THE MARVEL KNIGHTS GROUP
PROUDLY PRESENTS...
ISSUE #6 written by Jeff Melton
THE K’UN L’UN CONNECTION, CHAPTER SIX
“Corporate Warfare!”
WHAT HAS COME BEFORE: Danny Rand and the beautiful Spiderwoman are continuing to unravel the mystery of the missing Morris Hamilton, while his wife and his brother plot behind the scenes to prevent them from finding the answers they seek. And Tarantula is offered an assignment by Master Khan.
Dallas, Texas. The headquarters of Zyander Pharmaceuticals. Zyander is rapidly becoming one of the largest suppliers of prescription medication in the world, and has benefitted greatly by recent patents on highly popular medications. In Dallas, the Zyander building towers above the street below, a obelisk of metal and glass fifty stories in height.
At the entrance of Zyander Pharmaceuticals, Danny Rand and Jessica Drew stand, looking up at the large building rising above them. “I don’t like where this is leading us,” Danny comments. “I can’t imagine what’s so important that it would mean more than the life of your brother, but I intend to ask Charlie about that directly.”
Jessica looks over at Danny, smiling, as she nods. “I’m sure you will,” she returns. Then, she shakes her head, thinking back to similar things she’s experienced over the years. “Although I’m sure that we won’t have to dig too far to find money at the root of all this.”
“I can’t say I ever knew Charlie all that well,” Danny comments.
Jessica laughs softly. “You sure didn’t let Mrs. Hamilton know that, did you?”
Danny returns her smile. “I think that was the general idea,” he responds.
“You know what?” Jessica comments, as the two walk into the entrance door, leading into the monolithic building. “I might just make a detective out of you yet.”
“Promises, promises,” Danny replies. Moving his hand from side to side.
As they make their way past the watchman at the door, they move to the reception area at the first floor, then move over to the elevator, drawing stairs from the receptionist, who looks over at them, eyeing their cautiously, but otherwise says nothing.
Danny and Jessica look over a plaque on the window, which displays a directory of offices in the building. Pushing the elevator’s up button, Jessica walks into the elevator, followed closely by Danny.
Several floors above, Charlie Hamilton sits in his plush office. The white walls are adorned with a series of French impressionist paintings that are each worth a small fortune; but he does not believe in replicas. His desk has a small bust of Shakespeare, facing towards him. The position of objects in his room was made with painstaking thought. His desk backs up to the wall, but is a full foot-and-a-half from the wall itself. On either side of the centrally-placed desk, along the back wall are large windows, which run nearly from ceiling to floor. Directly across the room from his desk is a small closet, where Charlie keeps a change of clothes, as well as jackets, and other articles of clothing. And, in the corner diagonally place from his desk is a life-sized statue of Venus, hand-carved and signed personally for him. His velvet, padded chair slides slightly back towards the wall, as the telephone cord wraps along his right arm, the receiver held to his right ear, as he talks on the phone to a business associate. There is a worried look on his face, as he discusses the situation with the unseen man on the other end of the conversation.
“I just got word from downstairs,” Charlie remarks, looking alternately at the cityscape stretched out behind him, visible from the oversized glass windows behind him, and the door to his office. “They’re headed this way.”
“Do not lose your nerve, fool,” the commanding voice on the other end of the line utters harshly, authoritatively. “They know nothing.”
“Thanks to his wife,” Charlie responds irritably, “they know that I was with him in Colorado.”
“Yes,” the voice on the other end remarks coldly, and in perfect English, although with a trace of an Asian accent, not readily recognizable from the main accents of the Asian world. “I am aware of that indiscretion on her part. We will deal with that…and her…soon enough. Do not concern yourself with that matter.”
“I’m not worried about her!” Charlie exclaims, frustration surging in his voice. “The fool led them to my door to get the heat off her own neck.”
“I am well aware of all of that,” the voice on the other end contends, with increasing irritation in his voice. “As I said, she will be dealt with in time. Keep in mind that you chose to deal her into this operation, despite not choosing to do the same for her husband. That decision, it would seem, was an unfortunate one on your part. For now, however, you need to keep your head in dealing with Danny Rand and Jessica Drew. The less they know—at least for now—the better. We do not want them uncovering our operation at this time. We have had a very successful partnership thus far, and I would like to see this continue, with additional financial rewards for us both.”
