He hated when Frederick, the shrink, was right, and thinking about the unjust nature of Hurst’s predicament was exactly what it took for him to snap out of it.
He needed to reconnoiter the parking garage as it posed a threat he could not see. Once that was done, he could rest easier. Malcolm placed the silencer on his HK nine millimeter, and headed out the side door, his six-foot frame hunched, his ball cap pulled low and his hands in the pockets of his jacket.
* * *
Jim Jensen had a nice steady bead on the signal. It stopped in Anacortes for sixteen minutes and was now on the move again. Rather than take the direct path though, he thought he’d play a hunch and follow the signals true path. He could see on the incredible mapping his tablet provided that Matt was heading toward the hospital, which was an obvious destination.
He pulled up to the dock and brought the boat to a crawl. A man and a Rottweiler were on the dock and when Jim slid the boat over sideways, the man obliged and cautiously tied off the boat. The two were looking very wary and Jim could tell it was a look of protection. “I assume you are a friend of my esteemed protégé?”
Luke held the dog while he answered, “Yes we would be. He said that most likely a man named Jim Jensen would come looking for him.” Luke added, “This here is Storm. He came back to Matt today, but I will let Matt tell you that story.” Luke then directed Jim to the hospital in pursuit of his protégé?
* * *
The traffic was insane. The 405 was an absolute gridlock, the intersections of the two floating bridges that came from downtown were a nightmare of horns and flaring tempers. Melvin kept his cool, but the anticipation of where they were heading left them both bursting at the seams.
Robert had the news on and they heard the reports and then the President’s speech. The new car was loaded with options including a screen to sync their phones to. Robert watched the incredible opportunity that he had crumble by the second, while at the same time, he almost could care less because of Matt’s situation.
Amazingly, their Chairman of the Board, Matt/Tom was an unbelievable hit. As of ten minutes ago, American Pride had sold half its allotted number of the game, which was unfathomable because it was set at five million participants. After the game competition was over, Robert had already announced that they would open the game city up to all for free, as the beginnings of something wonderful.
His staff complained that releasing that information would hurt sales. That people would just wait and get in for free. His exact retort was, “Balderdash.” Robert now sat watching Melvin negotiate traffic and thought, who turned out to be right?
Their Tom, who turned out to be Matt, had now made the gaming world take notice. Robert pondered the crossover. Matt was now, “King of the Nerds.” He was a real life icon, and now he was also the man who was going to lead his new legion into doing all sorts of things that seemed out of fashion, like voting for instance.
It was a pretty big world, and the odds of all this falling into place just like it did were pretty astronomical to say the least. I think an exclamation or two would even be in order. A, “You’ve got to be kidding me?!” Or a, “That’s impossible!” Yet it happened. Somehow, he came together with Matt out of every other person on the planet. Why?
Robert really needed nothing from the world; he had his plan and he was self-sufficient. It was something in the way Matt presented himself. It was like the scene in Scarface, where Sousa was evaluating Tony and he said something like, “I like you, Tony, there is no bullshit in you.”
He had that kind of moment in the chat room that day. Somehow this guy was able to manifest his emotions over the web and recruit him into doing something unheard of. Of course, everyone had inherent talents that set them apart from the pack, and one of Robert’s main ones was he was the “build a better mousetrap guy.” He had been doing some tinkering with Matt’s idea, putting a last coat of wax . . . Just wait until they see the real endgame and what Matt’s inspirational actions have spawned.
The amount of money they would earn was a factor, but it was so much more than that. The game was centered on responsible capitalism. If it weren’t for the newly surfaced news about his family, Robert would have been jumping for joy, but as it turned out, no business was going to be discussed any time soon.
Melvin maneuvered deftly around some idle-minded dawdlers who couldn’t even manage traffic at a snails pace and pulled up smack next to his angry beauty in the giant planet killer on wheels. The diamond lane had stopped due to a police action and people were merging right, further aggravating the situation.
This time she was not angry, but soulfully crying and talking into what he hoped was her blu-tooth. Robert hated those damn things, as they made one have to really focus at peoples’ ears on the streets to tell who was crazy and who wasn’t. In the good old days that was the number one way to tell if someone was crazy, if you saw a person talking to themselves, then you could check that box and cross the street. Now one had to find the blu-tooth before you made that check.
Well, if she was talking to herself, it was an impassioned and heartfelt self-talk. Robert could feel how distraught she was and she appeared to be in real pain, maybe she knew someone on the ferry? By now Melvin could see him looking and caught her as well, traffic was moving five miles an hour, so it was easy to see her. Melvin fell in love, too, she was a stunning beauty and she was in such distress. Robert would beg to find a hetero man who didn’t feel obligated to helping her.
His phone rang and it was the home office. The game was nearly sold out; by current estimations it would top out in 48 hours. He always put player number caps on his games as they always had prizes to give out and he felt it his duty make sure that if people were shelling out so much money, they should have reasonable chances to win. He was very reluctant to bring it up to five million, so he had added incentives. He hung up with all the possibilities racing in his head. Last year he made sixteen million on merchandise alone.
