The Sleuth's Apprentice

The Sleuth's Apprentice - Part 12 of 17

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The Sleuth's Apprentice - Part 12 of 17

Superboy, Superman, Batman and Robin are Copyrighted and owned by DC Comics.

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Several hours had passed by. Robin just sat on the floor of the boat, positioning his body next to Jamie, who was now sound asleep. He felt so sorry for Jamie. He knew how much the boy loved having his super powers, and he realized that he was going through a very tough time. But, on the other hand, he also knew that it was good for Jamie to go through this episode. Jamie would learn to appreciate who he was, and he would also be more grateful for his own super powers.

Robin knew that he could completely trust Jamie. He felt like he had gained a new little brother, and he couldn't help but stare at the little boy, who was sleeping in the floor of the little row boat, while they were still drifting around the open sea. He had faith that things would only get better. He knew that Jamie was down and depressed, but he felt confident that things were about to turn around and the situation that they were in was going to change very, very soon. It was only a matter of time, for he knew that Jamie was a strong kid, and that he would get better very soon.

Jamie lay on the wooden floor of the boat. He was very quiet, except for one moment, when he moaned softly. Robin looked down and stared at him, thinking that he was about to wake up. Jamie turned on his side for a moment, and he then mumbled something in a soft voice.

'I can hear the dolphins off in the distance'' Jamie whispered, while his eyes were closed.

Robin was surprised at first. Then, it dawned on him that his powers had probably returned. When Robin bent down to say hi to him, he realized that Jamie had dozed off again. His eyes were closed, and he lay there, very, very quiet.

Robin decided to leave him alone. He didn't make a sound, knowing that he would wake up Jamie if he did. He was well aware of the fact that Jamie's body needed to heal from his exposure to Zyrtonium, followed by the unexpected illness which he had to endure during the past several days.

'Let him sleep' he thought to himself. There was no reason to wake him up. But, Robin was hopeful that this would be their last night at sea. Something told him that Jamie was his old self again, based on the things he had said in a soft voice. Superman had mentioned once before that Jamie would occasionally talk in his sleep, so it was no wonder that he would say something, while he was asleep in the boat.

When the sun came up, a few hours later, Robin felt the warmth coming from the sun's powerful rays. They were soothing and comforting, and he was happy that the weather was so cooperative. It would have been much worse, had they been stuck at sea in rough waters, while having to ride out the rain or high winds. This made him happy, for the calm seas were the perfect prescription for healing from illness, and that was exactly what Jamie had needed all along.

Suddenly, Robin was startled when he heard a soft moan. He looked down, from where he was sitting, and he noticed that Jamie had changed his position. He turned so he lay on his back. Then, the boy slowly opened his eyes, and he stared straight up at the clear, cloudless sky.

'Uhhh' What time is it?' Jamie asked in a soft voice.

'Good morning, champ!' Robin chuckled. 'Or, should I say, good afternoon! Did you sleep well?'

Jamie slowly grabbed hold of the outer edge of the boat, before hoisting himself up, so that he could sit down on the wooden plant, which ran near the end of the other side of the small row boat.

'My goodness'' Jamie sighed. He still looked like he was in a little bit of a daze. 'I've never slept that long in my life!'

Jamie squint his eyes and then stared up at the cloudless sky.

'How are you feeling?' Robin smiled. 'You've been asleep since yesterday afternoon, do you realize that?'

'Yeah! I only sleep that long when I'm sick''

'Well, you were sick! But, you're looking much better right now!'

Jamie turned around and faced the ocean. He rested his chin on the wooden edge of the boat. He stared down at the water for a few moments.

Robin got down on his knees besides Jamie, and he rested his chin on the boat's wooden edge as well. He was curious about what Jamie was staring at.

'What are you looking at?'

'I can see the bottom of the ocean from here!' Jamie said with a smile. 'I'm just looking at all the colorful fish that are swimming around down there' There's nothing else to do.'

'You're looking at the bottom of the ocean? Are you sure?' Robin observed, as he intently tried to stare at the ocean. 'I just see the blue ocean' Everything's blue for me!'

'Can't you see the fish?' Jamie asked him. 'Look, over there! I see some blue and white fish, swimming around. They're swimming above the ocean floor!'

'I don't see any fish at all!' Robin grinned. 'And the ocean's floor is more than a mile deep! I can't see that far!'

