Smoke Stack

by Andrew Gruse

  “The town was ruined, Lou. You understand that, right?”

  Lou nodded. “Yep. But, now we can start over fresh. Or abandon it. I suspect most will leave.”

  “And you?”

  Lou shrugged with a smile. “Well, I’m acting sheriff right now, and if there’s going to be a mass exit, I suppose Clyde will need someone to direct all the traffic out of town.”

  Zack smiled. “I suppose you’re right.”

  “You gonna say goodbye to Orb? He really likes you,” Lou said.

  Zack wasn’t sure about Orb’s fate. Possible jail, certain disbarring from law enforcement. Some could blame Zack for all of this. After all, no one had a clue before Zack ran into that high school.

  “Oh, come on, Stack,” Lou grabbed his arm. “What’s done is done. We don’t just walk out on our friends. He’s right in here. By the way, Orb said if anyone could figure it out, he said it would be you.”

  “Figure what out?”

  “You see, they were using code names, we think. Unless there’s more of them,” Lou said. “Orb remembers the names Johnny Gage and Electro as two of the guys in on the school fire. I think your office gal Michelle found some emails or texts or something.”

  Office gal? Michelle would hit me if I called her that.

  “Anyway, have you ever heard of those two names?”

  Zack smiled. “Seriously?”

  “Yeah. We don’t know who they are.”

  Zack laughed. “Doesn’t anyone watch television shows from the ’70s anymore? Johnny Gage was a paramedic, a fireman, on the show Emergency. He was the good looking one, always hoping to score the pretty nurses. That was probably Pritchett’s nickname.”

  Lou nodded, missing the humor Zack saw, scratched his chin as he added it up. “That makes good sense. What about Electro?”

  “A Spiderman comics villain. In the 70’s cartoons, he and Spidey had some awesome fights. Electro used electricity as a weapon, essentially,” Zack said. “Get it?” Lou scratched his chin longer. “That Marvin guy. The town electrician. That was him.”

  “OH!” Lou said as the light bulb ignited over his head. Zack smiled. “Not very good nicknames if you ask me,” Lou said at length and shook his head. “Anyway, let’s go see Orb.”

  Reluctantly, Zack continued the goodbye tour.

  * * * *

  The clock hit noon. It took Zack longer than he guessed before he finally sat in the car alongside Agent Ty Campbell on the way back to Hobby and the hotel. The bed, ideally a massage, champagne or wine, or even just a beer and Julie pressed against him was all Zack wanted. And when he woke the next morning, to get the hell out of Hobby, far away from Clyde and to start the vacation over with Jules.

  The two didn’t talk much. There wasn’t much to say. The whole ordeal was over as far as Zack was concerned, and Campbell knew it. And Zack already turned down the work for the FBI offer.

  When Campbell stopped the car, a black Crown Victoria, in front of the Hobby hotel, four hours passed. He shook Zack’s hand and gave Zack his card. Then, he said, “you know what, Stack, how about lunch? My treat. Go upstairs and get your fiancé. I want to meet her. Meet me down here in the restaurant.”

  Zack was hesitant, afraid there was more to the charade than mutual respect. Did they uncover something about me Michelle promised no one would ever find? Is he waiting for the right moment to disarm me and arrest me? Should I go upstairs and just run? Shit. Or maybe he's genuine. Christ. I’m too tired to think straight. Damn it.

  “All right. Give me a few minutes. I’ll meet you downstairs.”

  “You look like you could use a Bloody Mary. I’ll have one waiting.”

  I could use a one way trip to New Zealand where no one could possibly ever know who I am.

  The two entered the lobby, Zack climbed the stairs while Ty Campbell went to the restaurant. Zack reached the third floor, put his key in the door, and unlocked it.

  “Jules, I’m back,” he said. He walked into the expansive multi-roomed suite. “Honey, we have a lunch date. Sorry, but I couldn’t get out of it. I figured I should play nice with the FBI,” Zack spoke loudly as he walked around the room. He entered the bedroom. No Jules.

  The bathroom. No Jules.

