The Next Ten: Beginnings Series Books 11 - 20

by Jacqueline Druga

  “Sure,” Robbie replied and watched in oddity as Henry left. Before he could say anything else, he caught glimpse of the strangest look on Frank’s face. Revelation. “Frank?”

  “Henry,” Frank whispered then widened his eyes. “Henry.” He spun around and looked at the door. “Henry.”

  Hal glanced at Robbie. “Are we missing something?”

  Robbie raised his eyebrows. “Do you suppose it has to do with, I don’t know . . . Henry?”

  “Dad.” Frank pointed to the empty doorway. “Henry.”

  “Yeah, so,” Joe said.

  “No, Dad.” Frank clenched his jaws. “Henry. Hen . . . ree. Hen . . . ree. Henry.”

  Hal clapped. “He’s mastered the art of articulation. Good job, Frank.”

  “Dad.” Frank ignored Hal. “Henry. Dad. I think . . .” He moved to the door. “I think I’ll go to your office and clean up that glass now.”

  “Now?” Joe asked.

  “Now, Dad.” Frank winked. “And maybe see if there is a file on your desk that Dean dropped off that no one knows about.” He stepped out and poked his head back in. “Henry.”

  Joe’s eyes grew wide. His mind was so cluttered that he had forgotten. “Shit. Henry.” He hurried to the door. “Robbie, I’ll be back.”

  “Um . . . O.K.” Robbie watched them leave. “Hey, Hal, do you suppose this has to do with that file no one is supposed to know about?”

  “There’s one way to find out.”

  “Could you?”

  “I’ll be right back.”

  Robbie leaned back into the bed and enjoyed watching Hal not only hop, but hop out with a hot pink cast. With an exhale of his laugher, he grabbed the remote on his bed and looked at the call button. “I think I’ll have that bath now.” With a relaxing smile, he pressed the button.

  ^^^^

  Because he said he would do so, Frank hurriedly swept the glass from the floor of Joe’s office into one pile in the corner. Frank ran up there Top speed, grabbed the broom, and whisked the pieces of glass aside. He should have caught his breath before picking up the note Dean had left the day before, because when Frank viewed those results again, all of his breath escaped him.

  He paced dramatically with the results in his hand and let out a gasping ‘oh’ every few seconds out of lack of anything else to say.

  “Frank.” Joe opened the office door and stepped in.

  The ‘oh’ was heavy when Frank lifted the results to Joe.

  “I know.” Joe took them.

  “Dad . . . oh.” Frank shook his head.

  “Frank, I know. With all that happened, we totally forgot about this.”

  “Oh.”

  “Will you knock it off!” Joe sat down.

  “I can’t help it. Oh. Sorry.” Frank pulled up a chair. “We barely have time to think about this. What are we gonna do?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Dean is gonna be so pissed off when he finds out.”

  From the note Dean had left, Joe looked up. “Dean knows. He’s the one who told us, moron.”

  “Oh, yeah, but . . . still. Dean is gonna be so pissed off when he remembers he ran that test. The way Henry came down on him over the Bev thing, Dean was the heavy for that pregnancy.”

  “I know,” Joe grumbled.

  “There’s no way to bury it.”

  “Why would we do that?” Joe asked. “We can’t. If Dean knows, how long before Ellen knows. If Ellen knows . . .”

  Frank just stared.

  “You aren’t gonna do it?” Joe asked.

  “Do what?”

  “Finish my sentence.”

  “Which one.”

  “If Ellen knows . . .”

  “I had no idea where you were going with that.” Frank tossed up his hands. “Sorry.”

  “It figures. No . . . this will come out eventually. If we try to bury it, Dean will get upset and rightfully so. This really explains Henry’s behavior.”

  “Yeah, no doubt. I mean, I always thought it was odd that Henry was so pissed at her about finding out he was gay. No, not gay. He isn’t gay. He has gay sex. But he isn’t gay. It’s different, you know. But I always thought Henry was gay. Maybe it just surfaced or he caught it off . . .”

  “Frank,” Joe snapped. “Enough.”

  “Man, be mad. I was only giving my thought.”

  “A stupid one.”

