Cindy slowly pulled away and ran straight to Jimmy, nearly tackling him in a two-handed hug. “Oh, sweetie,” Jimmy said, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her with all of his strength. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“Not as much as I’ve missed you,” replied Cindy, her voice choked with emotion.
She tore herself free of Jimmy and repeated the process with Julie and finally ended up with Ken, who wasn’t letting go. He stood there holding her as if Cindy was his own daughter, and Jimmy supposed that wasn’t far from the truth. They had become a family during their stay together, all of them—the bruised, but not beaten survivors—and their bond would never be broken. Jimmy was as sure of that as he was of his own name.
“Where’s my dad?” Cindy said, rubbing her red eyes.
“He’s on a top secret mission,” Ken said. “And I am not kidding. At this moment, your father is on a Blackhawk helicopter. We’re all very proud of him.”
“Really?” Cindy asked, a beaming smile spreading across her face. “You’re talking about my dad? Are you serious?”
“We are,” said Patty. “Your father should be back in a few hours. He’s going to be so happy to see you!”
Cindy nodded. “I miss him,” she said. “Can you believe it? He drives me crazy, but I miss him so damn much.”
“Cindy,” Julie said, taking her by the arm. “Come on. We’re going to get you into a hot shower, and I’ve got some clothes that you are absolutely going to love. Go on, you guys. We’ll come out and find you after I help her get ready for the party. This won’t take long.”
Jimmy watched as Julie took Cindy out into the hallway where she explained to Hogan what they were doing. They disappeared from sight, and Hogan poked his head into the room. “Could this party get any better?” he asked, grinning. “Come on. We’ve got guests waiting.”
For the next twenty minutes, they visited with Sonya Chen, the woman responsible for saving Patty’s life. Jimmy immediately liked Sonya, who graciously accepted their heartfelt thanks and retold Jimmy the story about how Ken had come to Patty’s rescue, adding, “not that she needed it.”
They drank champagne and toasted each other, and the band played on as guests continued to arrive. Jimmy estimated that there were three hundred people in Hogan’s back yard. He suddenly wondered if any of them happened to be a judge or a minister.
He certainly hoped so.
He left Ken and Patty with Sonya and excused himself. He needed to find Hogan and explain his situation. With his heart threatening to burst at the seams, he went off in search of the former television wrestler. Jimmy threaded the crowd, looking here and there, nodding to people as they pointed at him as if he were a celebrity. And it struck him that he actually was a celebrity, and that realization struck him hard. He found that he didn’t want to be a celebrity. He continued his search, puzzled at why he couldn’t find the largest man at the party. Jimmy brushed past tuxedos and evening gowns, smiling at the pretty faces and scanning the crowd.
He found Hogan in the front yard, sitting alone on a wooden bench, smoking a cigar. There was a bottle of Jack Daniel’s sitting next to him. Hogan looked right at Jimmy and didn’t seem to recognize him. Jimmy took a deep breath and wondered what had gotten into the man. That was when he saw the tear fall.
“Come over here, Jimmy,” Hogan finally said, picking up the bottle. “You’re going to want some of this.”
Jimmy approached him warily. He sat down on the other end of the bench and took the bottle out of Jessie Hogan’s quavering hand. “What the hell do I need this for?” he asked.
“Just drink, please…”
Jimmy unscrewed the cap and drank the fire liquid, fearing what was to come. Hogan didn’t keep him waiting.
“The helicopter crashed into the middle of Lake Vermillion ten minutes ago. I’m sorry.”
Jimmy gasped as the breath rushed out of his lungs. “No,” he said. “No, don’t you bullshit me, you asshole. I don’t believe it. No!”
“Arnold Connor was my best friend,” Hogan said, taking the bottle from Jimmy and raising it to his lips. “We’ve both lost someone we love,” he said and took a long drink. He smiled sadly and handed the bottle back to Jimmy. “You take this. I’ve had enough.”
Again, tears flooded Jimmy’s eyes. He got to his feet and walked towards the lake, away from Jessie Hogan and away from reality.
