by H. L. Wegley
“Gemma, stop!” Lex jumped to his feet.
The chairman rapped his gavel. “Order! We will have order. Sit down, Mr. James.”
The congresswoman’s surprised look changed to a condescending smirk. “May I remind you that you are under oath, Ms. Saint.”
Gemma glared at the arrogant woman. “Then, may I remind you, that I wasn’t lying.”
The congresswoman jerked her head back as if Gemma’s reply had been a slap to her face.
Lex covered his mouth with a hand.
The muffled sounds of chuckling came from committee members.
“Your time is up, Ms. White. We’ll move to the gentleman from Texas.”
Gemma hid her smile with her hand and a fake cough. Maybe there was hope for a measure of justice, despite obstructionists like Ms. White.
“Hello, Gemma. I’m Congressman Hall and, like others on this committee, I want to offer my apology for our government allowing such an atrocity to impact your life. And I want to congratulate you for your courage and heroism.” He paused.
His personal greeting won Gemma’s trust. Hopefully, his questions would not betray it.
“My questions will focus on the reasons you were viciously attacked, who was involved, and what they ultimately wanted to accomplish. I’ve read the written testimony you submitted, explaining that you were placed in WITSEC to silence you. If you had been silenced, why would members of Department of Justice try to kill you?”
“Congressman Hall, I could prove that the charges against Marshall McDowell were false. We had evidence that the 302s the FBI used as evidence had been edited, after the fact. The FBI needs to join the twenty-first century and record their interviews, if you ask me.”
“Ms. Saint,” the chairman said. “No one is asking you. Let’s stick to the facts and keep your opinions to yourself.”
“Yes, Mr. Chairman.” She paused. “The illegal campaign contribution charges were contrived by the federal prosecutor based on recorded conversations Marsh had with friends, obtained by, in my opin—uh … they appear to have been obtained by illegal means. These were recordings of conversations at barbecues and dinners where they chatted about the election. Since Marsh donated to the Gramm campaign, the prosecutor said that when these friends eventually donated, Marsh was guilty of using straw donors. When Marsh told federal agents he didn’t use straw donors, the prosecutor added other charges against him, lying to the FBI. Some of these charges used the edited 302s. Marsh didn’t lie to the FBI, but they said he did and they compounded everything they could to create still more charges. I testified to Marsh’s innocence, but the same prosecutor, using the phony 302s, spun my testimony into evidence against Marsh. During my testimony, I mentioned other donors, among them, a crime boss from New York, a man who had his own selfish reasons for supporting President Gramm.”
“So they used fear of retaliation from this mafia-type, Castellano, to force you into witness protection?”
“Yes. I was a bit naïve in my first ever testimony in federal court. But now that I was wise to their games, the prosecutor did not want me on the stand. When Marsh’s appeal was heard in the retrial, certain people in the DOJ feared my testimony for two reasons. First, it would likely free Marsh McDowell and second, it could bring indictments against them. They feared it enough to plan to kill me.”
“Ms. Saint, most of us know this but, for the record, explain to the committee why members of the DOJ wanted Marsh in prison.” The congressman pursed his lips and waited.
“We all know that President Gramm, as a candidate and since his election, doesn’t get fair coverage in the media. The big media outlets, including most of the cable TV networks, despise him and his politics. They are vicious in their attacks. Marsh McDowell and his U.S. News Network was the only source of unadulterated news, the only source of objective reporting about this administration. Most experts believe it was U. S. News Network’s fair coverage of the campaign that pushed President Gramm over the top and got him elected. Those in the federal bureaucracy that oppose the president will do almost anything to either prevent him from running again or insure that he loses if he does decide to run.”
“That’s quite an indictment of our government, particularly of our Justice Department. Can you give us the names of the guilty parties, those who were complicit in the attempt on your life?”
“Yes. Some of them. Lex James, my fiancé, heard other names, and my former inspector in WITSEC, Marshall Cody Cottrell, whom they also tried to murder, can give you more names and further corroboration of those involved in this conspiracy.”
