My ride did not happen as Beth came running out of the house with a look of distress. Sliding down off The Beast I handed the reigns to Christina and ran over to Beth as she had bypassed Steven. She seemed somewhat frantic before catching her breath and telling me it was Christopher. I looked at the colonel and asked what about Christopher she pointed to the front door. Running in I found the phone still sitting on the desk, picking it up I asked who was I speaking to. A male voice asked who I was and I told the man I was Christopher Christensen Sr. The voice asked if I lived on a ranch in the foothills of western Nevada. I asked him again who was this and was told there had been an accident, I asked again him again who was I talking to and was told on a training run a bomb was released prematurely. The colonel took the phone from me and nodded toward the door as he introduced himself. I ran out and down toward the shops and where several of the boys were working on some new equipment. I told them my house just got bombed and it appeared my son had been there. One of the men pointed to my suburban which had been getting serviced. Jumping in I began to pull out when Christina came riding up on The Beast and sliding off she climbed in and asked what was going on, I told her I was not sure yet or even if it was real. I told her to stay here and wait for word and try to get a hold of Christopher. She asked what happened to Christopher, I told her hopefully nothing but I would appreciate it if she manned the phones and find out what the Colonel had found out. When she climber out a couple of the boys climbed in. I drove as fast as I could breaking almost every law possible. Even then it took almost an hour to get to the dirt road. When I saw the house still standing I parked almost a mile away. I took to the desert off the road as I planned to come from the house from the ridge. The boys were following me and asked what was up. I told them we had a call saying my son had been home here when a stray bomb blew up my house.
John one of the men who had been there when I had walked into one of our yards in the Middle East after my two week spa treatment. He pulled out his phone and made a call and nodded toward the house. Whoever answered he told them to meet him up at the swimming hole. All three of my children had walked out of the house and were halfway up the ridge when we heard the planes. Christopher stopped and seemed to be hesitating when a fourth person ran out of the house and up the trail followed by a dog. I heard the missile first and hit the dirt John knocked the one man I did not know down. My suburban was hit. I was on the move almost instantly in spite of the pain I felt in my shoulder. I was heading for the ridge when I saw the spotter team. I headed straight for them making use of the flora and terrain to cover my movements. The next planes flew by and then made a circle, I realized they were wondering what had happened and were probably radioing in. I glanced to see where my children were and noticed they were still headed up the ridge. I changed my route and went for the house, until I heard the helicopter at which point I went back toward the ridge and the spotter team which was on the move. I heard the release for the helicopter and went to the ground and watched my house go up. With that the helicopter took off hugging the ridge. When I got back up a bullet went past so I ducked behind an outcropping. I heard another helicopter and the planes still circling and John telling me it was ours. I rolled to the far end of the outcropping ignoring the shooting pain in my shoulder as I got back up and began running again. The helicopter flew low as it passed over me knocking me down again. Getting back up was much harder. By the time I went to get back up John had caught up to me. He told me the kids were headed this way and I really should stay down.
He gave instructions to the other men and then went and intercepted my children. As the adrenalin rush went away the pain hit. I asked through gritted teeth how bad it was and felt as my shirt was cut off and heard a gasp. I was told it looked like hitting the dirt was a good thing as I was only filleted but my bone was showing and there was a whole lot of blood. I remained conscious this time even on the life flight to Flagstaff. Being stitched up before the local anesthesia went to work was only a little uncomfortable. I was out of the hospital before anyone showed up. With the pain medicine working and my shoulder wrapped I left the hospital not sure where to start or to go. I had no cash and a large hospital bill and a donated coat. I made it to the interstate and was able to catch a ride to Vegas. Thankfully the young couple did not pry much. I found myself drawn to the airport and went to a private terminal, i recognized a pilot who worked for Ben and was able to catch a ride to California. I walked up to the bank and thankfully the manager recognized me and asked how he could help. I asked if my office had called and he said he had received an email saying I was coming in. I told him I needed a debit card with my picture on it along with a few thousand dollars and I wanted the debit card to be attached to an account into which I wanted transferred ten thousand dollars and hopefully someone had arranged for a room for me. He called and said they had received an email but not which day I was coming but a ride was on the way. When my ride arrived in the way of one the tribes marketing team, she was all smiles until she saw my shoulder was wrapped up. To distract her I asked how her husband was, she told me next week she was going to join him in Florida where he was one of the foremen on a large project. I told her that was good for him. I asked the bank manager to send an email back to my office letting them know I was ready for that meeting or rather both of the meetings. As we headed toward the downtown hotel I asked my escort to help me out by arranging the use of a meeting room for the week, and I would need a computer and internet connection. She asked if any of this should be under my name and I told her to put it under a master account and gave her a company name. Ben was the first person to figure out where I was at as I had used his companies name.