Robert’s mind drifted back to the now and he looked for his damsel in distress, but her lane had moved ahead and he felt cheated as he never got one last look at her. He admonished Melvin, “You let her get away.”
“You do realize that you are very rich and can buy love, you don’t have to be lonely.”
Robert admonished, “Same to you, and I’m not lonely, I have you. The only way it will work for me Melvin is if she has no clue I’m rich when we meet. Otherwise, I will never feel loved the way I really want. I would have made one exception and that was for her. And you let her get away.”
Melvin peevishly admitted, “I regularly have Thai Massages and one of the girls there genuinely likes me and she thinks I’m just a limo driver with no money.”
“Interesting Melvin. My advice is, if you like her, then sweep her off her feet and out of there and don’t worry about what her occupation is or was. Besides, after this year, you will be even richer than the two million I gave you; what a wonderful surprise that would be for her, especially if she has ever had to touch your feet.”
Melvin laughed, “You know Robert, every time I test your humanity, you not only show me how amazing of a human you are, but you always add some element, or make some comment that waylays my apprehensions in a way no one has ever done before.”
Robert started to smirk and giggle to himself.
The big man acted miffed, “What, do I sound corny or something?”
“No Melvin, as a matter of fact, you sound very, very smart. I don’t think you realize just how smart you sound nowadays.”
“Cute, now you’ve made me an egghead.”
“Just try to catch my woman so I can propose right here on the freeway. Then we can have a double wedding.”
* * *
Andy had a truck with a double cab that afforded some cover. After promising his dog he would be back for him, Matt and Doug left Luke and Storm back at the dock, riding in the back seat, as it had tinted windows. They drove across a very bustling Anacortes. Andy i
nformed them that they do get their share of tourist traffic as the ferries ran out to the San Juan Islands from their port, but nothing like what they were seeing now.
Andy looped around some side streets and pulled up at the back of the parking lot where there were a lot of people around, but Matt and Doug were able to slip out and duck into the ground floor garage, hopping a small retaining wall. Matt knew the plan so there was no need to talk as they made their way up toward the front of the garage nearest the front doors. There was a throng outside and now he heard it for the first time. He heard chanting for Matt. Interesting . . .
Then he heard something else as they were making their way around the front of a van in a semi-crouch. It was a chant for Tom. Even more interesting . . .
Doug looked at him, nodded, and headed toward the ER, but not diagonally from their current position. He crossed the inside lot horizontally and then headed to the door at a straight angle, away from Matt. The affect was immediate and every person in the vicinity swarmed Doug as he made his way to the ER door, acting surprised by all the attention.
As soon as all eyes were on him, Matt made his way across the road in front and entered the hospital lobby where he had talked to Doug a few hours before. He would have been free and clear if the hospital security hadn’t lined up inside. After producing identification, he had to sign in, as all visitors did. They gave him a badge and then he left, but it was not lost on him that the autonomy he had enjoyed was over. Those people recognized him and the look was hard to describe, somewhere between, “Awe” and “Disbelief.”
That realization brought another and so on, and it wasn’t long before he realized, my life from now on is going to be in a glass house under a microscope.
The time away from here had let him semi-forget the horrors that awaited him just up the elevator. He was heading to that elevator when he saw the “Chapel” sign. He stopped where he was and stared at the sign. He detested people who were nonreligious and then suddenly found their faith in moments of crisis.
Of course, that wasn’t exactly his case now, was it? God had been calling him and he’d been listening. That’s the confounding part, he’d answered the call, and he’d done as commanded.
As if his feet were going to defy his stubborn willed mind, the next thing he knew he was facing the alter in the small chapel. No one was there in the physical sense, but there was a cross with Christ on it. Matt had never felt that statue more alive than he did now. Apparently this hospital stood up to the many complaints it must have received from other “short changed” religions that were not represented.
He had never been good at this stuff and he had to keep his anger in check, which was probably how many people felt as they stood there. He did a good job of that until he’d made it half way across the room and his eyes came upon Jesus on the cross. He stared at the statue of Christ for so long that it made him emotional.
At first he was contrite for not being more overt in announcing that he had been chosen as he’d never mentioned it to a single living soul these past two years, afraid of what he would look like to the people in his life. Then anger coursed out of him in a way that even took him by surprise. A person could only take so much and then they just exploded.
His lord and savior took the entire brunt of the out-lashing. He felt indignation at being a pawn in a cosmic game that he never wished to be a part of, but willingly sacrificed himself just to protect his family—only to apparently have them killed anyway, just like Pablo’s. That thought wasn’t lost on him. Barbecuing his mortal enemy with a laser from the sky did not bring anyone back. The rest of the world might be safer and sleep tonight, but not him, he was going to lose everything. Matt ended up doing the one thing to God that one just doesn’t do. He put an ultimatum on his Lord.
He vehemently informed the statue of Christ that if he wanted him as a servant, then okay, he’d accepted, but to take all that was dear to him was too much! He understood that good and evil existed, and that evil had done this to good since the dawn of time, but this time, this one man was taking a stand.
