Plans Changed, A Story 4

Sleep did not come for me that night as I concentrated on listening to Christina breathing as I ignored the pain.  It was about an hour before the sunrise that I knew I needed to go back to the hospital and climbed out of bed to make the call.  I could not make it to the phone and sat back down.  Two things happened at once, Christina woke up and someone was trying the door handle.  She wanted to know what was wrong and holding my side I force myself to get up without answering her and went to the door and standing to one side I waited.  When I heard someone trying to pick the lock I yanked it open and grabbing the wrist I pulled the person inside and sent them flying to the ground before taking a cursory glance and shutting the door.

The hooded figure clamored to get up as he or she tried to get around the bed.  My wife turned on the light and told me to stop.  I did and had to sit down and between breaths asked if she was expecting her boyfriend.  As she climbed out of bed with a sheet in front of her she went to the hooded figure and pulling the hood off she turned the person around, before me stood her son.  He looked scared and I asked what he was doing. He told me he was told to bring by some clothes for mom.  Christina told him it was okay, I saw the phone and made the call.  In less than an hour I was back inside yet another hospital having my insides looked at yet again.  When it was confirmed I had torn some of the muscle they wanted to do surgery yet one more time. I said only if they had to stop some internal bleeding.  When they decided that the slight inflammation would subside and then after a conference call to the last doctor to work on me who apparently did a fine job fusing my bones back together I was released to the care of my wife who was still mad at my reaction to our son trying to break into our room.  Since he had a key she claimed he was not breaking in.  I told her knocking would have worked.  It was the boy she named after me for reasons I did not know who said he was sorry for not knocking but since he was given a key he thought it was okay to come in.  I apologized for my reactions.

It was while we were sitting by the pool of my wife's new lawyer that two questions were asked of me; he asked what it was like to be a spy and she asked if this was how life with me would always be.  I told her son I was not a spy and to my wife I could not give an answer accept for I did not know.  Down to one arm I admitted doing the normal things would be more difficult so I told my wife since she was the doctor I would defer to her advice on what I could and could not do.  It was later with me full of pain blockers that we walked through the desert, the three of us.  Living up in the mountains above the Great Salt lake Basin this kind of desert was unknown to Christopher but to me it was not much different than the Middle East.  Albeit in the Middle East the havens for the rich and elite were separated from the wastelands by borders, languages and in some areas tribal groups, politics and religious movements not to mention the most basic economies.  Christina asked if I was not a spy then what did I do; the truth was a big part of what I did besides working on engineering infrastructures both to be used by our own forces but also that which helped in rebuilding societies, I also had more than my share of information gathering and analysis on all matters of topics which included studying the social climates which had spawned the uprising of the current terrorists states and their threats to my home country.  This I was able to do by going in as a consultant and I had been inside the homes of some of the most evil men in the world.  More than once I had asked to be allowed to put an end to their miserable pathetic existences but the wheels of justice which hamper the growth of some of our leaderships pocketbooks either travel very slowly or not at all.  Being a man who understood survival toward the end I did more jobs that were of active nature and had done my share of hunting and killing.

The reality was I had helped chase down some of those very men I had once offered to put out of the worlds misery.  In these quests for which I had been retasked I did not neglect other areas of what I liked to study.  Running a small Field Engineering Company under which other men were also paid had allowed me to put away finances for that day when either it was time for me to be put to pasture or if I did not return. Earlier I had wanted to get out but when Christina had that affair I had just stayed in and continued in my relationship with the monolithic bureaucracies that made up the protective elements of our nation.  In the last years though my take on why things were happening had begun to change, no I was not one to put blame on my own country for someone else's decision to murder civilians in their acts of war upon us but at the same time I had been able to see the hidden relationships that existed which had helped fuel the fires of distress at home.  As a student of history and religious anthropology I also considered those factors which were now being denied not by the organizations bent on destroying freedom but those who were supposed to be protecting freedom.  I had made the decision to step out of the field and had used that as my catalyst but in reality I had been missing Christina who in those years after she graduated with her MD had built herself a nice career fixing people and had even gone on some of those mission trips using her expertise to help fix people in countries whose populations suffered more or less because of poor management which is me saying nicely that they had evil men who were more or less wolves guarding the hen house.

Because of my years of growing up in information gathering and analysis I always made it a habit to know who was where and what they were doing and over the years had put together my own files on those in our own country, I had never had to use it outwardly but from time to time I had sent on information which had helped those who like my wife's current lawyer used to do put some bad men away.  I had no illusions that there were those who knew where that information came from. More than once over the years there were those who would have liked to see my status as a consultant pulled.  In the end though particularly after the most devastating attacks on our home soil since World War II that became a non issue as some of those ageing cretins either removed themselves or were removed by acts of God or by their constituents.  Because of those men and women, other men whose job it had actually been to keep America safe had been sent to pasture before their time and it was from this pool I had put together my team as did some of my competitors many of whose real purpose was to take as much loot as they could.  At the moment I was out but not out as my company was still very much in the field engineering business one because I actually could get things built while other companies acted like they were working while adding up their bills which in turn showed their bottom lines going up which made the shareholders more money and it just so happened that some of the larger shareholders were those who were either making the laws or signing the contracts. More often than not we were called in after the failure of another contractor for which I charged a premium and passed on to the men who got the jobs done.  It was overall a small operation more or less run out of the field with a small office back where it all started in Christina's and for a short time my home town in South Carolina.

