by Marc James
“You can’t be serious!” Bobby interjected.
“They killed my brother.” Teddy protested.
“Do we know that as a fact?” Abaddon replied.
“Yes we do.” Hoover responded.
“Well regardless, do we know how Oswald got back into the country?” Abaddon asked.
“I believe I know.” Hoover replied.
“Please explain?”
“Okay well in order to explain I have to go back to 1962, are you all familiar with the prisoners that escaped from Alcatraz?”
Everyone nodded.
“Well the escape was led by a man named Frank Morris, he was joined by two brothers, John and Clarence Anglin. The official story is that the three men drowned in their attempts to escape, but no bodies have ever been recovered, that is because they successfully escaped and that is why Alcatraz was closed.”
“I was under the impression that Alcatraz was closed due to the high costs of running the place?” Abaddon replied.
“Well in the interest of national security that is what the public were told. The public also didn’t learn about a fourth escapee, a man named Jacob Cohen.”
“You’re kidding?” Marty asked angrily.
“Sadly not.”
“Who is Jacob Cohen?” Bobby asked.
“He previously served in the US Army and was a CIA agent. He was initially imprisoned for war crimes, he killed thirteen Vietnamese civilians. Whilst he was imprisoned in Alcatraz, he killed a guard by biting his throat out. He is the most dangerous man in the country and he is highly intelligent. We have been tracking him for years but he always seems to be one step ahead. Someone must be funding him, as I have said I would know more if my wire tapping ability hadn’t been removed from me.” Hoover gave Abaddon a dirty look. “Anyway we received intelligence that he flew to Cuba, accompanied by two other men and two pilots. We believe he brought Oswald back to the States. I can only guess that Oswald was forced to cooperate by speaking to the press.”
“But why is this Cohen trying to bring down the government?” Teddy asked.
“As I mentioned he was in the CIA and he was in Vietnam. In short, he despises the Kennedy’s.”
“So what would you suggest we do Edgar?” Abaddon asked.
“Well obviously we need to track them down. But as I mentioned with the funding he is receiving he has a lot of resources at his disposal, we don’t know the identity of the people with him other than Oswald.”
“Could Lyndon Johnson be the one backing him?” Bobby asked.
“It’s doubtful. I can’t see what he would get from it.”
“He may well bring down the men that put him in jail.” Abaddon stated.
“I assure you whoever is behind this will not cause my downfall.” Hoover replied arrogantly.
“Well I would suggest that both the FBI and the National Security and Major Crime Prevention department pull your resources and find these men.”
“What about Apollo 8?” Bobby asked.
“I will deal with that until the President is available.”
“I’m telling you Abaddon, I believe it could only have been someone within NASA.”
“And I’m telling you that you are wrong.”
Bobby stared into Abaddon’s brown eyes, he was unflinching. Bobby had never come to blows with Abaddon but at the moment he couldn’t believe Abaddon’s response to Apollo 8. “You’re not even going to entertain the possibility that you are mistaken.”
“No I’m not, I have worked closely with Wernher and his team, and I trust them one hundred percent. That should be enough for you.”
“Half of the team are Nazis!” Bobby yelled.
“No some members in the team defected from Germany, that does not make them Nazis. Anyway you have been assigned your duties. Robert and Marty, I am sorry we can’t reach a decision yet but you understand without President Kennedy I cannot authorize any retaliatory response. I will certainly be recommending that we do take an aggressive route in dealing with the Russians and as I mentioned earlier I will be recommending the CIA be re-established. Failing that I will recommend that the Office of Strategic Services be given more power. Wernher as the President ordered, we will need to liaise with Howard Hughes with regards to the Apollo program. But for now that will conclude the meeting, so thank you all for attending.”
Everyone rose around the table and Bobby hobbled as quickly as his hip would allow towards the door. He headed in the direction of his office, he needed a cigarette after that fiasco. Once he had reached his office, he sat in his leather chair behind the desk and lit a cigarette. During his third inhale his door opened and Edgar entered the room. He took a seat at the opposite side of the desk and Bobby could see he was pissed off.
“Can you believe that idiot?” Hoover asked.
Bobby exhaled the smoke through his nose. “I’m pretty surprised if I’m honest, he’s not usually like that.”
“He’s always like that with me.”
“He doesn’t trust you.” Bobby stated bluntly.
“I don’t trust him either.”
“Because of the wire tapping?”
“Well partly, it makes me wonder if he has something to hide.”
“I think you are being a little paranoid, you were breaking the law.”
“In the interest of national security.”
They were interrupted by the ring of the telephone. After the second ring Bobby answered the phone.
“Hello, Bobby Stinson.”
“Bobby its Jane, how are you?”
“I’ve been better, how are things there?”
“Terrible.”
“What’s happened?”
“Well David tried to commit suicide, he’s in hospital, but don’t worry he should be fine.”
“He did what?” Bobby yelled. Hoover looked suddenly concerned.
“It happened last night.”
“How did he do it?”
“He slit his wrist.”
“Fucking hell!”
