The Next Ten: Beginnings Series Books 11 - 20

by Jacqueline Druga

  “You know, he could be waiting on an answer from Joe,” George suggested.

  “Does Mr. Slagel hold that much authority?”

  George chuckled. “He’s got as much on that side of the country as I have on this side. So tell me how much longer do we wait?”

  “Let’s give him three more days. Is it possible you could send in someone?”

  George exhaled. “I could, I suppose.”

  “Why don’t you want to?”

  “I want Johnny.”

  “You think getting him help from the Society will do that?”

  “I believe so, yes,” George said. “In fact, that’s what I want. I want him with me. I don’t want him for some evil plot, nor for anything but to have him by my side. If Beginnings doesn’t help him, he has to see they’ve turned their backs on him.”

  “But you haven’t.”

  “No, I haven’t. I’m here. I want him back.”

  “Points of valor, my dear limbo President,” Lars said. “Lest you not forget you also came here to see what’s going on with our small town.”

  “I wouldn’t have come here if Johnny wasn’t here, at least not right now.”

  “So you would have spared Lodi for a bit longer?”

  George chuckled. “Perhaps. You know, Lars, I like you. What do you think about joining me?”

  “I have to say I go where Lodi goes or at least where Mike goes.”

  “I understand. Speaking of Mike, where is he?”

  “I believe he had a matter to take care of …” Lars paused to snicker. “With Tigger.”

  “This is child abuse,” Tigger griped as he walked leashed with Mike.

  “Punishment.”

  “Child abuse.”

  Mike stopped and faced him. “Says who?”

  “Laws.”

  “Ha,” Mike chuckled. “I am the law.”

  “I hate when you do that.”

  Arriving at the bed and breakfast, Mike didn’t stop until he arrived at Bertha Callahan’s room. The big woman open the door, dressed in uniform and without a smile on her face.

  “He’s all yours.” Mike unleashed Tigger and moved him into the room. “As much as I enjoy the thought if you torturing my son, I’d like him home by dinner.”

  “Not a problem,” Bertha responded. “I know exactly what to do with him.”

  “Good because I have bigger things to worry about …” Mike stopped. “I mean …” He grumbled. “You know what I mean.”

  As soon as Mike turned to go down the hall, Tigger shut the door.

  ***

  A happy reunion.

  An enjoyable annoyance.

  The look of people pretending to be shocked.

  Joe, despite what his facial features dictated, was actually basking in the moment with Jimmy. He loved the fact that Jimmy turned the tides on Andrea, embracing her, and acting as if he knew her all along. But Joe loved it even more when Robbie and Frank appeared to be just a tad jealous of Andrea’s warmth toward Jimmy.

  It was a moment to remember. If Joe had one of those shock balls, he would have zapped Dean for intruding.

  “I need to speak to you, Joe,” Dean said.

  “Not now,” Joe told him.

  “No, Joe. Now, it’s important,” Dean whispered as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on in the clinic hall.

  “Dean.” Joe faced him. “I have people greeting my son …”

  “I know.”

  “Is this a community problem?” Joe asked.

  “No. It deals with you.”

  “Then it can wait.”

  “I’m afraid it can’t.”

  “Dean!” Joe snapped. “Now is not the time.”

  “No, now is the best time.”

  Was it irritability, or maybe even the chance to get Dean alone and kill him, that caused Joe to excuse himself from the hallway get together and follow Dean down the corridor to his tiny office? All Joe knew was that if being pulled away from his family angered him, the wait in Dean’s office was worse.

  Joe did about as much pacing as he could in the limited space and when the door opened, Joe spun hard. “This better be goddamn good. You hear me?”

  Dean closed the door. He held up a folder.

  “I don’t understand why this can’t wait.”

  “Because it can’t.” Dean pulled up a chair for Joe.

  “I don’t want to sit.”

  “Sit,” Dean instructed.

  “I don’t want to. Spill it. But let me tell you something … my son has come home. I just brought him through the gates of my community and I am in a damn good mood.”

