Blue's Code

by James Abel

  As Jordan was handing the microphone back to Keaster, Officer Daughtry and five other state troopers in S.W.A.T gear could be heard outside the cell, storming down the hall. Bennings and Jordan, familiar with the procedure, quickly assumed the position against the cell wall. Seconds later, one of the S.W.A.T. team frisked them as Officer Daughtry, looking on from the doorway pulled out his walkie-talkie and said, “We’re gonna need a lot of assistance in here. No, not armed backup. I’m talking Health and Human Services. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

  CHAPTER 35

  The Atlanta desk had stayed with the coverage inside of Warring, even though it would soon cost both Fred Hutchins, and Brent Keaster their jobs. But Heather Warring hadn’t seen any of it. As soon as the cameras inside the mansion were turned off, she had excused herself and retreated into her private living quarters. Alone, she broke out her favorite cognac and basked in the glow of a great interview as well as the resolution of the problems caused by her insolent adopted daughter.

  Then her phone rang. It wasn’t the ring tone reserved for commoners. By the ring, she knew it was a member of the Guild, one that had been routed through the encryption software.

  “Yes! Heather Warring speaking.”

  “Good evening, Heather. How are you this evening?”

  Heather could hardly contain her excitement.

  Oh my God. It’s the former President.

  “I’m good Mr. President. Did you happen to catch my interview with CNN?”

  “I certainly did. I especially enjoyed the performance regarding the loss of your daughter.”

  Performance? How did he know? What’s this all about?

  “Well, uh, thank you. I thought it went very well.”

  “Oh, it certainly did. But if I were you, I’d turn on the TV. Seems that you’ve become the subject of an awful lot of discussion tonight.”

  “Oh, thank you, I certainly…”

  Click The phone went dead.

  Heather pushed an intercom button next to her chair and said, “Travis.”

  There was no response. She tried it again and again, still no response.

  Damn it, I’ll turn it on for myself.

  Heather Warring stood up and walked toward the TV set. She never got there. As she passed by the window, six drones were hovering outside. None of them missed their mark.

  EPILOGUE

  ONE WEEK LATER

  Bennings and Jordan were sitting across from each other in Bully’s, watching as Kylie set an order of hotcakes with a side of bacon down in front of Jordan and said, “Here you go, sweetie.”

  She turned to Bennings and asked, “You sure I can’t get you anything?”

  Bennings smiled and said, “No, thanks. This coffee is all I need. Unlike my friend here, I need to lose a couple of pounds. This Southern cooking’s not good for the waistline.”

  Kylie said, “I hear ya! But after you smell those delicious hotcakes, I’ll bet you change your mind!”

  As Kylie turned to leave, Jordan gently touched her arm and said, “We’re still on for tonight, aren’t we?”

  Kylie smiled and said, “You bet.”

  “Good. See you at 6.”

  Bennings laughed and said, “I knew it. You two. I just knew it.”

  Jordan smiled and said, “Shut up and drink your coffee.”

  Kylie laughed and said, “Yeah, you just be quiet now, you hear?”

  Bennings laughed again and said, “Yes ma’am.”

  After Kylie left, Bennings said, “I’m happy for you, Jordan. I really am. Does this mean you’ll be staying down here for a while?”

  “Too early to tell, but I sure hope so. Molly and Blue are with my mom up in New York, for now, so who knows. Besides, I’d still like to find whoever it was that saved our asses last week. I’d like to thank him.”

  Bennings said, “You sure? Given the grilling they’re putting us through, don’t you think it’s for the best that we don’t know who it was?”

  “Maybe so.”

  Bennings, looking out in the parking lot, watched Taylor Riggs get out of his truck, enter the restaurant, and sit down at the counter. It didn’t go unnoticed. When Bennings turned his attention back to Jordan, Jordan smiled and said, “You think it was Riggs. Don’t you?”

  “Maybe. After all, he helped us more than once over the past couple of weeks. He’s also the guy who saw Lance take Molly and your mom inside.”

  “Really? You never told me that.”

  “You never asked. Anyway, on a different subject, I wanted you to know that I’m thinking of moving out of the country. Maybe finding a little shack down in Aruba or Barbados.”

  “Really! I never pictured you as the type who can just lie on a beach nursing a bottle of rum.”

  “Maybe not. But this thing isn’t going away anytime soon.”

  Jordan nodded and said, “Yeah, I know. Look at how they took out Warring last week.”

  “No shit. That was meant as a show of power and, I figure we’re next in line. That’s why I’m going off the grid for awhile. I think you should join me.”

  “No thanks. I still think our only chance is a revolution by and for the people. We need to find a warrior leader, a modern-day version of George Washington.”

  “It won’t work. Two hundred and fifty years ago, we could see the whites of their eyes. Today, there’s no visible enemy, and that same enemy controls all communications. We’ll never be able to rally the troops. Especially not in the pussified, politically correct world we’re living in.”

  “But it was the Deep State that created this pussified, politically correct world! They’ve systematically ripped the balls off of every college kid by feeding them bullshit ideas like politically correct and white privilege… for the sole purpose of eliminating freedom of speech, our right to congregate, and our ability to think for ourselves.”

  Bennings took a sip of coffee and said, “Yup, and guess what? It worked. Hell, you and I have already done more than our part. You even made your case on national TV. And what did it get us? The media turned around and painted Warring as a lone wolf eccentric seeking the fountain of youth. And then they chalked up her assassination as being carried out by the same right wing extremist group that tried to take out Blue at The Varsity. The people actually believe that shit. The bad guys win; we lose. End of discussion.”

  They sat in silence for a few minutes until Bennings pointed toward the counter and said, “But if you’re still a believer, Riggs over there has an interesting past.”

  “How’s that?”

  “When he was serving in Iraq, one day the bad guys brought down one of our choppers—an Apache. They were moving in for the kill when Riggs took up a position on a nearby sand dune and took out an entire platoon single-handed, taking two rounds to the gut in the process. He saved the day and earned himself a Medal of Honor.”

  “Very impressive. How did he pull that off?”

  Bennings smiled and asked, “Didn’t I tell you? He was a sniper.”

  “You son of a bitch! You’ve known all along it was him out there. Why didn’t you tell me before?”

  “Like I said, thought it best you didn’t know.”

  “And now?”

  “Because you just told me you were looking for a warrior leader, a modern-day George Washington.”

  Jordan glanced over at the counter and saw Riggs standing up to leave. He called out to him, “Hey, Taylor, got a minute? I’d like to talk to you about something.”

  Bennings shook his head and smiled.

  Here we go again!

  THE END

 

 

 
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