Chapter 17

Day 14

Morning

Eddie found he couldn't sleep past 3 AM. He rolled around the bed half asleep from 3 AM until 5 AM, then finally gave up. The motel was so cheap he heard the water run in Wes' room when he flushed the toilet. Eddie dressed then went outside in time to catch Wes before his walk.

Eddie: So let get on to it.

Wes: Right, you want to lead and set the pace.

Eddie: You set it, I'll keep up.

Wes: Good luck with that one old man.

Eddie: This coming from a man with a hangover.

Wes: No hangover for the last four days. I have been on the wagon and suffering with sobriety the whole time.

They walked five miles more or less. Three out and two back stopping at a restaurant on their route. When they stopped for breakfast Wes ate a biscuit and jelly washed down with orange juice and coffee, lots of coffee. While Eddie had the country breakfast special, lots and lots of burned animal fat and scrambled eggs. He was able to swap the grits for hash brown potatoes since he had never developed the taste for grits.

Eddie: So how did I do?

Wes: You did fine for an old man. I expect Salina will be able to do better if we ever wake up in time to walk before work.

Eddie: (Nodding) So how do you think today is going to go?

Wes: I respectfully refuse to answer on advice of counsel.

Eddie: Maybe or maybe not. If we can ask the right questions, we might learn something even from that. Get him to talk about harmless stuff. Then when we hit him with something we know. If he refuses, we try something harmless again. Keep going back and forth, then slip in something we aren't sure of and see how he answers it.

Wes: Questions like today is Thursday, oh and do you operate a safe house for spies?

Eddie: Exactly. Or oh by the way where is Rose Seabold at the moment.

Wes: So what should we do till Andrew calls us.

Eddie: We should make their lives miserable, at least as miserable as we can. First of all we assume that there is not going to be any new information from them. So why not put a rock in their boots.

Wes: Okay, how do we do that?

Eddie: Why we start another line of investigation. We talk to anyone who knew Sylvia Porter over in County Seat. Get our own biography started. Then when Andrew calls, we will be too busy to hold the meeting today. Explain we are sorry but when they didn't call we began a new line of investigation. We couldn't possibly get to them till 6 or 7 PM. Maybe tomorrow would be better after all.

Wes: I like it, put them on the defense and try to tie Rita up for another day. The least we can do is to let her know where the real power is located.

Eddie: If you are going to play power games, it is best to know how much you have. So let's find out how much we have. Let's head over to the Courthouse. The former Clerks and Judges haven't been forced by this nationalization yet, so let's try them.

At 11 AM they were talking to a local Judge.

Judge: She was one of the best Sheriffs we ever had. She was absolutely incorruptible. She didn't care a whit about money, so she couldn't be bribed. I generally hated her guts when she came before me, but I would love to have been her friend outside of court.

Just then the phone rang. It was Andrew. As Eddie had explained to Wes, he stonewalled Andrew.

Eddie: Sure, let me know what you want to do before five.

Wes: Even I knew you were gaming him.

Eddie: I hope he realizes we are playing at whose is bigger and Rita explains that ours is. Sure he knows, but Rita can't prove it, so they have a decision to make.

Eddie and Wes continued to interview people who had known Sylvia. One of them was The Brit's friend Jeremy. He told the stories about how he and Sylvia had gone to craft shows and the like, while she was between jobs.

Everything about Sylvia seemed larger than life. Eddie knew better. If he had enough time the dirt would begin to roll out.

Day fourteen started for Salina with a scrambled egg and cheese sandwich made in her own kitchen. She then showered and dressed for work, which seemed more like a break from her real job. The people of the projects depended on her to tell them how to manage their health care. While keeping in mind a trip to the clinic could be a ticket home for some, and jail for others. She advised them on the least dangerous option.

She made it out the door with no last minute emergencies, so she was at work early for a change. Once she parked Wes' car, and before she opened the office door, she saw the tiny bit of Kleenex on the ground. It was the 'tell' which Wes had insisted upon. Eddie then stressed the need to do it by every one of them.

The last person out had to place the Kleenex bait on top of the door. There was no way it could have fallen on its own or stayed in place, if the door had been opened. If it had been opened by one of them, they would have known to replace it. First she had to be doubly sure that none of the others had returned to the office after hours. She was almost 100% sure they had not since Eddie and Wes had stayed in College Hill. No one else cared enough to return to the office.

