by Mark Goodwin
Courtney and Lisa excused themselves to go to the ladies room.
Ken moved over to sit next to Everett. “What do you think? Was I right?”
Everett fought to hold back his smile. “You were right.”
“Nice recovery, bro. I thought you blew it in the first thirty seconds. Looks like she’s coming around.”
“Yeah, I’ve got to try to completely redeem myself somehow. I’ll order dessert. What does Lisa like?” Everett asked.
“Anything chocolate.”
Everett motioned for the server to come over. “What are your best desserts?”
The server replied, “We have an incredible crème brûlée, chocolate ice cream cake, and a cherry cheesecake.”
“We’ll take one of everything,” Everett said.
The girls returned, and Everett informed them of the dessert selection.
“That’s very sweet, but I can’t have dairy,” Courtney said.
Everett’s face dropped. “Would you like a coffee?”
“No thanks.”
The desserts came, and Everett served a small portion of each one to everyone except Courtney. He felt like a complete loser. Why didn’t I wait and ask? Now she has to watch everyone else eat while she has nothing.
Courtney stuck her spoon onto Everett’s plate and took a huge bite of his ice cream cake. “I suspected that you might work for the intelligence community since you work in an office park out past Langley, but I guess I was wrong.”
Everett was stuck. “Why is that?”
Courtney took a bite of his cheesecake. “You obviously can’t read a bluff. There’s no way the Company would ever hire someone like you.”
No one called it the Company except people who worked in the intelligence community. Everett had met his match. She could take a joke, and she could dish it out.
Everett grabbed the check when it came and paid the server. He took out his phone and said to Courtney, “Can I have your number?”
“Why?” Courtney asked.
He couldn’t believe how hard she was making this. She evidently knew he was hooked. “In case something happens to Ken and Lisa. I’d like to have an emergency contact.”
“Good answer.” She proceeded to give him her number. “Can you cook?”
Everett was caught off guard. “What?”
“Lisa said she was going to find someone to cook for me. You better know how to cook.” Courtney grabbed her purse, said goodnight to Ken and Lisa, kissed Everett on the mouth, and walked away.
Everett sat like a deer in the headlights.
CHAPTER 15
He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.”
Luke 22:36
Noah was typing the sign-up sheet for next week’s protests when Cassie came home Saturday morning.
“I’m home.”
“Okay, I’m upstairs in the office,” Noah yelled.
He finished the sign-up sheet and started drafting a petition to have the Sevier County Sheriff removed from office. He’d spent most of Friday morning calling and complaining to the sheriff’s office about the way Buster was shot and trying to get custody of his daughter. He had also tried to find out about getting their firearms and laptop returned. He was stonewalled at every turn. As for his daughter, Noah was told it would require a court order from a judge to get her back. Leo was working on that.
Regarding Buster, he was told shooting the animal was standard practice; an officer could shoot any time he or she felt threatened by a barking dog. He was told he could not retrieve his firearms until he was cleared of the felony charges against him, and about the computer, it was evidence in the custody case.
Noah’s interview aired on Fox News as well as Channel 10. The other local stations had vowed to cover the protests at the county courthouse. Noah was ready to fight to get his life back.
His phone rang. “Hello?”
“Mr. Parker?”
“Yes?”
“I’m George McConnell. I do a radio show called Faith and Freedom. Mike Barnes gave me your contact information.”
“Yes, George. Pastor Mike told me to expect your call. My wife and I love your show.”
“That’s fantastic. I wanted to know if tomorrow would be a good time to record an interview with you and your wife. I saw your story on Fox. You did a great job. It’s terrible what’s happening to you.”
Noah said, “We’ll probably go out to eat after church tomorrow. As you know, we lost custody of our daughter over this. We only get to see her at church and social functions. The lady who is keeping her is meeting us for lunch so we can see Lacy. It might be five or so by the time we get home.”
“I totally understand, Noah. How would six be for an interview?”
“That would be fine. Is it audio only? And should I call in?”
George said, “I’ll call you on Skype if you’ll give me your screen name. And yes, it’s audio only.”
“My Skype screen name is parker.monkey.trial.”
“That’s a good one!” George McConnell said.
“My wife came up with it. She built a website for us, ParkerMonkeyTrial.com. It’s what the media has labeled the trial, and the name makes it easy for folks to find the site, so they can see the videos and stay up-to-date with the trial.”
“Are you offering sponsorship banners?”
“No, our attorney is representing us for free, and our church is helping out with our day-to-day expenses, so we’re pretty well covered.”
“But there’s a lot of value for people who want to advertise on your site. With all of the media attention you’re getting, you’ll probably get tons of views on that site. I’d give you $500 to place a banner that advertises the Faith and Freedom Show on your site.”
“That’s very generous. Email my wife, [email protected]. She handles all of that.”
“Great, I look forward to speaking with you tomorrow, Noah.”
“Talk to you then.” Noah hung up and started to call Cassie to tell her the news when the phone rang again.
“Hello?”
