Alone Again_After the Collapse

by John Sullins

  Ed Roy interrupted, “What kind of a warning, not about a bomb?”

  “No, not about a bomb. It was a warning about implications of what I might find. No specific details about what or where, but it very well could have been referring to this place.”

  Ed Roy interrupted again, “Was it a warning about getting arrested for being here?”

  “Not sure………….I know this is confusing, but trust me on this. I think the less you know right now the better. There may be something in these file cabinets that could get us in trouble. I don’t know what kind, but it will be best if you let me go through them first, alone.”

  Ed Roy looked at Keith and took two steps back, away from the file cabinets.

  “Ok, I saw some type of business machines, copiers I think, along the wall on the other side of the shooting benches. I will go see what they are if you think that will be ok.”

  “Yes, maybe you could check out the gun range tunnel too, see how far it is to the end or if there is anything in there.”

  Chapter 63

  The little man moved across the room to the large wood desk. He opened the lap drawer and found ink pens, pencils, and the remote control device for the electric gate. He turned it over and slid open the small door on the back side to check for batteries. There were no batteries but the writing molded into the plastic door indicated four AA batteries were required. He put the battery door closed and put the device into his pocket.

  He next pulled open the top drawer on the right side. It contained a couple of dozen hanging folders, each one with a printed title on the small elevated tab on the top. The folders were in alphabetical order from front to back.

  The tab on the first folder read Autos. He lifted it from the drawer, placed it on the center of the desk, and opened it to find car titles for a Cadillac, a Chevrolet van, a Pontiac GTO and a Jeep Cherokee. He put the folder back into the drawer and lifted out the second. It was titled Boats. It contained a sales receipt for a pontoon boat, a bass boat, a paddle boat, and a canoe. He was about to put that folder back into the drawer when he realized he had possibly solved another of Keith’s mysteries. He continued looking at the files but found nothing of significance so he moved onto the next drawer.

  Keith glanced over his shoulder to see if Ed Roy was across the room before he began looking through the top drawer of the first file cabinet. The drawer was nearly empty, it contained only a stack of very old road maps. He moved on to the second drawer. It was empty, as was the other two drawers in this cabinet.

  He stepped to his left and opened the top drawer of the middle file cabinet. This drawer was empty. The drawer below it and the two below that were also empty.

  He expected the third file cabinet to also be empty, but when he pulled the top drawer open, he found a plastic box about the size of a shoe box. He looked back in Ed Roy’s direction again and opened the lid. Inside he found over a dozen small plastic devices which he did not recognize. The things were about three inches long, an inch wide and less than a quarter inch thick. He picked one up and saw it had a slide button that when pushed, a fitting or connector was exposed that might be used on an old computer. He turned it over and read “SanDisc” in small red letters. Each one was marked with a hand written number, from one to eleven. He carried one across the room to Ed Roy.

  He handed it to Ed Roy, “I told you I know almost nothing about computers, Is this thing part of a computer?”

  “It was called a flash drive or memory stick. They were a way to store data or pictures years ago. I haven’t seen one of them for years.”

  “Will it work with my new lap top?”

  “Yes and no. It won’t plug into anything new, but you can still get an adapter that will fit it and the lap top. Chris, where you bought the lap top, should have one.”

  “Will it be password protected?”

  “I’m not sure, but I doubt it. Do you want me to see if I can get into it?”

  Keith avoided answering his question. “Would you mind taking the truck into town and getting an adapter.”

  Ed Roy agreed and Keith reminded him to not say anything about what they were doing or what they had found, and gave him money for the purchase.

  As Ed Roy was going up the steps to leave the underground gun range, he stopped and looked back at Keith.

  “I think I figured out two more of your mysteries.”

  “Which ones?”

  He reached into his pocket and took out the gate remote device. “I found the remote control for the gate. But it needs batteries.” He held it up for Keith to see.

  “Great, what’s the other one?”

  “I believe your great grandmother and Wendy Hamlet were the same person.”

  “What did you find?”

  “There are car titles and sales receipts in one of the desk drawers. All have your great grandmother’s name on them. If they were not the same person, why would the titles be here, at someone else’s house?”

  Keith looked down at the floor between his feet as if studying the floor.

  “We’ll talk about it when you get back.”

  Chapter 64

  Keith returned to his search of the third file cabinet as soon as Ed Roy was out of the room.

  In the same drawer as the flash drives, he found a plastic file box a foot wide, eight inches from front to back and five inches deep. There were dividers in the box separating it into six sections. It appeared each section was full of dozens of driver’s licenses, and other forms of identification from many different states.

  He randomly picked out two of the licenses from the first section and was surprised at what he saw. One was a Kentucky driver’s license with a photo of a woman that looked similar to his great grandmother but the woman in the photo had short red hair, thick red glasses, and seemed to be much heavier than the photos he had seen of his great grandmother in the albums he and Ed Roy had seen.

