“Hello,” said Luke, his pistol beneath the man’s chin.
“Take whatever you want. Take my watch, my wallet. Take it all.”
“I can see how this is confusing for you,” smirked Carl. “We’re not the bad guys. You’d better damn sure hope you aren’t either.”
“What are you talking about?” asked the second man.
“Butch and Helen Williams.”
“What about them?” he said innocently.
“Don’t fuck with me. You’re here to meet with them about something special. Something that could change the sports world,” said Luke.
“Yes. Something to change it for the worse, not the better. We needed to understand what he has so we can combat it. He says it’s undetectable.”
“Well, it’s not. It’s killing the kids that he’s pumping it into. Were you aware of his family connection? Who his father was?” asked Carl.
“His father? No. Why would we know his father?” asked one of the men.
“Vladim Woerter.”
The silence could be cut with a knife. Their expressions of shock were genuine and told the team what they needed to know. These men didn’t know the whole story.
“What do you need us to do?” asked one of the men.
“Get on a plane and go home. We’ll take care of the rest.” The three men looked at one another, then at their captors.
“Who are you?” asked one of the men.
“Right now? We’re confused but we’re working on it,” said Carl. The three strangers stared at them, looking confused themselves. “We know the drugs have to be stopped, destroyed, but there’s a lot of layers to this.”
“If it matters,” said one of the men, “destroy it all. They will try to sell to other countries that don’t have the same ethical code as we do.”
“Alright,” nodded Luke. “Carl will take you back to the airport. Have Butch or Helen ever seen you before? Do they know what you look like?”
“No. Never. They sent e-mail communications only.”
“That’s what I like to hear.”
“Why do we have to wear suits?” asked Cowboy as he tugged the tie at his neck. “And what is that funky ass smell in here?”
“Sweat. Specifically, teenaged boy sweat,” smirked Conor. “You remember that smell. The one that would gag our mothers when they did our laundry. And yes, we have to wear suits.”
“I’m choking,” said Leif.
“Heads up,” said Cowboy. “I think that’s our couple over there.”
Helen nodded at the three men, identifying them as different immediately. Cowboy started walking toward her, Leif and Conor following.
“Ms. Williams?” he asked stretching out his hand.
“Yes. I’m Helen Williams. This is my brother, Butch Williams. We coach most of these kids ourselves.”
“It’s a small contingent compared to some of the other gyms,” said Leif.
“Uh, yes. Our kids came down with a flu that spread like wildfire this week. These are the only ones healthy enough to compete.”
“Okay,” nodded Cowboy. “Why did you ask us here? What is this miraculous thing you’re going to show us.”