"You have already seen too much."
Brull tossed his bead in either direction, saying, "I see these two doing impossible things. I see lavender pterodactyls and pink cartoon rabbits that don't-can't-exist in real life."
"You sound like you need a long vacation, pal," suggested Remo. "You're imagining things."
"Don't give me that! You saw them, too!"
Remo shook his head in a slow negative.
"I see only a liar," Chiun said coolly.
Big Dick Brull seemed to shrink into his shoes. His shoulders sagged. "I make no promises," he said grudgingly.
"And I make no guarantees," replied Smith. "Remo."
Remo Williams reached up and gave Dick Brull's neck a squeeze that brought a flush to his face and made him feel as if his eyeballs were about to pop from their sockets.
"You have breached one of the most secure installations in America," said Smith, his voice stretched drum-tight. "You have behaved as if you are above the law, with the result of many unnecessary deaths." His glasses began to steam again. "And you have violated my home and my wife. Only your high position with the Internal Revenue Service and your usefulness to us in resolving this outrage without further publicity is keeping you alive."
Brull lost all facial color.
"And don't forget," added Remo, "we know where you work."
"You can't threaten a Treasury agent like this."
"You haven't been paying attention," said Remo, lifting Brull off his feet and sweeping him around like dangle-footed puppet. "We already have."
At that, Harold Smith came out from behind his desk. His face might have been a skull scraped raw. His eyes were hard. He held one fist at his side, a trembling mallet of bone.
Stepping up to Brull, Smith let fly with a roundhouse punch.
Brull saw it coming, but his arms refused to lift in his own defense. He took Harold Smith's bony knuckles on the point of his jaw, his head snapping half around.
"Show him out," Smith clipped.
"My pleasure," said Remo.
Ears ringing, Dick Brull was sent skimming along the corridor on the seat of his pants, out of the office and toward a particularly unforgiving-looking wall. Unable to stop, he closed his eyes as the wall came rushing into his face.
Somehow he made a sudden impossible right-angle turn and found himself in the elevator, stopped short by the hard impact of his heels against the rear of the car. The doors rolled closed. Dick Brull didn't bother getting up. He just reached up for the button marked 1.
Standing up was awkward just about now. He was sitting in a warm puddle he was certain had originated in his frightened bladder.
REMO, CHIUN and Harold Smith stood looking at one another with doubtful expressions.
Smith cleared his throat as he adjusted his tie.
The Master of Sinanju looked bland and expectant.
Remo broke the silence.
"You," he said bitterly, "are not my father."
"Would that it were so," said Chiun, closing his eyes in pain.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Remo snapped.
Chiun looked ceilingward, avoiding his pupil's eyes. "It is an ugly truth. Emperor Smith is your true father. I have known this for many years."
"Bull!"
"Look closely. You have his nose."
Remo pointed at Smith's patrician nose. "That's not my nose. My nose doesn't look anything like that!"
"Remo," Smith said awkwardly, "I understand your discomfort."
"He can't be my father," Remo continued hotly, "because if he's my father, then his wife is my mother. And I've seen my mother. She's a beautiful woman."
"-who told you that you knew your father," Chiun added.
"Maybe," Remo said defensively.
Chiun indicated Harold Smith with a graceful sweep of his arms. "Behold your true father, Prince Remo."
"Don't call me that!" Remo said angrily. "None of this is real. It's gotta be one of the Dutchman's freaking illusions."
"There is a way to prove this," said Smith. "I can call my wife. She will confirm what I have already related."
Remo hesitated.
"Afraid of the truth?" Smith asked.
"No. Go ahead."
Smith returned to his desk to make the call.
Out in the corridor, the elevator dinged.
"Someone comes," Chiun warned.
"Someone with a gun," growled Remo. "I smell residual gunpowder."
Remo and Chiun took up positions on either side of the door and waited for it to open.
The gun barrel entered a full breath ahead of the gunman.