Azaleas Don't Bloom Here

by Frank Klus

  “Fine! Have some flunky bring them to me.”

  “All right. Good-bye.”

  Armstrong hung up and turned to Foote. “Oh, I got clients to see, and I have to be in court. I tell you, Terry, I’m about ready to break that lawyer’s kneecaps. All I can say is he better have those maps tomorrow, and after all the money he’s taken from us, he better not try to bill us, or so help me…. Terry, go rouse our senator.”

  Ev Moore was sound asleep. He didn’t hear the knocking at the door. The knocking became a bit more insistent and still Moore snored away. Foote went back to his room and came back with a dumbbell. Now he made some real noise. Moore shot up wondering if there was an explosion. Then he heard Foote.

  “Moore, you up?”

  “What?” Moore tried to shake the sleep out.

  “Get up, Moore!”

  “What is it? Let me sleep,” he said groggily.

  “No time. You want freedom, don’t you?”

  “Right now, I want sleep.”

  “You got five minutes. Come to Room 120, and don’t make me come back for you.”

  Fifteen minutes later, Moore knocked on Armstrong’s door.

  “Here, Ev. Good strong joe. No sugar and no milk; just caffeine.”

  Moore took the coffee. He made a face after tasting it, and then set the coffee down, still feeling groggy. “Have you found another path to the border?”

  “No,” Armstrong said. “We need information. You have Washington contacts. You’ve provided Pamela with information before. Now, we need some. I want to know who’s in CSA territory, and where they are. I want to know what we have to fear: Hogs, Squads, RACs, local authorities, etc. I want to know where they are and where they aren’t. I also want a copy of the treaty with CSA and the U.S.; what’s changed, and what kind of sanctions exist. I want to know how we can get around a media blackout. Any questions?”

  “I have most of that information for you, and Pamela has a way of communicating with her brother Henry on the other side.”

  “Does most of that information consist of civilian authorities like we faced last night?”

  “No, only formal authorities.”

  “Can you get information on the informal authorities?”

  “I doubt it. You’d need a spy for that.”

  Armstrong had to think on that. “Okay, Ev, get me whatever you have.”

  Moore left.

  “He’s probably right,” addressing his concern to Foote and Wrenn. Armstrong sat back in his chair while the other two just waited for his idea so they could execute it. Armstrong looked worried.

  Eugene sat down to a sandwich and a bottle of wine. He had turned X News on when someone knocked. He thought it might be Pamela or Armstrong; maybe another meeting or someone with a new idea. When Eugene opened the door, there was Sandy.

  “May I come in?”

  Eugene was surprised. Sandy hadn’t spoken to him since that terrible day. “Sure, come in. I was just about to have a sandwich. Want one?”

  “No, thanks, but I’ll have a glass of wine, if you don’t mind.”

  Eugene poured her a glass. “I guess I am surprised to see you. We hadn’t spoken in a while.”

  “I’m sorry about that. I try to not think about that day. I want to be my old self, but I think about it all the time. A man can’t know what I felt. You may think you do, but you can’t.”

  “You mean I can’t empathize with you.” Sandy nodded. “You’re right. No man could.”

  “The fear that I would be killed, and the shame of standing there butt naked in front of everyone…” Sandy was stressing. “…in front the goddamn traffic; horns blowing, people yelling out of their cars, and the fear that if the police came they might just arrest us. Jesus Christ, Gene. I just wanted to die. I tried to be brave. I tried to plan my escape, but when Pizzaro pulled my pants down I couldn’t run away. I didn’t know what I could do. I kept waiting for Chad to do something and the next thing I know, you’re flying out of the woods like some crazy guy.” Sandy just paused to drink some of the wine, and then more before she just downed the whole glass and poured herself another one.

  Eugene stared at her. “I’m glad you came, Sandy. You need to talk about this. Let me get you something to eat.”

  “No, thank you, Gene. I ate before I came here. Actually, I came here because of something else, something I heard.”

  Eugene was interested in what this ‘something’ was. He sat down in the chair at the table, opposite Sandy. “What?”

  “Is your last name Sulke?”

  “Yeah, I guess I thought you already knew that.”

  “No. Everyone just called you Gene. It was Pamela who mentioned it. I used to know a….” She changed her mind and redirected. “Did you grow up in Countryside, Illinois?”

