Silicon Gulch, Chapter 30

Jeff finds himself in Silicon Valley where he is asked to investigate claims by a gregarious Frenchman that his neural network electronic technology actually works. He meets up again with the enchanting Nancy, the FBI agent he had worked with in Atlantawhere they fell in love while he was still married, and again in Washington DCwhere fortune kept them apart. A surprise meeting with Kathyputs romance back into Jeff’s life as he finds himself hounded by financially-desperate Europeans so determined to push their questionable technology―men so desperate that they will stop at nothing, even Jeff’s murder. The excitement will make the reader gasp, tragedy will make the reader cry, romance will make the reader sigh.

 

Chapter 30 of Silicon Gulch … Gerard and Mikl murder each other!
 

Friday Noon: The Showdown

The Frenchman is stunned when Jeff shows again up after being murdered! Then Jeff defies him to write a neural network equation, but he can't! Suddenly Gerard pulls a gun, now all guns drawn! Mikl pulls a gun! The good guys slowly back out of the room ... Jeff has second thoughts about this plan and goes back to the room to witness Gerard and Mikl murder each other!
 

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Thanks for taking time, and enjoy!
- Chris Lamela

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Author contact: chris@chrislamela.com, 707-566-8790 PST
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Friday Noon: The Showdown

     They all stood, Jeff shook hands with Uncle Mondo who reached out again, hugged Nancy.

     "Thanks Uncle Mondo," she said, they turned going through the door.

     The two men at the door followed them into the lobby. Nancy assigned Frederick to watch for when the bad guys arrive, that they would be in a back corner booth in the restaurant. Arnie was to keep a general watch over the lobby.

     Nancy and Jeff walked into the restaurant, pointed to a booth, the waitress motioned for them to sit down.

     Jeff desperately wanted a beer but ordered ice tea, Nancy ordered the same.

     "Let's go over this," Nancy looked to the ceiling, back to Jeff, "well as much as we can. We will walk in. I want Arnie and Frederick to come in with us. The Frenchman will be freaked out seeing you and I want our guys there until he calms down. Then depending on how it feels, I may dismiss Arnie and Frederick like we just did." She put her hands to her forehead, elbows on table in thought, looking up to Jeff. "I don't know, then I guess we just see how it goes."

     The waitress walked up with their ice teas. Jeff asked for the check which she pulled out, he signed, billing it to his room.

     "I don't know what else we can do. Our only job is to foment the hell out of those guys and get the hell out. Like Atlanta." Jeff felt a chill run from his feet up his spine to his brain remembering the room full of people with guns pointing every-which-way but at him and Nancy.

     Frederick walked up near them signaling it was time. Standing, Jeff took a long drink of his ice tea setting the glass down on the table.

     They walked through the lobby, Jeff stopped, paused looking at the front desk in thought, "Wait a minute," he walked up to the front desk, coming back a minute later holding a pad of blue-lined paper. Nancy looked to him questioningly, "Insurance," he smiled.

     A minute later they were standing at the Parlor Three door. "Well here goes," Nancy grinned looking back at her entourage.

    She opened the door stepping in. Jeff could hear Mikl and Gerard greeting Nancy when Jeff stepped from behind her.

    Mikl called out, "And Jeff, hallo!" Jeff looked to Uncle Mondo sitting in a chair, small wave from the arm propped up on the table.

    The Frenchman stood next to Mikl paralyzed, jaw dropped, eyes the size and color of huge white eggs with tiny brown dots in the middle, color running from the his face, complexion matching his egg-colored eyes.

     Jeff stepped forward with his hand outstretched, "Gerard, aren't you going to say hi to me?"

     Gerard pulled back, "You…you…what are you…you are alive!"

     With a fierce growling grimace Jeff spit, "Yeah, you murdered my friend instead last night! Can't even do a murder right can you?"

     "So it's true!" Mikl coughed turning to Nancy, "It's true what you said that this man murdered someone?"

     "Last night," Jeff scowled, "he was trying to murder me so that I wouldn't tell you that he is a fraud!"

