by Alan Wild
“Hey, it’s a little cold, and it’s bizarre having you all stare at my naked body, will you please cover me up. I can’t move without pain.” Nora covered her brother up with the sheets, the thin blanket, and went in search of another. Ray walked in with an officer. He said, “Oliver, can I have a word?” Stepping out, Oliver followed. What’s up?” Oliver asked. Ray said, “I have been fighting bureaucratic bullshit. I want you to authorize the use of the off-duty officers to stay with Noah. I always want an armed officer with you and Noah’s family . Will you authorize the coverage?”
Frustrated, Oliver said, “Yes, do whatever needed, so we are all safe. I just don’t understand what’s going on. Why can’t you tell me what is happening and why the FBI is at my house? Why are they even involved? Sal was apprehended, you even said thanks to Noah, you have a confession. What else could be going on?” Ray looked both ways and took a moment then answered, “Salvatore’s biological father is still alive. Noah’s family brought solid proof that
Alvatore Petrelli is the leader of an arms dealer operation. Once the word is out, and arrests are made, the shit will hit the fan. He has connections with dangerous people. The less you know, the better off you are.”
Ray said, “You should take Noah’s mom to the family waiting area. Your guy Owen has food waiting for you all. You need to eat something and sit down. I won’t waste my breath and tell you that you should go home because I know you won’t. But you need to at least eat.”
Promising to eat and rest, Oliver joined Noah and Ray left the recovery area. Explaining the importance of off duty protection was the easy part. Getting Nora and NelDean to allow an armed officer to stay with them at all times was the hard part.
Nora promised Oliver that she could take care of herself. Noah’s mom is the one who had the final word. She said, “This man just saved your brother, and he is trying to protect us. Stop trying to break his balls, just quit your bitching and agree to whatever he tells you.”
Noah smiled at Oliver and said, “See where my sisters get their stubborn attitude?” Noah raised his hand, waving it like the queen of England does and said, “The queen has spoken!”
Chapter 27
Oliver Thaddeus
Running his hands through his hair, Oliver growled in frustration. “I’m not leaving Noah, I’m just not. He deserves better than to be left alone in this hospital.” Ajay, shaking his head with equal levels of frustration, said, “Look, I get you to feel guilty, I get you to want to protect him, I do understand. What you do not understand Oliver, is that if you do not heal and take care of yourself, you will be of no help to Noah. We need you on top of your game. If I need to, then I will call Ray and have him arrest your ass.”
Letting off an indignant laugh, Oliver asked, “For what? What is he going to arrest me for?” Ajay opened his mouth, paused, then said, “It won’t matter why he arrests you, at least you will be away from the hospital. Do you even realize that simply by being here, you are making the target on Noah even bigger? It’s like two for the price of one, someone can kill you both at the same time.”
Noah’s mom, Nellie, clapped her hands and said, “Enough, boys! You are fighting each other when we need to be fighting together. Oliver sweetheart, Please, let’s all get a good night's rest and come back in the morning. Noah is going to need to rest too. If you are here, then he will focus on you instead of resting.” Knowing better than to argue with his boyfriend’s mother, Oliver agreed. After what felt like hours, Noah was assigned a room. Everyone said their goodbyes, and Oliver told Noah, who could barely keep his eyes open, “I love you, and I will be back first thing in the morning.”
Walking in his house, Oliver felt as though he had been away for weeks. He wanted to eat something and go right to bed. Dread was settled in the pit of his stomach. He had a feeling that something terrible was going to happen, and he wasn’t going to be there to protect Noah. Exhaustion was creeping in and taking over Oliver’s existence. After he had eaten the leftovers from what seemed like eons ago, He was wiped out and could barely make it up the stairs. Ajay helped him and asked if he would consider taking one of his prescription Percocet Pain Pills. “Please, Ollie, I hate seeing you like this. Just take the pill, and I will keep an eye on things here. I am going to sleep outside your door anyway.” Oliver looked at Ajay with a look bordering between disgust and amusement. Ajay said, “What? You aren't the only one who feels guilty, Ollie! We should have been with you and Noah, and none of this would have happened. I am sleeping in the hall, so nothing does happen.”
