Rise of The Iron Eagle (The Iron Eagle Series Book 1)

by Roy A. Teel Jr.

  He walked up the familiar walk to the front door, and it opened before he could knock. Barbara was barefoot in a t-shirt just above her knees, and he smiled as he walked in. Her legs still looked really nice for a woman her age. Jim was only two years older, but he had not aged with the same grace that Barbara had. She invited him in and gave him a huge hug and didn’t let go. He hugged her back and held her until she released. She walked into the living room holding Jim by the hand and sat him down next to her on the couch. “Would you like a cup of coffee?” “Sure.” She went into the kitchen and for just a moment he caught himself feeling the safety that came from the sounds of her working in the kitchen on the rare weekends that they were home together. He had a vague memory of sitting in his recliner in the living room on a hot July day, a baseball game on the TV, and dozing in the afternoon sunlight. He heard the clink of the cups as she was putting them on the counter, and for a fraction of an instant he was back at home with the woman he loved and planned to grow old with.

  He got up and walked into the kitchen. “So what’s up, Barb? We haven’t had more than three words in almost… geez… five years?” She continued making the coffee and put out some chocolate-striped shortbread cookies that she knew he liked. She didn’t respond as she set the table. “Okay, have it your way.” He walked over to the table and sat down. The coffee was brewing, and she sat down at the table while she waited. There was a brief silence until she said, “I don’t want to be alone tonight.” He took a cookie off the plate and took a bite. “Why not?” The coffee pot dinged, and she filled their cups. “You know that Jill and I were very close.” She sat a cup in front of him; he took a sip and dipped the cookie in it. “Well yea…you two slept together!” Barbara’s expression changed from one of sadness to one of shock. “You knew?” He laughed under his breath, “Barb…I loved you very much. I still do, but I knew that you and Jill were lovers.” “When did you find out?” He drew a deep breath and coughed a little, “Oh, let’s see, shit…we’ve been divorced, what, five years? You and Jill became partners on the force ten years ago, so nine years ago.” “But how? We never made it public.” He laughed again, continuing to enjoy his coffee. “One of the disadvantages of my new career in the Sheriff’s Department was having more freedom to come and go. You were off duty for a weekend, oh, about three years before you filed for divorce. I had a quiet Saturday, so I decided to come home early and surprise you. I brought roses and a bottle of Champagne and came home in the early afternoon. When I pulled up, I saw that Jill’s car was parked out in front of the house, so I knew that surprising you was out of the question. I left the stuff in the car and just came into the house. Guess what?” She didn’t respond. “I came in, and there was no sign of the two of you. I heard some giggling and rustling coming from upstairs, so I followed the noise and found the two of you in bed.” “Why didn’t you say something?” He took another cookie and dipped it in his coffee, “What the hell was I supposed to say? ‘Hey, I stopped by to surprise you for a nooner and found you and Jill having sex. Can I join in?” She started to blush. She had her hands on her lap and looked down at the table, “I’m sorry Jim…”

  He finished off the coffee, stood up, and walked over to the cupboard above the built-in oven. He opened the cabinet and reached way back and pulled out a bottle of Glenlivet. “Aged twenty years. Well, it’s been up there for at least ten more, so this is probably even better than before.” He grabbed a highball glass and offered a drink to Barb who nodded. He took another glass out and said, “Ice, as I recall?” “Yes, please.” He returned with a generous pour for each of them. “So why is tonight different from any other night, Barb? Why don’t you want to be alone?” He took a pack of cigarettes from his top pocket and asked if it was okay to smoke. She nodded and asked for one. “Now, I know I’m in a dream; you quit smoking three years after we were married.” “I picked it back up again after Jill was murdered.” He put two cigarettes in his mouth and lit them both and handed her one from across the table. “Romantic,” she said with a smile. “Nope…low on butane.” As he clicked the lighter shut, she started laughing. “That’s my Jimmy, a man with a plan.” He laughed, “Nope. You don’t want me leaning over your stove to light my cigarette.” She laughed again. “It would be tough to light; it’s electric now.” “Just my fuckin’ luck!” They both laughed, sipping their scotch and smoking.

