What If: Maxwell Style
By Danielle
Maxwell
The town was going to the dogs, and his job was
up for grabs. Things weren't going well. To top it all off,
people were getting hurt. Innocent bystanders, along with those
that wanted justice to come. This made his confession of
forgiveness to Richard Maxwell all the more enriching.
The hospital was buzzing. Dr. Blackgaard had been
admitted when he'd fainted at his rally. The press was swarming
everywhere. But they hadn't noticed Tom. It was a relief. He'd
reached the elevator, stepped in, and sighed as the doors
closed, waiting the short ride to the third floor.
It was a short walk to the room. Richard had been
moved after any immediate sense of danger had passed. He just
needed to rest and heal. His plummet down the cliff had done a
number on his body. A wrist was broken, a few ribs broken, two
others fractured, scratches that would leave scars, and a broken
thumb. There was a number of problems.
Tom entered the room only to find it empty.
Someone had been there before, but no one was to be found. The
bathroom door was open, the light off. "Richard?"
****
Dr. Blackgaard stepped into the tunnel, breathing
in the fresh dirt smell, the smell of his mineral. His mineral.
Oh, it was an amazing feeling! But even more amazing was that
he'd gotten what he'd come for. Now it was time to blow the
place to smithereens and head out. He stepped to a hidden shelf,
grabbing a detonator and strung the wire out. It had been placed
earlier. All he had to do was head for the hatch in the woods.
"Gonna blow up Whit's End, eh?"
The voice stopped Dr. Blackgaard in his tracks.
He'd been sworn to by Jellyfish that he was dead. What were the
words he'd said? "He was good and dead, I promise." The lie
echoed in his mind, anger boiling in his gut. More at Jellyfish,
but either way, he had a big problem on his hands.
"Thought I was dead, right? Think again."
Dr. Blackgaard, spun, one hand on the detonator,
the other reaching for his back pocket. Amazingly, he had a gun
of his own.
Richard Maxwell looked grim. His eyes looked
tired, but his chest still rose and fell. His heart still beat.
He was still in the flesh. His face held a permanent look of
cringing from the ribs that hurt and moved as he breathed in and
out. His right arm had a cast while his left hand held it, his
thumb and pointer finger taped together. He was dressed in
street clothes and his hair was uncombed.
"Well, well, if it isn't Richard Maxwell. Back
from the dead I see. Just not so complying to my orders, now are
we?"
Richard just blinked, unmoved, unwavering.
"What is this, the third time you've escaped me?
Can I ever get rid of you?","I'm not here to save Whit's End.
I'm here to make sure you get what you deserve."
Dr. Blackgaard chuckled, highly amused at the
audacity of such a young man. "Really? And what would that be?
Death? You always have been one of the slow ones, haven't you?"
Richard took one step forward, his three free
fingers on his left hand curling into a fist.
"Ah, ah," Dr. Blackgaard warned, pulling a hand
from his back, a gun appearing. "I'm not sure how Jellyfish
claimed your death, but I'm pretty sure now you will go down?
whether in pieces or dead before being blown to pieces. Your
choice."
Richard didn't move, cringing worse as his ribs
didn't stop their aching. He heard the faint sounds of police
sirens, realizing that if he held off long enough, someone would
find them. Maybe he wouldn't have to sacrifice a life to prove a
point. Or? or he could finally turn Blackgaard in.
"I realize you think I'm deaf, so to make things
painstakingly clear: those sirens will never find us. Those cops
will never reach this tunnel before I push this detonator and
take us both down."
"I'm not afraid to die," Richard attempted to
look defiant, but the look was lost as his eyes blurred. Darn
the cliff that had given him his handicaps.
"Somehow, I wonder how you lived escaping
Jellyfish. You look on the verge of death right about now," Dr.
Blackgaard sneered, taking two steps before he watched Richard
fall to his knees, an uncertain look in his eyes.
"I jumped off a cliff," he said, wondering why he
felt so tired.
"A cliff? And Jellyfish can still claim your
death? I highly doubt both of you right about now," Dr.
Blackgaard argued, shoving the barrel of the gun into Richard's
forehead. He cocked the gun, waiting.
"I don't go down without a fight?" Richard
murmured, unable to breathe without clenching what little of his
hand he could.
An echoing gunshot filled the tunnel. But Richard
blinked, realizing it was not Blackgaard's.
Dr. Blackgaard aimed for the tunnel's entrance
into the woods, eyes narrowed. All he saw was a black wall, but
someone was behind it, hiding. "Say goodbye!" he yelled,
slamming the detonator down. It was just a deafening boom from
there.
****
Tom scrambled out of the car, realizing by a
fraction of the second he knew exactly what had happened to
Maxwell. Others swarmed the place, trying to get a hold on the
situation.
Jack was heading for the tunnel, Jason right
behind him, when Lieutenant Shaw stopped them.
"We don't know who's down there. We have to
secure the perimeter."
"I know who's down there," breathed Tom, rushing
up to the three. "Its Richard and Blackgaard."
"We have to get down there," Jason argued,
knowing time was of the essence. He didn't know what was taking
place down there.
"I'm going in. I'm safe. You three gotta stay
put," Shaw ordered, giving in, but demanding at the same time.
Tom didn't like the idea. He was worried.
