The Next Ten: Beginnings Series Books 11 - 20

by Jacqueline Druga

  Ellen could only imagine how she would feel once the secret of Johnny was lifted from her as well. If things went as planned, she should tell Joe the next day, but she couldn’t. She would wait. She had too. Joe, Frank, and Robbie were feeling the grief of her confession. It would be too much for them to handle just yet, especially Joe and Frank. If their hearts were broken over her, how would they feel to find out the truth about Johnny?

  A few more days. She could live with that. Just a few more days.

  Taking her lab coat off the tree in the clinic lab, Ellen began to slip her arm into the garment when she realized it had been days since she had worked. And with that came the realization that it had been even longer since she had been in the cryo-lab.

  If it was her intention to be alone, to just concentrate on something else then, to Ellen, there was no better place to be than the cryo-lab. She left the backlog of clinic work for Forrest and Dean, lab coat on and headed for the cryo-lab.

  ^^^^

  It didn’t matter whether he nursed it, sipped it, or downed it, Frank was drinking. As if drawn by a magnet, Joe’s eyes caught it as soon as he walked into the Social Hall. The Hall was particularly loud and crowded and there was a ‘up’ air about it, except at the bar where Frank sat. Joe walked directly to Frank and leaned into the bar next to him. “What are you doing?” Joe whispered.

  “Guess.” Frank lifted his glass.

  Joe slammed it back down before Frank could take a drink. “Don’t do this.”

  “I already have. This is my second.”

  Joe peered to the other side of Frank where Johnny stood. “Why did you let him drink?”

  “Pap, I’m not his father,” Johnny spoke softly. “You tell me how to stop him?”

  “Frank,” Joe tried again.

  Sadly, Frank swayed a view to Joe. “Dad, not tonight. Not after today. Don’t. I need this. I swear I won’t drink again.”

  Joe turned away briefly and looked around the Hall. “What is this? A celebration?”

  Frank lifted the glass. ‘To the end of the murder investigation. Everyone involved is here.” He took a sip, speaking as low as he felt.

  “Where are Dean and Ellen?”

  “Ellen.” Frank set down is unfinished drink. “She’s at the clinic. Dean, well, he’s home and that’s where I’m headed. To see him.” He started to stand up.

  “All right. That’s probably for the best. I’d rather have you there. I’ll see you at home.” After getting a nod from Frank, Joe walked off.

  Frank lifted his jacket from the bar stool and placed it on. “I’ll see ya, Johnny.”

  “Dad? Why are you hanging out with Dr. Dean tonight? I thought you’d want to celebrate with everyone else.

  “I’m not in the mood for celebrating.”

  “Why?”

  Frank let out a heavy breath and leaned into Johnny in a secretive mode. “This is not to get out. Ellen, not Jess, is the one who killed Bev.” He stood up straight. “Night, John.”

  Johnny couldn’t even respond. He tried with everything he was not to show the anger toward Ellen that fueled within him. The moment Frank left the Social Hall, so did Johnny.

  Frank may have whispered and others around were too involved to even hear, but not John Matoose. He was listening and he zoomed in on the conversation. As Johnny walked from the Social Hall, John Matoose followed with the intention to stay close behind him.

  A celebration it was. Joe thought the mood was awful light. Was everyone that glad that the Bev thing was behind them? Henry certainly seemed it. As he stood by a table with Hector, waiting for their turn to throw darts, Henry laughed but that wasn’t as odd for him as the fact he yelled something jokingly crude to another player.

  “Henry. Hector.” Joe wanted to say hello as he walked by them. “Having a good evening?”

  “Oh, hey, Joe. Yeah.” Henry smiled.

  “Just being a little cautious . . .” Joe said, “since I know your history, Henry. Where’s Nick?”

  “Nick?” Henry questioned. “Nick. Nick. Oh, shit Hector, we left him at home.” He took a step, stopped, turned back to Joe, and flashed a grin. “Gemma’s watching him.”

  “Ha-ha-ha. Funny.” Joe shook his head with a slight smile. “Have a good night, boys.” He patted Henry on the back and kept walking. He was going to find a table, sit down, and listen to Paul play his acoustic guitar, but he spotted Josephine, and the appearance of her sent warnings to Joe. She was different. It was after nine and she wasn’t asleep on the bar.

