The Next Ten: Beginnings Series Books 11 - 20

by Jacqueline Druga

  “O.K., then look good for Elliott.” Dean stepped back. “Did you want coffee?”

  “No, I have some Thanks.”

  Dean paused then just pointed to the broken mug.

  “Oh.” Ellen giggled. “I forgot. No, I’ll be right out for breakfast.”

  Dean nodded. “O.K. Are you sure you’re all right?”

  “I’m fine. Thanks for asking.” Ellen kept the smile on her face. It hurt to do so as her muscles were forced to move upward. The moment Dean left, she shut the door, lost the smile, and let every ounce of her being sink.

  ^^^^

  “Sorry for getting you so early, Elliott.” Hal smiled when Elliott handed him a mug of coffee.

  “No, it’s quite all right. I understand,” Elliott stated.

  “I just like to be prepared completely when I have a meeting with my father. He deserves to be able to meet with someone that can stay on the subject.” Before sitting down, Hal looked up at the knock. “Are we expecting someone?”

  “No.” Elliott looked over his shoulder. “Come in.”

  Richie poked his head in. “Hey, El, El, Elliott. Ha . . . Hal.” He caught his breath. “I saw . . . saw you and hurried. Did you for forget me?”

  “No,” Elliott told him. “I have a meeting with the Captain. I would have come for you later.”

  “I’m wearing my, I’m wearing my uniform.” Proudly Richie stood straight, rolled his chin over shoulder, and patted his own chest. “You like, like Hal? Whoops. Sorry. Cap Captain now. Huh?”

  “Yes, Richie,” Hal nodded. “I like it.” He whispered to Elliott, “Do not tell me he has a real sword in that case.”

  “Nah. It’s a plastic practice one.”

  Hal winked then smiled at Richie. “You look official.”

  “Captain, would you like me to take him away from here?” Elliott asked.

  “No, we’ll ignore him. He can stay.” Hal walked around his desk. “Richie come in. We’re going to have our meeting so be quiet.”

  “Sure. Wow.” Richie quickly looked around the office. “This is, this is like a museum. A museum. Wow. A Civil War place. This all yours, Hal?”

  “Yes,” Hal answered and sat down. “So, anyhow, Elliott. Scouts?”

  Richie interjected. “I was in the scout, scouts. Yeah. Six years. Got, got kicked out. For . . . for swear, swearing. Shh.” Richie turned his back and walked to the bookshelf.

  Elliott took advantage of the silence. “The scouts should be arriving at the town in Texas now. We need to go over some of the moving strategy with them. And we expect the Canadian scouts back sometime today.”

  “With good news, we hope,” Hal said.

  “Hey!” Richie called out. “It’s not here. Gone with the Wind. Is it? I don’t see it.”

  “Keep looking,” Hal instructed then returned to Elliott. “My sister.”

  “Three-three,” Richie interceded. “Three thousand six hundred dollars. Plus, plus penalties and interest yeah.”

  Hal stayed calm. “I thought you said he was getting better.”

  “His roommates told me that,” Elliott shrugged.

  “Duke and Luke.” Richie snickered. “Duke. Luke. Luke. Duke. Rhyme.” He laughed again. “Duke. Luke. Puke. Fluke. Loot. Shoot . . .”

  Hal opened his mouth to speak to Elliott.

  “Bang!” Richie yelled out. “Sorry. Caught. Caught up. Books.” He pointed to the shelf. “Oh wow.”

  “Anyhow,” Hal continued. “My sister.”

  “She’s not said anything to me,” Elliott spoke. “I’ve beat around the bush and got nothing. She’s been quiet. I asked why and she says it’s because of Henry.”

  “Bas . . . Bastard.” Richie twitched his head. “Henry’s a bastard. Frank’s cool. Yeah. Frank’s cool. Oh. Wow.” Again Richie pointed and moved across the room.

  Hal grumbled, “Let’s present the idea of her switching with Blue to my father. We can have her work here for a while since our patient count is low and the females will only see her and move Blue to Beginnings.”

  “Trumpet!” Richie called out as he indicated to an instrument on a stand.

  “Bugle,” Hal corrected. “It’s very old. That’s from the Civil War.” Hal went back to Elliot. “What do you think of that angle?”