Chapter 48
“A friend who dies, it's something of you who dies.” ~ Gustave Flaubert
Julie found him down at the end of the dock, sitting on a bench. The water was still and black, and it made Jimmy sad. He’d lost track of time and perhaps, more importantly, of how many times he had hit the bottle. “Oh, Jimmy,” she said, taking what remained inside the bottle and dumping it into the lake. She picked up half a dozen cigarette butts and fed them into the empty bottle. “Come on,” she said. “I’m sorry, but booze isn’t going to bring him back. Jessie told me all about it, but we’re not supposed to tell anyone yet. He wants to tell everyone after the party.”
“Cindy doesn’t know?” Jimmy asked, thickly.
“No, she doesn’t.”
“What about Ken and Patty?”
“I just told you, nobody knows that the helicopter crashed except you and me.”
“Maybe it didn’t crash. It could be floating out on the water, somewhere. Maybe it’s on an island.”
“Right,” Julie said, taking him by the hand and leading him back to shore. “Let’s get some food in you.”
“Not hungry.”
“You will eat, and you’ll thank me for it later. No more alcohol. You’re cut off. Do you understand me, mister?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And don’t you say a word to anyone about what you know. Jessie was adamant about that. Some of the wives of the men in the helicopter are here.”
“And a daughter,” stammered Jimmy. “Don’t forget about her…”
“I understand that. Trust me, nobody understands that better than I do. That poor girl; she’s been locked up all summer in a FEMA camp, only to get out and walk sixty miles to find out that her father is dead. How could you get drunk at a time like this? I’m so disappointed in you.”
Jimmy wasn’t listening. He was watching two men get out of a battered white Honda and thought they looked strangely familiar. The two men were about a hundred feet away and were studying the house. That was when Jimmy saw the younger man pull a pair of pistols off the front seat of the car. “Mars,” he stammered. “Holy shit, it’s Mars…”
“What are you talking about?” Julie asked, and suddenly froze. “Holy crap,” she hissed. “How did they get here?”
“Get down,” Jimmy whispered, pulling Julie down to the fresh-cut grass.
“Let go of me,” she protested. “We’ve got to warn someone. Jimmy… let go of me!”
Jimmy wasn’t letting go; he was lamenting his decision to drink so much of the sour mash whiskey. He knew he wasn’t fall-down drunk, but he was definitely buzzed and over the legal limit for driving. He watched as Mars raised both pistols in the air, and the pair charged in the direction of the back yard. “Holy shit,” he whispered. “What do we do?”
“This is bad, Jimmy. How the hell did they escape? They have to be after the laptop. Do you know where it is? It’s not worth anyone dying over.”
Jimmy tried to clear the cobwebs from his head. “I don’t know. Connor may have taken it with him. The last time I saw it, the laptop was sitting on Jessie’s desk.”
The still of the night was suddenly broken by the sound of twin gunshots followed by a brief period of screaming and then silence.
“Let’s move it,” Julie said. “There’s no time to lose.”
Jimmy took a deep breath and nodded. They leapt to their feet and were soon running at full speed toward the front door of the house. By the time they reached the door, Jimmy was panting for breath.
“You’ve smoked your last cigarette,” Julie spat as s
he flung open the door.
The house was brightly lit, and from what Jimmy could see, empty. They bolted for the staircase and charged up the steps. Hogan’s office was at the far end of the upstairs hallway, and the door was closed. Julie tugged at the handle.
“Shit!” she cried. “The goddamn thing’s locked.”
“Stand back,” Jimmy said, backtracking ten full steps and squaring his shoulders. “We’re goin’ in.”
“No,” Julie said, but she stepped aside.
Jimmy hit the door with his shoulder at full speed, there was a crashing sound as wood splintered and the door sprang open. Jimmy tumbled into the office and rolled halfway across the carpeted floor. Pain shot through his shoulder, and drunk as he was, Jimmy knew that it was dislocated. Julie helped him to his feet and stared at him.
“Oh, shit,” she said. “It’s broken, isn’t it?”
“I don’t think so,” he managed. “Think it’s just dislocated. You’re going to have to help me pop it back into place.”
“I wouldn’t know the first thing about how to do that. There, look; it’s the laptop. You’re going to have to tough it out.”
