The Adults in the Room
Page 26
Tim was never able to determine how deeply Sebastian and Pam were involved in the conspiracy, yet just being aware of it and not acting to stop it was bad enough and would get you a number of years in a Super-Max. Tim’s guess regarding the kind of poisons used was just pure luck on his part. Pam and Sebastian were probably going to take credit for saving the President, which was another good reason Tim and Mary Ann would need to be killed on the bridge.
Even now, Tim was still having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that his wife had every intention of killing him. He had thought from the beginning that Sebastian and Toby were planning to kill him, but he’d really wanted to believe that Pam was on his side. Tim often confused sex with love—but just because Pam had fucked Tim a couple of times over that weekend did not mean that she still loved him.
In regard to the Bitcoin account, Tim was still considering what he should do about it, if anything. Although he did not have Pam’s or Sebastian’s PIN numbers, he could probably find them. But Tim had inherited Pam’s entire estate and now had more money than he would ever need. The accountants and lawyers couldn’t give him an exact total as of yet, but Tim would never need to worry about not having enough money again. This all made the Bitcoin account kind of a moot point...and besides, explaining where you came up with $80 million to the Agency and the IRS would be a problem.
Still, it was something that Tim would need to think over. Perhaps the money could even be used for something good.
Finished with his musings, Tim walked up behind Mary Ann and wrapped his arms around her waist. He could feel the Glock 9mm holstered on her hip. “It’s going to take me some time to get used to this extra appendix,” he remarked as he kissed Mary Ann on her neck.
“Oh, I can always take it off if you want to play cops and robbers,” she replied cheerfully.
“Later on, dear, when we get back to Lovettsville,” Tim said as he hugged her tightly.
Like Pam, Tim had found that Mary Ann had a somewhat kinky side. I must just attract the type, Tim thought.
Mary Ann had accepted a training position at the FBI Academy located in Quantico, Virginia. Quantico was almost a two-hour drive from Lovettsville Road, so Mary Ann had arranged to live on campus from Tuesday through Friday. Tim had also arranged clearance for Mary Ann to reside at the safe house on the weekends, as long as she was willing to help entertain some of the guests if the need arose. She was more than happy to do so. Mary Ann, like the late Pam, seemed to enjoy being a cop.
“Do you think my girls can come and visit us at the safe house, Tim?” she asked.
“Sure, I don’t know why not. Just as long as nothing is going on,” Tim replied.
Until recently, Mary Ann had not seen her children for almost two years, and she was concerned that they were forgetting about her. Mary Ann’s ex-husband Dennis was a Battalion Chief with the Cleveland Fire Department, and his wife Sandy was a surgical nurse at the Cleveland Clinic. Mary Ann had a decent relationship with her ex-husband, but she did not trust his wife Sandy whatsoever. “She’s stealing my girls,” Mary Ann bemoaned to Tim...but she also knew that part of this was her own fault. Mary Ann could have remained a detective with the Cleveland PD, but she wanted a career with the FBI, and that meant moving to different cities. Dennis loved his job as a firefighter and had no intention of moving. Besides it was not easy to transfer from one fire department to another. Their divorce had been amicable enough, although Mary Ann thought that her husband could have been more flexible about following her to her new posts. However, she was still a patrol officer with the Cleveland PD when they were married, and Dennis had no idea that Mary Ann planned to become an FBI agent. In the end, Mary Ann had found that, although she might want it all, she wasn’t likely to get it all.
“Are we close to being ready?” Tim asked. “The movers will be here soon.”
“Just one last looksee,” she responded
“Okay. I just want to be back in Virginia by 6 p.m. Darrel, the security guy, is due back tonight, and I would like to speak with him.”
Darrel had survived the gunshot wound to his belly by the skin of his teeth, and the ER doctors credited this to how he’d been prevented from going into shock. That had been all Pam, Tim thought.
“I’m going down to the loading dock to wait for the truck,” he told Mary Ann.
As Tim rode down in the elevator, he reached into his top pocket and pulled out the business card that Jim Jones, the new bartender at the Goose, had given him. Tim dialed the number and waited.
The phone rang one time, and a man answered. “Mr. Hall, we have been expecting your call.” He paused, then added, “Mr. Hall, from time to time, we need men like you to help us out in several matters. My question to you, Tim, is simply: do you want back in?”
Recently Tim had been thinking about love and wondering if he had ever really been in love, or even knew what love really was. He’d thought he loved Pam when they were married, but it was obvious now that she’d never loved him in return. Mary Ann did appear to love Tim, and Tim really did care for Mary Ann and felt that she needed to be protected. But was protecting Mary Ann really love, or was that just the fatherly side of Tim coming out? Tim was once told by a girlfriend that, in every relationship, one person loves, while the other person allows themselves to be loved. Tim wondered if there were relationships where both people loved one another equally. Somehow, he doubted it.
Tim thought that running the safe house would be an excellent way to retire from the Agency, and he looked forward to spending many wonderful weekends there with Mary Ann, but how long would that last? Mary Ann was just 38 years old, and soon she would be going back out into the field. Mary Ann was not the “it’s just a job” type of cop, meaning that she would throw her heart and soul into each new assignment and case. And, although she would not admit it, Mary Ann had already chosen her career over her children. She may not like her ex-husband’s wife Sandy, but she really should be grateful that Sandy was willing to raise her two daughters.
“I want back in,” Tim said to the voice on the other end of the line.
The man began to laugh. “Mr. Hall, you still don’t get it. You never left.”
Tim hung up the phone.
The door opened behind Tim, and out came Mary Ann. She gave Tim a massive hug. “You and I are going to have a great life, honey. Just you wait and see,” she said.
Tim took hold of her shoulders and turned Mary Ann around, so she was facing him, then gave her the longest and most passionate kiss he had ever given a woman.
“Mary Ann, we are beginning a journey, and where that will take us is anyone’s guess—but there is no one I would rather take it with,” he answered.
“Gosh, Tim,” Mary Ann whispered. “You took the words right out of my mouth.” She laughed. “Now kiss me again like you mean it.”
And he did.
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR,
Thank you for reading The Adults in the Room. If you enjoyed my book, please take a minute and provide a rating and a short review (if applicable). Your opinion is very valuable to other readers and to me.
Once again thank you for reading Adults in the Room.
Jeffrey D. Mechling
Copywrite June 2019 by the
The Good as Gone Group LLC
Middleburg, Virginia and Los Angeles, California
All Rights Reserved
Third Printing
| Page
About the Author
Jeffrey Mechling was raised in a family full of secrets. His maternal grandfather was thought to be an agent in the OSS who made several trips to Germany before WW2.
Although Mechling grandfather was never known to have served in the military, he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with the rank of Major. A number of other Mechling family members seemed to have jobs with the United States Government that they “just could not talk about”.
Mr. Mechling is himself an Analysis with a not so secret government agency and
is married to the artist Kathleen Ryder. They reside in Northern Virginia.
Kathleen Ryder is a teacher and artist originally from Brooklyn NY..
Read more at Jeffrey Mechling’s site.
About the Publisher