CHAPTER NINE

"So that was the great James West." Sitting in the back seat of his chauffeured limousine, Loveless rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

His companion asked, "You're really not upset about losing all that money?"

Seeming not to hear his companion, "Would you have a cigarette?"

The companion grinned. "When don't I?"

Loveless accepted a smoke from the pack proffered. "Thank you." The companion lit it for him. He took as deep a drag as his respiratory system would allow. As he blew smoke toward the ceiling, Loveless answered the question.

"I don't think of it as losing; I think of it as spending. Anyone who visits a casino looking to get rich is naive. Those places are in business to make money, not give it away."

"But the casino didn't make that money."

"True, but neither did Mr. West. As you're well aware, he can't very well keep his winnings." Loveless drew smoke into his lungs and blasted it out through his nostrils. "Bright Light City gonna set my soul, gonna set my soul on fire. Got a whole lot of money that's ready to burn, so get those stakes up higher."

Pausing, Loveless emitted a laugh so evil, it made his companion shiver. "Tomorrow, we'll have more fun with our intrepid agent. And perhaps Mr. Gordon will be there, too."

xxx

As West and Artie entered their hotel, the desk clerk called out to them: "Mr. West! Mr. Gordon! I have a message for you."

Artie accepted the slip of paper. "It's Amanda. She wants us to call her immediately."

In their room, West dialed Chin's number. Artie listened in.

"After I dropped you guys off, what do you think I did?"

"Doesn't sound like you went to bed," West replied.

"Oh, hell no! I'm too wound up about the case. Instead, I tailed you guys."

"You did?" Artie said. "I must have lost my touch. At one time, I'd know immediately if we were being followed."

"To be fair, though," Chin said, "you were dead for twenty-two years. And I'm really good at tailing!"

West observed, "If you're this anxious to talk to us, you must have learned something."

"Oh, I did! When I saw Loveless come out of the Northern Club, I followed his limousine. They headed south on Route 95. I tailed them for quite a while. Then they turned off the road and went into the desert. I kept going so I wouldn't arouse suspicion. When I figured it was safe, I turned around and came back. But I can tell you exactly where they turned off; I clocked it on the odometer. It was forty-six-point-seven miles from the Northern Club."

"That's great, Amanda," West said with sincerity. "Nice work."

"I'll second that," Artie chimed in. "However, there's not much we can do at the moment. I suggest we get some sleep and pick it up in the morning."

"Now that you mention it," said Chin, "I am feeling tired."

"That makes three of us," West said with a yawn.

After he hung up, Artie marveled, "So cars have odometers now. I wonder how old Vitruvius would like that?"

xxx

At 10:30 in the morning, Chin pulled her borrowed Jeep into the Golden Nugget. West and Artie, fresh from a hearty breakfast, awaited her. At the former's insistence, they stopped at Headquarters to stock up on weapons.

As West made his fourth trip from the arsenal to the Jeep, Artie look at him askance. "All this, Jim? It's only a reconnaissance run!"

"I'd rather have something and not need it than vice-versa."

"But why the Bazooka?"

West gave a toothy grin. "Because I happen to like it."

Artie sighed. "Have it your way."

"I always do."

At Artie's request, he drove the Jeep after his partners elicited a promise that he would take it easy on the speed. When they came to the 46.7-mile mark, Artie pulled off the road. He stopped on the sun-scorched sand as West scanned the area with binoculars and Chin looked for tire tracks. Finding some, he followed them.

They drove for miles and saw nothing but additional sand. Eventually, the tire tracks faded.

Artie braked. "Where do we go from here?"

Agent Chin, in the back, pointed to her right. "Maybe where that truck is?"

West peered through his binoculars and saw what looked like a military troop carrier. It was a good couple of miles away but was clearly approaching them. "I doubt they're coming to help us."

