At Dewitt's End

by Doc Henderson

  “That’s it! Tax Day! ‘Mister Nickels don’t pay no taxes.’ – He loves it!”

  Dewitt wheels around quickly and begins pushing himself toward living room.

  “Willie, you may just be the next Einstein!” he yells back.

  Willie looks at T. P. with a holier-than-thou look. From outside the room comes Dewitt’s voice.

  “And you too, T. P.!” he adds.

  T. P. sticks his tongue out at Willie.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Back at the small military airport in the high desert, the unmarked jet that flew Jesse and his comrades out West sits parked near other military jets and tankers. The small pilot-less plane is also outside, sparkling in the sun.

  Inside the main hanger, Jesse and the Major stand before a large electronic wall map, shaking their heads. Multiple areas of the map have a reddish hue, indicating that they have been searched from the air. But there remains a lot of area in light green – more ranch land, canyons and river basins not yet scoured.

  A radar electronics technician, who has been peering tirelessly into his screen, suddenly calls over a superior. They look together at the screen, then peruse a piece of paper with handwriting on it. They start nodding, get up and head over to Jesse and the Major. They excitedly begin pointing at a particular area on the red part of the map.

  Chapter Thirty

  Dewitt is out of his wheelchair, reclining on the living room couch, the now-opened safe behind him. He peruses the “Contract,” trying to make out why a tribe of Indians would willingly give up their village to get a lot more land. Obviously, there are some serious shenanigans involved, given the fact that Jesse was to be kidnapped and he and his captors’ lives are in danger.

  Other matters occupy Dewitt’s mind, too. There is a huge stack of hundred dollar bills sitting on the coffee table, obviously ill-gotten goods stored in the safe by Nickels and his accomplices. There is also a small remote-control device, similar to a garage door opener, at hand. Dewitt is about to look at it more carefully when Willie and T. P. enter the room, having changed into some motorcycle leathers.

  Dewitt puts the device in his pocket as Willie speaks.

  “We only got a half hour till they get here, Doc. We’re all packed.”

  T. P. sets down two small suitcases.

  “I’ve got your things, Doctor Dewitt,” he says. “We’ve got to get going. I’m scared!”

  “Well, me, too, T. P.,” says Dewitt. “And I think it’s time for you guys to hit the trail and get a head start.”

  Willie and T. P. look at each other, questioningly.

  “What do you mean?” asks Willie.

  “We’re completely isolated out here,” says Dewitt. “There’s no way out if they get here before you get going. – I can’t allow you guys to get killed.”

  He pauses and bites his lip.

  “Anyway,” he continues, “I’ve faced a gun in my life.”

  “So that’s how... ?” asks Willie. He points to Dewitt’s useless legs.

  “Believe it or not, no,” answers Dewitt. “Long story.”

  “But what about you, Doctor Dewitt?” asks T. P. plaintively.

  “You like movies, too?” Dewitt asks him.

  “Uh-huh.”

  Dewitt takes a deep breath.

  “One of my favorites,” he says, “is ‘Raiders Of The Lost Ark.’ The scene where Indy is telling everybody what to do, like to get to Cairo and all.”

  “Indiana Jones! Wow!” says T. P.

  “A classic,” adds Willie.

  Dewitt continues.

  “And they ask him what he’s going do and he says, ‘I don’t know. I’m making it up as I go along!’ – Well... ”

  Willie lets out a whistle.

  “Gee, ‘Just when you thought it was safe... ’” he says. “But can’t we help you, Doc?”

  Dewitt looks at his wheelchair. His voice turns very serious.

  “Yeah, now that you mention it. I’m going to need you to do something for me before you guys leave for Canada.”

  Willie and T. P. look at each other in wonder. They mouth “Canada?” to each other.

  “Canada? – What do you mean?” asks Willie.

  Dewitt looks at the money. Then he holds up the Contract.

  “I get this,” he says, waving the Contract. “And, you get... ”

  He points to the money.