     Gerard suddenly shook himself looking to Mikl plaintively, "I am the inventor! I am the inventor!"

     "This man has been bilking you for millions for his high-flying lifestyle. He doesn't know shit about neural networks. He is a fraud!" Jeff barked.

     "He is lying! I am the inventor! You are not investing in me, you are investing in my company! He is lying!"

     Jeff looked to Uncle Mondo who sat shaking his head with a big smile watching this spectacle.

     "Can you prove it, that you are the inventor? You can prove it, right?" Mikl looked to Gerard still not convinced by Nancy's phone call. Jeff wondered why this was so important given the murder accusation.

     Jeff walked up to the table slapping the writing pad onto it THUMP! so loud it echoed in the room, Uncle Mondo pulling back in surprise. Jeff pulled out a pen turning to Gerard. "Here's your chance you fraud. Show us you are the inventor. Here, I'll make it easy. Blank paper." Waving the pen, "A pen! Show me the thin plate spline equation. It's what Neurotek's gear does, right?"

     Mikl looked to the pad on the table, to Gerard, "Gerard, do as he says, show us that you are the inventor. Do as he asked!"

     Jeff turned to Mikl, "I am asking him to write an equation with only two elements. Two! An eight year-old could do this."

     "Gerard, take his pen, show us that you are the inventor!"

     Jeff glanced back to Arnie and Frederick, both with right hands inside their coats, he glanced to Nancy holding her purse over her left arm with her right hand inside the purse.

     Gerard stood looking vacantly around the room. Wheels were turning up there, Jeff could see.

     Desperate wheels.

     Gerard reached into his coat extracting a pistol, from instinct Jeff pulled his Colt out of his jacket pocket, the room filled with the single synchronized sound of CLICK! five triggers pulled back. Jeff held his gun straight-armed toward the Frenchman who held his gun out toward Jeff.

     "So I did not kill you last night, too bad for that other man. You would not die when I sent the boys. You keep refusing to die. But this time I will not fail!"

     Jeff glanced around him, Arnie and Frederick and Nancy all with their guns straight-armed at the Frenchman.

     Jeff turned to watch Mikl reach slowly into his coat producing a gun which he aimed at Gerard.

     The room held its breath.

     Jeff glanced to Uncle Mondo sitting casually, legs crossed, small amused smile, elbow on the table.

     "Gerard, you may shoot me, but you will die," Jeff said calmly.

     "It is better to die than to live with dishonor."

     Oh, brother!

     "Don't you dare defile that word! You don't even know what that word means!" Jeff was surprised at these words streaming from his lips.

     Jeff spoke with a slow deliberate voice, "Gerard, here's what we are going to do. We are going to walk out of here. We will leave you and Mikl here. Uncle Mondo, you can do as you please," Jeff couldn't believe he was saying this.

     "What? Leave and miss this show?" Uncle Mondo answered flicking his finger between the two culprits with the same pleased smile looking around like he was at a carnival.

      Nancy took a half-step back, "So Gerard, we are going to back out. What you do once we are gone is not our concern. But so you know, there are Federal agents outside waiting to arrest you on the charges of fraud, murder, and conspiracy. You can take as much time as you need, but make no mistake, you will be arrested when you leave this room."

     "You cannot touch me. I am not a citizen. I will make such an uproar that your pathetic little jobs…I will see that you are all…" he did not finish.

     She turned to Mikl, "And Mikl you will also be arrested for money laundering and conspiracy."

     "I have done nothing. Nothing! This man, this…this man if he can call himself a man…he is the criminal! I am innocent!"

     "That is not for us to decide here."

     The room held its breath.

     "And so Gerard, we are going to leave." She glanced quickly around her, "Gentlemen, let's leave now."

     Nancy nodded to Jeff signaling him to leave first, slowly slowly slowly the four of them backed to the door, taking nearly a full minute to walk fifteen feet until Jeff was in the hallway, in another minute the other three were out.

     "Jesus Christ you guys, I'm tired of this," Jeff moaned continuing backing down the hall until they were in the lobby. Sliding their guns away before anyone in the lobby noticed, they turned to the small group of couches in the center of the lobby.