She went inside to start the coffee. She decided to wait for the men to at least finish their interviews in County Seat and the Church Camp to share the news. The remaining three of them at the 'Hole In The Wall' office were in very little danger she decided. Every soldier knew what a threat assessment meant and knew how to do it. The only one of them who wouldn't be screwed if caught with a weapon was May. The thought of May with a weapon was as terrifying as the thought of someone invading their space. She decided she had to ask even if it created speculation among the others. She needed to know who was the last one out and if they remembered to set the 'tell'. She sat down with her fresh brewed coffee and began to work on Sylvia's medical records which arrived late the day before.

All she could find of any significance was the mention of injuries from altercations over the years. They were nothing like those sustained by Rose Seabold. She did find mention of an over twenty year old injury sustained before she was a Sheriff. She had been injured during a drug raid by friendly fire. A tree beside her exploded from a high velocity rifle round fired by an SBI agent. The splinters moving at a high rate of speed had shredded her hand. The damage was something similar to being shot in the hand with birdshot. The splinters had damaged skin, muscles, and nerves. They had also bruised bones. In other words her hand was a mess.

The emergency room doctors treated her for blood loss and shock, then sent her to a trauma specialist who treated her hand. There followed months of surgery to reconstruct the hand rather than remove it. She ended up with a club hand, but it was a working hand. It just didn't work a hundred percent.

The thing Salina found most interesting is the reports referred to her as Wildlife Enforcement Officer Porter. She must have been a Game Warden. She decided to recommend to Wes that he have Mike check on her official files for a background in Wildlife Enforcement.

She made that decision before Mike showed up. He was extremely late. Since she wasn't his keeper she put it down to when the cats away the mice will play etc.

May arrived first looking less dull than usual. Anything would be an improvement over the usual drag ass May. She was like a zombie most mornings, which led Salina to believe she was sleeping poorly.

May: Good morning Salina.

Salina: (Skeptical) Good morning. What have you been up to so early? Obviously it was someone special to make you all smiles.

May: Well, it wasn't sex this morning. It was a ride down the bike trail in a neighborhood park, which connects with a deserted stretch of a railroad bed. It was absolutely beautiful. I rode over ten miles. Where is Mike this morning?

Salina: God you are so enthusiastic it's disgusting. As you can see Mike isn't here yet.

The two women put their heads down and continued to read the files Mike had provided. It was grueling work and no fun at all. It was almost ten when Mike came limping through the door.

May: What in the world?

Mike: Some asshole ran me off the road. I was on my way home after breakfast and he ran a stop sign right in front of me. I took to the curb to avoid him. I got tossed off the bike. My knee is bruised and my arm and shoulder is scraped pretty good.

Salina: Did you go to the ER?

Mike: I don't think it's that bad.

Salina: (In disgust) Oh fuck it, let's see.

Mike tried but couldn't get the leg of his jeans over the knee. It was the same with the shirt.

May: You have to go to the ER.

Mike: I have no insurance. If I go there, I will be in hock for the rest of my life, not to mention the IRS will find me. Right now I have no contact with them. If I check into the hospital, they will be all over me for not paying taxes for a couple of years. I had hoped to put them off till next year.

Salina: Yeah the National Health Care Act ties all the support agencies together. Everybody knows everything. That is why the people I see don't go to the ER.

May: Then you have to do something.

Salina (to May): Get your ass to the closest drugstore, get a lot of gauze pads and some tape, not that skin sensitive shit some real tape. Also get a big bottle of peroxide and two tubes of antibiotic ointment and some ice packs. Meanwhile I'll try to get a look, but for god's sake hurry.

(After May left)

Salina: You are lucky I carry such a large purse. I have a small amount of supplies in there. So let's get you undressed. Can you get your jeans off, or do I need to cut them off?

Mike: I can get them off I think, but it is really painful to bend down for my shoes.

Salina: Please don't tell me you rode that scooter to work in this cold dressed like you are.

Mike: Yeah, and it was pretty cold, but actually I felt better out there than in here pain wise.

From her purse Salina removed some pills.

Salina: You allergic to anything?

Mike: Manual labor. (He smiled sickly)

Salina: Take this.

She handed him a pill and a cup of tap water.

Mike: What is it?

Salina: Don't worry, it's not a narcotic. It's a super version of Ibuprofen. It won't kill all the pain, but it will help. Now take these Tylenol tablets.

Mike: You sure that it's safe?

Salina: Not safe enough to take every day, but safer than riding a bike in DC obviously.

Mike: Yeah, looks like it.

He got his pants down without screaming. Salina used non-sterile water to clean the grit out of the scrape. Her real concern was the swelling.