Now as we walked and I looked back I realized i missed those early years of me starting my working life early with her dad to support her after we got pregnant.  I had thought he would have blown his top back then when I told him after he and his wife had taken me in when I had no where else to go and treated me like a son that I had gotten his then seventeen year old daughter pregnant.  The fact that I was only fourteen did not phase him one bit and he had treated me like a man and asked what my plans were and I told him I planned on taking care of my wife and our child.  It was Christina's mom who had lost it and asked what I meant by my wife. She had turned red when I explained to her that according the the Good Book which she had pushed me to read it explained that when a man and a woman had sex they became one flesh and from my understanding that meant they were married.  Her dad had asked exactly how long we had been becoming one flesh and looking at Christina I asked her when was it when she had decided to become a doctor.  Smiling she said she had decided to play doctor a year after I moved into the room next to hers when I was eleven but when she found out when I was twelve how penises worked when mine stood up she had decided then to become a doctor and figured she needed to know what it felt like to have sex as she wanted to be a gynecologist and since Chris which is what I was called back then told her that he would not have sex with her unless they were married they had a wedding service out in the boat house with some friends and when I had filed taxes that year she told me to check the box saying we were married because her friend Amy Lynn's dad said in South Carolina that was all they needed to do to have the state recognize they were married.

I asked Christina if she remembered that day when we told her parents we were married and she smiled.  Christopher told me grandma still would not talk about it.  Smiling I told him I did not blame her as it was not every day a mother who had planned on this big wedding for her seventeen year old daughter after she had finished high school and some college found out her seventeen year old daughter had been married for two years and a half years.  Christina said technically it was only two as we were not technically married until I filed my taxes so up to that point they had only been fornicating according to mom.  The fact my wife was my senior was common knowledge in the family and caused more than her fare share of jokes which she was the brunt which started with her grandpa an old preacher. He had congratulated me when we finally did have that big reception and ceremony which coincided with her high school graduation when I asked why he was congratulating me for and he said for being stolen out of my cradle by the best looking old maid ever to walk the face of the earth.  I had been fifteen then and working with her dad's contracting company and he seeing my knack for engineering let me take a look at plans while he and the engineers were looking at them.  He had taught me the basics when he had told me since I was now responsible for his daughter I would need to work by day and study by night and I had to pay for my wife's education but first I had to build her a home.  It was the same night i had broke the news to her parents that he had walked both of us out across his thousand acre hay ranch and asked where my wife wanted to put her house.  She had turned around and led us back to that old three story barn where we both learned about sex and how to make babies and had spent so much time reading and studying everything we could about marriage, anatomy and child rearing. The smile on her face when she told her daddy that she wanted that to be her house made me gulp as having watched enough of her dads contracting jobs I knew it was easier to start from scratch.  Her dad told me I had my work cut out for me and since I would no longer be going to school I could start drawing up plans in the morning.

I knew it had bothered her mom but when he asked as we were headed for bed why I was not going to sleep with my wife it had been weird.  I could not help but look at Christina who must have known what I was thinking about as that quirky smile I had not seen in a long time was on her face.  It was Christopher's next question that stopped Christina when he asked if she was so in love with me why did she cheat on my with his dad.  Christina told him I was his dad and he shook his head and said he knew I was his dad on paper but everyone knew I was not really his dad.  When she asked who he thought his dad was he stopped and asked if she really did not know the actor's name who owned the ranch farther up the road. I had never actually took the time to find out but it now made sense.  My wife was a well respected doctor in the mountain communities and a part of the social scene and had been since we first moved up there so she could go through both her internship and her residency.  Having installed the man's security system it was no wonder they had gotten to know each other.  Apparently my face had gone serene which was a tell tale sign I was in working mode as Christina pinched me.  Looking at Christopher I asked if he had his license yet and he said not yet as he only had his learner's permit.  I told him that was good enough as I would be in the car with him.  We were resting by the waterfall when I decided to take dip, and had to have Christina help me get my clothes off.  I was under the falls when the tribal law enforcement came up and did not hear them but when I walked out they recognized me and asked how the water was.  I smiled as Christina who looked scared helped me get dressed and told them it had been cleaned up.  The senior of the rangers a man who had done his time for his country before returning to his home told me they had cleaned it up after closing it down and were now bringing in guided hikes as someone he once new suggested over some fire and a peace pipe.  I apologized for the intrusion then and was told for me it was not a problem but since I was in town I should stop in and say hello.  I nodded and said  might just do that if the doctor forces me to remain here or was ordered to remain by the judge.  Nodding he said he was not surprised it was me he was hearing stories about.  I smiled and said blissfully he could remain ignorant.  He nodded and said yes he could accept sometimes that world spilled over into his.  He had offered a ride but I told him we were staying just down the road.

