Azaleas Don't Bloom Here

by Frank Klus

  “You keep her company often, right?” Casimir said.

  “I come over about once a week. She keeps me company too. We’re a couple of lonely housewives. I don’t have any close friends. People…you know…get fearful around me. They tend not to open up to me.”

  “Why?”

  “You know….” She stopped in mid-thought, wondering how to put it. Jaydan just stared at her, not comprehending what she was holding back.

  “People are afraid that whatever they tell me would go straight to John. Then—”

  “Oh, I understand,” Jaydan said. “I guess it’s a hazard of the job. The job is tough enough on us, but I guess I never realized how tough it is on the wives.” Casimir never told Beverly about Sandy’s “treatment”. That was a heavily guarded secret. Sandy was sort of programmed to accept not just her relationship with Jaydan Casimir, but to see the loneliness of the marriage as perfectly natural.

  “You want to know if she said anything about leaving.”

  “Yes. Did she? If she did, please don’t let promises between girlfriends stop you from telling me.”

  “No promises, and no information about leaving, either. I doubt she’d tell me given…well, you know.”

  “Of course. I figured as much, but did she give you any sort of clue? Did she ever mention the name, Fernando?”

  “Well,” she hesitated, “she did mention his name in a dream she had.”

  “Did she say anything else about her dreams?”

  “Just something about connecting dots.”

  It was 2:45 p.m. when a black late model Chevy Suburban pulled into the parking lot. It was Armstrong. He was running about a half-hour late, and Ray was relieved to see him.

