“If anyone needs to smoke, go to the showers and flip the switch for the exhaust. It will suck all the smoke out, trust me”, He said with a smirk. “I thought you said you quit”, His wife protested. The Sheriff pulled open his bottom desk drawer and pulled out an ash tray, along with a lighter and a
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pack of Camels. He stood up grabbed his collection of smoking necessities and said, “I’m headed to the showers if anybody wants one; I know sure as hell that I do”.
Being the obedient minions that we are Gordon and I quickly followed. I heard an extra set of footsteps following close behind. It was Jennifer, “I didn’t know you smoked”? “For a couple of years now; how about you”? “Me I’m a seasoned veteran of I believe, three days now”. She smiled and took my hand as we entered the shower area. I can’t believe I just said that. I hope no one gets cute and decides to take a picture of the four of us in the shower. Not sure how I would explain that one.
The Sheriff let out a huge exhale; I was wondering if he sucked in the entire cigarette in one puff. “You know this is far from over, I’m just wanting you to be aware and not be surprised about anything that’s about to happen”. Gordon went from enjoying his smoke to puffing nervously. Jennifer squeezed my hand and gave me a look, “You’re going to need to fill me in Billy, and I’ve never been this scared before. These people who are after you, do you know what they want. I’m scared, but I’m more scared for you; I don’t want anything to happen to you. If you hadn’t noticed, I’m rather fond of you”. I must have started to blush as she smiled at me while brushing the sides of my cheeks.
I filled her in as best I could. The Sheriff added some
components that I had forgotten. Gordon continued to puff away nervously, giving an occasional nod. We must have been there for a while as the sheriff’s wife came in with a tray of sandwiches and a bag with an assortment of soft drinks. She sat everything on one of the benches and waved her hand in
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front of her mouth to indicate that she did not enjoy walking into a smoke filled room. “Your exhaust would work better
if you turned it on”, She said as she left the shower area and flicking on the switch to the exhaust.
Everyone must have been starving as the sandwiches disappeared in a ravenous frenzy of activity. The shower area had cleared up thanks to the Sheriff’s wife. Weariness was obvious in everyone’s eyes as heads were starting to droop after the monstrous feast. The Sheriff gave out the plans for the rest of the night. All of his officers were taking four hour guard watches with two Deputy’s parked at the front counter with assault rifles aimed at the front door.
The Sheriff would be a third sentry if needed and would nap when he thought he could.
We all had our sleeping assignments. There were two cots set up in his office for me and Gordon. We voted that Jennifer gets the couch to which I received an extra kiss for that recommendation. There was a storage closet that actu-ally had another room next to it complete with a double bed and a dresser. I’m guessing the Sheriff had to spend plenty a night back there. The deputy’s would rack out in one of the empty cells. There were four to choose from and all were empty.
Once we returned to the Sheriff’s office two local Police
came in and the Sheriff gave them the basic information. He couldn’t tell them everything of course, but just enough to keep them interested in keeping their eye’s peeled for a forty something brunette female with green eyes, and don’t try to apprehend. They really perked up when is told them to shoot first, don’t ask questions.
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All of us were trying to get comfortable in our tempo-rary sleeping quarters. I cheated somewhat by sliding my cot next to the couch so I could be next to Jennifer. She leaned over to me and said, “Goodnight Billy”. “Goodnight Jennifer”, I responded. “Could you do me one favor”, she asked? “Anything”, I replied. “Jennifer sounds so formal, how about you call me Jenny”? “You mean like in Forrest Gump”, I snidely replied. “No silly, just Jenny, and that’s all I got to say about that”, she said in a pretty good Gump imitation. We kissed for a bit until Gordon started making smooching noises. Jenny and I giggled and laid down in our respective make shift beds. We were all exhausted, but sleep did not
come easy.