  “Jules, honey? Where are you?” She wasn’t in the room anywhere. Thinking she was either downstairs at the restaurant, always looking for a story, or with Molly, Zack left his suite and walked to Molly’s door and knocked.

  Molly opened the door with a glum look on her face. She was silent.

  “Hey,” Zack said. “Where’s Jules? We’ve been invited to lunch with the Feds. Why don’t you join us? Is she here with you?”

  Molly was silent.

  Zack felt a wave of emotion sweep through him. “Where is she?” He didn’t know what to feel: fear, anguish, panic, sorrow, what?

  “She wanted me to give you this,” Molly said timidly. She extended her hand and held out a letter.

  The color vanished from Zack’s face. He stared at the letter; his hands shook. Zack didn’t want to take it. Molly extended her hand, almost put it in Zack’s hand, and he grabbed it.

  “I’m sorry, Zack. I tried to talk her out of it.”

  “Out of what?” He asked, but Molly was silent.

  He unfolded the paper, and his hands shook as he read it. He folded it quickly. “I have to go get her.”

  Molly grabbed his hand. “Zack, you won’t catch her. It takes an hour to get there, and the train leaves in forty-five minutes.”

  “We’ll see.”

  CHAPTER 58

  Zack sped beyond reason the entire drive to the town of Lebanon, the nearest Amtrak train depot to Clyde. Agent Ty Campbell rode as the passenger and clung to the dash and handle above the seat as if his life depended on it. At times, it did.

  One blue light flashed. Campbell made sure of that.

  Zack sped the car on the opposite side of the traffic to pass cars. He dodged between two semis and hit the shoulder to pass a vehicle on the right. The speedometer hit one-hundred and above on straight empty stretches.

  Forty-five minutes later, the brakes jammed tight, and the car screeched to a halt. Zack bolted out of the vehicle and ran towards the depot. The train sat on the tracks, but a horn blew, and Zack heard the powerful diesel engines roar. The train moved. Zack ran faster, he hopped a railing as the train moved.

  “SIR! You can’t,” Zack heard an Amtrak employee say as he ran past.

  Zack reached the platform, but the train pulled out of the station. Zack jumped off the platform and ran alongside the tracks, but the speed of the rain was too high. He turned, ran back towards the Amtrak employee, and was frantic. “Stop the train! Make it come back! Stop the GODDAMN TRAIN!”

  Winded, his heart pounded and ached, he stopped and watched the Amtrak train take the person he loved most in the world away from him.

  And he couldn’t do a thing about it.

  Julie Fletcher was gone.

  * * * *

  Zack watched the train disappear and sat on the nearest bench. The employee followed him onto the platform but decided there was nothing to say to Zack. He turned and walked away to leave Zack alone on the platform bench. Zack pulled out the letter again. He unfolded it slowly and recognized her beautiful handwriting.

  My Dearest Zachary Ulysses,

  You don’t know how hard this is and won’t understand for a long time, if ever, why I have to do this. I love you with all my heart, and you are my life, but I have to leave you. I didn’t come to this decision easily.

  Zack, please understand I don’t blame you, but I have to look out for what is best for me and my future. At this time, I know you can’t be in it. You have to deal with your past. You have to get closure on your father’s death. I wish you didn’t, but you do.

  I know you love me and believe we can make us work. This trip was, how can I even describe it? As bizarre as it was, I know you had to do everything you did. You saved that boy, you did, Zack! And I am
so proud of you for that. That is who you are.

  And that is another reason I have to leave you. I can’t stand by your side and be pushed to the side when the next missing person case comes along. I can’t stand by and watch you put yourself in danger, death-situations, gunfights, and put your health and those close to you in the rearview mirror.

  Most of all, I can’t allow myself to be a target anymore. I have to think about more than just myself now. I’m sorry, but I simply have to make that choice. You may hate me, but I hope you’ll understand.

  I know you would never lie to me and will promise me anything. You’ve kept me safe all this time, so I need you to promise me this, Zachary. Please:

  1: Do not chase after me. Please just let me go. This is hard enough.

  2: Please don’t call me, text me, find me, or anything. Please, Zack, just let me go.

