“Dean, I’m serious.” Ellen sat in the police station, her feet up on the counter. Hal was there with her, but he slept in a chair, utilizing the piece of furniture to its fullest. His legs extended as far as they could go, his body leaning, the base of his head resting on the back of the chair.
“O.K., tell Blue to apply ice and that’s about it. Did you see if there was any internal damage”
“She won’t let me look. Blue says no. He doesn’t see any, but Grace says she’s having a hard time hearing.”
“Probably because the inner ear is filled with blood. That could happen when someone punches you in the ear. A rupture of the drum is easily spotted. She’ll have to use ice on the outside and wait it out. If it gets any worse, sorry hon, she’ll have to come up here for us to look at.”
“O.K. thanks.” Ellen paused. “So what are you wearing?”
“Are we having radio sex?”
“No.” Ellen laughed. “I want to get the visual of you as I’m talking to you.”
“Jeans.”
“Shirt, no shirt?”
“El, I’m laying on our bed. I am wearing a shirt.”
“What are you doing, besides talking to me, that is?”
A slight snicker from Dean came over the radio. “All right, I’ll tell you. Actually I’m lying here, thinking of you, and trying to sum up the physical feeling of you being here.” Dean waited for a response. “El?”
“I don’t get it.”
Dean started to laugh. “Never mind. I’m working, actually reading some files. I have some things to discuss with you when you get back. What are you doing?”
“Talking to you and watching Hal sleep in a chair. God, Dean.” Ellen cased him up and down. “I swear if you don’t look at his face, it’s Frank. They are built exactly alike. Everything but the face. Hal’s shorter, but still.”
“Anything else besides the Slagel resemblance?”
Ellen snickered. “Danny found the uplink for the phones. It’s at a town forty miles from here, so he’ll be gone all day tomorrow but Binghamton should have some phone service to speak to us.”
“Good.”
“Dean, quit reading while I’m talking to you. Anyhow . . . I met some of the men who are coming to Beginnings.”
“Did you process them?” Dean asked.
“Yeah, all pretty healthy. Mentally, they are a good bunch, what I’ve met so far. I’ll meet the rest tomorrow. Dean?”
“I’m not reading.”
“I miss you.”
“Thanks, El. I miss you.”
“I’d better go. I just wanted to radio you and hear your voice. Tell the kids I love them. And Dean, I love you.”
“El.” Dean spoke softly. “I want you to know something. I’m really happy with the way things are between us. I am. Just know that. OK? And I love you too.”
It was an intrusion. It was Robbie. “Ah, how sweet. Don’t buy it, El. Dean, you know she’s doing my brother right now.”
“Robbie.” Dean scolded. “I can’t believe you were listening to us.”
“Uh Dean? It’s a radio. How can you not?” Robbie asked.
“Turn the channel,” Dean told him. “It was intimate.”
Robbie laughed. “No, Dean, it wasn’t. Now, what I heard Frank and Ellen do over the radio, that was intimate.”
Ellen shrieked. “Robbie!”
Robbie just laughed.
Dean did not. “Robbie, I swear you are the only person I know who would eavesdrop on a conversation.”
“Um . . . Dean.” Henry’s voice came on. “You know me.”
“Me too,” Mark interjected.
“You know me, Dean.” Dan from security added. “You guys could have added more spice.”
“God!” Dean exclaimed disgusted. “Anyone else care to own up to the fact that they’re listening?”
“Me,” Steve from security said.
“Me,” another added.
“Me too.” And yet another.
“What is it with people in this community? Isn’t there anything better to do.” Dean questioned.
“No,” Robbie answered. “Not really. Hey El, Tell Danny not to stay there too long. Neville competition starts tomorrow.”
“I’ll tell him,” Ellen said.
“El?” Dean called her name. “You’re talking to me.”
“Sorry. We’d better say goodnight. Night, Dean.”
“Night, El,” Dean replied.
“Night, El.” Robbie did too.
“Night, Robbie,” Ellen said.
Robbie snickered loudly. “Hey look, we’re the Walton’s.”