  Dean nodded. “I have been waiting since I discovered this to tell you but you had left.”

  “Go on.”

  “Okay,” Dean took a deep breath. “Remember we did a full body scan a few weeks ago?”

  “Yes and it wasn’t good.”

  “I wanted to run more tests.”

  Irritated, Joe sighed out. “Yeah yeah, go on. You did your tests. What? Spit it out, Dean.”

  “But you left before I had a chance to review what …”

  “Dean!”

  Dean jolted back, caught his bearings, and laid the folder on the table. “I’m sorry, Joe.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The ‘This is your niece, this is your nephew, and this is your Uncle Jimmy’ routine was enjoyable at the school. Danny watched the four Slagel brothers with Ellen talk to the kids but where was Joe?

  He tried to get someone’s attention. After all, the inevitable had to occur. Danny had to give Joe the list and with it, take the lashing he was certain Joe would give out. A part of Danny hoped that Joe was going to be too wrapped up in Jimmy’s return to worry about a measly few things on a list.

  But really, where was Joe?

  “We’re meeting him at the Social Hall in fifteen minutes,” Hal told Danny and that was it. Were they deliberately avoiding Danny or did the Slagel men have something else on their mind?

  They did. That was confirmed when Danny was leaving the school and saw Sgt. Ryder.

  “I’m off to Joe’s house,” Elliott said. “I need to get the final touches ready for the party tonight.”

  “Aren’t they doing that at the Social Hall?” Danny asked.

  “Why would you say that?”

  “The Slagel four are meeting the Slagel dad at the Hall in a few minutes.”

  “It’s not to prepare for a party, I can assure you.”

  “What do you mean?” Danny asked.

  Elliott told him.

  At that instance in time, after Elliott divulged that Dean was speaking to Joe concerning urgent health matters, Danny tucked that list in his pocket and decided Beginnings bad news would have to wait.

  He had no intention whatsoever of seeking out Joe. He’d see him later at the party and if Joe asked about the list, Danny would present it. Until then, the list was placed to the back of priorities. However, having a few words with Dean was starting to top that priority list. As soon as he knew that Joe had left the clinic, Danny was going to give Dean a piece of his mind. How could Dean be so ruthless and cold to conceivably think it was a good idea to deliver health news to Joe on such a grand day as the return of his son?

  The day certainly gained more of a damper and Danny walked across town. He was going to go to the Joe Park, take advantage of the reflection wall, and just sit there. En route, his heart dropped to his stomach when he saw Joe.

  Joe looked to be in shock. He moved in a determined stride with his eyes ahead.

  He received a mere, “Danny’ of acknowledgement as Joe passed him and Danny filled with even more with anger toward Dean.

  As Joe headed to the Hall, Danny went to the clinic with harsh words on mind.

  ***

  The laundry list of things to say compiled in Danny’s mind. Even though the distance to the clinic was short, his thoughts went a million miles an hour. He approached Dean’s lab door and was about to knock when he hea
rd Dean chuckle. Peeking in, he saw Dean sitting back at his desk his with feet propped up on the phone. In typical Beginnings fashion, Danny listened.

  “So that’s what I told him,” Dean said. “Joe took it well. He didn’t want to kill me.” He chuckled. “Is everything okay with you? No regrets? Good. Margaret, I know you’re bored. Tell you what. Stay in my bed and I’ll see if I can change that when I get home.”

  Whispering ‘Asshole,’ Danny shook his head. He’d speak to Dean later. As he turned to walk out, he bumped right into Jenny. “Oh my God, I’m sorry.”

  “That’s okay.” Jenny caught her bearings. “What’s wrong?”

  Danny shook his head. “Nothing. Okay, well, yeah. I came here to give Dean a piece of my mind …”

  “You too?”

  “Over Joe.”

  Jenny huffed. “Can he be anymore insensitive?”

  “Yeah, listen to him talk to Maggie in there.”

  Jenny sighed out. “Like Ellen needs this.”

