The Adults in the Room

by Jeffrey Mechling

  Call finished; Bob placed the phone back in the cradle. “Tim? If you come in next week, we can work out the details, including your new pay package and also the backpay you are owed.”

  “Backpay, Bob? I admit that you have me there. After all, I’m retired.”

  Bob Fredericks held up his hand. “Tim, you never retired. You have been paid your salary per month, but you were also eligible for the Danger Pay premium, which we have no record of you receiving since 2012. You were also eligible for a pay increase that you never received.”

  “So, I never retired?” Tim repeated in surprise.

  “No, Tim, you never retired,” Bob confirmed. “You are eligible to do so if you would like. Would you like to retire?”

  “No, Bob, I would like to continue working for the time being.”

  “Excellent, Tim. We still need men like you.”

  Tim took a few seconds to gather his thoughts, then asked, “Is there anything that I need to know about the events this morning?”

  Bob nodded. “Yes. They were unfortunate. As you know, the Agency does everything it can to avoid situations such as these, but sometimes they just occur. Nonetheless, you were completely debriefed today, and everyone is satisfied with your explanations.”

  Tim saw that Bob was smiling at him like they were sharing some kind of inside joke. He decided to press his luck. “Another question,” Tim asked. “What is the condition of Special Agent Wilson?”

  “To the best of my knowledge, she is okay and is resting at Lansdowne Hospital, but I understand that she had a very traumatic experience.”

  “Yes, Bob, I’m afraid that she did. And one more question: what happened to the Mercedes? The one at the safe house?”

  “That is downstairs and ready for you to drive back to Lovettsville Road tonight. Gail will give you the keys after you have your new ID made. Now, if there are no more questions, I promised my wife that I’d be home before nine tonight.”

  “No more questions for now, Bob,” Tim confirmed. “And thank you.”

  “No—thank you, Tim. I look forward to working with you.”

  Tim walked quickly out of Bob Fredericks’ office for fear that this had all been a mistake and that he was still about to be arrested.

  Bob Fredericks’ admin met Tim at the door and escorted him down to a small room where there was a camera. “Now, no smiling,” Gail laughed as she took two pictures of Tim. It only took another couple of minutes to produce Tim’s new CIA ID card, and Gail gave this to him along with a packet that contained the keys to the house.

  “There will be a security detail at your house, Mr. Hall, but they have been alerted that you will be on your way home,” she assured him.

  “Thank you, Gail,” Tim answered. “I just need to make one stop on my way out of town.”

  Tim was almost running now. He found Pam’s Mercedes parked behind the office building, unlocked the door, and jumped into the front seat.

  The car smelled like Pam, which stopped Tim cold for a minute. His wife had died tragically on the bridge about eleven hours ago, and here he was running over to his girlfriend’s hospital room. The fact that Pam had intended to kill him somehow didn’t make much of a difference to Tim. He did still love her. It was also not lost on Tim that he would be returning to her house with all of her things still there, unless they had been moved out already.

  But Tim had to see Mary Ann. She might leave the area and return to her home and perhaps her family soon. Maybe she was even married. Wouldn’t that be a hoot?

  Tim started the Mercedes and made the short drive from the CIA building in Leesburg over to Lansdowne Hospital. He parked and walked into the front entrance, showing the cop at security his newly minted CIA ID. He told the guard that he was with the CIA and that he had to see a Mary Ann Wilson on official business.

  The guard gave Tim still another ID and directed him to the 4th floor. Tim got off the elevator and looked for a locked unit, then rang the bell.

  The door buzzed open. He showed his new CIA ID once again to the charge nurse, who motioned to a room.

  There was a young man sitting in a chair outside the room who immediately got to his feet. Tim showed the young man his new CIA ID, and the man requested that Tim place his hands and arms against the wall. He frisked Tim for weapons, then yelled to someone named Alice that a CIA agent was coming into the room.

  Alice met Tim at the door, and Tim noticed that she was holding a Glock 19 9mm at her side. A voice behind her called, “It’s okay, Alice. This one is mine.”

