The Journal: A Prophecy, A President & Death

by Parker, W. Leland

  From Here To Eternity

  Suddenly there’s a call on the walkies, “Agent Hinton, come in.”

  Hinton rolls his eyes as he is downing his glass of orange juice. Sitting the empty glass down, he picks up his walkie to answer, “This is Hinton.”

  “This is Agent Brown, sir. The materials guys are here, and there’s a little old lady from the house across the street who wants to see the family.”

  Joanna looks at Robert, then at Hinton and says, “Mrs. Phelps?”

  Hinton looks over at Lauren, who nods affirming; then he says, “If that’s Mrs. Phelps, she’s listed in your notes, let ’em all through.” Hinton rises from the table and excuses himself.

  Joanna gets up and, looking to Lauren, asks, “Is it okay if I see what Mrs. Phelps needs?”

  “Sure, sure,” Lauren says in a comforting way.

  The materials experts are Alice Wheaton’s idea. These are people from NSA who are skilled at retrieving information from damaged documents, even shredded papers. They are also however, adept at finding the proverbial needle in a haystack, and they are here to find that journal!

  Hinton meets them at the door and calls James over to give them the layout of the house.

  Joanna meanwhile greets Mrs. Phelps. “Good morning, Mrs. Phelps. What brings you over so early?”

  “Well dear, with Robert home, I assumed we’d be going to church together.”

  Joanna slaps her hand to her forehead, “Oh, my heavens, can you believe? I completely forgot!”

  Mrs. Phelps looks around at the men going in and out and all the activity and says, “I can well imagine. What’s going on here anyway?”

  Joanna takes a huge sigh and says, “I could not begin to explain it all! Did you see the man being arrested out front?”

  “No dear, I was taking my shower, and these days that can take a while. Someone was arrested? On our street?”

  “So I guess Mary didn’t see it either.”

  “Oh, no. She’s with me. But she did mention that there were a lot of men in suits outside. Is that what that was about? Was it someone we knew?”

  “Yes, I can, um—Wait a moment, Mrs. Phelps, let me check with Robert.” She takes Mrs. Phelps by the hand and walks her into the living room, dining room area. She says to Robert, “Sweetheart? Uh, Mrs. Phelps wanted to know if we were going to church this Sunday.”

  Robert scrunches up his face and says, “Can you believe I forgot that this was even Sunday?”

  Joanna gives him a face that says, in essence, “I know, right?”

  Robert, “Hmm. What time is it?”

  Joseph, “It’s ten forty.”

  “Well,” he turns and looks at Lauren for an okay.

  But Lauren ponders, “Hmm, I don’t know. Church, huh?”

  “It would mean so much,” says Joanna. Robert hears her heart-felt plea.

  Lauren looks at her, wanting to say yes, but instead says, “Let me confer with Mr. Hinton.”

  Hinton has just come from the basement, leaving the materials experts in James’ care. She walks over, meeting Hinton in the hall at the basement door, and after only a few words, Hinton resolutely says, “NO! No way, not ’til we get that guy to confess his plan and give up his partner, or partners!”

  Hearing the discussion, Robert gets up and walks over to join them, as Joanna meanwhile offers Mrs. Phelps a seat. Robert intervenes with, “Hi. Mr. Hinton, Miss Coles, we have and want to remain fully cooperative, but this is very important to us. Can you not find a way for us to get to hear, at least the sermon?”

  Hinton looks at him and says, “Listen, we appreciate your cooperation, and I get how important this is, but contrary to what you see in the movies, we are not about to do anything that would allow anyone an opportunity to harm any of you.”

  Robert, “But I thought you caught the guy?”

  Hinton, “As far as we know as of right now, we caught a guy, not necessarily the guy, and not necessarily the only guy! Okay?”

  “Mr. Hinton, I had the right to sit in on my son’s interview didn’t I?”

  “Yes you did, sir.”

  “And I didn’t, did I?”

  “No you didn’t, and that was the smart thing to do.”

  “But what I’m trying to say is, do we not have the legal right to go to church?”