  Danny escorted Jenny down the hall. “No, Ellen needs for us to follow through.”

  “Are you?”

  Danny smiled. “Absolutely. It will be put in motion for tonight.”

  “Excellent. Maybe that can be a bright spot for her at the party tonight.”

  “If a bright spot can even occur after Dean put a damper on things.”

  “Good thing he’s not invited,” Jenny said.

  “You know, I questioned that at first, but now I’m glad. What if he shows?”

  “I gave strict orders to my husband to physically handle Dean if he must,” Jenny said. “John will be playing security as well as a party guest.”

  “Have you met Jimmy?” Danny asked. “Because I can’t wait.”

  “Oh, I spoke to him briefly. I’ve known him since I was a kid but he seems just like the old Jimmy,” Jenny said. “But right now, I feel bad for the whole lot of them.”

  “Is Joe talking to them?” Danny asked.

  “Unfortunately.” Jenny sighed. “Probably as we speak.”

  ***

  Jimmy didn’t know. No one had told him about Joe’s health so his shock was still predominant as he waited in the Social Hall with his brothers.

  All the boys, Ellen, and Andrea sat at a single table in the Hall. Andrea held Jimmy’s hand. They were quiet and waiting as Joe had instructed.

  The door opened and they all held the same expression when he walked in. Of course, Joe looked the part of a man who had something to say but lacked the way to deliver it. With his hands in his pockets, he jingled his keys then bounced from heel to toe as he stood before the table.

  “I think you all know why I called you here,” Joe said. “Dean … Dean wanted to see me. He said he had something urgent to discuss, something that couldn’t wait.” Joe paused and looked when he heard a sigh. Who made it, he didn’t know. He continued, “I asked Dean to wait. He said it couldn’t wait and I’ll be goddamned if he wasn’t right. The news couldn’t wait so that’s why I called you here. What you don’t know is what Dean told me.” Joe rubbed under his nose. “I think I’ll tell you the exact way he told me. He asked me to recall testing I had about three weeks ago. That testing showed things … things were bad, worse than anticipated. He ordered more tests but in my opinion, because of what Dean said, it was more so to confirm his distressing prognosis and defend his decision to stop all treatments and let me go.”

  “Joe,” Ellen spoke up. “You know I said …”

  “I know what you said,” Joe halted her. “Ellen, I appreciate everything you said. Your belief in me, your faith in my ability to beat the illness, stopped me from getting down. You were a shining star for me at the right time but I am here to tell you what Dean said. Dean reminded me of those tests and he reminded me of the ones I took just before we left for vacation. Whole body scan, blood, you name it. Then Dean …” Joe sighed out. “He laid down a folder and said …” Joe lowered his head. “He said, ‘I’m sorry, Joe’.” Joe raised his eyes in the silence and then Joe smiled. “He said ‘I’m sorry that I put you through so much mental torture’. Call it time, age, lack of preservation or a bad film. I don’t know. Hell …” Joe chuckled. “Even call it a miracle. Those wore Dean’s words. In a nutshell, the second tests defied the first. In fact, they showed pretty much a confirmation alright, a confirmation that I’m well on my way … to beating this.”

  The gasps and grunts of relief were loud and everyone ejected up from the table. They not only encompassed Joe, they embraced him with love and an abundance of gratefulness. The news couldn’t have arrived at a better time.

  ***

  Bertha placed the last bag in the car for George.

  “Callahan,” George extended his hand. “I’m sure things will be fine.”

  “I am as well, sir,” Bertha said.

  “You know what to do. Keep your eyes and ears open. I’ll send the convoy back up here for you in three days. I want my answer from the Chief by then.”

  “I’ll have it.”

  “Also, if Hayes doesn’t do the surgery, I want you to bring Johnny.”

  Bertha winked softly, “I’m going to try to bring him back regardless because he wants to be there.”

  “Thank you. Good luck.” George turned to get into the car and paused when he saw Mike approach. “Chief, are you coming to see me off?”