“Conspiracy? I object!” The woman from New York was on her feet.
Chairman Wyatt rapped the gavel. “For the third time, may I remind you that you cannot object, Ms. White. This is not a court of law. Now sit down, or I’ll have you escorted out of here.”
“You may continue, Mr. Hall.”
The congressman from Texas took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Who were the members of the FBI team who allegedly tried to kill you?”
Gemma iterated through the list of names and ended with their leader, Bladen Sikes.
In the seats behind Gemma and Lex, pens rasped on paper and pages of notebooks turned.
“Ms. Saint,” Congressman Hall said, “Can you give us the name of the person in the DOJ who ordered this assassination attempt?”
Silence spread throughout the conference room. It became so quiet that when someone coughed it sounded like an explosion.
“Yes, I can. But Lex heard it firsthand.”
“We understand that. Please give the committee the name.”
“The person authorizing and overseeing the murder attempts on me, Lex James, our twin boys, Josh and Caleb, KC Daniels, and U.S. Marshall Cody Cottrell was … the Deputy Directory of the FBI, Maximillian Carr.”
The room remained silent only for a few more seconds. Then reporters seated behind Gemma bolted for the doors.
Lex’s voice rose over the tumult of running feet and slamming doors. “There you have it. Max Carr. Which interpreted means great swamp. And if you want to question him, you’ll probably have to go to South America to find him.”
Chapter 37
Two weeks later, Cove Palisades Marina, Lake Billy Chinook
In the warm sun, Gemma sat on a long bench by the marina, one arm around Josh, the other around Caleb.
Lex was deep into negotiations with the man holding a clipboard. If Lex was satisfied, the houseboat floating in front of them would, in one more week, become their honeymoon suite. After Gemma and Lex spent three days and four nights on the boat, they would pick up the boys for the remainder of the week.
The marshals and local police were gone from Lex’s place and KC Daniels’ house. The need for protection left when Max Carr left the country. With President Gramm reluctant to appoint a special counsel, the House Judiciary Committee was busy smoking out other members of the conspiracy.
These people were far too busy covering their tracks and destroying incriminating evidence to worry about Gemma Saint.
But Gemma had more important matters to dwell on.
Lex looked their way and motioned for them to climb on board the houseboat.
Unsure about what he wanted, Gemma pointed to the boat.
Lex nodded.
Josh and Caleb had already decrypted Lex’s signals and each tugged on one of Gemma’s arms. “Come on, Gemma. We want to see our houseboat.”
“Yeah,” Caleb said. “We never been on a houseboat before.”
She let the boys pull her to a boarding ramp and they walked single file onto the boat.
Lex called out to them. “It’s a fifty-five-foot, ten-sleeper boat. Check it out while I go inside to finish the paperwork.”
She turned to yell at Lex before he went inside the office of the marina. “Can the boys swim?”
A sinking sensation deep inside brought feelings of inadequacy and failure. She should have known that. She was going to be their m
other.
“Swim? Like two Chinooks,” Lex said.
Josh and Caleb dropped her hands and ran into the house part of the boat.
“Boys, find the bedroom you want. But Lex and I get the big bedroom.”
Caleb’s head stuck out through the doorway. “You gonna sleep with Uncalex?”
What was going through that mind of his. Maybe she didn’t want to know.
Josh emerged beside Caleb. “Yeah. You know, Cabe. Like Mama and Dad always did. Cause that’s what married people do.”
There were no tears now when their mother and father were mentioned. For the boys, the issue was settled. Their mama and dad were happy and waiting for their reunion one day. In the meantime, they had adventures to live and a world to conquer. And the twins waited expectantly for the union that would soon take place, bringing Gemma into their family.
Knowing the boys were happy, and that she was part of the reason, quelled the doubts and fears of failure. She already knew the most important things about Josh and Caleb. She loved them and they loved her.
Gemma walked into the interior of the houseboat. The boys had decided on the room with two bunkbeds near the aft of the boat. Lex and Gemma would have the larger room closer to the bow.
