THE TOCABAGA CHRONICLES: (BOX SET PART III - BOOKS #9-10)

by Thomas H. Ward

  “So what did you do?” Adam asked.

  “That night, I prayed; we all prayed for this nightmare to go away. I prayed everyday for some answer or something to make this a better situation. I never prayed so much in my life. This thing haunted me and we needed God’s help. But God helps those that help themselves. I made a pact, an agreement, with God that if he helped my Son, I would never ask him for another thing for myself.

  “I started calling every Doctor in the phone book. I found four new Doctors and we went to each one over the next three months. The answer was the same: keep your brace on because it will never get better. Three long months had gone by with no hope in sight.

  “Three months is a long time to wear a brace,” Adam commented.

  “One day at work, I was talking to a friend of mine about what happened and he advised me the name of a scoliosis doctor. I called his office and to my surprise, his secretary put him on the phone right away. Dr. Brown told me to bring in the X-rays and my Son the next day. Dr. Brown looked at the X-rays and then took more X-rays and did some testing. I was sitting there praying the whole time.

  “They came back into the office and Dr. Brown looked at me and said, ‘I have good news.’ Dr. Brown stated that there was nothing wrong with him. His neck was fine and he should take off the brace and start on an exercise program for a month before going back into gymnastics.

  “I asked, are you sure? Brown advised he was 100% sure. He also gave me the name and phone number of the leading specialist in the country located in New York City.

  “Dr. Brown showed us the X-rays he took and the ones taken before. There was a clear difference. He told us maybe the original X-rays weren’t taken correctly or … maybe it was a miracle. It was a miracle for sure.”

  Adam said, “Wow, that’s a great story. See, that’s the power of prayer. So you haven’t asked God for anything else?”

  “I’ve never asked God for anything other than to protect us when we go into battle. I also ask him to watch over my family.”

  When we arrived home, Emma and Hemmi gave Adam a hug. They had already heard, through the grapevine, what happened to Christian.

  I asked Adam, “What are we gonna do with the Templar warriors?”

  Adam said, “Captain Baldwin is a descendant of King Baldwin of Jerusalem. God has a plan for him. Can you house the warriors here for a while?”

  “Yeah, but can we trust them?”

  “Yes, we can. I’m one hundred percent sure of that.”

  “Ok. I’ll put them up in the high and dry for now until we find something better. We’ll have to check them all for Ebola before they move in, and give them a background check.

  “How do you know he’s related to King Baldwin?”

  Adam said, “God told me that Baldwin would enter my life. If you don’t mind I need to rest now.”

  I was worried about Adam and took him up to his bedroom. “Adam, are you OK?”

  “Yes. I just need to rest. All my energy is gone.”

  “Ok, if you need me just call.” He put the sword under his mattress and I kissed him on the head. As I walked out of the room, he got on his knees and started to pray.

  I wondered how he knew that an angel killed Christian. After what happened today I’ll pretty much listen to whatever Adam tells me. He’s made me a believer that God talks to him.

  Heading back to the bridge, I had Chris check the 24 warriors for Ebola. Mike ran a quick background check and they were all cleared. We moved them into the high and dry, leaving the Hummers and trucks in the parking lot.

  Tommy, Mike, and I sat around with a few of my other men getting familiar with the Templars. They seemed like honest men who wanted nothing more than to serve God and country. I liked them and so did Tommy.

  Since Tommy was a Marine sniper once, they had a lot in common. They all seemed to know who Tommy was and he had heard about a few of them. The meeting made me feel a lot better about these men.

  Baldwin gazed at the ring on my finger. “Are you a Seal?” he asked.

  I held up my hand showing the ring. “No. This belongs to my friend, Rico Martin.” I proceeded to tell them the story about Rico, and the run in we had with Dirty Dan.

  Baldwin replied, “So you guys have seen some action around here. It sounds to me like we need to get rid of this Dirty Dan.”

  “That’s easier said than done,” I said.

  “Jack, that’s our specialty. Sneak, peek, and assassinate the bad guys.”