  “Actually, I am.” Mike extended his hand. “I don’t understand why you are leaving Officer Callahan here.”

  “She’s my messenger unless you want her out.”

  Mike shook his head. “Lodi has an open invitation, a peaceful … invitation.”

  “Talk to your people, Mike.” George opened his car door. “I hope to see you on our side.” He slid into the car.

  Mike walked to Bertha. She stood at semi-attention as George waved and backed up the vehicle. He would drive outside the walls where he would meet his brigade of an escort.

  “Tell me this,” Mike said. “Are you defecting?”

  “Me?” Bertha shook her head. “No, sir. I’m very loyal to President Hadley.”

  “Can I ask why?”

  “Maybe because I see another view of what he plans. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have Tigger to deal with.” With her hand behind her back, she moved down the street.

  “Callahan? My son is all right? Right?”

  Bertha chuckled. “Actually, he’s fine. He’s still in that taunting me phase. I’ve not yet taken the upper hand.”

  “So you’re just toying with him for now?” Mike asked.

  “Not yet. I’m getting there and it’s fun.”

  “Whatever it is, from all of us who have been tormented by Tigger, we know he probably deserves it.”

  With a snide smirk, Bertha tossed a glance over her shoulder and kept walking.

  “I wonder what she’s up to.” Mike whispered out loud, thinking he was alone.

  “You really want to know?” Lars asked sneaking up behind Mike.

  Mike jumped a little. “You scared me!”

  “She should scare you. In fact,” Lars walked around to face Mike. “I think the question should be what is Tigger ‘up’ to?”

  “He’s getting paid back.”

  “Do you think possibly … I don’t know, that something kinky is brewing between them?”

  At first Mike gasped, but that airy sound turned into a grunt. “Uh. Lars. Fuck.” He twitched his head. “That is wrong. That is so wrong. He … no. No!” Mike stormed off.

  Lars snickered.

  ***

  Why did Danny run?

  Joe thought it was bizarre but considering his good mood, nothing was going to bother him. The initial walk into Beginnings with his son was over. Joe knew the festivities were going to be plentiful for the evening. If the amount of food piled on his table and in his refrigerator at home were an indication, Andrea and Jenny went out of their way. He liked the idea of a small family and friend gathering then everyone moving to the Hall for music and a party after
.

  But before all that, Joe had to remember something else. He was leader in a town he left in the hands of Danny Hoi for three days. He really didn’t think much about anything being wrong. After all, if something severe had happened, Joe would have been told right away.

  That’s what he thought until he arrived at his office to meet with Danny. Danny, usually Mr. Business, rushed from the office said the list was on the desk and he had an important emergency to attend to. Danny’s lack of desire to speak to Joe should have been confirmation that all was well, but it wasn’t, not with the way Danny darted way.

  It sat on the desk in a crisp envelope. With coffee in hand, Joe settled into his chair.

  Not thinking much about it, Joe opened the envelope and pulled out the paper. At first glance he was impressed that Danny had typed it up then he noticed there were a few items.

  He tilted his head in an ‘oh well’ manner when he read the first one about Ben from Fabrics having a slight problem with Danny. Not a biggie.

  Next.

  An incident with Jenny Matoose.

  Joe rocked slightly back and forth in his chair and shook his head, a little perturbed with the anonymous letter Jenny had received, but he wasn’t shocked.

  Next.

  Joe’s chair froze on its hind legs when he read the lines, “Extinction level meteor arriving’.

  Perhaps Joe should have pondered that one or paused to question it before reading the next thing on the list. Had he done so, his shock wouldn’t have nearly sent him to the floor. “Holy Christ! This is a joke.” He picked up the phone and dialed. “Yeah Dan, where’s Frank? All right. When he gets there, have him call me ASAP. No … A … S… A … P. I didn’t say a name. Thanks.” Joe hung up. “Moron.” Joe lifted the list again. “Christ.”

  ***

  One small electro pad was placed on Robbie’s temple and another inserted in his ear as he sat on a chair in the clinic lab.