  “Robert,” he reaches up and puts his hand on his forehead like he feels a headache coming on. “I don’t– I am not by nature a very patient man. And, uh … let’s– Let’s not make this about your legal rights, okay? There are a lot of things that are legal that are not necessarily smart. ’kay? Uh, earlier you did the smart thing, letting the professional do his job as best he could. Let’s stay the course, let’s– Let’s stay smart. In nine hours, nine and a half, this will all be over. Nine and half hours and you all get your lives back. Why take any chances with your family?”

  “Sir, we–”

  “If this were a movie; if you were watching this, as a movie, what would you be screaming at the screen for them to do? It would be the smart thing, the safe thing. And the smart thing here, the one that you can best trust to keep you and your family safe, is to just stay here. You understand that, right?”

  Warmly, Robert Market retorts, “But Mr. Hinton, you do understand that it is not you that– I’m not trusting you and your guys and your equipment for our safety, right? That all my hope for our safety—ours and yours—stems from the prayer we made, not from– Can you even explain how it was that you came to notice Calvin before he shot one of us, how it is you saw something that made you spring into action? I can. Heck, my fourteen-year-old son, Joey, can!”

  Now agitated and unwilling to negotiate the point, Hinton says, “Mr. Market, there was a bomb connected to your freakin’ house! You still want to parade your loved ones out into a church where the man who likely planted that bomb worked for five to six years?”

  Robert shakes his head and says, “Sir, you think that proves your point, when in fact it only proves mine. How is it that that bomb did not detonate? I’m not a betting man, but I know my God, and whether it was your team or something truly miraculous, here we stand, unharmed.”

  Hinton remembers how the fire seemed to have disabled the device, remembers his conversation with Bruce Watson, who, when explaining how he happened to be on their street at just the right time said, Agent Hinton I can’t explain it. I just couldn’t overcome the feeling. I felt … you know, LED to come and find you! He finds himself struggling to argue his own point. Frustrated, and beginning to lower his guard, he says to Lauren, “Well, doll, it’s your call. I still say, hell no.” And on those strong words he lifts his hands in a motion of surrender and steps back to lean against the wall.

  Joseph walks over to the group, joining at his father’s side. Hinton’s words and anger, clearly out of desperation, seemed all the more futile, seeing Joseph standing there. The frankness in which he said, There’s nothing you can do to stop it; it’s like trying to stop eight forty-five, still sticks in Hinton’s craw. Hinton looks straight at him, and points and gestures to indicate, “I don’t want to hear a word out of you!”

  In a way it’s a relief to have the decision go to Lauren; keep his near perfect field record intact. He turns to her, truly ready to give up and just go forward with what everyone wants when in a moment of inspiration, Lauren picks up her cell phone and says to him, “I’m gonna call Danning.”

  Hinton agrees with a dazed, “Yeah, yeah. Let’s see what the wizard thinks.”

  She dials and reaches him directly.

  Danning, “Yes, Lauren. I was just about to call and congratulate you and Hinton on your work.”

  Lauren, “Thank you, sir. Hinton certainly came through for us.”

  “You’re doing good work too agent. Now, how may I help you?”

  Lauren explains the whole situation to Danning who is still with the detail running the threat drill.

  Hearing what they are trying to decide, Danning motions to get Ram
irez on the call. Ramirez, who now has the touch screen mastered, picks up and listens in for a while. Nodding his head to indicate he’s heard enough, he says, “Well, I say they stay where they are!”

  Lauren says to Hinton, “Ramirez backs you up on your decision.”

  Hinton motions with his hands to indicate that’s what he expected. But Danning says, “How many agents do you still have there?”

  Lauren does a quick count and says, “Um, about seven. Seven, sir.”

  “So you’re almost two agents per person.”

  “Yes, sir. We could bring the ratio up if we add one demolition specialist.”

  “No, you don’t want to do that.”

  “No, sir.”

  “And Hinton’s notes say that Mr. Stone did not have any communication devices on him?”

  “No, sir.”

  “So there’s a strong probability that if he has a partner—even if in town—they are not yet aware of his capture.” At that moment Danning gets a call coming in showing on his screen.

  “That’s true, sir.”