  Baldwin was a bruiser of a man, standing about six two and I’d guess around 230 pounds. He had a rough looking face with a scar that ran down the entire left side. To sum it up, he appeared to be one tough dude. I liked him right off the bat.

  Mike said, “We’re glad you guys are here, but we need Mr. Dirty alive to find out where Rico is.”

  “We can do that, also.”

  Looking at Baldwin, I said, “Let’s discuss that tomorrow. Adam tells me you’re related to King Baldwin, was the first Christian King of Jerusalem.”

  “Yes, that’s correct. Most of us are related to original Templars in some manner. We’re a band of brothers.”

  All his men shouted in unison, “Oorah!”

  “That’s very interesting. It explains a lot of things. But why did you hook up with Christian?”

  George Baldwin glanced around at his men. “I think everyone here would agree that he conned us.” His men nodded in agreement. “He proved to us who he was, and told us that his nephew, Adam, was keeping the Sword of Jerusalem for him. After arriving here, we all sensed there was a problem. We suspected he was trying to steal it from Adam.”

  “He was gonna steal it, and possibly do harm to Adam.” I stood up and stretched my legs. “George, don’t you think Adam is a little too young to be the Grand Master?”

  George stood up next to me and put his hand on my shoulder. “My friend, age doesn’t matter. He’s being led by God. King Baldwin the fourth was made king at the age of sixteen.”

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right. But he’s just a kid to me. Hey, Why don’t we all get a beer and we’ll give you a tour of the island. Tomorrow we’ll find you guys some decent quarters.”

  After a brief tour, we were sitting around the bar in the Green Room. Tommy asked, “George, how did you guys meet Christian?”

  George replied, “In the Marines. We worked with him for a while. Then when we got out he arranged a security job for us working at the Lima Tank Plant in Ohio. We did that for a few years until the collapse of the government. The plant closed and we kept our equipment. We confiscated the Humvees and trucks before anyone could steal them. Then we started purging the country of ISIS, drug gangs, and other radicals.”

  As George took a swig of water, I asked, “So who told you Adam was here?”

  “That’s a good question. Every now and then Christian would receive a phone call from a guy named Canfield. I don’t know who he is, but he would tell Christian what was going on with the Molay Order and how his father was doing.”

  I thought about what George just told me. “Sounds to me like this guy Canfield is a spy.”

  Baldwin nodded in agreement. “But we didn’t know it at the time. Christian led us to believe that we would join the main group after his father had passed. Then he would become the Grand Master. So we followed him just doing a job riding the country of scum bags.”

  “So this guy, Canfield, told Christian that Adam was here.”

  “Yeah. One day he received a phone call. It was right after the Arctic Vortex hit up north. Christian told us to pack up we were moving south to Florida. We liked that idea because it was getting damn cold up there.”

  I was trying to put two and two together. “Did Canfield call telling you that Jack de Molay was dead?”

  George thought for a minute before replying. “Yeah, he must have called Christian because he knew right where the grave was located on the side of the road.”

  “Ok, this makes a lot of sense. Canfield
had to be in that group of Templars. But how did you know we were here on Tocabaga?”

  Tommy spoke up, “Someone probably followed us here.”

  I took a sip of whiskey and scratched my chin. “You’re right. Someone followed us here. George, do you know where the other Templars are located?”

  “I only know they’re somewhere near here.”

  “Well, I know where they are. Hey, what happened to Christian’s phone?”

  Everyone looked around at each other. Tommy replied, “Oh, I got it.”

  I said, “Good, hang on to that phone. It’ll have Canfield’s number on it, which proves he’s the spy that phoned Christian. If it rings, don’t answer it. Tomorrow I’m gonna ask Adam if he knows Canfield.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Tommy stated.

  I asked, “George, are you going to stay here on Tocabaga?”

  Baldwin and his men looked at me. “We hope so, if you’ll have us. Our job is to protect the Grand Master and follow his orders.”

  “Speaking for myself and my men, we’d like you to stay. I‘ll officially introduce you to the community tomorrow. I don’t think anyone will object.”