'What are you talking about?' Jamie wondered. For the moment, he thought Robin was pulling a joke on him. 'Just look! Look over there! Just look straight down!'

'I don't see anything! It's just blue!' Robin stated. 'I don't see any fish at all!'

'Robin! Just look! You're not looking! Look right there! Don't you see the fish?' Jamie said, while feeling a little annoyed.

'I guess I don't have super vision, like you do!' Robin said with a grin.

Jamie was astonished. His mouth dropped wide open.

The two boys just stared at each other in silence for a few moments.

'But' I don't have my powers any more''

'Are you sure?' Robin chuckled. 'How do you know?'

'Uhh''

Jamie stared at the water before him. Then he focused on a few waves, which were coming right at their boat.

'If I had my powers, then I could fire two rays of heat vision at those waves'' he said in a serious tone of voice.

Suddenly two thick, red rays of light emitted from Jamie's pupils, striking the waves before him!

'Aaaaah!' Jamie shouted, as he placed his hand before his mouth.

Jamie gasped, when he discovered that his heat vision was working! He turned to look at Robin, who just nodded in reply.

'Robin!' he shouted. 'It's back! My powers are back! I'm back!'

Robin just stared at him. It was great, just seeing a smile on Jamie's face again!

'My powers are back! Yayyyy!!' he cheered out loud!

Jamie extended his arms and pointed to the sky, when he leaped in the air, soaring into the sky like a rocket!

'WHOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!'

Jamie flew a mile above the water, looping as he ascended higher and higher! He was so happy, that tears were coming from his eyes.

'I can fly! I can fly! Oh my God' I can fly!'

With arms extended sideways, he shot straight up, reaching the lower atmosphere. He then slowed down, when he began to feel the warm rays of the sun, which were warming the blue uniform he was wearing.

He hovered in mid air and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath of fresh air, enjoying the warmth of the sun, while savoring the smell of the vast ocean below him.

'Ohh' Come on, sun' Fill me up with your yellow rays!' he cheered, as his body began to soak up the sunlight like a sponge. In fact, he was more like a solar battery, which was soaking up the energy from the sun!

'Yes! YES! I'm strong. I'm SUPER STRONG!' Jamie cheered, as he clenched his fists and looked sideways, admiring his muscles.

The young super kid was enjoying the incredible power surge, which was going through his body. He was feeling great! In fact, he had never felt better in his life! His body was fully loaded with strength. He was completely rested and charged. He felt his powers reaching a new level, which he had never reached before. It was awesome!

'I'm SUPER! SUPERBOY IS BAAAAAACKKK!!!' he shouted, as he looped around in a large circle, before he rapidly dove back down to the ocean below him.

'Robin! ROBIN! I'm coming!!!' he cheered, as he spotted the tiny row boat, which was drifting in the vast ocean.

Robin was sitting on the wooden plank, while he was observing Jamie's acrobatics in the sky. Jamie made several loops, before he finally landed on the middle of the row boat.

'Let's go, Robin! Let's get out of here!' Jamie said excitedly, as he looked down at Robin.

Robin just smiled at him, while he slowly stood up, and walked to the middle of the boat, where Jamie was standing.

'Well, grab my hand! What are you waiting for? Let's go!' Jamie cheered again.

'Wait, Jamie'' Robin said calmly. 'I need to tell you something''

For the moment, Jamie just stared at Robin in shock.

'What? Tell me what? I'm NOT leaving you out here all alone! Don't even think about asking me that!'

'No' It's not that''

Robin slowly walked up to the shorter Superboy, and he rested his hands on the boy's broad shoulders. He glanced down at the young super kid, who was radiating with his new, reinforced and elevated super powers.

'Welcome back, Superboy'' Robin whispered at him.

'It's great to be back, Robin'' Jamie replied. 'But, you were right all along. You knew I was going to fly again. You knew I was going to get better. And you knew that my powers were going to come back' You knew it, even though I didn't believe it''

Robin just smiled as he looked down at the little Superboy.

'You're like a little brother to me, do you know that?' he smiled. 'One minute, you're all sad and depressed, and the next, you're as happy as can be! You're like a little kid''

'I am a little kid, Robin! Don't you know?'

'Give me a hug, Superboy'' Robin whispered. Jamie embraced Robin, and the two held on to each other for a minute, before they let go.