  “... well, looks like about fifty thousand dollars. Enough to get you and T. P. in the business of cake making, I’d say.”

  “Wow, Doc,” says Willie, with a small laugh. “We can buy lots of flour – and files – with that much moolah. I guess it is tainted money, after all.”

  “It’s not like you haven’t earned it,” says Dewitt.

  He looks down at his wheelchair.

  “But, we’ve got to leave my ‘wheels’ here. – That will convince them you guys have bumped me off!”

  “Bumped you off, yeah,” agrees Willie. “I see. They’ll soon forget about us, and the Contract, and all that. And the two of us will get away to our northern neighbor, as they say. And you, you. What you gonna do, Doctor Dewitt?”

  “Hey,” says Dewitt, “remember the movie.”

  The boys nod but they worry: What will become of Dewitt?

  Then T. P. brightens.

  “Wow, Canada!” he exclaims. “Another new state!”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  The big Harley-Davidson sits outside the ranch house, its throaty engine idling. Willie revs the engine as T. P. sits in the sidecar. Close-by, Dewitt cups his ear to hear Willie speak.

  “You sure we can’t take you over to the Señor’s house ourselves?” Willie asks.

  “Sorry, Willie,” Dewitt answers, “There’s just no time, I’m afraid. I’ll make it.”

  “We’re gonna miss you, Doc,” says Willie.

  “Send me a postcard, okay?” Dewitt says, trying to seem upbeat.

  “We don’t have your address,” T. P. shouts.

  Willie throttles down the big hog.

  “Well,” continues Dewitt, “when this story’s over, you can find my name on one of the pages of the newspaper. – Let’s just hope it’s not the last one people end up on!”

  Willie bites his lip, becoming emotional. T. P. drops his head, realizing this is goodbye. Dewitt sighs.

  “Gonna miss you guys,” he says, waving. “Take care of yourselves!”

  The motor roars and the boys take off, kicking up dust from the roadway. T. P. sends back a small wave.

  Dewitt, sitting high off the ground, looks down, and then side-to-side, surveying his situation.

  He says softly, “I swear, I’ll never say ‘saddle up’ again!”

  He takes a small whip in one hand and picks up a set of reins in the other. With a “Yee-hah” Dewitt sets off – in a small cart pulled by Oz the ostrich! With the Contract stored safely, he directs Oz toward a familiar habitat, the hacienda of Señor Undeez and family.

  A little later, Dewitt wheels into the front yard of the hacienda, sending chickens and small children scurrying. One child rushes up to Oz with gladness; the youngest just stares at Dewitt in wonder.

  The Señor ambles out of the house as his wife watches cautiously from inside a screen doorway. The Super approaches the cart hesitantly.

  “Señor Undeez, Señor Undeez!” shouts Dewitt. “It’s me, the Doc! – Remember?”

  The Señor looks closely at Dewitt, then smiles broadly.

  “Señor Medico!” he shouts. “Si, si,” and then relays the recognition to his wife in Spanish.

  “Señor,” Dewitt says, “I need to use-. Uh, telephono, telephono!” He cups a hand to his ear. The Superintendent nods vigorously.

  “Oh, si! Telephone! Si, come!” he shouts.

  Señor Undeez motio
ns Dewitt inside. Dewitt shakes his head and points to his legs. The Señor recognizes the problem and calls out for his wife, making a cupping gesture with his arms and hands.

  “Carry. Carry to telephone,” he says to Dewitt.

  “Yes. Gracias, Señor. – Mui importante!”

  Inside the hacienda Dewitt is placed near the telephone by the couple. The telephone rings, surprising everyone. Señor Undeez looks at Dewitt, who nods.

  “Mui careful, uh, mui attention!” Dewitt says, then adds, “Why the hell do doctors take Latin?!”

  The Señor picks up the phone, cradling it with both hands, not saying a word. He listens and then looks toward Dewitt.

  “... I no know, Meester,” he says into the telephone. “You say you Colonel? Colonel Jesse?”

  Dewitt is shocked with surprise. He nods and takes the telephone in hand.