“But… Julie.”
“But nothing, Jimmy. There isn’t time. Let’s get this thing downstairs and try to save some lives,” Julie dashed over to the desk and snatched the open laptop. She closed the lid and tucked it under her arm like a football. “Let’s move it!”
Jimmy grunted as Julie flew past him out into the hallway. Galloping like a wounded hunchback, he followed her out into the hallway and down the stairs, his shoulder protesting every step of the way. By the time he reached the bottom, his shoulder was screaming at him to stop.
But there would be no stopping, not tonight. Julie was already heading toward though the massive living room and toward the sliding glass doors that opened up to the balcony overlooking the backyard. Jimmy followed her at a painful lope.
“What’s the plan?” Jimmy asked, catching her as Julie flung the sliding door aside.
“There isn’t one. We give them the laptop and they leave. Let’s pray they do just that.”
Jimmy nodded, thinking it sounded all too simple. With one hand hanging at his knee and the other at his hip, he followed her outside onto the large wooden deck. They stopped at the railing and stared down into the horror below. Everyone, save for Mars and Pluto, was lying face-down on the grass. Mars held a gun at Ken’s head and trained the other on Jessie Hogan. Pluto was shouting something to the prone party-goers, and then he noticed the pair on the deck. Slowly, a smile crept across his face.
“Look at what we have here,” exclaimed Pluto, pointing up to the deck with obvious delight. “Beauty and the beast, and it looks like they have my stolen laptop!”
“Don’t give it to them!” shouted Ken.
“Julie, no!” cried Hogan.
“Let them go, and you can have it!” cried Julie. “But you’re not getting a thing until they’re all safely away from here!”
“Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Pluto asked. “How would we know that you haven’t made a disk? How would we make our escape? No, I like things just the way we are. Now, I want you and Jimmy to get down here and join your friends.”
“Julie, for the love of God, don’t do it!” screamed Hogan.
“Shoot him,” Pluto ordered.
“Gladly,” answered Mars.
There was an explosion and fire leapt from the barrel of his gun. Hogan seemed to flatten out on the grass as the crowd began to scream. Suddenly, a young woman in a evening gown sprang to her feet and jumped on Mars, clawing violently at his eyes. He roared in pain and tried casting her off, but she clung to him like a rodeo rider. Jimmy realized that the young woman was Cindy, and he charged down the stairs, completely forgetting about his shoulder. By the time he reached the bottom of the stairs, he could see that Ken had jumped into the fray and was pounding Mars with his fists. Cindy fell to the ground, and suddenly the gun exploded again. Jimmy could see that Cindy had been hit.
“No!” he cried, slamming an elbow into Pluto’s throat as he ran past him.
The gun exploded again and again, and Jimmy watched in horror as Ken crumpled to the ground. Mars screamed triumphantly, blood gushing out his nose and from the corner of one eye. He trained the gun on Jimmy.
“I’ll kill all of you!” he cried. “You ruined everything! Everything!”
There was a blur of movement behind him, and two little men, barely four feet tall, tackled him from behind. The gun exploded one last time as Mars was driven forward. Jimmy felt the whoosh as the bullet whizzed past his chest. Jimmy continued forward, his mind focused on one thing and one thing alone. He was going to kill Mars.
But his final steps were blocked by the forms of dozens of steroid-guzzling wrestlers as they joined the two little men in their attack. He fought to get close, but it was no use. He heard Mars howl in pain and scream for mercy. The words died away into an agonized moan as he was kicked and punched and pummeled in a gruesome display of revenge.
Jimmy turned his attention to Ken, who was already being attended to by Patty. “Oh, my God,” moaned Patty. “He’s been shot twice. We need a doctor! Go check on Cindy!”
Jimmy’s head spun as he stared at Ken, painfully writhing in his own blood. Jimmy vowed at that moment to never drink again. He spun on his heels and searched for Cindy. He found her a moment later. Sonya Chen was kneeling next to her and pressing her hands into Cindy’s bloody abdomen. She stared at Jimmy with wild eyes. “Get me something clean to stuff into this wound! Hurry, I’m losing her!”