  “Don’t you have room to talk?” Frank nodded. “You’re the one who couldn’t finish your sentence and lost your thought.”

  “What the hell are you talking about now?”

  “The ‘Ellen knows’ thing. You forgot what she knows and expected me to . . .”

  “Frank.”

  “What the hell were you saying she knows anyhow?”

  “What do you think, Frank?” Joe quipped.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Asshole.” Joe slammed his hand. “Ellen knows Henry fathered Bev’s baby.”

  It was not the voice they expected. “Oh my God,” Hal said, shocked, as he walked into the office.

  “Christ.” Joe closed his eyes.

  “Fuck, Dad,” Frank snapped. “You have a big mouth.”

  So shocked, Hal walked closer to the desk. “Is this . . . is this true?”

  “No,” Frank said.

  “Yes,” Joe replied.

  “Dad!” Frank barked. “Stop telling him things.”

  Irritated, Hal looked at Frank. “God, what is wrong with you?”

  “No.” Frank held up a finger. “That would be ‘Frank, what is wrong with you?’ It’s pretty blasphemous to confuse me with Him. But thanks, anyhow.”

  “You’re an asshole.” Hal sat down. “Dad, when did you guys find this out? This is very valuable information to the investigation.”

  “Probably ten seconds before the explosion,” Joe responded. “With all that happened, this slipped our minds.”

  “What are you going to do?” Hal asked.

  “Well . . .” With an exhale, Joe dropped the note and sat back. “I will let Henry know first and try to keep a lid on it during the investigation, but I can’t promise. Dean did the test. Dean knows. Dean will let it out, ethical or not.”

  Hal nodded. “Dean took the fall for Henry’s baby.”

  “And Henry stayed silent,” Joe added.

  “Fuckin Henry,” Frank interjected. “Does he have a reputation of sleeping with the enemy or what?”

  “What are you talking about?” Joe asked.

  “Michele.”

  “Who’s Michele?”

  “She’s the one who um . . .” Frank shifted his eyes. “Who um . . . I mean . . . I mean . . . Shut up Hal!”

  “What?” Hal tossed his hands up. “I didn’t say anything.”

  “As screwed up as it came out,” Joe said, “Frank has a valid point. Henry slept with the enemy. I think after people find this out, I’m not gonna have to find one new Council member, I’ll have to find two.”

  “You’re asking him to resign?” Hal asked.

  “No.” Joe shook his head. “I wouldn’t do that, but the people may ask for it. He’s second in line . . .” He raised his eyes when he saw Frank’s hand raise. Joe continued, “How can people put their faith and trust in someone, let alone respect . . .” Joe saw the hand wave higher and more frantically. “Respect them as a leader and goddamn it! What, Frank! What!”

  “Can I be on Council?”

  “No” Joe returned to speaking. “So I think that Henry will make the choice to resign all on his own.”

  “Please?” Frank asked.

  Hal laughed.

  “No,” Joe said. “You cannot.”

  “That bites,” Frank sulked.

  “Yeah, well deal with it,” Joe told him. “Besides, you have this investigation to work on.”

  “So do you and you’re on Council,” Frank argued.

  “Yeah, but I didn’t see the murderer,” Joe rebutted.

  “Neither did I,” Frank said.
>
  “Bullshit,” Joe snapped. “I know goddamn well you did and you’re pissing around with my time keeping it a secret.”

  “We missed the window,” Frank insisted.

  “The hell you did. Do you wanna be on Council, Frank?” Joe asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Who’s the murderer?”

  Frank’s mouth opened in a gasp. “That’s a bribe.”

  “It’s only a bribe if you know something.”

  Hal looked at Frank. “He has a point.”

  “Shut up, Hal.” Frank slouched in his chair. “I can’t help you. We missed the window.”

  Hal lifted his hand slightly. “May I say something?”

  “No,” Frank snapped.

  “Hal.” Joe shook his head.

  Lifting his hands, Hal shrugged. “Fine, I won’t say anything. I was siding with you, Frank.”

  “Oh.” Frank nodded. “Go on even though I know you’re trying to kick up brownie points for sleeping with Ellen.”

