by Jerry Moore
“I want everyone to buy new clothes and leave anything they are wearing in the store. It’s possible than Carl could have a tracking device on something he is wearing,” Jeff said.
We started walking again. “So how will we know if we’re in the clear?”
“We won’t. The longer we stay in the local area, the closer they will get to us. Eventually we’ll have to run,” he said.
“Unless Carl can decode that data card,” I countered.
“Even then, we can’t stay here. Under the right conditions, the bad guys might let us slip away. What they won’t do is let any of us openly defy them. The mob has an image to uphold. The Demarcos can’t afford to look weak in front of the other East Coast families,” he said.
“What is it about running that bothers you? I will be happy anywhere that we are together. Why do you keep resisting the idea of just leaving?” I asked.
“Look, if no one is looking for us, everyone can stay together,” he said.
“And if people are looking for us?” I asked.
“Then we have to split up into groups of two,” he said.
“No, I don’t want to do that. I’m not going anywhere without you. I also kind of like having Jenny around and Allison is like my sister. We all need to stay together.”
“Well, then we need to know what’s on that data card,” Jeff said as we walked into the store.
Chapter Eighteen
Carl was very quiet on the ride back to the farm. Allison was holding his hand and snuggling up next to him. Judging from the blank look on his face, she must have filled him in on what was really going on with everyone. Everyone was wearing their new clothes. Hey, it was an excuse for new shoes. Any trip that involved new shoes couldn’t be all bad.
I was sure that everyone had the same question on their mind. Could Carl decipher what was on that data card? I assumed that he could since Allison had bought him a new computer and a bunch of accessories for it. Maybe the better question was whether Carl was up to deciphering what was on the data card. He looked pretty freaked out about whatever Allison had told him.
I tried not to laugh, thinking about the look that must have been on Carl’s face when Allison told him that she was an older woman, a much older woman. That wasn’t even taking into account any discussion about how she could beat up almost every guy on the planet and could kill with almost no hesitation.
Of course, the same was true of the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Suddenly, thinking about the look on Carl’s face didn’t seem as funny as it had just a few moments ago. I remembered my own shock and disbelief about Jeff being immortal. Even that was after I had seen Jeff save my friend’s life with what could only be called miraculous abilities.
Once we arrived back at the farm, we reconvened around the dining room table. I could feel everyone’s anxiety increasing. The situation was becoming tenser by the hour.
Jeff looked around the table. “I’m sure everyone would like an update of our situation. Allison, are you guys up to speed on everything?”
Carl looked up. “Yeah, I think I understand things pretty well now. It just took me a while to come to grips with the fact that my girlfriend is a pretty scary person.”
Allison gave him an evil look. “I am a very nice person. Sometimes stuff just happens.”
“Carl, the question is, can you or will you decode the date card we have?” Jeff asked.
“Sure, I can create a program and have it decrypted in a couple of hours,” Carl said.
Jeff raised his eyebrows. “That fast?”
Carl smiled. “At the risk of sounding conceded, I’m a computer genius. I could do this in my sleep.”
Jeff looked around at each person at the table. “Here’s the tactical situation. I expect the bad guys to figure out where we are soon. In fact, they may already know where we are. We need the information off that data card so that we have something to negotiate with. So, starting now, Phil, Allison, and myself will take turns patrolling outside and checking for any signs of hostiles. Phil, you’re the tactical expert. What can we expect?”
Phil paused for a moment. “Flores is very good. However, he has two major problems. First he is outnumbered, as far as us immortals are concerned. There are three of us and only one of him. The second problem is that he will not be in any hurry to advertise the existence of immortals. He would be bringing heat down on himself if he did. If the world governments knew about us, they would try and hunt us down.”
I sort of half raised my hand. “Okay, so how does that help us?”
“It limits his options. He knows he probably can’t kill everyone. I suspect that you, Carl, and that data card will be his priority. I expect him to attack fast and in full force. He already knows that bullets are highly unlikely to kill myself, Jeff, or Allison. His friends probably won’t know this. I would guess that he expects to sacrifice all his mortal friends. There is nothing but flat cotton fields for miles around us. This location actually works to our tactical advantage. His troops will have to cross a lot of open ground to get to us.”
Carl’s face became pale. “Why me? I mean I get why they would go after Lisa. And why wouldn’t they want to go after Jenny as well? I mean she’s just a mortal, right?”
Jenny sighed. “They won’t kill me on purpose, if they can help it. The mob really doesn’t like the attention created when they kill a federal officer. Make no mistake; this will look like a mob hit and the mob will take credit for it. They can’t be sure what your importance to us is. They will assume it is because of your computer skills. That makes you a danger to them.”
Allison put her arm around him. “Don’t worry; we won’t let anything happen to you. Besides I have big plans for you.”
Once the meeting broke up, I headed back to my bedroom. There really wasn’t anything for me to do. I couldn’t help Carl out with decrypting the data card. At least that is what I told myself. The truth is that I didn’t want to be there when he got it decrypted. I was afraid of what was on that card. Had my mother been involved with the mob? That was crazy. Yet, Jenny claimed that an agent had good information about that.