“I understand all that,” Charlie replies, realizing the irritation in his associate’s voice. He has seen his own willingness to kill without hesitation, and realizes that it would not be in his best interest to set this man off. “I will deal with them accordingly. Are we still going with the plan?”
“Yes,” the figure on the other end responds. “Give them the information we discussed, and everything will be waiting for them, as we agreed. I have made the proper arrangements. You need only follow your instructions.”
Charlie nods. “All right,” he responds. “I’ll take care of things on this end. I just hope we get them off our backs and get back to business.”
Within moments, there is a light tapping on Charlie Hamilton’s door. He adjusts himself slightly in his seat, making sure that he is in a better sitting position, and clears his throat, beckoning for his secretary to enter the room. He quickly recognizes her signature knock.
“Mr. Hamilton,” she offers, stepping into the room, but holding the door mostly closed behind her. Charlie takes her in, noting that she is wearing a short, tight-fitting skirt, with black stockings that run down her legs, to her three-inch high heels. Her blouse, too, is very snug, and is cut to show her ample cleavage. Charlie is a few years younger than his brother, and is proud of his policy of personally choosing his secretarial staff—especially the ones he works directly with. “You have two visitors. I told them that you were likely busy for the entire day, but they have been quite insistent. Should I call security, or…?”
“No need for that, Miss Norris,” Charlie responds, waving his hand in a nonchalant gesture. “I think I know what this is about. Send them in.”
The secretary’s face reflects surprise. She has seldom seen her boss agree to meet anyone without any notice, and would not have even bothered him with these two, had they not been so…intimidating (if she had to admit it). Still, she tries not to let her surprise take up any more of her schedule. “Yes, sir,” she responds, nodding her head, as she turns and walks away, leaving her boss to watch her departure closely. “I’ll send them right in.”
As Danny Rand and his lovely companion enter the room, Charlie’s secretary watches Danny closely, before she sees her boss nod and gesture for her to leave. Charlie quickly gets up from his seat, walking around his desk to shake Danny’s hand.
“Danny Rand!” Charlie greets Danny warmly. “It’s been some time since I’ve seen you. Before your dad…well, before his untimely death.”
“Good to see you again, Charlie,” Danny returns. “This is my…friend Jessica Drew.”
“I’m sure,” Charlie remarks, winking at Danny, as he gently shakes Jessica’s hand. “Your reputation as a lady’s man precedes you.” He gestures for his guests to sit down, even as he returns to his seat at the other side of his desk.
“It’s good of you to visit me,” Charlie comments, acting surprised by the visit, “but what brings you here?”
“Nothing like getting right to the point,” Jessica comments, half under her breath.
“Charlie,” Danny offers, looking over at Jessica, then continuing, “we’re here because we’ve been asked to look into your brother’s disappearance.”
“Morris?!” Charlie asks, appearing surprised by the statement. “What do you mean by that? I just saw him two days ago.”
“In Colorado, yes,” Jessica comments.
“Ah,” Charlie smiles, nodding over to Danny. “A smart woman you’ve got there. It seems you’ve both been doing some research on me. Anything special I should know about?”
“Your brother has been missing for a few days, Charlie,” Danny responds. “I know that you two had a skiing vacation a short time ago, but it’s been a few days since you were seen together in Colorado.” He looks over at Charlie, with a serious, knowing, expression. “More than two, Charlie.”
Charlie nods, feigning a reservation that he has been caught. “Okay, you’re right,” Charlie returns. “It’s been more than two days since I’ve seen my brother. I just didn’t really want to open that can of worms.”
“What can of worms?” Jessica asks. She has been patiently letting Danny take the lead on this interview, given his history with the Hamilton’s, but it’s difficult for her to remain on the sidelines, and she is dying to ask questions herself. “What do you mean, Hamilton?”
“Danny,” Charlie offers, “I know you think a lot of Morris, and so do I. After all, he’s my brother.”