^^^^
Beginnings, Montana
Robbie was amused with himself as he meandered around Beginnings after his visit with Reverend Bob. No one was at the social hall. Jess was on shift so he stopped and spoke to him for awhile. To Robbie, there really wasn’t too many left in Beginnings that he could actually hang around with and have a good time.
He reached into his chest pocket for a cigarette and felt the emptiness. “Shit.” He began to pat himself thinking he placed them in another pocket. “Where did I . . .” Robbie remembered he left them at the chapel office. He was so in annoying and challenging Rev. Bob into a Bible frenzy, Robbie forgot them. Looking behind him to distribution and then to his keys, Robbie weighed his options. To get cigarettes, he had to unlock one of two doors, Distribution or Rev. Bob’s office at the chapel. Fearing Joe and not Reverend Bob, Robbie moved toward the chapel.
It was never locked, ever so Robbie walked right in to Beginnings’ house of God, up the small aisle of the quiet place, and to the back office. Unlike Frank, Robbie reached for the key he had tagged for the chapel office and opened the door. He had a strange feeling of excitement as he made his unauthorized entry into the minister’s domain. It was sort of like a long awaited revenge on Fr. O’Shea for making Robbie count un-blessed communion wafers when he busted Robbie eavesdropping on confessions. Though Rev. Bob was not Fr. O’Shea, to Robbie, they all worked for the same boss.
He turned on the light as soon as he opened the office door. He could see his cigarettes, in the Beginnings’ equivalent to a pack, lying on the coffee table. Robbie walked to retrieve them. He picked up the pack, pulled one out, placed it in his mouth, and put the pack in his chest pocket. Moving back to leave, Robbie spotted them and the kid in him had to look, not so much for the pictures but to read what people actually wrote to Rev. Bob in his year books.
They were stacked on the edge of his desk, held up by two bookends. There were ten of them, four years of high school and six years of college. “Cool.” Robbie twirled his index finger. “Eenie, meanie, miny . . . Iowa State. Freshmen year.
Wanting to light his cigarette but afraid the lingering smell would give away his intrusion, Robbie chewed on the butt of it and flipped open the yearbook. “H . . . H . . .” Robbie looked through the freshmen. “Robert Haddon.” Robbie snickered. “Look at you. You have . . . fuck.” Robbie flipped a page, then through some more. “Fuck.” The smiled left Robbie’s face and he closed the yearbook, tucked it under his arm, and left Rev. Bob’s office.
^^^^
Andrea wore a long robe. It was tied tightly across her waist and her arms were folded over her stomach as she walked into the living room of her new home.
Joe, sitting on the couch and peering at work spread out on the coffee table, looked up at her. “She lives.”
“She needs to speak to you.”
“You didn’t want to speak before, Andrea.” Joe turned a page and grabbed his cigarette. “Wasn’t meaning to fight with you.” He kept his eyes glued to his work as he talked. “I overstepped my boundaries.”
“Oh no Joe, no you didn’t.”
“Really?” Over the rim of his glasses, Joe looked at her. “Christ, Andrea, you haven’t spoken to me or looked at me all day.”
“I know,” Andrea said.
“I shouldn’t have held onto that letter. It was wrong.”
“Joe, you’re my husband. I should have showed you that letter.”
“I wasn’t your husband then, so it was none of my business.”
“But you’re my husband now and I’d like to be honest with you about it.”
Opportunity, Joe thought. “So uh . . . why didn’t you then.” Another flip of a page and Joe pretended his work was more important.
Andrea moved next to him and sat down. “I was embarrassed.”
“What?” Joe looked at her finally.
“Embarrassed.” Andrea fiddled with the edges of the robe. “See, when George first came to Ashtonville, he was still, to me, the President and he paid so much attention to me. He and I used to spend some evenings together reading the Good Book, talking about our spouses, our lives, and those we missed. Did you know he had five children, Joe? Five?”
“Yes, I did.”
