The gate guard watched until he no longer saw Frank and the UWA soldiers. He turned to the soldier who held the post with him. “Are you sure one of us shouldn’t go with the Colonel.”
“Positive,” the other soldier responded.
“He’ll be all right out there with them?”
“They’re chained together. The Colonel will be fine.” At that moment, three shots, all two seconds apart rang out. “See what I mean?”
^^^^
Beginnings, Montana
Dean’s hand intercepted the glass of wine that Robbie poured and passed to Ellen. “Don’t be getting her drunk. I made need to use that tool later.” He quickly kissed Ellen and took the glass of wine elsewhere. He looked around at the massive amount of Slagels and Slagel extensions that were still in his home. It was his wedding night and he couldn’t determine if it was his imagination or if it was taking the Slagels and everyone else too long to leave his house.
The hitting against his leg by Joey, who had way too much sugar, spun Dean in the direction of what he thought might be a solution to one of his problems for the night. Henry. Dean moved to him. “Hey Henry.”
“Dean, did you hear?”
“Hear what?”
“I yelled at Cole today, deepened my voice and everything. I sounded so leader like.”
“That’s good, Henry. I’m proud of you. Henry . . . I have this really special evening planned tonight.”
“I would expect as much, Dean.” Henry leaned down to him. “It’s your wedding night.”
“Yeah. But Joe’s house is a disaster and he can’t take the kids. Any chance I can get you to take your son with you tonight?”
“Oh I’d love to . . .”
Dean smiled.
“But I can’t.”
“Henry, he’s your son.”
“You took him, Dean, and . . . I have to be up and in Mechanics by four.”
“Henry, come on. It’s my wedding night.”
“Yeah I know.” Henry grinned. “Excuse me.”
Dean tossed his hand up. He almost felt as if there were some secret plan to hinder any quality wedding night time he and Ellen could get. Joe couldn’t take the kids because of his cluttered home. Jenny was too busy doing something she couldn’t say. Dean’s house was still full as it hit nearly nine. Henry wouldn’t take his own son. Robbie kept insisting on getting Ellen drunk. It was a good thing for Dean that Billy kept yelling at Robbie. There had to be a person that wasn’t against him and there was. Dean walked over to Danny.
“Hey, Dean,” Danny spoke up before Dean could. “I need to know if your chemically superior mind can come up with something I need for a new invention I’m creating.”
“I don’t know. What?”
“Check this out. Your wedding night made me think of this.”
“Oh no.”
“No, no, this is good.” Danny grinned. “Let’s bring back candy panties.”
Dean choked on the surprising laughter that came from him. “Candy panties? Why do we need those?”
“Novelty. Come on, Dean. I’ll name them after you. Of course ‘Dean’s candy panties’ doesn’t sound as cool as ‘Danny’s candy panties’. Does it?”
“No.”
“See.”
“Danny, I have a favor to ask you. What’s the odds of you taking my kids tonight for me?”
“Actual odds or vicinity odds?”
“Any odds,” Dean said.
“Slim to none. Dean that’s five kids.”
“Four. Josh is staying with Denny.”
“Four kids?” Danny whistled. “I don’t know. It’ll cost you.”
“I’ll pay.”
“Here’s the rate. One kid, you sign a small favor slip. Two, a medium one. Three, a big one and all four will cost you a huge favor slip.”
Dean thought about it and considered his worst two. “O.K., I’ll go with the medium favor slip.”
“Dean, Dean, it’s your wedding night. You sure you don’t want to get rid of them all?”
“Positive. I’ll keep the older two.”
“O.K.” Danny shrugged and reached into his back pocket. He pulled out a homemade tablet and pen. He circled the word ‘medium’ and handed the sheet to Dean. “Sign please.”
Dean took the pen, shook his head, and signed the favor slip. “You have this down to a science now don’t you.”
“Hell yeah. If you change your mind, let me know.”