  Alice just smiled and holstered her weapon. As she left the room, Tim finally saw Mary Ann.

  Except, she didn’t really look or sound like Mary Ann anymore. She actually sounded a lot more like Tim’s late wife Pam. “I thought I gave strict orders that I did not want to see anyone,” Mary Ann said, and Tim could not tell if she was joking or not.

  “What have you done with Mary Ann Layback, lady?” Tim said, halfway kidding, halfway not kidding.

  “She’s returned to Las Vegas with her very dead boyfriend,” Mary Ann told Tim. “I’m taking messages for her. My name is Mary Ann Wilson, and I am a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Agent Wilson. My name is Tim Hall, and I am a Case Officer with the Central Intelligent Agency, although I am currently running a safe house in the Lovettsville area of Virginia.”

  “Really, Mr. Hall? I thought you might be retired.”

  “Me too, Agent Wilson, but I found out today that that was never the case.”

  “Well, Mr. Hall, what can I do for you?”

  “I just wanted to thank Ms. Layback for saving my life this morning,” Tim explained. “I am pretty sure that her crazy boyfriend was going to kill me.”

  “He’s not my boyfriend,” Mary Ann said, sounding for the first time like her old self.

  “Nonetheless, I wanted to make sure that she knows how much I appreciated that,” Tim said.

  “I’m sure she does, Mr. Hall, just as I’m sure she appreciates how much everyone has done for her.”

  Tim smiled at that. “Well, I should be going now, but it was sure nice meeting you, Agent Wilson,” he said.

  “You too, Mr. Hall.”

  Tim turned to go, but Mary Ann’s voice stopped him. “And Mr. Hall—would you answer a question?”

  Tim turned around and faced Mary Ann again.

  “Mr. Hall, do you feel it would be possible for you to love a divorced FBI Special Agent who has two children?”

  “I think that may be entirely possible,” Tim replied with another smile. Then he walked out of the room.

  As Tim rode an elevator down to the first floor, he did wonder if he would be able to rekindle his relationship with Mary Ann, but he figured that was something they would need to decide together. After all, they’d fallen in love while believing that they were different people than they’d proven to be. Tim wondered if he could love the real Mary Ann and whether Mary Ann could love the real Tim.

  Tim knew that he and Mary Ann would have a lot to consider, so he felt that he should give her a couple of days before he called her again. He was in such deep thought about this as he walked out of the hospital that he did not see that Mary Ann was now standing right in front of him. She must have run down the stairs.

  Before Tim could say a word, Mary Ann jumped into Tim’s arms and began to kiss him like only Mary Ann could kiss.

  “I love you; I love you; I love you,” Mary Ann said after each kiss. “And I want to be with you forever. After all, you do need someone to watch your back. I’m the girl to do it.”

  “As long as you understand that we will be living in my wife’s old house with all of her old stuff. That might bother some women,” Tim replied.

  “But I’m not some woman, Tim,” she protested. “I’m Mary Ann Wilson, and I’m an adult and a professional.”

  “As a matter of fact, Mary Ann, I’m an adult, too,” Tim agreed.

  Ch
apter 32

  Epilogue

  It was now early summer, and temperatures had already surpassed the 90-degree mark. This, of course, emboldened all of the climate change worry warts, but to Tim Hall, it was just another hot day. Much too hot for the sports jacket he was wearing, so he decided to take it off.

  Hot summer days did give Baltimore a certain aroma that reminded Tim of his first summer living there. In his mind, Tim felt that he left Baltimore a long time ago, but it had really only been three months. “Time sure flies when you’re having fun, or something like it,” Tim used to joke, but in reality, the passage of time scared him. Because of this, he’d recently made a commitment to himself to appreciate all of the time that was left in his life.