  “You didn’t answer my question, Barb. What’s up?” She took a drag off the smoke and a sip of her drink. “Jill knew the identity of The Iron Eagle.” He sat back in his chair, one eye half shut from the smoke rising up from his nose and mouth. “Really! Did she share her revelation with you?” “I’m sitting here talking to you, so what do you think?” He laughed and said under his breath, “Sorry. Stupid question. Do you have any theories on who he might be?” She gulped her scotch and slid the glass across the table for a refill. “I don’t know his name, and I don’t know what he looks like, but I can tell you that he’s a shield. Not federal. He’s either Sheriff’s Department or local PD… and he works homicide.” He poured the scotch into her glass and said, “Well that really narrows it down. How did you come to this revelation?” “The night before Jill was murdered, she told me that she met a guy a few months earlier that she was certain was The Eagle.” “Go on.” He took a drag off his cigarette and then topped off his scotch. “Jill was an avid physical fitness freak. She had been talking about this guy she met at the gym who was a big time fitness guy. She told me that the two struck up a friendship when they learned that they were both in law enforcement. She said he hit on her, and she told him she was gay. She said he laughed and commented that he runs into that a lot. Over the next five or six months, she talked this guy up like you wouldn’t believe.” “Do you think that he was trying to flip her back to the home team? She was a hottie!” Barbara frowned at him, which made him smile because it was the way she frowned at him for all of those years. “No, smart ass. Jill was gay; I’m bi.” He looked at her with surprise. “No shit…so if I stay with you tonight I get laid?” She smiled, “Well, duh!” He puffed up his chest, “Well, this is turning out to be a great start to a new day. Finish up your story because I’m really, really horny.”

  She shook her head slowly with a sheepish smile on her face and continued. “About a week before her death, she told me that she invited the guy to the house for dinner. She wanted me to meet him. I thought, no harm, so I agreed. I asked her if she knew anything more about his police work and that’s when she told me he was a homicide detective. I asked what department or division, but she didn’t know. The following week, the night before he was to come for dinner, she told me that she was canceling the date. When I asked why, she said she had a bad feeling about him. She said he had done some things that she thought were peculiar. When I pushed her a little harder, she told me that she had a strange feeling that the guy was The Eagle.” “Okay, so what happened after that?” “The night that he was to come to the house she called him from her cell and told him that she couldn’t do dinner. After she hung up, she told me that she had to run an errand and would be back, but she never came home.” “Hmm…” Jim poured another scotch for each of them and asked, “Where’s her cell phone?” “She took it with her. They didn’t recover it with her body.” “You have her cell number, right?” She nodded. He took out his phone and asked her to give it to him. He typed the number into his PDA and asked who the phone carrier was. “Okay, tomorrow, because I’m going to be in SUCH a good mood, I’m going to subpoena the phone records from the carrier for Jill’s phone. It should give us the information on the number she called that night and could lead us to The Eagle.” She got a smile of relief on her face. “Thank you, Jimmy. This means so much to me.” He finished his scotch and said, “Really? How much?” She stood up and took off her t-shirt; she was nude underneath it. She walked over to him and rubbed her triple D breasts in his face, then ran off up the stairs. He was in hot pursuit, dropping his clothing as he ran afte
r her, complimenting her really nice ass all the way up the stairs.