“No!” Jimmy cried. He scanned the tables and made a dash through the throng of well-dressed, confused people, who seemed determined to impede his progress. “Out of my way!” he bellowed, slamming into anyone who got into his way. There was nothing on the first table he came to, but he found a pile of fresh linen napkins on the second and scooped them up into his hands. His shoulder sang out in pain, but he paid no attention. He retraced his steps, slamming into some of the same people he had hit on his way through. He flung a handful of the napkins down at a grateful Sonya and continued over to Patty and Ken.
“Over here!” shouted someone, who was kneeling next to the prone form of Jessie Hogan.
Jimmy quickly darted to the man and stuffed another handful of the napkins into the man’s chest. The man said nothing and immediately crammed some of them into a gurgling wound in the wrestler’s lower back. He spun around and found Patty.
Jimmy dropped to his knees, and together they made compresses out of the napkins and applied them to the two gunshot wounds in Ken’s chest. Patty moaned as she stared at Jimmy with fear in her eyes. “We can’t lose him,” she cried. “We just can’t!”
“We’re not going to lose him, Patty,” Jimmy said, not knowing what else to say. Ken had quit moving, and blood trickled from the corners of his mouth. A red bubble began to balloon at one nostril.
A hand suddenly fell on Jimmy’s shoulder, and he looked up with wild eyes. The woman was short, no doubt one of the wives of the heroic little wrestlers. She was crying. “Your wife,” she said. “She needs you. She’s been shot.”
“Oh, dear Lord!” cried Patty, reaching over and taking Jimmy’s hand off of his compress. “I’ve got this. Go check on Julie!”
Jimmy staggered to his feet and brushed the tears from his eyes. “No…” he moaned, realizing that the bullet that had so narrowly missed him must have struck Julie. “No!”
The little woman took him by the hand connected to his dislocated shoulder and began leading him away. Once again the shoulder screamed, and once again Jimmy ignored it. He passed a throng of wrestlers as they held up the limp form of an old man and took turns smashing his face with their forearms. Pluto, thought Jimmy, who stopped long enough to step in and stick a jab into his flattened nose. He continued into the milling crowd. They parted as he approached.
Julie was flat on her back, and a bright red stain completely covered the fr
ont of her dress. A little woman, who must’ve been the twin of the woman who had fetched him, sat next to Julie and held a bloody rag over the wound. Julie’s eyes fluttered as Jimmy dropped to his knees next to her. He brushed her hair out of her face and tried to muster a smile. “Hang on, baby,” he cried. “You’ve got to hang on…”
“I’ll be fine,” whispered Julie, a sad smile drifting across her face. “You should… go have that… shoulder looked at.”
Jimmy held his fingers to his lips and shook his head. “Don’t talk,” he said. “Save your strength. The ambulances are on their way.”
“I love you, Jimmy.”
“Oh sweetie, I love you, too.”
“How are Ken… and Cindy?”
Jimmy angrily brushed the tears from his face and lied. “They’re fine, nothing to worry about. Please, baby, hang on. I can’t live without you. You’re going to make it.”
“You’re a terrible… liar,” whispered Julie. And then she closed her eyes.
Chapter 49
“Death is no more than passing from one room into another. But there's a difference for me, you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see.” ~ Helen Keller
Lowell Gnomes and Reuben Burl, a/k/a Pluto and Mars, were pronounced dead at the scene. No one could seem to remember who had apprehended the pair, but everyone agreed that there was a violent struggle as both suspects attempted to flee the scene.
The funeral procession for Jessie Hogan was every bit as extravagant as the man himself. After a service at the St Paul Cathedral delivered by Archbishop Bruce Berg, featuring bagpipes, a Navy Honor Guard, and a thousand released white doves, Jessie’s body was transported in an old-fashioned undertaker’s wagon by a team of Clydesdale horses. Jessie’s casket was open, and people lined the streets ten and twenty deep, hoping to catch a glimpse of the former wrestler turned politician. After a short graveside vigil, Jessie was buried with full military honors in the Fort Snelling Cemetery.
Desperate Times Three - Revolution Page 27