'You're not LIKE a brother to me, Robin'' Superboy replied. 'You ARE a brother to me' And, I really appreciate that''

'Well, now that you're officially my brother, I promise you that I'll always help you and I'll never do anything to hurt you'' Robin announced.

'Okay. Me, too. If we're brothers from now on, then we'll treat each other like brothers, and we will never do anything to hurt each other. I will never do anything to deliberately hurt you, for as long as I live!' Superboy replied.

Superboy and Robin extended pinkies, and they locked their right-hand pinkies together in a secret handshake, confirming their promise to each other.

'Life-long brothers?' Robin asked.

'Yes! We'll be brothers forever!'

'Well, since you're my little super-brother, may I ask you a small favor?' Robin wondered.

'Sure!'

'Could you fly us out of here? Please?'

'Of course! I had offered that in the first place! Let's get home!'

'Thanks, little bro''

'Grab hold of my hand' Superboy instructed. 'You're driving!'

The two boys held hands, before the leaped in the air and soared across the sky, high above the vast, blue ocean, where the small row boat was left drifting along in the sea'

In the meantime, Wancho and his men were putting the plan into practice. An ad was placed in the local newspaper, just the week before news reports surfaced, about an oncoming hurricane. The ad said that the bus company had declared bankruptcy, and all the current employees were laid off. This had sparked great anger in the community, and several marches were planned, which had taken place right in front of the bus station and the headquarters of the city's bus service company.

The local newspapers, radio stations, and TV stations were all owned by Willco. Suddenly, they began broadcasting weather reports on the local news, indicating an approaching hurricane, which was forecast to strike the area from the Gulf Coast.

About two days after the first reports of a hurricane had been made public; the local authorities had begun to issue orders for a voluntary evacuation. Residents of Valery were encouraged to evacuate their homes and to leave the city on their own, if possible. About a day later, with news of an oncoming hurricane, which was reported as being one with the Category-5 strength level, mandatory evacuations were now ordered by the mayor.

Suddenly, everyone was in panic! People were told to leave the city and to go to any of the surrounding communities which were located on higher ground and away from the strike-zone of the oncoming hurricane. The panic level became elevated, when large, dark clouds began to surface over the horizon, completely covering the sky above the city. It had become dark and gloomy, and the residents began to realize that the warnings about an oncoming hurricane needed to be taken seriously.

All the downtown businesses and schools had closed the doors, allowing people to leave the city and seek higher ground. Restaurants and gas stations were turning away people, as the population had begun to leave the city. After a day of chaos and panic, the city of Valery was completely deserted.

That evening, after all the residents had left the city, leaving their homes and businesses behind, several buses had suddenly gone into the deserted city, specifically to the areas where the businesses were located.

Several buses had pulled up at the malls and banks. Masked men, containing empty suitcases and large, plastic bags, left the buses and ran towards the major banks and jewelry stores, smashing the glass doors and windows using rocks or crow bars.

When Jamie and Robin arrived in Valery, they realized that there was something wrong, when they noted that all the streets were empty and all the houses were boarded up with sheets of plywood.

'Hey! Where is everybody?' Jamie wondered, the moment he landed near a busy city intersection and noticed that there was nobody around.

'Oh my gosh'' Robin exclaimed. 'Don't tell me that the people have already evacuated the city, because they thought that there was a hurricane coming''

Suddenly, there was a loud crashing sound, which came from one of the shops around the corner.

'I knew it!' Robin shouted at Jamie. 'They're robbing the place! We've got to stop them!'

Jamie immediately took off and flew to the bank, where he spotted several masked men, who had smashed the glass windows by throwing a large brick through the window.

In the meantime, Robin ran over to the jewelry store, which was just a few yards away from where they landed. Robin ran over to the store, and he found one masked man hauling a big bag over his shoulder.

'Drop that bag' NOW!' Robin ordered.

The masked man removed the gun from his belt and aimed it at him. He shot several shots at the Boy Wonder, who managed to hide behind several displays. He then removed his bat-boomerang from his utility belt, and then hurled it at the robber. The boomerang knocked the gun out of his hand, forcing the robber to retreat and to hide behind the counter where the cash register was located.

