Fantasy Whatever Gets You through the Night by TMaskedWriter

[Ramesh_Rocky]

Whatever Gets You through the Night Pt. 17

"My jacket's gonna be cut slim and checked.

Maybe a touch of seersucker with an open neck.

I ride a GS Scooter with my hair cut neat.

Wear my war-time coat in the wind and sleet."

-The Who, "I've Had Enough"

"Marco Santori!" Contessa Helena de San Finzione's shadow called from the doorway of the Taverna. The bartender turned off the music and everyone faced her. "Your Contessa summons you."

At the bar, a man dropped his beer and ran for the side exit. He opened the door and ran straight into a wall of Englishman that knocked him to the floor.

"You must be Marco." The wall said as he bent down and picked Marco up by the collar. "I'm Mander. Some say I'm a likable guy. YOU won't."

Helen walked toward the bar. Mander took the man's wallet and keys. He tossed the wallet to Helen and the keys onto the bar. She walked up to the bar, took all the money out of his wallet, and set it on top of Marco's keys. She slid the pile over to the bartender, indicating for him to take all the money.

"He's had enough for today." She said to the barman. "He can come back for his car when he's better. Whenever that'll be."

"What are you talking about?" Marco yelled as he tried to escape Mander's grip. "It's not even noon!"

"Yeah, but I still expect you to be in no condition to drive after this. Now, let's allow these people to enjoy their drinks and take it outside."

Mander maintained his grip on Marco and shook him until he walked through the doorway, then held it for Helen.

"That's 'Er Countessness there, that is." Mander told him. "Stand up straight an' show respect proper!"

Helen graciously nodded to Mander as she stepped through the door, into the alley where they'd parked the Aston-Martin.

"You were absolutely right, Countessness." Mander said as he shoved Marco toward the front of the car. "You come in the front, this tosser runs fer the side exit."

"Hey, if there's one thing I know, it's thinking like other criminals. I have tracked down Carmen Sandiego's ass SO many times!"

Marco began to reach into his inside jacket pocket when Mander slammed him onto the hood of the vehicle. He drew the Desert Eagle and shoved it under Marco's chin to minimize damage to the lovely car.

"If that 'and enters that jacket, it ain't comin' out." Mander told him. That was enough to stop him from going for whatever he had planned to pull.

"My Englishman's a bit on edge today." Helen explained to Marco as she lit a cigarette. "You might've heard Word on the Street that San Finzione is having a tiny Nazi problem right now. Some of them even tried to kill YOUR Princess with a tank yesterday!" Helen turned around, appearing to calm herself. "And my Englishman likes three things: money, the soulful yet aggressively rebellious rhythms of Misters Roger Daltrey, Peter Townshend, John Entwistle, and Keith Moon; and Lady Maria."

"That girl's a dear, sweet angel, she is!" Mander added, then let Helen continue.

"Everybody loves Maria, Mander. So does a friend we were talking to at the castle earlier. REALLY good at thinking of stuff others wouldn't. HE pointed out that we know where they got their guns and such from, but finding belts of machine gun ammo and shells for a Panzer? That's something special. You have to go to a guy who knows how to GET that kind of thing. You need someone who's maybe got some old family military connections and knows where they can be acquired in a hurry. Maybe he knows some old Supply Sargeant with whom daddy's name still carries weight who just might have some of that old surplus ammo forgotten in a dusty back corner that could safely go missing. Interpol and La Policia are the at the base assisting the MPs in tracking him down now. Shouldn't take them long; they found their last guy pretty quick. He's dead, by the way. So, I decided we should come talk to a turd and son of a turd I know who could arrange that deal with a couple phone calls, let Mander try a pint of one of our fine local brews and get some information."

"An' I suspect I'm about to work up a thirst. So I want 'Er Countessness to have that information quick-like so's we can go back inside and I can 'ave that pint an' tell the pigs to get fucked when they show up! Her Countessness lets me do that. She lets me do a LOT of things."