He asked if I was okay; I told my health was no matter as I was already dead but I wanted to know if anyone else was hurt. He told me my three employees all had scratches and my children were all a little shaken up. I asked what was the official story and he told me it had not yet hit the news but he had been told it was a training accident and had offered him a settlement. I told him to take it and never give it another thought as it was hush money. He told me that was not his way; I told him he had a wife and children. When he said I did as well I told him no I no longer was married and my children were grown and would live by their own decisions. Beth was the next to call me and told me she did not know; I told her she could not have known and she did the right thing. I asked her how Christina was; Beth told me the colonel took her home as in home and the children all now had their own personal assistants. I asked where our lawyer was and was told funny thing was she was staying just up the road from me. She called back after hanging up and asked if I wanted the governor to know where I was staying. I told her not at the moment but please arrange for the staff of both clinics to meet me here while both governors were here. When a brand new still in the box computer arrived I asked the bellman if he minded going shopping for me as this trip was last minute, when he said he would have to check I told him I would walk down with him and see if the concierge would do it. In the lobby I went to the concierge and asked the same question and when I gave my room number their tune changed. I gave the two women who would be going the money and a list of items I would need and the brands I preferred as far as boots, jeans and shirts went along with my last known sizes. A voice behind me told them they had better double check my measurements. I shrugged and they found a measuring tape and measured my inseam and waist. They asked when I needed the items requested. I smiled as best I could through the pain and said this trip had been last minute and what they saw was what they got.
My ex handler walked up and added a few items to their list and told them time was of the essence and handed them another folded sheet of paper. When I went back to my room she was not the only one who followed. I was asked by Christina what happened. I looked at her and asked why she was not at home. She was biting her lip, she told me she figured since I would need cash to do whatever I was going to do I would be coming here as my bank only had a few branches and she needed to take care of some business which she realized she needed help with and then she got this message that all the staff of both clinics were supposed to skip Thanksgiving with their families to show up for a meeting with their new boss. I looked at the other face standing before me and she said since I was now her boss and had her running all over the west.she had been staying up the street. Shaking my head I told her I did not remember hiring her and was told technically she had been hired by the director of operations. I went over to get another pain pill and found they were all gone. Christina turned on one of the cable news networks, something at one time I had watched religiously. The story was breaking but with a twist I had not been prepared for. The reporter called Christopher the son of a certain actor and the reporters were interviewing his biological father, I turned the television off. Christina turned it back on at which point I turned it back off. She turned it back on; I ripped it off the wall, pulling on my already painful wound. For a long time I stood waiting for the pain to subside to something I could deal with. She told me to let her look at it; I told her the doctors had already done so and on my shopping list were antibiotics; she said to which I would need a prescription. I nodded and said which I had been given but for expediency I was having some picked up at the pet store. When she told me that was against the law I told her it was funny things that really were not bad were illegal and things that were down right wrong were considered okay. I called the front desk and said the television had malfunctioned when I knocked it off the wall; I was told politely someone would be right up. Looking at my attorney I told her I would need to try to get some rest.
She looked at Christina, as I walked toward the bathroom, I was told not to take a shower. I held the wall until I heard the knock on the door; opening the door there was a hotel engineer who looked at the broken screen on my floor. I apologized to him for making him come to the room, pointing to the computer on the table I told him I was trying to see if I could connect it. The computer was still in its packaging. He nodded and said next time give them a call. I told him there should be a conference room set aside for me for the week and I would need internet access and projection capabilities. He told me he was aware of that but it was not his department but he would pass it on. Calling on the radio he waited for the new screen to be brought up and made sure there was a long enough cable to connect it to my computer. As I went to start taking the computer out of the box it was taken from me. Christina told me I needed rest and as she caught up on the news I could tell her what happened as the colonel had not been forthcoming when he dumped her off at mom's. Shrugging I told her after the Navy blew up my Suburban someone blew up the house but thankfully the children had gotten out thanks to John. Christina told me she wanted the truth; shrugging I told her if that did not work for her I slipped and fell on a piece of metal and my suburban was still in one piece and that nice cozy little house was filled with my our children and some young lady who I guessed had not been turned off by me. When the news came on it returned to the story and showed the craters left by the inherent missiles that fell on an outbuilding on the corner of a ranch neighboring a military preserve with no mention of the suburban and a snippet of the interview with Christina's first lover who said his son was hiking nearby with his half sisters and his fiance and the family dog. Afterwards the network had an expert that discussed the technical aspects leaving out the part that in some cases it took a person on the ground using a laser to guide the so called smart bombs into their target.
