by JJ Aughe
Jessie remembered their first night at the safe house and had to agree with him. He had expected her repulsion by the story he told her. Instead, she had fallen further in love with him and, though there had been no sexual contact, they had spent the entire incredible night in each other’s arms. Since that night, except the time they stole while at the cabin, they hadn’t had much time together but she made up her mind that as soon as she could she would remedy that situation.
A sorrowful sob from Melissa interrupted her thoughts. Seeing tears staining her friend’s cheeks Jessie pulled away from Bailey and rushed to sit beside her. Melissa just glanced at her and quickly looked away. “What’s wrong Melissa?” she asked.
“Oh, Jessie,” Melissa sobbed as she covered her face with both hands, shook her head. “I feel so terrible!”
Jessie didn’t know what could be troubling Melissa, but to calm her she gently patted Melissa on the back with one hand while lifting the woman’s trembling chin with the fingers of her other hand. “Tell me what has happened to make you so upset.”
Melissa quieted a little, sniffed and looked into Jessie’s eyes. “It’s Kerry, my Irish Setter! I feel so terrible! I haven’t thought much about him since Friday. My neighbor has him. She says she has tried everything, even taking him over to my house. He won’t eat or drink and just sits staring out her front window whining as if he thinks something has happened to me. He was eight weeks old when I got him from the rescue shelter four years ago. I take him everywhere with me except to work. Friday night when I didn’t come home he went wild and tore my drapes to shreds. Norene Gatson, my neighbor, saw what he was doing and got concerned he was going to hurt himself. She used the key I gave her and went over to get him. It wasn’t easy though. He didn’t want to go with her and she had to practically drag him to her house. She says that right now he is on her couch, his front legs on the back and his nose against the windowpane. I could hear him howling! He never does that! And there is nothing I can do about it!” With that she broke down again, sobbing into the front of Jessie’s shirt.
Jessie glanced over at Bailey. Her heart did a flip-flop when she saw the compassion in his eyes and the understanding expression on his face. When he spoke her heart nearly exploded with love for the man.
“Don’t worry Melissa. As soon as we land at the hospital and get Sean some help I’ll get a cab and we’ll go get Kerry. In the meantime, have your neighbor put the phone close to your dog so you can talk to him. Hearing your voice may calm him somewhat.” Melissa immediately called her neighbor back. She talked for a bit and evidently Bailey’s suggestion had worked because Melissa was smiling when she ended the call.
Sean O’Donald, strapped in the rescue basket beside Melissa, motioned for Bailey to come close. Bailey knelt beside the rescue basket and he motioned to Bailey’s headset, then to his own ears and mouthed, “Get me a headset.” Bailey understood and slipped a set onto his head.
Sean shook his head, his nose wrinkling meanly. “I’m not going to the hospital!”
When Bailey just stared at him, Sean gave him a sardonic smile. “Just hear me out, Gilmore. Something has been nagging at me since yesterday and I just figured out what it was.”
“I don’t care about me. My injuries can be taken care of later. But, if he hasn’t been already, until Almed is captured or killed he will be after Melissa because he knows she has information that will prove he is behind everything that has happened to Jessie, you, the hikers down by your lake and to her in the last weeks.”
“Here’s the thing,” he continued when he saw Bailey was going to argue. “If Melissa and I are right, that flash drive in her locket is the reason he has targeted her. I say that because, being the efficient, detail oriented person she is, Melissa noted in the Minetsiac account file on that flash drive that the lawyer in New Mexico gave her Almed’s name as one of the actual buyers of that land around the lake. That makes that flash drive the damning proof that ties him to not only the attacks on your plane and the raid on the safe house, but to the death of that hiker and the rape of the other one. Proof that will get him convicted and probably executed for terrorism.”