Robin spotted a large vase, which was standing on a shelf. The vase was positioned right above the area where he knew that the man was hiding, so he hurled the boomerang at it. The spinning and flying object passed right by the top edge of the vase, causing it to rock on its stand, before it tipped over and fell off the shelf, landing right on the masked man's head and knocking him unconscious!

Robin carefully got up and walked towards the counter, where he bound the man's hands, using rope from his utility belt.

'Let's see how Jamie's doing' he said to himself, as he put the large bag back on the cash register, as he dragged the man's body to the front door, so that the police wouldn't miss him when they would arrive to arrest the robber.

In the meantime, Jamie flew into the bank, where he spotted two masked robbers. In fact, the robbers had already filled the bags and had boarded the bus, when Jamie arrived. The driver had started the engine, and the bus was about to drive away when the Boy of Steel arrived.

'No! They're trying to get away! I can't allow that to happen!' he exclaimed, as he leaped in the air and started to fly behind the bus.

As the bus was speeding on to the highway, Jamie continued to fly closer. Luckily, neither of the robbers had noticed that Superboy was flying right behind them. Jamie then decided to increase the speed and to pass the bus, before he landed about half a mile in front of the road where the bus was traveling. There were no other streets to turn in to, so Jamie knew that the bus had to pass that way!

When the bus came, Jamie extended his arms before him, bracing himself to stop the bus in its tracks. When the bus got close enough, the driver saw the caped boy, who was standing right in front of them!

'Oh no! Where did that kid come from?' the driver shouted.

The driver tried to swerve the bus to the side, barely missing Jamie. But Jamie grabbed hold of the side of the bus, and he allowed the bus to come to a standstill, even while the driver was holding down the gas pedal all the way.

Jamie then tiled the front of the bus all the way up, until the bus was standing on the rear, with the wheels pointing to the side.

'Aaaaaaghhh!' the two men screamed, as they lost hold of where they were sitting, and they slid over the side of the bus, until they hit the back seat.

Jamie continued to tilt the bus further, so that the wheels were pointing straight up. Within moments, the bus was laying on the side of the road, with all four wheels pointing to the sky, exposing the chassis and the bottom part of the engine. Jamie set the bus down, which was now laying on its roof, and it was in the upside-down position.

Jamie then ripped open the emergency exit of the bus, which was located at the rear of the bus, where he ran in and grabbed the two robbers. He pulled the men, who were both unconscious, and dragged them out of the large vehicle.

Police cars were arriving from the distance, and Jamie knew that his work was now finished. He extended his arms to the sky and took off, flying over the sight of the upside-down bus, which was quickly being surrounded with three police cars, one fire engine, and an ambulance.

'Alright, I guess I can go and see how Robin is doing'' Jamie said to himself, before he flew back to the jewelry store, where he had left Robin the last time he had seen him.

When Jamie was flying over the small city, he scanned all the businesses with his x-ray vision. He tried to single out all the banks and all the jewelry stores in particular, since it seemed like those were the types of stores, which Wancho had repeatedly targeted.

He spotted one more bus, which was parked in front of another small bank. He landed, and ran into the building, where he spotted two men wearing masks and carrying large, cloth bags.

Since there were two long, thick metal bars, which made up the door that was before the entrance to the vault, Jamie grabbed the steel bars, and ripped them out of the door frame, which held the door to the vault.

When the robbers saw Superboy staring at them in the bank, the young, caped hero fired his heat vision at one of them, forcing him to drop the gun, due to the heat. Jamie had made the gun become so hot, that the robber had to drop it, while his hand was burned at the fingers.

'Yeeeeowww!' the man screamed, as he cringed in pain. Jamie then took the metal bar, and bent it so that it was in the shape of a circle, which was about the size of the man's chest. He then forcefully placed the round bar around the man's chest, pressing and holding his arms together, so that he was bound.

The second robber tried to shoot him down as well, but Superboy placed the metal bar against him as well. He pierced a hole through the man's overcoat, and then he ran the metal bar through the two holes. Then, he raised the bar up to the top edge of the door to the vault. Using his heat vision, he soldered both ends of the bar against the metal frame of the vault door, holding and keeping the unconscious bank robber hanging suspended in the door opening. He was hanging from the overcoat and ready to be taken down by the police officers, when they would arrive only moments later.

'There, I think that was the last of them!' Superboy cheered, as he leaped in the air to fly away, just when the first police officers arrived at the scene.