“Yes?” Danny urges.
“But, well, the trip to Colorado was spoiled because I didn’t want to be part of what he was up to,” Charlie continues, as if this information was being dragged out of his unwilling body.
“What do you mean by that?” Danny asks, looking over at Charlie, his head tilted slightly.
“I’m sure you’ve noticed Morris’ nice house,” Charlie explains. “And his nice vehicles.”
“Yes,” Danny nods in agreement. “I noticed that right away.”
“Not exactly how you remember my brother, I take it?” Charlie asks, restraining himself from a smile.
“No, it’s not,” Danny responds. “Morris always did well enough, but lived a middle class life, from what I saw. Certainly not the high rolling lifestyle I saw from his house, his cars…”
“…or his wife?” Charlie adds. “It’s okay. I questioned Morris about her when I first met her. I mean…look at her! She’s hardly his age, and not what I’d consider a doting, devoted wife, by any means.”
Jessica nods in agreement. “Not by my estimation either,” she agrees.
“Okay,” Danny interjects, in an attempt to get the conversation back on track. “What is going on with Morris then? You seemed to suggest that he was up to something illegal?”
“Since he hooked up with that woman,” Charlie remarks sharply, his own distaste for his sister-in-law coming through in his tone, “he’s been running a very thin line between legal and illegal. I think he has trouble recognizing the difference at times, and this is obviously due to her influence.”
“You still haven’t told us what you’re talking about, Charlie,” Danny urges.
“A lot of little things at first, Danny,” Charlie responds. “He was into some schemes in the beginning that were probably barely legal. But then, as his wife’s tastes for wealth continued to grow, so did his desire to give her what she wanted.”
“That’s a common theme with men his age,” Jessica points out.
“True enough,” Charlie responds. “But, I offered Morris a good promotion within the company. He’d been selling for so long. He knows the business as well as anyone. I thought it was time to reward him. He and I went on our annual get-together. We usually go to the Bahamas, Greece, or somewhere tropical. This year, though, Morris wanted to go skiing. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but then I figured he was just trying to impress the wife—you know, going on a more athletic vacation? Showing her how young he still was? That kind of thing.”
“Hmm,” Danny thinks to himself, “this answers a lot of my questions I’ve had since the beginning of this whole thing, but…”
“Okay,” Jessica comments, “we follow that. But, what happened in Colorado?”
“We were having a good time,” Charlie responds. “But, Morris’s cell phone was lit up the whole time we were there. He was constantly getting calls—even when we were on the slopes. It got to the point that I told him to put the damn thing away while we were skiing, so we could enjoy the vacation.” He looks over at Danny, then at Jessica. “You need to understand, we have a rule on our vacations: no work. We might have to bend it at times…if something important comes up with the company or something like that….but not the way he was doing.”
“Okay, so he was active on his phone?” Danny responds, an underlying irritation evident in his voice, as if suggesting that surely there’s more to what you wanted to tell us than this.
“Not just that, Danny,” Charlie continues. “On my last night there, I overheard part of his conversation with someone he’d been doing business with. He was talking about a big shipment arriving in one week.”
“A shipment?” Danny asks. “What kind of shipment?”
“I can’t say for sure,” Charlie returns. “But it sure sounded to me like he was talking about drugs…illegal drugs.”
“Hmmm,” Danny comments, “That sounds so much un-like Morris. It’s hard to believe that he’d be hawking drugs.”
“I know,” Charlie responds. “I’ve said it over and over again myself, but you haven’t seen the changes in Morris over the past several months. It’s not like he up and decided to start shipping drugs overnight. This kind of thing has been building over the past several months, and it’s gotten to this point now.”
“What else do you know about this?” Jessica asks calmly, looking over at Charlie suspiciously.
“When I heard that, we had an argument,” Charlie responds. “It got kind of heated. You might have come across some people who might have mentioned our argument.” He looks over at Danny and then at Jessica, but neither of them reveals the answer to his unspoken question, just returning his look. “Anyway, I cut my trip short after that. Like I said, I don’t need to be involved in something like that. I have a Fortune 500 business to run, and I don’t need that kind of bad press…not for me or this business.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to say otherwise,” Jessica returns.