  “That sounds great.” Baldwin said with a smile.

  The party broke up and everyone retired for the night. I warned Baldwin and his men not to roam around outside the boat storage area because of our K-9 patrols. Someone might shoot them by mistake.

  I went home and found everyone was asleep, except for Adolf. I sat down and had a smoke before going to bed. It had been a crazy day to say the least. I felt good about the Templars being here and was pretty sure we could trust them. Tomorrow I’d have to think of some way to prove it. I didn’t trust anyone. They needed to earn my trust.

  SEPTEMBER 15, 2025

  After breakfast, Tom and I were discussing the Templar warriors, who were parked in the high and dry for now. Tom seemed convinced that they were stand-up guys. Tom commented, “I asked them a lot of questions about the Marines and what they did in the Middle East. They’re the real deal, alright.”

  I asked, “Do you think they could capture Dirty Dan?”

  “Capture … I’m not sure, but I know they could bump him off.”

  Adam walked in the room. I asked, “Adam do you know a man named Canfield?”

  “Yes, Mr. Canfield. He’s the one that tried to take us the night Grandpa died. Why?”

  “He’s a spy who was working for Christian. That’s how Christian found you. He had someone follow us here.”

  “Gee, how do you know that?”

  The radio came on. “Jack, come down to the fence right away. That Freddy guy is back,” Chris said.

  Tommy said, “I wonder what that jerk wants?”

  “God works miracles in many ways,” I replied. “Let’s see what the hell he wants this time. Adam, I’ll get back to you later; this is an urgent matter.”

  Arriving at the fence, Freddy was sitting on the ground. He looked like shit. Freddy had been worked over pretty good. His face was swollen. His nose was broke and one eye was puffed up. He looked in damn bad shape; bleeding from his ears and nose.

  Opening the gate, Tommy told him to stand up. He was barely able to stand. Tommy frisked him for weapons. Freddy said, “I don’t have any guns.”

  “Alright, asshole, what do you want?” I asked.

  “I got some news for you.”

  “Ok, spit it out.”

  “First of all, Dirty killed Reed for screwing up the gun deal. I barely escaped with my life. I didn’t know where to go … so I came here for help. I know you’re a good guy.”

  “Yeah, yeah. What else you got.”

  “I can tell you where to find Dirty Dan.”

  I thought for a minute. “Why do you wanna do that?”

  Freddy coughed up some bright red blood. “Cause … I want him dead.”

  “Tell me what happened to Rico.”

  “We found Rico … half alive off of 54th Avenue. He looked like a crispy critter. Rico asked us to bring him here … to you. Dan killed him, took his gun, knife, and ring. Then he dreamed up … the stupid plan … to get some guns from you.”

  “Where can we find Dirty?”

  “He’s at the big green house on 23rd Avenue. You can’t miss it. Most of the gang hangs out there … with whores … taking drugs.” Freddy could hardly speak; he was holding his chest. “Every night, exactly at midnight, Dirty goes across the street to the bar. You gonna … help me?” Freddy fell to his knees and laid on the ground. “I can’t breathe.”

  I bent down on one knee close to him. Blood was flowing out of his mouth and nose. “Freddy, I think you’re hurt real bad. Your lung’s collapsed. There’s not much I can do to help you.”

  Freddy kept coughing up blood. As he closed his eyes, I could tell he was drowning in his own red fluid. I told him, “We’ll kill Dirty Dan.”

  I heard the gurgle of his last bloody breath.

  I stood up. Chris was next to me. “Fish food, Jack?”

  I patted Chris on the back. “Yep, he’s fish food.”

  As Tom and I walked away, I thought, this is a chance for Baldwin to prove how good his men are. As if reading my mind, Tommy said, “I’ll set up a mission tonight with the Templars, to kill Dirty Dan.”

  I replied, “Make it so. At least we know what happened to Rico.”

  “Yeah. It’s too bad we can’t give him a proper send off.”

  “I wonder what became of his son and wife.”

  “I guess we’ll never know for sure,” Tommy put his hand on my shoulder. I’ll go with the Templars since I know the area. That way I can confirm the kill.”

