The 15th Star (A Lisa Grace History - Mystery)

by Lisa Grace

  “This isn’t funny, it’s dangerous!”

  “You’re right. You might accidentally hit me in the nose, here in the dark,” Julian stood up, reached out his arm until he brushed against Keiko. He helped her to her feet. “We should get ready in case Ray engages the enemy.” Julian reached down and pulled out his hidden gun.

  “Put your gun where you can reach it easily. Safety’s off, right?”

  “Yeah, I’m ready. Do you really think Benton thinks we could keep quiet about this?”

  “In Washington the only thing bigger than the monuments are the egos. His plan may very well be to let us, including him, get credit for finding the star. A career boost in D.C. is considered an even trade for ignoring illegal activities, even murder. Besides, as he said, if we make a scene he can always arrange for an ‘accident’. It maybe his backup plan in any case.”

  Keiko shivered. Julian hugged her. “It’s okay. Benton’s an amateur. He has just stepped in a big pile of it, but the smell hasn’t reached his nose yet. You do not mess with an ex-Special Forces Army guy who has a secret service agent for a father.”

  “This is in case we don’t make it out,“ Keiko reached out to pull Julian’s head down for another kiss.

  There was the sound of the door sliding open. Julian pointed his gun at the door and shielded Keiko with his body. Ray shined his light on them. “Maybe I should have knocked first,” he said.

  Julian lowered his gun and said, “Can you give us a minute?”

  “Give you a minute? You’ve got killers on your tail and you want a minute? Sure, we’ve got the rest of the night. No hurry.” He walked away shaking his head.

  “Look, when we get out of this mess, I want to make us permanent,” Julian said, “I’ve been around enough to know what I want from life, and I want you.”

  “Are you asking me to marry you?”

  “Yes, I’m asking.”

  “Can we discuss this when killers aren’t locking us up and planning our accidental deaths? How do I know it’s not the adrenaline speaking? We can’t make a decision that important based on adrenaline and circumstances.”

  “Keiko, look, life is short. I’ve seen too much death. You have too. There is no guarantee for tomorrow. I don’t want to wait to live the rest of my life. I want a life with you. Don’t make us wait.”

  “Ask me when we’re not in danger. You might change your mind. You know I have a problem, with letting go—with my parents… Julian, I’m not quite—all right yet. You need time to think about who I really am.” Keiko couldn’t bring herself to break from his embrace. She was afraid if he thought it through, he would change his mind. If she took him at his word now, and he changed his mind later… She wasn’t sure she could handle another loss. Better for him to wait.

  “Keiko, I’m not going to change my mind.”

  They stood there holding each other until Ray called from the other room, “Come on already!”

  *

  ***

  *

  Chapter 16 - Jacks Place

  Jacks got back from the bar, excited Keiko had called him. He was still feeling a little drunk so he went to the fridge and grabbed a Red Bull. The walk home helped to clear his brain. The other day, when she had walked by holding that Doctor’s hand, his stomach had flopped. He knew he should have asked her out. She was only a year older than him. Why exactly was she so intimidating? Jacks wasn’t sure why, but he was. In a year, he could write his own ticket for a good job in this town. Jacks knew Keiko was too beautiful to be unattached for long. If only he weren’t afraid to do anything but ask stupid questions. Every time he approached her, all his thoughts froze like a hard drive with a virus. She made him nervous, unsure. Keiko had not seen the real him yet. This was his chance to show her he was more than a stumbling bumbling college student.

  He sat down at his computer, his head still foggy. Beer always did it to him. He waited for his laptop to get hooked into a phantom IP address. From there he typed in yet another router, and finally went in through a public Wi-Fi site. This should throw anyone off his tail. They might put a tracer on him, but the information was going to be parked on a server in a different country and the protocols, unless they were using some top security clearance spyware, would keep anyone from tracing the trail back to him. And really, what were the chances of that? Who cared about history and what would it have to do with anything involving the government? Jacks was sure Keiko was overreacting. He was so sure he was right, he would bet his life on it. So he did.