Christina asked if there was anyone in town I did not know and I nodded and said I had not yet my girlfriends' husbands, fiances or significant others.  She almost choked and Christopher started laughing.  She asked me if that was what I was planning and I played dumb and said I was not planning anything.  When i saw the media trucks camped out in front of the estate of her lawyer I led them back to the little resort after stopping for an ice cream cone.  Over dinner the chef another gentleman whom I had become friends with came out and asked who my date was.  I introduced him to my future bride the lovely Dr. Christina and her son Christopher.  The owner of the small resort overheard me and came over and smiled and said he was saddened to hear that; Christopher asked why and the owner said he had bet his wife that his soon to be father was gay.  Christina almost lost it and in that almost choked on the glass of wine she was sipping on.  His wife who had just walked in seeing Christina trying to regain her composure came over and asked her husband what he was doing now and he told her what I had just said and she told him yes he owed her on that bet but he must have heard me wrong as anyone could tell we were already married.  When her husband asked how she pointed to our matching wedding bands.  I had more often than not not worn it over the years as it could be a hazard if I was working on a construction site or was working under an alias.  My guess is at some time I wore it when I had stayed here as when in the states or in a large European City it was the easiest way to tell the more forward women and men I was already spoken for.  In Judeo-Christian cultures the wedding band could be the easiest way to discourage unwanted sexual encounters but I had also seen that over the years could also be the easiest way to pick up a date as it seemed to me both parties understood when you were partaking with someone else when you were married that there would be no strings attached emotionally speaking.  I also know this is a lie unless you were one of the few who were blessed with the cures to have absolutely no soul or any sense of remorse.

The reality was when I was gathering information I used my understanding of people and their sexual misconducts to help loosen their tongues.  Drunk men needing company and thinking I could make that happen liked to talk.  Women on the other hand took a little longer but even though I had never cheated on my wife I had in the course of my career used a woman's need for stability in a relationship and the promise of romance to loosen their tongues over a bottle of wine.  But then there were also those times when I was there to make sure photos of certain individuals in compromising situations were captured.  Needing someone gone from their high and mighty position was easier done with visual evidence sent to the right persons in the right positions and if they happened to have a family regardless of how happily married they were having a spouse see there venerated spouse being a little too friendly with someone else say on the beach half naked or on a boat, usually brought about the appropriate reactions even if the marriage was more or less one of convenience or a business deal which for a lot of women I know it was exactly that and the first opportunity offered they cashed in.  I was pragmatist when it came to modern marriage, for most in western society it was about opportunity and what would best boost how you were perceived, particularly as the income and education level went up.  When I was home I could of cared less how I was perceived but I too had been affected by my spouses betrayal to the point when I was home over the years I refrained from any relations with her.  I still was not sure why she remained married to me, as I know she did not actually need the money I had earned which was substantial but nowhere near what she made when it came down to it.  I supposed as I sat there while she chatted with the owners of the resort that with the finances I had added to hers over the years without actually being an added drain it had allowed her some freedoms others did not have.  The fact we bought the property before the small ski town really took off meant she was one of the matriarchs and when added to the fact she also had a second home in the one I had built her out of that barn on her parents property meant like so many of her mountain neighbors she was among the jet set. I realized at that moment I too was a jet setter of a different sort though many times those trips across the ocean were not in first class but business or aboard a large cavernous cargo plane painted a lovely shade of green.

I turned my thoughts to my the here and now as my wife and her son talked about life in the mountains and our soon to happen move back to her home.  I had not thought about Christina wanting to go home as I had just thought about it.  Still before she closed on that house I wanted to stop and visit the neighbor who shagged my wife and had probably never bothered to pay a single cent to support his son. I did not want a dime and knew my wife did not need it either so in my quickly put together plan I was just going to stop by and introduce him to his son.  Before we left thought I would need to find out some financial details and if he did not want to fork over a hefty chunk of change into a trust fund for Christopher well I already knew I would take the next step and was not sure if Christina would ever talk to me again.  So be it, that man made a decision and accepted what she offered and needed to pay for the child he helped bring into this world.  Excusing myself I asked if I could borrow a computer and the phone. I was told I could use the office.  I made one call to the office which was staffed twenty four hours a day and gave the name of the man I needed a file on and told the young woman who was on duty that night it was no rush and I would prefer it be kept quiet and as a low priority.  I then checked my emails which had slowed since I had not been answering them.  I forwarded them to an account on one of the servers the company owned which would then allow one of the office administrators to go through  and prioritize them and if actions needed to happen pass on the information to someone who would deal with it. .

Plans Changed, A Story 3

During the meal the pain meds began to wear off, my left side felt like it had been put through a meet grinder.  My wife noticed the brief reaction in my face before I calmed myself down as I embraced the pain.  As I looked at my Christina she asked if I was okay, I told her for having had a few ribs broken I supposed I was. We left it at that as she sipped on her third cup of coffee I asked how she slept and she ignored the question.  For the past fifteen years being gone more than I was home I tried not to think about what she was doing when I was gone but now being having her sit next to me, I could not help but wonder.  To change the course of my thoughts I asked about her son; apparently the assistant DA and IA detective caught this as they stopped their discussion.  I realized my mistake quite quickly but could not apologize in time.

My wife was quiet as she stared at me for a few eternal moments.  She did not get mad at my bringing that up and replied by informing me our son had made varsity on the swim, golf and tennis teams and had a 3.8 GPA.  I only nodded; thankfully the DA's phone rang.  the call did not last long before she told me that was her boss letting her know it was time for me to go see the judge.  I slowly stood and held out my hands as the detective from the other night walked in.  As she put the cuffs on she told me it did not seem right to have to put the cuffs on a real American hero.  I shook my head and said I was no hero, just another man who did a thankless job that someone thought needed doing.  My wife asked what my girlfriend meant by hero and looking at her I told her my captor did not mean anything. Christina seemed unsure of what she was supposed to do until the doctor came in with her or rather my attorney she hired and he asked if he could show her something.