“Yeah, when we left the hospital he was about to see the Psychiatrist but we haven’t been to see him yet today. We thought we’d better give you a call before we do anything.
“Did you see Oswald?”
“Yes. So did Ethel.”
“How did she take it?”
“As to be expected, Nancy is sat with her just now. I’m surprised Kennedy never called.”
“He’s on his way to you.”
“He left the White House?”
“Yes I must say I was a little surprised but Ethel means the world to him, he is doing right by her.”
“I suppose so. Will and Chase are in New York, they found Josef Mengele.”
“In New York?”
“Yup.”
“Why didn’t one of you go?”
“Well we couldn’t when David was in hospital.”
“So he took Chase?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m not sure that was a good idea.”
“There was no one else.”
“We can’t afford anymore members of staff, the funding just isn’t there.”
“Have you spoken to Hoover?”
“He’s with me now.”
“What does he think?”
“Well he believes that Oswald was brought back in the country by a former CIA man, Jacob Cohen. I’m wondering if Mengele is with them.”
“It would make sense.”
“Have you heard from Will or Chase?”
“No I was hoping you had.”
“No, not yet. Well I’ll wait until I hear from them before I do go anywhere. You guys go and see David and tell him I’m sorry I couldn’t make it.”
“Will do.”
“Okay I’ll speak to you later.”
Bobby hung up just as his office door opened, Abaddon walked into the room looking like a dog chewing a wasp.
“Who was that?” He asked.
“Jane, apparently David tried to commit suicide las
t night.”
“Jesus, is he alright?”
“He’s in the hospital. Her and Faraday are about to go and visit him.”
“What about Oswald?”
“Well Chase and Will are in New York, they found Josef Mengele, we believe he may be with Oswald and this Jacob Cohen.”
“Have they apprehended them?”
“I don’t know, we haven’t heard from them.”
“You run a real tight ship.” Abaddon stated sarcastically, Hoover made a face so that only Bobby could see. He was beginning to agree with Hoover.
“What did you want?”
“I wanted to warn you never to speak like that to me again.” Abaddon stated angrily.
“Are you joking?”
“Not at all.”
Bobby really wanted to smack Abaddon, but he thought better of it. “No problem.”
“Edgar what are the FBI doing?”
“Well as I said we are tracking Jacob Cohen, if he is with Mengele then when Bobby’s team get in touch I’ll send agents out there.”
“Good, keep me posted.”
Chapter 14
Jane and Faraday arrived at Cape Cod Hospital just before 15:00. They were taken to the Psychiatric Ward where David was being kept. As Faraday walked along the corridor it brought back many painful memories, it was hard to believe that as important a person as Jane was to him, she had never known him when he was in the hospital. It was certainly a blessing but he had never really discussed it with her in detail, which just seemed odd to him.
When they reached David’s room they were both surprised to discover that he looked worse than he had when he was admitted. They entered the room and David looked absolutely terrified of them.
“Who are you?” He yelled.
Jane looked to Faraday, he was as surprised as she was. “It’s Jane and Faraday, you remember us.” She explained.
“Stay back! You’re not them!”
“We are David.” Faraday clarified.
David leapt from the bed and moved to the far corner of the room, when he got there he crouched down.
“Stay back!” He yelled.
They did as they were told. “David we are your friends, we are not here to hurt you.” Faraday spoke softly.
“Where is he?”
“Who?”
“The man with the dogs, they killed her!”
Faraday was much more worried now, he had never experienced anything like this. Jane also had no idea how to respond to David’s behaviour. “Killed who?” Faraday asked.
“The woman.”
“What woman?”
“Are you him?”
“Am I who?”
“The Dal-Tex man. You’ve come for revenge!”
“David no one is here to hurt you.”
“Get out!”
Faraday pulled Jane by the arm and they went back in to the corridor.
“What the hell was that?” Jane asked.
“I have no idea, I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
They walked towards the nurses’ station. There was a brunette nurse sitting there filling out paperwork.
“Is there a doctor we can talk to about David Lewis?”
The nurse looked as if they were interrupting her from something far more important. “Yes if you go back to the entrance of the ward and take a seat, I’ll send Dr Gottlieb along to you.”
“Thanks.” Jane replied.
They did as they were instructed and headed towards the entrance of the ward. They walked in silence, both of them still stunned by what they had seen. The silence was only broken when David sprinted by them, being chased by the nurse they had just spoken to.
“I’m not going in there again, that thing won’t shut up!” He yelled.
Faraday ran after him and grabbed his arm. “David calm down, your okay.”
“You would say that you designed all of this! All these fucking shapes and shit floating everywhere, you don’t think I know about the furniture?”
“What furniture?”
“The walking, talking bed!”
Faraday didn’t have a clue what to say. The nurse took David’s arm and led him back to his room, he went without protest.
When they finally did arrive at the entrance to the ward they took a seat as instructed. It was a few minutes before the doctor came to talk to them. He looked about fifty years old and had short greying hair.
“Mr and Mrs Faraday?”