Christina told me it was an accident then, I nodded and told her I really needed my rest as my shopping arrived, for their efforts I handed both of the women a couple hundred dollars of the change they brought me. My now lawyer told me she would get my computer set up and see to the conference room. A manager showed up with an envelope for me and asked if I wanted to change my reservations. I told him no it was just me staying in the room. As soon as he left I opened the package of antibiotics and took several, I nodded to the television and told Christina she might want to go see her children. She asked what I was going to do and I told her I was going to get some rest. When my card came I saw that though it did have my picture it was not my name but the company name on it. Christina told me no showers until she took a look at the wound. I shrugged and held the door open When I was alone after taking as many over the counter pain pills as I thought was safe I managed to get undressed and into the shower which I purposefully pointed down. Christina somehow managed to get back into the room and was furious. Ignoring her I called Christopher's dad and asked if he had seen Christopher. He said at the moment all three were sitting in his living room; I asked how are they and he told me all four of them were shook up a bit. I asked who the fourth was and he told me it had been his daughter who wanted to get to know her step brother. He asked how I was doing as the news reports had not mentioned anything about anyone getting hurt. I told him being filleted by my own truck kind of hurt but he might want to keep that one to himself. He asked how my better half was taking the news and I told him since my right side was currently my better half it was getting a workout. He told me not to worry about the girls as they would spend Thanksgiving with his family. I thanked him and asked how the weather was there and was told no one would be flying into the local airports so skiing will be good. I told him thanks again. My next call was to the office to tell Beth she might want to postpone the meetings she told me she had set them for two weeks from Friday as a kind of Christmas party and my meeting with the governor's had to wait with the holidays and all. I left the hotel an hour later as I wanted some answers.
I honestly did not care what happened to me but when others were put in harms way, particularly my children.. I did not finish the thought, I decided to start with step one and find the pilot who released the missile if it was a manned plane; which got me to thinking the first missile could have been fired from a drone using the incoming training run to mask its movements and the first helicopter hit fast enough it could have been watching. John had told me the second was one of ours which meant he recognized the make as one used withing the defense community. I decided it was time to make some house calls. When I decided my first course I would take I decided I did need some rest; turning around I saw Miriam start looking into a store front window which happened to be restaurant. Walking up behind her I asked if she saw something she liked. She leaned back and asked how she knew I was here. I told her I had not known until I watched her pretend she was window shopping and i was wondering if she liked the blond or the redhead or maybe it was the two gentlemen who seemed rather fond of each other or Christina and her two lawyers who did not look happy. Smiling I told Miriam that the shakes were to die for. Walking in I waved at the hostess and told her two chocolate strawberry shakes and acting like I had not seen Christina I waved and pulled Miriam behind me. With a smile which was more or less a grimace I walked back to their booth and asked Christina how her day was going. She told me they knew and I asked what did they know, I looked at my shoulder as all three were looking at it and said oh yeah my little riding accident. I saw Christina eye me as I looked at her two lawyers and told them it was nice to see them again. When the shakes came I told them I would like those to go. When they came back I had to have Miriam reach into my pocket to get the money. Christina did not look amused and as I began to leave she got up telling her lawyers she would meet them later but right now she had to tend to the wounded. She grabbed the shake from my hands and linked arms with the hotelier on our way back to the hotel. Once inside the lobby she asked directions to the meeting rooms.