My trip before the judge was pretty much as I suspected, she was focused on the charges I would be tried on if  it went that far.  She asked if I needed a lawyer and I shook my head.  The DA and not his assistant stated that in light of the circumstances the state would not be pressing charges against me but needed me to testify in another case and felt I was a flight risk.  I asked why he thought this and pointed out the witness had no reason to shirk his civil duties and when he needed to he would appear before the court to testify and answer what questions he could.  The judge shuffled some paperwork made some notes and then signed a sheet of paper and told me I was free to go as she addressed me as John Doe.  As I was leaving I was asked by a reporter if there was any news about the John Doe.  Smiling I told her I did not know a John Doe.  I made use of a side entrance to leave the courthouse and with no ride I began walking away staying off the main highway for the first six miles by which time I was in excruciating pain.  I stopped to rest on a bench for almost a half hour before resuming my walk through the desert communities.  It was late afternoon when I came to the outcropping of the mountain range that came up to the road.  Knowing it would be dark soon I headed up the small mound of rocks and cactus.

As I found a spot to sit I was able to watch the highway and beyond and could watch the traffic.  As I had on numerous occasions in the past in countries I was not allowed to mention I had ever even been to I began  noting the patterns of the populace.  It was as the law enforcement vehicles began to move on what I guessed was not a normal pattern as more than was needed began to make more frequent passes by the outcropping.  I made mental notes of the unit numbers, it was evident they were looking for someone and that was confirmed when the helicopter appeared of to the east, as I watched they were heading this way in what to me was a standard search pattern but not very productive.  I made a decision and made my way down from my perch but not toward the highway, rather I came down to the backside of a shopping center. There I made entry into the back of a grocery store which even though I grew up in the states I was still always amazed by the size and the vast number of choices of what in reality was a much smaller number of item choices. Since I actually had no money on me I just pushed the buggy around the store for an hour or so getting reacquainted with some of those choices.  I noticed the three people following me through the store though not in a group so I went to the front counter and informed them they might want to know they had three people in the store they should keep an eye on and then walked out with a mother with half a dozen children and volunteered to help push on of her two buggy's.  Smiling she asked if I was from the south and I nodded saying along time ago when I was a child I lived there but have spent most of my adult life out of the states.  She told me her husband was from Charleston and currently overseas.  The closest base was a Marine Base and asked if he was force recon.  She said what exact unit he was with she did not know as he was transferred from Quantico to take over this current air command.

It was a guess and I asked if he was a helicopter pilot and she nodded, saluting her not that I ever had to salute anyone I told her from an old timer to tell her husband thanks for dropping in giving those born without wings rides.  One of her children asked if I knew her daddy and I told her honestly I did not know if I knew her daddy but it was a small world and there may have been a time he hitched a ride.  Once her groceries were loaded I told her to enjoy her evening and she told me thanks for helping and old woman who lives in a shoe.  Chuckling I recited the nursery rhyme as walked off, with her children doing the same.  I headed toward the cross road that would take me to the interstate that ran mostly parallel to the highway at this point.  I crossed to the far side where there were several more large stores.  It was in the massive parking lot I ran into one of the seven; she asked if I knew they were looking for me as she pointed to the helicopter and the half a dozen police cars at the far end of the shopping complex.  I told her those officers did not look like they were looking to hard as I was pretty much in plain sight.  She asked if I was going to talk to them and I said not at the moment as I really had nothing I wanted to say to them and the last time I checked I was a free man. She asked what about my wife and I told her I would call her but she had my phone, my wallet my keys to the jeep and the jeep.  As she looked at the police she asked if I had had anything to eat and I told her some oatmeal and fruit for breakfast.  Handing me her phone she nodded toward a restaurant.  The act of just lifting the phone to my ear shot pain up through my side.

Shaking her head she took the phone and as we walked into the combo semi Latino/American fast food chain she called my wife and told me Christina was a hoot.  Shrugging I mumbled saying I would not know.  I was sipping an iced tea waiting for my meal when several officers came in who apparently had seen a photo of me walked over and surrounded my table.  The lead asked if I was John Doe and I told him no I was not John Doe as that was they put on people visiting the morgue when they could not be identified.  One of the men asked if I could come with them and I shook my head and asked why.  I was told they wanted to verify who I was and I looked around and asked another patron what country I was in.  The older fellow said it was still America.  Thanking him I turned to the lead officer and told me if he was not arresting me with good reason or did not have a warrant or some other legal form he wished to give me he needed to back off or find himself facing a judge for harassing a citizen of the United States.  When an officer put his hand on his side arm I told him if that gun came out of its holster he better use it and finish the job then run as the boys that would be coming to hunt him down would ignore the uniform.  A winded detective came running in and told the boys she had it from here. One of the boys fingered his baton and I told him I would give him one shot and after that I would take it, carve it up nice and pretty and send it back so he could have something to remind him of how to behave in the company of women.  Several people clapped as he walked out.  As my dinner arrived the detective told me to bring it with me and I shook my head and told her no, I had walked most of the day and was just offered a meal and pointing to the medium height brunette with those long legs I had seen way too much of the other night who was sitting at the table next to me filming the entire conversation on her phone, I added it would be impolite to just up and leave my host with out at least sharing a meal.

