pulled his covers off of him, revealing his almost painful arousal.
"I am." she agreed. "I need you! I can be so much better to you than that man you are with!"
"The price to pay might be too much for you." the blond goddess smiled, her finger gently running along his length.
"No price is too high for this." he gasped.
"Very well." she nodded and stood up straight, making him take a sharp breath when her hand left his manhood.
She loosened the knot on the straps of her robe and with excruciating slowness, opened it. It cast impossible shadows, refusing any light to hit her skin and show him anything until she dropped it fully, standing in the glorious nakedness he had only known from the pictures. He felt ready to burst, his arousal a painful pulsation.
With excruciating slowness, she climbed onto the bed, her naked body glistening in the light that came from somewhere he couldn't pinpoint. However she moved, the light was always behind her, yet her physical features were always in full view. It felt like hours, but she began crawling towards him, very slowly, almost impossibly slow.
Finally, she settled on top of him, her naked body pressing on his crotch. Her folds slowly slid along his length, making his eyes flutter and his arousal spiked further, causing his heart to painfully race inside his chest. He desperately wanted to feel her insides but she wouldn't budge, continuing to very slowly run her moist folds over his manhood. She leaned forward, her voluptuous breasts close to his face and her erect nipple one a few millimeters from his mouth. He could almost taste it, he desperately wanted to but not even his tongue would listen to his brain's commands and it despite its closeness, it was far away as her mouth got close to his ears.
"It is time." she whispered into his ear.
"Finally." he breathed. "Take me, oh goddess."
"It is time to pay the price." she said as she sat up, her weight pressing down on his manhood again and her arms moving up, lifting her breasts to make them even more pronounced.
"I will pay it!" he yelled. "Name what you want!"
"I want you to..." she began but suddenly, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen began to disappear.
To his horror, her skin began sloughing off, her muscles and sinew standing out. Rotting wings sprouted from her back and sharp fangs grew in her mouth, her tongue splitting and elongating. Horns emerged from her forehead and her left arm turned into a claw, the tip of which ran over his chest, cutting deep and drawing blood.
"What is happening?" he screamed in terror, trying to move away but his body wouldn't obey.
"SUFFER!" the demon screeched and rammed its claw into his chest.
He opened his eyes in a silent scream, the room dark, empty and quiet. Like in his dream, his body wouldn't obey his commands and with terror coursing through him, he felt heat develop at his extremities. His eyes closed again and his breathing slowed, despite his lungs screaming for oxygen that his panicking body demanded. He heard the door opening, relief flooding his system at the prospect of rescue.
"How is he?" he heard the voice of Kovac, one of his night guards, and felt soft light hitting his face.
"Face is calm, breathing normal." the voice of Nico said. "He's fine."
'No I'm not, you idiots!' his mind screamed, his body not reacting. 'Help me!'
"Lets check again in an hour." Kovac said and both men left him to his agony.
His body was on fire. Lava-like heat crept up his arms and legs to collect in his chest and burn his heart. His brain was sending waves of panic through his body, adrenaline fueling movement that wouldn't come. His slow breathing, already too little to supply the oxygen his body craved got even shallower, the amount of air entering his lungs barely enough to keep him conscious despite his desire to at least fall unconscious so he wouldn't have to feel this pain.
Then, after what felt like hours of unending agony, everything went away. The pain was replaced by numbness, a feeling of being imprisoned in his own body. His lungs still worked but he could hear his heartbeat slow down even further to what felt like a crawl. During that time, his two night guards checked on him once more, but they again could only see him breathing with a calm face he didn't have on the inside.
What was happening to him? Why was he in this pain? Why is his heartbeat slowing down? His breathing slow and giving him too little oxygen to exist. And what was this dream about? His dream about the blond goddess he had met turning into a winged demon of hell. What was the meaning?
Suddenly, his eyes opened again. His arms and legs went from numb to rigid as if his body was trying to lose them, new pain shooting up his extremities. He felt his bones creak as his limbs straightened, his fingers bending backwards so much that he felt they would break. Then, as sudden as it had started, the pain stopped once more.
His senses started to heighten and he felt that he could hear everything. The low murmur of the guards outside, the sound of crickets through the closed window. The rustling of the wind blowing through the marijuana fields. Then his body twitched. He turned his senses inwards and listened to the beat of his heart. For a moment, he stopped worrying about the fact that his body wasn't listening to his commands.
He began counting. His heart beat slower than it normally would, slower even when Rico measured it. Forty beats per minute. Thirty-five. Thirty. Twenty-nine, twenty-eight, twenty-five. More panic set in. He once again felt the warmth associated with adrenaline coursing through his veins but his limbs still refused to move. He tried to scream but his vocal cords wouldn't move.
Twenty.
He saw his life flashing before his eyes. His childhood, his father teaching him about their beliefs, forcing him to memorize the bible and explaining how to interpret it to their advantage. His education about how to keep procreation within the group and the business side of things. And of course, how his father told him on his deathbed that the whole thing was nothing but a scam to suck money into their pockets.