  As Tim walked to the Blue Goose Barbecue, he noticed that nothing much had changed in the neighborhood. Baltimore was like that. No matter how hard anyone tried to improve the city, most of it pretty much stayed the same. Baltimore did not have the success of Brooklyn, NY, for example, which had become a very hip place to live. Maybe this was because Baltimore lived in the shadow of Washington, D.C., except for the notoriety the city received from the numerous TV shows that cited the bad things about Baltimore: the drugs, the murders, and the racial tension. However, the city was also home to some of the best medical facilities in the world, and the people who lived in Baltimore loved the place and were proud of it. DC, on the other hand, was considered by many to be just an outpost, a place you went to just to get your ticket punched. A place where you spent a couple of years before moving on to wherever you really wanted to live. That was the city’s reputation that could never be changed.

  As Tim entered the Goose, none of the regulars seemed to recognize him. Tim had cleaned himself up somewhat with a new haircut, and now he was shaving every day. He’d also taken to wearing many of the clothes from his closet at the safe house. His late wife had purchased much of Tim’s wardrobe over the years, and she’d of course had immaculate taste.

  Referring to Pam as his late wife did leave Tim with a strange feeling of loss. Somehow, when he’d believed that Pam was dead the first time, he’d had a kind of numb feeling about it. Tim’s new doctor had explained that this was the result of all the drugs he’d been given; now that he was essentially drug free, all sorts of emotions had returned.

  “Secret Agent Tim?” It was Randy, the man who’d said new kidneys could be grown from stem cells. “Professor, where have you been? We all thought you must have died or something.”

  Tim was not sure what “or something” might mean, but he decided to let it go. “Oh, I just needed to take care of some family business with my uncle. May I buy you a drink, Randy?”

  “Well, you know I’m just a fellow who can’t say no,” Randy replied.

  A young man who Tim had not seen before walked behind the bar. “Professor?” Randy said. “Meet Jim. He’s Mary Ann’s cousin from Ohio.”

  Randy suddenly looked concerned. He directed his gaze toward a framed picture of Mary Ann that was behind the bar. “You do know that happened, don’t you?”

  The regulars had made a memorial to Mary Ann. Over the picture, someone had placed a sign that said:

  Mary Ann Layback

  1976 to 2018

  Under that was a story from a newspaper with the headline:

  Three Die in Horrific Accident on Point of Rocks Bridge

  The news article listed the names of Pam Hall, Sebastian Oak, and Mary Ann Layback, but made no mention of Toby Wheeler. Tim wondered about that and if Mary Ann, or Special Agent Mary Ann Wilson as she was now known, would tell him the reason. The FBI was as anal retentive as usual.

  The new bartender and owner of the Goose walked over and introduced himself. “Hi, Jim Jones. And you are?”

  “My name is Tim Hall. I’m a regular, but I’ve been away.”

  “So, you’re Tim Hall?” the new bartender repeated.

  “The one and only.”

  He smiled. “My cousin Mary Ann told me all about you. I hope you won’t be a stranger.”

  “She did?” Tim asked, now knowing that Jim was full of shit.

  “Yes. As a matter of fact, my dad, Mary Ann’s uncle, would love to hear from you.” He handed Tim a business card with a phone number on the back. It had a 703-area code, which was the same as CIA Headquarters in Langley.

  “Thanks, Jim,” Tim said pleasantly. “I’ll be sure to give him a call.”

  “Thank you, Tim. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around.”

  Not if I can help it, Tim thought to himself.

  Tim bought a round of drinks for everyone at the Goose in honor of the late Mary Ann Layback and started back to his condominium. He did not mention to anyone at the Goose that he would be moving from Baltimore back to Virginia. That would have of resulted in too many questions. It would be better if he were just to disappear, but he did hand Randy one of his new official business cards from his employer, The Central Intelligence Agency. Tim saw Randy showing his card to one of the other regulars as he walked out the door.

  “Is that you, my darling?” a voice called as Tim entered his condo.

  “The one and only,” Tim said again as he followed the sound of the voice.

  Mary Ann, now officially known as Special Agent Mary Ann Wilson of the FBI, was on a stepladder in the kitchen going through the cabinets one more time. Mary Ann had taken charge of moving Tim from Baltimore to the safe house in Virginia. She had also taken charge of removing Pam’s belongings from the house on Lovettsville Rd, including Pam’s wardrobe and personal effects. Mary Ann was able to do all of that within three days. She was incredibly good at searching and organizing, telling Tim that FBI management often requested her when a search warrant was served. “It’s one of my specialties,” she joked.