When she stepped out of the cabin near the bow, Lex leaped from the dock onto the boat and slipped both arms around her neck. “So, does this meet with the bride’s approval?”
“It’s perfect.”
“Well, since I told the guy in the office that I already know how to pilot one of these things, he wants to see how I handle it. We’re going for a short ride.”
“How far?”
“About a quarter mile into the lake. Then we’ll circle around, and I’ll put it back into the slip.”
“You sure you can handle this thing? What happens if you damage it?”
“I pay them with the dowry your father’s paying me to take you off his hands.”
“So that’s why you wanted to marry me. If you married for money, you’re in for a big surprise, Lex James.”
“Gemma, I’d pay to marry you.”
“How much?”
“Well, I’m about to pay thirty-five hundred dollars to rent our honeymoon suite.”
“Gee, I was worth more dead than alive … according to Max Carr’s slush fund payment the IG found.”
Lex’s forehead wrinkled. “That’s all behind us now, Gemma. It’s as far as the east is from the west.”
She forced a smile. “Or as far as the north is from the south. You know, North and South America.”
Two heads poked out from the corner of the house. “We goin’ for a ride, Uncalex?”
“A short one, Josh.”
“A driving test,” Gemma said.
Lex took the wheel of the boat and fired up the engine which responded with a deep sound, midway between a purr and a rumble.
Soon, Lex had backed out of the marina and turned toward the middle of the blue-green lake.
“Come on, Gemma. Look at our room.” The boys ran ahead of her and disappeared into the cabin near the aft, while the houseboat glided into the lake.
When Gemma rounded the corner, at the rear of the boat, the boys had disappeared. “Come on, guys. I’m not going to play hide and seek today.”
At the doorway of the boys’ room, a tall figure stood, with Josh tucked under one arm and a gun shoved against his head.
Gemma drew a sharp breath and looked up into the man’s face, a face she had seen daily in the news for the past two weeks, Max Carr.
“Ms. Saint, we finally meet. Don’t even breathe unless I tell you, or I’ll blow his overdeveloped brains all over this deck.”
With those words, her terror fled as Gemma reacted to one of her boys being held by a man who had no right to be free, a man who had ordered her murder and, having failed, would do the job himself in a few moments.
She fought her rising, white-hot rage that, unchecked, might drive her and the boys to a sudden death, leaving Carr free to kill Lex.
She couldn’t let this story end that way.
“Come here, Gemma. I suddenly have a strong desire to have you near me.” His voice came in mocking, sing-song tones.
She didn’t move.
“Come, now, or he gets it.”
Where was Caleb? Was he okay?
Gemma lifted a foot to take a step closer, but stepped to her left, instead.
Carr turned to face her.
The cabin lay to her left. Behind her was the port side of the boat and behind Carr, the starboard. Both sides were lined with three-foot-high railing.
Gemma scanned everything in her surroundings looking for some advantage.
“Now, Ms. Saint.” He pressed the gun into Josh’s head.
Josh winced in pain, but he didn’t make a sound.
From inside the cabin came a soft voice. “Wonotap oop wye no.”
“Sye,” Josh said.
“Stop your babbling or …” Carr’s words were as he intended vile and shocking.
The boys probably had no idea what they meant.
“Sye,” Caleb said softly.
Gemma’s body stiffened.
The boys wouldn’t wait for this to play out according to Carr’s plan. Something was about to happen.
Josh opened his mouth wide, teeth only inches from Carr’s finger.
Gemma took another step toward Carr.
“That’s more like it.”
The look of satisfaction from a man in total control lit his face with a grin that there was only one way to describe, demonic.
Josh’s mouth closed.
Carr yelled and raised his gun to bring the handle down on Josh’s head.
Gemma lunged forward.
She drove her shoulder hard into Carr’s chest.
Off balance now, Carr’s gun struck a glancing blow on the back of Gemma’s head.
All three toppled over the railing into the water.