“I know,” Sean hastily continued. “You’re going to ask what that has to do with me going to the hospital. Well, this is how I see it. That locket is going to disappear if I go into the hospital. I know it as well as these wounds hurt like hell. You told me yourself that Almed is thorough and leaves nothing to guess work. You said you believed he has people placed in almost every agency, even at Homeland Security. I don’t know how he could have accomplished that but, if you are right and he is not captured or killed, he will surely have someone after that flash drive.”
Startled at what Sean was saying, Bailey nodded his acceptance of the man’s conviction. “Okay, Sean. I am inclined to agree with you there. But, I can’t help but wonder why you don’t want to go to the hospital.”
O’Donald gave Bailey another of his half-sardonic, half-serious smiles. “Because,” he began, “Melissa’s necklace and locket are locked up in the evidence room at Bellevue Police headquarters. None of you carry a badge or have any authority to appear at headquarters and request Melissa’s property. So it would be fruitless for you to try. That being the case, and since I am the Detective in charge of the investigation of the attack on her, I need to get to headquarters. In other words, I can request that Melissa’s property be checked out to me and no one would question it.”
“The only problem I can see,” he finished, “is the fact that my clothes have blood spatters on them and that surely would raise red flags all over the place.”
“Yeah,” Bailey acknowledged. “I agree that your clothes do present a problem. But, Sean, that wouldn’t be the only problem we could face.”
“Oh. What other problem would there be?”
Before answering, Bailey glanced over at Jessie and Melissa. “Sean, I don’t want you to take me wrong when I say this, because I do agree about your being the only person who could safely get the necklace and locket. You are right about her personal affects disappearing. Almed probably already knows about them or suspects they exist because he didn’t find any of the Minetsiac files on the computer at Melissa’s work. If he knows about the locket and flash drive he will surely have a plan in motion to retrieve them. So it is imperative that we do something about it. The thing that bothers me is if we land at the hospital, how do we get you out of there before someone from Homeland Security shows up and places us all into protective custody again?”
Jessie panicked at Bailey’s mention of H.S. again putting them into protective custody. There was no way she was going to let that happen. Then the first part of Sean and Bailey’s conversation registered, taking her mind off being put in protective custody. Thinking about it, she agreed that they were both right. She had seen and heard enough about how Almed operated to realize he would go to any length, do whatever was necessary to get what he wanted. And he would definitely want that flash drive. The question they had to think about was; did Almed already know where the flash drive was located? It would be sensible to reason that he had probably figured that since Melissa had been taken to the hospital the police had taken her bloody clothing and personal belongings as evidence. Even if he hadn’t figured that out, they couldn’t take the chance that he had overlooked the possibility.
To get Bailey’s attention Jessie put her hand on his arm, but before she could say anything Carol got into the conversation. “What you guys are saying is right on the money. I’m going to say something here that will put a small wrinkle, if not a monkey wrench, into what you want to do.”
Seeing that she had their undivided attention, Carol voiced what was on her mind. “I know you two men know Dennis O’Donald pretty well. I do too. I have worked closely with him for a long time. He is a very methodic thinker. There is no doubt in my mind that he has already thought about that scenario and transferred all of the evidence from the attack on Melissa to Homeland Security’s forensics la
b and will have it under guard. That puts that stuff out of our reach for the time being.”
“Now,” she finished. “As for landing at the hospital, you are right on Bailey. I believe, no! I Know Dennis is going have a contingent of Homeland Security personnel at every hospital in the area to meet us if and when we show ourselves. That being the case, I don’t think we should land at any of the hospitals. But I don’t have a clue as to where we could safely land.”
As both men silently tried to figure an alternative landing spot, Jessie saw her chance and jumped in. “I can tell that the three of you are stymied as to where we could go. Well, I think I have a solution.”
In unison the men said, “Shoot!” and grinned at each other. Bailey turned to look at her. “What do you have?”
