Path to Convergence
Copyright© 2025 by Vonalt
Chapter 13: Life Getting Back to Normal
Life Getting Back to Normal I was finally cleared to return to work the day after I was thoroughly checked, poked, and prodded.My thigh wound still throbbed, making the walk from the parking lot to the office a slow, painful ordeal.
I wasn’t anywhere near full strength yet, and the prescribed physical therapy hadn’t even started.Turning down the use of a cane was a mistake on my part; it would have helped me take some of the weight off my injured leg.
The therapist who evaluated me assured me that it wouldn’t take long to get back into shape.She promised a couple of sessions on the rehab wheel would do the trick, but that wheel looked more like a device from the Spanish Inquisition than a tool for healing when I saw it.
Yeah, I knew right then that I wasn’t going to like this physical therapy business one bit. My desk had turned into a catch-all disaster zone while I’d been away.Stacks of papers and binders teetered everywhere, some piled so high that they looked ready to topple over at the slightest touch.
I even uncovered a greasy pizza box as I dug through the mess, probably hiding there since just after my run-in with those would-be kidnappers. Realizing that I couldn’t tackle the mountain alone, I enlisted Andi and Molly to help me sort through the chaos.
I began the slow, painstaking process of restoring order to the clutter with their help.
There thankfully wasn’t anything in those stacks that was time-sensitive.Most of it ended up in the recycling bin; copies had landed on other desks while I was out, and others had already acted on them.
I was finally rewarded with a clean desk after about an hour of sorting, tossing, and a bit of mild cursing.That feeling of joy didn’t last long as Molly walked back in carrying a fresh stack of folders for me to go through just as I was settling in, her expression way too cheerful for what she was about to drop on me.
I wasn’t in any shape to drive myself to grab my favorite meal from the Mexican food truck at lunchtime, so Andi kindly went to pick something up for both of us.
It was nice to sit down and share a meal with someone you cared about.
It would’ve been even better if Karen had been there too.
Molly directed a call to me while I was eating lunch.
I already knew from the look she gave me that it wasn’t one I wanted to take.
It was someone from the White House asking if I’d be available to attend a meeting later that afternoon.
I didn’t even hesitate to say no.
I was polite, of course, and explained that I was no longer interested in participating in special meetings. I added that there were plenty of highly capable experts at Langley if they needed a consultant, many of whom were equal to, if not superior to me, in both expertise and background, then I just as politely ended the call and went back to my lunch.
I think that my response to the call from the White House surprised Andi.
She looked at me for a moment, then said, “You would’ve jumped at the chance and probably been suited up and ready to go an hour before the meeting in the old days.
What’s changed?” I finished my burrito and said, “It’s a whole new crew over there now.
They’re good people, competent and professional, but it got noticed when I went above and beyond back then. I felt appreciated, like I was part of the team.
What changed was getting tricked into signing that contract with the intelligence group.
I probably would’ve said yes if they had just asked, but that experience soured the whole thing for me. I’ve got nothing against anyone there, they’re excellent at what they do, but I’m done.
Let someone else take it from here.” My response caught Andi off guard at first, but then she smiled and went back to eating her lunch.
She didn’t say anything, but she glanced up at me with a knowing look every so often.
I’m pretty sure that she liked the change.
No doubt, she liked the change.
“Besides,” I added, “I need to bring in more money if I want to avoid the poorhouse with another wife dipping into my bank account, and a few more rugrats arriving in a couple of months. You and Karen always did have a taste for the fruits of my labor.” “Easy there, dear one,” Andi said with a wicked grin.
“Karen and I might just prune those low-hanging fruits, and your tree would never bear again.” We both laughed at the exchange, though I had no doubt that Karen or Andi could follow through on that threat if properly motivated.
I made a mental note not to give them a reason. I had even more incentive to behave with Molly working in the office. I was sure that Andi noticed everything that went on.
Even Johannes, the most serious and disciplined among us, couldn’t help but track the movement of her backside as she walked past his desk. She was dangerous.
The rest of the afternoon passed with the usual routine. We all had our jobs to do and went about them without interruption.
Everyone knew that it became a race to see who could get out the door first when five o’clock rolled around. Molly picked up the phone just before the exodus began, and called out, letting me know that I had another call to take. I sighed, thinking that ‘The White House just won’t give up’.
I picked up the phone, bracing myself for someone begging me to attend yet another meeting that had nothing to do with me, but it wasn’t the White House calling.
Lawrence was on the line, letting me know that they’d finally caught up with my mother and brother. They had been holed up at an RV park just outside Des Moines, Iowa, renting a fifth-wheel camper under an assumed name.
True to form, my brother couldn’t keep a low profile.
He’d managed to cause a disturbance, and the Sheriff had been called this time.
He’d apparently, taken an unhealthy interest in a teenage girl staying at the park with her grandparents.
He kept following her around, trying to get her attention.
In other words, he was being a creepy pest.
Worried about their granddaughter’s safety, the grandparents contacted the police.
The Sheriff showed up and interviewed my brother and mother, neither of whom had any form of state ID, and their fictitious identities immediately raised suspicion.
The Deputy, not playing any games, took them both back to the station, where they were fingerprinted.
My brother’s fingerprints were already on file due to previous encounters with the law, allowing authorities to quickly identify him.
A federal warrant had been issued for both of them on charges of being accessories to kidnapping, among other offenses, and they were subsequently detained and jailed.
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