  ***

  It was still dark when Jacks woke up and went into the bathroom to empty his bladder again. He’d slept in his clothes, not an unusual occurrence. He took his time, still half-asleep and hungover. When he paused to shake the sleep from his eyes, he heard the front hall floorboard creak. He instantly froze. He zipped silently. Someone was in his hall. That board only creaked when weight was put on it. The footsteps continued into the living room. He only had moments to think before they figured out where he was. “Oh crap,” he whispered. Then from his desk where he’d been working, his cell phone began to ring. He looked at the window in the shower. It led out to the fire escape. The phone ringing might mask the sound of the window going up. He only had a split second to make his decision. Jacks reached up, pushed the latch open, and hauled himself up and out. He lowered the window silently and prayed he had a minute to get far enough away. He climbed up the fire escape onto the roof. Jacks jumped the space between the buildings and went in a rooftop door. Jacks turned and locked it from the inside. He vaulted over the railing getting down as fast as possible. Outside one of the apartments he passed on the way down, he saw a pair of flip-flops. He stopped briefly to put them on. His toes hung over the edge. Running every day, preparing for marathons, kept him in top shape. Jacks barely broke a sweat. When he reached the bottom, he went out the building and back towards the center of town.

  Jacks had a few blocks to walk and think. While it was still dark out, shopkeepers and businessmen were out getting an early start on their day. In Washington life started before daybreak. He went a different route and ended up in an alley. Jacks paced and thought about where he could go this early in the morning. Work? No. He wondered how safe it would be. Luckily, while he had set his phone on his desk, he’d forgotten to remove his wallet from his jeans pocket. He left the alley, turned into the Spy City Café, and ordered a large coffee. He chuckled to himself at the name. It was certainly apropos. Here he was, caught red-handed, cyber-spying on someone who was cyber-spying on him. He went and sat at a back table facing the front window. There was a chance that whomever broke in didn’t know he was home. But if they did…

  With all the precautions Jacks had taken, he wasn’t careful enough. Keiko had warned him. He thought some classic moves would be enough to throw basic spyware off his trail. But this was jail-time serious. Keiko was right. He couldn’t believe the IP address that popped up when he ran the trace. Why a congressional representative would bother a historian was beyond weird. What had Keiko done? This was government. Big time scary. Or maybe he was a secret boyfriend of Keiko’s? She didn’t seem the type to have an affair with a married congressman or to cheat on a boyfriend with that Doctor guy. Nah. Had to be a weird government thing. In a few hours, whoever they were would know everything about him. His habits, where he hung out, any place he’d made a credit or debit card order. Luckily, being a broke student, he lived mostly on cash. How to survive until he could find out what was going on, that was what he needed to think about. And what could be so worthy of a cover up? Of course, this being D.C., it was possible they were just checking him out because of the hacking. No, they wouldn’t have broken in. They would have knocked, served him with a search warrant, and arrested him on the spot.

  No, these guys were secret service—or worse. They weren’t there to arrest him. There was only one reason those kind of guys broke in, and it didn’t have anything to do with following the law. Where would they think he would go next?
He should go to the last place they would look, if Jacks only had an idea of where that was.

  He took a sip of his coffee and mentally ran through a list of everyone he knew and places he commonly went. Then Jacks thought of all the people he barely knew and never hung around. Out of them, who did he trust the most? Where could he hide out that they wouldn’t find him? He saw a messenger on a bike stop in and go back to use the restroom. That gave him an idea. He borrowed a pen from the counter and wrote on a napkin. He quickly constructed a makeshift envelope from a paper place mat and shoved the napkin in.

  When the guy came out Jacks asked, “Hey, would you deliver this letter for me? If no one’s there, just slip it through the mail slot.” Jacks held out a twenty, “This is for doing me a favor man.”

  “If it’s on my route..,” the courier looked at the address, only a few blocks away, “Sure man, it’s on the way. Thanks dude.”

