Free Jack Kane and the Statue of Liberty by Michell Plested, J. R. Murdock Page B

benefactor may not be quite so willing to help me out with my plans. The locals will start to watch closer too, making this whole endeavor even more dangerous.”
    Squiggy’s eyes had begun glazing over as Felonious spoke, but Lenny nodded.
    “What do you want us to do, Boss?”
    “You actually met the girl who wrote this?”
    “Yes, Boss. In fact, I chatted her up for a few minutes. She gave me her address and everything. She left about fifteen minutes before we did.”
    “You…got…her…address?” Felonious bobbed his head. “That’s amazing! Well done.”
    Lenny modestly lowered his eyes. “Thanks, Boss.”
    Felonious paced. “It would behoove us to move quickly to stop the young lady from revealing our plans.” He stopped and tapped his bottom lip. “I want you two to go to her address and…convince her not to continue publishing this. Destroy her printing press and rough her up if you need to. Go incognito so you aren’t recognized.”
    Lenny squirmed. “Boss, I don’t like hurtin’ no dames.”
    Felonious gazed into the henchman’s eyes. “You cannot make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. I don’t want you to kill the young lady. Just make it difficult for her to do any writing for the next couple months. If that means breaking her arms and hands, that is what you must do.”
    He straightened up. “Gentlemen, what we are doing here is a grand mission. We cannot let anything stand in the way of our success!”
    Lenny slumped, his chin trembling. “Yes, Boss. Whatever you say.”
    “I believe we have already established that, minion.” Felonious indicated a backpack-sized metal box sitting in the corner. “Take that communicator with you. You are wasting too much time coming back here to report. Use that to call me with updates.”
    “But…but, Boss. Doesn’t that thing explode, sometimes?” Lenny said, backing away from the device.
    “The old version did, yes. But I have completely retooled it. It’s perfectly safe now.”
    “You fixed it?” Lenny wiped his brow. “Phew! That’s a relief.”
    “Yes. It needed more brass decoration, which I have added. It should be perfectly safe now.”
    “You…you added more decoration?” Lenny was sweating again.
    “That’s right. Now, get going. Time is wasting!”
    ~ * ~
    Lenny and Squiggy were once again traveling in the spyder. The communicator sat in the back of the walker as far from the two men as was possible.
    “You ain’t gonna do what the boss said, are ya?” Squiggy said. “You ain’t gonna hurt no dame, are ya?”
    Lenny sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t want to hurt no woman, but the boss made it pretty plain what he is expecting.”
    “Ya, he painted a pretty clear picture,” Squiggy agreed. “So what are you gonna do?”
    “I’m going to wait and see what happens,” Lenny said. “Now, keep quiet. I’m trying to drive here.”
    For the next several minutes the two sat in silence as the spyder lurched closer and closer to the young woman’s address.
    Finally, Lenny spoke. “I’m sorry for snapping at you, Squiggy. I don’t like the idea of hurting a woman.”
    Squiggy gave him a weak grin. “Don’t worry yourself about it none. I don’t like it any more than you do. My mother was a woman, and so was my sister. I can’t help but think of how I’d feel if a mug like me did something to one of them.”
    Lenny smiled. “Thanks. We’ll do everything we can to avoid hurting her, okay?”
    “That’s aces for me, Lenny.”
    “Good. Anyway, we’re here. Put your balaclava on so she doesn’t recognize us.”
    The two men pulled the masks over their faces and climbed off the spyder. They strode, shoulder to shoulder, to the door below the address. Squiggy tried turning the handle.
    Locked.
    “What’re we gonna do now?”
    “This makes it easier,” Lenny replied. “We jimmy the lock and break everything we find inside. In fact, a nice tidy fire might be in order.”
    “Hey, yeah!” Squiggy said.