Ray thought about the strength it would take to do the right thing in Hurst’s spot, especially since Matt already admitted to him that he was torn between their ideology and his patriotism. Matt divulged that he didn’t think the overall thing Vera and Pablo were trying to accomplish was necessarily evil. He just had issue with their method of delivering it.
Matt hadn’t just gunned them down, he’d pleaded with them to come to their senses. Ray recounted the story Hurst told when Vera said to him, “Listen to what the world is saying, Matt,” and then the President came on the television right on cue, deflating her point. He tried to imagine himself with that much strength, but in the end, he doubted he would have the courage to do it.
Hurst had the fortitude to cast aside a love that can only be describe as “madly passionate,” to end something so hideous that when the bug team (as Ray calls the IT people) unraveled this whole computer thing, they turned white as ghosts. The CIA was on the virus list!
Ray rose, grabbed his jacket off the rack, and flung it over his shoulder. He would love to live the “Adventurous Life of Matt Hurst,” but truthfully, he would have failed that mission.
Ray knew his strengths lied in other places, such as putting guys like Hurst back together again. He hit the lobby floor button on the elevator and was reading the text messages on his phone when he nearly trucked her over on his exit.
Looking up and apologizing, he saw the person he almost ran over was Kim Sullivan—not crisp, well-dressed, professional Kim. This Kim had on jeans, a t-shirt covered by a leather jacket and some smart looking boots. In boots, they stood eye to eye, which Ray could live with. Her hair was in a ponytail and actually had some length that surprised and excited him as he preferred long hair, “Hi, Ray.”
“Hello, Kim, you look different.”
“I’m not always at work, Ray,” she said with a coy smile, as he surely knew different. “I had some tickets to a late jazz show and thought you might like to join me, somehow I just knew I would find you here.” Her coy smile returned, “We could go by your place so you can change, then I’ll drive us there.”
He answered in kind of a trance, “I would love to go, Kim,” but the man in him did not miss the affirmative, “I’ll drive,” that she inserted. He’d felt it with her, but thought it one way, so he never spoke up, never acted. Apparently she was smart enough and bold enough to act on it. He knew she was bold, as she was the youngest person to ever hold her position, he just never knew how bold until now.
It was rumored that she was just as inexperienced as he in the relationship department. It was evident to Ray that he wasn’t going to always be leading in this dance, but she must know that he won’t be kowtowed, either. I’ll be the Yin to her Yang, even if I do let her drive tonight.
As they walked out into the night, he thought he would be bold as well, and held out his arm to a woman for the first time in his life. Carpe diem. When Kim slipped her arm through his it felt better than he could have ever hoped for as the two walked out into a rather balmy D.C. night.
* * *
Lawrence Caulfield finally went to bed. It was after two in the morning and he looked over to the other side to observe his wife, Anne. She was beautiful as always. The two had met in college and he’d had eyes for no one else since. She was always so graceful when she slept.
It’s like she went to Southern Charm and Proper Sleep School, not even a snort to tease her about in the morning. He slid in without waking her thanks to the best mattress money could buy. He had a smile on his face, and that was a rare thing these days. I did a good thing. I’m sure of it.
Hurst was no more a desk jockey than he was a janitor. Chase would find a home for him and using Frederick to be his handler instead of Ray would almost be a straight transition as the two were pressed from the same mold, cut from the same mentor. It will all fit nicely as TJAC has bark but no bite, but this will change that.
Hurst was going to get a new identity, a semi-new face, and the time to recover. Once Matt had healed both physically and mentally, he was coming to work for them. Lawrence knew that the next four years were going to go quickly and he was only able to handle the idea of the loss of power because he knew TJAC existed.
He didn’t care what any other former President said, the power of the world’s most intoxicating job was indeed addictive. TJAC was going to offer him a chance to still make real difference in the world after he was no longer the President. Now they were going to bring Matt in; that way Lawrence could make sure that the boy was cared for.
After joining TJAC, Lawrence had only seen two faces, those of Chase and Jason Evans. He fondly remembered the day he got to meet them all at their headquarters. He thought their office hokey at first. It was lavish, of course, and with dark hardwood framed walls and colonial furniture everywhere, it was quite opulent.
It was also slathered with Jefferson quotes and busts, which was the reason for his initial hokey thought. It was seriously a tribute to Jefferson that you would not think men of such power would allow themselves to be seen exposing to others. He always figured men like this had too much hubris to ever concede a point or emulate another in this way.
To name a powerful network after one of our forefathers was touching and a little odd to say the least. Lawrence remembers seeing the carved wood plaque on Chase’s desk. It was, of course, a Jefferson quote, “As our enemies found we can reason like men, now let us show them we can fight like men also.”
Lawrence thought, well, this last world episode shows just how important a group like TJAC is going to become. It’s clear that my Government can’t do it all anymore, as the world has changed too drastically. The next reality is North Korea will soon have the ability to reach our shores with a nuke of their own, but that’s a crisis for another day.