  “I’d do it myself but my boss called and I gotta head back in five. Thanks man.”

  “Sure dude, later.” The courier gave him a hand sign, got back on his bike with the money and message safely tucked away in his pouch.

  Jacks sat back and waited. At least he could leave the information for Keiko as he had promised. It’s all he could do.

  ***

  Jacks waited for Joe the bartender to show up. He sat back at the table sipping his coffee with three sugars and cream. A poor man’s latte. He’d given that bicycle messenger a good chunk of his change. He still had a fifty-dollar bill, one twenty and some singles left. Not a lot, not in this town. He and Joe used to work at a restaurant together before Joe had moved onto the bar for better tips. Jacks had taken the security guard job where he was working mostly nights with some overtime into the early morning hours. Those were the days he got to see Keiko.

  His schedule freed him up to take his college classes during the day so he could feel like a normal college student. One that didn’t have to work a job to go to school.

  With Joe meeting him here, he could find out if Keiko called back and had gotten the name of who was spying on her. If not, he would have to think of a way to warn her she was in danger.

  *

  ***

  *

  Chapter 17 - 1819

  A few days after Grace received the Major Rivers’ letter, she began to relax. Now that she and the Major had an understanding, Grace was ready to live the rest of her life. There was a knock at the door. Bethany dried her hands on a towel and went to answer the door. Mary was indisposed, having woman’s problems. They had just finished a large job of new colors for two new merchant ships and were actually giving their fingers a rest. After a big job, Grace and Mary’s fingers tended to swell from the repetitious movement of the needles’ ins and outs. It also made their wrists hurt. A day or two off always helped relieve the soreness. They weren’t expecting anyone. Bethany came back into the kitchen. “There’s a man out in the parlor needs some flags made for his troops. I told him Mrs. Mary is not receiving visitors so he asked to see you.”

  “Me?”

  “By your name.”

  Surprise registered on Grace’s face, “I’ll see if I can help him.”

  ***

  The man had his back to them and was accompanied by a young boy pointing at something out the window. “Look Father! A cat, and he’s wearing socks!” the boy said as he looked up smiling at his father. The man made a soft question to the boy that Grace could not hear. She caught herself smiling at the scene. The man turned to face Bethany and Grace as they entered the parlor. Grace’s smile froze into an expression of shock as she realized who the man and son were.

  Bethany led the way into the parlor, “Sir, this is Grace. She can take the order for you. Mrs. Pickersgill is not receiving visitors today. If for some reason, you’d rather wait for the Missus, you should come back tomorrow. Grace has been working for the Missus many years now, and Mrs. Pickersgill trusts her to take the orders.”

  “I understand. Giving Grace the order is satisfactory. Please leave us to our business.” The Major nodded to Bethany, making it clear she was dismissed.

  “Hello Grace, this is my son—Stanton,” Major Rivers placed his hand gently on the boy’s shoulder to steer him to look at Grace instead of out the window at the cat.

  Grace quickly curtsied and lowered her head so she could discreetly wipe at the tears that were gathering in her eyes. Her beautiful son, who looked nothing like her and every bit like his father.

  The boy piped up, “There is the most curious cat outside. He came straight up to me and laid right on my shoes. And look, he looks like he is wearing socks. I have never seen such a friendly cat before. Our cats are mousers and they live in the stable. You know why they’re called mousers? Cause they like to catch and eat the mice. Grrrrr.” He made a swiping motion with his hand like it was a cat’s claw.

  Grace looked at her son and said, “That cat is named Socks, because he looks like he is wearing them. He is a most friendly cat.”

  Young Stanton smiled and nodded in agreement.

  “Son, go outside. You can sit on the front stoop where I can watch you. Don’t dare step off or I’ll tan your hide.”

  “Yes sir,” the little boy said with a smile that showed he was not afraid of his father. He ran out the front door slamming it with a loud bang. Sure enough, Socks the cat came right up to him on the porch and keeled over to let the little boy rub his tummy.