By the time the truck neared them, West, Artie and Chin were ready. As it braked, from the rear of the truck poured a dozen men, none of them armed. Wordlessly, they rushed the agents, who initially resisted with their fists and feet. The attackers went down but immediately resumed the onslaught. They each displayed a blank facial expression and never made a sound.

Artie threw a smoke bomb, which momentarily confused their opponents; but when the vapor cleared, they resumed their full frontal assault. Not one of the men had so much as coughed.

Chin gave a yell and jumped feet first at one attacker, knocking him backward. Before he could recover, she buried a knife between his eyes. He remained motionless on the ground, but just for a oment. To Chin's amazement, the man stood up and resumed his attack on her, the knife protruding from his skull. He seemed not to notice it, and his face remained impassive.

Meanwhile, West and Artie ratcheted up their offensive with guns. Bullet after bullet slammed into their attackers, but none fell. West ran to the Jeep, leaving a desperate Artie to fend for himself. He knew better than to question his partner's actions, but still wondered what Jim was up to.

His question was answered instantly as an explosion rocked the desert. Several attackers were now on fire. The flames quickly consumed the men, who remained silent as they collapsed to their knees, then their stomachs. The stench of burning flesh permeated the air as a second explosion shook the desiccated sand. The remaining attackers were now aflame and no longer a danger to the agents. Artie faced Jim, who stood several feet from the Jeep, the Bazooka resting on his shoulder.

He called out, "I had a feeling we'd need this!"

Chin called out, "The truck's leaving!"

They piled into the Jeep and followed it. The troop carrier moved faster than its bulky frame would have suggested, but Artie kept up. He got ahead of the truck and made a zigzag pattern in the hope of at least slowing it down. The driver veered to the right and slid across the arid sand, then continued in a straight line.

West shouted, "Pull up beside it," and removed a small gun and a magnetic disc from his coat. The disc had a metal rod protruding from one end. He also produced a thin but rugged length of cable, which he attached to the disc. Finally, West fitted the rod into the gun's barrel.

Artie asked, "Are you sure about this?"

West's face broke out in a cocky grin. "Was I ever not sure?"

"But you never learned to drive!"

"No time like the present!"

Artie kept pace with the truck and pulled up alongside it. West, in the front passenger's seat, turned to his right, pointed the gun at the top of the truck's cab, and fired. The magnetic disc attached itself to the fuselage, and West jumped. He planted the soles of his boots against the truck's side while gripping the cable with one hand. Using the other, West pulled the door handle. It was locked. He reached into his jacket, produced a small diamond-tipped metal bar, cut a hole in the window, and opened the door.

The driver, unlike the would-be killers he had just loosed, did not remain silent. Rather, he gave a yelp and tried to push West away. However, the agent successfully knocked him into the passenger's seat. He climbed inside, shut the door, gripped the steering wheel, and placed his right foot on what he guessed was the accelerator.

The driver reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a handgun. "Stop the truck!"

But as Artie had just noted, West had no driving experience and did not know how to do what the driver demanded. Instead, West reached across the cab and gave the man a hard punch in the face. The driver dropped his gun and lost consciousness.

West heard a horn tooting. Artie, in the Jeep abutting the truck's cab, waved frantically.

Agent Chin bellowed, "Stop the truck now!"

West looked ahead and saw the urgency of their pleas. A gully lay before them! The desperate agent yelled, "How do I do that?"

"The clutch and the brake," Chin replied. "They're the two pedals on your left!"

Jim did as he was told. The truck's tires screeched in the dried-out sand, but the behemoth would not stop in time to miss the gully. West bailed out, rolling in the sand as Artie swerved the Jeep out of his path.

The truck flew into the gully and vanished from sight. Within a heartbeat, the agents heard the stentorian clash of crushing metal and shattering glass.

Artie and Chin jumped from the Jeep and ran over to West, who was winded and coated with sand but otherwise seemed all right. He asked, "The driver?"

As if in response, the truck exploded, sending a fireball high into the air.

Artie and Chin helped West to his feet. "I don't think he'll tell us much," said the former.