  “Jesse!” Dewitt shouts excitedly down the phone line. “How in the... ? My message finally made sense?! Man, am I glad to hear from you! Everything told me that you boys had eyes in the sky out here... Wow! A pilot-less spy plane. Great. So, everything is okay, finally!... What do you mean, ‘No way, José?”

  Dewitt glances over at the Señor and mouths, “Sorry.”

  At the hanger, Jesse holds the telephone as the Major and others look on with great concern. He continues talking with Dewitt.

  “After your student, David, finally heard your message, he got the tape to the F.B.I. That’s when we announced publicly that it was actually you they had, just in case they still thought it was me. – You know, someone important.”

  “Gee, thanks, Bro!” laughs Dewitt.

  “You know what I mean,” continues Jesse. “We also announced that you were dead, to buy some time to keep searching for you. – Hey, at least that wasn’t true, thank God!”

  Dewitt gives another laugh of relief.

  “Yeah,” he says, “I’d rather be alive and unimportant than dead and important like you, pal!”

  “Touché,” replies Jesse. “But, Dewitt, when we found the spread there – the ranch – and had the Feds start checking it out, that’s when we found out...”

  Dewitt continues to listen intently to Jesse talk. His head begins to shake and he puts his hand over his heart.

  “Jesse, it... it just can’t be!” Dewitt cries into the telephone. He is very shaken by the information that Jesse has just shared with him.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  There is an eerie quiet at the ranch house now that Dewitt, Willie and T. P. have departed. Dewitt’s wheelchair lies overturned on the front porch, abandoned. A scribbled note is attached to it.

  The solitude is interrupted with the arrival of a big Lincoln Town Car, carrying two Underlings. They jump out, brandishing pistols. One rushes up to the wheelchair and grabs the note. The second enters the house carefully. The first Underling reads the note and then peers out toward the road.

  The second exits the house. He is holding a briefcase.

  “Hey,” says the first guy, waving the note, “it says here they ‘took care of’ the Doc guy. He’s done for, unless they screwed up.”

  “Naahh, his wheelie’s here,” notes the second. “They got him good. But we got bigger problems. They cracked the safe and cleaned out the Contract and the big bills. But what they didn’t find was this.”

  He holds up the briefcase.

  “It’s what the Boss told me I hadda bring back with the Contract. Whatever it is, he wants it bad.”

  The two start toward the car.

  “Hey, they can identify us with that Contract,” worries the first guy.

  “Those two? They’ll ditch it. But, even so, it’s just writing.”

  They reach the car and get in.

  “We got lawyers can take care of that,” he continues, “and now this Doc guy is history. – But there’s this other problem the Boss just found out about.”

  “Yeah, what’s that?”

  The second Underling opens the briefcase and looks inside.

  “Actually,” he says, “it’s not what, it’s who.”

  He turns the box for the first Underling to see. Wiring and circuits surround a half dozen sticks of dynamite taped together. An electronic digital clock time sits in the middle, its bright red numbers blinking each and every second at 12:00.

  “And I wouldn’t want to be within a hundred feet of him after the clock on this thing starts ticking down,” he continues.

  “Hey, be careful with that thing,” says the first guy. “Anyways, who’s the unlucky stiff?”

  “I don’t know. Some guy named-”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  “David!”

  Sylvia hovers over a distraught David Collins at the hospital nursing station. She calls out his name again, trying to get through the blank look on his face.

  “David,” she shouts, “get up! You must finish doing your charts and start making rounds. We have to leave here in four hours in order to make the memorial service.”

  David barely stirs. He sits, pen in hand, medical chart in lap, unkempt and a bit bleary-eyed.

  “What’s the point? I miss him too much to say goodbye,” he moans.

  “We all do,” says Sylvia. “But we’re all going. Come on, David. He’d want you to be there, don’t you think?”

  “I guess you’re right,” agrees David, sitting up straight. “I’m just being selfish with my emotions. When is it, again?”