     "Come on guys, might as well sit down, this could be a while." Nancy pointed to Arnie and Frederick, "Can you guys make sure nobody goes into that hallway? We don't need innocents catching stray bullets." They nodded turning back to the corridor entrance.

     They sat next to each other for ten minutes, the tension and wonder about what was going on in that room with the three men was a dome surrounding them. They sat wordlessly.

     Jeff turned to see Uncle Mondo meandering through the conference rooms entryway waving amused at a woman walking by with a little girl in tow, Arnie and Frederick stepping back with wonder on their faces, Uncle Mondo strolling casually toward Jeff and Nancy.

     Jeff stood with a baffled expression. "What are you doing out here?"

     "The discussion is really between them, so I excused myself."

     "You just excused yourself? What discussion?"

     "Well I wouldn't exactly call it a discussion. More like an argument. A fight, really."

     "Argument? Fight?" Jeff gasped.

     Uncle Mondo pulled out a toothpick, peeled the little plastic wrapper from it tossing the wrapper onto the floor looking back to Jeff casually, "I don't know if you would call it an argument, but you got to call it something when you have two guys standing there holding guns on each other, right?"

     Jeff jerked toward Nancy to say something, but couldn't find words. He sat back on the couch. His expression showed the churning, his brain trying to grasp the events that had unfolded, that it was his plan that had put those two men facing each other's guns.

     Nancy turned to Jeff reading is sullen face, "Jeff don't!" she reached to his right arm.

     "They really are going to kill each other in there." He stood, his arms out imploring Nancy, "I know it was my plan. But somehow I'm not sure now. Not sure it's right."

     "Jeff we don't care! We voted, remember? Sherlock Plan? The man tried to kill you. Twice! He killed Ted! Good riddance!"

     A couple walking by turned their heads to the loud voices. Jeff stood looking over to Uncle Mondo sitting with a leg over the other, toothpick protruding from his mouth holding a small pocket knife casually cleaning under his fingernails whistling softly to himself.

    "Yes I know we voted, and I know that we did this in Atlanta!"

    "Yes, and it worked in Atlanta! At least there are only two of them here!"

    Nancy reached up pulling his arm down so hard he fell onto the couch next to her, she turned to him with fiery eyes, "Jeff, these guys tried to murder you! They murdered Ted! They are frauds stealing from the government! They are foreign nationals that will be impossible to prosecute! What more do you need?" She shook his arm so hard his teeth clacked. "Don't go in there! This is no different than Atlanta. You were perfectly fine to leave that bar, why is this any different than Magic Town? What's different now?"

     "Those people were all holding guns on each other!" He looked to her plaintively, "Jesus! Just like now! I thought I was okay with this. But now I don't know. Mikl was duped, he shouldn't die for the crazy Frenchman. I know he's not innocent, but this is all the Frenchman's doing! Maybe we can stop it!"

    Jeff pulled loose from Nancy's grasp jumping up dashing for the meeting rooms entrance, Nancy two feet behind him. She glanced at the other two men, "Guys, stay here and guard the hallway!"

     Thirty seconds later Jeff and Nancy were leaning to the door, shouts streaming through the door into the hallway.

     "You told me this was your technology! You did this just to take my money! Eleven million dollars! My money!"

     They could hear the Frenchman's disgusted growl, "You didn't care where it came from, you only cared that I could win contracts!"

    "And what good did that do me? All you did was fly around the world and feed your whore!"

    "Don't you dare call her a whore! She is my confidant!"

    "She is your mistress! A woman that is consuming two hundred thousand dollars a month of my money!"

    Jeff wondered what the hell a mistress can do with two hundred thousand dollars a month! That was over two million dollars a year!

     They heard Gerard's voice say something in French, Mikl responding angrily in English, "Don't talk to me in your peasant babble! There is nobody here!" Jeff laughed to himself that the Swiss man didn't want to feel like he was wallowing in the mud with the slimy Frenchman's crude language!