“And a family, such a large family. Brothers, sisters. None of them survived which bothered him because, well you had two sons that survived. Why couldn’t he? And when Dean released his research that survival was male gene hereditary, he was lost.”
“He started the goddamn plague, Andrea. If his family died, he killed them. He gets no pity from me. None.”
Andrea nodded. “He got it from me because at the time, I didn’t know he released it. And we got close.”
“I see.”
“We shared some intimacies in our grieving while we were in Ashtonville.”
Joe tried not to show his surprise. “I see.”
“I stopped it because I just felt so bad because I didn’t have the feelings a woman should have for a man she was sleeping with. I had started to get close to Miguel. He and I were really starting a base relationship, the way it should have been. The way a man and woman should be.”
“So why did he write that letter well after you and Miguel were married?”
Andrea’s head dropped.
“That’s the reason for the embarrassment?”
Andrea nodded. “I sinned. I committed adultery. It was during the time before we knew that there were more men than women. It was just our little community. There was no excuse for betraying my Miguel. I don’t know why I did. Pressure by George. Sympathy for hurting him. I don’t know. No excuse. Rev. Bob helped . . .”
“Rev. Bob?”
“Yes.” Andrea nodded sadly. “He helped me end it with George, talking to us both. George finally accepted it and that was when he wrote me the letter.”
Joe closed his eyes and laid his hand on Andrea’s.
“Do you hate me, Joe? Do you think less of me?”
“No, not at all.” He kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you. Now, I really need to look at this distribution stuff right . . .” He looked up when there was a knock and his door opened. “Robert.”
“Dad.” Robbie poked his head in the door. He smiled at Andrea. “Mom.”
“Robbie!” Andrea grinned and walked to the door. “Come in, sweetie. Let me fix you something to eat.”
“I can’t. Thanks. Dad?” Robbie pointed outside. “Can you come out here for a second.”
“Sure.” Joe dropped his pencil and stood. “Andrea, I’ll be back.” He followed Robbie outside. “Must be important if you’re pulling me out. What’s up?”
Robbie turned on a flashlight and handed Joe the yearbook. “I left my smokes in Rev. Bob’s office. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular. Just . . .”
“Being nosy.”
“Yep and . . .” Robbie opened the yearbook and shined the flashlight down for Joe to see.
“Christ.” Joe let out a slow breath and looked back at Robbie.
“Surprise. Surprise. Huh Dad?”
“That’s an understatement.” Joe closed the yearbook.
“There’s more.”
“I bet, but this has to be returned. So . . . take this over to Danny Hoi’s. He’s not home but he has that copy machine he is using for the paper. Copy this whole thing if you can.”
“I will.”
Joe handed the yearbook back to Robbie. “And say nothing. Tomorrow I’ll call a meeting. Dean and Henry need to know this.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
September 19
Binghamton, Alabama
On the norm, Frank’s thick black hair was usually cut and cropped so short it plastered closely to his head. But as Frank waited in his office for Richie, his fingers played with his hair in annoyance at the length. It had been too long since he cut his hair and he cringed when his hand ran down the back of his head and felt a curl. It was a tiny one, but a curl none the less. Frank knew if he didn’t cut it or shave it soon, he would have to break down and use a comb.
“You wanted to see me, Frank?” Richie opened up the door.
“Yeah, Richie, come on in.” Frank stood up.
“What’s up?”
“You’re fired.”
“What?” Richie laughed.
“I’m serious. I was thinking last night that I can’t have you working for me.”
“Why?” Richie neared the desk. “Frank, if I don’t work for you, they’ll ship me out.”
“No, you’ll work, but not as my right hand man.”
Richie looked insulted. “I thought I did good.”
“Yeah you did.” Frank leaned on his desk. “But . . . with these ambassadors and scientists coming in a few hours, I can’t take a chance with you. If they find out what I’m up to and find out that you’re involved, they’ll take you out. And I mean take you out.”
“So.”
“No, not ‘so’ Richie. I wanna go home and I’d like to give to the woman I love the news that her brother is alive. A brother she didn’t like, but a brother none-the-less. I don’t want to tell El that you were alive but they found you out and killed you.”