He told the statue that he knew he could be heard and he knew he’d been given direction, but he now wanted to be the one to inform. Looking at the fixed stare, but knowing it was much, much more than an unanimated piece of porcelain, he gave his version of things.
“If you want me to do your bidding then you will give me one more sign and you will save my family. If my wife and son die, then I am going to take all my money, buy a house in the woods with no TV or radio, and I’m going to check out. I’m going to take my free will and turn my back on humanity and you. All I ever hear about is a compassionate and graceful God. And all I ever see is a world of suffering and misery.
“You tap me and tell me to help the world, but do it without wrath. Yet you bring nothing but wrath to me? I know I’m not the only person to be totally confused by your actions and I know I’m not the only person who has threatened to turn his back on the whole thing. Only I’m not turning my back because of my lack of belief, I’m going to turn my back as a conscience objector. I never realized that answering my call to you was going to result in so much horror for the people that I love.
“If I had known, then I would have gone a different path. Of course, one look at history should have told me all I needed to know. So to be clear, there is no reasoning with me, there are no messages that will make me change my mind, other than Jan and Jon waking up normal.”
Matt made the sign of the cross, bowed to the Alter, and left. A few minutes before he headed into this scene of absolute horror with the added impediment of massive guilt, but as he pushed the elevator light, he realized his tirade gave him something he needed internally, and that was someone to blame other than himself. He’d been carrying the burden of all this when in fact, he had a co-conspirator who was very culpable in what had happened here. Why does God always get a pass?
He left the chapel and headed left out of the elevator toward ICU, the door was open and he could see nurses bringing in equipment. After washing his hands thoroughly he entered the ward and made his way to the special isolation room Jan and Jon were now in. Dr. Singh was looking Jan over. He looked up at Matt with a renewed respect, but also a new sadness.
“Glad you made it back. There’s been a development.”
“What’s going on?”
“Their vitals are dropping at a slow but steady pace. I had to cancel their flight, Matt. They are not stable enough to fly anymore. I airlifted samples to the CDC Quarantine Station in Seattle. They have a lab there equipped to identify over seven hundred and fifty known neurotoxins. I also have a cousin in Brazil right now and he’s working in this field. Currently, I forwarded him their readings for his input. Until then, it’s a waiting game.”
“If you knew the person who did this like I do, Dr. Singh, then you would know that if there are seven-hundred and fifty known agents, then the one we are looking for here would be number seven-hundred and fifty one. He’s not known for making mistakes or having mercy, Doctor, and he told me they were as good as dead.”
“Good as dead, Matt, is not the same as dead. Pablo Manuel might have claimed to know God, but he is not God, Matt.”
“That’s for sure Dr. Singh, he is not God.”
“Listen, my cousin, Mansoor, he is the smart one in the family. He’s way too smart to be a simple neurosurgeon. His company is trying to cure Alzheimer’s itself! We have time, Matt, not much, but we have time.”
“What will happen if they don’t make it?”
“If you mean will they be in pain, I don’t think so. I believe they will just no longer be able to breath, as their respiratory system will shut down. Matt, let me ask you something, have either of them had a cold lately?”
“Yes, actually, they both did over the weekend.”
“Were they taking any cold medicine?”
“They were both taking Benadryl. Jan took Nyquil the last two nights. Why?”
“It’s the old goo
d news, bad news, Matt. The good news is some antihistamines can help block toxins. The bad news would be if those weren’t present, where would we be? For now, it’s a good news thing, so let’s take our victories where we can get them. We need you to leave for a few minutes, please, as we have to have several people that need to be in here all working at once.”
Walking down the hall in a stunned disbelief, Matt meandered into the ICU waiting room. He was alone, but the TVs were blaring the madness of today’s events. Here he was again. In the matter of a few hours, his entire world had been completely undone.
His parents were dead, his wife and child were in imminent peril and he had killed his other woman and their unborn child with a single gunshot two years prior. He was going to be all alone in this world. Uncle Bob died last year and that was it, the only extended family he had. He sat with his head in his hands, as defeated men do. He was contemplating where he would choose his wilderness refuge when his phone vibrated in his pocket. It was Doug; they had exchanged numbers earlier.
He answered it, “Hey.”
“How are things up there?”
“Their vitals have fallen and they are not able to fly anymore. They’ve moved them to ICU. We’ve turned to the CDC and one of the doctors here has a cousin who might be able to help from Brazil.”
“Well, I’ve got some good news for you, Matt. Your parents are alive.”
“What?! How can you know this, Doug?”
“Because a good friend of mine works for the FAA.” His tone indicated that they were more than friends. “She was on site to help people who were caught in the middle of all this madness. There were two events in Kingston today so the ferry was over capacity and not everyone made it on, some had to wait for the next ferry. Once everything happened, those people waiting for the next ferry were stuck in the middle and then evacuated right out of their cars. As they were getting people back to their evacuated cars later on she came across your dad, Matt. He and your mom are alive. Samantha checked their IDs, Don and Sherry Holsinger.”
Without Wrath (Harbinger of Change Book 3) Page 27