     Oh, this is precious!

     Jeff had forgotten his concern about these two murdering each other.

     "And what about the endorsements? We need to get those two back in here!" Gerard pleaded.

      "I told you I am done with you―I don't care! You've burned through twenty million dollars in two years, you could burn through two hundred million dollars and still have nothing! I don't care, I am done!"

     "You owe this support to me, I brought this to you. I can let you have the patents. What will it take to convince you?" the Frenchmen's tone was whining.

     "What patents? You don't even own the patents! You don't understand the technology! You are a FRAUD!"

     "What will it take for you to give me the money I need!" the Frenchman screamed.

     "You dying! I am through!"

     Suddenly Jeff's confusion ripped through his brain―without thinking he pushed on the door, swinging open, standing with his feet planted in the opening, Nancy looking over his shoulder, her gun suddenly appearing over his right shoulder.

     Jeff stared at the sight before him. The men were standing ten feet apart, arms extended with a pistol in each hand facing squarely at the other.

      Suddenly Gerard turned his face to Jeff, "YOU! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" turning his gun toward Jeff. "WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE!" PAP! CLUNK! a bullet hit the door jamb to the right of Jeff's face looking up to the Frenchman's anger-tormented face his gun held to Jeff PAP! PAP! PAP! Jeff saw Gerard stumble backward, smoke curling from Mikl's gun PAP! PAP! Mikl's gun fired again the Frenchman turning his gun to Mikl PAP! PAP! PAP! PAP! Gerard's gun jerked in his hand, Mikl gasped flopping backward onto the floor. Jeff pulled his gun from his pocket pointing it to Gerard, but Gerard did not move his gun away from the direction of Mikl's body turning his face to Jeff gasping "You, you ruined this, you ruined everything…" his eyes rolling up falling flat forward with such force his body bounced on the floor before resting spread-eagled, his head pointing toward Mikl's body laying on its back.

     Nancy pushed around Jeff, they both stepped into the room only ten feet from the bodies. Mikl's chest covered in blood, eyes half open. Jeff stood, the ringing in his ears raging W-E-E-E-E-E-E-E!

     Arnie and Frederick ran to the door panting, "WHAT THE HELL!" Arnie yelled, his feet planted apart gun held out, looking down to the bodies on the floor lowering his gun speaking quietly, "Ah jesus. Atlanta."

     Stepping toward the bodies Nancy put fingers to the neck of the Frenchmen shaking her head, stepped over to Mikl scanning the bloody man on his back not bothering to check his pulse, instead sweeping her fingers over his eyes closing them.

     Jeff walked to her putting a hand on her left shoulder.

     He looked around the room in resignation. It was exactly like Atlanta. He hadn't done a thing. They murdered themselves.

     Suddenly an enormous sense of relief washed over him.

     It was done.

     He looked to the walls seeing no bullet holes.

     "Well at least they only have to fix the carpet this time!" he surprised himself with his big laugh.

     She looked to him, turned to the door, "And the door jamb! Carpets and the door jamb!" she laughed with a resounding tone of relief.

     Jeff could see her expression showing the same liberation he felt, wanting to gasp at this sight of this horror before her, but in this enormous release of anxiety she knew they were through.

     It had been accomplished.

     They were done.

     She stood quietly shaking her head, "Come on, we need to get a crew in here."

     "He turned his gun," Jeff spoke almost to himself, his pistol hanging at his side. "It really is true. We saw it in Atlanta. We saw it in DC. They were terrified to turn their guns. Petrified. Knowing that if they turned their guns they would be shot. Gerard turned his gun. Mikl shot him." He shook his head, "Wow, it really was true."

     She shook her head, "It's amazing how self-defense is just built into us."

     "He broke the rule. He turned his gun. Mikl killed him when he turned his gun."

     They stood side-by-side looking at the carnage before them. The two men who had terrorized them, murdered their friend, laid quiet.

     Bloodied.

     Dead.

     A woman wearing a hotel uniform appeared at the door, "What was that noise―" she slapped her hands to her cheeks, "Oh my god! Are they dead?" She turned to run back to the lobby―Nancy was on her before she could scarcely make it away from the door.

