Final Challenge (2 page)

The only black spot of Harold was still Harry. His vice president, far from being entrained by
the wake of Harold, had
decided
unilaterally throw his life away as a nightmare and with it by far the prestige of the executive. Drinker and womanizer, was impossible to stop him, until the point that the president gave him an ultimatum after
the first two-years of mandate
. It served for little or nothing. It took only two months to surpass himself. At a gala dinner with one of the most charismatic leaders of the Middle East, he did not limit himself to get drunk but then he interfered with Carol, proposing himself to seduce her with his empty archness. Only quenching and good nature allowed Carol to stop his bravado without guests noticed it. That was the straw that broke the camel. His scandals were the order of
the day, but perhaps people
had sympathized with the misfortune that their president was carrying, because, lacking a little over a month to finish the primaries, Harold was ahead in the polls in so exorbitant way that no one doubted about his reelection.

  Carol had tried to convince Harold to withdraw. Four years had been more than enough, she thought they needed more time for both and for the expansion project of family that had been parked after the previous elections. But her husband insisted that he had a commitment to be faced, that their private life had been overshadowed by their public responsibilities and that he needed her to give back again the best of herself for another four years.
In that way,
Carol
was forced to accept.

Harold just put a condition on the table to his party, which they soon approved. He proposed to his friend, Thomas, as vice president for the new term at the expense of Harry. Thomas never had had the luck he deserved in politics, but no one doubted his ability, let al
one Harold. But without the
nightmare
called Harry
, and with the confidence that Thomas deserved, success seemed
to be
assured.

III

  
Nine years seeing their faces every day during most of the day had not undermined the friendship between the detectives
Marvin and
Hanson.  Few marriages had survived to such wear and many psychologists of couples should have taken note of the strong foundation that kept their peculiar relationship that went far
beyond from professional.
Because, beyond the ten year age difference between them, the contrast between their characters, their diametrically opposed views, there was a deep mutual respect and admiration. Both had shared difficult times and overcome delicate situations, thanks to their partnership and mutual trust. And all their little quarrels ended in the same way, ie, sharing a beer in a bar.

   That afternoon of July was becoming endless for two men whose natural place was in the streets. They preferred a thous
and times more to face the most
challenging challenge that wait for days, arms crossed, to entrust them
on a mission. Luckily for both such situation was not usual
,
because they did not lack work usually, but they were about to fall into despair. With heat pressing on them and air conditioning broken, the minutes in his small office seemed centuries and would have been impossible to determine the looks received for that wall clock that seemed frozen in time, even broken. Marvin had chosen
to recline his armchair while
he read the newspaper with his feet on the table. Hanson, whose more
restless and nervous character
prevented him remain undaunted, was wandering from one place to another in the office with a glass of water on hand. Marvin looked at him repeatedly u
ntil he could not avoid shape his
thoughts.

G
uy, you'
re getting me nervous, you don’
t
stop of moving from one place to another.

  Hanson turned around and smiled, as he gave his own view.

- You know I can’
t bear
the inactivity.

Marvin felt compelled to give an explanation that seemed obvious.

- But FBI is so
, it se
ems incredible that you haven’t
yet perceived it. Stressful moments alterna
te with others not transcendent
at all. Like everything in life, it is better to adapt.

- Do not ask me that, you know that is not for me. Do you know what I'm thinking?

- Ah! So you get to meditate in situations like this? You have much merit!

- In the blonde of the other day.

- The one with huge boobs?

- Ah! Was there another one?

- When I left you it seemed everything was fine.

- Damn, and it was! That is precisely the problem, everything went too well!

- So? ...

Hanson look
ed at his watch again, then
the
one in the wall, as to make sure none of them had stopped. Then he looked to Marvin and brandishing a smile he replied.

-
Well, I mee
t her this afternoon!

- 
I was beginning to be worried, thinking that your mind was lost with deep themes!

For once, Hanson became serious. Even knowing t
hat the conversation could get
tensed,
he
used the occasion to try getting close to Marvin, who was not the same since some time ago.
  He knew too well what
the reason
was, but didn’t
know how he could help.

-
         
For you is easy. You've decided to become a kind of hermit or something.

-
         
  Marvin felt trapped. He didn’
t want to enter to the rag that Hanson had tended. In fact, he always had been an introvert, that before any pr
oblem fled to take refuge in his
inner universe, and Hanson's prop
osal deeply bothered him. Only
some rough words of self-defense came to his mind.

