Near Sighted (A Jake Townsend Science Fiction, Action and Adventure, Thriller Series Book 2)

by Richard C Hale

  “Would your friend have given him a beer?” Ginny asked.

  “Yep.”

  She smiled. “That was nice of you. I thought you were going to be a jerk there for a second.”

  “He looked harmless, but I didn’t want him harassing you. Sometimes being nice works, other times it doesn’t.”

  She tilted her head and then said. “I may have to change my opinion of you just yet.”

  “From what?”

  She didn’t answer, just stared at him for a second.

  “Are we getting drunk or what?” he asked and raised his glass again.

  She laughed and tapped hers to his and they both drank the shot together. “I need to slow down,” she said. “I’m already feeling it.”

  “We just got started.” But Lucky was feeling it too. He was not the big drinker he was pretending to be. He twirled the last full shot on the table with his fingers but did not drink.

  “Who’s your friend?” she asked. “The bar owner.”

  “His name in Tim. We go way back.”

  “Why do you rate free drinks whenever you want?”

  “Can’t a friend be allowed to give another old friend freebies whenever he wants?”

  “What did you do?”

  He stared at her and tried to decide if he wanted to go there. After a minute he figured it wouldn’t hurt. “I saved his life a while back.”

  “Wow. No wonder you get lifetime free booze. What did you do?”

  “It was nothing. He makes it out to be bigger than it really was.”

  “What did you do?” she repeated, and tossed her shot back without waiting for him. He continued to spin his slowly on the table.

  “We were camping in Wyoming and had a visitor in the middle of the night.”

  Her eyes shone in the low light and he couldn’t tell if it was the alcohol or something else. Whatever it was, it made him stare at her, mesmerized. She was beautiful.

  “Who was it?” she asked, into the story now.

  “You mean what was it? A not so friendly bear wanting to share our dinner leftovers.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “Nope.”

  She waited and he watched her. “What happened?” she asked. “That’s not the end. How did you save his life?”

  He squirmed in the bench and picked up the glass, remembering. “We found out he was there when he grabbed Tim’s booted feet and pulled him out of the tent. Tim was yelling like a fool and the bear was making its own racket as Tim’s yelling just stirred him up. The fire was still going, but low, and the light was pretty dim, but I could see the thing was huge. He had Tim’s boot in his mouth and was shaking his head back and forth, tossing Tim from side to side like a rag doll. He was yelling pretty good, terrified.”

  “I bet.”

  “I didn’t know what to do, but I couldn’t just let that bear thrash him to death, so I grabbed a burning branch from the fire and thrust it in the bear’s face as I screamed at the top of my lungs. He let go of Tim and rose up on his hind legs roaring at me. I swear that thing was nine feet tall.”

  Her eyes were huge in the glowing light of the bar and he couldn’t seem to look away from them. “The bear started to come after me, but I stuck the flames in his face and he backed away. Tim was up now and he grabbed another burning stick and we both waved it in front of the bear screaming at the top of our lungs. For some reason, the bear seemed to remember Tim and charged after him pinning him underneath his paws. I though Tim was a goner.”

  “So, the bear was on top of him?”

  He nodded, picked up his shot and drank it down.

  “How did he survive?”

  “I kind of reacted without thinking. I jumped on the bears back and thrust the fire in his face from behind. I just hung on and jabbed the stick in its face and hoped for the best.”

  “You’re kidding, right? No way you jumped on the back of a nine foot grizzly bear.”

  “Crazy, huh? I did and to this day I still don’t know where that came from. Anyway, Tim tried to squirm out from under the bear’s grip while I set its face on fire and then the bear roars in anger and rears up, batting its paws at its face. I must have stuck the fire in his eye or something. I fell off on my ass and the thing just bounded off howling into the woods. It never came back.”

  She sat there staring at him with this flabbergasted look on her face and he thought she was going to laugh at him. He felt for sure she didn’t believe a word he said.

  “I have got to ask your friend Tim about this,” and she got up and started walking toward the bar.