  3: Please promise me you’ll take care of yourself. Even if we aren’t in each other’s life, I need to know you are safe. People rely on you, so promise me.

  4: I know you’re at the train station, perhaps you saw the train leave. I’m sorry. I don’t have the strength to look you into your beautiful eyes and tell you this. Please just take a deep breath, turn around, and go back to Hobby. Have some wine, go buy a new pair of binoculars, and continue on your vacation. You deserve it, and you need it.

  5: Promise me you’ll find that Eurasian Tree Sparrow.

  And know this, Zachary Ulysses, I will always love you.

  Live your life. Move on without me.

  Goodbye, my love, Forever your Jules

  P.S. Zachary, I am so sorry for saying you need to step up. I was wrong. I was scared and frustrated. Please forgive me. You are more of a man than I deserve and more than any man I have ever met.

  Sincerely yours, Jules.

  Zack folded the letter, stuck it in his pocket, and stared into nothing. Tears ran down his face, but he felt nothing. His body was numb, but Zack felt so much pain. Zack felt empty, but his body was full of so many emotions, yet he knew he was just a shell. Nothing. Jules was gone.

  * * * *

  “What are you going to do now?”

  Zack stared out the window of the honeymoon suite. “I promised I’d find a bird. So, that’s what I’m going to do.” He turned to look at Molly. The ride back to Hobby was silent. Agent Campbell drove and dropped Zack off at the hotel. Molly sat and waited inside Zack’s suite. She didn’t say anything as she knew what happened.

  Zack exhaled slowly. “It’s time for me to leave,” he said. He shook his head and remembered the sign he saw a week earlier. “Clyde, where it all begins.” Zack finally looked at Molly. “Hobby clearly is where it all ends.” Zack exhaled again. “Enough about me. What about your place? You still have some salvageable things.”

  She shrugged. “I’m selling it to the neighbor across the street. My stuff, well, it’s just stuff. I got out of there what I needed and really wanted. I’m not going back there. Not now,” she said.

  Zack understood. Life took a different meaning for all that survived that ordeal. Molly was no different. “Could you give me a ride? I need to, uh, get a new means of transportation.”

  Molly shrugged. “Duh. I planned on it. Also, in case you hadn’t heard, I’m out of a job,” she joked but realized it didn’t go over well. “I’ll tell you what, how about I go with you? I’d love to see that sparrow.” She saw Zack begin to shake his head. “No, no, don’t say it, Zack!” She said. “I’ve got nothing back here, and after what happened, I need to get far away from here. I’m moving out to California to live with my parents at the vineyard until I figure out what I want to do next. So look at it as two people starting over, Ok? No pressure, no nothing. You need a ride and,” Molly paused, “I would prefer not to be alone.”

  Zack understood how she felt but knew he was better off alone.

  “Look, we can go back to Clyde now. We can grab the few things left in my house that I want if they aren’t destroyed, then we can get the heck out of here, do a little birding, see what happens and when we get to a big city or something, I’ll drop you where you can get a new car, Ok?”

  “You really don’t have to do that,” Zack said. “I won’t be good company.”

  “Ahh, I have the solution for that,” Molly smiled. “Didn’t you see how many cases of my family’s wine are in my wine cellar?” She shrugged. “And even if you’re not good company, at least I’ll have good wine. I can talk to myself.”

  “Molly, the best thing that ever happened to me left me earlier today,” Zack said and caught himself from crying as hearing it out loud hurt even more. “I’m better off alone.”

  “No, you’re not, and we aren’t arguing about this. Give me thirty minutes, and we’re out of here. Just map out where that bird is. You promised, remember?”

  CHAPTER 59

  THREE WEEKS LATER

  A car was the obvious choice, but it wasn’t for Zack. He owned one car, and it was destroyed. Zack decided since he was single that he’d drive what he wanted. So, despite already owning one motorcycle, he needed a vehicle to get home. And with it being spring, the open-air felt better than the bottled up stale air inside the cabin of a car.