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there wAs A knock on Boling’s hotel door. A series of knocks consisting of two knocks followed by three and repeated once more. Boling slowly made her way to the door and heard, “Quite an evening wouldn’t you say”? She recognized the voice and opened the door. The Director himself, John Jacob Gable strolled in as this was just a social call. His smile was unnerving to Boling, but she had a great poker face and he would never know. She wasn’t sure how he found out
where she, the Seaside Inn was about thirty miles south of Astoria and figured it to be a safe haven until tomorrow. She motioned for him to have a seat. Before she could close the
door, three other large sized men came into the room and
surrounded the director at the chair he was seated at.
“To what do I owe the honor of this visit Director”, Boling asked? The Director looked up at her with his phony smile of comfort. She was paying more attention to the three guys dressed in dark suits that were behind the Director. She envisioned them as rejects from the latest Men in Black movie. Their sunglasses were a dead giveaway that they weren’t here for a social visit. Boling was nervous but did not show it. Wearing sunglasses at midnight was strange enough but these three could be triplets, same size about 6 foot 2 short dark hair and the same square jaw features on their face.
“So tell me if you can, how exactly our project found out where your hostage was located. Was someone else told of
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the situation and decided to share”? Boling never was a fan of his condescending smile and replied, “No one else knew, just me and Doug that was it”. “Pity that I don’t believe you. I think you might have ulterior motives for our project that might require my demise”, as he continued to smile. “So what do you suggest as our next move”, as she tried to divert the topic. He sat for a second, rubbed his chin and said, “You see my dear, these locals already know about you; but us”, as he spread his arms as is to encompass his three blind mice, “they know not of us. So as far as our next move, well I can sum it up in one word- Armageddon”!
Boling started to smile at his plan but her smile faltered quickly as his three stooges all pulled out Glocks with silencers and each shot her with a single shot point blank. She took one to the head and two through the heart. She hit the bed dead. Her glassy eyes fixated at the ceiling. His three gunmen put away their weapons and the Director got up from his chair and walked over to the bed and looked down at
Boling. “You needn’t worry about getting up early tomorrow, we’ve got this Agent Boling”, as all four of them left the ho-tel room and quietly closed the door.
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the mornIng cAme quietly enough. I woke up with Jenny’s arm over me, and though it was a special comforting feeling, sleep came in short bursts as though my subconscious was trying to keep one eye open at all times.
Everyone took their turns taking showers and I had to put up with Gordon’s ribbing about why I don’t join Jenny in the shower. A great idea mind you but I wasn’t going to give Gordon the satisfaction of trying to make me blush; amateur. When Jenny came out of the shower she smile at me, that’s when I noticed a small mouse had puffed up under her left eye; the side of her face that was smacked by steroid guy in the hut. I walked over to her and ran my hand over the swollen area, “It’ll be fine Billy”, she reassured me, and “a couple of days of extra makeup should do until it goes away”. The thought of that ape hitting her was making me angry. I smiled back at her hoping she wouldn’t see through me.
We gathered in the Sheriff’s office as two Deputies and one Astoria Policeman were taking aim at the front door with their assault rifles. The Sheriff’s wife had on
e of the
Deputies run to McDonalds to gather a couple of bags of Biscuit sandwiches and drinks. The Sheriff was not pleased with her executive decision but still managed to woof down his sandwich in three bites; he was in a better mood after that and I’m sure his wife had that in her morning plan.
We heard the phone ring out front and the Sheriff wasn’t
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too concerned with it since it wasn’t on his office phone. A few moments later, Deputy Dave came lumbering in the office and handed the Sheriff a note. “That was Watkins over
at the Coast Guard base; he said he had some information about a Frankie and Sully and some activity that they have planned and that you would know about it”. “Thanks Dave, have a Mcbisciut”. “Already had two but thanks anyway”. The Sheriff shook his head and read over the note.
The Sheriff got up grabbed his hat and headed towards the office door, “I’ll be back in a few. Got to gas up the patrol car and pay Watkins a visit. Remember no one leaves here, and you Anne”, as he pointed to his wife, “if you have any thoughts about sending anyone out for food, just remember; Subway delivers”, and smiled as he left. “God hates a smart-ass Walt, and what kind of sandwich do you want”? Too late; I’m sure he heard the smartass part but that didn’t deter his momentum as he quickly exited the building.