  He slid to the stool next to her. “Mind if I join you?”

  “Not at all, Joey. Not at all.” Josephine slid a bottle Joe’s way. “Here, I’ll even share some of mine.”

  “Everything all right?” Joe asked. “You’re still semi-sober.”

  “Yeah. That sucks, don’t it.” Josephine tipped her glass into her mouth. “But I’ve got a lot on my mind, Joey. Today . . . it’s a weighing heavy.” She gave a twitch to her head. “I ain’t never disagreed with any decision before, ya know, but I got to disagree with this one.”

  “The temporary ousting.”

  ‘That’s the one.” Josephine poured some whiskey in her glass. “I understand your position on giving law and order. I know the next time someone gets shot, you want it to be established that it’s a crime.”

  “Well, yes.” Joe poured a drink.

  “But this is your girl, Joey. This affects you personally. Can’t you do anything? Ain’t you gonna try to stop it.”

  “I wished to God I could,” Joe spoke softly. “I can’t. If I want to run this community fairly, I just can’t. It’s breaking my heart.”

  “Sad,” Josephine sighed out. “Sad she’s gotta leave. That only leaves me to wonder . . . .” She took a drink and gasped. “Why couldn’t it been Frank.”

  Joe chuckled. “You know. I don’t think you and I have sat down and had a drink like this before. Why is that?”

  “I never wanted to drink with you before.”

  Joe blinked. “Can I ask why?”

  “One word.” Josephine nodded. “Frank. I couldn’t look at you with respect knowing you helped bring that beast into this world. Dumb bastard Frank.”

  Joe lifted his glass. “I’ll drink to that.”

  ^^^^

  Since the incident with Billy, there was always some apprehension about turning on the cryo lights so Ellen perpetually left them on. She announced her arrival vocally the moment she stepped into the lab. She smiled at the bad aroma and sensed the creatures happiness to see her by the thumping against the cages.

  “Hello.” Ellen waved. “Nothing deadly today. I’ll feed you.” She made her way to the sink. “Though mainly, I’m here to look at my embryos. I have a child growing, you know. We’ll see if he turns out deformed. Dean won’t tell me.” Reaching over to turn on the sink, Ellen heard the ‘bang’ against the sink as soon as she leaned. “Was that me?” She giggled, stepped back, and looked down.

  She saw the protrusion from her lab coat pocket. “Dean must have left something in here.” She stuck her hand in and pulled out the small pocket tape recorder. “Oh, he’ll be missing . . .” She stopped and froze. “Oh, shit. Oh, shit.” She spun to face the deformed animals as if they understood her. She clenched it to her chest. “I forgot all about this. Do you know what this is?”

  “No, El.” Johnny’s mean voice called into the lab. “What is it?”

  Her eyes grew wide and Ellen stepped to the cages inconspicuously slipping the tape player between two cages. She turned around and faced Johnny. “I was talking to my hybrids. What are you doing here?”

  “You did it, didn’t you?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You killed Bev.” He stepped to her. “Don’t try to deny it. I know it wasn’t Jess like everyone else thinks. My father told me.”

  “Frank? He told you that?”

  “Oh, yeah.” Johnny smiled, demented. “Nice guy, huh?”

  “Listen . .
. Frank is wrong.” Ellen shifted to her right to try to get by him. One step was all she took and Johnny grabbed her. With all of his strength, he picked her up and tossed her to the side.

  Ellen flew with a slight scream and slammed hard into the other counter. She quickly looked up once, then gained her footing and tried to make a run for it.

  Johnny lunged his hand forward and shoved her back again. “You won’t get away with it. By the time they find your body, I’ll be gone.” He extended his fingers, grabbed on to her throat, snatched her forward, and raised his fist. Ready to pummel, Johnny’s fist made it within an inch of Ellen’s face when a shoulder rammed into him, spearing him across the lab.

  John Matoose landed hard on top of Johnny. Half unbalanced, John tried to stand and in his lifting of Johnny, he received a clenched fist blow to the side of the face that caused his hands to release him.