  “Sure. My parents still live there. Why do you ask?”

  “Do you remember a little girl you used to like, Sandy Montgomery?” Eugene’s eyes lit up.

  “Oh my God! Sandy?”

  Sandy just grinned and nodded. “Yeah.”

  “I do remember. I had such an odd sensation that I knew you from somewhere or that you reminded me of someone. Oh I had such a crush on you.”

  “I know. I felt the same way about you.”

  “Then you moved away. Gee, I think we were only about ten or twelve years old. Didn’t you move to Decatur?”

  “Springfield. My dad got a job with the state.”

  “I always hoped that you would write. I even hoped you’d come back again.”

  “I wanted to write—even started a few letters—but I never finished them. I figured, what was the use? I knew I’d never see you again. Dad said he was set for life. He bought a home and still lives there.”

  Eugene was reminiscing again. He smiled softly. “We had such fun back then. I remember the time we saw that children’s movie. I can’t remember the name of it, just that it was animated, and it was about the bear that had no friends.”

  “That’s right, I remember. After the movie you bought me a soda.”

  “What are the odds that we’d find each other like this?”

  “Practically zero. Yet here we are. We both experienced Hell House and we grew up in the same neighborhood. Oh, what time is it? There’s a movie I want to watch.”

  “Stay here. I’ll watch it with you.” Sandy smiled. Eugene got up to microwave some popcorn.

  After the movie, Sandy got up to leave. Eugene stood up and walked her to the door, and then Sandy turned to him, searchingly. “There’s something that I don’t understand, Gene.”

  “What’s that?”

  “We should be the same age, but you look much older. I don’t know, maybe ten or fifteen years older than me.” Eugene suddenly remembered about the disguise. He then let out a laugh.

  “I had been wearing this for so long I forgot I had it on.”

  Sandy looked perplexed.

  “The makeup. I’m supposed to look older so I wouldn’t be spotted. But it doesn’t matter anymore. Wait just a few minutes. Sit down, Sandy. I want to show you what I really look like. It’ll only be about ten minutes.”

  Sandy sat down in anticipation. Then she got up, mouth agape, and smiling. “Gene! Look at you!” She let out a laugh.

  “Do I look any different?” he asked, playfully. Gene had lost most of his potbelly since Hell House and his escape. Now, with his disguise off, he looked really good.

  Sandy was still laughing. “Oh, Gene, you’re still as handsome as I remembered.” Eugene was beaming.

  “Say, Sandy, when we get to New America, do you suppose I can call you up sometime?” Sandy just laughed.

  “You better.”

  Three days had passed since Chad Armstrong had ordered the lawyer to get the requested maps to him. He called more than a dozen times only to be given the runaround. He turned to his two mates, looking frustrated. “He’s in a meeting; he’s out of the office; he’s with a client. It’s always something. He never returns my phone ca
lls.” Armstrong was steaming. “Let’s go down to Phillips’s office. We’re going to have a little talk with that scoundrel.”

  When they entered the outer office, the secretary greeted them. “May I help you?”

  “You remember me, Chad Armstrong.”

  “Oh, yes, sir. I’m sorry, but Mr. Phillips isn’t in. He’ll be in court all day.”

  Armstrong scowled. Wrenn had a diabolical smile on his face, and Foote went over to the lawyer’s door and pounded on it. “Phillips! Open up.”

  The secretary scolded him. “I told you, he’s not in his office. You can come back tomorrow.”

  Armstrong leaned across the desk, toward the frightened secretary. “Get that bastard on the phone, and tell him to get over here right away.”

  Joanne, the secretary, wasn’t sure what to do. She was beginning to believe she wasn’t dealing with just any old client. Just then, Phillips opened his door. “May I help you?” He just stood there in a starched white dress shirt, red tie and an expensive looking vest. On his left wrist was a Rolex watch. His silver hair was perfectly groomed. His head was slightly tilted in a haughty manner. Wrenn and Foote rushed in.

  “You can’t just barge into my office.”

  Armstrong stayed outside to keep an eye on the secretary. “Looks like your boss snuck back in without you knowing about it.”