Jessie smiled, then, winked knowingly at him. “Just the simple fact that my place is right on the north end of Lake Sammamish and my back yard is almost the size of a baseball field. I know we couldn’t stay there very long because, if he hasn’t already done it, my place is probably going to be one of the first places Dennis will check for us. But for a short time we could land there. As for Sean needing to change clothes, I still have some of my father’s clothing in a storage closet he could change into. For that matter, we all could use a shower and a change of clothes, plus a good meal. I’m certain I can find something for each of us to wear that will suit.”
“Once we have changed we can use one of my cars to go to Melissa’s to pick up Kerry. I have no idea where we could go once we leave Melissa’s place. We can be thinking about that in the meantime.”
Bailey pointed a finger at Jessie. “Good thinking,” he smiled. “That will give us a rest and a place Eddie can recheck Sean’s wounds too. As you said, it will also give us some time to work on finding a safe place to hide for a while.”
As Bailey finished speaking Peter announced there was something wrong with the chopper and asked him to come forward. Bailey hurried to the co-pilot’s seat as Peter warned everyone to fasten seatbelts then went into a spiel about what to do in a crash scenario.
For the next few minutes the only sounds Jessie heard from her earphones were Peter and Bailey’s quiet voices. Watching Peter and Bailey working frantically to fix whatever the problem the chopper was having mesmerized her. So much so that until Bailey yelled, ‘There! That should do it, Peter!’ she hadn’t realized she had unbuckled her seat belt, went forward and had buckled herself in the seat right behind Peter.
She felt foolish until Bailey glanced over at Peter and saw her sitting behind the pilot, smiled and exclaimed, “Jessie! I’m glad you’re up here! Peter heard our conversation back there. He thinks your suggestion is better than anything he could think of. Now all he needs is your address. The ship’s GPS will do the rest.”
She gave Peter her address then asked, “How long before we reach my place, Bailey?”
“I don’t know,” he returned, then turned to Peter. “How long, Peter?”
Peter grimaced behind his microphone as he replied, “Ten, fifteen minutes tops.”
Bailey saw Peter’s grimace and ordered, “Don’t take any chances, Peter. If you think the engine is failing set down anywhere you can.”
“Roger on that! But I think she’ll will hold together for that long.”
Part Three: A Package For Jessie
Jessie’s Lake Sammamish Home.
When Jessie had not returned or called home by six o’clock Friday evening her housekeeper, Maureen O’Brian, because of the plane crash that had taken Jessie’s parents, became so concerned she called the police to report that her employer had yet to return from an aerial excursion to view some property in the southwestern part of the state. She feared there had been some problem with the plane. The desk clerk who answered the call at Bellevue Police Headquarters, having been previously briefed on Ms. Melano’s indefinite stay at a Department of Homeland Security Safe House, very calmly told her there was nothing to worry about. Ms. Melano was safe but would probably not be home for a few days, maybe even a week.
The housekeeper wondered how the desk clerk knew where Jessie was and asked. The clerk told her he wasn’t at liberty to divulge that information and she became furious that she could get no more information from him. Knowing that Jessie had attended the U W and had made the acquaintance of and become friends with the present Governor of Washington, she rushed into Jessie’s personal office, found the Governor’s personal cell phone number and used Jessie’s private line to make the call. The call did little to appease her angst. The Governor, who Dennis O’Donald had briefed on the top-secret events of the last few weeks and the whereabouts of the people involved, would only relate that Ms. Melano was known to be safe and not to worry. The housekeeper fretted about Jessie’s safety all weekend.
Just minutes before they touched down, Jessie borrowed Eddie’s cell phone to tell Maureen to prepare a room for a badly wounded man. Maureen, relieved Jessie was safe, had immediately started asking questions. Jessie shut her down by saying the situation was considered one of National Security and she couldn’t talk about it on the phone but would fill her in as much as she could when they landed. Jessie then instructed Maureen to unplug every phone on the property and tell the rest of the servants and the guests in the guesthouse only that their employer would arrive in minutes and to be waiting to help in any capacity that might be needed.