  “He’s picking it up.” Elliott nodded at Richie.

  “He’s fine.” Hal waved out his hand. “My angle.”

  “It may or may not work. It’s a great idea . . . he’s coming near you Captain.”

  Hal shook his head. “Ignore him,” he whispered. “You were saying?”

  “I was saying, it’s . . .” Elliot slouched in his chair and leaned his head into his hand. “It’s a great idea, especially if she knows about him. She may feel safer and open up. Plus . . .” Elliott slumped more. “Protection wise, it would keep her away from him . . .”

  “Elliot,” Hal snapped. “Sit up!”

  “I’d rather not.” He prepared to cringe. “Richie is . . .”

  “I told you.” Hal widened his eyes. “Do what I’m doing. Just pretend he isn’t here.”

  The long and loud bad note blared from the antique bugle two inches from Hal’s ear. Hal’s eyes closed.

  Richie snorted a laugh. “Pretty, pretty good huh?” He blew it again. “Reveille!”

  Elliott sat up, yet out of politeness, he hid his smile. “You were saying, sir, about pretending what?”

  Just before Hal grunted, the bugle blasted again.

  ^^^^

  The debate went back and forth in Johnny’s mind. He gave great thought to his final decision, weighing the odds and the chances. Even though Johnny enjoyed the tormenting games he was playing with Ellen, it was time to stop. It wasn’t that he didn’t have a lot more planned but it just grew more risky with each day that went by.

  If only the phones were up or he could break the code. He’d call George, set up his transportation, bide his few days time, and then leave. He would even spare Ellen’s life. But since an escape from Beginnings was far from sight, Johnny forged ahead.

  It was a perfect accident, a perfect set up. He just needed the perfect day. He found out that Dean would be in surgery all day and knew there was only one person to feed the hybrids . . . Ellen.

  If was safe to assume she would be the only one in the cryo-lab since he and Dean were the only ones that went down there.

  He planned his set up, put it in motion, and literally waited for the execution of it. Just to cover the accident portion of it, he paid a small visit to Mechanics. Johnny had to go early because Danny Hoi and Henry were such early birds. Slipping in a requisition without them seeing who did it would be difficult but he managed it. The door was open and the bin was partially filled when Johnny slipped the proof of accident to the bottom of the pile.

  No one saw him until he walked out.

  John Matoose stared in wonder at Johnny as he watched him slip quietly out. He knew something was up. It was too early for Johnny to be up there for a valid reason. He waited for Johnny to move on then headed into the Mechanics building.

  ‘What could he have done?’ went through John’s mind. What was he up to? Everything looked fine. It could have been innocent, but knowing Johnny Slagel, John would keep his eyes and ears open, check every corner of Mechanics, and rule no possibility out.

  ^^^^

  It was a big deal to Jess being moved from his stomach to his side. It surprised him to find out that he had been suspended face down for a week. Had he been aware, he didn’t know how well he would have taken that since he definitely wasn’t a stomach sleeper.

  The pain wasn’t too bad now. His recollection of the time he spend in limbo was only of a few voices and pain making it into every single dream he had. The explosion could have happened the day before, as fresh as it felt to him.

  He was a little groggy, but Robbie’s voice in the hall, with that child-like excitement, saying, ‘You’re kidding? He’s up?’ made Jess smile.

  “Hey.” Ro
bbie grinned as he walked into the room, wearing a black leather jacket.

  “Robbie,” Jess said with a raspy voice. He smiled, reached up, and shook the extended left hand Robbie held out to him.

  “You don’t look bad.” Robbie smiled and pulled up a chair.

  “I hear it’s not all that great of a view if you’re behind me.”

  “Jess.” Robbie let out a slight ornery snicker. “That doesn’t bode well for you.”

  Jess laughed. “So, uh, what happened? Did you dislocate your shoulder? Break your arm?” He motioned his head to the dangling sleeve of Robbie’s jacket.

  “Nope. I lost it.”

  “Get the hell out of here.” Jess shook his head in disbelief.

  “No. Seriously. It’s gone.” Robbie stood up, unzipped his jacket, and slid it off.