-
         
Here we go
again
!

-
         
Hanson was not one that it was withdrawing the first try, and if he proposed it he could be as direct as for putting his interlocutor into a quagmire.

- If you really still love her, why have you given up?

Marvin took his feet off the table, looked down and st
arted to rise.
It was o
ne way like
other
one
of
trying to escape. Basically, Hanson always ended up surprising him in some way. He had all afternoon at his leisure, without a
ddressing practically any word
almost as if he were in another world. But it was clear that he had not gone unnoticed for him that he was reading the same page of the newspaper for more than an hour.
Then he answered slightly angry:

-
         
Because it makes no sense. I'm sure it's too late.

T
his time he was lucky he didn’t
need further explanation, because suddenly opened the office doo
r and Jenna Eddison, the coworker
with the most character of the whole plant, a gorgeous woman that hid a strong and sour personality, to the point of being known in the departmen
t as "the Barbie with character
"
,
came in lik
e a shot. Hanson stared at her,
Jenna stared back coldly, calmly, and then raise her voice.

- The boss wants to see you in his office before that I close the door again.

Hanson returned to watch the clock. It was five to six. All the damn afternoon died of boredom, with the only consolation of getting arrived on time for an appointment once in his life, and with five minu
tes to go, the boss and Jenna ca
me the rush.
He co
uld not avoid
  one of his wry
jokes.

- Well don’t
go. Or rather, tell him we have already gone.

Jenna was not one who cared to enter into a bitter war of
words
, she thought it was a waste of time. So she only looked at him and spit in a despotic way an "As you wish", as she slammed the door.

IV

The boss hardly looked at them when they crossed the door of his office. Absorbed in some papers, not even look up when they sat down. Hanson could not hide his concern, did not know where to look at. Meanwhile, Marvin was absent.
His
external environment
had changed
, but not his internal one. If the boss had remained silent for hours, surely he would not have minded, but after a few seconds looked up and addressed them brandishing the smile they already knew. He used it when he wanted to entrust a mission of the second row to somebody, in an attempt to make more pleasant the pill that he was going to drop later. So, before he started to talk, they both knew they had got an unpleasant task, one of such kind that anyone in the department does not want. H
anson remembered that that boss
had never really trusted them, or, to be realistic, specifically in him, since he took office three years ago. The worst part is h
e didn’t
know the reasons, if
really had, because their service sheets were faultless, by far the brightest of the department. Perhaps it was because his boss was
one of those gray guys that have
little or nothing to contribute. As consequence they feel uncomfortable having trained people by his side, although they are situated hierarchically below them. Of course, he had nothing to do with his predecessor, the admired and longed Spencer, who had given up his post after winning a well deserved promotion that seemed never would arrive. One of the many virtues of Spencer was to rely on the value of people without measuring them based on other parameters that were not honesty, professionalism and ability to sacrifice.

  When
the boss started talking, his eyes went first to Marvin, then, perhaps noting that there was no answer, he fixed his eyes on Hanson. Anyone who had been present there would not be slow to realize that the boss did not like Hanson with just appreciate the effort that had to do to look into his eyes. Faced with his sight he felt compelled to strengthen his smile with an explanation that was unnecessary:

-
         
It's a strange issue that had
to affect
to someone! ...

  Hanson could not suppress his refusal, even though his nature had cost him more of a trouble.

- Well, everything starts that way. Now if this
is about paranormal phenomena
, it might be better pass it to another department ...

  That was the excuse, the trigger that the boss was waiting to disqualify him.

- When will you reali
ze that you can’t
be doing the funny twenty-four hours a day?

  It was then when Marvin awakened from their slumber to break a tense situation that threatened to end bitterly.

- Why strange?

   The boss
turned to Marvin trying to circumvent to Hanson, and continued.

- Because it's just a strange coincidence today, just that. Moreover, almost certainly has nothing special. But we have to investigate.

  Hanson set his teeth and let out a mild irony with which he could never find an angry response.

- Yes, for that we get paid.

  The boss
looked down and mumbled a few words:

- Finally you say something reasonable.

  Then he took two papers on the table and threw them to both with contempt. It took nothing to read them. A few lines written in a sloth way, house brand since the new boss had taken over the department. Then Marvin and Hanson stared loo
ked each other. It was Hanson who thought that he
had to intervene.