  “Ginny! Wait!” but she was already there waving at Tim. He walked over as Lucky came up behind her and he gave Tim a look that his friend knew too well.

  “I see Lucky’s been telling our story again,” Tim said. “Hi, I’m Tim.” He stuck out his hand and Ginny took it.

  “Ginny,” she said. “You seem okay. I’m not sure you guys aren’t putting me on.”

  “Nope,” Tim said. “We do work together, though, when we’re trying to impress a pretty lady, though my impressing days are over.” He pointed to the bartender and said, “That’s my fiancée. She’s heard the story way too many times.”

  Ginny grinned and looked back and forth between Tim and Lucky and finally said, “You guys really fought off a giant bear?”

  “Lucky did. I just screamed like a girl.”

  “Bullshit,” Lucky said. “You fought him just as much as I did. You were the one he wouldn’t leave alone.”

  Tim turned to Ginny and leaned in close. “Do you want to see it?”

  “See what? The bear!”

  He chuckled. “No. The scar. Lucky didn’t tell you about the scar?”

  “What scar?”

  Tim rolled up his sleeve and on his forearm was a patchwork of twisted white scars that traced patterns all the way up into his elbow and then disappeared under his shirtsleeve. It was not a pretty site.

  She grimaced. “Man, he did a number on you. I believe you now. How did you guys get back with your arm all torn up?”

  “That was Lucky too. He dragged my ass halfway through the woods to the car and got me to the hospital. That’s where I met Tracy. She was a nurse at the time. She fixed me up good and we hit it off right away.”

  Lucky felt embarrassed. His face must have shown it because she smiled huge at him and it made her face glow.

  “You’re a real hero,” she said. “Maybe you are more than a little lucky.” She touched his arm and then slipped her hand in his.

  Tracy came over and put her arm around Tim. “Hi,” she said. “I’m Tracy.”

  “We were reliving the bear again,” Tim said.

  She rolled her eyes but smiled. “Oh my God. You two. Will you ever get past the bear?”

  “It was pretty traumatic,” Tim said and kissed the side of her head. “My two saviors.”

  “Hey. You’re not kissing me,” Lucky said.

  Tim let Tracy go and reached across the bar for Lucky but Lucky stepped back. “Get over here and I’ll plant one on you right now. I’m not scared,” Tim said, grinning.

  “These rednecks will never come back especially after they kick our ass.”

  Tim laughed. “You’re probably right about that. Let me get you guys another round. Tequila?”

  Ginny nodded, but Lucky said, “I want a beer now. If I keep drinking tequila, you’ll have to drag me out of here.”

  “I thought you wanted to get naked?” Ginny asked.

  “Whoa!” Tracy said. “Now we’re talking.”

  “Easy, Trace. Lucky’d never do that.”

  “I can get naked with beer.”

  “We’ll see,” and Ginny held up four fingers. “Tequila.”

  “Coming right up,” Tracy said and went to pour the shots.

  Tim looked over Lucky’s head and then nodded his chin toward the door. “Isn’t that your boss? That General?”

  Lucky and Ginny both turned. “Shit,” she said. “Wha
t’s he doing here?”

  “He comes in here now and then,” Tim said. “He’s spotted you. He’s heading this way.”

  “We’re not on the clock,” Lucky said. “Hope he doesn’t want company. Things like that never go well.”

  General Peter Smith walked up dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt. His boots looked well worn and he seemed at ease in the place. Comfortable. Not like his job persona behind the uniform, though his eyes still had the steely stare he was known for. He was not one to mess around with.

  “Eugene, Jennifer. Thought I might find you here,” he said.

  “You did?” Ginny asked.

  “Walters at the desk said he overheard you two talking about heading out for drinks. I knew Eugene comes here frequently.”

  “Lucky, sir. Call me Lucky. I can’t stand Eugene.”

  Smith squinted and said, “Never be ashamed of your name. It’s who you are.”

  Lucky nodded but said nothing more.

  “General, we’re off duty. Did we miss something at The Cave?”

  “No. I just needed to talk with you and I didn’t think you would mind. It will only take a moment.”