Charlie looks over at her, as if trying to figure out what she meant by that remark. However, he just shakes his head, and continues: “When I got back here, though, I did some more research, going on things I heard him say in that conversation. I think I know where the drop is going to be. And that might take you to Morris.”
“That would be helpful,” Danny offers.
As Charlie gets out a small pad and a pen, Jessica looks over at him. “I’m just curious,” she comments. “You haven’t seen or heard from him since your blow-up in Colorado?”
Not looking away from his writing, Charlie responds: “That’s right, I haven’t.”
“Is that normal for the two of you?” she asks. “I mean, he still has work to do. How long can you not have him doing his job?”
Charlie looks up at Jessica. “No, this isn’t normal,” he returns. “But, to tell you the truth, I don’t know what’s normal between my brother and I anymore. His behavior has changed so radically in the past year or so…it’s like he’s a different person.”
Charlie gets to his feet, handing Danny the small piece of paper, as he walks them to his office door. “I will say this, though,” Charlie comments. “I’ve seen Morris take a day or two off since he got married again. I expect a little of that. But, he hasn’t been out this long. I hope you do find something, because, despite our differences lately, I don’t want my brother to get in over his head in something like this.”
Danny opens the door, motioning for Jessica to go to the exit first. “Thanks for your help, Charlie,” Danny offers. “If we find Morris, we’ll let you know.”
“Thanks, Danny,” Charlie returns, taking the door from Danny, as he escorts the two past the secretary’s desk, and out into the hallway. “I’d appreciate that.”
Less than thirty minutes later, Danny and Jessica (both in costume) emerge from their rental car, exiting on each side of the car, as they look around, taking note of their surroundings. They are parked outside of an old factory, closed due to outsourcing three years ago. The chain-link fence that surrounds the factory is opened at the gate, and the factory shows signs of disrepair. It is in the midst of a once-thriving commercial district that has since gone the way of the factory. Even the train tracks that once diverted to make deliveries to the factory have been cut off. The tracks still remain, but they are also showing signs of disrepair and lack of use.
“Charlie wasn’t exactly totally honest with us,” Iron Fist comments.
“I noticed,” Spider-Woman returns, as they walk towards the factory, leaping onto the old loading ramp. There, they see a bay door that is opened two inches from the ground. “But, it’s the closest thing to a real lead on Morris Hamilton since we started this search—and we’ve already been around the country looking for him.”
Iron Fist walks over to the main door, but finds it locked, even as Spider-Woman makes her way to the bay door. She leans down, looking for any sign of movement inside. Satisfied that there is none, she lifts up on the bay door. It creeks, but gives way to her strength, and folds upward, giving the two an entrance, even as Iron Fist rushes over to be with her.
The two enter the factory, finding it damp and dusty. Clearly, it has not been used in some time, as dust is caked up on unused equipment and desk areas. The two shake their heads, as they make their way further into the factory.
“This would make a good place to run a drug operation,” Spider-Woman points out. It’s remote, and far away from any residential areas. There would be no one to alert authorities of any strange goings-on at night.”
“Yeah, true,” Iron Fist responds, looking around, his eyes taking note of the rafters fifteen feet over their heads, as well as a hallway a short distance ahead, barely illuminated in the dim lighting of the windows twelve feet above them, which still let in light from the outside.
As Iron Fist turns in the hallway, he feels a sharp pain to the side of his face, as a kick to his face flings him across the floor, slamming him into the wall on the other side. Spider-Woman, likewise, finds herself doubled-over from a punch to her mid-section that sends her to her knees.
Looking up, Iron Fist sees Blacklash, brandishing his whip. He also notices that Jessica is slumped over on his knees, where the lovely blond-haired Titania stands over her. Moving in behind them are Puff Adder, Rock Python, and Plant Man.
“You really stepped in it this time, Iron Fist,” Blacklash remarks, a sneer on his face. “But, chances are, you won’t live long enough to regret it.”
TO BE CONTINUED...