Richie shook his head, looking little mad. “That’s not right. What am I gonna do? Be a worker bee and hang?”
“No. You’ll be in charge of maintenance around here. We have no one to do that. And . . . you’ll also be close to the Society people when they get here.”
The expression on Richie’s face changed. “A spy.”
“Yep.” Frank nodded. “And you’ll pull a John Matoose.”
“Huh? Who?”
“We still have one of George’s people in Beginnings I guess, but he tells us about George now in exchange for his life. We wanted him to pretend that we didn’t know, you know, feed George false information and such, but that didn’t work.”
“It can work in my case.”
“Yep. Feed them false information. Volunteer it. Let it be known that you worked for me and tell them what they want to know . . . sort of. But make sure you let me know what is said. O.K.?”
“Got it.” Richie gave a thumbs up. “When do I start this new position?”
“Immediately. I’m pulling that guy Squirrel in to be my secretary slash right hand man.”
“Squirrel? You mean Scarell?”
Frank snapped his finger, “Yep that’s him. A weasel type. Him.”
“You have to watch him.”
“I know.” Frank nodded. “But that’s O.K. It’ll keep me on my toes and with you and I not working together, we stand a chance of finding out more.”
“I think you may be right. O.K., What do you need me to do now?” Richie asked.
“First is Dr. Morris. Go over to see him. Tell him that since we are getting new people, you’re maintenance around here now and if he needs anything done to let you know.” Frank waited for Richie’s agreement. “Then go see the guys that are preparing the lab. I’ll head there before you to let them know you’ll be in charge. Right now you head to the hospital.”
“I can do that.” Richie walked to the door. “I liked hanging around you again, Frank.”
“Me too, Richie, but we’ll have plenty of time to do that in Beginnings.”
“I can’t wait to see my sister especially since you caught me up on her.”
“I have a lot more to t
ell you.”
Richie started opening the door. “Frank, on a down note, what are we telling these new ambassadors when they ask about all the missing officers?”
“Same thing we told the men. They are on survival training.”
“Will they buy it?”
“Um . . . probably not. No.” Frank shook his head. “But how are they gonna prove it otherwise?”
“You have two of them locked up at interrogations.”
At first Frank looked serious and then Frank grinned. There was a chuckle that accompanied it.
“Frank? Um . . . that’s supposed to be something that worries you. What are we doing with them? Explaining them? What if they pull an inspection. We can’t kill the officers in the middle of the day.”
Frank kept grinning. “I have an idea. What time am I supposed to call George?”
“An hour.”
“Good. That’ll be perfect.” Frank saw the lost look on Richie’s face and he waved Richie away. “Don’t worry about. I got it under control.”
“All right.” With a shrug, Richie left.
It wasn’t long after the door closed, and Frank stood in his office, that he started to snicker. He’d stop, think and laugh again. He was enjoying a moment of self amusement because it just amazed Frank at times on how brilliant and quick thinking he could actually be.
^^^^
Beginnings, Montana
Sleep wasn’t going to be an option for Jess Bowen when he walked into his and Robbie’s home early in the morning after his shift. Perhaps later he’d sleep. He was off on this Friday. He seemed more puzzled as he turned on the living room light and moved to the kitchen. He was puzzled on how he got himself roped into doing Danny Hoi’s work.
Was Danny that keen sensed or was Jess that dense? He wondered that as he grabbed the coffee pot and began to fill it with water, making a pot of coffee for Robbie. Jess had walked right into it. Bored while walking his living section rounds, he responded to Danny’s four in the morning radio call saying he needed to speak to someone really smart. Anyone would respond to be sarcastic, Jess did, and Danny got him. Before Jess knew it, he had volunteered to do the editing for the first ever Sunday edition of ‘The Beginnings Times’ or at least the parts that were not immediate news. Danny assured him he would handle that portion. They still had two days.
The Big Ten: The First Ten Books of the Beginnings Series Page 411