I wanted to know what these two were up to, so I followed I saw an ex marine making her way toward a side corridor. Christina walked past and I stepped sideways into the hallway. Using my room key I hoped it was actually a master and when I tried the third door I found it worked. Stepping in I was I paused only momentarily as the room was a board room in which several people were sitting around the table with the end closest to the large monitors that made up the wall. Several news casts were on as well as links to several computers. A connecting door was open to another meeting room. Taking a look inside my lawyer looked up at me from a table. I did not say anything as printers began coming to life. Walking back out of the second room Beth walked in and told me I did say I wanted to do a complete audit of all the books and I might want to go find my wife and girlfriend as they looked lost. I told her I was not married and she shrugged telling me to go get some rest as they would need my mind to work at its optimum soon. She pointed to the back door of the room which lead into a service hallway. I walked down past the kitchen before finding my way back into the main foyer for the ballroom where I found Christina and Miriam trying doors. When I walked up asking if they had any luck they both jumped. Christina said she swore she just saw Beth walk into one of these doors. I told her as I felt a bolt of pain I was preoccupied. As we past a security guard I recognized him and he was no hotel security guard. I wanted to know what Beth was up to. By the time we made it to our room I realized she had gathered a few engineers as one the men in the lobby was John who happened to have his family with him. In the room I realized someone had been there as my clothes had been hung up and stuck in drawers. On the table were several shopping bags; Miriam went straight to them and picked up a note and read it aloud. It said the writer was not sure of my preference so she got a variety and the jackets would be delivered when they were finished. She pulled out of the first bag the skimpiest undergarment I had ever seen. I told her the woman who was to wear that better hope it comes off really quick she through it to Christina and told her I looked more like a boxer's man. Christina went and looked in the fridge and asked how the pain was on a scale of 1 to 10. I told her that scale had been discarded a long time ago and was no longer in use. She nodded and told me she could help with that as she pulled out a needle and a small bottle of something. Pulling a file out of a case I had not seen before she opened it and told me to drop my pants. When I just stood looking at her she told me I could do it or she could do it but new she would need help. I asked why I needed to drop my pants and she told me she had my complete medical records now and it seemed to her I was long over due for a few shots.
I went into the bathroom and realized I did not have a boot puller and just getting them on had been painful. I asked her did I really have to take them off, she walked in pulled me back out and asked how I had gotten along all these years on my own as she unzipped and unbuttoned my pants and then told me to lean on the table. When she pulled my pants down she and Miriam both took deep breaths and said she supposed I was not used to making a shopping list. I told her sorry but my mind was working on several fronts not the least of which was the searing pain trying to take over my mind. When she patted my now rear end she told me I was all done with that portion but if I was going to rest I might want to get my shoes off. She looked at Miriam and told me to take a seat on the bed and pointed to the shoes. I had also forgot to put down new socks and had to use my old ones. Miriam yanked them off and put them in a plastic bag tied them up and through them away. I was starting to pull my pants up and she told me absolutely not and tossed the string thing with a pouch attached. I tossed it back. As she got me sitting back down I saw Christina getting a liquid ready and as Miriam rummaged through the bags she pulled out several boxers and holding them up Christina told her she liked the pair with the tropical scene. Christina brought over to pills and her liquid and told me to drink all of it. After swallowing the pills and drinking the almost citrus flavored liquid she told me she was going to look at the wound now and until the medicine went to work I might feel some pain and if I needed it she could give me a local anesthesia. As she unwrapped the ace bandage which I had warn into the shower she said we would need more of those if I did not follow her instructions and told Miriam in the bag was some more gauze, tape and a medical kit. With the sports wrap off she asked how I managed to get my shirt on as she began pulling it off and then get that bandage back on. I told her it had not been easy, I asked where she got my medical records. She told me she had been collecting them for awhile and had put her name as my primary physician on the charts though really they were not complete as a number of government agencies had told her they had no record of me ever being in their care including that base where she had visited me. I asked if that was before or after she started sleeping with the deranged lunatic.
she had me lie on the bed and with no good way to actually get close to my wound she straddled my hips. The pain medication began kicking in first and then the sleeping medicine. My last memory was rolling over when she said I was done and pulling her onto the bed. She was not there when I woke up but the pain was. I was at least still in the room. Getting dressed was a chore and finding button up shirts I put one on leaving my left arm inside. I did my normal wake up routine when I was home noting it was dark out. I walked down to the meeting rooms to find them empty of people. Grabbing an apple I started looking through the stacks of files and found one buried which was much thinner than the rest. Pulling it out there were just a few sheets of legal pad paper with notes scribbled. I knew the handwriting; someone was thinking along the same lines I was and she was beginning to form a plan to go about finding out who was behind the attempts on my life. Finding a lighter on one of the tables I took the sheets and burned them in the adjacent bathroom after steaming the place up. I flushed the ashes. I hated the idea of driving but knew I had to meet with some people face to face and I would need some ID. For some reason I went and looked under the her table and found the file cabinet. Picking the lock one armed was difficult but not impossible. When I opened the bottom drawer I found a dufel and taking it out I thanked her as it had a pouch with keys and several ID's. Grabbing the pouch and several ID's I went out the back as I heard people coming down the main hall. I went back to my room and put together an overnight bag adding the keys and ID's. I decided against going tonight and was sitting in my boxers at the end of the table when Miriam came to check on me. She gave me a couple of pain pills per doctors orders along with another drink, I fell asleep watching an old musical with her.
Tired of living behind the veil of silence and political correctness.
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