  “Hey, bro,” Chad Armstrong said to Ray O’Reilly. Cassandra came out and hugged him. “Boy, are we glad to see you.” Armstrong smiled. “Okay, guys, tell me what’s going on.” Ray explained how he expected a confrontation with the Hogs soon. He couldn’t be absolutely sure they didn’t know where they were or what they were driving. “It’s an eerie feeling, Chad. I just feel like they’re toying with us. Now I know what a blind person feels like. Stay in your house, you’re fine. You know where everything is. Go outside, and who knows?” “What you need is to find out where they are; and you can bet it isn’t just the Hogs, it’s the Lightning Squad too.” “I don’t know where they are. I only know they’re out there, and they want to capture or kill us.” “My plan is to let them find us. I got Foote, Wrenn, and Bones with me. With you and Cassandra, we can take them on. Where are you staying?” “About a mile away.” They took out two additional rooms for the night. Chad and his men would watch for the enemy from the Suburban. If the Hogs don’t show up they planned to retrace their steps and head west again until they reached the Dakotas, and then head for the Canadian border. The night was quiet. No one showed up as dawn rose over the eastern roof of the inn. Chad knocked on Ray and Cassandra’s door. Ray answered, ready to go. He then knocked on Eugene’s room, but there was no answer. He knocked a little harder, but there was still no answer. He walked over to Pamela’s door. Pamela and Eugene shared a double and it was possible Eugene was over on Pamela’s side. He knocked on her door. No answer. Now he was beginning to get worried. He knocked harder and yelled for Pamela, but there was still no answer. Ray heard the commotion and came over. Then he checked to see if her vehicle was still in the parking lot. It was. “I’ll get the manager.” He entered the office, and the manager was just making coffee. “Good morning,” Ray said. The manager turned around and greeted him. “Two of your guests are missing—the Mulligans.” “Missing?” “Yeah—as in not answering our knock.” “Well, they’re probably showering.” “No, I don’t think they’re in there.” “Maybe they went out for breakfast.” “Is there a restaurant within short walking distance?” The manager thought a moment, and then shrugged his shoulders. “They knew we were leaving now. I would appreciate it if you could check on them.” The manager knocked first, and then entered Pamela’s room. No one was in there. Ray entered Eugene’s room, but he wasn’t there either. Their clothes were there and the beds were slept in, but they were gone. The front desk guy didn’t seem concerned as they were paid through the night. They all agreed to meet in Ray and Cassandra’s room to try and figure out what happened. “How is this possible, Chad?” Ray said. “What if the Hogs found us?” Cassandra said. “Bones and me watched the motel through the night,” said Chad. “Nothing happened.” “Well, there was the white cargo van that pulled up around midnight,” Bones said. “Was that the one parked in front of Eugene’s room? I remember seeing one when I took over the 0300 watch.” “Yeah, that’s the one. A couple guys got out and went upstairs.” “You think those guys kidnapped them?” Foote said. “It shouldn’t be possible,” Chad said. Ray looked askance. “…unless someone fell asleep.” “I swear to God I did not fall asleep,” Bones said. Chad sighed. “It’s clear one of us did. We didn’t get much sleep on the way here.” “Wait a second,” Bones said. “I remembered looking at the license plate. It’s a habit I developed over the years. I also looked for some details about the cargo van. Then I didn’t think about it anymore.” “How ‘bout it, Bones?” Ray said. “The cargo van was white and new—no dings or dents, not even a scrape. The plate was something like AGS, and there was a four in there.” Ray frowned. “You mean you didn’t write it down?” “There was no reason to. I never write the plate down. Ninety-nine percent of the time there’s no reason to do so. Besides, we should have enough of the plate, and the fact it’s a cargo van, white, and new or late model.” “It’s enough information,” Armstrong said. Wrenn spoke up. “Lay yah two to one odds it’s a rental.” “The front office,” Ray said. “They may be able to give us more information.” Chad shook his head. “Don’t be too sure. Privacy and all, and we aren’t exactly the police.” “For a couple C-notes he might tell us who it was,” Ray said. Chad thought about it for a second. “Couldn’t hurt.” Ray came back about fifteen minutes later. “It’s Carlos Colderon, and I got the license plate.” “Now we need to know which direction they went. We’ll need to split up. Ray and Cassandra—you go north. We’ll go south.” “I can hotwire Pamela’s car,” Bones said. “Then we can have three vehicles searching. That way we can cover more roads.” “Why should we even bother to go north?” Cassandra said. “They’re probably heading back to Illinois. There’s no reason to go north.” “Yeah, there is,” Bones said. “We’re just assuming they would be headed back to Illinois, but we don’t exactly know that for sure.” “Exactly,” Chad said. “That’s why I want you traveling north. And, everyone, I have a map of Squad battalion headquarters. Check all along or near your route. They may have taken them there.” “What chance do we really have?” Ray said. “They have a head start of several hours. My guess is that they’re taking them to the new Hell House, and I don’t know where that is.” “I have an idea,” Chad said. “Those two doctors have inside information. Maybe they can help us.” Chad pulled out his mobile phone and punched in the number. The phone rang. A moment later, “Dr. Schmidt? Hello, this is Chad Armstrong.” (Pause) “No, I’m sorry. Not yet. Look, we have a problem. Pamela Piper and her charge, Eugene Sulke, have been kidnapped—” (Pause) “Look, it just happened. We have to focus on getting them back. We know they were taken in a white cargo van, new, license plate ASG 410. Do you know who it might belong to?” After a moment and turning to the group, “He put me on hold.” “Huh? Jesus. Okay. Call me if you find out anything more.” Turning to the other members of the group, “He doesn’t know who it belongs to, but they won’t be bringing them to the new Hell House. They’ve shut down the Brain Probe Operation, and….” Chad hesitated to continue. “What is it?” Ray said. “He thinks they’re just going to kill them.”

  Several hours went by and no one saw the mysterious cargo van. Ray and Cassandra checked at every restaurant, diner, and motel on the highway, but nothing. They snooped around at four battalion command posts but no white van.
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  “We’re getting close to the Canadian border. This is ridiculous, Cass. Call up Armstrong and ask him what he wants us to do.”

  Cassandra did so. “He told us to turn around and retrace our steps. They haven’t had any luck either.”

  “Christ! This is so fucked up, Cass. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack, and it’ll be dark in a couple hours.”

  “What happens then?”

  “We’ll just keep going. That’s all we can do now.”

  Cassandra began sobbing. Ray glanced over to her as if to say “what’s wrong”, but didn’t say anything.

