The Road to Round Mountain: The Betrayal by

by C. G. Roberts

  Gordon also heard, but on a different night, that Bay Ridge Jewelers, was getting a shipment of uncut diamonds coming by boat, to be delivered late Thursday night. How Frankie got that information he wasn’t sure, but he figured that his Uncle somehow supplied him that information. This was the big heist, they are doing the other petty robberies to throw the police off.

  “Damn it Langella, get the fuck out of here, we put fresh batteries in that thing yesterday”, Mr. Watkins erupted. “Any more crap out of you and Biggs, and both of you will spend your last nine months in our little quiet time room”. Frankie wasted no time in flipping Mr. Watkins the bird.

  After Frankie defiantly left Mr. Watkins office, Sheriff

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  Pasco came through the front door, coming face to face with Frankie. “You got a problem old man”, Frankie asked. Sheriff Pasco just smiled and said, “No Frankie, no problem at all, you see all I have to do is shoot you between the eyes, go home have some dinner, then sleep like a baby. Then the next day everyone is so happy over the news, they make me Governor of Oregon. I hope that answers your question you snot nose punk”. He continued to smile as he went into Mr. Watkins office.

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  “how you doIng Sam, I understand Sully gave you guys a hard time again”. I’m fine Sheriff, but if that boy gets any bigger we’re going to need to start carrying elephant guns”. Sherif f Pasco gave a quick chuckle. “Well you might enjoy part of the news I have for you then. First the bad part, Joey didn’t make it, the doctor just called me about ten minutes ago. His internal injuries were more than the doctors could fix before his body just gave out”. “Damn Sherif f that was Gordon’s only friend here, and trust me when I say that they’re not done with him yet either. You said there was some good news in there somewhere”?

  The Sheriff grew a sly grin, “You see, now that Joey’s dead, it’s now a murder case and all parties involved can and will be tried as adults”. “I’ll be damned, Christmas in July”, Mr. Watkins replied with renewed enthusiasm. “If you don’t mind Sam, I need to speak with Billy Speer for a moment; can we use your office”? “Sure thing, I should go out there and break the news to Gordon. Poor kid, this will just tear him up”.

  “Hey Billy would you come in here for a couple of minutes”, The Sheriff ask as he poked his head out of Mr. Watkins office. I looked over at Gordon, shrugged my shoulders, then got up and headed for the office. The Sheriff sat on the corner of the desk when I came in and he motioned

  me over to one of the chairs next to the desk. “How do you

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  like this place so far”? “I had been here only two hours and almost got my head caved in, but other than that I hate it”.

  Sheriff Pasco rubbed at his jaw for a second, “I do have some good news, and preliminary reports from the coroner say that Dr. Bangor committed suicide. It seems that his wife died not too long ago, and has been taking medication for depression. The medication has side effects, one of which is suicidal tendencies. In a nutshell case closed, and you don’t have to worry about anymore visits by the Police”. I wish that were true, but when Detective Hargrove gets wind of me being interested in his niece, I’m pretty sure I’ll get a visit.

  “The other part of my visit concerns your parents Billy”. I wasn’t quite sure what he was referring to, “What do you mean”? “I was able to track your Dad’s insurance policy, and the will. Both of your parents wanted to be cremated”. I do remember Dad saying something like that. “The big question is, do you want a service for your parents. I can make arrangements with the funeral home if you’d like”? I never thought that I would be asked that question, and more important, I didn’t have a clue. I know I didn’t want any part of a service. I remember when my Aunt Chloe died, and how depressing the whole ordeal was. That memory helped immensely with my decision.

  “I think I’ll skip the service, but I’d like to ask one request”? “You name it Billy”. I’d like to go to the 6th street viewing station to spread their ashes in the Columbia, if that’s okay”? “I think that’s a right fine idea Billy. I’ll get back with you when everything’s ready”. “Before you go, can you check on something for me”? “That depends, is it legal”? “I was wondering if you could check out that black SUV

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  across the street in Short stops parking lot. I think it’s the same one that was parked at the hospital”. The sheriff had a curious look on his face. “Any reason in particular Billy, are they somebody I should know about”? “Actually I think you should, I think they’re FBI”.

  The Sheriff gave a scratch of his head, put his hat back on and said, “I’ll check and see who they are. If its FBI, I’ll let you know, but later I’d like you to explain to me how you knew”. I nodded in agreement. The sheriff left the office just as Mr. Watkins came back in, “Oh Billy, later I would like to get your side of what happened at the mess hall earlier. “Sure thing except I’m not quite sure what happened except that Sully started it”. Mr. Watkins replied,” He usually does, Billy, he usually does.

  I went over to the couch and saw Gordon hanging his head as if he had no working neck muscles. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes, “He’s dead, Joey’s dead, they killed him and now I’m next”. His head went back down

  into his hands and I thought I would give him some space and go back over to the office. I knocked on the door jam, “Damn Billy, did I just detect some manners”? I must have had a confused look on my face. “I meant knocking Billy, No one has ever knocked before, and I’m impressed”. Thanks, I guess, but is Gordon right, did that Joey kid die”?