She moved over and sat across from me and told me I could call her Tiffany as that was her name.  Raising my right hand I shook hers and told her my name was not rally John or Doe but I have used John before.  The detective made a call as she sat and told someone yes she was in the company of their John Doe, after a moment of someone yelling at her she asked if he was serious and when I heard the distinctive yes I knew.  She told me to finish eating. I asked her why I was being arrested this time; she said her boss had some questions as to why half his deputies not to mention the state patrol and God knew who else was looking for me.  I smiled and told her to call him back and tell him they could save a lot of time and tax payer dollars if he would accept the fact I had no idea since I did not give any orders and as far as I knew there were no warrants out for my arrest.  She asked why I had to make her job so difficult and I shook my head and went to raise my hand and then lowered it real quick and told her from my perspective it was not I who made her job difficult but someone above her who apparently did not know the constitution and the meaning of not taking themselves too seriously along with a little good ole boy thrown cronyism thrown in.  She looked down and told me thanks to me she was also now under investigation by IA.  I asked if she had done anything wrong and she said no but apparently she was supposed to have known her partner was dirty.  I looked out and told her if those boys outside were protecting him then they were as dirty as he was but this was not the time and place.

As the older gentleman who answered my question got up to leave he came over and asked if there was anything he could do to help a fellow soldier.  Smiling I asked why he thought I was a soldier.  He stood up taller and said he had been a ranger for almost twenty years and I walked like a ranger and no normal citizen would dare speak to a cop they way I do so he guessed I had to be an officer as the other option of me being a family member did not fit with the way I walked.  I asked how he would know that and smiling he said after twenty years in the service he spent another twenty fighting to put the family members behind bars, though now he was thinking they should have been looking at congress. I told him the problem with those who make the rules is they have two sets, those for everyone else and those for them so it would never have worked.  He chuckled and said they had from time to time got to put one of them away and I nodded and said yep I had seen that country club on several occasions and that was not a bad way to retire if playing golf before making dinner was your thing.  The old man said all the same his offer of help was still the same.  I told him if he knew anyone who needed a consultant on a variety of topics I was looking for work which is what brought me to this neck of the woods in the first place. He asked if I had a card and I pointed to the detective who asked why I thought she had my wallet.  I told her she did not have my wallet unless she lied but I know for sure she had taken one of my cards.  She pulled out her wallet and handed over my card which was the one I had used since I began my relationship with my Uncle in Washington at the age of eighteen.  The fact was that I still provided Field Engineering and Consultation Services as an independent contractor, now though it was cheaper for the huge monopolies that ran the larger more lucrative projects to hire someone younger who needed to pay their college bill and take care of their expenses.  I was usually not called until after a catastrophic failure or a tragedy where lives were lost.

The gentleman asked if that included security, I nodded and said if it was for babysitting purposes there were others who liked that sort of work.  He nodded and went to shake my hand I could not hide the grimace from the pain.  He nodded and said it now made sense as I was that guy.  I reached over and grabbed my side and told him maybe depending on which guy he was talking about.  When my wife arrived with her new lawyer and what had to be the Sheriff I was still nibbling on my beans and rice, I was not sure what to expect.  Christina asked what happened to me as she looked me over.  I told her the DA chose not to press charges though I suspect he did so unwillingly and probably told he could not by women close to him.probably his wife who knew well enough that if he tried to charge me for helping out a young woman in distress it would not go in the next election.  The sheriff took the empty seat and I cleared my throat; when he asked what I told him he was being rude and should not just assume I wanted him to sit at my table.  He told me we needed to talk and I told him since it was he who probably gave the order to hunt down a free man which had probably cost thousands of tax paying dollars he needed to explain to his employers otherwise known as the voters why; I had already noticed the reporter sitting nearby and just then so did he.    When he asked Ms. Jones if she was going to create a story out of that question she told him yes and also had some questions for John Doe like how he disappeared.  Christina said she had that same question. I told my wife the judge said I was free to go so I left by a side door when I noticed the horde camped out in the front; looking at the sheriff I told him if I were in charge of securing that facility and pinnacle of our legal system I would do something about that side door as no one tried to stop me and the cameras were not even focused in the right direction, probably so the judges could sneak in and out or at least sneak in and out their dates.

The sheriff said he would look into that; smiling I told him he should before say a rapist used the same exit to escape.  He looked at me and told me he wanted a good reason to like me and I told him to like someone was something you decided to do and had nothing to do with reasons; you either liked them or you did not and at the moment I really did not care if he like me what I wanted of him was to respect my and every law abiding citizens rights and remind his deputies there job was to keep the peace not escalate difficult situations and most definitely remind them they uphold the law and are not the law in and of themselves.  He looked around and whispered that this discussion would be better had somewhere else.  I looked at the reporter and said it seemed to me her offices had to be somewhere around here.  When the sheriff looked at her he said no.  I looked at him and told him I had no reasons to go to his office unless something has changed and since he was unwilling to have a cordial discussion among fellow citizens there was no reason to continue and he could leave.  When he stormed out, my wife kicked me under the table.  I looked at her and she told me I could at least be polite. I smiled and said I was polite which many times gets mistaken to mean grovelling, pandering, and/or in more common language brown nosing.  The detective and the reporter who had both been drinking their coffee both sent it out in a spray covering their prospective tables and the remainder of my dinner which I promptly got up and threw away.  Christina asked me where I was going and I told her to be honest I no longer had plans as my original plans would have put me on the road much closer to what apparently was no longer going to be our home to celebrate our anniversary.