  “Four o’clock. Four o’clock today, David. – Come on, get with the program.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  At the hacienda, Dewitt holds the telephone in his hand, trying to absorb the news that Jesse has just imparted.

  “Hold on, Bro,” he says over the line.

  Dewitt pulls the remote control device from his breast pocket. One word is taped to it: OVERRIDE.

  “So that’s what it means,” he says to himself, and returns the telephone receiver to his ear.

  “Jess, we have got maybe one chance. But, first I have to get something to Atlanta... What? Two hours just to drive up here? That’ll eat up too much time, too much precious time!”

  He shakes his head and adds, to himself, “Oh, Geez, I’m beginning to repeat myself, like David!”

  Dewitt looks out of the front doorway. He sees the blacktop road that runs past the Señor’s house. The roadway and the entire area is very flat.

  “Jesse,” he says over the phone, “I’ve got an idea.”

  Two of the Super’s children are outside the hacienda. They are climbing a telephone pole near the roadway with enthusiastic competitiveness as the Señor and Señora shout excited instructions up to them in Spanish. Dewitt sits on the stoop of the front porch, his lips pursed.

  The children reach the top of the pole and cut two lines that extend across the roadway. The telephone lines fall to the ground and the children scamper down the pole as the Señor quickly pulls the wires off the roadway.

  Dewitt looks far, far down the road. He cups a hand to one ear and catches a faint high-pitched whining sound. It gets louder with each passing second.

  All the children begin running down the highway toward the sound. Their father chases behind them, loudly scolding in Spanish. Then, on the horizon, a small object appears. It shimmers as it grows larger and the sound it emits grows louder. The Señora screams from the front yard.

  Suddenly, all the children and Señor Undeez do abrupt about-faces and begin running as if for their lives. They all scatter as the sound and the object gets nearer. On the porch, Dewitt and the Señora cover their ears.

  Oh so quickly the somewhat undersized little pilot-less jet lands on the blacktop, its tires screeching. The jet streaks by the house, then slows dramatically as a drag chute pops out. It comes to a stop a few hundred yards past the house, its deafening noise abating as its engine winds do
wn.

  Almost immediately the Señor appears from behind the house at the wheel of an old pickup truck. He gets out and he and the Señora quickly hoist Dewitt into the bed of the truck. Several of the older children pour into the back of the truck, joyous with excitement. The pickup kicks up dirt as it leaves the yard and heads down the blacktop.

  “This is nuts!” Dewitt says out loud, though no one is listening. “But it’s the only chance we got!”

  “The Bird” is on its final approach to the runway back at the airport where Jesse and the Feds are gathered. Inside the cockpit sit two dummies, the pilot and the navigator. Tucked under the chin of the dummy pilot is the remote device. As the jet touches down, it roars by a twin-engine Air Force fighter jet. Jesse stands beside it, flight suit on, helmet in hand.

  Suddenly, Dewitt’s face pops into view under the small jet’s canopy. He grabs the remote and lets out a soft whistle as the plane slows down.

  “Thanks, Roger! Thanks, Wilco!” he says. “But I would have felt much safer if one of you guys had looked like Tom Cruise!”

  The little jet comes to a stop as a fire engine and several Jeeps rush toward it.

  Just minutes after the little drone jet has deposited Dewitt back at the airfield, he and Jesse are again airborne. This time they are in the real fighter jet, being piloted by Jesse, with Dewitt in the rear seat. Jesse speaks to Dewitt through his helmet intercom.

  “Why the hell did you jump in that plane?”

  “Hey, man,” answers Dewitt, “you know I can’t jump! I told you: The Señor pushed me in.”

  “Yeah, right,” says Jesse. “Anyway, we found out two of them flew into Birmingham a couple of hours ago. But, the Feds lost them. They may still beat us to Atlanta. – Man, you got to be prepared. You know, for the worst.”

  “I know, Jess. – Hey, won’t this thing go any faster?”

  Jesse lets out a short laugh.

  “We’re doing Mach two now!”