  “Oh, my God.” Jess’s mouth moved but he didn’t say anything,

  “See?” Robbie tossed the jacket over the chair and sat back down. “I hid it on purpose. I didn’t want to shock you. I.ve been here a lot but you were sleeping.” He shrugged.

  “Robbie . . . I’m sorry.”

  “Nah. That’s OK. I’m getting a bionic arm.”

  “You’re kidding?”

  “Danny Hoi’s gonna make it,” Robbie said nonchalantly. “Dean’s gonna turn me into a SUT, sort of. I’ll be ready to go. They’ll make the arm look real with that skin he and Ellen grow. It’s probably the same stuff I heard they’re gonna put on your back.”

  “You mean the stuff that sprouts rabbit fur?” Jess asked.

  “Yep. It’ll give new meaning to whenever you shave your back.” Robbie nodded, then exhaled. “I’ll tell you, Jess, we’re a good pair, aren’t we.”

  Jess gave a slight moan in agreement.

  “Me with no arm. You with no skin.” He whistled. “If we had problems getting laid before . . .”

  Jess couldn’t help but chuckle. “Hey, Robbie? Um, you’re in really big trouble. You lost your right hand.”

  “Tell me about.” Robbie flashed his eyebrows. “A lifetime acquired skill out the window. But . . . like everything else I’ll adjust. Practice makes perfect.”

  “You can look at it as making a new friend.”

  Robbie smiled at Jess, then turned serious. “We’re joking. But we’re lucky. We should have been dead.”

  “Yeah. We’re also lucky whoever set that didn’t know what they were doing. It wouldn’t have made a difference if that door was opened or closed.”

  “It wouldn’t have made a difference to my Dad or Frank either if it was set properly. They were in Dad’s office. I didn’t tell them that so, you know, don’t let them know they were almost particle board too.”

  “So everyone survived?” Jess asked.

  “No, Jason didn’t make it,” Robbie said sadly. “We buried him yesterday. I couldn’t figure out how he died. I really couldn’t figure it out. We were right there, you and I. He was with everyone else at the door.”

  “He stepped back, Robbie. Don’t you remember?”

  Robbie shook his head. “No. You remember that?”

  “Oh, yeah. When we turned to run, I can still remember seeing him step back as if to let the others through.”

  “Do you remember the explosion?” Robbie questioned. “I don’t really. I mean, you grabbed me then everything was a blur and bang. The next thing I knew, Frank was there.”

  “I remember running when the bomb went off. The ringing in my ears hurt. I flew backwards,” Jess said. “That is still fresh to me. I lost everything from after I landed until last night,.”

  “Hal pulled you out of the burning warehouse,” Robbie said. “I wanted to let you know that. I’m proud of him, but don’t tell him I said so. Frank will get mad.”

  “I won’t.” Jess smiled. “So, ” he said with an exhale, “we are bloodied but not beaten. What now?”

  “Now? Right now we stay silent about it being set deliberately,” Robbie explained. “No one is to know until they trip this person up. The story around the community is I had explosives stored in there and the change in temperature fucked with them.”

  “Do they know who did it? Do they have any idea?”

  “Nope, just that he or she is an insider. I mean, hey, they went after the suspects. I guess whoever wants Bev’s murderer to pay, end the investigation, and so forth . . .”

  Jess slowly lifted his head in attention.

  Robbie continued, “But I really believe they’ll get him. I’ll tell you, Jess. I haven’t a clue who it is, but I hope they fuckin really pay for what they did.”

  Jess just stared. Robbie and the others didn’t have a clue who did it but Jess certainly did. In hearing Robbie’s words of wanting the bomber to pay, Jess had to wonder if, when Robbie found out who the Society insider actually was, he would still feel so passionately about handing out justice.

  ^^^^

  Judging by the amount of people that were buzzing about town when he arrived back from New Bowman, Joe actually thought he had his days wrong and it was Sunday. That was until he looked at his watch and remembered he had an early day. Of course, Frank tagging along made the simple hour or so trip seem like a week. Not often did Joe think it, but ‘poor Hal’ kept racing through his mind.