She told me we could and should have this discussion elsewhere; I nodded and said first though I wanted to stop by and check with the doctor.  She told me in the morning she had already arranged for an appointment and she or one of his new girlfriends could check to see if he was okay.  I let that dig slide as I asked what her plans were.  She told me since her original plans had not included jumping on a plane because she got one of those calls she had feared she would get for most of their lives and since I was not immediately at risk of expiring they may as well go back to the bungalow she had rented for her stay.  When the reporter asked which resort we were staying at, my wife snapped it was none of her business. I told Christina to lead the way and as she headed toward the door I apologized to the reporter and told her to have fun with this story and make sure she was fair to all sides of the issue.  In the back of the overly priced German produced SUV which more or less was made in America, Christina kept silent so I asked where the Jeep was and was informed by our driver her lawyer that it was at her house along with the bungalow.  I asked where my wallet was and I was told it was in the center console.  Leaning over I pushed through the pain and grabbed it even though I knew I overstretched the soft tissue.  I waited until we were near the airport when I stepped out at a red light, just as it was turning green.  Thankfully I still had my ID as I had not officially quit so getting past security in the airport was no problem.  I was sitting watching the planes when one of the TSA officials interrupted me and told me there were two women waiting at security for me.  Thanking him I got up and walked out to find my Christina had been crying.  I apologized to her and told her I was sorry.  When she asked if I was ready to go to the bungalow I told her no and I would not be staying at the bungalow no offense to our host.  She told me not to worry about the money as we could afford it.  I asked if there was somewhere else I could stay and was told there were several resorts.  I gave her a name of one I had used on several occasions and was told I was in luck as she was practically a neighbor.  As she parked and they followed me in I was greeted by the bellman  with one of my aliases and asked if I wanted my usual room.

Christina looked at me and I shrugged I then reached into my wallet and pulled out one of the keys and asked for my box.  As we were lead into the offices she asked what was this all about.  I told her to be patient and when I opened the safe box with the help of the on duty manager trying to hide half a dozen passports did not make sense.  Those for the moment I left, what I did pull out was a stack of clean money and a credit card which was actually prepaid and linked to an account in another country.  I handed the money to my wife, she asked where I got it and I told her that came from consulting jobs. I held my finger to my mouth and led her and her lawyer to the bungalow I had rented on several occasions for appearances.  If I could help it I would slip out in the night and head up into the canyon to the south. Tonight was not going to be that kind of night as a bed would be needed for my aching muscles.  Our host told my wife this place was a hideaway for those who did not want to be bothered.  Christina looked at me and asked how many times I had been here before and with whom.  I told her there would be a record at the front desk and in my office as I was billed.  She held up the money and I told her that was for her so she could cover our bills and her unexpected trip. Shaking her head she asked where it came from and I told her it was part of my pay and per diem and there was five thousand in each bundle.  The lawyer borrowed one and looked at the serial numbers.  I told her she was not always a lawyer and she said actually all of her working life she had been but in the early years of her career she worked for Uncle Sam putting away counterfeiters mostly.  She looked and said she supposed my denying her the privilege of representing me was something more or less to keep things unsaid and undisclosed.

I had nodded,  my wife asked how she was supposed to deal with the cash and I told her since we were married and I was giving it to her and had already been taxed on it more than once all she needed to do was do what she would do with that amount of cash.  As she sat down her host pointed to the door; I nodded and helped Christina to her feet and told her I would see her in the morning.  She looked at the bed and I had to tell her that her staying would cause a bit of a scandal as this persona was a producer out of LA who well was a kind of an introvert and not well known for his antics with married women or any women for that matter.  My Christina looked at our hostess and told her she was staying her tonight and would need some stuff in the morning.  The woman smiled and I told her I would walk her to her car.  I did a cursory look to verify nothing had been tampered with; she asked how long had I been in the field, I told her twenty years.plus.  She told me I should relax as I was now safe; I pointed to my left side.  She nodded and said she almost forgot about that and then asked if I was going to bring suit and I nodded saying yes that was my plan.  She only nodded and asked if I knew who those two boys were, I told her over privileged mamma's boys and probably some sort of ball players who were overpaid to chase a ball inside a well marked field. She asked if I saw the news and I told her no I had not, but given the location, the cost of that resort and their size.  Nodding she told me to expect law suits; I chuckled saying that would be funny as they would be trying to suit John Doe unless they somehow found out who he was.  She said she doubted it but given a few days I could not hide who I really was.   Smiling I said she would be surprises but then she probably already knew more than I had told anyone.  I told her to watch herself, she nodded and told me the city police here had already been contacted by someone really high up on the food chain and told to make sure I was not disturbed, but that detective had many friends among the locals.  I told her not to worry about them unless they are on the hook and do not want to be caught.

Once in her vehicle and off I recognized another car, it was another overpriced one but still proclaimed government.  I ignored it for now and went back to find my wife had already showered and was attempting to light a fire.  I pulled her back and showed her how to use the gas.  Her only comment was that would make life easier at home.  Christina waited for me to ask for her help.  When I was stripped she checked my sutures and said she was surprised they still held.  I asked how she had been enjoying herself and she told me other than having to keep trying to figure out what I was up to she was actually having fun with my girlfriends.  I ignored the comment.  After my shower I lay down and she tucked in beside me on what was the wrong side to her.  For a long time she said nothing and then asked if I had ever had an affair and I told her no and if she thought I did it was because she watched way too many movies.  When I did not ask her she asked if I was not the least bit curious about her when I was not home.  I made myself sit up and told her since her little triest sixteen years ago I had tried to not think about it.  She sat facing me on my legs and told me that I should know she had thought about it on several occasions usually right before I came home and had even once gone to Frederick's hotel room during a convention and had disrobed before she realized she was doing it only to make me jealous enough to stay home.  I asked if she did anything and she said no she had looked at that poor man and him laying there naked he looked so pathetic she started crying and laughing and picked up the phone and called his wife as she ran from the room after gathering her clothes.  She told him she was asked to leave church over that one.  I told her good as that meant the pastor was doing his job.