He then flew back to the jewelry store where he had left Robin, scanning the buildings that he was flying over. This time, he was certain that he had stopped all the robbers, and that the abandoned city wouldn't become another robbed community.

When he arrived at the jewelry store, he spotted Robin, who was running outside one of the shopping malls. Jamie landed right in front of him, showing a wide grin on his face.

'Are you ready?' he asked the Boy Wonder.

'Yes, I think we got them all! We completely foiled their plans, this time!' Robin cheered, as the two boys shook each other's hands.

'Let's go back to the Batcave. I guess we're done for the night!' Jamie suggested to Robin.

'Yeah' We're done. Hopefully, the residents of Valery would start coming back to the city very soon. Luckily, nothing will have gotten stolen this time' Robin pointed out. 'We trapped the robbers, but we still need to go after their boss. We're not finished yet, but I think now is a good time for us to get back to the Batcave so that we can regroup and plot out our next course of action!'

'Alright! Let's fly back home!' Jamie said to Robin. The Boy Wonder took hold of Superboy's hand, and the two figures took off, flying back to the secret entrance to the Batcave.

In the meantime, the weary residents of the city of Valery started making the way back into the city, when they found out that there was no hurricane coming at all. When people went to other cities, nobody had heard about the hurricanes on the news, and people began to wonder why they were told that they needed to evacuate. Not only that, but people were very angry that they had been lied to. Everyone who came back to the city had expected to see a city that was destroyed by a hurricane. Instead, they found numerous businesses, including banks, jewelry stores, and other financial institutions, robbed and stripped clean by an unknown band of robbers.

'We've been robbed!' people said, when they returned.

'The hurricane was a hoax!' the Commissioner said on the radio, when he returned to the city, only to find the stores broken in to. Luckily, when they realized that the hurricane was a hoax, all the police officers had covered the entire city, and they found the robbers. All of them were bound and tied up, with the bags containing the loot, neatly placed besides their bodies.

When the Commissioner and the Mayor were interviewed on TV, Bruce Wayne was following the reports, and he instructed the boys to let the Mayor know that they were the ones who stopped the robberies and captured the crooks. Bruce sent an email to the Commissioner Gordon, informing him that Robin and Superboy were the two heroes who had apprehended the thugs. He also explained that the hurricane reports were false, and that they were part of a big plot to rob the entire city.

Large letters covered the front pages of the local newspapers the following day: 'HURRICANE HOAX LED TO MULTIPLE ROBBERIES IN VALERY DURING FAKE EVACUATION'.

The following day, Robin and Superboy were invited to a small ceremony at city hall, where they each received medals for foiling the bank robbers during the most daring robbery attempt that has ever taken place in the city's history. They were honored to receive the awards, although Batman cautiously warned the boys not to consider the case closed yet. Most of the robbers had been captured, but the biggest robber of them all, William Wancho, was still at large.

In the meantime, word of the failed robberies in the city of Valery had reached the secret headquarters of Willco, which was located in Gotham City. This was a few miles away from Valery and over two-thousand miles away from Camp Charlie in Arizona, but news of the failure of the robberies in Valery had quickly reached the desk of the big boss himself.

'I can't believe this!' Wancho shouted, as he slammed his fist on the desk. 'Who could have stopped us? The plan was perfect!'

Brian, his science advisor, was in the office with him.

'We'll need to take more time to plan the next robbery, Mister Wancho' I can't explain what had gone wrong''

The two men had read the reports of the captured robbers, who were all working for Wancho. News reports on the TV had showed that Robin and Superboy had stopped the robberies, and this angered Wancho greatly.

'Robin and Superboy?' Wancho said with disgust. 'That little creep! I saw that kid at the fair!'

'He was captured at the chemical plant a few days ago!' Brian indicated. 'I don't understand what happened!'

Wancho picked up the phone and called the chemical plant, where he heard that Superboy had indeed been held and captured.

'We had Robin and Superboy at the chemical plant' one of the guards explained. 'But we flew them to the fort on Caicos Island, which were your orders, boss!'

'YOU IDIOTS!' Wancho shouted back. 'I only wanted you to send Robin to the island, not Superboy!

'We' We misunderstood, boss!' the guard stuttered. 'You said to have them BOTH taken to the island. After they had arrived there, they managed to escape. We talked to the lady, who runs the fort on Caicos Island, but nobody knows what had happened, and the two prisoners had managed to escape by using a row boat!