Taking the Percocet, Oliver offered Ajay the loveseat in his room, then he remembered he also had blow-up mattresses he got on sale. Deciding to go with the bed, Ajay ran to retrieve it from the storage room in the basement. By the time he made it back to Oliver’s bedroom, the beaten and battered man was out cold. Smiling at the soft snoring coming from his best friend reminded him of his first time in high school, he had a sleepover at Oliver’s house.
Ajay smiled as he reminisced, “I thought I was the big shit; I was staying the night with Oliver Thaddaeus. I had a secret crush on him ever since our freshman year in high school. We stayed up all night playing cards and shooting the shit. Oliver won three rounds of UNO then we switched to blackjack. Oliver asked if I ever drank alcohol. I admitted to sneaking sips of my dad’s beer, but it was nasty. He asked, ‘Do you want to try some wine? It is sweet, my dad makes it out of rhubarb. It smells awful when he was making it, like a science experiment gone wrong. But that smell went away and now it smells like wine. ‘After drinking half the bottle, we couldn’t stop laughing. Ollie loosened up his body and his mouth and grabbed my hand. The feeling of a thousand fluttering butterflies tapping in my chest gave me hope that he might be my first kiss. Ollie took on a serious tone and asked if he could tell me a secret. There was no way in hell I would deny Oliver Thaddeus of anything. That was the night that he told me he was gay. Sharing his feelings and experiences made me fall in love with him. Not the romantic kind of love. I didn’t want him to kiss me anymore. I loved him as a best friend, like a brother that I never had. He fell asleep, and even back then, he had that adorable soft snore. I stayed awake listening to him sleep. Trying to burn the sound to memory.”
Setting up the mattress, Ajay moved it to Oliver’s doorway, blocking the entrance. “That way, if someone tries to enter, they have to go through me first.” Ajay made the bed half-assed, not bothering with a sheet set; he tossed a pillow on it, then the blanket. He remained dressed as he laid in the soft air bed, drifting off.
The sound of Dolly Parton was blaring as she was crooning something about
“Rivers flowing backward and Valleys being high.” Realizing it was Oliver’s phone, Ajay rushed to find it before it woke Oliver. Answering the phone, “Ajay here, how can I help? Ray said, “Oh good, thank god, it is you.” Ajay smiled and said, “Finally, someone appreciates me.” Ray growled with an irritable frustration. “Shut up, you know I appreciate you. Look, Ajay, there is no time. We moved Noah to a different room. I need you to get Noah’s family and Oliver to his safe room in the basement.” The FBI is taking care of the situation, but I don’t want to take any chances. Ajay didn’t bother asking for details. There was time for that later. He said, “I’m on it, anything else? No? Later Ray.”
Ajay worked up the courage to knock on Nora’s door; first, the woman was kind of frightening. He explained the situation and said, “We move now! It is up to you to get your sister and mom to the basement. Oliver has a safe room. I will get Oliver. Noah is fine. He was moved to another room.” Ajay moved to wake Oliver when he began to hear a commotion down on the lower level of Oliver’s home. Ajay smiled at the sleeping man, “Wake up, princess, up and at um. Come on, Oli. Get up.” Ajay knew Oliver took the Percocet, but he was losing patience. “Wake the fuck up now, Oliver. Move your ass!” Oliver startled awake, looked at the clock on his nightstand. “It’s 2:16 AM, What the hell?”
Ajay began pulling Oliver out of
bed. “Come on, man, we need to get to your safe room now.” Oliver began to wake up but was still influenced by the prescription pain meds. Making it to the bottom of the stairs,” Oliver said, “What about Noah?” as he headed for the garage. Thinking of the fastest way to get the huge man to comply without getting into another argument, Ajay said, “No, Ollie, Noah is safe, he asked that you keep his family safe.” Ajay found relief when Oliver changed direction, heading to the basement. Everyone was already in the room. Oliver and Ajay entered, closed the door, and locked it from the inside.
The safe room was more like a micro-apartment. It held a sofa, fold-down bed, tiny kitchenette, and a bathroom. It was decorated with azure blue and dark gray accents and fully stocked. Nora asked about the construction of the room as she pulled a service weapon out of the band of her pajama pants. She took a seat and asked, “So, who wants to go first? To be specific, what in the hell is going on, and why are we in this room?” Oliver shrugged his shoulders and said, “I have no idea what is going on. All I know is that Noah wants me to keep you all safe.” So, I have very little idea of what is happening.” Ajay said, “I didn’t have time to ask. I just had to get everyone down here.”