  He looked at the name on the license, Jacki Reacher, and then studied the photo a long time before looking at the second license. The second license was from the state of Indiana and had the name Donna Queen. The woman in this photo had auburn hair and the resemblance of this photo to his great grandmother was stronger than the one on the Kentucky license.

  He lifted more from the box and found a different name on each license, but the photos were all similar. He stepped back to the first closet and looked again at the wigs on the shelf. He was quickly convinced that all of the photos were of his great grandmother wearing wigs, glasses, and make up to make her look heavier.

  He put down the licenses and softly asked himself, “What were all of these people doing with these fake driver’s licenses?”

  He suddenly remembered what Ed Roy had said about some type of copier machines being on the desk. He left the room and went to the desk and the three machines. He looked at them with uneducated eyes. The largest of the three was on the right of the other two and had cables connected to the one on the far left and to a computer on the other side of the desk. He slid open a tray on the bottom of that machine and found it contained thin plastic material the exact size and shape of the driver’s licenses.

  He was reasonably sure this is how the fake licenses were made. Now he wanted to know why.

  Chapter 65

  Ed Roy’s stop at Chris’ house to pick up the adapter did not take long. Chris was curious what Ed Roy was working on, needing such an old part, but Ed Roy kept his promise and told Chris nothing other than he had found some old computer files, belonging to a family member, and he wanted to see what was on the files. He did not mention Keith.

  His next stop was at the County General store to get batteries for the gate remote. He paid for the batteries making sure the clerk put the receipt into the bag with the batteries and he left the store anxious to get back to help Keith.

  He was halfway across the parking lot when he heard someone called out, “Shortstuff, where you going?”

  He did not have to see a face to know who was
coming his direction.

  He hurried to his truck and was climbing inside when a hand grabbed his belt and pulled him down to the parking lot.

  “Don’t be rude Shortstuff. I asked where you are going.”

  Ed Roy looked up at a face he had hated since high school.

  “I’m going home Dick Head.”

  “Why do you want to piss me off Shortstuff, why you calling me names?”

  “My name is Ed Roy, you know that. You called me Shortstuff, so I called you Dick head.” He tried to get back into the truck but the bully jerked his belt again, pulling him back to the ground.

  “Well Shortstuff, you know my name is Richard Head. You can call me Richard or Mr. Head, but if you say Dick Head again I’ll knock out your teeth. I get pissed when you call me that.”

  “I get pissed when you call me Shortstuff.”

  “I got another question for you Shortstuff, “How in the hell did you get this brand spankin new pickup? With the horrible economy and all, how’d you get the money to buy this fancy truck? Are you selling drugs?”

  Ed Roy tried to get back into the truck but was pulled back down. He was flat on his butt and looked up, “Why don’t you just get in that piece of crap puke green truck of yours and leave me alone.”

  “What if I don’t? What are you going to do about it Shortstuff?”

  Ed Roy stood up again, “Just leave me alone Richard, I need to go.”

  Richard pulled hard on the belt knocking Ed Roy to the pavement again and got into the driver’s seat of the truck.

  “How about you giving me the keys. I want to take this truck for a ride.”

  “No way.”

  Richard smiled down at him, “Ok then, let’s compromise, let me siphon some gas from the tank. I’d bet it is full, right?”

  “Listen Richard, I know you are probably the one who stole my gas the other night. I didn’t call the cops or anything, but if you keep messing with me I’ll call them now.”

  “Go ahead, I ain’t done nothin. I’m just havin a friendly conversation with my old high school friend. Besides that, if you call the police, they won’t show up for an hour or more. Hell, since they laid off almost all of the officers, they might not show up until tomorrow. Gimme the damn keys runt.”

  Ed Roy backed up, away from the truck, “No, now get out of my truck.”

  The big man’s eyes narrowed as he got out of the truck and moved towards Ed Roy who took another step backwards. Richard bent at the waist and moved forward until his nose was only inches from Ed Roy’s.

  “The name Shortstuff fits you perfectly, you are a pussie midget.”

  “The name Dick Richard Head suits you even better, your head really does look like a dick.”

  Before he knew it was coming, Richard backhanded him across the left face with his left hand.

  He fell backwards, hitting his head hard on the parking lot. His vision blurred and he had no sense of what was happening. He stayed with his back in the snow until his head cleared. When he sat up he was surprised to see his truck was still there.

  Dick Head was gone.

  Chapter 66

  “What the hell happened to your face?” Keith moved quickly to Ed Roy and leaned forward looking at his face. The right side was red and a little swollen from where he had fallen when the bookcase slid away, but now the left side of his face and nose were swollen even worse and there was a cut on his left cheek.

  “Did you fall again? What happened? Did you wreck the truck?”

  Ed Roy handed him the bag with the adapter and batteries.

  “No, the truck is fine. I ran into the town bully.”

  “Who is the town bully?”

  “A guy named Richard Head. We went to high school together. He has always picked on me. It must make him feel good.”

  “What happened exactly?”

  Ed Roy nearly came to tears as he told the story.

  “What does this Richard look like?”