  Mr. Watkins reached over to close the door. “It’s true

  all right, and now we have Frankie and his little gang in a spot they won’t be able to get out of”. “What do you mean”? “Shortly, they will be in jail, and going to trial for murder and being tried as adults”. My spirits picked up quickly upon hearing that news. “When is all this supposed to go down

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  Mr. Watkins”? “Maybe a week, possibly a bit longer but for sure they are going away for a long time”. My spirits just plummeted back down to its previous level. He wasn’t aware of their plan for this Friday night. I didn’t know if I should tell him or if that would fuck things up. The ringing of Mr. Watkins phone interrupted our good news bad news session. “Billy if you don’t mind”, as he motioned for me to leave the office before I fried his phone. I close the door behind me and went over to the couch where Gordon was still hanging his head but no longer crying. I started to say something when the office door opened and Mr. Watkins said, “Billy, that was the Sheriff, he said to pass on that those people in the SUV are who you thought they were. He said that you would know what that means. So who are the people he’s talking about”? “Just some people I went to school with checking up on me”. I need to stop that, lying is becoming way too easy. “Good, it’s nice to have folks watching your back”. “Thanks”, I replied.

  It might be nice to have someone watching my back, so maybe I should go over there and talk to them. I better check to make sure that it’s okay if I go over there. I went back over to the open office door, “Mr. Watkins, would it be okay if I go across the street and tell my friends that every things fine”. “Sure, sure, you go right ahead, and why don’t you take Gordon with you”. He bent over to get something out of the bottom desk drawer and placed a coffee can on the desk. “Here, get a couple of cokes or something”. He popped open the top of the coffee can and pulled out a handful of change. “Well hey, thanks a lot and we won’t be long”. Mr. Watkins waved as he put the coffee can back in its spot.

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  Making my way over to Gordon, who was at least now holding his head up? “Gordon, come with me”. “Where are we going”? “Across the street for a coke, let’s go”. Gordon hopped up with renewed enthusiasm, probably because he would be away from here for a while. As we were getting close to Marine drive I was trying to figure out what I was going to
tell these guys, and if they would even believe me.

  Traffic was fairly light so we didn’t have much trouble crossing. It was easy to see the black SUV parked in the grav-el next to the building, since it was the only vehicle in the parking lot. As we got closer I could see that we were being watched from the side view mirrors. The passenger side door opened up and out stepped a rather large man wearing a suit and tie. His outfit would raise plenty of questions around here, since most people wore overalls and hip waders.

  The large man motioned for me to come over, but away from the van. I was getting hesitant and slowed a bit, as did Gordon who was right on my tail. We ended up maybe twen-ty feet from the van as the large man just stared at us. “Sir, we could use your help”, I asked as politely as possible. The large man final spoke, “What makes you think I can help you”? I shuffled my good foot around the gravel a bit then replied, “Look I know who you are and why you’re here; to keep an eye on me”. “I was sure that either the local Sheriff or one of our other agents told you of our location”. “Your location was at the hospital before here and I didn’t need anyone to tell me that, although I didn’t know who you were. “We do need some though, I’m Billy Speer, and this is….”

  “I know who you are and who he is”, referring to Gordon. “Sorry I forgot about that”, I replied almost apologetically.

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  “I’m Agent Frank Landers”, was his introduction as he motioned for the other person in the SUV to come out. “The guy on his way out is Agent Don Marrick, so now that you know about us, what is it that you two need our assistance with”?

  “Gordons’s life is in danger”. Landers looked over at Marrick as he emerged from the back side of the SUV. “Don don’t get too close or the tablet you’re holding is going to start smoking”. “Oh shit, I forgot”, as Don dashed back to the SUV to place the tablet in a safe place. “I take it you remembered to leave your electronics in there”, as I pointed to the SUV? “That’s correct, we watched your arrival in the ER at the Hospital; quite impressive indeed. Do the gloves help”? Landers pointed at the surgical gloves I was wearing. “Yeah, so far”, I replied noticing that Landers is being very dismissive of my request.

  I was getting frustrated, remembering not to lose my cool I tried a different approach. “Could maybe my friend Gordon talk to Agent Marrick, while I talk to you, it might speed things up”. Frank looked over as Don nodded his head and escorted Gordon to the other side of the SUV. “Thank

  you for listening, I figure Gordon can tell him what’s going down so that I can find out a couple of things”. Frank crossed his arms, “Go ahead I’m intrigued”.

  I needed a moment to think this through. “Here goes, the partner that came down here with you, the one pretending to be my nurse, I know that she’s an agent as well. Nurse.. I mean Agent Boling was telling me that you two were out to harm me and I trusted her. Another Nurse at the Hospital overheard her conversation on the phone, apparently that the harmful testing that she said you guys were going to have

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  done to me is actually going to be done by whoever she was talking to. I thought you folks worked for the same team”.