Dean handed the favor slip and pen back. “I won’t. Thanks.” There was a certain amount of relief for Dean knowing that Joey, the hyper child, and Nick, the crying child, would not be an intrusion on his night. He looked over at Ellen who sat on the couch talking to Hal and Robbie. He looked at the two children he knew would be staying home. Alexandra snuggled close to Ellen on the couch and Billy sat on the floor, a book was on the coffee table in front of him. The two calm children. Dean smiled. His wedding night wouldn’t be so bad after all.
^^^^
There were candles lit in Dean and Ellen’s living room, not many, but enough to give that romantic feel. A bottle of wine was open on the table. Two half filled glasses sat next to it. Slow music played softly and Dean held Ellen somewhere between dancing with her and seducing her.
He smiled some as his hand moved across the long sleeved, white button shirt she wore. “This looks much better on you than it did on me.” He spoke softly, fiddling with the collar.
“I thought you’d like it.” Ellen stared at him while they danced.
“Very, very nice.” Dean kissed her. “When you said you wanted to put something comfortable on, I thought you meant jeans.”
“Usually I would have.” Ellen giggled at his teasing kisses.
Dean undid the buttons as he swayed with her. He brought his wine tainted lips to her neck, gliding them up to her ear.
“Daddy!” Alexandra called. “I’m thirsty.”
Dean closed his eyes. “Not again.” He shook his head. “Alex, I left you water on your night stand.”
“Thank you!”
Ellen snickered. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m not. Now . . . where were we.”
“You were.” Ellen pointed to her neck. “Right here.”
“Yeah, that’s right.” Dean, with an ornery grin, placed his lips where Ellen pointed. His hands undid a few more buttons and pulled at the collar, opening the shirt. He moaned some as his hands moved to her back, down to her thigh, and strongly up, lifting the edges of the shirt as he felt her. He traveled his lips downward, across her collar, and to the openness of the shirt. He bent his knees just a little and moved his mouth softly and gently across Ellen’s chest.
“What are you doing to my mother?” Billy’s voice called out too close.
With his head still buried in Ellen’s shirt, mouth to her breast, Dean shifted his eyes and saw Billy. He immediately removed his hand that was planted on Ellen’s backside and stood up straight with a heavy breath. “Billy.”
“Dad.”
“Billy, go to bed.”
“I can’t.” The Dean prodigy peered up. “You’re making too much noise.”
Dean blinked several times. “We’re making too much noise?”
Ellen saw it coming on Dean’s face. “Dean.”
“No, El,” he whined. “I’ve been trying to make love to you for nearly an hour and they won’t go to sleep.”
Billy looked confused. “What’s making love?”
“That’s it.” Dean tossed his hands up. “Billy, get your shoes on.”
“Dean?” Ellen questioned as she watched him grab Billy’s hand. “What are you doing?”
“What I should have done an hour ago.” He moved down the hall. “Deal with the devil or not, I’m signing that favor slip.” He poked his head back out into the living room. “I’m gonna consummate this marriage with you yet.”
Billy tugged Dean’s hand. “What’s consummate?”
It was cold out. Danny was smug as
he handed Dean the ‘huge’ favor slip to sign. Dean’s big romantic wedding night was not going as planned, but at least he was going to finally have Ellen alone. He cringed when he walked into his house and took off his shoes to see the living room light on. “She fell asleep,” Dean said to himself as he walked toward the bedroom. “She was drinking too much she . . .” He stopped at the bedroom door and saw the candles lit. “She read my mind.”
Ellen finished her wine and set it on the night stand. She laid on the bed, still wearing Dean’s shirt. “Catch your breath. You were running. I heard your tennis shoes.”
Dean inhaled deeply and let it out slowly as he walked into the bedroom. He took off his tee -shirt and tossed it across the room. “The moment I have been waiting for.”
Ellen watched him near the bed. “Dean, we’ve made love before.”