     "Wait!" a second later Nancy had the woman by the shoulder walking her away. She turned back, "Arnie, Frederick, can you guys secure the room?"

     Jeff looked to Arnie talking to Frederick, "Listen, I have to make a drive to Pleasanton, can you keep the lid on this? Make the call to get this cleaned up." He looked to Jeff, "Good job there, make sure to thank Sherlock for me okay? Look, I've got to make this drive."

     Jeff stepped to the door, shook Arnie's hand wordlessly, they both turned back once more to look at the scene Jeff had just witnessed.

     "I just knew this is how it would end. Don't ask. I just knew," Arnie frowned.

     "Arnie, we planned it like this!"

     "Oh, yeah right. We did," he shrugged walking away looking over his shoulder, "Jeff, you need to get away from this room. I don't want any trace of you in this."

     Frederick stepped into the hall in front of the door, Jeff turned with a half wave.

     Three more hotel staff walked briskly down the corridor toward Jeff, as he walked toward the lobby, "What's going on here, what was that noise?"

     Jeff reached into his coat for his cell phone holding it up like it was some kind of badge, "This is an FBI matter, you are not allowed into that room. Please just turn around and go back to the lobby. You!" he pointed the tallest man among the three, "you need to guard the corridor entry, do not let anybody except someone showing you an FBI badge into this corridor. This is a matter of national security, and we need your help!"

     The man seemed to like being suddenly deputized turning to the other two, "Come on guys, we better do as he says," they all turned away.

     Jeff emerged into the lobby. Uncle Mondo was sitting in his same seat reading a magazine like he was sitting on the deck of a cruise ship on vacation.

     He looked up as Jeff approached.

     "So then, all done right?"

     Jeff nodded still standing. Numb. He realized he had no idea how he was feeling at that very moment.

     Nancy walked up, glanced at Jeff still standing, sat down where she was before. She patted the couch for him to sit next to her. "Come on, sit down."

     Tim walked up holding a piece of paper, "I got the translation of the transcript, the call, the Frenchman and Mikl."

     Jeff looked to him weakly, "I can't. Can you just read it?"

     "Sure, it's pretty short. The Frenchman calls Mikl, said only five words then hung up."

     Jeff looked up to Tim, "What did he say?"

     "You son-of-a-bitch I am going to kill you. Huh, well it was five words in French anyway."

     "Thanks Tim," he turned to walk away.

     "So Uncle Mondo, this is all done," Nancy turned to him with a tired smile.

     "Yes it is." He glanced at his watch. "Nice, I can be home by midnight."

     Reaching into his sports bag Uncle Mondo pulled out a large envelope, handing it to Jeff. Jeff took it in wonder.

     "Remember me telling you about my new favorite charity?"

     Jeff nodded.

      "Well, it turns out that you are my favorite new charity. I figure you are the Jeff Needs A Break Charity. Go on, it's the money they gave me to kill you and Nancy. But Nancy is FBI, she can't take any. So it's all yours." Nancy shot a startled expression to Uncle Mondo at this open revelation, he returned a knowing nod, glancing toward the conference rooms entrance, "And I'm pretty sure they sure can't use it!"

     Jeff opened the envelope sliding twenty embossed sheets of Bearer Bonds, one hundred-thousand dollars each. Twenty!

     Holding them in his hands Jeff looked to Uncle Mondo then to Nancy.

     "I can't take this!"

     "I can't either." Uncle Mondo shrugged. "It doesn't belong to me. My nephews didn't earn it because they didn't kill you. And I didn't kill Nancy so I didn't earn it. It's yours."

     Jeff turned to Nancy. "What do I do with this money?"

     Nancy stood, glanced at Uncle Mondo, looking back to Jeff, "What money?" she walked toward the hotel exit, a second later she was gone.

     Uncle Mondo stood up, "Come on, let me at least buy you a beer." He smiled at Jeff, "Come on, it will do you good!"

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SILICON GULCH!

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