  “Well, Lauren, I’ll tell ya, I’ve got a cranky chief of staff here, and an even crankier president who’s asking a lot of questions, so my hands are full. You’ve got enough personnel to do this if you want to. You’ve done an excellent job so far, and I have faith that– I believe it’s all gonna work out just fine.”

  “So, sir, what are you saying?”

  “I’m saying it’s your call. Just keep us posted. Good day agent.”

  “Um, thank you, sir. Good– Good day.”

  After the call ends, NSA Agent Wheaton sends a text to Danning’s screen that says, “I wish I had a boss like you when I was clawing my way up.”

  Lauren stands there stunned for a moment, then takes a deep breath to buck up her strength and says, “Agent Hinton, if we pull the other guys in, we’ve got nearly two agents per family member.”

  Hinton says a nervous, “Oh, boy.”

  She continues, “I say you and I take Joey, Sandoval and Reese take Joanna, Brown’s with Mr. Market and the other two agents take James. We’ll use two separate SUVs: Dad and Joey with you, Brown, and I, in one, and the rest in the other. What do you say?”

  Hinton mumbling to himself, “The fire Marshall’s name is Marshall, who was I kidding?”

  “What?” asks Lauren.

  “Nothing.” He replies. He then says to Joseph, “Besides, if you’re as accurate as we think, Joe, this is all academic anyways.”

  Joseph shrugs his shoulders. Hinton walks into the kitchen and looks around for something.

  Uncertain whether he is on board, Lauren holds the door open and asks, “Hinton, are you okay? ’Cause if you’re a hundred percent, no, on this–”

  “No, I’m good; we’re good. Let’s make it happen!”

  Robert walks in and asks, “What do you need?”

  “You have a, um, Styrofoam coffee cup? I’m gonna want to take some of this to go.”

  He gives him a cup and then offers his hand and says, “Thanks, Mr. Hinton.”

  “It’s nothing; in fact the government gives me money each week for doing this.”

  As they proceed up the hall back towards the living room where Joanna and Mrs. Phelps are, Hinton stops a moment and turns to Robert and says, “You know for a mild-mannered minister, you can be pretty tough.”

  Joseph, rushing past them says, “You don’t even know.” He brings the good news to the living room, “Mom! Looks like we’re going!”

  Joanna jumps up, “Oh my! I need to go get ready! Um, so how are we doing this? Can we all ride together?”

  Lauren, who is next to get to the living room, says to the family, “Listen, it’s important that you know that we do this exactly as I instruct or not at all. We go and come as I say, all right?” She then says to Joanna, “That means for security reasons, we’ll have to split up.”

  Hearing that Mrs. Phelps is prompted to ask, “Security reasons? What does she mean by that?”

  But her question does not fall on anyone’s ears, as suddenly the house is a bustle of activity to get ready. James, who has been showing the document recovery team where everything is, comes down the stairs and is almost run over by Joanna who is backing up to go up the stairs.

  She says, “Oh! James, there you are. We’re gonna try and make the eleven service! I need you to see that you and your brother are ready in about fifteen minutes!” She continues on up the stairs when she calls out, “Wait! Where are we on electricity and everything, is everything working?

  “Yes ma’am,” says George Sandoval, who just happened to have come in the back door at the perfect time to answer her cry. In a blur the Markets are all in a bathroom somewhere, showering, brushing, combing, or dressing. Hinton and Coles discuss the transportation plan in the foyer, the bomb squad is on the side of the house, and the document recovery team is out at their truck retrieving a heavy piece of equipment. This leaves Sandoval to walk in and find Mrs. Phelps sitting alone. He says, “Hi, my name is George, Agent George Sandoval.”

  Mrs. Phelps, “Agent? Good, maybe you can tell me what in the world is going on.”

  Sandoval sits down next to her and says very sweetly, “I’ll certainly try.”

  Meanwhile the family pulls themselves together in no time. It really is quite amazing the teamwork as they toss each other articles of clothing and deodorant and hats and the like. James and Joseph share their bathroom but spare no time to kid around. In fact they only take one brief moment to share an understanding look while prepping, but it in no way satisfies their desire to discuss the incredible events of the last three hours.