Lightning had flashed in Gemma’s vision when the gun struck her. The chilly water removed the stunning impact of the blow.
Gemma scanned the water.
Someone screamed. Not a kid’s voice.
The houseboat began a sharp turn.
Josh swam with rapid strokes toward the aft of the boat.
Caleb lowered a rope down for him to grab.
“Help me!” The voice beside Gemma came like the scream of a wildcat. “I can’t swim.”
If adrenaline hadn’t been rushing through her system, sending her heart into a presto rhythm, Gemma might have laughed, because Carr had totally lost it.
Instead of laughing, she swam toward the aft of the boat, where Josh now clung to the rope.
But the aft moved away from her. It moved too quickly for her to catch.
Now, the bow of the boat approached with Lex at the wheel.
Again, Carr screamed for help. Then he screamed obscenities. The pleas and the cursing came in a rapid, alternating sequence as he thrashed in the water.
Lex had kept the boat several yards from Carr. Evidently, Lex was aware of the situation, except for the boys whom he could not see. Worries about them would drive him to panic.
She needed to tell him they were fine.
“Gemma, are you okay?”
“The boys are okay, but Josh is still in the water hanging onto Caleb’s rope.”
“Are you okay, Gemma?”
“I think so. Just a lump on my head. Help the boys, Lex.”
“First, give me your hand.”
She did.
He pulled her up to where she could climb the side railing.
She climbed up and onto the deck.
Lex pulled her to the wheel. “Hold it steady. Don’t move the wheel or the throttle.”
“But Josh—”
I’ll get him. Lex sprinted down the side deck to the aft where Caleb stood, hands gripping a rope.
In the water, ten yards away, Max Carr went under. He bobbed up in a few seconds, flailing in the water. �
��I’m drowning! Help me!” His screeching seemed to have risen another octave.
“Like you helped me,” Gemma yelled.
Carr’s reply was another plea. “I’m drowning! Can’t swim!” His thrashing arms slowed. He went under again.
Lex returned with a boy clasping each of his hands. He took the wheel from her.
Gemma took the boys.
“Mama,” Josh reached for her and tears began to flow. Josh seldom cried.
Caleb nodded and leaned against her. “Yeah. Mama.”
A love so fierce Gemma could not explain it, contain it, or control it, surged through her mind, her heart … maybe her soul, wherever the real Gemma Saint lived.
These were her boys now, and no one, especially Max Carr, would take them from her.
“Gemma put a hand on Caleb’s shoulder. “Caleb, did you see where his gun went?”
“Gun?” Lex said.
“Yeah. After you tackled him,” Caleb said, “… it landed on the deck. I hid it by the door so I could get it if I had to shoot him.”
“I’ll bet he would have,” Lex said as he reached out to muss Caleb’s shaggy blonde hair.
Gemma stood, a boy’s hand in each of hers, and nodded toward the man in the water. “What do we do about him? Do we let him drown?”
Max went down again. Was that the third time? Regardless, he bobbed back up. His arms were slowing. Coughing and choking now, he wouldn’t last much longer.
“We were complaining about a corrupt Justice Department,” Lex said. “What Max Carr planned was no true justice. Maybe we should give him a taste of the real thing. I’ll get his gun. When I give you the signal, Gemma, toss him the life ring.” Lex paused. “Here’s my cell. Dial 911. I’ll keep our buddy, Max, in the water until the police arrive, and I don’t care if he gets hypothermia while we wait.”
Caleb looked up at Lex. “If he tries to get out of the water, will ya’ shoot him, Dad?”
“If I think he might hurt you, Josh or Gemma, you bet I will, Son.”
Epilogue
One week later, Gemma’s wedding day
Gemma’s wedding ceremony at the Crooked River Ranch Chapel had started a 10:00 a.m. By shortly after one o’clock, the reception lunch ended. Gemma had changed into shorts and a tank top, but left the crystal tiara on her head, and Lex had driven her away, headed north toward the Cove Palisades Marina, where they would get their rented houseboat and motor to some unknown location on the lake.