She asked if I was mad and I told her no as I had assumed over the years she had at times needed some release; she asked if that was why most of those times when I was home I did not have sex with her.  I told her I was not even sure of why but that could be part of it and the other part, instead of saying it I looked down at the various scars I had collected as souvenirs.  Leaning back on her arms she told me about those scars she wanted to know when I was going to tell her how I got them.  I told her never.  She told me she had ways to get things out of me.  It was not my intention to partake that night but Christina had other plans and even though she was gentle as could be expected she ended up asleep and I ended up in pain.

Plans Changed, A Story

The sun was already below the horizon when I stopped to for my evening meal that night. Once again I found myself alone in a place that was not my home. Travelling through I was only looking for a meal.  Strange thing about being the stranger in a small town is that unlike in a huge city you are noticed. Oh they may not say anything outright but when you are not looking the locals do.  As I sat at the edge of the hay fields to watch the nightly painting of the sky I could not help but notice the small crowd of young who inside the small eatery kept finding a reason to come out.  Apparently me eating and changing my shirt was the entertainment that night.

Walking back into get a refill for my cup before moving on the previous nonchalant attitude of the young girl behind the counter had changed and instead of me getting my own drink she came around the counter to take care of making sure my thirst was quenched.  I had nodded as she took my cup and motioned that I would be right out.  There were two restrooms and I was told to use the one depicting folks who wore dresses. After washing my face thoroughly I walked out.  It seemed these young wanted someone to talk to as they asked what I was in town for and I was honest when I said an old friend I had heard now lived but was not home so I was just passing through.

When I was asked where I would be staying I shrugged and pointed to the mountains in the east.  The young lady holding my drink asked if I would get cold.  I knew what she wanted but shaking my head I said I have known cold and tonight I would be fine.  As I took a seat to adjust my boots she leaned over as she put down my drink.  I grinned to myself as I realized that was unnecessary but had to admit the Good Lord had given her two good reasons for some young man to get excited over the prospects; I smiled to her letting her know I had noticed.  Finishing that cup I went to get another but again the cup was taken and she began to fill it.  Accidentally on purpose she spilled some of the drink, and immediately bent over at the waist to clean up the mess; from my angle I could not miss what she did not try hiding as her short skirt hiked up.  I waited until she was done and when she gave me the cup I thanked her with a smile and quietly told her to be patient as one day she would be swept off her feet by a man created just for her, but that was not me.  Walking out to my ride I climbed in and as I went through my mental checklist I noticed not only was she watching so were several of her friends who had been hanging out,  Prepared I fired up the engine and slowly pulled out and nodded leaving that valley behind in the fading light.

I had intended to stop high in the mountains for the night but decided not to just in case some poorly misguided young one tried to follow.  That decision was not so much to protect her but me as I knew if in the dark hours of the night when alone and cold if she found me as I camped out under the stars I would welcome the company of such a young nubile woman.  I kept going to put both space physically and mentally between me and such temptations. I have to admit that when I pulled off to stretch before descending out of those mountains I did think of that young woman and the what if's briefly but my mind soon turned to the woman who I had left at home when I set out on my journey in search for work.  I had made my promise to her years ago that she was the one and only one on that night we wed.  Sitting looking over the brightly lit valley below I quietly spoke those vows in the almost black overlook and startled a couple who had come up from below to hide from their prospective spouses.  Apparently I reminded them they also had spouses down below and I watched as they put space between themselves and shortly after left in separate cars.  Watching the stars that night I wished the mother of my children could have been by my side.  I finally climbed back into my ride and headed down into the desert valley frequented by the rich and pampered elite.

Not yet able to sleep I stopped for a cup of tea, to sit and write and to send my nightly message to my wife. I was still in the diner when a group of women closer to my age who had gone out for their night out with the gals walked in.  It was evident they had been drinking.  I had gotten up to leave and when I was noticed got corralled to their table. I was not completely unaware what they were after if the opportunity arose and those seven women in their sun dresses were not at all shy about letting me see what was not all that hard to imagine. I do not know why I sat with them but as their hyperactivity turned to a more relaxed state I went to make my leave and asked if they could find their way back to their sleeping quarters.  Their discussion turned to getting back to the condo plex they were staying at and getting their vehicle their as well, if they took the shuttle.  I told them I would drive them if I could get a shuttle back; crazy how easily seven women could agree on this act of kindness.  With that settled, the discussion turned to me and who I was and why I was there.  I did not give much in the way of details but when I called my wife to tell her I was making sure a group of young ladies who had been out for a night on the town got home safely, the dynamics changed.  With a smile I asked if they were ready and was told there was no rush.  On the way across the valley we had to make two more stops at different evening establishments. Of the seven three were married, two had recently been divorced and and the last two were the reason they were there they were celebrating their engagements to their soon to be new husbands ones second and the others third respectively.  Their condo was actually part of a resort which had its own night life of sorts and since I was now a part of their group, and their unspoken of protection from jerks who had already seen pretty much all they had to offer to a man I tagged along.  That night the club was a bit on the rowdy side and something I was all too familiar with and I got the privilege to intervene upwards of three dozen times.  The last time shut down the place when one of the women allowed a younger man to chat her up a little to closely and then when he tried to move in to take the prize for which he did not ask and just assumed that her wearing that short sundress along with her being friendly was an invitation.