  Hal was so prepared with his little notepad of information. He had a simple list he intended to read over to Joe, briefly discuss, and then enjoy breakfast. Frank hindered that as usual and Richie with the bugle didn’t help much either. How Hal kept his composure was beyond Joe. They finally got to the bones of the meeting when they were graced with silence after they convinced Frank it would be heroic to take Richie bowling.

  Joe enjoyed the time with Hal. Frank even seemed grateful for the chance to bowl, telling Joe he had a blast. Richie, on the other hand, didn’t seemed all that pleased with the outcome of his and Frank’s early morning trip to the alleys. He seemed different to Joe, more quiet afterwards. Joe attributed Richie being dazed and confused to the large bump on his forehead, the one he got when he decided to walk up behind Frank while he was winding back to throw the ball.

  Richie ended up getting clocked and though it really had to hurt, it bred a pleasant feeling of chuckling in Joe every time he thought of it.

  After informing Frank to stay clear of him for at least a couple hours, he went into town to make a sweep of things only to discover no one was really working yet. So Joe headed to his office. He should have gone there right away. Perhaps it was a subconscious thing that made Joe want to do community rounds first, but he was stuck. It had to be done.

  The explosion had happened just over a week before and had it been just an accident with little repercussions, Joe would have buried the incident and moved on. But unfortunately, Joe had buried his closest friend not even twenty-four hours earlier. It was almost over with the exception of catching the culprit who did it. Joe was certain that would happen as soon as they named the killer and smoke-screened the bomber out into a trap.

  There was also something else pressing that Joe had deal with. It was an issue he put off and in waiting to handled, the problem literally doubled.

  Joe was Leader in a growing community but he was a leader alone. Jason, a fellow Council member, was gone. His replacement was needed. And then . . . there was Henry.

  Losing Henry, not only on Council, but surprisingly, as head of Mechanics as well bothered Joe more than he thought. Henry requested to slip quietly from authority, from any lime light, and try to start anew.

  Joe respected that decision. But complying completely with starting anew, Joe couldn’t do. Henry was mechanically brilliant and though out of Head of Mechanics position, Henry had to work in that division.

  As far replacements, Joe knew who he wanted for new Council members. As he sat at his desk, he had already distributed the ‘invitation for position’ to them in the form of a letter. He also had a plan that incorporated a slight change. There was too much going on in Beginnings with Bev’s murder, the bombing, and the insi
der. And not a single person–as if they were all waiting for the last minute–had turned in their punishment ballots. So in order to keep the change and switch of Council simple, Joe decided to post a message in Beginnings and New Bowman. The message would inform of the slight new changes he had in mind, the names of the new Council, and the reason Joe chose them. He also mentioned in his message that the appointing of Council was temporary and would become official if after one month, he received no disapproval from the communities. If that was the case, the decision would go to a general election. Joe hoped his choices would be accepted. He made them with the best interest of the communities in mind and in heart.

  He read over the document he worked typing up the night before. He had barely lifted his eyes from the document when the door opened. “I thought I told you to keep away from me.” Joe returned to reading, then gazed up again when he noticed Frank looking about., in the closet, the examining room, and beside the file cabinet. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Who were you talking to?” Frank asked.

  “You.” Joe set the paper down.

  “When did you tell me to stay away from you?” Frank pulled up a chair.

  “About a half an hour ago.”

  “No, you didn’t.”

  “Frank,” Joe had a slight snap to him. “Yeah, I did. What was the last thing I told you?”

  Frank paused to think. “Oh, yeah. To stay clear.”

  “Ok.” Joe nodded.

  “I did. I am.” Frank pointed to his temple. “Sharp as always.”

  “Christ.” Joe rubbed his eyes.

  “No, Frank.” He laughed at his own humor.

  “Frank!”

  “What!” Frank leaned back in the chair. “Fuck. Yell at me. What did I do?”

  Joe grunted. “Stay clear meaning . . .”

  “Dad. I know what ‘stay clear’ means. It means focused, sharp.”

  “No, I meant stay clear . . .”

  “I am,” Frank interrupted. “Did you think I was gonna have a problem?”

  “No, Frank, I . . .”

  “I’m a little tired.” Frank tilted his head. “But not much. I’ll be fine.”