His reign, his marriages to seventy-three wives, his inability to impregnate any of them and of course, the blond that ran into him and ignited something he hadn't felt for a long time. Desire. While the women he married weren't ugly, none of them even came close to the woman he had met that day. A woman who had haunted his dreams.
Ten.
Was her transformation from goddess to demon a sign? A sign that his life had been a sin that needed to be punished? He couldn't say. But at the same time, as his heart slowed more and more, he couldn't help but feel something akin to regret. Regret to have achieved nothing. Regret of having failed to produce an heir. Would their religion even survive with him gone? Was it guilt of having treated his people as bad as he had?
Five.
The last thing he saw was the goddess laughing at him. The man she was with reaching his arms around her, touching her all over as if goading him. Both looking down at him with glee in their eyes as he tried to gasp for air. Both retreating into the darkness, their mocking laughter feeling like the cuts of razor blades on his soul.
And then, after a last beat of his heart, oblivion.
"Are you okay?" Howard asked Bernadette when he noticed his fiance's frustration.
"No, I can't get it to work." Bernadette huffed but relaxed when Howard began massaging her neck.
"A few days ago you said that the poison was easy to make once you got his genetic information." Howard wondered.
"That poison has been ready for days." Bernadette pointed at a small vial on another desk. "He would just have to eat or drink it and he dies a few hours later without anyone knowing why."
"Then what's the problem?" Howard was confused.
"That poison over there just kills him by stopping his heart." Bernadette sighed. "But the guy needs to be punished."
"Isn't stopping his heart enough?"
"Howie, this man can't just die." Bernadette said. "He needs to suffer first."
"But why?"
"I have looked into him." Bernadette explained. "His file contains a lot but I went further. I got witness statements of people who were either banished from the cult or fled from it."
"So?"
"This guy and some of what they call 'important males' marry girls as young as nine years old!" Bernadette almost shouted, making Howard glad that he soundproofed their workshops, and pointed to a stack of articles on the table. "Do you really think they wait for these girls to get older before they consummate?"
"Jesus." Howard cursed, reading the top page. "But Penny didn't say anything about him suffering."
"Penny doesn't have to know." Bernadette chuckled sadly.
"So, what's the problem, exactly?" Howard asked. "You said you can make poisons that can make people's dicks fall off or cause them extreme pain, was that an exaggeration?"
"No, but those would show up in autopsies and can't be administered by ingestion." Bernadette sighed. "I have created a poison that would do everything Penny wanted, stop his heart and making it look as if it was natural but it would also cause him extreme pain for hours while he slowly dies by interacting with his nerve endings."
"Then give her that." Howard shrugged. "Just don't tell her about the pain part."
"But here's the issue, this poison needs to be injected directly into the bloodstream." Bernadette told him. "Penny said her method of administration will be by poisoning his food."
"Then you have two choices." Howard said.
"I'm all ears." Bernadette turned her chair around.
"One, you can decide to honor Penny's demand and send her the poison you made that he can ingest." Howard lifted a finger, then a second. "Or two, you can send her this one and trust her to find a way to give it to him regardless."
"You're right." Bernadette nodded and grabbed her phone.
"Hey Bernie." she heard Penny's quiet voice from the speaker as well as certain background noises, telling her that her friend was in a public space.
"It's finished." Bernadette told her. "How do you want to handle the delivery? Are you coming to get it?"
"We're in Sacramento right now, can you deliver it here? Or to Santa Rosa?" Penny asked.
"Sacramento has a hotel." Bernadette replied. "I can order a rushed delivery, they'll have it there in three hours."
"How?" Penny wondered.
"They'll use a helicopter." Bernadette explained. "It'll cost you, though."
"Coins or cash?"
"Coins." Bernadette told her. " It's an organization transport."
"How many?" Penny asked. "I only have five with me."
"Should be enough." she heard Leonard's voice say. "If it's more, I have a few on me as well."
"Alright Bernie, send it to Sacramento, I'll pick it up tonight before we return." Penny said. "I'll pay for it once we're back."
"Will do. I will deliver it for Penelope. Just give the clerk at the hotel the name. " Bernadette confirmed and ended the call.
"You didn't tell her about how to administer it." Howard mentioned.
"They were in some public space, I didn't want to risk talking about poisonings." Bernadette shrugged. "I will put a note into the package. It'll tell Penny to call me once she has it so I can explain to her how it works."
"Smart." Howard smiled. "Want me to drive you to the hotel?"
"Yes, thank you." Bernadette smiled and gave him a kiss.
"And after that, I will help you relax." Howard winked.
"Howie." Bernadette rolled her eyes.
"Hey, I may not be Leonard, but I can hold my own." Howard moped. "Just trust me."
"Fine." Bernadette giggled.
"Just out of curiosity, which poison are you going to give her?" Howard asked, waiting for Bernadette to pick up one of the vials.
"You should know me enough by now." she winked as she grabbed the second vial and let him lead her to the car.
Alright, chapter finished here. Don't worry, the fallout will come ^^
Review please :)