The Tesla Legacy

Chapter 9

Geezer studied the figures through the Oyster Bar’s arched windows. Tatiana sat across from her son at the corner table. She said something to Joe, and he laughed. He answered, and then she laughed, too. Clearly, they enjoyed each other’s company.

Easy for Joe Tesla to laugh. He was recognized as a genius, written up in magazines and all over the Internet, a multimillionaire boy wonder. Geezer had worked his entire life and never achieved the recognition he deserved. But once he had the Oscillator, that would change.

He would take it apart and figure out how it worked, then he would draw up plans for it and present it to the world. He would be known as the one who found the Oscillator. The Oscillator wasn’t doing the world any good locked away in some dusty trunk. It was wrong of George Tesla to sit on knowledge like that. It needed to be shared with the world.

He spotted the suitcase next to the table. Hoping that it might contain George’s secrets, he’d wanted to grab it and run when he saw her come out of the Waldorf, but the sidewalk had been crowded with doormen and hotel guests, and he’d been across the street.

Instead, he’d hailed a cab and followed her. The cabbie hadn’t wanted to do it, so Geezer had to pay him an extra twenty. Like the driver should care where the hell his cab was going — he should just drive.

They’d ended up at Grand Central Terminal, and Geezer had followed Tatiana inside. The terminal was crawling with cops and even armed soldiers, so he didn’t dare make a move then either. But he couldn’t let it get away, not if it contained his legacy. He glared at the suitcase. It was parked next to the table, as if it were an ordinary suitcase full of makeup and dirty underwear.

The sidewalks outside were busy. He’d find a place where he could snatch it. Later, he’d get all the recognition he deserved. He shouldn’t have told Spooky about the Oscillator, but he’d wanted to brag. He wanted geniuses like Ash and Quantum to recognize him. He had been a fool.

But no more of a fool than George. One drunken night George had told him he had Tesla’s Oscillator, but he wouldn’t produce it. He’d gotten defensive when pressed, said he knew where to find it, but he didn’t have it anymore. Said he had a map, but he kept it hidden. He said he wouldn’t reveal it to anyone but his son, and even then not until after his death, which they’d both known was coming soon. He was an old man, and his heart was shot. Geezer sat with him for hours to get him drunk enough to forget they had talked.

A teenager with earbuds bumped into Geezer, and he nearly fell. “Hey!”

“Sorry, old dude,” the kid said. “Didn’t see you there.”

Geezer watched him walk away. He wasn’t surprised that the boy had run into him. He’d been invisible all his life, but that was about to change.

A flicker of light drew his attention to the Oyster Bar. He looked at the Tesla table, expecting to see Tatiana and her son still talking over coffee, moving in the synchronized dance of those who know each other well, laughing at half-finished jokes.

But their table was empty.

They hadn’t come past him. He shifted from foot to foot, ready to run after them, but he didn’t know where. The damn restaurant must have a second exit.

He pushed through the door at the Oyster Bar and sprinted through the dining room until he saw the other exit. He knocked a waiter on his ass when the guy tried to stop him and made for the door.

Everyone moved out of his way as he ran. The commuters weren’t surprised to see a guy running in the terminal. Everyone had almost missed a train at some point.

He pounded into the main hall and saw Joe Tesla close to the clock, a yellow dog trotting along at his heels. Joe was pulling the black suitcase, and a man dressed in black was closing in on him.

Geezer sprinted toward the two men.