The Last Celtic Angel

by Wallace Jan Ecklof

  It was a bad one that no one had ridden yet, and he liked to bust up riders after he threw them. Wade was too old and broken up for that bull and everyone knew it, but he wouldn’t back down. His pride was hurt by what was said the night before. J. D. showed up right after Wade was being taken to the hospital, he was still drunk and so was Trinity.

  Wade died on the way to the hospital and was buried a couple of days later with only some rodeo people there. The way I heard it was, J.D. didn’t say anything to anyone that day. He just stood there and stared at his friend’s casket being lowered to the ground. When that was done he put on his hat and walked off. I never saw him again after that.

  I heard about a year later that he was involved in a bad accident down in California and some folks got killed including his wife Trinity and himself. She and he got married that night him and Wade fought, by a justice of the peace.”

  “Jake, would you recognize him if I showed you a picture?”

  “Sure would, in fact, there are about a dozen of him hanging on the walls outside”

  She takes out some of the pictures that Tim had taken of Jamie at the ranch and horse show. Handing them to Jake he looks at them.

  “That’s him, a little older maybe than the last time I saw him, but that’s him or could be a relative. When were these taken Mame?” “Last month in Wellington, that man goes by name of James Doyle and owns a huge ranch and trains horses for the show ring,” Deanna tells him.

  “Mame this must be a relative or something, because he would be close to sixty now and that man there, ain’t but in his mid forties. Maybe old J.D. had himself a son we never know’d about? Jake says with finality in his voice. Could I see the pictures you said you had, and would you know or remember some songs that this J.D. wrote and sang, just for reference?

  “Sure enough Mame, you can take the pictures, they are only copies anyway, and I have some extra records here too you can have.” He leads her out to a section of the club that holds hundreds of black and white photos from the sixties and seventies. He pulls down a half dozen and hands them to her. The resemblance is uncanny; staring back at her is a slightly younger looking face that she has come to know, only too well.

  Jake walks Deanna to her truck, and they say goodbye. She thanks Jake for all of his help, he extracts a promise to send him a copy of the story and the answer to what is now a weird puzzle.

  Driving back to West Palm, she hopes Ellsworth has been able to come up with something on Jamie’s past. Deanna has so much to think of, the mystery surrounding them both now is becoming bazaar, something out of a Stephen King book.

  It’s crazy, how could they both be the same man, what happened to Thompson and why is someone like Haskell protecting Jamie? It just doesn’t make sense; they seem to be two different types of people. One rough and ready, hard drinking and the other polished, composed everything he does so choreographed. She has to get to the bottom of it, wondering is this the secret to Rancho de Los Angeles?

  Deanna decides to call Ellsworth on his cell phone.

  Answering his phone he asks her, “How did you make out?”

  “Jake was all you said he would be, he said the winner of the Seventy Four Calgary was J.D. Thompson. He said that this Thompson would be in his late fifties maybe sixty, does that sound like our Mr. Doyle. Did you get anything on his background?

  “Not too good, have all the bio stuff on him. Doyle came back with not much more than we had, somebody hid him really well. My source says sealed by congressional seal, that means old man Haskell, you were right. You remember when I said he looked familiar, but I couldn’t recall, well you just rattled my brain cells it was this rodeo rider that was sweeping the nation and then dropped out of sight back in the seventies. There has to be a connection maybe a younger brother. When will you get here?”

  “Within the hour, do me a favor and call Haskell and set up an appointment for me to see him, I think I have to talk to him before Jamie gets back from Sweetbriar with Dyon. There is something very queer about this whole thing, and if I can just get a chink in the armor, I believe it will fall apart like a house of cards.”

  “Deanna, are you all right, I mean, well you know what I mean.”

  “Yes John, I have to see this through to its end, for all our sakes. Oh, check out these song titles for me. My Fears for You, Voices on My Mind and Fire, Jake said Thompson wrote and sang them; they were hits on the country charts in the early seventies. See what your people can come up with on J. D. Thompson, he had some kind of fatal traffic accident in California” He puts me on hold and then comes back and tells her.

  “Agnes says you have an appointment with Haskell at his home on Hanover Drive the number is 13756 at eleven A.M. tomorrow. Good luck, I’ll have this stuff by courier over to your house right now. You are sure you don’t need me for anything?”

  “No, I’ll be alright, what else could happen to me, find out, I was adopted?” She tries to make light of the way her life has now taken a complete flip, from great to crap.

  “You know what I mean, somebody who will be there in case you discover that a hero has feet of clay,” concern in his voice.

  “I certainly see why Melody loves you so much. You’re a dinosaur John Ellsworth, when this is all done, I probably need those big shoulders of yours to cry on and tell me I’m going to be alright. I just wish I had taken your advice and stayed objective,” as she holds her emotions in check.

  CHAPTER 19

  “The Secret”

  An elderly white haired man answers the door and Deanna recognizes him. It’s Ed Haskell; he looks much like he did when she was little just older. “Mr. Haskell, I’m Deanna.” She addresses him formally and a little nervously.