Lawrence remembers speaking first to his mentor earlier that day, “Hopefully Hurst sells the Agency on his reasoning to leave. Ray will surely back him up and then he can move to a city of his choosing and get back on his feet.”
Chase replied, “I’m very interested to see what he’s able to come up with when he’s presented the many different scenarios we encounter weekly.”
The President uttered admiringly, “He’s a good boy, Chase, and he’ll do right by us, I’m sure of it.”
As the President was dozing off he thought how really thankful he was that he won the last election so he could use his power to make some things happen for this true American Hero. The only thing that was bothering him as he dozed off was the information that only a very few people in the world knew. It was the kind of information that could keep him up at night if he wasn’t so damn tired.
Barnett’s team obtained a hairbrush when they went through the kid’s things the school had boxed up in France. The Paris Station Chief was smart enough to make sure it wasn’t lost or misplaced, which came in handy when they matched the DNA to that of that man they dumped at sea. He rolled over and started to softly snore. Not good was his last thought before going out.
* * *
Matt cracked the door ever so slightly. His old bedroom was silent, but the morning light now broached the sill and was spilling light into the room. He saw the silhouette of the little boy sleeping and his heart leapt. My son! He looked toward the window and Jan was sitting in a rolling computer chair looking out the window and brushing her wet hair. He opened the door without a creak and came into the room. Without looking back she said, “What took you so long to get back to me?”
* * *
He was at the table in the alcove, and the place was redolent with the smells of breakfast. Bacon, potatoes, and coffee filled the air in a mixture of wonderful that lifted his spirits. Topping it all, there was some cinnamon pastry smell wafting from the oven that made his stomach ache.
She spoke from the stove as she was preparing his plate, “You know we slept nearly a day, we’re so bad. Today is Saturday. We went into the bedroom Thursday night!” He kissed her neck and she thought how it had
been the best few weeks of her life. She was sure they would come out of it soon. Not that she was in a hurry for it to end, as she was in heaven, her prayers answered.
They were enjoying privacy in their relationship currently as her parents were gone again, this time for months. She set his plate in front of him as he went back to the alcove and was looking out at the Limmat River. He opened his laptop. She was across from him and couldn’t see the screen and wouldn’t read it if she could. That’s one of the things he loved most about her, she was a very simple person who didn’t watch TV or read the newspapers. He doubted she could name three world leaders.
He watched the fraudulent broadcast his enemies made; pretty clever I must admit. Even though Matt betrayed him and killed his Vera to stop his plan, it looked like the Sheep were going to finish the job anyway. Then this fake broadcast by his adversaries stemmed the rising tide. Even though he had a photographic memory, he was currently obsessed with re-watching the recording of that faithful day. His body-double, Roberto, died like a disobedient dog that day, as he knew Matt would take the shot. He had repeatedly warned Roberto not to be bold and try for the buttons, as he would surely die.
He had the whole situation room wired and monitored to provide video and audio remotely. Finding a body-double wasn’t the hard part, unbelievably. After just four surgeries you couldn’t tell them apart. But mannerisms and temperament were not so easily fixable.
Although he made Roberto rich beyond his wildest dreams, his body double was apparently seeking his own destiny, as he was ignoring all the commands given to him via his implanted one-way transmitter. The last plastic surgery included the insertion of the speaker into Roberto’s ear. I wonder if the CIA ever found that?
It was a scene that he would play out in his head over and over. Of course, now he could only watch in silent horror as he replayed Matt unraveling all that he planned. Yet he wouldn’t have bothered with the double if he hadn’t seen the possibility.
This wasn’t over by a long shot and he would sit and wait. One day Matt Hurst is going to pop his head out of some hole and I’m going to be there to tear it off! Then he would let his virus go on these fools after all, but not before he killed Hurst. Eva looked across the table at him, his hair was a bird’s nest, he was wearing a robe that was wide open and his face was all screwed up from wearing his emotions on his sleeve. Eva giggled and said, “You look crazy.”
He broke out of his thoughts and said, “Pardon?”
She said, “You look crazy there, you should see yourself,” and she giggled some more.
He said, “Really?” as he was getting to his feet with a menacing look on his face. She screamed and heading by him toward the bedroom.
As he grabbed her and took her toward the bed she said, “Today we’re going to poke our heads out long enough to take a walk.” She was feeling a little nauseous when she was cooking and thought the fresh air might do her good. Maybe I’m coming down with something?
Eva also felt a little flush, and not just from the feelings he stirred when he kissed her like he was doing.
* * *
The view was incredible! Late fall was the only time in the Bay Area when the wind calmed down and the clouds were barely rolling by. They came here on their third date. They hadn’t kissed goodnight on the second date, so Matt figured he would take her up here after dinner on the third one to make an attempt. His apartment was right down the hill if he got real lucky and things progressed.
Matt believed if a guy couldn’t get a girl to make out with him here, then something was wrong with him. It was here on that night that she let him know that she was going to start Pharmacy School in the fall. She had decided on Arizona State to do her post grad work.