“Noah, it’s Leo. We have your emergency custody hearing set for next Tuesday. Judge Malone is handling it. He’s a solid conservative. Nothing is ever guaranteed, but I’m sure he’ll throw this nonsense out.”
“Do you know which judge is assigned to my criminal case?”
“Harriet Flynn. Not really who I’d have picked if it was up to me. Of course, I don’t get to pick judges. I’d say the chance of her granting a dismissal is almost nil. For the case, though, it won’t matter. We’ll get a jury from around here, and we’ll beat this thing.”
“Thanks, Leo. I appreciate all you’re doing for us. Hey, I have an interview on the Faith and Freedom Show tomorrow. You’re welcome to sit in if you want.”
“Great, what time?”
“Six.”
“I’ll be at your house around 5:45.”
“See you then. Thanks again.” Noah hung up and ran downstairs to fill Cassie in on the latest developments.
Noah didn’t see her in the house and went outside to look for her. “Cassie!”
“I’m in the shed.”
Noah walked over to the shed and found Cassie with a length of twelve-inch PVC pipe, end caps, and pipe glue. “What’s all of this?”
“I’m making a cache tube for the shotgun.”
“What shotgun?”
“The one I bought yesterday.”
“You bought an AR-15 yesterday.”
“And a shotgun. That was our conversation Thursday evening. I was buying a rifle and a shotgun.”
Noah shook his head. “What are these .38 shells for?”
“I bought the shotgun from a guy who was selling it at Tim’s Guns. He was also selling an old .38 service revolver. It was a package deal, and it was about the same as the cost of a new shotgun.”
“Tim didn’t mind you stepping in on his business?”
&
nbsp; “Tim offered to let me have first dibs on the deal. He was happy to sell me the AR.”
Noah threw his hands in the air. “What am I going to do? There isn’t really a support group for men whose wives buy too many guns.”
“I got a good deal. You should be happy.”
Noah kissed Cassie. “I’m very happy to have you as my wife.”
She smiled and continued her project. “I’m sorry, I should have told you. I’m still not used to you being on board with everything.”
“I understand. I’m sorry I was so hardheaded.”
Cassie pulled the revolver out of a box on the shelf. “It’s nice, isn’t it?”
Noah took the pistol and inspected it. “Very nice. You’re putting it in the cache tube?”
“Yes, with the ammo the guy threw in, the shotgun, and a couple boxes of buck shot.”
“It’s a good idea. Thanks for taking care of all of that for us, Cassie. I just talked to Leo, and the custody hearing is set for next Tuesday. He’s pretty sure the judge will give Lacy back to us.”
Cassie stopped what she was doing and hugged Noah. “I hope so. My soul aches without her.”
Noah hugged her back then handed the pistol to Cassie. “By the way, George McConnell wants to place an ad on ParkerMonkeyTrial.com. He thinks he’ll get some good exposure from it. He said he’d pay $500 to run a banner.”
“$500 a month?”
“I guess. Is that how that works?”
Cassie placed the pistol in a vacuum-seal bag and sealed it. “That’s great! We can buy another pistol for you.”
Noah didn’t argue. “Okay.”
“Okay? I was kidding, but if you’re going to be that easy, I’ll find something nice for you.”
“You’ve been right about everything so far. If what you said about the New World Order and the UN confiscating guns turns out to be true, we should probably buy what we can now. I have to get my daughter back, and that’s taking all of my focus right now, but once we get her back, we should probably start developing a strategy to deal with all of this. Whatever’s coming, we need to be ready for it.”
Cassie looked at Noah as if she couldn’t believe what he was saying. Noah could hardly believe it himself. After years of trying to reel Cassie in from the fringe, now he was becoming a conspiracy theory nut too.
Cassie finished packing the weapons and ammo into the cache tube. “Can you bring me about a half-pound of white rice in a sock?”
“For what?” Noah asked.
“It will help absorb any moisture that seeps into the cache tube.”
“Won’t the vacuum seals protect the guns from moisture?”
She nodded. “Yes, and the tube should be airtight, but redundancy is a good thing.”
“Okay, be right back.” Noah turned to go back in the house.
Cassie caught him before he was out of earshot. “And take out a package of ground beef.”
“For the tube?” Noah was really confused.
“No, silly. I’m making meatloaf to take over to the Rays’ tonight.”
“Oh, yeah.”
Cassie and Noah finished their project. Afterwards, Cassie looked over the Mountain Press editor’s revisions to her article. Noah went to purchase copies of local papers to see what coverage their plight was receiving.
On his way back, his phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Noah, it’s Elliot Rodgers. Can I buy lunch for you and your wife this afternoon? I don’t have to be at the lodge until six.”
“I’m on my way home. As soon as I get there, I’ll ask her. Can I call you right back?”
“Sure thing.”
Noah was soon home. He went upstairs to the office where she was working. “Cassie, I told you about the deputy who arrested me and quit his job over it.”
“Yeah, Rodgers, right?”
“Right. He invited us to lunch this afternoon.”
“That was nice of him, but I want to see how much coverage we’re getting online. I just Googled Parker Monkey Trail and got 80,000 results.”
