Blue's Code

by James Abel

  Bennings nodded. Reaching out, he said, “Let me see your phone again.”

  After scanning the letter a second time, he handed the phone back to Jordan and said, “Molly’s last letter let Blue know that we’d be down here, right?”

  “Yeah. She worked in a reference to the small world theme ride.”

  “Good. Because I think Blue’s trying to give us two different options on how we might be able to meet up with her. This Peanut girl must be for real, and she must have cancer. Otherwise, whoever’s reviewing her letters would know she’s lying, and that would put them on notice. So, she’s telling us that one option is to meet with her in Atlanta at the Cancer Treatment Center.”

  Jordan nodded and said, “Yeah, but we don’t know when, or how often they go there. Won’t be easy.”

  “Agreed. In the meantime, it should be on the public record as to when the next WWA board meeting is. But if we go there, we’re gonna need Molly’s help. You okay with that?”

  “Why? What are you thinking?”

  “We’ll need her to try and isolate Blue away from her security. Maybe Molly shows up to surprise her best friend and then pulls her aside.”

  Jordan said, “Yeah, but we’ll still need a way to get Blue completely alone…maybe the ladies’ room or something. If Blue’s telling it like it is, they will be all over her.”

  “I know. We can figure the rest out later, but right now, I’m hungry. You drink your beer, and I’ll order something. It will give you another chance to talk to Kylie, or is it sweetie?”

  *******

  Twenty minutes later, Jordan and Bennings were standing in Bully’s parking lot when the door swung open and about a dozen men, ranging from their late twenties to mid-forties walked out. They were wearing work clothes and talked amongst themselves until they saw Bennings and Jordan. Then their conversation ground to a halt. As they moved past, some of them gave a cold stare, while others just looked at the ground.

  Jordan turned to Bennings and quietly asked, “Doesn’t look like we’re very welcome here, does it?”

  “You think?”

  Seconds later, Bully’s door swung open again. A skinny, pockmarked, 30-year-old white man wearing a red bandanna around his forehead, jeans, and a sleeveless Harley shirt staggered out, holding a can of beer. He stumbled down the steps and fell right into Bennings’s arms, beer splashing onto his shirt. Bennings grabbed the man by the shoulders, stood him up, and asked, “Hey there, buddy, don’t you think it’s a little early for that?”

  The man pulled his eyes into focus and said, “I’m not your buddy, buddy! Mind your own damn business!”

  Bennings was a man with a short fuse. He grabbed a fistful of the man’s Harley shirt and was about to shove him up against the car when he heard a deep voice behind him say, “Hey! Go easy on him, or you’ll have me to answer to.”

  Bennings turned and saw Taylor Riggs, all 240 pounds of him, standing at Bully’s front door in faded jeans, a white T-shirt, and a straw, sweat-stained cowboy hat.

  Jordan glanced at Bennings and then quickly turned to Riggs and said, “Sorry, mister. We didn’t start this. Just trying to cool this guy down. Is he with you?”

  Bennings eased up on the man as Riggs said, “Yeah. He works for me, and he’s also a good friend. Just let him go, and we’ll be outta your way.” Riggs turned to the man and said, “Eddie, go wait in my truck, okay?”

  Eddie pleaded, “Come on, we can take these guys. They’re government stooges. I can smell it.”

  Riggs gave Eddie a stern look and said, “I said… go wait in the truck!”

  Eddie gathered himself up, shook his head, and begrudgingly walked toward Riggs’s truck. Riggs looked at Bennings and said, “Sorry about that. Eddie’s been on edge lately, and right now, he’s a little drunk to boot.”

  Jordan said, “Yeah, I can see that.”

  Bennings quickly eyed the tat on Riggs’s arm and said, “Former Marine, I see.”

  Riggs frowned and said, “Nope. No such thing!”

  Bennings nodded and said, “Oh yeah, that’s right. Once a Marine, always a Marine.” And then he extended his hand for a handshake and said, “William Bennings, former Ranger, third battalion. You can call me Bennings, like everyone else does.” Pointing to Jordan, Bennings added, “This here is Jordan Nichols, former police detective.”