We all smiled at her comment as she looked over at us, “Well he is a smartass, and to make matters worse he knows it”. Me, Jenny and Gordon made our way to the showers for an after biscuit smoke and we remembered to turn on the
exhaust fan. A couple of puffs in to our dessert, Gordon’s eye’s got wide, “What is it”, I inquired?
“It just hit me, The Sheriff never said anything to Mr. Watkins about what the Four Horsemen were up to”. “Okay, I’ll give you that one, so what is the problem”……. We both stared at each other for a second when Jenny added, “I’m not following, why does that matter”? “If the Sheriff didn’t tell Mr. Watkins, then how did Mr. Watkins know to tell the Deputy that he would know”, I asked? Gordon followed with,
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“Because that wasn’t Mr. Watkins who called the Sheriff’s
office”. Jenny still confused asked, “Then who called”? “The same people who kidnapped you”, I replied. Gordon and I looked at each other and both shouted, “It’s a trap”.
We ran back to the Sheriff’s office, where his wife, Anne was cleaning up our little Mcmess. “Mrs. Sheriff, I mean Pasco, You need to call the Sheriff right now, he’s walking into a set up from the people that kidnapped Jenny”. “What on earth are saying Billy”? “The phone call, that wasn’t Watkins on the phone, and the Sheriff didn’t tell him anything about the guys at the base; plus the last time Mr. Watkins called, he called the Sheriff’s office phone; he wouldn’t have called out front”. The worry in Anne’s face was evident as she hurried to the phone frantically punching in numbers. Jenny came into the office, “I asked the Deputies to try and raise him on the radio as well”. I ran over and planted a big kiss on Jenny as I told her and Anne, “You need to stay here, as long as the Deputies are locked and loaded you should be okay; we’ll be back”.
As Gordon and I were heading for the door Anne said, “Billy please bring Walt back to me”, and Jenny added, “And you bring yourself back to me”. I ran over and kissed her again, “I will”, I hope, I wasn’t sure what good I was going to do against pro’s. Anne stopped us again, “What if I drive you over there”? “Can’t do it, their probably watching the jailhouse as we speak; you’re safer here”. Gordon grabbed at my arm and we hauled ass out the Back door.
“What now”, Gordon asked? “It should take the Sheriff about five minutes to fill up, so we need to haul some balls. Gordon do you know the quickest way to the base”? He
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nodded and took off running as I followed him as best I could. Gordon took off across the field behind the jailhouse and veered left onto Macaw Drive. Good call, that’s almost a straight shot down the road to Marine Drive and the base across it. My foot was killing me but I was able to keep pace with Gordon which surprised me. I had to think. How many people would Boling bring to the party to come and get me? Instinct told me at least four, if not more. But what was I going to do once I got there. I would need to be more than careful, with plenty of focus.
We got to Marine Drive in maybe five or six minutes. We didn’t even bother to check on traffic and kept on running across the street. Crap, the Sheriff’s car was already there.
Gordon checked his watch, only to remember that it stopped working a few days ago. “Ten minutes I figure”, Gordon exclaimed. He could be right but it didn’t matter as an empty patrol car was mocking us by its absence of a driver. We got close to the Rec. Hall and I had to stop Gordon, “What don’t we want to go in”? “Yeah”, I said in a hurried breath, “But we need to check things out first”. Damn I was out of breath. Gordon wasn’t even breathing hard; Alien.
I put my focus on the Rec. hall and asked Gordon to watch for any movement from the other two buildings. He did just that, and upon reflection he figured that it was a good idea not to go rushing in there with our pants down, so to speak. After a moment I could start to make out a number of bodies that were in the Rec. Hall; unfortunately none of them seem to be moving. Not good, not, good, keep focusing. Where Mr. Watkins office would be I saw a very large man with his head down on the desk, “The Sheriff’s
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in there”, I barely eeked out an audible but Gordon’s Vulcan hearing understood.