They had the summer and then at least for the next foreseeable future, she was going to be gone. He jokingly referred to Twin Peaks lookout as “breakup hill” after that night. Although forlorn after that evening, he decided not to sulk, but instead make lemonade out of this and leave an indelible mark on her.
He wanted to make it so she wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about him. A few weeks later, her contraceptive sponge fell out during some spirited sex and they were both unaware. That was until he went to go to the bathroom and stepped on it next to the bed. That’s the day his life was altered forever. He said to his boy, who was leaning on the railing of the cliff, “Be careful Jon Jon, just stand there and don’t climb.”
Jan looked at him, “What are you going to do with your life now?”
His reply could be no other if you knew him. “I’m thinking about starting Pharmacy School in the fall.” That earned him a punch in the arm. It sure didn’t take long for them to reconnect. He so feared that the passion and sense of likeness would be gone once they started hanging out again, especially as she knew of his infidelity.
As it turned out, things were easier and better than before. They had options they never had, not to mention a nice bank account, “I turned down the CIA job yesterday. I convinced Ray that I need a separation from that life for a long while, maybe forever.”
“So that’s it, you just turned down a job you’ve always dreamed of and please take no offense to this, but a job that confused me when they offered it to you. Doesn’t that job require people have some serious degrees?”
He tried not to be condescending, but it wasn’t easy, “Yes, they do Jan, and then they send you to all kinds of training where a very small group is picked out to one day accomplish what I have already done. Let’s just say I have a working degree. I sort of turned down the equivalent of what happens to a cop when he’s shot too many people. I would have had a nice desk job for the rest of my days, and yeah, I’m sure I could have been a benefit to our country, but . . .”
“But what Matt?”
“But it’s not the same as a Field Agent. It’s not the same as working a case live.”
“So what are you saying, you’re going back into the Field?”
Jon Jon was pointing out a blimp and they “side barred,” explaining what a blimp was to their son. He got distracted looking at some ships in the Bay, which soon gave Matt a chance to reply, “I’m not going anywhere right away, and when I do in the future, it will be controlled. I won’t ever be doing what I had to do to survive the first time, Jan, but when the President invites you into his ‘Special Club,’ it’s kind of hard to turn it down.”
“How much does this ‘Special Club’ pay?” she inquired. He bent down and whispered in her ear and she pulled back wide-eyed! “Where will we have to live?”
“I was thinking Seattle.” She looked puzzlingly at him and he nodded knowingly, stepping forward and gathering her in his arms. He looked down on her and said, “Seattle is nice and it’ll give my parents a chance to start over. Believe it or not, I got Don Hurst to agree to move. I told him we’ll buy the baseball package on cable and we can travel down the times the Giants or Niners make the Playoffs or heck, even when we just miss them. I told him maybe we can even catch an A’s game while we’re here.”
“You didn’t!”
“I did, and he pretended I never said it.”
They both laughed, “I thought he would say ‘no’ for sure, but he seems to want to make me happy. Plus I reminded him about inter-league play and the Niners are in the Seahawks division. So we’ll see them up there as well.”
Jan was stunned at this new man in front of her. She was going to have to get used to the fact that she was no longer in charge and that their roles had changed. She was dating down when they met, and now he was the one who was dating down. It was more than that though, it was the way he carried himself now. He was always confident before, but now he was a leader.
He spent the first part of his life asking questions, but it appeared the second half was going to be spent taking no prisoners. She wondered how far her man was going to go? She had a feeling it was very far as she looked at him hugging their son. He got up and suggested to her (by flashing his eyes at the ground near h
is feet) that she do his thing.
He loved being in charge and she being such a spoiled princess had always had a hard time being subservient in the way that turned him on the most. When she met him he had a thing for Japanese girls because he loved the way they treat their men.
He was in for a rude awakening when they got together though, especially after she found out she was with child. Deep down, it was what he’d always wanted even though he keeps ending up with the opposite. In their most playful times he would say, “Do it,” and she would stand flat footed, making his six two frame lord over her and she would cast her eyes up in her most timid, submissive way.
It was the first way she’d ever shown him he was in charge, and it happened randomly one morning in the kitchen. She came padding up to him, barefoot on the kitchen floor after a particularly good night in the lovemaking department. She had that look a woman gets when she had really given herself to a man. She was adorable in his t-shirt and he grabbed her and pulled her in. She looked so small and it turned him on so much. He could see in her eyes that it was the first time she admitted to herself that if she gave herself to him, he wouldn’t hurt her.
Now she was doing his thing and she felt good about it, like the man that cared for her was stronger than any man she’d ever met before, even her father. She looked up at him with her green catlike eyes, he down at her and he said, “I like you like this.”
There they were in that position on the top of the Bay Area, the world was opened up to them. He looked deeply into her eyes, “You know I’m Amazing Grace?” he said.
“How so?” was her slightly confused reply? He looked at his son talking about the Bay Bridge now and he sung to her in his semi-decent voice, “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found. Was blind, but now, I see.”
Jan thrust her tearful face into Matt’s strong and loving chest.
And the Meek Shall Inherit (Harbinger of Change Book 2) Page 23