  Tim had been correct when he surmised that Mary Ann was working undercover when Sebastian entered the picture and that her handlers had told her to maintain her cover to see where it would lead. However, she still would not reveal to Tim why she’d been investigating Toby Wheeler in the first place. “It’s an ongoing investigation,” was all that she would say about the matter.

  Mary Ann also confessed to Tim that she did not believe he was a spy either which was the real reason she started the fist fight with him that day at the Blue Goose.

  “When I reported that to Sebastian” Mary Ann said “He told me that you were a dangerous man but I’m still not sure Tim. Are you?”

  “Well I guess you will just have to find that out for yourself” Tim replied not sure why Mary Ann still doubted his abilities to handle himself.

  “By the way, you’ve been replaced at the Goose,” Tim said as he opened a Coke Zero.

  “Really? By who?”

  “Some young good-looking guy named Jim Jones, if you can believe that name.”

  “Hmm. Well, I don’t think he’s FBI. Probably one of your guys. After all, Sebastian owned the place.”

  Tim agreed that Jim Jones was probably CIA. After all, the Agency operated lots of different businesses.

  Mary Ann, meanwhile, went back to her searching and cleaning.

  She no longer looked like the biker chick he had fallen for over six months ago. Mary Ann had cut her hair, so it was slightly below her shoulders and washed out the red highlights, returning it to her natural color of chestnut brown. Gone also were all of her biker clothes and the heavy mascara. If Tim had taken Mary Ann over to the Goose, most of her regulars probably would not have recognized her.

  The real Mary Ann Wilson also no longer sounded like biker chick Mary Ann. She now spoke in more soft and measured tones, which oddly enough made her sound like Tim’s late wife Pam. That all said, Mary Ann’s feelings toward Tim had not changed in the slightest. She loved him deeply and was not ashamed to let anyone know it. FBI management was not pleased that Mary Ann had started a sexual relationship while working undercover, but when that was mentioned during her debriefing, Mary Ann simply stated that she would quit rather than give up her relationshi
p with Tim. This effectively called the FBI’s bluff, and the subject was never mentioned again. Mary Ann seemed to be a sort of poster child for women in the new and modern FBI, and the last thing anyone needed was for her to quit.

  Tim wondered what the real story was between Mary Ann and Toby. After all, they were supposed to be boyfriend and girlfriend. However, Mary Ann had explained that Toby’s steroid abuse had essentially rendered him a eunuch. Tim hoped that Mary Ann was telling him the truth, but he had been finding that she would often tell Tim what he wanted to hear as opposed to the truth. Tim was letting that go for the time being, but he knew that Mary Ann’s tendency to lie would be a problem down the road. Well, what else was new? Pam lied, and now the new girlfriend did, too.

  Meanwhile, the President had fully recovered and resumed his war with the media. As a matter of fact, many in the media never believed there was an attempted assassination at all, preferring to think that the entire matter was a giant hoax. The President’s ongoing fight with the media seemed to obscure the fact that a number of CIA and FBI department heads had suddenly decided to retire after the assassination plot was exposed. The press just assumed that these agency heads were leaving because they could no longer work for a President “unqualified to hold office.” This phrase was the media’s new angle on the President, and they were repeating it ad nauseam.

  Often, things happened in the nation’s capital for entirely different reasons than the official statements said, and this was certainly not the first time that the media missed a story that happened right under their noses. It actually happened a lot more than anybody in the press corps would like to admit.

  Meanwhile, the Agency head who’d been working under the pseudonym Bob Ajacks and who had visited the safe house happened to die in a traffic accident on the GW Parkway. That rated a small article in the Metro section of the Washington Post. The man’s name was mentioned along with where he lived, but nothing else. He would soon be forgotten. Sebastian Oak and Pam Hall would also be forgotten. Officially, they would be classified as having been killed in the line of service, but Tim doubted that either would receive a star on the Memorial Wall at Langley.