The Last Straw Of Schadenfreude

My name is unimportant. The players are the opposite. The events that I transcribe are real. Let me set the stage.

I dwell in the heart of Stalithe, a city not unlike Los Angeles, Chicago, or New York City. Especially the latter, as the Towers only were toppled a year prior. I have seen monsters of the two-legged and four-legged variety. And at the center, is the Kestrel.

I have made a study of this "hero." His dedication to the public good is very questionable. He has only been in operation for 4 years. I am convinced of his identity. As such, I must do Stalithe a favor and destroy him.

But why? This started a year ago.

Miranda, my only child, held a newspaper in her arms and placed it on the table during our customary monthly luncheon.

"The Peggs, they were associates of yours,” Miranda was intuitive.

I always savored my wine during any meal.

"Yes."

"You murdered them?" Miranda’s look of horror lives in my hippocampus.

"Merely took them hostage, my dove." I pointed to the word "Kestrel" in bold print on the headline "Kestrel Sighting?" High-Flying Hostage Rescue."

That headline chafed me sorely.

"Kestrel--- interfered."

"Father, these men, whatever they have done, did not deserve this."

I would have argued this point but my daughter still believes that no one is beyond redemption. This was also the first time she has openly confronted me, though I am sure she’d suspected my involvement in other… incidents.

“Two of them destroyed the lives of many, and they did it for millions.

The latter three helped the former infiltrate the city’s ruling elite by killing the mayor.

They all lined their pockets and every cent is blood money.” My argument was sound.

"And this, Kestrel, stopped you?

This has been an aggravating trend lately. I did not verbalize this.

"Father, those weren’t just any two charlatans, they were Claude and Trudy Pegg. “ Miranda continued. “They’re saying Claude murdered Hamish, his brother! All to take control of Danecorp. Do you play Hamlet in this drama? Who are they to you? "

Haimish and I were college fraternity brothers. He had put me on his board of Trustees.

His company had made a breakthrough in fiber-optic technology and he was rising to new heights in Silicon Valley. I was an orphan, bouncing from place to place thanks to the incompetent American public care system where good social workers were the exception, not the norm. Hamish was the closest thing I had to a brother. . When Haimish brought me into the frat and into his inner circle he didn't look down on me, he treated me like the brother he truly saw me as wanted.

"You would not understand."

My daughter looked at me with her soft, blue pools of intelligence and silently rebuked me.

"This is wrong. "

"Daughter, you may be in a position someday where you will need protection from people such as this. And they were all investigated: the Grand Jury found them guilty. "

" Yes, they did. And since then two others fled the country: John Polo, Trudy's alleged lover, and his Chief Operations Officer, Horace Copenhagen The last one, Julkia Specter, Trudy's financial manager, is still missing. Were you the one who provided this protection? Because it seems this Kestrel not only rescued them, he also provided the evidence to law enforcement. I do research as well." Miranda's eyes were sad. She grabbed her purse and keys. "I came to see if the man I called father held any regret for his actions. I see he does not. Goodbye, Father. I pray someday you cease the quest, which is most perilous to your soul."

This brings me here. The office ante-chamber of Dr. Karla J. Unger, MD. I will not bore you with the frivolities of how I followed the breadcrumbs this charlatan left in her wake. Nor how simple it was to connect the fact that three of her most 5 recent clients had wealth and clandestine affairs in need of concealment. One in particular was very important to me. To her credit, I almost did not find her; but we pursue that which we love the most.

"Wake up, Karla. A pharmaceutical drip is your fate."

"What is this? " Her voice was thick with confusion.

" Chloroform brought you to this point. Actually, that is not true: your lies and treachery brought you here. You have two options: midazolam, or heparin. An overdose of the first will lead to respiratory arrest. The other will lead to internal bleeding; total exsanguination. Both are appropriate, seeing as you sucked life out of your patients and bled their their bank accounts dry. Apothecary, thy drugs are quick."

"What are you talking about?" The doctor was still confused.

"Oh, Karla. Sodium pentothal may not be a truth serum, but these certainly are.You let your guard downand your own recordings betrayed you. Julia Specter is still a patient of yours. And I want her."

"Let the doctor go." The voice behind me was all too familiar.

I rose from my work with some irritation.

"Karla Unger. Doctor Karla J Unger. Not so subtle. Remove a few letters and the name Karl Jung is obvious. " Kestrel, wearing his usual caped garb of brown, grey, and white, held a throwing Talon. I have been on the receiving end of these and it was never a pleasant experience. A cross between a shuriken and a boomerang, they sting like nothing else. "A little too on the nose, Anonymous. Like you wanted me to know it was you."

"One can dream."

"I'm making sure yours does not become a reality. " Kestrel looked at the IV lines. "Your hunt for Julia Specter led you here, where she was treated under the alias of Sable Knight. The last member of the cast of your Shakespearean revenge saga. Her shrink saw through her facade as welland realized this might be her ticket to the good life. "

"Then you must know her story. A string of bad love affairs after being estranged from her husband of five years and daughter of three sent her on a spiral of her own. Her medications prove this., Meanwhile her current lover, a member of the licensure board, guarantees she can continue her practice even when she is neither fit, nor stable enough to be trusted with patients."

"Yes, "Kestrel replied. " Physician heal thyself."

"So you understand, Kestrel: this cannot be allowed to continue."

The vigilante held out a gauntlet and deposited a file. " It won't. It's all here: the evidence of her blackmail. Your daughter's name will be kept out of it, if you withdraw."