Crossing her arms, NelDean said, “From the way, the people were moving around when we came down here, they acted like they were going to a battle. I am happy to be down here, no makeup, and all” Noah’s mom, Nellie said, “I guess I can disclose what I know. We found information when we were going through my mother’s belongings about Salvatore Petrelli. He was wanted by the FBI. He is evil, and he blames Noah’s father for everything that has gone wrong in his life. Thanks to the reporters, he knows that Noah survived and that we are in Denver. He is also the head of some kind of organized crime kingpin thing. So, I bet he sent his people to get rid of us and finish his attempt at vengeance.”
“What the hell, Mom? Asked Nora, “When were you going to tell us this information?” Giving her daughter a cross look, Nellie said, “You were there when I found the envelope, sweetie.” NelDean said, “Uh, mom, you told us that it is just more proof that he was an evil piece of shit. You said nothing about being the head of some organized crime. And no one says “Kingpin” anymore.”
Nellie let out a sigh. “I didn’t want to worry you two, and you know that I don’t use that language. Nora was already taking her gun on the plane, which reminds me, young lady, you have some explaining to do. I am not oblivious, you know. I couldn’t risk her flying off the handle like she does and shooting the pilot.”
NelDean looked at her sister, “What sis? Now that you have explaining to do, you are keeping your mouth shut.” Un-crossing and re-crossing her arms in a snide tone NelDean said “She is an international spy mom, one of those ninja people that jump from trains.” When Nora remained silent, NelDean screamed, “Oh My God, you are a spy. Jesus Christ, are you a fucking spy?” Nora growled and said, “Can we not do this right now?” NelDean laughed and said, “Oh no bitch, we are doing this right fucking here and right fucking now. Our family has enough secrets. I am sick of secrets. First, Noah has a million dollars, and now you are a spy.” Oliver spoke up and said, “He actually has somewhere around 142 million dollars.” Ajay elbowed Oliver and said, “Ignore him, that is the Percocet talking.”
Her face was red at this point, and NelDean said, “So Mother, what secrets are you keeping. That seems to be the trend now, right? Are you an international millionaire spy too or just a spy? Or maybe just a millionaire?” Nellie sighed and crossed her arms yet remained silent. NelDean
just shook her head and began to cry. Oliver rushed over to her side, pulling her into his arms and just held her. Nellie said, “I am sorry, dear; this is something we need to sit down and talk about. It is time our family divulges the secrets. We all have our secrets, but I can see how keeping secrets has hurt you. Now, the secrets have placed everyone I love in harm's way.”
Nora pulled her phone out and asked, “Why is there no signal?” Ajay said, “Oliver prepared and designed this room with eighteen-inch solid cement walls. The ceiling is four inches of solid steel with a state-of-the-art ventilation system. It has its own power supply, Internet, and phone system.” Nora asked, “Can I sign on to your network? Pulling away from NelDean, Oliver reached into a drawer, folded it into a desk, and pulled a laptop out. He said, “No Wi-Fi, Just a secure connection.” Trying to log in, Nora said, “It is password protected.” Oliver laughed and said, “The password is DollyParton,” Ajay asked “Just so I am prepared, what else is Dolly Parton? I am woken by Dolly Parton singing to me; your password is Dolly Parton. Are you wearing Dolly Parton panties too?” Oliver reached over and put his arm around Ajay and said, “I haven’t ever seen Dolly Parton underwear, but if you see some when you are out and about, can you pick me up a pair?
Rolling his eyes, Ajay asked, “Do you have clothes in this bunker thing?” Oliver said, “absolutely.”
“Well then, how about if you put a shirt on? Your nipples are staring at me.” Said Ajay.
Making his way to the same set of drawers that Nora was standing at, He reached in to pull out a shirt. As he stood, he caught a glance at the computer Nora was typing on. Laughing, Oliver said, “Holy Shit.” Nora gave him a death stare and said, “Not one word” Sitting down with the shirt still in his hand, “My lips are sealed” With his right hand, he made the motion of “Zip it locks it and put it in your pocket.”