  Riggs nodded and said, “Taylor Riggs,” as he shook their hands. “What brings you two to Milledgeville? Did Eddie get it right?”

  Bennings glanced at Jordan and said, “Hell, no. We’re here for the duck hunting. Heard it’s good out this way, so we came in to check it out and maybe hire a guide. You do that sorta thing?”

  Riggs, not convinced, shook his head from side to side and said, “Nope.”

  Jordan glanced toward Riggs’s truck and said, “Mind if I ask what’s bothering your friend Eddie over there? He doesn’t seem to like government folk all that much.”

  “Let’s just say that none of us country boys are all that pleased with what’s going on these days. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know they’re trying to take away our guns, and that isn’t gonna fly down here in Georgia—no more than those make-believe ducks you came here to hunt.”

  Bennings smiled and said, “Yeah, I guess not.”

  Riggs nodded and said, “Well, nice meeting you.” and then turned and walked to his truck, leaving Bennings and Jordan behind.

  CHAPTER 14

  Bennings looked at himself in the full-length mirror one last time. Then, he turned to Jordan, who was doubled over laughing, and said, “If you take one picture, or tell a soul, I swear on my mother’s grave that I will kill you.”

  They were in a room at the Georgian Terrace, a historic grand hotel in downtown Atlanta that sits directly across the street from the Fox Theatre on Peachtree Street NE. Bennings was dressed in full drag, including a woman’s gray pantsuit, a brunette wig, and makeup.

  Jordan temporarily composed himself and said, “Well, at least you’re not wearing a dress!” and then burst out laughing again.

  Bennings couldn’t help but laugh along with him. Out in the hallway, someone put a room card into the reader slot, and Jordan quickly walked to the door and asked, “Who is it?”

  The door swung open, and Molly walked in saying, “Who else? This is my room, you know.”

  Jordan said, “Anyone following you?”

  “No. We’re good. Blue’s not even here yet.”

  Molly looked at Bennings, waggled her head, and said with a smile, “My, my, aren’t we the pretty one?”

  Bennings said, “Okay, enough! Your dad’s been on me all morning. We need to go over the plan. The WWA board meeting is at 1:30 in a room off the lower lobby, one floor below the main lobby, right?”

  Molly said, “Yes. It’s posted up in the main lobby and says that the area will be closed to the public between 1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. I went down and checked it out. There’s a ladies’ room right near the conference room where the meeting is being held.”

  Bennings said, “Good. I’ll head down to the ladies’ room and set up shop inside one of the stalls. As soon as you see Blue, you do the surprise thing, hug her, and then get her to go into the ladies’ room. And remember, Blue doesn’t know we are here, so you may need to be creative. Make sense?”

  Molly nodded and said, “Yup. With any luck, her security team won’t let anyone else in so you and Blue should be alone in there.”

  Jordan said, “In case security does a sweep ahead of time, when you get in there, lock the stall door and keep your damn feet up.”

  Breaking into laughter again, he added, “Maybe you can do a little spidey-man act, using the stall’s walls.”

  Molly joined in with laughter as Bennings stood there, shaking his head, a big grin on his face.

  *******

  When Travis pulled Blue’s limo to the curb on the left side driveway of the Georgian Terrace, Willard Lance’s two-man security detail was already in positi
on. One of them stood at the lower-level side entrance to the hotel and watched as Travis emerged from the driver’s seat and quickly moved around to the rear curbside door and opened it for Blue. The second man was positioned inside, in the main lobby, which was one floor up.

  The hotel, a prime evening gathering spot for big events around town, was relatively quiet early in the day. As Blue and her security escort moved inside to the small foyer, Travis jumped back into the limo to park it in the nearby parking garage.

  Inside, the only two options presented to most visitors were to either walk up an open, marble staircase or to take an elevator up to the main level. VIP’s using the lower level boardrooms, however, were given an additional option. Next to the elevator, a hotel staff member waited for Blue, holding open a door to a back hallway that provided Blue and her security guard direct access to the lower lobby where the board meeting was being held. It eliminated the security risk of having to parade dignitaries up to the main lobby, only to have them walk back down a wide-open center staircase to the conference rooms.