  “Is it possible to get a moment of privacy?” Major Rivers asked quietly as he nodded toward Bethany in the kitchen. Grace nodded her head yes, walked into the kitchen, and asked, “Mrs. Bethany, could you go put the letters in the post? I forgot. Mrs. Mary asked that they go out today.”

  “I could do with a bit of fresh air. I’ll be back shortly,” Bethany said.

  Bethany went out the back as Grace walked into the parlor and motioned for the Major to sit in the chair.

  “I brought the boy so you would see I mean you no harm.”

  “Thank you,” Grace said.

  “I also wanted you to see there is nothing of you in him. No one would believe any claims you made.”

  “I know,” Grace nodded. “He’s yours and the Mrs. Rivers son through and through.”

  “He’s got a good life, the best of everything.”

  Grace nodded again, “I can see that. Your son is a wonderful little boy.”

  “If anyone were ever to threaten him, threaten my family, I will not hesitate to kill. That is just the way things are.” He looked Grace in the eye to see if she got his meaning. “I am not a man of peace, I enjoy—proving who I am. Taking what I want. However, Stanton is meant for better things. He will have the best education money can buy. I expect great things of him. You understand?” Grace nodded again.

  I do not think you two will have a chance to speak again. You understand?” Major Rivers asked yet again.

  Grace nodded again and said forcefully, “I know he ain’t got nothing to do with my life. Today was enough.”

  “Good. I will not be bothering you again and you will survive just fine without contacting me.” The Major stood up. “I do need three new flags for my regiment, standards that a man can carry. Have Mrs. Pickersgill send me the bill. Good day.”

  He nodded as he walked to the door and let himself out. The little boy on the stoop got up from where he was petting the cat. He grabbed his father’s hand and waved good-bye to the cat, never glancing Graces’ way, never giving her a second thought, never looking back at his history, his mother.

  As her tears spilled over, Grace watched as her son walked away, smiling, happy, chattering to his father. His father was an evil man, but Major Rivers would protect her son at all costs. He was a murderer, yet able to sleep at night. To see Major Rivers act so tender with her son, his son, gave her a sense that he was safe. Now that Major Rivers had seen Grace, he knew she would not be bothering him or his family. Grace knew he would leave her in peace. For a minute she felt the loss of what might have been
. The mother she could have been. But her son was all white. No one would have let her raise him. Could he have been as happy being her son? She didn’t think so. Grace resigned herself to her situation. She must be happy with what she had and not think about the things beyond her reach. This was all she could think of.

  *

  ***

  *

  Chapter 18 - Claggett’s Brewery

  “Are you ready to go?” Ray said to Keiko and Julian, “it’s not safe to be here. Let‘s find the star, or just get out of here.”

  “Are you serious? Leave without the star and the letter?” Keiko looked at Ray, she continued, “We can’t leave! You have some guys outside on guard, right? We have to get the star. It shouldn’t take long and I am not leaving without it.”

  “Let’s get looking,” Julian said.

  “I‘d rather not have to shoot while you two are here. Where to, Keiko?” Ray said.

  “It’s got to be in the big room, along the far wall, ” Keiko said. She hurried to the pick Julian had left on the floor earlier and went to the back wall. “I’m not leaving without the star. If they find it, it’s gone forever. I can’t risk it. I have to know what the letter says.”

  Ray sighed got out his cell and sent a text to his buddies on the outside. “Okay let’s help,” Ray said.

  He turned to Julian, “My team will warn us by phone or by siren if anyone approaches the building. I was afraid she would be this stubborn so I’ve got guys in the four buildings surrounding us. I think Rivers feels you guys are shut up for the night, but you never know. You’re both lucky he’s a politician and not a pro. You‘d both be dead by now or we would have had a hell of a shoot-out.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding, those guys wouldn’t have gotten a shot off before I’d have twisted their limbs into a braid. I think in your advanced state of retirement you’ve forgotten whom you’re talking to,” Julian said.