  Since Agent Brown is the Secret Service agent with the most experience, Lauren asks him to lead the effort to get the vehicles in position. Brown is a 20-year veteran of the Service, a big guy, with a warm disposition, and has no trouble taking orders from the considerably less experienced, Lauren Coles. With Agent Hinton’s help, she also formally meets and updates the NSA Agents, Pratt and Clarkson, of their plans. Pratt is surprised to hear they are doing this, but impressed with Lauren, he too accepts her assignment without objection.

  • • •

  Agent Brown pulls the first Secret Service SUV right up to their front door, the huge black vehicle seats eight comfortably. He then signals to Agent Reese to position the second one right behind it. Agent Brown then steps inside the house to tell them that they’re all set. As the family begins to come down the stairs, eager to get to church at least in time for the sermon, the phone begins to ring! Since it’s the first time they’ve heard it since the fire, they all cheer.

  But Agent Coles barks out a stern command “DO NOT ANSWER IT! Anybody!” She figures that if there’s anyone working with Calvin, they would likely call to see if the family status has changed, as in, were they incapacitated and—or perhaps—missing a son!

  Agent Hinton, already ahead of the game, dashes back to the hall to listen to the answering machine. There is not a sound out of anyone until finally, and to everyone’s relief, they hear the message being left by Mary, Mrs. Phelps’ nurse:

  “Hi. This is Mary, from across the street. What’s going on over there? What’s with all the cars? I only ask ’cause I wanted to check to see if you were going to be taking Mrs. Phelps to church. I’m getting ready to run some errands and won’t be back until the evening.”

  Mrs. Phelps asks, “Is that my Mary?”

  After a moment’s pause, Mary continues saying, “Please call me. I’m, I’m afraid to walk over there ’cause there’s a truck blocking your front door! Please call. Bye.”

  When she hangs up Lauren says to Hinton, “Well, we might as well tell her what’s going on, at least a sanitized version, otherwise she’s likely to place herself in harms’ way.” He agrees. Then Lauren says to Agent Brown, who is at the front door, “Mr. Brown, would you mind going to get her?”

  But Hinton offers, “Let me; she already knows me.” And Coles agrees.

  Joanna, who is put
ting on earrings while descending the stairs, says, “Agent Coles, I don’t mean to push, but we’re getting awfully late.”

  Lauren, “I’m sorry, we’ll be heading out in just a moment; but we can’t afford to leave this loose end.”

  Robert meets Joanna at the bottom of the stairs. Offering his hand as an escort, he consoles her saying, “Don’t worry Glory, it’s gonna work out fine. You know how late the service starts sometimes.”

  Meanwhile, Hinton has an ulterior motive as he crosses the street to get Mary. Suspicious at all times, he has begun to wonder if Mary might be a part of the abduction plot. On his way across the street, balancing his coffee in one hand and his phone in the other, he calls the team in DC and asks them to double check Mary’s arrival against the timeline of when Calvin Stone and Carla Brayson got involved. He then puts on his best gentlemanly behavior and greets Mary at the Phelps home. Escorting her across the street, he uses the brief walk to try and quickly bring her up to speed—at least as much as he should. By the time they come into the house, Mary’s head is spinning from all the information. Hinton tells the room that he’s briefed her on the attempted kidnapping.

  But now they have a new dilemma. If Mary cannot yet be trusted, she knows too much about their plans to be left out of their sight. In the guise of arranging the seating in the two SUVs, Hinton excuses himself and Lauren to decide what to do. Standing in front of the house next to the first car, he tells her of his concerns.

  Lauren, “You are the suspicious one, aren’t you!”

  “Once bitten, twice shy.”

  “So you, who barely accepted this outing, are now inviting two more civilians?”

  “Never mind what I thought, can we pull this off?”

  Lauren, “Hmm, Let’s ask.”

  The agents discuss a seating and protection plan and determine how it can be done.

  Brown makes sure that the assets are properly divided, “So, you have the parents in two different cars. What about the boys?”

  Lauren, “Yes.”

  “One in one car and one in the other?”