I lay across the bed and wondered how it had gotten to this. When I first went to the feds, I was the only target. Now the mob had six targets. No one was saying it, but I knew that I was putting everyone in danger. Unfortunately, there was no going back for anyone. The mob would assume that all six of us had seen the evidence. We would get out of this together or not at all.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t even hear Jeff come into the room. I jumped in surprise when he sat down on the bed next to me. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.”
He leaned down and kissed me on the lips. “You never have to tell me that you’re sorry.”
“So you decided to come check on me?”
“Actually, I need to talk to you. We need to talk about us.”
He had my complete attention. “What about us?”
“I want us together always,” he said.
I sat up and put my arm around him. “Hey, you’re never getting rid of me. I know that I’ll get older and you never will. I don’t care. I love you like I have never loved anyone before.”
“You know, my last wife showed me how precious time is and how we don’t always have as much time as we think we do,” he said.
I kissed him on the cheek. “You know, you don’t have to tell me about your past. God knows, I’m not perfect and have had a rather checkered past, myself.”
“I don’t mind telling you. I have no secrets from you. I wanted to do this a little better, but here goes,” he said.
“Here what goes?” I asked.
Jeff slid off the bed and down to one knee as he took something out of his shirt pocket. “Will you marry me?” He opened his hand, revealing a simple gold band with a large diamond.
I took the ring. “Of course, I’ll marry you. Are you sure it’s been long enough since your wife passed away? If you need some tim
e before we actually get married, I would understand.”
He gave me a knowing smile. “Her name was Ingrid. We lived in Berlin, Germany. She was killed during the fall of Berlin. That was at the end of World War Two, in the spring of 1945.”
Okay, now I was kind of freaked out. “So, I’m going to marry a man who was a German during World War Two? Were you like an actual Nazi?”
He shook his head. “No, let me explain. Hitler was busy before and during the war collecting religious artifacts. I was in Germany to keep an eye on his activities. That is where I met and married Ingrid. I tried to stay out of the military stuff.”
“Look, you don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to. You can just tell me to shut up if you feel like it. I’m just really curious about some things now. Like what did Allison mean in the hospital when she told me that if you had taken a few more chances, your wife might not have died?” I asked.
“I should have broken my cover and given up on my mission. I should have taken Ingrid and run away with her. I didn’t. It got crazy in Berlin as the Russian Army closed in on the city. Any man who didn’t join the Home Guard was shot for cowardice.”
I put my hand up to stop him. “What exactly was the Home Guard?”
“It was kind of like the Army reserves here. It was really men too young or too old to be in the regular German army. We were the last ditch defense to stop the Russians. It was suicide. I still thought that I could maintain my cover and we could just ride the crisis out. Little did I know that Hitler would be dead within a week.”
“So what happened to Ingrid?” I asked.
Tears were forming in his eyes. “I don’t know. She was found shot to death in the street. I don’t even know if it was a German or a Russian that killed her. I have no idea why she was outside. I told her to stay in our basement until all the fighting was over. I wasn’t there to save her. I should have taken the chance and tried to get her out of Germany.”
I brushed away one of his tears. “Is that why you won’t let me out of your sight?”
“Yes, I won’t let it happen again,” he replied.
“It won’t happen this time. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to have your babies.”
He winced. “Well, there is a slight problem with that. I should have mentioned this earlier. I actually don’t seem capable of having children. I don’t know of a single immortal that has been able to have children.”
I tried to put a brave face on. “That’s okay, I still love you. At least now we don’t have to talk about birth control.”
“I can tell you’re disappointed.”
“I’m okay; we can always explore other options at some point. Of course, that’s all contingent on the mob not trying to kill me for a while.”
“So you’ll still marry me?” Jeff asked.
“There is nothing in the world I want more than to be Mrs. Jeff Campbell.”
Jeff took me in his arms and gently kissed me. I felt him guiding me down to the bed as his tongue explored my mouth. We laid together on the bed with our bodies intertwined. I kissed him as hard as I could as I felt his hands exploring my body. My hands were roaming over his muscular body as well.
I don’t know how long we laid there making out. The light was starting to fade in the bedroom. The sun was going down. I noticed a soft glow in the room. I knew it was coming from Jeff’s hands.
I sat up and looked at him. “What are you doing? There’s nothing wrong with me but you’re doing your whole healing hands thing. Do I have some disease I don’t know about?”
“As far as I know, you’re in perfect health. I’ve been wanting to test a theory,” he said.
“What is this theory?” I asked.
“It has been said that a person starts dying the day they are born. The human body is constantly decaying. Allison and I have a theory that I may be able to reverse that decay for short periods. We think I may be able to reverse a few weeks of decay.”
“Are you saying you can keep me from aging?”
