The Fountain of Youth

Chapter 29

“Where is he, Jeeves?” Lieutenant Campbell asked the butler.

“Excuse me, sir, but my name is Charles Amberson. Not Jeeves,” Charles corrected the investigator.

“Are you being a prick, Charles?” Campbell asked, sounding a lot like Charles’ old football pals.

“I believe I am introducing myself, sir,” he told Campbell.

“Christ, it’s like talking to Mr. Spock. Are you aware that you are obstructing justice by refusing the police access to this mansion?” the lieutenant growled at the front door of Wrichtishousis, where Charles was deterring his entry in the middle of the night.

“No sir,” Charles replied. “I am under no obligation to allow access without a warrant.”

Lieutenant Campbell realized that his usual intimidating manner was not going to fly this time. The butler was correct and the lieutenant knew that he would not get any help unless he used another approach. And he could freeze to death in the cold night air on top of it.

“Listen, Charles. I understand that you are only doing your job, but I have to impress upon you the ugly repercussions for your boss if he ditches us. All I ask is his whereabouts,” Campbell sighed.

“To arrest him?” Charles asked, secretly enjoying his power trip over the cop.

“I can’t arrest him yet. We don’t have enough evidence to bring him in, you see? You may as well tell me, because he’s being targeted by the very people who tried to kill him at the Sinclair Facility. Please, Charles, this is no bullshit. I need to know where David is because they already do. If I can’t send Interpol to his location, they’ll kill him and walk away,” the rugged lieutenant explained with no small measure of shameless pleading.

“Lieutenant Campbell, I will lose my job,” Charles persisted.

“Well, when they shoot your boss in the head you’ll be out of a job anyway,” Campbell said, shrugging. “It looks like you really have no choice, son. We’re both on David’s side. We have to save Nina Gould and we have to save him and we have to do it before they catch up to them, do you understand the weightiness of this issue?”

Charles sighed and mulled it over. He could feel Lily’s eyes burning into his back and he knew that she was easier to crack than he was.

Charles’ phone rang.

“Excuse me, sir,” he apologized, and answered the phone. It was Purdue.

“Sir, Lieutenant Campbell is here as we speak,” he reported with his back to the large investigator in the doorway. Still, Charles kept a keen eye on the unwelcome guest using the mirrors in the lobby. He kept his voice low, but he could tell that Campbell knew who he had on the line. Suddenly the butler looked utterly surprised. “Of course, sir. Please hold.”

With the wind properly out of his sails the flabbergasted butler walked over to Campbell and handed him the phone. “It’s for you, sir.”

Looking as perplexed as the butler, Campbell took the call.

“Purdue?”

Charles waited patiently for his master to complete the call, feeling a right twit. He pretended to look out over the porch furniture while he waited, trying to eavesdrop, but he heard little more than muttering from the police investigator who paced the driveway.

At last the cop came smiling, returning the phone. To Charles’ surprise, he was not gloating. Instead he passed it on, “Talk to your boss quick, alright? Hurry, we have plans to make.”

“Listen, Charles,” Purdue said, “I’ve asked Campbell to alert Interpol about Guterman. His lackey here is going to let him know that Nina and I will be traveling to the Faroe Islands post haste. We’re going to bait her into it.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I need you to call my flight crew to charter a flight to Vágar Airport, Faroe Islands with my private jet,” Purdue instructed as Charles ran into the library room next to the dining hall.

“Sir, just one moment, please. I’m getting a pen and paper,” he puffed as his polished Italians clapped on the marble floor. “Right! Faroe Islands airport. Shall I send the jet to collect you at the nearest airfield in Hampshire?”

“No, no, Charles,” Purdue rushed. “You know how I always tell you to use initiative?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Today is not that day, alright?” Purdue said hurriedly. “Just take down the information and execute the orders. Just for today.”

“Yes, sir.”

Campbell smiled as he watched the red-faced youth scribble down what he already knew. He gave the lad a quick wave to announce his departure and hoped he would get the instructions right and not foul it up for everyone involved.