  The newest model K 1600 GT BMW Motorcycle in a black metallic finish didn’t make the pain of losing Julie go away, but it made the road behind him go away fast. After he parted ways with Molly Lockett, Zack decided putting the road behind him was a good idea.

  He traveled from spot to spot, chased migrating birds, visited one National Wildlife Refuge after another, and saw almost all the birds that were on his target list for the area and time of year. He did a lot of it with his new birding partner, Molly Lockett. Some of it, he did alone.

  Zack had an open invitation to visit California and the Napa area at any time. She said she’d be more than happy to have him out west. Molly tried to convince him to go out there with her. She said once he stood in the vineyard and looked at the gorgeous horizon, he’d never leave.

  Zack smiled but rebuffed the offer. It wasn’t the time, he told her. Too much baggage with him. She understood, and he watched her drive off on Interstate 90 headed west. He went north, then east, then when he hit the Great Lakes, he went south.

  And despite the open air, the perfect weather, the bike cruising smoothly on the highways, Zack wasn’t happy. The solitude made his mind focus on itself. And that took him back to an interchange off Interstate 94.

  Zack exited and entered the interchange many times the years he was there. If they drove to Wrigley Field to catch a Cubs game, that was the interchange. When he went south down to Jasper-Pulaski National Wildlife Refuge, Zack had to drive through that interchange. For most of the high school basketball away games, the bus traveled through that interchange.

  The heartland.

  Gateway to every place east or west.

  Michigan City, Indiana.

  Where it all began for Zack back when he was still David Staechel.

  The motorcycle needed gas, and Zack decided it was time for a bite to eat. To sit down elsewhere than the bike and think, plan, figure things out. A Culver’s restaurant on the east side of Highway 421 south of the city looked good. Zack had no time for pizza, plus the pizza joint wasn’t open that early, and the world-famous burger joint across the state line didn’t interest him either.

  He sat outside on a round table as he waited for his meal to be brought to him. He liked the idea of the burger being made fresh. And Pepsi was a bonus. Zack decided he would have found another place if it was the other brand.

  Wispy clouds blocked out the sun briefly. A light wind from the north brushed by carrying the smell of Lake Michigan a few miles away. House Sparrows flitted about the patio and parking lot looking for a handout or a spilled meal but kept away from Zack.

  Zack knew he tempted fate. What if someone recognized him? Who cares? Maybe it’s time to put this all to an end anyway. Is that what Jules would want? She left me. She wants nothing to do with me, and
I knew that would happen all along. I shouldn’t have put her through any of this. I should have told her no and kept driving. I should have…I should have done so many things differently. I wonder where she’s at now. At least she made sure to get all of her stuff out of my apartment and tell everyone in Baltimore she dumped me and blocked me from calling or texting. How nice of her. Oh well.

  “Sir, a Culver’s bacon deluxe, hold the onion, with onion rings?”

  An employee brought Zack his order. Zack smiled and nodded. Probably wondered why I don’t want onions on my burger but changed the fries for onion rings. Some things shall remain a mystery. The employee left the tray and took the blue numbered table tent away. Zack looked at the food, sipped his Pepsi, but then wasn’t that hungry after all. Food wasn’t the thing to fill the void Julie created when she left him.

  His cell phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number, but he answered anyway. “Hello?”

  “Zack Stack, hey buddy, this is Ty Campbell, FBI.”

  Zack leaned back. Maybe I won’t get that chance after all. “Hey, Mr. FBI Agent. What, uh, is the reason for this call?”

  “I thought you’d like to know how things turned out down in Clyde.”

  Actually, I don’t ever want to think of that place again. “Yeah, anything new?”

  “First, I’m glad that even though you shot the guy you call Pigface six times, that you didn’t kill him,” Ty said. “We had to keep him alive, but after he woke up, he decided to talk.”

  “I thought you wanted one of the bad guys alive.”

  Ty chuckled. “Well, he’s missing an arm thanks to you, half a leg, and like you said, he will never reproduce. He thinks you should be arrested and jailed for that, by the way.”

  “If you’d like, I can finish the job for you.”

  “That won’t be necessary. Pigface is going to jail for the rest of his life.”