Nora closed the laptop and asked, “So how will you know it is safe to leave if your phone doesn’t work?” Oliver said, “My security feeds will show if the coast is clear.” Putting on his shirt, he looked at Nora as she gave him an incredulous look. “What?” he asked. Growling again, Nora said, “Jesus Christ, you mean to tell me that we could have watched what was happening the whole time?” Oliver said, “You still can.” Ajay laughed and said, “Once again folks, it is the Percocet. You haven’t had the opportunity to see Oliver when he hasn’t been in pain or drugged up. Dear sweet Ollie, can you please sign into your surveillance system, so we all know what is going on?”
The group, excluding Oliver, watched the screen. NelDean asked, “We are down here, safe. But what about all of these people?” Pointing at the houses surrounding Oliver’s house. Nora shook her head and said, “They have all been evacuated.” Nora looked at her phone and said, “Well, get ready, the shit is going to splatter after it hits the fan. Looking at her sister, Nora said, “NelDean, if you are going to cry, you can just go sit over there.” Gesturing over to Oliver, everyone looked to see him sitting up, sleeping with drool dripping out of his mouth and snoring lightly. Ajay opened his mouth to speak. Nora placed her hand on his mouth and said, “We know, it’s the Percocet.”
Ajay asked, “So Miss all-knowing secret spy, do you know why I don’t see anyone from my team? I am worried about my friends. I have no idea what we are dealing with here.” Nora placed her hand on Ajay’s shoulder and said, “They have been moved to the hotel on the tower. The big one that we were going to stay.” Ajay said, “I am so happy you didn’t stay there. Let's make sure and keep their location from Oliver.” “Why, what is wrong with that hotel?” Ajay smiled. “The guy is a millionaire, and yet he has a fit about paying for parking at that hotel. He refuses to go anywhere near it. If you bring it up, he will go on and on about how it is wrong of a hotel to charge for parking in their own parking lot, when they are surrounded by wide open fields. He calls it in the middle of nowhere.” Nellie said, “Well, he’s not wrong.”
Chapter 28
Oliver Thaddeus
Not sure what jarred him awake, Oliver jumped up. Looking around, he was still in his safe room. He asked, “What is going on? Everyone turned to look at Oliver, “NelDean said, “A car pulled up, and four people got out. The driver pulled away, and they were stupid. They went to Noah’s house. They busted in the door, then headed over here. They were met by more people than I could count. Three of the guys opened fire and were shot dead. The last guy got in your house. We don’t know
where he is now. Oliver stood and padded to the computer. “How long ago did he get in the house?” Nora said, “The time of entry was 4:40 AM.”
Moving the mouse around, Oliver pulled up the feeds inside his house. He used his rewind and fast forward functions and found the man as he entered. Watching his movement, Oliver switched camera views and watched as the guy ran up the stairs. Finally, he watched as the man ran into the last bedroom on the left. Oliver could also see the feds moving around, taking their time, checking each room. Oliver pushed a few buttons and spoke into the microphone “This is the owner of the house, Oliver. The guy ran up the stairs and is in the last bedroom on the left. He has access to a window facing the street and most likely will try and escape from that window. If you hold up an email address to the camera located in the corner of the room, I will allow you access to my surveillance system.”
With the email address collected and access granted, Oliver sat back down and closed his eyes. The room was so quiet, everyone heard Ajay’s stomach growl. Oliver said, “I have power bars in here Ajay, did you not eat dinner?” Ajay replied, “I did, but I’ve been up most of the night. A body like mine requires nourishment every two hours for it to operate like a fine-tuned machine that it is.” Oliver laughed and said, “I forgot that you are a bottomless pit.” Padding to the small area by the bathroom, Oliver pulled out snacks, power bars, candy, and water bottles. He said, “Guys, make yourself at home. If you don’t see something you like, it is perfectly fine to look in the cabinets.”
The feeds were still on the screen. Oliver asked Ajay, who was shoving a candy bar in his mouth, “Can you email Ray and ask him how Noah is doing, please? I wish we had Willa; she could just hack into the hospital software. Where is Willa? Wait, where is everyone else, Dario, Owen?” Ajay smiled and said, “They are all safe at an undisclosed location. I would love to reach out to Ray for you.” Oliver stared at Ajay for a moment then said, “What are you keeping from me?” Ajay just smiled, shook his head, and said “Nothing” A few moments passed, and NelDean said, “Your friends have been moved to that enormous hotel off Tower Road.” Nora and Ajay both moaned. Ajay said, “Thanks a lot,” Nora said, “God, you’re a bitch, and you wonder why we keep secrets.”