  Steve woke with a jolt and sat straight up in bed. He was sweating. He couldn’t remember the full content of the nightmare he had been pulled awake from, but The Eagle was in it. His dark silhouette in the alley was all he remembered from the dream. He noticed right away that he was alone. He heard the shower going and the girls talking. “Well, I don’t have to ask if it was a dream this time.” Gail popped her head out from the bathroom and asked, “Do you want to join us?” He was still groggy, but not groggy enough not to realize that he only had a few more days of this kind of treatment. He jumped out of bed and headed for the bathroom. The girls were standing in front of the mirror exchanging comments on each other’s figures. “Molly, you are way too self conscious; you have a great figure.” Gail placed her hands on Molly’s breasts and squeezed gently. “The key to the perkiness of your breasts is you never had children. You have a very beautiful and voluptuous figure, not an ounce of cellulite on you. Isn’t that right Steve?” He came in behind them and put his head down on Molly’s neck, “You have one hell of a body, Mrs. Hoffman,” and patted her on the ass. She smiled and turned and gave him a big kiss.

  “So how’d you sleep?” “Okay until about five minutes ago. I woke from a hell of a nightmare.” “Want to talk about it?” He shook his head. The shower was running, and Gail stepped into the glass enclosure. Molly looked at her body on the other side of the shower glass and said, “Well, I can tell you one thing, honey, I’m glad we put in the double shower when we remodeled the bathroom.” She laughed as she stepped in behind Gail. The shower had areas to sit to steam and sauna, as well as double shower heads on opposing walls. Molly was under one and Gail the other, and they were chatting away when Steve stepped in. “You are very dirty, Steve.” Gail smiled and soaped up a washcloth and started to bathe him. Molly joined in, and he got a good cleaning from the girls… and then got dirty again. They exchanged kisses all around, and the girls got out of the shower, and Steve stayed in to wash his head. He started losing his hair when he was sixteen and had only light patches of hair on the sides of his scalp. He had been shaving his head since he was in college, and the look fit his personality. Molly always thought it made him look both sophisticated and intimidating. He massaged the shampoo onto his bald scalp as the girls continued their conversation.

  “Really, Moll…the next time you come out to see me, I’m going to take you to my stylist in midtown, so you can get a new cut but also see just how much better you look than the prunes that come into the shop.” Steve laughed under his breath as he put shaving cream on his face and scalp and shaved. When he was finished, he stepped out, and Gail put her hand on the top of his head and said, “Smooooth!” He smiled. “I always wondered how you kept that shiny cue ball look.” She laughed a deep belly laugh, and Molly smacked her on the hip with her towel. “Be nice! That’s my husband.” The three looked at each other and broke out laughing hysterically. They finished up and went downstairs for some breakfast.

  It was Wednesday and Steve didn’t have any appointments until late in the afternoon, so they lounged around the house sharing war stories and memories of Gail’s mother, the funny and the poignant ones. Gail’s mother, Patricia, had passed away from breast cancer several years earlier. Molly knew her well, and the two had been lifelong friends. Steve knew her through Molly and had told Molly on many occasions that he liked Patricia a lot. Steve looked at Gail who had removed her robe because she was hot and was laying nude with her back arched over an ottoman in front of his leather chair and asked, “What would your mother say about what we’re doing?” She got a serious expression on her face then a pouty one and said, “She’d be pissed!” “So, she wouldn’t like your behavior or ours?” She started to giggle, “No…silly. My mom loved you very much, and she had a real hard and heavy crush on you. She confessed it to me only days before she died. She told me that the first time Molly introduced the two of you she felt sparks.” He looked over at Molly sitting with her robe open and her feet up on the foot rest. She had a smile on her face, “Gail,” she said, “I never told Steve how your mother felt about him.” Gail frowned. “My mother would be jealous, Steve, and she also wouldn’t have wanted to share you with Molly or anyone else.”