  The secretary didn’t say anything. Joanne was used to a lot of angry customers coming in and refusing to leave; even barging into Nate’s office. It happened. She knew her boss was crooked, but he paid her well. What she wasn’t used to, however, was the sound of her boss squealing several times. It frightened her.

  “Let’s go in and find out what’s going on,” Armstrong said. Joanne started to protest, but Chad was insistent. They walked in and Joanne was stunned at seeing the desk moved out of the way and his boss up against the wall, staring at a dagger at his throat.

  “I think he got the message, Jack,” Chad said to Wrenn. Wrenn let Phillips go and put the knife away. “Are you ready to do some business, Nate, old boy?” Chad said.

  “There is no more business with you guys. I showed you the way to freedom, led you right up to the fence. Now I don’t know anything about who tipped off those two guys, but they didn’t stop you anyway. All you had to do is climb over the fence. No barbed wire to stop you. The fence was an easy climb. If you didn’t take it, then it was by your own choice. Don’t blame me. I kept my end of the bargain.”

  “I take it you don’t have any maps for us,” Chad said.

  “Our business is over. If you don’t leave, I’ll call the police. I understand that frightens you, doesn’t it?”

  “Well, I don’t suppose frighten is the word for it. Now, talking about police is no way to conduct some unfinished business. You have a hundred grand from us, and as far as I can tell, you haven’t earned any of it.” Phillips was still defiant.

  “Sit over there, Nate.” Armstrong indicated a chair over against the wall and away from his desk. He motioned to Joanne to join him.

  “I’m fine right here,” he said.

  “Terry, help him find his seat.” Addressing Nate, “I didn’t ask you to take a seat, I told you to sit there. Now, tell me, Nate, how did you spend our money?”

  “I have people to pay off: police, community leaders, citizen patrols, etc. Then there’s my own expense. I get paid five hundred an hour.”

  “How do you explain those two yokels who met us at the end of the woods?”

  “Somebody must have paid them more.”

  “So you take no responsibility?”

  “What does it matter? You overpowered them.”

  “It doesn’t explain what happened. Nevertheless, those guys provided some useful information for us.”

  “Care to tell us about it, Nate?” Wrenn said.

  “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

  “Terry, search his files for anything we need. Jack, keep an eye on Nate. Keep after him to tell the truth. Me and Joanne here are going to go out to the outer office and have a talk.”

  Joanne was crying. They walked back to the outer office, closing the door behind them. “Please don’t kill me. I have a husband and a six year old son at home.”

  Just then a customer entered the office. Armstrong turned toward him. “Office is closed. Get out!” The man hurried out.

  “Can you lock that door?” Chad suggested putting a sign on the door. She did so.

  “Good. Now we can have some privacy.”

  “Please, don’t hurt me.”

  “Is your boss even a real lawyer?”

  “Yes,” she sobbed.

  “Tell me about his clients.”

  “Mostly people like you. They’re looking to escape the country. There desperate. Nate preys on them.”

  “That so? How many clients does he have?”

  “I don’t know—a lot.”

  “Dozens?”

  “Yes.”

  “A hundred?”

  “More.”

  “Two hundred?”

  “He might, but I don’t think there’s that many.”

  “Shall we say one fifty.”

  “About that.”

  “Do any of them make it to the other side?”

  “No.”

  “None?”

  She just shook her head. “That fence is not really a border fence. Nate and about a dozen other men just put it up.”

  “Well, well, well,” Armstrong said, wearing a sly grin. “Not even a real border fence. How far is the real border?”

  “About five miles.”

  Armstrong was surprised. “Then how do people die of exposure? One of those yokels who tried to get the drop on us said a few people escape, but it was about twenty-five miles to civilization, if you knew enough to go the right way. Now you tell me it’s only five miles away.”

  “He probably believed it. They think that fence is the real border. Only a couple dozen people or so know the truth.”

  “What about the people who were supposed to have died from lack of food and water?”

  Joanne hesitated. “They were shot.”

  “Who double-crossed us at that pretend border fence?”

  She hesitated again. “It was Nate.”

  “So Nate took a hundred grand from us to cross a fence that had nothing to do with the border, then he betrays us, and what…shared the bounty with the civilian patrol?”

  “Yes, though he pockets most of the money.”

  “Thank you, Joanne. Let’s go inside and see what my partners found.”