They both rose to their feet and shook the doctor’s hand. “I was told you wanted to speak with me?”
They were both astounded that the doctor didn’t seem to know why they wanted to talk to him.
“Well he seems a lot worse than he was last night, he was pretty out of it?”
The doctor nodded solemnly. “Yes I’m afraid his mental state has deteriorated slightly.”
“Slightly? He came in depressed, he’s completely deranged now?” Faraday replied, trying to keep his voice down.
“I would like to avoid any derogatory terms like that Mr Faraday.”
“He’s right, he was completely out of it.” Jane argued.
“I wouldn’t say completely out of it.” The doctor replied defensively.
“How can you even say that?” Jane asked.
“It takes a lot of people time to adjust to being in the ward.”
“Well he can’t stay here, we can look after him.”
“Mrs Faraday I’m afraid that is completely out of the question.”
“She’s right, he’s out of here.”
“He cannot leave until he has been discharged.”
“We work with the President, we will get him out of here.” Jane threatened.
“Well if the President comes here, we may be able to work something out.” The doctor conceded.
Chapter 15
Jacob Cohen watched as Lee Harvey Oswald began to lose his mind, it was very entertaining. He was sat at the same table as he had been the night before. On this occasion he was sitting with the young Arabic man, Sirhan Sirhan and Josef Mengele.
“So what do we do about the agents downstairs?” Josef asked.
“They must be here for you Josef, they are from Bobby Stinson’s department.”
“How do you know that?” Josef replied.
“I received a tip off.”
“Are we ever going to learn who this mole is?” Josef asked.
“Maybe, one day. You need to go out there and surrender.”
Josef looked stunned. “You are just ditching me?”
“We can’t risk the integrity of our mission for you Josef and you’ll be out soon enough.”
“How will you manage that?”
“Just trust me.”
“How can I trust you? After all I’ve done for you, this is how you repay me?”
“You have caused your own problems Josef.”
“By helping you?”
“I was meaning more during your time with the Nazi party.”
“I’m not going down there, I can’t believe you’d sell me out after what I did for you in Cuba.”
They were interrupted by screaming coming from Lee Harvey Oswald. “Sirhan, shut him up.” Sirhan rose without saying a word and walked over to Oswald. He began punching him in the face, which only increased the screaming.
“How long will this take?” Jacob asked.
“A few more minutes.” Josef replied.
“Okay well if you head down, then Sirhan and I can leave once Mr Oswald has attempted to fly from the building. I assure you that my man on the inside will get you out.”
Josef looked hurt by the betrayal.
“There is no other way. You’ll be fine, I told you that I would take care of you.”
Josef reluctantly got to his feet and walked towards the hallway. “If you don’t get me out, I’ll tell them everything I know.”
Jacob started laughing almost hysterically, he then suddenly became serious. “You don’t know enough Josep
h and don’t ever threaten me. You will be out within a day or two.”
Josef walked from the apartment without another word.
Jacob stood up and wandered over to Lee Harvey Oswald who was lying on the ground petrified, Sirhan had hit him a few times and his lip and right eyebrow were badly cut.
“What’s wrong Lee?”
“They’re everywhere!” He shouted.
“The only way to escape is to fly.”
“Fly?”
“You can do it Lee.”
Oswald stood up and stumbled towards the window, all he could make out around him were giant bats and changing colours. The window was already open, so he stood up onto the window sill and dove from the window.
Chapter 15
When Bobby Kennedy arrived home he told Clint Hill to wait in the car, this was a conversation that he needed to have alone. He had thought of nothing else on Air Force One and then on the drive home.
“Good luck Mr President.” Clint said, as Bobby stepped from the black Lincoln.
As he approached the front door he replayed the explanation he had been working on since he had left Washington. He opened the front door and was greeted by Nancy and Clint Stinson.
“Hello.” Bobby said, half heartedly.
“We were just going for a walk, will give you some privacy.” Nancy smiled as she spoke. She and Clint wandered out into the cold.
Bobby checked the rooms downstairs first but when he did not find Ethel he went up to their bedroom. When he reached the bedroom door he could hear Ethel crying, he had never felt so guilty in his entire life. He slowly opened the door and entered the room, she was lying on the bed with her back to the door so she did not see him enter.
“Ethel.” He spoke softly, almost whispering.
She rolled onto her back and saw her husband, he could tell by the look in her eyes that she detested him at this moment. Bobby approached the bed and sat near her, she did not move away which he took as a good sign. Everything he had been going over in his head was now gone, he had to speak from the heart.
“Ethel I’m so sorry.” He struggled to keep himself from crying.
“So it’s all true?” She replied, her face showing just how much it hurt her.
“No, not all of it.”
“Well what is the truth?” She asked, unsure as to whether she really wanted to know the answer.
“I went to see her for Jack. They had been having an affair and no matter what he did she wouldn’t take the hint that it was over between them. She started calling the White House, she even said that she was going to be the First Lady to Jackie. So Jack asked me to fix it, when I got there she threw herself at me.”