  He looked at the two of them and said he really had no idea that she felt that way about him. Molly moved over onto the main couch next to Steve, “She was one of my best friends, and she was very much in love with you. But she also loved and respected me, and she would never have gotten in the way of my happiness.” Gail asked, “Since we’re on the subject of my mother, Molly, are we ever going to talk about the elephant in the room?” That question was met with silence. Steve knew what it meant, and so did Molly, but it wasn’t a conversation Molly wanted to have. Molly laid her head on Steve’s lap. “What’s the point? Steve and I have talked this over with three doctors. My life is in limbo, Gail. I just finished the second round of chemo and was hoping we could have a nice week.” Steve didn’t say anything; he just put his hand on Molly’s head and stroked her hair. It wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have either; he’d made that clear in several arguments with Molly. Gail asked, “What stage are you, Moll?” There was no response. “So you have a prognosis, don’t you?” Molly started to cry and sat up. She was angry and said, “Howard Cohen is handling our affairs. He’s been my friend all my life. Steve and I are leaving things in his hands. I’m in remission, and that’s all I’m going to say about this.”

  Steve walked over to the living room window and looked out on the street and the valley below. Gail frowned and said, “I’m sorry. It just feels like you’re trying to hide from your illness by spending time with me. It’s not my place to judge, and I’m very sorry that I brought it up. I love you both. I just want the best for you.” Steve turned around and said, “Gail, Molly and I have had long and heated heartfelt conversations about her situation. Neither of us is willing to allow a doctor to take away our hope, so they can dish out all the prognosis’ they like. I have been, and will continue to be, supportive of Molly, whatever she chooses to do in her battle with cancer. There’s nothing more to be said on the subject.” Gail sat with her head down as if she’d just been scolded. Molly dried her eyes and asked, “Who wants some food?” Gail forced a smile as did Steve. Over an early brunch, the three agreed that there would be no further conversation of Molly’s illness for the rest of the visit. Molly could see the pain in Steve’s eyes, but they had made an agreement before Gail’s visit, one that included details that would be shared with no one, not even her.

  Jim woke up confused. He looked around the room and for a few moments he didn’t know where he was. He felt an arm on his chest, and he looked over to see Barbara sleeping next to him. The alarm clock showed six thirty a.m. “Who needs a damn alarm clock?” he muttered to himself. Barbara nuzzled into his chest. It all came back to him, and he laid there trying to make heads or tails of what had transpired. He was also concerned for Barbara’s safety after learning about Jill and her hunch about The Eagle. Jim moved her arm and kissed her on the forehead as he slid over to sit up on the edge of the bed. Barbara woke up and said with a sleepy voice, “Oh God!” Jim didn’t respond. He walked bare-assed to the bedroom window and looked out. “Having some regrets, Barb?” She was visibly hung over. “Too much scotch but no regrets about last night.” His clothes were strewn all over the bedroom. He began picking them up without saying a word. “Are you regretting last night, Jim?” “Not at all…it was nice to have you in my arms again; it’s been a long time.”

  She complained that it was hot and threw the covers off so that she was lying nude on the bed. Her graying red hair on the pillow and pale skin against the sheets made the freckles on her legs and arms stand out against the white linen. He must have stared at her a little too long because Barbara pulled herself up on her elbows and asked if he was okay. He nodded, putting on his underwear, “Just taking it in, Barba
ra; a mental picture for lonely night activities.” She laughed, “Do you have to go now? It’s so early; come back to bed.” He didn’t know what to do. He knew that he still loved her very much, but he also knew that the two of them were oil and water and any reconciliation would be short lived. “Barb, I stayed because you were afraid. You were vulnerable, and, well…I was horny…I’m a guy. I’m not going to pass up a nice piece of ass, especially if it’s thrown at me. But you know as well as I do that this is going to lead down a bad road.” She got out of bed and grabbed a robe off the back of a rocking chair. “It doesn’t have to be that way, Jimmy.” He was pulling on his pants when she said it. “Then tell me how it can be, Barb. You miss Jill; you had a moment of weakness, and I took advantage of it.” “Do you really think that’s what happened?” As he continued to dress, he answered, “Hell… Barb. I don’t have a damn clue. You seem to have the answers. You tell me.” She walked over to him and gently put her hands on his face, “Oh Jimmy…I’ve missed you. You’re right. I loved Jill, and I still do, but I love you, too… I have always loved you. What happened between us had nothing to do with weakness. It had to do with desire and being with the man who always made me feel safe.”