  “It’s all my fault,” she mumbled. Ray said nothing.

  “If I hadn’t….”

  “Hon, we said we’d forget about it.”

  “But I can’t forget,” she said through sporadic tears. “First we and Dennis tried to tear him apart, then I got him put into prison, let Dennis rescue him, only to put him in Hell House, and now he’s been kidnapped, and for all we know, he might be dead right now.”

  “First, it was Casimir, not you. He was the instigator to everything—it wasn’t us. There’d be no need for us to get involved if it wasn’t for Casimir. The moment he found Catherine, Eugene’s whole world collapsed. That was the moment the reality of this fucked up world hit home. All we did was make him understand that.”

  Cassandra still had tears in her eyes when she turned to Ray. “Do you think they’re still alive?”

  “Yeah.” But he didn’t sound convincing.

  The pulsating rhythm of the road had a hypnotizing effect on Ray. He’d constantly look up at the traffic or the trees to keep from nodding off, though he was tired. Daydreaming became an uncontrollable comfort.

  “They’re going to disband us,” Colderon said.

  Ray was too upset to respond. He kept thinking about his brother Dennis. Colderon looked at him with a smirk.

  “You’re such a damned idealist.”

  Ray glared at him. “At least my life has meaning.”

  “Mine too. And, unlike you, I want to keep what I earn. Ray, you’re too idealistic. This is an opportunity man—you and me—we can make a fortune. With your muscle and my organization skills we could be the fiercest duo in America. You recruit the muscle, I recruit the customers, and we keep what we make—no turning it over to a bunch of losers.”

  “You don’t understand, Carlos. We’ll all be losers. Martinez and that hack, Casimir, will fuck us over at the first opportunity. If you want to be a winner then know that we have to overthrow this moldy old regime and become part of the New World.”

  “The only thing you’re going to get is prison or a bullet.”

  “You okay, Ray?” asked Cassandra.

  Ray didn’t answer.

  “You look like you want to swat something. I hope it isn’t me.”

  Ray came out of la-la land as he turned to his wife.

  “What?”

  “Were you thinking about your brother?”

  “No…well, maybe a little.”

  “It’s this world we live in. It corrupts us all one way or another. Pamela said Eugene talked about surrendering, and letting them use the brain probe on him.”

  “What? You got to be kidding. He’s got to be kidding. Why would he say a thing like that?”

  “So he can forget,” she said sadly. “He wants to forget Catherine, Zinney, and not care about how his new promotion would fuck us all over even more.”

  “You don’t think Eugene would bargain with them.”

  “There’s nothing to bargain over. They shut Hell House down. I think if we don’t find him and Pamela soon, we won’t ever see them again.”

  “This isn’t working, Chad,” Bones said.

  “I know, man. Let’s continue on this course until we reach Illinois, and then head for Old Chicago. If we don’t find the van on the way there, then there may be leads for us in town.” Armstrong relayed instructions to Foote and Wrenn.

  It was now past dark. Everyone wanted to know what to do. Chad Armstrong told them to just take turns driving, and try to get some sleep.

  Chad turned to Bones. “I was just thinking of that day when I found Dennis O’Reilly after he disappeared for almost a year. I yelled for him on the other side of the street. He just looked queerly at me. I went over to him to shake his hand, and he asked me who I was. Imagine that, Bones, he didn’t even know me. Said he was on his way to Squad headquarters to apply for a job there.” Armstrong just looked away sadly. “Can you imagine that—Dennis O’Reilly applying for a job as a squad member?”

  “Just fucked up.”

  “I feel bad charging Ray so much money.”

  “We gotta live, too.”

  “I know. If I thought he’d have half a chance…well…we could work something out.”

  “The only time he calls on us is to bail his ass out.”

  “So far we’ve failed him. At least it’s those sicko doctors that are paying us this time.”

  “What chance will they have if Eugene and Pamela can’t be found? They aren’t going to pay us the rest.”

  “So? If we lose them we don’t deserve anything more.”

  Armstrong was deep in thought until he turned to his friend. “I think I was the one who fell asleep.”