  “Can we get you a beer or something, Sir? My friend owns the bar and I get drinks for free.”

  “Beer would be fine,” Smith said.

  “We’re sitting over here, General,” Ginny said and headed toward the booth.

  “I’ll be right there with the drinks,” Lucky called after her over the noise. She waved and led Smith over to the booth.

  “He seems sobering,” Tim said and handed Lucky the shots and beer. “Is he an evening spoiler?”

  “I hope not,” Lucky said. “I guess we’ll find out. Thanks buddy.”

  “Anytime. Anytime.”

  Smith was sitting across from Ginny so Lucky squeezed himself in next to her with his feet sticking out of the booth again. It was like trying to sit in a lawn chair shoved inside a tiny closet. Sooner or later he’d lose feeling in his legs and wouldn’t be able to stand, sober or not.

  “What can we do for you general?” Ginny asked.

  “I need you two to take some of the new portable equipment and see what we can find in Jackson Hole.”

  Lucky turned and looked at Ginny and she did the same to him. Surprise was the only thing he saw on her face. He turned back to Smith. “Why us, sir? Don’t they have teams for this?”

  “Not trained on this new equipment. I thought you two would love to get out of The Cave for awhile. Do I need to get Hansky and Poridge to do this?”

  Hansky was an idiot and Poridge was just what his name implied. He was fat, soft, and tasteless. “No. It just took us by surprise.” He looked at Ginny again and answered for both of them. “We’ll do it.” She nodded.

  Smith took a large swallow of the beer and almost drained it in one gulp. “We need to get on top of whatever is going on out there and keep this under wraps. I can trust you to keep things quiet? No sense in creating a nuclear panic.”

  They both nodded.

  “Nail this thing down and then we’ll call in the big boys to clean it up. Hopefully it’s nothing but some yokel pretending he’s Einstein or something.”

  “Let’s hope so,” Lucky said.

  “I know you two are having fun, but don’t get too carried away. I need you fresh for this.”

  Lucky looked at his two shots and then at Ginny’s and felt relieved. He was not really up to crawling out of here. “We’ll stop with these, General.”

  Smith nodded and slid out of the booth, draining his beer as he stood. “Tomorrow. 0700. I’ll have the equipment ready.”

  “Yes sir,” they both said at the same time and watched Smith leave the establishment.

  “Well, so much for getting tequila drunk,” Ginny said, but raised her glass to him. “We better finish these and get some rest.”

  “I was kind of looking forward to getting naked,” he joked.

  “Go for it.”

  He just grinned at her and drank the shot. As he set the glass down, someone tripped over his feet and went sprawling to the floor. Laughter greeted this, but the man who had landed on his ass was not laughing. Lucky stood and extended his hand to the fallen cowboy. “My apologies, friend. My big clumsy feet won’t fit in the booth.”

  The cowboy glared at his hand and picked himself up. “I think you did that on purpose, dipshit.”

  “An accident,” Lucky said. “My fault. Let me buy you a beer, make it up to you.”

  “Fuck your beer,” he said, and Lucky knew this wasn’t going to end well.

  “He said he was sorry,” Ginny said. “It isn’t his fault the booths aren’t big enough.”

  “You stay out of this, bitch.”

  Lucky dropped his hand and shifted his back foot a little. He was no longer in a forgiving mood. “I’m going to need you to apologize to the lady,” he said.

  “Or what?”

  “Me and you are going to have a problem.”

  The bar had grown quiet except for the jukebox and the clinking of glasses at the bar as Tracy poured drinks, she and Tim oblivious to what was happening.

  “The way I see it we already have a problem.” And he poked Lucky in the upper left chest with a finger the size of a sausage. Lucky never hesitated. Leaning into the gesture, he brought his left arm up under the cowboys forearm, grasped his wrist from underneath, and twisted outward. The man had nowhere to go but follow the twisting appendage as he was thrown off balance, reacting to the pain in his arm. It drove him to the ground. Lucky held the pressure and knew if he twisted just a fraction more, the radial and ulnar bones in the man’s lower arm would snap like twigs.

