MacDonald, John D – Travis McGee 18 – The Green Ripper

“And how are you, Brother Titus?” I asked him.

Middling, he seemed to say. Just middling.

“Help!” I dropped Brother Titus’s head and scrambled back, tripped, and sat down. “Help met”

I moved over to the larger part of the wrecked fuselage. Brother Persival lay on his back, on what had been the side wall and windows. The gas stink was stronger.

I made certain his hands were empty before I knelt. He frowned up at me. ‘McGraw? McGraw, don’t touch me. I think my spine is smashed. I can’t move my arms and legs.”

The Green Ripper

“Makes quite a problem.”

“Get some of the others and rig a litter. If you roll me carefully, you can slide me out of here.”

“There aren’t any others.”

He closed his eyes, then opened them again. “Brother Haris has had some medical training.”

“There aren’t any others.”

“They… they ran?” Incredulity.

“They’re dead.”

After long thoughtful moments he moistened his lips and said, “Then you’re a bird dog. You brought a team in.”

‘Jo. Em alone.”

‘Y don’t understand. You killed them all? How, for God’s sake? All those brave young people. Some of our very best. So many thousands of hours and dollars in training them.”

‘Y had a lot of luck. And of course I had some practical experience in their line of work. And motivation. Let’s not forget motivation, Brother.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Brother Thomas, the commercial fisherman.”

‘what had become evident. It was checked out. I got word about that yesterday. Who are you?”

“Just your average idle Florida beach bum. Name of McGee. Travis McGee. Salvage consultant.” I grinned idiotically at him and stuck my hand out. But of course he couldn’t take it. He had closed his eyes. I waited a long time before I touched him on the cheek. “Brother Persival?”

He looked at me. Impatience. “Yes, yes. What is it?”

“Your group killed my woman, in Florida. They went out of their way to give her a death that looked like illness.”

“Why would we do that?”

“She had been here a long time ago, looking for her husband’s kid sister, and she had seen Titus. Then she saw him again in Fort Lauderdale, negotiating to buy land for some Belgians, and recognized him. They shot a little sphere into the back of her neck and she died.”

The look of puzzlement faded. His eyes closed again as he talked. “I don’t know about it, of course. But I can see why it could have happened. There are strict rules about security. The friends who are helping us are ruthless about eliminating any link between the religious mission and the political mission. It is perfect cover. I knew we had access to that… particular method, but I didn’t know it had been used. It was supposed to be undetectable. Odd. Odd. They help the same sort of groups… everywhere.” He opened his eyes and said, “You came here because of her? Just because of her?”

“Just because of her.”

“Strange. To undo so very much. So easily.”

The next time I touched him, he didn’t respond.

The Green Ripper

His sleep looked comfortable enough, in the circumstances.

“Just because of her,” I told him again. But he was beyond all movement, all reply, all under- standing.

15 – I worked hard all the rest of that first day of the New Year. I found a bale of coarse blankets in the warehouse. I found some nylon rope and a sharp knife.

The idea, after I went down and made sure the gate was closed and locked, was to recover the farthest bodies first. Chuck and Barry. I took the van down to where I had left the road. It took me longer to find them than I had expected. All the snow was long gone. Spread the blanket. Roll body onto blanket. Tie twice around. Grab corner of blanket near the head and drag back to van. Lift in. Go get the other one. Lift in. Drive up sloppy road to ware- house. Unlock, lift bodies out, drag them inside one

The Green Ripper at a time. Drag them to place beyond narrow aisle where it widened out again. Side by side near far wall. Neat.

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