  Johnny raged to John, grabbed him, lifted him, and then shoved him. As soon as John began to go after him, Johnny pulled a revolver from behind back and aimed it. “Go ahead.” Johnny caught his breath and shifted the gun Ellen’s way. “Which one of you do you think I’ll shoot first? Do you think I care?” he snickered sadistically. “It’s over.”

  John Matoose stood by Ellen. “No, it’s over for you, Johnny.”

  “On whose word. Yours?” Johnny smiled. “You’ve been working for me. Hers? She’s a killer. Jess went down. So will you.” He backed up and put the gun away. “I have two more days in this place and I swear to God, if I even sense I’m going down before that, I will go down shooting. And I won’t give a fuck who I hit.” Giving one more glaring look, Johnny stormed from the lab.

  Ellen saw John Matoose getting ready to chase him. “No,” she stopped him.

  “What are we gonna do? Just let him walk away?”

  “Yes.” Ellen turned into the counter and dropped her face to her hands. “You heard him. Two days. Let him go.”

  “Ellen,” John whispered to her. “You’re it. You are the one who can bring him down.”

  Ellen raised her eyes to John. “You heard him.”

  “I don’t care. Do you realize he could have killed you?”

  “It wasn’t the first time he tried. You can say I’ve been taking a lot from Johnny lately.”

  John closed his eyes. “Open your mouth. Go to Joe. You have proof. Look at your neck.” He reached out and tilted her head to expose the red mark. “If we let him walk away, if we let him leave Beginnings, then we have nothing. No one will ever believe he did anything to you.”

  “That will never happen.” Ellen walked across the lab to the cages. “They’ll know about him. I’m not the only proof.” She lifted the tape player, pressed rewind, and then play. She let the tape play long enough for her and Johnny’s voice to ring out and then she shut it off.

  John walked over and snatched the tape player. “Thank you.”

  “John?”

  “Sorry.” He backed up and moved across the lab.

  “Please. I’m begging you.” Ellen ran to him. “Joe. Frank. They won’t be able to handle it right now. Not right now. Please don’t go to them.”

  “Oh.” John looked smug. “I have no plans on going to Joe or Frank.” He grabbed the cryo-lab door. “Lock this or go topside to the clinic.” He pulled the door closed and smiled as he looked down at the tape player.

  ^^^^

  From behind his desk, Hal looked worn. He only lifted his eyes to John Matoose who stormed into his office. “John?”

  John paused before Hal’s desk and smiled. “Ellen knows all about Johnny.”

  “What? Did she . . .”

  “He’s been going after her every chance he can.” A proud smug look hit John’s face. “It’s over.” With a hard ‘slam’, he set down the tape player. “We got him.” His thumb pressed ‘play’.

  There was speaker noise, possibly the hitting of the microphone against material. The voices were muffled, but they were strong.

  “Did you do it?” Ellen asked.

  “Do what?” Johnny’s voice spoke.

  “Did you change what I put into the computer?”

  “What do you think? Of course I did. It goes with that drug abuse problem you have, El.”

  “You know . . .Do not think for one second I’m not spilling my guts. I have had it with you.”

  “And I . . . I’m sick of your threats. Tell. Take your chance. You think you’ll hurt me. Watch out who you end up hurting.”

  CRACK!

  It could have been the slap heard around the world. That was how loud it rang out and through Hal. Rage was an understatement.

  With his eyes glaring, Hal rose up from his seat. His hand swiped down in one motion and without saying anything, he snatched up the tape player and barged straight from his office.

  ^^^^

  Even though he didn’t need it, Hal played that tape over and over in his speeding ride to Beginnings. He let each word fuel him. He rewound and listened to the slap Johnny delivered along with the sound of pain Ellen made and he let it boil every ounce of his emotions to the point that he almost exploded.

  The Jeep screeched to a hard loud stop just before the Social Hall. Hal’s eyes were on the door of the Hall and he spoke to John Matoose as he moved there. “Stay here. Stay put.” His hand reached out and he could have whipped the door from the hinges with the force he flung it open.

  The noise was loud but Hal heard none of it. He saw Johnny sitting at the bar and he made it through the thick crowd as if they were mere steam.