  “Hello, how are you, please come in. I must admit I was taken somewhat back a little when your secretary called asking for this meeting. She said it was very important that you speak with me.” He says, as he shows her in. “Come, I was just about to have some coffee. Would you care for some or may I get you something else?

  “Coffee would be fine, thank you.”

  Deanna, you have grown into a beautiful woman, and you still have red hair. So tell me a little about yourself before we jump ahead to what brought you here today.” He sits back looking at Deanna and waits for her to answer.

  “Well I have stayed into the horses and have a little farm west of here, and I have two children, which I’m sure Jamie has informed you of. Katy is training with him, and I have been widowed and divorced. There really isn’t a lot to tell.” She keeps it short and hints that she’s sure that he has spoken to Jamie already, so knows her history.

  “You seem to have either not had much in the way of happy times to relate, or you want to get right to the heart of what brought you here. I assume it’s about the article that you’re writing and not to go over old times, am I correct?”

  He’s direct and doesn’t miss a whole lot in spite of his age. Deanna can see why he was successful in politics as well as business.

  “Mr. Haskell, I need you to fill in some gaps on Jamie’s past for me, and I have to ask you what might be some tough and embarrassing questions. Remembering the past relationship you had with my family, you don’t know how sorry I am to have to ask what may be very difficult ones for you.” Deanna explains to him.

  He looks at her and sighs, “My son-in-law has spoken to me, and I’ll try to answer your questions with as much honesty as I have. I hope that will satisfy you. He thinks you won’t be content, until you know everything, is he correct Deanna?”

  Deanna is so twisted inside that she almost breaks down. She needs to know the truth for herself. As far as the Magazine is concerned the story is really finished, but she’s unable to walk away and leave it until she knows all the truth.

  “Yes, I have to know all of it, for the story and for my self.”

  “Here comes your coffee, please fix it the way you like it, and I’ll tell you what I know of Jamie.” They both go to the buffet and fix
their cups before going back to their seats.

  “I will try not to go over what I think you know already. You have of course spoken to Tom Scanlon so you know all about that part of Jamie’s life. The only thing I can fill in for you, would be what my people found out about him prior to his coming here, that Tom wouldn’t be privy too.

  When Mary called me and told me she had married him. I went crazy both from not hearing from her for many years and that she had involved herself with some bum. I was at my wits end with worry about her for so long, now to hear she had married some cowboy in Mexico, and was living God only knows what kind of life.

  I sent two ex-C.I.A. guys that I knew who happened to be in private practice to get her and bring her back. They were two of the toughest men I’d ever known. Excellent in covert extractions and difficult people, I felt confident that they would do the job. When they came back and said that I shouldn’t worry about her, and that they could not interfere with him. I couldn’t believe my ears, what could he have done to these two to have changed them so much? They said that I was wrong about him, and that he would be contacting me soon? I fired the both of them, but they were changed men, which puzzled me, what could he have said or done to make such men as these cower? A father’s sense went off imagining all kinds of things inside me.

  My next course of action was to reach out to a friend of mine in the Justice Department and try to find out more about him. They said they would give it to friends at the F.B.I., but it would take some time. The official word was that with them in a foreign country, it would then be out of the question until they crossed the border.

  Later that week my phone rang, and it was Jamie, he introduced himself and said he was bringing Mary to see me the following week and hung up.

  Week later I received a visit from Jamie at my Office in Washington. He introduced himself to me and said he wanted to make an appointment to bring Mary to see me. I told him what I thought of him and the whole marriage sham and that I intended to have it annulled and have him put in jail if I could. He said he understood how I felt and that if he couldn’t prove that he could make Mary happy then he would walk out of her life for good. I didn’t know what to make of him, except that I felt something about him that made me want to believe that he was not just after my daughter’s money, or mine.

  They came to see me the following evening at my home. When I saw her she was so fragile looking, but she was joyful to see me, and dove into my arms crying and laughing at the same time. Jamie just stood there not saying a word, he accompanied us into the house and Mary was talking non-stop about all that had occurred to her since meeting Jamie and how marvelous he is.

  She said that she was happier than she had ever been. Looking at her, I believed she was. She enjoyed the work that they were doing, helping others and trying to build this mission and how much good they were doing down in Mexico. She was not the spoiled rich girl anymore, but a sensitive young woman that had found purpose.

  It was then that I knew, he would make her happier than I ever could. I suggested that they relocate, that they could continue doing the same work right in Palm Beach County, which they had started in Mexico. I thought with all the homeless and displaced people that we had there it might work.

  Jamie knew that I was just trying to keep her close to me. Jamie suggested that they look into it, as the mission in Mexico was about to be closed by the church and the Nuns were already relocated somewhere else. I was not running for reelection and would be returning to Florida and to private enterprise. Mary was ecstatic about the prospect, so excited with it in fact, she just glowed when she glanced at him.

  About a week had gone by since our reunion when my friends at the bureau got back to me on Jamie’s background. He was quite wealthy from investments his agent had made for him some years before. It was from music he had written and was receiving huge royalties on. I also found out his real name.

  Jamie was an ex-convict released two years before from a state prison in Texas. He had served five years and was paroled on good behavior, for five counts of vehicular manslaughter.