  Hal grumbled then looked at Joe who really didn’t seem as if he wanted to hear it. “Dad, in Frank’s defense, if he saw the killer and doesn’t want it out, why care? Why even bother solving the case? It was Bev Hadley. I guarantee you not a single soul in Beginnings will bat an eye if you went no further with it.”

  “Until the next time,” Joe stated.

  “Excuse me?” Hal asked.

  “Until the next time someone gets killed.” Joe shrugged. “What do we say? Do we tell the person that committed the crime they’re out. We can’t. We haven’t the ground to stand on. If we condone this murder, whether she was a traitor or not, we’re condoning the act. This was no accident, Hal. This was no self defense. The girl was found slumped over a desk with a bullet in her head.”

  “Rule it a suicide,” Hal said with a ‘so there’ attitude.

  “All well and fine, Hal,” Joe came back. “But we don’t have the murder weapon.”

  “Lie,” Hal tried again.

  “Lie? Lie? Did you say lie?”

  Frank lifted his hand. “Dad, is your hearing O.K., because that was a pretty easy . . .”

  “Frank!” Joe yelled with a slam of his hand to the desk. “No, Hal, we can’t lie. No, Hal, we can’t sweep this under the rug. A murder was committed. A life was taken, whether no one liked her or not, whether she committed crimes against the community, it was no one’s right to walk into her house and take her life!” Joe blasted. “She was pregnant. Pregnant. Doesn’t that count for anything? The murderer has to be found. The murderer has to be dealt with. A punishment has to be given so one way or another we, as leaders, send a clear cut message that life is life, and it’s never all right to take that life.”

  Hal sat back with a release of a deep breath. “I’m sorry. Can I ask how you’re gonna deal with this punishment?”

  “Grace and I sat down and talked, along with . . . along with Jason.”

  “Hey!” Frank spoke up. “I’m in on this investigation. Why wasn’t I called in on that punishment talk?”

  “Wanna know why?” Joe questioned.

  “I asked.”

  “Smart ass.” With a shake of his head, Joe continued, “Because you, Frank, saw the murderer. You, Frank, are protecting them. With you there, we would get nothing but a headache and argument from you on the extremes of the punishment.”

  “Extremes?” Frank questioned. “You can’t go to extremes with this.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you just can’t. It’s not right. It was Bev.”

  “It was murder!” Joe yelled. “We decided we’re putting it to dual community vote. Bowman and us will choose what is handed down. In fact, I will get the sheets out as soon as possible. They will choose the course of action to take. None of which will be a slap on the wrist.”

  “What do you mean? You’re gonna kick them out?” Frank asked.

  “If they vote for it.”

  “Fuck that!” Frank enraged, stood up. “Fuck that. You can’t kick them out. If that’s the case, I hope it never comes out who did this!” He stormed to the door.

  “Stop,” Joe called out, standing up. “Turn around,” he ordered.

  Hal slid down in his chair with a wince. He knew what was coming.

  Curling his finger, Joe called Frank back.

  “What?” Frank stood by the door.

  “How many fingers am I holding up?” Joe asked lifting his hand.

  With a point and a mumble of his lips, Frank counted. “Four.”

  “Exactly.” Joe lowered to his seat. “That’s the number you just narrowed the suspect list down to for me.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Frank barked.

  Nasal and mocking, Joe spoke. “What the hell are you talking about?” He imitated. “I’ll tell you. Your reaction to the punishment tells me it can only be one of four people. Him.” Joe pointed to Hal. “Robbie, Dean, or . . . Ellen.”

  “Dad.” Frank tossed his hands up as he walked back. “I told you I didn’t see anyone. We missed the window.”

  “Oh fuck you and your missed the window routine,” Joe snapped.

  Frank inhaled in his gasp. “Oh my God.”

  With a turn of his head to the side, Hal’s eyes widened as he mouth the words ‘fuck you?’ “Um, Dad.”

  “Shut up.” Joe pointed.

  “What’s with the attitude?” Frank asked. “You’re pissed at me.”

  “Goddamn right. I’m sick and tired of this shit, Frank. You’re wasting my time with this investigation.”