  “He’s a big guy, not as big as you, maybe six one. He has a shaved head and a tattoo of a cross under his right eye. But I don’t want you doing anything, he’s not worth it.”

  Keith used his right hand to gently rotate Ed Roy’s head so he could get a better look at the cut.

  “How often does something like this happen?”

  “He lives only a few hundred yards from me. I always avoid him and have not seen him in almost a year. I think this was all about him being jealous of my new truck.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “My place is secluded, not many people go by. Since he lives so close, he must have seen the truck in my driveway. He is probably the one who stole my gas the other night. Then when he happened to see it parked in the store’s lot, he was there waiting for me when I came out.”

  Keith shook his head. “I wish I had some ice. You are going to have a hell of a black eye.”

  Keith did not know why, but at that instant, the thought of the crazy man he had shot and killed along I-95 who called himself Betty, flashed into his mind.

  Chapter 67

  It was not long before Ed Roy’s face was swelling and getting worse. Keith convinced him to go home and dress his cuts and put some ice on his face. He said they could continue the inspection of the house and underground shooting range tomorrow.

  Ed Roy reluctantly agreed, “I need to get home anyhow, to check on the litter of kittens. They are seven weeks old, almost ready to eat solid food. I need to make sure they are ok. The kittens are my family. But before I go, let me tell you how this adaptor and the flash drives function.”

  “Are you going to look at them here or on the lap top when you get home?

  “At home, on the laptop.”

  “There will be a port on the side of the laptop where you can plug in this end of the adaptor. The flash drives fits into this end.” He pointed to the end of the adaptor cord.

  When you turn on the laptop a window will open showing this device. When you click on it, you should see the contents, if it is not password protected. If it asks for a password, don’t try to guess, you could lock up the drive and never get in. If it asks for a password, just wait for me to try to open it. I can stay and help with the laptop if you want me to.”

  “No, just take me home and go home and check the kittens and work on your face. I can handle the computer.”

  They locked up the house and stopped at the gate where Keith installed the batteries in the remote, and pushed the button. When the gate began to slowly close, Ed Roy turned his truck towards the lake house.

  Keith looked across the seat at Ed Roy’s swollen and bloody face. “Did anything happen in high school that makes him hate you so much? Did you say something today that pissed him off, is that why he smacked you?“

  Ed Roy started to laugh but stopped because of the pain on his face.

  “I calledl him Dick Head……………you know, alternate name for Richard is Dick, and I told him his head really did look like a dick.”

  Hearing that, Keith burst into laughter causing Ed Roy to both laugh and grimace in pain. Keith was still laughing when he got out of the truck at the house.

  He was anxious and nervous when he plugged in the adapter into the side of his new laptop and then plugged flash drive number one into the adapter. A window opened showing a list of videos, all with a separate number. He moved the cursor to video #1 and clicked it open. The screen changed and he was looking at the full screen image of his great grandmother when she was young, in her late twenties or early thirties. She was wearing a hospital gown and Keith saw a medical monitoring device behind her. He guessed she was in a hospital bed.

  Her lips were moving but there was no sound. He quickly adjusted the computers volume and listened to the voice of the woman who bequeathed the fortune to him. She had tears in her eyes and was in mid-sentence when he heard her speaking.

  “this hospital after being shot in the abdomen two days ago and the doctors tell me it is likely I will never be able to ha
ve children. I am not sure how I feel about that because as of now, I have no husband and doubt I ever will.

  As I laid here in the dark last night, thinking about what got me here, having to shoot and kill the kid who was shooting at me, I came to realize I wanted to begin making some type of record of………………….” She stopped speaking and lowered her head for a long minute. When she looked up, she swallowed hard and continued.

  “A record of my activities. I don’t know who, if anyone, will ever see this video, but whoever it is, I want them to understand I have been doing what I thought was the right thing. I am sure if the police or a prosecutor see it, and I am still alive, they will want me in jail. That may or may not be the right thing, but if they do it, I will live with it.”

  She wiped the tears from her cheek and pushed her blond hair behind her right ear to keep it off the side of her face.

  “I am doing this on video because it is easier to talk about it than write. ……….It is the fall of 2012 and I have been on this crusade since 2005. It all started when I made a terrible mistake and my husband Brad was killed, killed by an ass hole named Jim Massey. He was my first, Massey. I tracked him down to Cincinnati and shot him dead in the back seat of his pickup truck. I cut off his balls and nailed them to the side of a tree where Brad and I had found Brad’s deceased grandfather’s remains. I never once doubted what I did was the right thing.”

  She pushed backwards and sat more upright in her bed.

  “When Brad died, I was so depressed and suffering from anxiety, I wanted to kill myself. But I knew that before I died, I wanted revenge, I had to kill Massey. What I didn’t know was how good it was going to make me feel when I heard that last breath gurgle from under the blood coming from his mouth. I wish I could explain exactly how I felt at that instant. The depression was gone, the anxiety was gone. I felt as if I had been re-born.”