“That’s not what I meant.” From the foot of the bed, Dean started his slow climb to Ellen. “What I mean is . . .” His lips touched upon her bare calf then grazed to her thighs as he crept up to her. Dean ran his hands up the back of her legs to the front, bending her knee as he brought his body to Ellen’s. “For the first time ever, El, in my memory, and in my mind, I’m going to make love to you . . .” He kissed her. “As my wife.” Chuckling with almost a gloat to him, Dean pressed his body firmer to Ellen, bringing her leg around his waist. And before any other circumstance could interrupt them, Dean began to kiss her in what he was hoping would be the short preliminaries to their lovemaking.
^^^^
Binghamton, Alabama
So lost and so annoyed, Frank looked as his finger pressed up and down on the button of the old style black phone. “Nothing,” he said to Marcus as he showed him the receiver. “Dead.”
“It was working an hour ago,” Marcus said. “You have to make that phone call.”
“I know. It’s dead.”
Marcus took the receiver, listened, clicked the button, and hung up. “All right.” He reached into his coat pocket. “You can use this.”
“Thank you.” Frank took it. “Now where in the hell did I put that number?”
^^^^
Beginnings, Montana
There was something about the way Ellen kissed him when she had too much to drink that Dean just loved. More intense, less any inhibitions, whatever it was, he didn’t want it to stop. With his hand held under her hair and their lips still locked, Dean rolled on to his back, bringing Ellen with him.
Ellen giggled and lifted her hair from her eyes. “I’m hungry.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“Right now. At this moment. You’re hungry?”
“Yes.”
“Right now?”
“Dean.” She snickered. “You keep saying that. I drank too much and if I don’t eat I’ll get sick.”
“But right now? Can’t you wait?”
“Dean. We made love once already. We can’t stay in this bed all night.”
“Yeah we can. It’s our wedding night.”
“So you’ve said. It’s getting old.” Ellen looked serious at his shocked expression. “I’m kidding.” She started to laugh.
“So you don’t want something to eat?”
“No I do. Just a piece of that sandwich wrap Jess made. Please.”
“All right. Stay here.” Dean rolled over and reached down to the floor for his boxer shorts. He swung his legs out of bed, stepping in them, and pulling them up. “Don’t fall asleep.”
“I won’t. I promise.” Ellen laid her head on the pillow.
Dean stopped cold in his walk out when his phone rang. “Shit. I knew I should have shut that thing off.”
“Don’t answer it,” Ellen spoke groggily.
“Look at you. You’re falling asleep.” Dean picked up the phone. “Hello.”
The was a long moment of silence, a heavy breath, then Frank. “I’m alive.”
An excitement shudder shot through Dean and with a huge grin, he gasped a shriek of excitement when he heard Frank’s voice. High pitched and emotional, Dean’s words trembled. “Oh my God.”
“I’m alive and . . .” The was another brief silence. “And . . . Dean.” Frank spoke his name with relief. “Dean, tell everyone I’ll be home as soon as I figure . . .”
The line went dead.
“Frank. Frank!” Dean called into the phone.
Ellen sprang up. “Frank?”
Dean turned around to her showing her the phone. His breaths trembled. “Oh my God.”
“Dean?”
So stunned, yet his face shined with a happiness and relief. He ran his fingers through his hair. “That was Frank. El, that was Frank.” He sat on the bed and grabbed Ellen’s hand.
“Dean, what did he say?”
Dean swayed his head still in shock. “We got cut off. He probably said more than they wanted him to.”
“You don’t think they did something to him, do you?”
“No.” Dean grabbed her hand and looked into her eyes. She looked as happy and scared as he felt. “He’s the insurance that they get me . . . El.” He laid his hand on her face and smiled. “Frank sound fine. He sounded just fine.”
^^^^
Binghamton, Alabama
Frank’s eyes shifted from the pieces of the broken cell phone that laid on the floor to the barrel of the revolver that pointed at him,. Sitting in his desk chair, he then followed the gun to Marcus.