  “I need you to apologize to the lady,” Lucky repeated.

  The man grimaced and reached with his other arm but Lucky kept his distance. “Do you really want me to snap your arm in two? The sound is horrible,” and Lucky grinned at the man.

  “I’m sorry,” he mumbled through clenched teeth.

  “What? I couldn’t hear you.”

  “I’m sorry! Now ease up.”

  Lucky smiled and let the man’s arm go. He cradled it in his other arm and sat there glowering at the both of them for a second, then got his feet under him and stood. “This ain’t over,” he said.

  “Oh, I think it is,” Lucky said, sitting back down in the booth. “Move along before the lady gets angry. She’s worse than me.”

  The cowboy glanced at Ginny who smiled and raised her glass to him. He mumbled something and then quickly walked out of the bar.

  Lucky grabbed his last shot and swallowed it down. He hated violence, but wasn’t about to let some prick ruin his day.

  “Where did you learn to do that?” Ginny asked, shaking her head. “That was impressive.”

  “Law school,” he said.

  She laughed. “I bet. Thanks for sticking up for me. You want to get out of here?”

  “I think we better before we start a riot.” A few others were eyeing them and Lucky knew he had a target on his back now. He was the badass who cowed a man with the flick of his wrist. Others would want to prove themselves against him.

  They stopped by the bar, saying goodnight to Tim and Tracy, and then left without incident, Lucky staggering just the slightest bit. Tomorrow was going to be rough.

  Chapter 16

  Orange Park, Florida

  Bodey told Jake he was in love. The instant he saw Winslow he blurted it out and stared like a schoolboy in gym class when the new girl first walked in.

  Jake chuckled and said, “Easy, killer. I need to keep her here for a while so don’t go scaring her off.”

  “Why do you always get to work with the babes?” Bodey said.

  “It’s their brains,” Jake said. “You mean why do I always get to work with the smart ones?”

  “Whatever.”

  Jake introduced Winslow to Bodey and she hugged him like they were best friends and he melted.

  “So Jake tells me you like unicorns too,” she sa
id.

  “UNICORN is cool. I can work with that,” Bodey said. “You know the language?”

  Winslow opened her mouth and made some animal noise that was a cross between a horse and an owl. Jake didn’t know what to make of it but Bodey grinned.

  “A girl after my own heart,” and he laughed.

  She smiled and said, “And I also know the programming language in case you thought I was completely nuts.”

  “Now I get it,” Jake said. “You had me worried yesterday. I wasn’t sure who I hired.”

  “You get what you pay for,” Winslow said.

  “Where’s Maddy?” Bodey asked and looked around the lab. “I can’t believe she’s not here to greet me.”

  “She’ll be here in a bit. She’s grabbing lunch for us,” Jake said.

  “What is she getting?” Bodey asked, dropping the beat up duffel bag he used for luggage to the floor.

  “Barbeque,” Jake said.

  “I hope she picked up some collards.”

  Jake laughed. “Do you really think she would forget your favorite southern dish?”

  “I thought she forgot me altogether.”

  As if on cue, Maddy walked in carrying bags full of food. Bodey and Jake went over to help while Winslow picked up Bodey’s ‘luggage.’

  “There’s my red headed beauty,” Bodey said, grabbing a bag and hugging her with the other arm.

  “I’m so glad you’re here,” Maddy said. “You’ve been gone way too long.”

  “I like to keep people pining away for me.”

  “I’ve missed you.”

  “See. It works.”

  Maddy smiled big and clung to him for a minute. “You look good,” she said.

  “I feel good. Just a little miffed about this whole security thing, but I’ll fix it.”

  “I know you will,” she said. “Are you hungry?”

  “Famished.”

  They sat at the console and passed around the food as they got caught up on things. Winslow fit right in as if she’d known Bodey for years and Jake was glad. He actually thought Winslow was a little in awe of the systems’ engineer.

  “What is our little problem?” Jake finally asked. “And how do we fix it?”