Noah’s eyes opened wide. “No way!”
“All the results aren’t us, just the first few pages are. After that, it’s just things where those three terms appear together. I want to see who’s covering us, and then find similar sites, podcasts, and aggregators to send articles to. But you go have lunch with . . . what did you say his first name was?”
“Elliot.”
“Right, you go have lunch with Elliot.”
“Okay, see you in a bit.” Noah went down the stairs and called Elliot.
“Hey, Cassie is busy, but I’m available for a couple of hours.”
Elliot said, “Great, do you like barbeque?”
“Sure,” Noah replied.
“Meet me at The Pit Stop in thirty minutes.”
“See you then.” Noah hung up, scanned over the newspapers he’d bought, and then headed out the door.
Noah walked into The Pit Stop and saw Elliot waving at him from a booth near the back. He walked over to the table. “Thanks for the invitation.”
Elliot stood to shake Noah’s hand. “Thanks for coming. And thanks for accepting my apology.”
Noah sat down, and Elliot handed him a package from the booth where he’d been sitting. “This isn’t from me. The deputy that walked off the job when your daughter was taken, Kevin Starkey, wanted me to give this to you.”
Noah took the package and opened it. “A new laptop.”
“Yeah, he filed a formal complaint against the other deputies before he handed in his badge. He got a copy of the report and saw that your laptop was taken in the raid. We can’t replace your dog or your job, but we’ll do anything we can to help you get your daughter back. Your case is becoming very polarizing within the department. Some of the guys are hardliners who’ll do whatever they’re told, and the others are dead set against what’s going on. Some are ready to walk off the job. Several of them are like I was; they don’t agree with it, but they need the paycheck. Me and Starkey are trying to convince them to take a stand when it comes time.
“So, rumor has it that you’re organizing a protest for Monday morning.”
Noah was still looking over the new laptop. “We are. Can you come?”
“I’ll be there. So will Starkey. Maybe a couple of other guys from the sheriff’s department that aren’t on shift. It’ll probably cost them their job, though. Sherriff Gregory has let it be known that insubordination won’t be tolerated.”
Noah looked up. “Aren’t they allowed to have their own opinions?”
“As long as their opinion is perfectly in sync with the official opinion of the department, absolutely.” Elliot Rodgers picked up his menu.
The waitress walked over. “Do you need more time?”
Noah said, “I’ll have the pulled pork sandwich with chips and a Coke.”
Elliot handed the menu to the waitress. “Ditto.”
“Thanks, I’ll be right back with your drinks.” She turned and walked away.
“Do you always get the same thing?” Elliot asked.
“Always. You mentioned that you’ve been witnessing a gradual decline in the department last time we spoke.”
Elliot pulled some napkins out of the dispenser against the wall and handed half to Noah. “Yep. I didn’t like it, but I did what I saw everyone else doing. Going along to get along, you know? It started after September 11th. We were instructed to be more intrusive. Orders were to frisk anyone we came into contact with. Look around more during traffic stops, that kind of thing. Considering what had just happened, it seemed like an appropriate response. If it had stopped there, maybe it would have been reasonable. Now that I look back, those measures seem to mark the initial stage of a conditioning campaign – one to make people more complacent.
“Next, we were asked to report suspicious behavior that could potentially be terror-related to the Feds, which also seemed like a normal response to stopping terrorism. The first thing that
made me take notice was what DHS considered suspicious activity. It was stupid stuff like people who store up food, buy guns, or have prior military service. We live in the mountains. Anyone who ain’t dead from the snowstorm we had two years ago must have been storing food. Am I supposed to turn them all in for being terrorists? At some point, the terrorists went from being the mujahideen to being you and me.
“After the first housing bubble, the department’s budget got hammered. We all took pay cuts, chipped in more for our retirement and health care, and still saw about a third of our coworkers get pink slips. It looked like more of us were going to be out of a job. Then DC rode in on a white horse with money from the magic unicorn. Of course, that money had strings tied to it. We became obligated to the federal government. All sorts of federal grants popped up, which the department could apply for. Every grant we received was tied to training us to be a more militarized police force.
“One grant was called the Public Safety Grant; we trained with our new assault rifles provided by DHS to deal with active shooters and got several thousand dollars. Another grant was called the Mobile Response Grant; DOD donated a mine-resistant armored personnel carrier, we trained with DHS, and we got more money. Every time we needed a bailout, we got the money plus training from the government and some type of military equipment.
“I don’t want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but the federal government is getting us ready for something. A lot of the guys in the department agree.”
The waitress arrived with their order. Noah took the basket containing his food. “Thanks.”
Elliot did the same. “This looks good. Thank you very much.”
The waitress smiled. “Give me a wave if you need anything else.”
Noah turned his attention back to Elliot. “I think you’re right. My wife has been following this stuff for several years.”
Elliot nodded. “She believes in the New World Order and the whole bit? What about you?”
Noah took a sip of his Coke. “I’m a recent convert. And yourself?”
“I’ve had a front row seat. I’d have to be blind not to believe it.”
Noah tittered. “And I’ve been thrust into the arena.”