“Yes, or at least slow it down to an almost undetectable rate. At least that is the theory and it may take a few years for us to know for sure.”
“When exactly did you come up with this theory?”
“We came up with it a few years ago. However, we’ve never had anyone to test it on.”
“So, I’m your guinea pig?”
“I like to think of you more as the person I want to spend the rest of my life with.”
Our conversation was cut short by Allison bursting into the room. “He did it!”
I looked up at her. “He did what?”
She looked absolutely giddy. “Carl broke the decryption. We can see what’s on the data card now.”
I swallowed hard. It was the moment of truth. Now I would have to face whatever was on that data card.
Chapter Nineteen
I sat in front of Carl’s laptop and stared at the screen. I was alone in Allison’s bedroom. Carl had been using her bedroom to work on decrypting the data card from my pendant. Carl had already put copies of all the files on six thumb drives, one for each of us. No one had actually seen any of the files yet. Jeff wanted to give me the chance to view it privately first. He said that since the files were originally intended for me that I should look them over before anyone got to look at them.
I used the computer mouse to click on a file called ‘Kat’. My mother named me Katherine. Most people called me Kathy, but my mom always just called me Kat. I had gotten so used to being called Lisa that it seemed weird to think of myself as Kat. The file opened and a letter from my mother filled the screen.
Kat,
I know things have been a little tense between us lately but I want you to know that I love you very much. I am giving you this information as a insurance policy of sorts. If everything went as planned, I gave you the codes to decrypt the files on this data card at dinner tonight. If that is the case, you can stop reading. If not, I might need to explain what has happened.
Your father always said I was too nosy for my own good. It looks like that may finally be true. Two months ago, one of the partners at the firm asked me to work on a project for him. He wanted me to audit the books on a small company one of our clients owned.
I guess I did my job a little too well. I stumbled across some irregularities and kept digging. I dug too deep and discovered that the company in question was actually owned by the Demarco family. Not only that, but it seemed to be operating as a front for some intelligence services.
I have included several of the spreadsheets that contain information linking covert American intelligence agencies with the Demarco family. I took all of this information to a man I know at the Justice Department. He was unofficially looking into my suspicions. He was found dead two days ago, an apparent suicide. I am sure he was murdered.
I also included some audio files that my friend had let me listen to. There were still copies of these files on my computer when he died. They are taped conversations between members of the Demarco family and both U.S. Senators from New York, as well as an influential congresswoman from New York. The conversations are very incriminating and show that the government appears to be in bed with the Demarcos.
I think they know I’m on to them. We may all be in danger. I am so sorry about problems this will cause for you. I know you are still seeing Tommy Demarco against my wishes, but you need to take these files and get as far away from these people as you possibly can.
Remember that I love you always.
Love,
Mom
I glanced at the date on the computer file. It was dated the day that she and my father died in a ‘supposed’ accident. There wasn’t much doubt that it was no accident. She had given me the pendant a few days before that. It had seemed strange that she would just give me a gift out of the blue. I remember thinking that she was trying to bribe me into breaking it off with Tommy.
I laid my head on the desk and began to sob. The Demarc
os had killed my parents. They had to pay for what they had done.
When I looked up, Jeff was there. I hate it when he does that. “They killed my parents for what’s in these files. I feel so dirty. Not only was I acting like a cheap little tramp. I was acting that way with the very people who killed my parents. I honestly don’t know why you would want to marry a girl like me.”
Jeff put his hand on my cheek. “That’s not who you are today and I doubt that is who you really were then either. It’s not your fault your parents were killed.”
I got up from the desk. “Go ahead, you can read it. It’s all there. No wonder they wanted these files so badly. I never thought that being a good accountant could get you killed. I guess when you are dealing with the Demarcos it can.”
Jeff sat down and started to read. “Okay, now we have something to negotiate with.”
Unfortunately, that was as far as the negotiation talk got. We heard two gunshots from outside. They must have been warning shots because Allison was in my head a second later. We were under attack. I ran to my bedroom and grabbed my nine millimeter pistol. Jenny and Carl followed me into the room. Jenny closed the door behind her.
Jenny grabbed both of us by the arm pulling us to the floor. “Get down. Both of you, get on the floor.”
As if on cue, the window exploded, sending glass everywhere. I could see the bullet holes in the wall. I had no idea where Jeff was. No doubt, he was meeting the enemy head on. The problem was that it only took a couple of the mafia soldiers making it through to take care of me and Carl.
I had no doubt that Jeff, Allison, and Phil would eventually win the day. The question was could any of the bad guys get to us and the files before Jeff and company wiped all of them out? Of course, there was also the matter of another immortal running around and he worked for the bad guys.
I could feel the whole house shaking as the exterior walls were being rocked by gunfire. I could hear the bullets whizzing over my head. I felt the panic begin to grip me. How many of my friends would have to be hurt or killed to protect me? I knew that I had to be the main target. I wasn’t just going to sit and wait for my white knight to slay all the dragons. I bolted for the door.