“I knew it was an act.” Marcus kept his aim on Frank. “I can’t believe the President bought it.”
“You hit the phone from my ear.”
“I have a gun pointed to your face and you’re bitching about me knocking the phone from you?”
“You think I’m scared that you’ll kill me?” Frank huffed in sarcasm.
“Quiet.”
“You broke the fuckin phone when I was trying to call home.” Frank kept eye contact with Marcus.
“And you added more than you should have. Wait until the President hears about this.”
“The President can blow me.”
A shocking disbelief hit Marcus. “You have a lot of attitude for a man who has a gun pointed at him.”
“And you have a lot of attitude for a man who’s seconds from death.”
Marcus laughed. “How do you figure?”
“Very easily.” In a fast spring from his seat, Frank swiped Marcus’ hand out of the way. He reached into his shoulder harness, pulled out his revolver, extended his hand, and fired a single shot directly into Marcus’ forehead.
The force of the close range shot sent blood and pieces of Marcus’ head spraying out and his dead body dropped to the floor exposing a shocked Richie who stood by the door.
“Frank.”
“Shut up.” Frank shook his head in disgust then bent down for the phone. “Can you believe he broke the only phone that isn’t tapped? Fuck.”
“Frank.” Richie looked at the seeping, growing pool of blood. “You can’t do this anymore, man. Someone is gonna start to notice the higher ups are no longer around.”
Frank looked so perturbed at the busted phone. “Can you believe this?”
“Are you listening to me?” Richie stepped over Marcus’ body. “I’m not cleaning this one up. I cleaned up the Lt. Merrick thing.”
“I’ll take care of it.” Frank slammed the pieces of the phone on the desk. He walked to Marcus. “God, look at the mess.”
“Yeah, well that’s what happens when you shoot someone in the head two feet from you.” Richie watched Frank stand in thought. “I don’t understand. If you hate George that much, why don’t you just shoot him, get it over with and we book?”
“It’s not that easy.” Frank looked at the blood that splattered on the walls. “I wished it was. I have to lay low. I need information. Right now, I can’t take any chances because I haven’t a clue where they have Ellen.” Frank faced Richie. “And until I find out where your sister is, we have to stay right here.”
LEAVING. . .
C
HAPTER FIFTEEN
September 18
Binghamton, Alabama
It was so quiet that the only sound in the dark hall was the clinking of the keys as Frank locked the door.
Richie swayed his head. “I always thought there was something demented about you.”
“Yeah.” Frank, like he was back in Beginnings, hooked the keys on his belt. “Ready? I have men to train.”
“Why, can I ask, did you not take them out and toss them in the ditch with the other seven officers?”
“Prisoners of war.” Frank walked fast.
“Prisoners of war?” Richie had to really move to keep up with Frank. “How can that be? Isn’t this their camp?”
Frank stopped walking as soon as they stepped outside. “No Richie, this is my camp now.” With his usual arrogant smirk Frank found the men waiting in the field. “I just have to work on letting them know it.”
^^^^
Beginnings, Montana
Joe’s were the only eyes to date, with the exception of Andrea, to see the letter he held in his hand. At the early morning meeting at Robbie’s, before anyone began their day, Joe held the letter, then looked at Robbie, Henry, and Dean. “I laughed. Dean and Robbie, you laughed. I stopped laughing when I found this.” He tossed the letter on the table.
Robbie grabbed it first and with a solemn look passed it to Dean who read it and passed it to Henry who . . . snickered.
Joe raised his eyes to Henry.
“Sorry.” Henry handed it back. “I told you.”
“How the hell did you know, Henry?” Joe put the letter back.
“I didn’t. I made it up. Boy was I right. So what does this mean, Joe?”
The Big Ten: The First Ten Books of the Beginnings Series Page 405