"You set yourself up as Stalithe's appointed guardian.Who are you to say what this woman deserves? She has ruined five lives and remains unpunished. Prick us, do we not bleed? "

"Poison her, does she not die?" He has calculated her outcome if I pushed either drug. I smiled. Wit in the face of adversity is a trait that I begrudgingly admire, especially in an adversary. Still he stood in my way.

"What if I told your secret to the world?"

Kestrel's stoicism was a credit to his youth. "I would find another way to continue my mission. And still bring you down."

"You usually act by now."

"You hold all the cards, Anonymous."

"Not going to stop me?"

"I never said that." He stood aside and sheathed his weapon.

"This is my fault." A familiar voice came from behind the vigilante. I could scarcely believe my own eyes.

"Miranda?" It was my turn to be stoic to hold in my surprise. This was not like my foe. He would usually deliver a quip and then proceed to untangle the situation on his own with some violent force of action. This is not the usual high-flying escapade. He only took one step to the side to allow my daughter to come from behind him. Our eyes never lost contact. He always looked like a bird of prey with that mask he wore that doubled as streamlined goggles.

"Father, we are all guilty of believing the best of ourselves. That we have been slighted in some way. Yes. This woman took advantage of me. I should have known you would have seen through my pseudonym of Shiloh Blaylock." Miranda’s shoulders slumpwd

"A play on the name Shylock, your favorite character from our favorite play, " I replied proudly.

"Yes. And emulating that character, I beg you to show mercy, if you are even capable. “ Miranda's voice waivered, but her resolve did not.

"I was correcting an error." My voice was level.

"And who corrects you?" My daughter will make a fine mother someday. Her admonishments cut to the heart. "Kestrel has already assisted me in cutting this Gordian knot. And pressure to cave to her blackmail was not enough, but to see you attempt to kill this woman broke my heart. I wanted to believe there was some good in you. If there is still any mercy left in you. I appeal to it now.

"So my suspicions were correct: this woman was threatening you with exposure,” Kestrel pointed out.

"Whatever else Dr. Unger may be morally, she is excellent at making connections. She connected Sable Knight to Julia Spectre.. But you, Anonymous, being my father, have turned this into a burden that I cannot escape. She took this knowledge and betrayed Julia’s confidence. And mine. You might have attempted to defend me, but you have only exacerbated this. " This caused me chagrin.

Kestrel addressed me again.

"I am impressed, Anonymous. One of them was the final link to the Pegg case from a year ago. You are the only reason I was able to pick up that thread."

Kestrel then spoke to Dr. Unger for the first time.

"It's a waste of intellect and intuition, resorting to such crude means to procure more money from vulnerable patients. "

I feel the need to add my own admonishment.

"You are no better than a Lady Macbeth or a Queen Gertrude. You invite the innocent into your kingdom, only to pour poison in their ear or stab them with betrayal after gathering their secrets. The fact that you are already paid handsomely is galling."

Self-possession is necessary for self-preservation, yet I could not help the words that flowed. She was still in a stupor, but cathartic for me.

"For once, you and I agree. But for all that, you are not her executioner. Kestrel moved to extract the IV from her arm and I did not stop him. “Your MO is for the erudite: this was Shakespearean revenge. I know he is the one you usually favor when plying your craft. But this was very pedestrian for you."

Though I would never admit it, Kestrel's vocabulary speaks well for him. I regarded Unger for the first time since my project. Her soft brown hair (clearly dyed and permed) and face (injected) reminded me that she could have been like Miranda. A few different life choices, and she might have been.

"Do I not have a right to defend my daughter?"

"As my father, yes.” Miranda’s eyes were steel. “But not this way. There is someone greater, who says Vengeance is his. Please, do not act on my behalf again."

She turned to leave. I started to speak, but before I could reply, she turned again.

"Do not blame Kestrel for this intervention. I reached out to him."

The words stung more than I comprehended, but I kept my composure.

"Why did you not turn to me?"

"Because the man I called father became someone I no longer trusted. And even he had the presence of mind in our previous time to instruct me to turn to someone more virtuous when I needed a champion."

I could hear the distant sound of Stalithe's constabulary converging on the establishment. I threw a flash grenade and a smoke bomb. They were both small Charges, nobody would be hurt. I pushed past the interfering Kestrel and leapt out of the window, activated my grappling hook and swung to the same scaffolding I had in place for a getaway.

The removal thetop layers of my current painter's disguise and a slow descent via pulley and harness to the ground revealed Lieutenant Terrence Vries and Sergeant Max Hanrahan of the Major Crimes Division of Stalithe' Finest. The MCD amd Kestrel have some sort of arrangement I will exploit, but that is for another day.

The removal of the top layer of my current disguise revealed a painter’s outfit.

A slow descent via pulley to the ground revealed Lieutenant Terrence Vries and Sergeant Max Hanrahan of the Major Crimes Divison of Stalithe’s finest. Clearly the MCD and Kestrel have some sort of arrangement I can exploit, but that is for another day.

"Sir, did you hear or see anything in that building while you were up there?" A patrolman asked.

I mustered up a Bostonian accent. "Yah might want to.check the 14th floor. I thought I heard something, but couldn't be sure."

The same patrolmen tried to detain me, but I took advantage of the initial chaos and slipped away. I turned down the alley to the van and opened the door, placed my tools in the cargo area, and pulled away from the building, maintaining a steady speed so as not to attract attention.

Kestrel had defeated me. I applauded my foe: his tactics were worthy of my own. He made this personal in a way I did not anticipate. He turned my family against me. King Lear knew something about that. He thwarted my attempts to remove Unger and my second attempt to eliminate Julia. The worst part: he hadn't thrown a single punch. He had won by a dominating moral authority. Enjoy your victory, you plain-dealing hero. I will find an opportunity, and I WILL pay you out.

The END...?