  Frank excused himself for a moment, I could tell he got into the SUV by how the entire vehicle shook. It must have been a quick call as Agent Landers, came around the SUV. “The partner that you say came down with us in fact did not. I just got off the phone with my section chief who did not request her presence down here, although she told us he did”. He was silent for a moment before saying, “Let me ask you a question? As this nurse was taking care of you, did she give off a German accent, or a Southern one”?

  They must be familiar with her work. “It was a southern accent sir”. The expression on Agent Landers face never changed, he must be hell to beat at poker. “She does a German accent too”, I asked? “From monitoring her habits over the years, she uses the German accent when it benefits the Bureau, and the Southern accent when it benefits her. You too may be in trouble if she is attempting what I think she is”. “And what’s that”, now I was starting to get scared?

  “This isn’t the first time a situation like this involving people that get hit by lightning, and those people up and vanished. We know of two other people that have disappeared, and had good reason to think that she was behind it, but could never prove it. With what you have told me and what my partner has discovered; I’m confident we can trace the missing people back to her”. Missing people, what the hell am I up against?

  “Our people were confident that she would show up here, claiming to be called in for assistance, then claiming to be a nurse, so our section chief wanted updates on her

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  activity. You’re the first one to actually have unusually large amounts of electricity flowing through you, without it escaping so far. I’m sure she’ll find you a valuable asset”. “I guess so, but she’s more interested in the way I can move stuff by just concentrating on it”.

  “Excuse me son, did you just say that you have telekinetic capabilities”? I know I’ve heard that word before but never in reference to me. “I’m not sure about teleki, teleket….or whatever you said, but yeah I can move things, turn TVs on, change channels, oh and I almost forgot; that big kid Sully across the street was about to grab me by the throat and I was able to keep his arm from getting near me”.

  “Excuse me for a moment, you stay here”, Agent Landers insisted as he went around to the other side of the SUV.

  Gordon appeared from the opposite side of the vehicle look-ing over his shoulders a couple of times. He hurried up next to me, “What did you say to that guy, he’s all sorts of ex-cited about something”? “I just told him about the way I can move things”, I replied. “What about you, were you able give the other Agent the skinny about what’s going down”? “You mean besides us”, Gordon said nervously. I thought that I was the local smartass. Oh well, it’s always nice to be in the company of a fellow smartass.

  Gordon continued, “I told Agent Marrick everything, and he was confident that they would be able stop them before they hurt anyone”. For our sake I hope he was right. Agents Landers and Marrick concluded their meeting and came back around towards us. Both of them showed no

  emotion or concern. I’m sure that their demeanor was in

  part from the training that the FBI provided; they were

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  really hard to read.

  Agent landers spoke first. “I need you to think back about how Agent Boling found out about your new ability. Take your time but it is very important”. “That’s an easy one, she saw the video on you tube and she slowed the video down at a certain point to show me what she saw”. Frank looked over at Don then back at me. “We both saw the video, what was it she showed you”? “It was when one of the people in the ER went to hold down one of my arms down at my side, but I swung my arm out and the dude went flying across the ER”.

  Both Agents looked at each other, then back at us as Agent landers started, “We will look at the video again, but in the meantime do not under any circumstance contact the local authorities about this. Agent Marrick and I will be able to handle this. How many people are aware of your abilities”? I had to think for a moment, “Just the four of us, Agent Boling and Sully”, as I pointed across the street. “To satisfy our curiosity, do you think you can show us a little of what you can do”? I looked over at Gordon as he said, “You might as well”.

  I knew he was right as I scanned the grounds for something I could handle. Up against the side of the building was an old paint can. It looked harmless enough to try on. All eyes were on me as I concentrated on the paint can. Swinging my arm away from my body, the paint can went flying back behind the building before landing in a ditch next to one of the side roads. Not bad, that must have gon
e a good fifty feet.

  Satisfied with my performance, Both Agents looked at me, but Agent Landers did the talking. “We need you to promise not to do any of those stunts until after we get more

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  information on Agent Boling, and of course those four across the street. Both of you are in danger and the less conspicuous you are, the easier it will be to keep you out of harm’s way. If we need any more information from you, we will use the Sheriff to pass along a place for us to meet. We won’t always be at this location”.

  “But what about Agent Boling, she’s coming by on Wednesday to do some more testing on me”. “That will be fine just make sure that you don’t test on anything too big or dangerous”, Agent Landers replied. “You two ought to be heading back, we have a lot of work to do”. Both of them went back inside the SUV and Gordon started to head across

  the street. “Hey did you forget something”, I asked. Gordon gave me a glare of confusion. I pointed to the convenience store, “We went to get cokes remember”. He nodded as we went inside to quench our thirst.

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  Agent bolIng put the camera down as the foursome

  broke up at the convenience store. She was parked six blocks away at the High School Parking lot, but with the zoom lens she was able to almost make out what they were saying. The flying paint can was enough for her to call her boss, with the disturbing turn of events.