  “Did you get much sleep last night?”

  “No. I needed to think. I had to put a plan together to figure out how to lure Colderon to us if he didn’t go to the motel, and then figure out how to kill the Hogs. When I took over your watch I just remembered it got to dawn awfully early. Shit, I dozed off. That’s when the kidnapping occurred. I fucked up.”

  Just then three motorcycles passed them. They never heard them coming.

  “What do you think?” Bones said.

  “I think we might have gotten a break.”

  “The middle guy had a funny looking helmet on. Maybe Colderon?”

  “Follow them at a distance, Bones. Keep the brake light of the rear pointman in view.”

  “They’re moving across to the right lane. We’re coming up on an exit with restaurants. You think—”

  “I think we got lucky. Look, they’re turning off. Don’t lose them.”

  The cyclists turned into a burger joint.

  “Follow them in, Bones.”

  “Chad—over there. Isn’t that…yeah—the cargo van.”

  “And it’s Colderon in the middle. I’d know that bastard anywhere. Lay back until they go inside.”

  They cruised behind the van.

  “That’s it,” Bones said.

  “Pull around the front of it.” Bones parked the truck right in front of the van.

  “If they’re in there, you may have to pick some locks. I’ll watch the restaurant for any sign of them.”

  Bones got his stuff. He went over to the driver side. The door was locked. He went over to the passenger side. The door opened. He climbed in, carefully closing the door. He looked to the back and smiled. There they were. Their mouths were taped and they were handcuffed to the bulkhead. He crawled back there, and taking out his knife, cut the plastic cuffs. Both started to remove the tape over their mouths when Bones motioned to them not to talk.

  Armstrong called Wrenn and Foote with the good news. Foote answered, but Chad heard Wrenn telling one of his dirtiest jokes. “…then the guy says ‘did you really think I was asking for a ten inch Bic?’”

  “Shit, not that one again,” Chad said, laughing.

  “I’ve had to listen to his jokes all day. What’s up?”

  “We found them.” He heard Foote yelling to Wrenn with the message.

  Ray and Cassandra were equally excited. They arranged to rendezvous at a motel on Rt. 89 to discuss new plans.

  “They’re gone?” Dennis was flabbergasted.

  Colderon steamed. Cocksucker.

  “Are you there?”

  “Yeah.” Fuckhead.

  Dennis knew he couldn’t afford to lose his cooperation, so he dropped the attitude. “Look, just tel
l me what happened.”

  “It was like I told you before. We found that jalopy she was driving—”

  “Yeah. It took a lot of bribe money, but we got a lead. She bought the car from somebody we’ve been keeping tabs on for a while.”

  “We rented a room above so we could check the registry. They’re still using the Mulligans. I brought three of my men with me, and leased a van. We parked right in front of their door and called for Eugene. I didn’t expect he’d answer, but he did. We got him and Pamela, but we didn’t know what to do with them. You weren’t answering your phone. We drove around for a while and stopped at a burger joint for supper. When we came back to the van they were gone.”

  “Casimir had me on an assignment. I had to keep my phone off. I told you that when you told me you found them. I assumed you were bringing them here. My brother and his wife must have been with them, but how did they know where to go?”

  “They must have figured it out. If they saw me go by, they’d have followed us.”

  “Who would recognize the van? You told me that there was no one out there.”

  “One of them must have stood watch from their vehicle.”

  “Then how did you pull off the kidnapping?”

  “I told you we parked in front of his room,” he said angrily. “We were quiet and fast. He’d have thought it was just a guest getting an early start. How the fuck do I know?”

  “Then how did they know they were in your van?”

  “Maybe there are more of them. These people were Blues. If Ray had help there, and I surmise he did, then I know they’re good. Christ, I trained under him.”

  “All right, let’s focus on how to get them.”

  “If I know Ray like I do, then he’ll let us come to him. We know all their plans now. It was with Pamela—maps and everything. They’re not going to go anywhere. My guess is they’ll go back to that same motel and wait for us. Then we’ll have it out.”

  Chapter 20:

  A Big Hog Showdown