  I nodded my head as we walked to the boat dock to bury Christian at sea. It was a brief service since the only one who spoke was Adam. He asked God to have mercy on Christian’s soul. He said that Christian was possessed by the devil or demons. A couple of our anglers took his body out to sea.

  Later that day, I found a map of the United States. Adam and I sat down to study it. We were looking for anything that could be related to clues on the sword.

  “Where do we start looking?” Adam asked.

  “I’m not sure,” I replied, as my eyes wondered over the surface of the map.

  After thirty minutes, Adam asked, “How do you think they sailed here without a map back in those days?”

  “Yeah, that’s it Adam. We have to go back to the beginning.”

  “What do you mean the beginning?”

  “Well, maybe they did have a map of some kind. Years ago, the Vikings sailed here jumping across the Atlantic to Iceland and Greenland. We know they landed in Nova Scotia and traveled further south along the coast. Maybe the Knights took the same route using a Viking map.”

  “That makes a lot of sense because we know they sailed from somewhere in northern England,” Adam advised.

  “Ok, let’s assume that they landed in Nova Scotia. The sword says follow the coast south until it turns north. I wonder what the heck that means?”

  Adam corrected me. “To be exact the sword reads: Upon arriving at the new land, sail south along the coast. Follow the coast which turns north, where the water is warm. Sail north, along the coast until you reach a great river that flows from the north.”

  Squinting at the map I took a deep breath. “Adam, I need a smoke break. Besides, it’s getting late and dinner is almost ready. You get washed up while I make my security rounds. We’ll look at this tomorrow.”

  I walked over to the boat yard. Tommy was there, along with Baldwin and his men, discussing the plan to kill Dirty. When I walked in, all the men stood-up and greeted me. I said, “Thank you for going on this mission.”

  Christian replied, “We can’t let a junkie gangster get away with killing a Navy Seal. We didn’t know Rico, but we’re still his brothers.”

  Tommy said, “Here’s the plan. We’re taking all four Hummers with 16 men. We’ll park them on Route 275 and then four of us will infiltrate to within 300 yards of the house at 23
:00 hours. We’ll have two shooters, me and Captain Baldwin. Our rifles will have silencers. The other two men will carry SAWs in case we have a run in with a large group of hostiles.”

  “Once we terminate the target, we’ll extract the way we came in. The trucks will move in to pick us up, so we can make a fast exit,” Baldwin advised.

  “Captain, what are you shooting?” I asked.

  “An M40A6 chambered for 7.62x51mm with night vision. I think it’s the same as Tom’s weapon.”

  “Ok, it sounds good to me. Don’t take any unreasonable risks. May God be with you.” I shook each man’s hand and left.

  As I walked back home, I had no doubt that Dirty Dan was as good as dead. I’m sorry to say, it made me feel good. An eye for an eye is what I always say.

  My family sat down for dinner and the only one missing was Tom. Tonya, Tommy’s wife, asked, “Jack, where’s Tom at?”

  “He’s over with the Templars talking about old times. I think he’ll be a while.” I didn’t wanna tell her the truth or she’d get pissed off. Lucky for me, she didn’t ask any more questions.

  Everyone went to bed, but I couldn’t sleep knowing my son was out there in the danger zone. We always go on missions together and watch each others’ back. Now he was with strangers, for the most part, so I was a little concerned about his safety.

  After pouring a shot of JD, I lit up a smoke while sitting on the patio with Adolf. It was 12:30 am when the radio hissed, making me jump a little. “Dad, the target is terminated. Over.”

  “Roger that. Everyone alright?”

  “No problems encountered. We’ll be back soon.”

  “I’ll buy y’all a drink. Over and Out.”

  I thought, vengeance is mine saith the Lord. Well Lord, I had to help you out a little with this one. Do what you will with his soul.

  I still wondered what happened to Rico’s wife and son. It bugged the hell out of me.

  SEPTEMBER 16, 2025

  The termination team made it back ok. We went to the Green Room last night and all got a little drunk. It was a party for Rico.