When the chopper landed in Jessie’s back yard a person would have thought the mistress of the house had been gone for months instead for only a couple of days.
As Bailey and crew exited the helicopter Jessie’s employees swarmed her, asking questions and shedding tears of relief at the same time. That is, all except the housekeeper. That woman was the last to arrive, but when she stepped up next to Jessie the only sound heard was the slowing whirr of the chopper’s rotors.
“Young lady,” she began in a mother hen voice, as stern and forbidding as Jessie had ever heard her. “Where have you been? And who are all of these people? And, why didn’t you call to let me know you were all right? I was so distraught that I even called the Governor for crying out loud! All I found out was that you were supposed to be safe but wouldn’t be home for possibly a week or so. I was so mad that I . . .” she stopped in mid-sentence, her gaze having gone past Jessie’s shoulder to fall on the bullet-riddled helicopter. “Oh my God, Jessie girl,” she gasped. “What in the holy name of Jesus happened that caused all those bullet holes?”
Jessie threw her arms around her upset housekeeper, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek then stepped away and smiled kindly at her. “You know, Maureen, that I love all of you like you are my family. But, because of security reasons I can only tell you that the past few days have been horrible. Like I told you on the phone, I’ll tell you what I can later, but right now the crew and I need to get our injured companion inside so we can get him bandaged and cleaned up.” That was all Jessie had to say. Maureen immediately took charge of Sean.
While the housekeeper gave orders and one of the staff wheeled Jessie’s wheelchair up to the helicopter, Peter took the opportunity to speak to Jessie. “Is there someplace out of sight where I can put the chopper? I’m going to need to check for damage to the engine and find something to plug some of the holes in the fuselage before I can put it back in the air.”
Jessie glanced past Peter, her eyes taking an estimate of the helicopter’s size. Looking Peter in the eye, she smiled and replied, “I think it would be prudent and a good idea to get the chopper out sight anyway. I can have my RV moved out of the garage. The chopper can be put in there.” Bailey immediately volunteered to move the RV so Jessie told him where she kept the keys.
Bailey parked the RV under an awning at the rear of the garage while Jessie’s butler and her gardener helped Peter push the chopper into the garage where Peter could assess the damage and make temporary repairs.
Peter immediately began inspecting the damaged craft. Jessie told him to feel free to use whatever tools in the four ro
llaway tool chests he might need. She also let him know that the storage cabinets along the walls were stocked with various containers that held materials that might be useful in the repairs. Peter felt like he had found a gold mine when he checked the cabinets. He was impressed when he found cans of body putty, rolls of fiberglass material and a five-gallon container of fiberglass resin. One cabinet even had cases of spray paint, a few of them almost matching the color of the chopper.
Two hours later as Jessie and crew stood in the entry hall saying their goodbyes and preparing to leave, Maureen suddenly exclaimed, “Oh! Wait a minute Jessie. In all the excitement of your return, I almost forgot! A package arrived for you Friday just after you left. It’s marked ‘Urgent! For Ms. Jessie Melano’s eyes only. Deliver immediately!’ I left it on your desk in the library. Shall I get it for you?”
A strange feeling crawled up and down Jessie’s spine followed by a chill that coursed throughout her body. She glanced at Bailey. “Wait a minute, Maureen. What do you think, Bailey?” When he just put his arms out in front of him, palms up, she knew he was leaving it up to her, and finished with, “Since it is marked urgent, I guess should go see what it is. It may be my mother’s bracelet the police Detective in Oregon informed me had been recently found in a piece of the wreckage of my parent’s plane that a hiker had come across just a month ago.”
The housekeeper was already shaking her head before Jessie finished. “Jessie, I know you were waiting for that package to arrive. I don’t believe there is a bracelet in this package. It is too large. Anyway, didn’t Lt. Kincaid say he would bring it to you personally?”