Lieutenant Shaw headed for the tunnel, expecting
to find quiet. But when he slipped into the tunnel, he heard
talking. He quietly looked beyond the black space he was
snuggled in and saw Dr. Blackgaard standing over a kneeling?
who? Shaw thought, unsure. He silently got out his gun,
realizing Blackgaard was tempted to take the figure out
execution style. He aimed and shot at the beam right and front
of Blackgaard's head. Blackgaard spun, aiming at an unknown
suspect.
"Say goodbye," he cried before Shaw felt a blast
of heat.
Dr. Blackgaard blew up the tunnel.
****
The deafening boom stunned Tom. Beside him Jason
had already started running for the destroyed tunnel. There were
more than just two in that tunnel. Jack was on his knees, doing
the only thing he knew how: sinking into deep prayer.
Tom just stood there, shocked. The tunnel had
blown up. And then it hit him.
"Oh my word!" he cried, praying at the same time
as he ran, trying to catch up with Jason, who had headed for the
hatch in the woods that led into the tunnel.
Jason reached the hatch before Tom, seeing the
hatch being struggled to open. Someone was attempting to get
out. Jason ran to it, throwing it open. Lieutenant Shaw looked
out, a weight keeping his right arm from helping. He had dirt
smeared around his face, but he looked to be uninjured. A
miracle, if at that.
"The explosives weren't set right. It only
collapsed half the tunnel. I managed to find him before anymore
fell," Shaw managed to say right as the rest of the tunnel that
had been standing caved in. Jason reached two hands in, Shaw
attempting to hand up the human form. Richard was out like a
light, looking no worse for wear then what he'd been like in the
hospital. It was a God-given miracle both of them had lived. No
one knew about Dr. Blackgaard.
Jason lugged Richard to the ground where Tom came
to a screeching halt, falling to his knees at his side. Jason
gave two hands to Shaw, helping him out.
"I didn't see much. I don't know what happened to
Dr. Blackgaard," Shaw said, dusting off his pants. A few rips
and tears, but he was all right.
Jack walked up, a frown upon his face. "No
Blackgaard?"
Jason and Shaw shook their heads, unsure how to
tell Jack that is was a good possibility he didn't make it.
"Just be glad only one life was lost," Tom said.
"Ugh?" Richard moaned, stirring. He slowly opened
his eyes to a bright world. He was quickly aware that Tom was at
his side, Jason, Jack, and a cop surrounding where he lay flat
on his back on the ground. But he soon came to the realization
that he hadn't gotten the justice he wanted. Blackgaard was
dead. He shut his eyes, wishing to be lost to the world at that
moment.
****
"Richard," Tom tried to convince him, but it
wasn't working.
"Go away."
Tom sighed. Richard had been sitting against a
tree, refusing medical help, refusing to talk. He'd managed to
stand up, but he shrugged everyone off. Now he just didn't want
to talk. He didn't want to be bothered. Tom had no clue what was
wrong.
"You can't do this all day. You shouldn't even be
out of the hospital," Tom threatened, hoping to make some
headway. Jack and Jason had to deal with other stuff, so Tom had
been given the job to get Richard to talk. To make some sense of
what went on down there.
Richard just gave him a dark look before glancing
away.
"Richard, you have to tell me what went on down
there. Forget medical attention. What is making you so quiet?"
Tom sat, staring determinedly at Richard's turned head.
He was stubborn. But he knew that he had to tell.
It just hurt to think the justice he'd wanted was gone? he would
never get it. He looked at his bandaged fingers, wondering why,
why he'd managed to live an explosion that should have taken him
down... in pieces.
"I went to stop Blackgaard from escaping with his
crimes. I wanted him to confess. I wanted him turned in. But
that didn't happen. I was weak and weary; he managed to wrangle
me in, enough that if that cop hadn't fired a warning shot, I
wouldn't be here right now. I? I wanted justice. He's skirted
around every law and done horrid things that should be dealt
with. I wanted him to come clean. But he would never relent. Now
I'm still here, contrary to what Blackgaard wanted, and I
haven't gained the justice I wanted.
"I've paid for my crimes. I just wanted him to
have that feeling? of regret, dismay, of knowing what you've
done."
Tom was quiet. Richard didn't believe in God,
heaven, or hell. Would he accept that the evilness within Dr.
Blackgaard's heart was the justice to know that he'd gone to his
rightful place?
"I don't have all the answers, but what would you
say if Dr. Blackgaard got his own justice?"
He sighed, glancing over at Tom. What justice was
there when Blackgaard was dead? "I'd say it has something to do
with being a Christian, right?"
"Yes, it deals with what I know to believe. He
lived his life without Christ. His own justice is living in hell
forever more. I can't say I feel what Jack does when it comes to
the loss that Dr. Blackgaard didn't give his heart, but I know
that the decisions made today will affect tomorrow. He made his
choice. He gets to suffer the consequences."
"I don't see that as justice," Richard said.
"I didn't think you would. But telling you is
worth something. Maybe thinking about it would do some good. Do
you think you'd let an EMT look you over now and telling the
cops what happened?" Tom stood up, waiting.
Richard looked at his hands again. He felt fine.
"I think I'm good on the physical side. If I have
to tell the cop what happened down there, I can."
"What about what happened with Jellyfish and
Bovril?"
"No. I don't care to discuss that," he murmured,
his eyes narrowed.
"Mind telling me what happened then?"
"No," Richard said as he stood up.
Tom didn't push it. Rodney confessed what he
knew, and even though Jellyfish was claiming all innocence, with
what good that did him, Tom could fill in the blanks.
"Come on, you have some explaining to do."
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