  “You’re wasting your time period with this investigation!” Frank vocally slammed back. “Instead of looking for one person who killed a traitor, why don’t you look for the person who tried to take out an entire group of our finest?”

  Joe’s voice in emotion and volume matched Frank’s. “I would like to. I would like to find this person and give that bombing one hundred percent of my attention, but I can’t. Not with this murder.”

  “Fuck the murder.”

  Hal interjected calmly, “No. Solve the murder. Do that and you’ll solve the bomber question.”

  Both Joe and Frank looked at him.

  “Come on. You know it,” Hal stated. “This person tried to end the investigation by taking out every suspect. They get rid of the suspect and the investigation is over. Communications will be back up and they’ll have their link to George. Solve the murder. Find your bomber. In fact . . .” He lifted his hands. “I will go as far as to say to set the bomber up. Let’s say, if in two weeks the real killer doesn’t confess, we find one. Actually, I wouldn’t even let it out that the real killer confessed. I would allow, like with Andrea, this person to proclaim their innocence which, while waiting for a hearing for review of the evidence, will give the bomber ample time to go after the suspect.”

  Joe shook his head. “No. Say for example . . .” His eyes shifted to Frank. “Robbie confessed. You want us to name Robbie and have him deny the murder despite the fact he confessed, all so we can make him a defenseless sitting duck? No.”

  “Yes,” Frank spoke. “Yes, but don’t name the real killer.”

  Joe quickly looked at Frank. “What are you talking about?”

  Frank answered, “From here on in, all proceedings will have two faces. The one the community knows about and the one only the suspects, you, me, and Grace know about. Say the evidence is overwhelming and we know who the killer is. Behind closed doors, without community knowledge, we face the suspects, we name the killer, and we deliver a delayed punishment. We don’t let the community know the whole thing is basically over with. We let the community think it’s just beginning. Name the suspect, await the trial, and wait for the bomber. When we nab him, we can inform the community the Bev thing is done.”

  “What if the killer confesses instead of us finding him or her?” Joe asked.

  “Same thing,” Frank said. “The punishment is delivered behind closed doors. Then we name the front. The front will not be the rea
l killer. The front will know he’s going to be a sitting duck and will deny the murder charges adamantly. This will bring out the bomber. Again, once the bomber is had, the real Bev murderer can be released.”

  “Say we do this,” Joe said. “Who? Who would be the front, Frank?”

  “Someone capable of handling themselves, smart enough to watch their back, and . . . someone with an undeniable excuse for delaying the trial over and over until we get the bomber.”

  Hal’s eyes closed. “Illness.”

  Joe glanced up. “Elliott.”

  Frank looked at his brother. “It’s perfect. You know it. It couldn’t be better. Hell, we can stick him in a hospital bed. What a perfect set up. Because you know this son of a bitch, if he bombed our people, he’s gonna go after one sick man in bed.”

  Hal nodded. He had to agree and he knew Elliott probably would as well without hesitation. But instead of catching the bomber, Hal thought of something else. Frank and how angry he was about the explosion, and how bitter, confident, and determined he was to get the bomber. if Hal was right on who he thought the bomber was, it was too ironic. Frank was adamantly protecting a killer for one crime, while unconsciously pursuing his own son for another.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Dean’s fingers touched upon the hard cold flesh of Glen’s corpse. With a strict focus of his enhanced vision, he zoomed in. “You’re right. It’s an injection site.” He lifted his head then raised the sheet over Glen’s body. He looked at Hal. “This could have been missed.”

  “Thank God it wasn’t,” Hal said. “So when do you think you’ll know?”

  “I’ll get to the samples as soon as I can, but . . .” Dean lifted his shoulder. “I have to tell you, if what killed him is not of this clinic, I’m not gonna be able to identify it.”

  “I understand. I just need confirmed that he was killed.”

  “I’ll do the best I can.”

  “I appreciate you coming in to do this for me. I have to get back.”

  “No problem,” Dean said. “I had to come in anyhow to relive Ellen and wait for Forrest.”

  Oddly, Hal looked at Dean. “Is Forrest an actual doctor?”

  “Who knows? He says he is. I debate that, but he’s a capable pair of hands to run things. He’s all we have.”