  “Chad,” said Foote, “you should see the shit old Nate’s got here. Everything we need. Maps, citizen patrols, where everyone lives, who’s involved; even where the watch patrols are, and when the shifts change.”

  Chad turned to Wrenn. “So, what has Nate to say for himself?”

  “I can speak for myself.”

  “Then speak.”

  “It isn’t just me. You kill me and it won’t change anything. I’m easily replaced, and wherever you go you’ll run into civilian patrols.”

  “You’re their leader?”

  “One of them. People with money and resources organize other civilian patrols up and down the border.”

  “You mean the real border or just that fence?”

  Nate just glanced over to Joanne.

  “I told him. He said he’d kill me if I didn’t.”

  Nate was very unhappy about that. Chad delivered a right hook to the schnoz. Phillips’ nose began bleeding and he just sat there holding it. Armstrong told Foote to grab the documents he found.

  “That’s theft,” Phillips said.

  Armstrong just spun around toward the lawyer. “That’s real sick, coming from you. After all, when it comes to theft, you’re a real pro. Now, if either of you are thinking of going to the police, I’ll send one of my men here to burn your office to the ground, with both of you in it.”

  Chapter 26:

  Plan Interrupted
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  Eugene and Sandy went to a restaurant across from the motel for some lunch while Hayfield ordered takeout from another restaurant and ate his lunch at poolside. No one was standing guard anymore.

  Armstrong learned of a conference room not in use, and so that afternoon Armstrong, his two buddies, Pamela Piper, the O’Reilly’s, and Senator Moore went over Moore’s maps, and the maps and reports that he took from Phillips. They spent the first two hours going over everything to see what they had. Then they began throwing out ideas and options. “With this information,” Ray said, “getting across should be easy. All that’s left is picking the easiest way.” When Sandy and Eugene got back, they decided to see what their leadership had come up with. Eugene knocked on the door and Wrenn answered it. “Gene, my man, and Sandy.” “Come on in, folks,” Chad said. “What…you didn’t bring your buddy Haystacks with you?” mocked Terry Foote. Wrenn let out a laugh, and the others joined in. Pamela was on the phone with her brother, Henry, Mayor of Piper City, formerly Baker City, Oregon. “Okay, but Chad Armstrong wants to speak with you. Hold on.” Pamela gave the phone to Armstrong. “Okay, Henry, what’s your recommendation?” Everyone waited. There was a long pause while Chad heard Henry’s arguments, but Chad started shaking his head and the group was ready to hear some bad news. “No, Henry, I don’t think that’s a good idea. It may be secluded, but the thought of children being present isn’t good. Look, I’ve been studying the maps and I think the best way in is on Highland Avenue.” There was another pause, and then, “Hold on, Henry. Let me relay that to the group. Hey, Pamela, does this have a speaker phone?” “I think it does, but I’m not sure how to use it.” The phone was military and used by anyone connected to the government when they needed advanced encryptions. “It does,” Ev Moore said. “Let me show you.” “Okay, Henry, can you hear me?” “Loud and clear.” “Good. You’re on speakerphone. The whole group is listening in. Now, tell me again what you just said.” “I said I don’t think Highland is a good idea. It’s too open.” “Well, Henry, that’s why you’re in administration and I’m in the military. Where you see open spaces, I see hills. Ever read about Waterloo?” “No. Is that where Napoleon was captured?” “You know how?” Chad said, smiling. “No.” “Hills, my man. Even Napoleon didn’t see them. They’re subtle. The British lied down and the French couldn’t see them. Same thing. Plus, we’ll be there late at night. No traffic on the cross street, two guards my sharpies can see, but won’t be seen. They’ll be taken out, the lock on the gate broken, and we’ll go right through. Then about seven miles to the border. Can you meet us there? We may need your help getting through.” “I hate bloodshed. Can’t you bribe them to let you through?” “No. In the first place we’ve tried that before and it was a disaster. They just double-crossed us. In the second place, we’re all broke. I’m not sure what’s going on. I mean no one knows for sure why there is so much incentive to stop us, even after taking bribes. Senator Moore thinks the government may be bribing them to stop people from crossing as well, but he isn’t sure. It may be NOGOV.” “Okay, we’ll do it your way, Chad. What time can we expect you?” “12:15 A.M.” “We’ll have a couple militiamen at the border.”