  Jamie was involved in a car crash. His wife, a rodeo barrel racer and four migrant children died in that crash. He was drunk and hit a school bus loaded with kids on the way to a Sunday festival. Jamie himself was pinned in the wreck for almost an hour before they could get him out and was in a coma for four months. When he came out of it, he turned himself in and stood trial. The prosecutor wanted the maximum term, and he didn’t try to fight it. He served every day of his sentence until early release on good behavior. When he came out, he just walked away and wasn’t heard from again.

  James Doyle was born that day; you see J. D. stood for James Doyle. Doyle was his mother’s maiden name. They said Jamie was a changed person from the time he woke up in that hospital, not at all like the person had he been previously. He had gotten out of control and was drinking heavenly because of his friend and felt responsible for his death the night of the crash.

  I was the one that had my people bury his past so as not to make it hard for them to get started, and for my Mary’s sake. I didn’t know whether she knew all I did, but it didn’t matter she loved him with all her heart. I let them struggle for about a year before I told Jamie of his fortune. You know what he said to me, he said that was great news. They would be able to buy some land and give Father Tom a real mission of his own.

  Jamie never knew that I had buried all the bad stuff and J. D. Thompson. From that time on I helped manage his money and make the necessary land transactions. He has never been one that showed off, just used it to make others more comfortable and to make Mary happy. He was wild once, but he’s who he is now, not what he was once. Something happened to him that morning of the crash, something that has stayed with him every day since.

  Tom Scanlon thinks that he was touched by God. Maybe he’s right, J.D. Thompson died that day, not just in the spirit, he died in the operating room. They couldn’t bring him back, the doctors were disconnecting everything from him, when suddenly he gasped and his heart started once more. The doctors couldn’t explain it; they had never seen anything like that before.

  I have said to you things that even he doesn’t know, and for other reasons that I can’t tell you, someone else will have to do that.”

  Deanna sits in overload trying to absorb what Ed has related to her, it must be true, because she could have it checked out in Texas now.

  One nagging thing still has her puzzled, “Mr. Haskell, I’m not saying that you are not telling me the truth, but how can you explain that he’s not aged in all these years. That he should be fifty nine not forty something, are you sure you investigated the same man?”

  “Yes Deanna, I thought much as you, being a cautious man, I had his fingerprints checked. He is who he is; he just doesn’t age in the same terms as we know somehow. He has not changed that much since I first met him. Time seems to be standing still for him somehow, as if waiting for him to fulfill his destiny before his life clock begins again.” He smiles and gets up and puts his hand on her shoulder in an effort to comfort her.

  “Deanna, there is someone that I think you need to talk to, please wait here while I go get her.” Ed tells her, as he turns and walks to a door off the solarium, opening it, he calls softly, “I think she’s ready for you now.”

  Deanna is looking toward the door as he opens it to allow whoever is on the other side to enter. Deanna can’t help wondering who it might be, suddenly a woman walks into the room and Deanna gasps.

  “Mother, what are you doing here? She jumps up from her chair in a total state of surprise. “I thought you were not coming for the holidays, why didn’t you call me?”

  Her mother comes over and gives her a kiss and a hug, that’s different from any she’s ever given her before.

  “Deanna, I called Ed after I spoke with you last week. We both agreed I should come down as soon as possible due to recent events. Please don’t start asking me a thousand questions I will expl
ain everything to you. It was just well___ Ed wanted to talk to you first about your friend Jamie before we talk.” She sits down and looks more uncomfortable than Deanna has ever seen her.

  “Jennifer, I’ll leave so you and Deanna may speak more candidly if that’s alright with you. Before I leave may I get you both something a little stronger than tea or coffee?” He offers as he rings for the houseman.

  “Yes Ed, I would like double vodka on the rocks and Ed please stay. What would you like, besides answers Deanna?”

  “A Bloody Mary would taste good about now, please.” Deanna is still a little shaken by the turn of events. Why would her Mother sneak down to confer with Ed and have something to say to her. It must be something bad that requires her to have a drink like double vodka.

  “Honey, you know that Ed’s wife Moina was my best friend, since we were kids. I won’t boor you with all the details of how Ed and her met and married, but they were happy, and she loved him with all her heart. They wanted to have children so bad, that was all they could talk about. The years passed and nothing happened so they both went for testing and the doctors found that Ed was incapable of having children, but Moina could.

  I had married your father by this time, and we lived not too far from each other. Ed and your Dad turned out to be great friends. Moina came to me one day to ask a huge favor, while we were out by the pond she told me what it was that was on her mind. I was sickened at first until she started to cry, and then I knew what I had to do. I asked your father to be a sperm donor for them, so she could conceive.”

  Deanna jumps out of her chair and confronts her mother, “What are you telling me, he slept with her to make a baby.” Yelling at her not believing what she has just said, her Father would not do that, not for anyone.

  “Deanna no, that’s not what I’m saying, he donated sperm to a doctor and Miona was inseminated. Everyone thought that the child was Ed’s, and we all agreed that was best, Mary was your sister.” She has tears in her eyes and is trembling so much that Ed puts his arm around her.