I couldn’t see any other movement in the building but there were restrooms and two storage areas and of course the infamous time out room. I motioned at Gordon to follow
me as we slowly made our way to the front door. “Did you spot anything”, I asked Gordon in a whisper? He shook his head no as we were at the door. The door was cracked open a few inches and there as deafening blanket of silence surrounding the room. I slowly pushed open the door hoping that it would not squeak and give us up for fresh target practice. We both inched our way into the Rec. hall and bodies were everywhere. It seemed that the only places there wasn’t any bodies was pools of blood too numerous to count. Mr. Watkins was on the floor behind the couch that faced the
TV. His lifeless eyes stared endlessly at the ceiling. He had a gunshot right in his forehead and another in his chest.
In the few moments that we were in there I noticed that
everyone had the same gunshot wounds. The two guys that always played ping pong were shot dead while they were playing; one of them still had the paddle gripped tightly in his hand. I heard a little gurgling noise behind me. I turned just in time to watch Gordon lose his lunch as he was bent over the couch. He looked up at me, “Sorry”. I shrugged but didn’t know what to say because this was making my stomach turn as well. The stench in here was awful, a combination of gunpowder and what seemed like a copper smell.
As I looked around I saw the card table that was occu-
pied by the four Horsemen; and there they were. Only Sully remained seated as the others fell to the floor. Sully was dead
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of course as were the others, but as big as he was it probably would have taken a Bazooka to knock him off his chair. I
almost slipped on some blood on the floor as I heard a moan
coming from Mr. Watkins office.
Gordon heard the moan before I did and he started to
head for the office. I ran after him almost slipping on one of the numerous puddles of blood. Gordon stopped at the doorway and I heard him say, “Sheriff”? A voice from behind me answered, “That was the Sheriff”. I turned just in time so see a large man in a dark suit with gun with a silencer on it pointed at me. I started to say something but nothing escaped my mouth. “Now if you play nice and come with me no one else needs to get hurt”. Somehow he managed a smile through this display of Bloody Friday. I knew immediately that his word meant nothing. “So where is Agent Boling hiding at”, I asked? He c
ocked his head at an angle that reminded me of our neighbor’s dog when he heard a strange noise.
“Oh, you mean the lady, unfortunately she will not be joining our party. This get together is by invitation only”. Okay that didn’t answer anything but raised a lot more questions. One of which was how long he intended to point that gun at me. “So what if I say I’m not going with you, then what”? He smiled and replied, “Wrong answer”, and extended his other arm to insure that his aim would be accurate.
I made a sweep of my arms aimed at him and his arm went straight up in the air. I was hoping that the gun would fly out of his hand. Nope. I held my arm up and that seemed to keep his arm and gun pointed at the ceiling. I heard Gordon scuffling around the office. He came out of the
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office and stood next to me. In his hand was a 32 caliber
revolver. “Where the hell did you get that”, I asked, trying to keep focus on the gunman’s arm. Gordon looked straight ahead at the Gunman, didn’t respond to my question. Lord knows that he heard me. He took two steps forward raised the gun, aimed it at the Gunman and fired the pistol until it clicked empty.
The Smell of gunpowder invaded my nose as the Gunman fell face first on the floor. I lost my concentration as Gordon unloaded. Gordon continued forward towards the
Gunman then reared back and kicked him in the back of the
head screaming, “I hate Bullies’, I fucking hate Bullies”. He turned and slowly walked back to me. He was wide eyed and looked like he was ready to shoot some more.
“Dude where did you learn to shoot like that”, I inquired carefully? Gordon pointed at the office, “The Sheriff”. Gordon looked at the 32 caliber revolver he was carrying in his right hand, handed it to me and said, “Give this back to the Sheriff”, as he walked back towards the man he just gunned down. I walked back into the office and glanced back towards Gordon. He took the weapon form the dead man’s hand and unscrewed the silencer. It was almost disturbing that a shy guy like him would know how to do that.
The Road to Round Mountain: The Betrayal by Page 22