By the time I put my hand on his shoulder his hands were inside her dress and working in tandem, one down from the top and the other fighting for an entrance between her thighs.  I only saw the fear in her eyes as he tried to stand to face me.  I stepped back and waited for what was coming next.  This boy was big and had a good five inches to my six feet and was about to fall off the wagon.  He swung and I pivoted and let him follow his fist which ended up on the dance floor. I pivoted back to see if my new friend was okay and knew by her look and the gasp from the crowd that he was up.  I looked to see the bouncers moving our way when he tried to come at my back.  Again I pivoted but grabbed his arm which held a knife and using his momentum sent him without the knife which I managed to release from his hand into the edge of a table mouth first.  I caught the movement of another man coming at me and when he was in range the heel of my boot went into his knee dropping him immediately to the ground crying and whimpering.  I just stood and waited with the knife under a foot until the bouncers arrived I held my hands up so they could see there was nothing in them.  When the first one grabbed me several patrons of the club got vocal and I told the man he needed to calm down as the two men responsible for tonight's incident were subdued for the moment but would need medical attention and someone needed to call the real authorities.  Pointing to the woman who had been sexually assaulted I told him she would also need to see a doctor and be examined.

I knew the drill when the uniformed officers arrived I held out my hands and let them cuff me.  That was when the big boy decided to have another try, this time my foot went into his face.  I was quickly escorted out and was followed by my seven companions who though still inebriated had sobered.  I let the women explain to the officers how the whole evening went down which left the officer tasked with trying to take notes even more confused.  When they were through I told the only women officer, while using my head to point, the cute petite blond one missing her shoes would need to see a doctor as the big old boy in there had gotten rough with her when he was trying to sexually assault her.  Her eyes went wide and nodding said she would see to it.  I saw the stripes on her arm and she gave only a few orders then the paramedics arrived  and retrieved the big boy now being accompanied by a young woman who wanted the officers to arrest me and she tried to make her assault but was held back by two uniformed men who to subdue her had to put a matching pair of bracelets on her.  Apparently she was in the bathroom when everything went down and I apologized to her for what she was going through but she should after tonight immediately dump the two timing jerk.  She shut up as that comment started to work through the alcohol induced haze that clouded her thinking.

Once we were lead into the parking lot away from the crowds, I was turned over to two detectives not in  uniform, one a woman who looked like she just rolled out of bed threw on some clothes, a cap and boots.  I ran down the night for them back to my stop up in the small valley on the other side of the mountains.  This detective asked why I did not just keep going and I told her it was probably my upbringing having been taught to treat women with respect. it was then the petite blond who had been fondled rather roughly realized what had been really going on and she loudly told the female officer that man had tried to rape her and thanks to the guardian angel who beat his ass he never got the chance.  The detective told me it seemed someone was corroborating my story.  I nodded and told her I realized if they did not take me into custody them two pompous rich boys who both would need surgery then therapy would cry foul but they needed to know I was pressing charges for them assaulting me with a deadly weapon in the knife that the man with the busted up face had had in his hand, but I also wanted some help as my wife's jeep was still back at the diner with all of my gear.  The male detective told me rudely that was not their problem; his partner shook her head and said she would see to it.  I asked if she had a Ziploc bag and when she got me one I emptied all his personal items from my pockets, took off my wedding band and then my belt buckle and put them in the baggie along with my phone and keys.  I told her she could not miss it as it looked like I just drove it across the desert.  When she made a note of everything I had given her she asked if there was anything else, I told her to please call his wife using my phone and tell her I was all right but would be late getting home for dinner and why.  When she asked where I lived she had already pulled out my id and smiling she said I would have been late anyway.

Nodding I told her I was supposed to head home in the morning regardless if I had found a job in the area as our anniversary was in three days.  I was then led toward a patrol car by the male detective who told me to be honest they all knew I wanted that little number for myself.  Very loudly I politely told the man he was mistaken that know I had not been planning on sleeping with any of my seven new friends as real men do not treat women like pieces of meat and if he would be so kind as to keep his pig like opinions to himself I would appreciate it.  The reaction was swift as I felt the jab to my kidney.  Smiling as I dropped to the ground I also felt the kick to my ribs.  Immediately the detective was pulled away from me.Trying to stand up I knew I had ribs broken and as pain shot through my torso I went back to my knees.  One of the firemen seeing me go down a second time told the sergeant he bet I had broken or fractured ribs. The third ambulance which they had called for the assaulted woman, whose friends said they would make sure she got to see the doctor by way of the hotel shuttle was offered to me.  I asked if I was going to be arrested and when asked if that mattered I nodded and said if they were not going to arrest me I would pass up the offer of the ambulance and the hospital.  One of the paramedics told me I should go and I said I would get checked out but not at the prices the hospital would charge and a taxi would be cheaper than the bill the ambulance company would send me.

The woman detective came over and smiling told me today was not my day and then read me my rights; pointing to an officer she told him to make sure I got to the hospital in one piece aboard the ambulance.  Looking at me she told my wife did not seem surprised and said I could make it up to her when I got out of jail.