Salina: You got a nasty scrape that is going to be painful as hell, but that knee should be x-rayed. It could be damaged.

Mike: You don't look upset enough for it to be serious.

Salina: (smiling) It's messy, but not as messy as a belly wound from an AK-47.

Mike: (trying to smile) That's good to know.

Salina had Mike down to his shorts by the time May returned. Mike still had a pretty good size paunch. He didn't tell them that he had lost eleven pounds in the two weeks he has worked with the group. His exercise and a controlled access to food accounted for the weight loss.

The controlled access was mostly due to being out of the house working. Some of it was his reluctance to go upstairs and confront his mom and her lover dejour. That was an issue going onto the back burner for a while for sure.

May came rushing in after almost thirty minutes. Salina used the peroxide to clean the wounds a second time. Then she coated them with antibiotic ointment and bandaged them.

Salina: It looks worse than it is, but he is going to have some discomfort. He should be home where he can lie down.

Mike: No, I want to work. I don't want to be home.

May: Well you don't need to put these clothes on again. They are bloody. Call your Mom and have her bring some clothes.

Salina: Also have her check her medicine cabinet for any leftover prescription pain killing drugs. You know like Vicodin, Codeine, or anything of that type.

Mike: She's at work I'm sure. I'll call her. She doesn't know about the fall. I don't want to worry her.

May: Mike you don't have any choice. You have to call her or I'm going to take you home.

Mike made the call while May and Salina tried to decide how to handle him.

May: Should we force him to go home?

Salina: He won't be any better off at home alone than he is here. He is going to need a ride home tonight, but I can handle that. Once he is home I assume his mother will take care of him. He probably doesn't need to be going up and down the stairs there twenty times a day. But otherwise he should be able to do anything he wants, but I doubt he will want to do very much.

May: Well I got stairs at my place or I'd take him. (There was a questioning look from Salina.) Okay, maybe not.

Salina: He is off the phone. Let's go talk to him. (After she walked over to Mike) You need a blanket?

Mike: I am getting cold.

Salina: I don't have a blanket but at least put your pants and coat on. You can change them out after your mom shows up with clean clothes.

This is not the best time to ask, but who was the last person to leave the office last night.

Mike: Why did I leave it unlocked?

Salina: No, I was wondering if you remember to set the Kleenex.

Mike: To be honest, I can't say that I have a memory either way, why?

Salina: The paper was on the floor outside when I came to work this morning. I'm sure that it was there before I touched the door.

May: We need to contact someone about that. Mike's accident may not have been an accident.

Mike: It was an accident. Trust me the guy never even looked. It wasn't like he planned it. He was just a jerk.

May: Bullshit. Ask Eddie, there are no coincidences.

Salina: Of course there are. Everything is not a coincidence though. Some things are planned to look like random events. When the boys call in we will discuss it with them. What we will not do is to discuss this with Lucille.

May: It's noon already have you heard from them.

Salina: No, but it's okay. They are running games on the Staff at the Camp. Remember the call for you to obtain a search warrant then to cancel it? They are just winging it down there. They will call later to let us know when to expect their return. In the meantime, we need to keep going as if none of this was real.

May: It's noon, where the fuck is Mike's mother? You can bet I would be here in a minute if it was my kid.

Salina: Spoken like a true woman who has no kids. (She laughed)

A few minutes later a thin woman in her early forties appeared at the gate. Mike buzzed her in.

Mike: Mom is here.

May went into the parking garage to meet her. When she opened the door May was surprised to find that the woman looked only a little older than she did. She was very attractive. It was hard to believe she was Mike's mother.

May: Hi, my name is May. I work with Mike.

Mom: (not overly concerned) How is he?

May: Pretty banged up, but he isn't too bad. Fortunately we have an army medic here, who patched him up. Come on I'll let you see for yourself.

Mom: Sure, lead the way.

May was surprised at her lack of concern. When they entered the room and the woman saw Mike for the first time she did look a little concerned but the look vanished quickly. She gave the pill bottles to Salina then went to Mike.

Mom: How are you Michael?

Mike: I think I got a bruised knee and some scrapes but I seem to be holding up well. Salina cleaned me up and I finally got warm.

Mom: Good.

Salina: You got a ballsy kid there. He walked home from the accident, then got on his scooter and came here. He was in a lot of pain and did all that. The kid is not just a geek and wimp. He has real balls.

Mom: I'm not surprised. Every mother thinks her child is special.

May: Well yours is.

Salina removed a pill from one of the bottles Mike's mother had brought.