With a hum and a whir the building came back to life. Bosak was safe and secure surrounded by Hale and his men. A full investigation was now underway into the cause of the blackout. The upcoming Board meeting was pushed back several hours to include all executives in Bosak’s now heavily fortified suite. Below them on the third story Falcon paced across Tanzer’s office.

“What do you mean, ‘escaped’?”

“Well, we’re spread a little thin, sir. For the Board meeting, I sent all our boys to guard the President and the other executives. RG was there in force as well. If I had more of a budget to work with…”

“Don’t give me that. I know you’ve been embezzling!”

“Who? Me? Never! You’re tense, sir. You should relax.”

“I’m perfectly fine! Your figures don’t add up, but that’s not the issue! If all our security was concentrated in one building, how did two subdued men manage to escape it?”

Silence as Tanzer looked up at Falcon from under his aviator glasses.

“Fine, play coy. I’ll tell you how. They had inside help.”

Tanzer lowered his shades and shot him an incredulous look.

“I think you had something to do with this. You want to see me gone, because this job is too much work for you. Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on with you, you usurper!”

Tanzer bottled his anger rose to his feet. This sort of situation called for placation and diffusion. “I will grant you that inside help is a possibility, Mister Falcon. But I need you as much as you need me for this project to work. Blindly accusing me isn’t going to help you or our cause.”

“I’m sorry, Captain. It’s…it’s been a most frustrating day. No, I don’t blame you. You have performed adequately.”

Tanzer nodded solemnly. “What may I do to remedy the problem?”

Falcon sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes. “I have thought long and hard about this. Bosak is suspicious. He’s given the go ahead on the project, but I believe he lacks faith. Things have gotten out of hand. There are too many loose ends. Loose ends that need tying.”

“I think I follow you, sir.”

“You’d better, for both our sakes. I want them dead. Those chatterbox doctors too. They nearly spilled everything to Bosak.”

“Are you sure about this? After all, when it’s done it cannot be undone.”

Falcon’s face went blank, gaze lost in the surface of Tanzer’s desk. “Not absolutely sure. But who is most likely to go blabbing when the Feds want to know what we’ve been up to?”

“The weakest links in the chain.”

“My thoughts exactly. You have yet to let me down, Captain. Moritz. Get this done properly and I’ll give you anything that is within my power to give.”

“I want your job.”

Falcon’s eyes went wide in horror as he tried to make out Tanzer’s expression behind the inscrutable sunglasses. “What?”

“And a lot more money. Not right now, of course.”

“That goes without saying!”

“I meant, that if we land this deal, you would most likely become President of a new division. You could see to it then that I am your replacement. What do you think?”

Falcon’s mind raced. Tanzer was qualified, at best to give fashion and personal grooming advice, at worst to pull the trigger. He was not VP material, though he certainly enjoyed delegating. Images of catastrophe filled his head: mass graves filled with displeasing former personal assistants littering the hinterlands of the corporate headquarters, martial law imposed for untimely delivery of inter-office memos, do’ rags on every head—multiplying into infinity.

“I will have to consider it, surely. Wouldn’t you simply be happier with significantly more money?”

“Well. See, I have been reading this book. Have you heard of it? The Unadulterated Imbecile’s Guide to Career Advancement.” Falcon winced. “Anyway, I have been reevaluating my career path so far, and I think I’ve been going about this the wrong way. Being in charge of my department is great, don’t get me wrong, sir. But where the real opportunity lies is what the author calls ‘executiveship’.”

“That’s a made up word, Captain.”

“You would know,” Tanzer said with a grin. “I always thought that business schooling was out of my league. Then I read that book. The author gave thousands of examples of how business professionals merely mask relatively simple economic concepts with their own brand of convoluted jargon. I honestly think I can do this.” He nodded confidently. “I have some real big ideas.”

“I’m sure you do,” Falcon nodded condescendingly. “OK, I will seriously consider it if this all goes off without a hitch.”

Tanzer unholstered his Desert Eagles and laid one gently down on his desk. Moving the slide back, he popped the catch and removed the magazine. Falcon eyed him nervously. Examining the cartridge, Tanzer thoughtfully put it aside and slapped a new clip into the handle, eyeing the breech. Depressing the lever, the gun slid shut with a satisfying clunk. Tanzer holstered the pistol and began reloading the other. “That is all I ask.”

“Very well. I suppose I should leave you to it, then. Places to go…”

“Resources to ‘fun-size’, right? Page 137 of the new manual.” Tanzer grinned as the second weapon snapped shut.

“Indeed. Keep me posted. Be discrete. Not a word to Bosak.”

“That was my understanding.” Fully holstered and ready for promotion, Tanzer headed for the exit.