  Long before Blue arrived, Bennings had taken up his position in the ladies’ restroom. Molly, assuming that Blue would be walking through the main lobby, had settled into one of the many leather chairs up there and waited. She watched as the board members arrived, checked in with the security guard at the top of the steps, and then walked down the staircase. After more than 45 minutes had passed, Molly saw the guard looking down the stairway and talking into his lapel microphone. Her instincts told her something was wrong. She stood up and casually moved toward the staircase, hoping for a better view.

  Molly’s suspicions were confirmed when she heard Blue’s voice echoing up the marble stairway. Molly glanced down and saw Blue at the base of the stairway chatting up several board members. Molly and Blue’s eyes briefly met as Molly’s mind raced to develop a backup plan. A second later, she got a pained look on her face, put her hands on her stomach, rushed up to the security guard, and loudly announced, “Can I please use the bathroom downstairs? I have a real problem.”

  “Sorry, ma’am, but you’ll have to find another one. I’m sure there’s another one up here somewhere.”

  Molly then screamed at the guard, “Sir, if you won’t let me use that bathroom down there, you will be responsible for any accidents.”

  As Molly turned and stormed off, a knowing smile crossed Blue’s face.

  For the next few minutes, Blue continued to talk to her fellow board members. Then she said, “Now, if you’ll please excuse me, I need to make a quick trip to the ladies’ room. Why don’t the rest of you head into the board room. I’ll be right there.”

  As Blue turned toward the ladies’ room, the guard standing by her held up his hand and said, “Please, Miss Warring. Let me do a quick sweep. It’ll only take a second.”

  Travis, who had just arrived through the back hallway, heard the guard, and more importantly, read the look on Blue’s face. He looked over and said, “No worries, Jeff, I got this.”

  He changed direction, knocked on the ladies’ room door, asked, “Anyone in here?” and walked in. Seconds later, he reappeared, held the door open, and said, “Go ahead, Miss Warring. We’re all clear.”

  As Blue walked past Travis, he gave her the slightest of nods. As soon as Blue was safely inside the ladies’ room, she whispered, “Anybody in here? This is Blue.”

  Bennings emerged from the stall, pulled off his wig, and with his finger to his lips, whispered, “I’m Detective Bennings. Remember me?”

  Blue suppressed a laugh and in hushed tones said, “I do, I think. Thanks for coming.”

  Bennings said, “Look, we don’t have much time, so tell me everything you know and what we can do to help.”

  She nodded and said, “My mother’s up to something really scary inside the plant. I heard her talking to one of her employees about patients who are out there, how one of them died, that they bio-cremated her, and that they are harvesting trial participants from WWA. There’s a doctor. His name is Shulman, I think. He works out there, and he’s doing something with sequencing codes and Yamanaka factors. Oh, and two minutes later, my mom got a call from the President, and he said he wanted to join the Deep State.”

  “Woah! Do you mean POTUS? The President of the United States!”

  “Yes!”

  “Okay. Circle back for a second. What about these Yamanaka factors?”

  “I looked it up, and they have something to do with stem cells and something called pluripotency. I’m pretty sure it has to do with regenerating body parts. You can look it up.”

  Bennings said, “Roger that. Now, what about the President and the Deep State?”

  “The President said he was joining her team and asked if he was now a card-carrying member of the Deep State. She said yes, but it wasn’t called that. It was called something else, uh, I’ll think of it. And then they talked about a governing counsel, and how they… Wait! It’s the Guild; that’s what they call themselves. And they communicate using something called progress pods. Then she talked about initiating an End Game during her first term as President. It’s gonna include bloodshed, redistribution of wealth, stuff like that.”

  “Holy shit! This is even crazier than I thought!”

  There was a loud knock on the door. From the other side, the guard asked, “Miss Warring, you all right in there?”

  Blue calmly but sternly said, “Of course! I’ll be right out.”