  Not saying anything, with every muscle in his face hard and tense, Hal shoved his left hand into Johnny’s back, while his right reached under Johnny’s jacket and pulled the revolver. He tossed it onto the bar and it spun all the way down clearing and breaking glasses and causing an immediate hush. “You’ll go down taking no one . . .” Hal gripped the back of Johnny’s neck and lifted him. “No one but yourself.”

  Hal carried Johnny to the door of the Hall, kicked open the door with his foot, and with all of his weight, he hurled Johnny out into the street.

  The Jeep was too close, perhaps on purpose, and Johnny landed straight into it.

  Hal gave him no chances. There was not a single opportunity for Johnny to rise up. He charged at Johnny, lifted him to his feet with one hand, revved back a tightly closed fist, and smashed it hard into Johnny’s face. “Consider that for Ellen.” Hal pulled back again and struck again. “For every time you hit her. This . . .” Another hit. “Is for her. For what you’ve done to my family . . . I could kill you now.” It was a growl of emotions Hal produced that left his body in a form of a scream as he picked up Johnny once more and threw him to the street.

  In the distance, Hal’s name was called only once and not even two steps into his second lunging for Johnny, Hal sailed sideways with the weight of Frank’s bodily hit.

  The brothers landed both on the concrete in a body over body roll. Strength against strength, they fought to free the others hold, only to eject themselves from each other.

  They both rose quickly to a stand and like two bulls, they charged.

  Frank’s connection to Hal was first, slamming him hard in the jaw with hit, but he was not without receiving one just as fast.

  Slam! Hal crashed into the side of the Social Hall and seeing Frank’s charging hand, he ducked.

  The denting of the metal and the thunderous connection Frank made didn’t faze him one bit. He grunted once with the hit he took to the gut then he laid his hands on the side of Hal’s face. With fingers gripping, he careened Hal hard into the wall.

  Connection for connection, Hal flung back, colliding the back of his head firmly into Frank’s face.

  Frank stumbled back and Hal spun. Another eruption was imminent. The crowd and pleas to stop didn’t matter. The firing of Joe’s gun didn’t halt them.

  It had to be dealt with like a football game.

  It took two men on each of them to break up what was escalating into something worse. />
  Henry and Danny Hoi dove for Hal at the same time Hector and Dan from Security rammed into Frank.

  They separated.

  Emotional grunts and struggles ensued until Joe stepped in between his sons. “Knock it off!” He blasted, looking left to right. “I’ll shoot the both of you. Try me!” He took a moment to run his hand down his face. “Now what the hell is going on?”

  Frank’s arm swung over Dan’s shoulder with a heavy point. “Ask him!” He pointed to Hal. “He went after my kid for no reason.”

  Joe shifted his eyes to Johnny, who could barely move, by the Jeep with John Matoose right beside him.

  Hal laughed. “For no reason? Your kid, Frank! Your kid try to kill me, your bother, Ellen, Dean and everyone else! Your kid is the insider we have been looking for!”

  “Bullshit!” Frank screamed.

  “No!” Hal blasted back. “Do you think I wanted it to be him! Do you? No! But it’s true!”

  Frank looked at Johnny who sadly peered up. Frank shook his head. “No. For some reason, for some sick fuckin reason, Hal, you want to believe this. I’ll never believe you.”

  “Then believe her!” To his left, Hal pointed to Ellen. “Ask Ellen. Ask her, Frank. Will you believe her? She knows. She has known! And for you, she tried to protect him. What did it get her . . .?”

  “No.” Frank shook his head emotionally.

  “Ask her!” Hal blasted emotionally again. “Ask her how many times Johnny hit her? Ask her how many times he knocked her out and left her to die! Ask her!”

  Hector and Dan released him and Frank’s body trembled in confusion as his eyes locked on Ellen. “El?” he questioned. “El? Tell me it isn’t true. Tell me Hal is lying.”

  Ellen’s mouth tightened up. She looked upon the faces that stared at her on the street, faces she loved that wanted answers. Joe. Frank. Robbie.

  “El?” Frank questioned, his voice cracking. “Tell me. Not my kid, El. Not my kid.”

  Ellen swallowed every ounce of fear. “I’m sorry, Frank. It’s all true.” On her confirmation, Ellen spun and took off running.