'How did they get back, if they were captured and imprisoned?' Wancho inquired. 'And, where is the boat?'

'We found the boat drifting in the ocean, but without anyone on board' the guard explained. 'Robin and Superboy had disappeared at sea, and we thought that they might have drowned or something''

'You people are so incompetent!' Wancho snarled at him. 'We'll need to find a way to trap Superboy into coming here!'

Wancho slammed the phone on the horn and just stared in front of him, feeling incredibly disgusted by the whole situation.

'We might not have to do that, boss'' Brian said softly. 'If Robin and Superboy were on this case and they were trying to figure out what we're doing, chances are that they might come back''

'What makes you so sure they're going to come back here?' Wancho asked the scientist.

'Well, you're still a free man!' he replied. 'I think they know that you're behind the disappearances of the kids, the secret camp in Arizona, and the robberies in Carnaville and Valery'

'We need to stop those two, before they bring down our entire operation!' Wancho ordered. 'You need to find a way to stop Superboy! You must find a weakness!'

'We have' When Robin and Superboy were in the chemical plant, the guards noticed that Superboy went down, the minute one of the display cases shattered, which spilled a few rare metals on the lab's floor. One of them was a red rock, which we had found in a meteor. It was called Zyrtonium''

'Zyrtonium?'

'Yes'' Brian replied with a grin. 'The moment Superboy was exposed to the rock; he went down and lost consciousness. Now, I'm not so sure why the Zyrtonium would affect him that way, but I have a hunch that this might be the weakness, that we might want to exploit, if we want to capture the Boy of Steel!'

'I don't want to capture him just to hold him prisoner' Wancho said. 'I've seen him use his powers when I met him at the fair for the first time. I want his power!'

'They tried to inject him with something when he was at the chemical plant, but nothing worked and his skin couldn't be pierced' Brian continued to explain. 'I don't know how you could take his powers away from him, but I could think of a way to bring him down!'

'How?'

'I'll request the guards at the lab to bring me the Zyrtonium. Then, I can create a laser gun that will fire a ray of light, which passes through the rock. It will then emit a ray of Zyrtonium light, which will likely affect Superboy and bring him down.'

'I want you to find a way so that I can control him and his power' Wancho said. 'If I can make Superboy rob these places for me, then I don't have to go through all the bother and expense of buying gas stations, TV, radio stations, and bus companies! That would save me millions of Dollars!'

'I can use the Zyrtonium to create a serum, boss'' Brian said with a smile. 'That way, you can tell him to do whatever you want!'

'I want to have complete control over that kid!' Wancho replied. 'The question is: How do we get him back?'

'We will continue to hire more help in Gotham City' Brian said. 'He's been seen hanging out with Robin, who operates in Gotham City as well. We'll keep our eyes open, but I think he might show up at our doorstep one of these days! He's about the same age as the youngest kids, who get jobs in our stores!'

'I hope you're right' Wancho said with a serious tone. 'I hate the thought of setting a trap for Robin and Superboy. That is too risky''

'Well, we can hold a large heist at one of the banks in town, and then we can blast him with the Zyrtonium gun, the minute he shows up to stop us! All I need is the rock, which is hidden in a secret compartment inside of the laser gun''

'Well, get to it, then!' Wancho ordered. 'We'll give it a few days, just to see if he shows up at any one of our stores. If he doesn't show up, then we'll set a trap for him. If we capture Robin, then we'll have him killed right away. We'll see if your serum works on Superboy. If it does, then we'll get him to do our dirty work for us.'

'And' What if my serum doesn't work?'

Wancho turned to face Brian.

'Either he is with us, or against us. And, I want everyone, who is against us, to be terminated.' Wancho explained. 'If the serum fails, then I want you to kill Superboy''

'Yes, sir'' Brian gulped. 'I-I'll get on it right away''

Brian turned around and walked out of the office. Wancho followed him briefly, before he picked up his telephone and dialed his security officer.

'Prepare the jet to fly me to Camp Charlie in Arizona' he instructed. 'I need to go there to rally my troops. I've had a bad day, and I need to be with my kids for a few days''

'Yes, boss' the voice on the phone replied.

Wancho just laughed to himself. No matter what would happen next, he knew that he had the situation under control.