  Bennings waited a few seconds and whispered, “Okay, we’ve only got a few minutes, but we still need to talk some more. Is this Peanut girl for real, and if so, can we meet when she goes for treatments?”

  “Yes, and yes. She’s living with us at the mansion, and she’s going to the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory for treatments. Our driver, Travis, the guy who just came in here to check out the bathroom, I think he’ll be driving when Peanut goes to the hospital. You can trust him.”

  “What day and time?”

  “This Wednesday at 10 a.m. I’ll be with her, unless my mother says otherwise.”

  “Good. See you then. If you need us, Mr. Nichols and I are staying at Star’s Bed and Breakfast on Warren Street. Now go, get out of here.”

  Blue waited until Bennings moved out of sight from the door, glanced in the mirror, fixed her hair, and walked out. As Blue moved toward the meeting room, she looked at Travis and said, “Travis, I think I forgot my lipstick. Could you please check for me?” Then she turned to the security guard and said, “I’d like you to join me in the board room if you don’t mind. I need some help with the projector. Travis can handle it out here.”

  A minute later, the ladies’ room door opened, Travis stuck his head in, and said, “Whoever you are, now’s your chance.”

  Bennings appeared from inside the stall and asked, “How’d you know anyone was in here?”

  “A look from Jessie. Now get out of here and take the door to your left. It leads to the back hallway.”

  Bennings paused at the bathroom door and said, “Thanks, I take it that you’re Travis.”

  “At your service.”

  Bennings smiled, nodded, and quickly exited the bathroom. As Travis watched, Bennings opened the door to the back hallway and disappeared.

  CHAPTER 15

  On Wednesday afternoon, Peanut, Blue, and Travis were sitting in the waiting room at the Winship Cancer Institute. It was a large room, with dozens of patients and loved ones spread out, waiting for their names to be called. When the nurse came out to take Peanut back for her radiology treatment, Blue stood up, gave Peanut a hug, and said, “Good luck. I’ll be waiting right here when you’re done.”

  When the wooden door closed behind Peanut, Travis stood up and asked, “Mind if I leave you alone for a few minutes?”

  “Not at all. Where are you going?”

  “I’m hungry. I need some real food.”

  “You mean the kind you can wash down with a beer or two?”

  “Guilty as charged. But, I promise, n
o more than two beers. After all, I gotta drive you guys home.”

  “Travis. Please, make it just one!”

  “Deal. Call me as soon as she comes out. I’ll pull up curbside within five minutes of hearing from you.”

  Blue nodded and said, “I’ll see you soon.”

  No sooner had Travis left than a man sitting nearby, reading a newspaper, put it down and walked toward Blue. He looked down at her and asked, “Blue, do you remember me?”

  Blue broke into a broad smile, jumped up, and held out her arms for a hug. She asked, “Mr. Nichols, how could I ever forget you?”

  Jordan hugged Blue, pulled back to take her in from head to toe and said, “You have grown up to be such a beautiful, successful young woman. I couldn’t be any prouder of you.”

  Blue’s smile weakened and she said, “Yeah, well, things aren’t always what they seem. Are they?”

  “I understand. Bennings told me everything, and that’s why we’re here.”

  Jordan turned away from Blue and motioned Bennings over, who had kept his distance during Jordan and Blue’s reunion.

  Blue looked at Bennings, smiled, and said, “Awww, and you were such a beautiful woman.”

  Jordan laughed and said, “Well, at least you still have your sense of humor.”

  Bennings smiled and said, “Okay enough of that. Can we find a more private place to talk for a couple of minutes?”

  Blue said, “Yeah. Peanut won’t be out for at least a half-hour. We can walk outside.”

  When they reached the sidewalk by the parking lot, Blue said, “I’m so glad you came. I need to get away from my mom as soon as possible. Peanut, too. I’m really scared.”

  Jordan said, “We understand. But unfortunately, we could use your help from inside the mansion. We need some names, some planned activities by this so-called Guild that we can act on. Can you help us?”

  “I think so. But I can only hear things by sneaking into my mother’s war room. I don’t scare easy, but well, you already know what I’ve been hearing.”