A Gift From the Heavens
Copyright© 2026 by A Well Traveled Man
Chapter 6
Hudson met Mom in the kitchen for breakfast, and she was dressed for work. While they ate, he asked if she was visiting her kind-hearted boss in the hospital. Maybe he should come and add some excitement to Thomas’ recovery. Mom laughed and said, “No, I’m not visiting Thomas, and neither should you.” I’m working for John Mullens now, and he needs me full-time. Hudson, oh, the plan is for Thomas to get discharged, then strike out when he finds out his fiancée left him for his partner. Is there a party planned, and am I invited? Mom left for work, laughing, shaking her head.
Hudson went to his computer, looked up flight schools, and read some articles. He found out you can take flight school online and flight instruction from a licensed pilot or an instructor. Hudson signed up for an online flight school using his alias, Jon Mays. He spent two hours taking the course and tests, then took a lunch break. While eating, he thought about the best way to get airtime and came up with an idea. The free rags at the airport could be a source.
After lunch, he finished the flight ground school course and drove the Tahoe to the airport’s private terminal. He asked the clerk behind the counter where pilots post things to sell and services. She said, “In their lounge,” and gave him directions. Hudson wrote down several pilots’ names advertising flight instruction. There were several planes for sale, and he wrote down those numbers too. Returning home, I made several calls and chose Bill Schafer, a retired airline pilot.
Bill had a single-engine Cessna, and they agreed to fly two flights a week. They negotiated Bill’s training rate and agreed on an hourly rate plus the cost of plane fuel. They would start tomorrow at 8 a.m. and log three hours of flight time. Hudson was excited to get his flight training started and would quiz Bill on airplane costs and what models to buy. Sensing Mom was on the way home, he shut off the computer and went to the kitchen.
Thomas Rhodes woke up and demanded to be discharged immediately. The nurse said she would arrange it and called the doctor. He arrived with the hospital administrator and their legal counsel. The doctor presented the DAMA form, and Thomas refused to sign it. The hospital’s legal counsel told Thomas he had no choice. If he didn’t sign it, they would transfer him to the secure section to ensure he didn’t leave without the doctor’s permission. He may also be placed on a 48-hour psychological hold for evaluation.
The doctor pleaded with Thomas to reconsider, but Thomas signed the form, which was then notarized. He got his discharge papers, scripts for the medications he needed to take, and was taken to the hospital entrance in a wheelchair. When he got out, he felt dizzy and sat on a park bench. Realizing he didn’t have his cell phone, he begged people entering and leaving the hospital to use theirs. One person finally agreed to call a cab for him.
Upon arriving home, he got out of the taxi and collapsed. The taxi driver called 911, and paramedics were dispatched. When they arrived, the taxi driver was performing CPR on Thomas, and they took over. They used a defibrillator to restart his heart and transported him to another hospital closer to his house. Thomas suffered a major stroke, and the emergency doctors saw his discharge papers and called him a fool, seeing the DAMA form. They ordered X-rays and gave him a blood thinner and waited for the results.
Mom arrived home, and while they ate, Hudson asked how her work day was. Was there ass kissing, and are there any hickeys you want to show me? Mom laughed and said,” No, John was a perfect gentleman. It’s a welcome change from working for Thomas and his temper tantrums. He asked if she had heard any more about Thomas’ condition. She said not only is he recovering from heart surgery. They finished dinner, said goodnight, and went to bed.
Hudson was in the basement early Friday morning, practicing martial arts on the heavy bags. When he finished, he showered, dressed, grabbed his ground school certificate, got his Jon Mays disguise, ID, and cash. He went to the kitchen and left a note that he was going to the college library for research and would be home for dinner. Hudson drove to the airport and parked at the private terminal. He put on his disguise and entered. He met Bill Schafer, his flight instructor.
Bill checked his ID and ground school certificate, then they went to the plane. He showed Jon how to perform a preflight check and which items to pay attention to. Bill pointed out the fuel filter and said water in the fuel is dangerous, so look at it closely. Then they got into the cockpit, and he explained all the gauges and controls. Finally, Bill gave Jon a new flight log and showed him how to fill it out. He said we’ll fudge it a bit and list the time you arrived.
Then Bill started the engine, called the tower, and received clearance to taxi to the runway. They took off, and Bill handed over the controls to Jon. They flew to a remote airstrip, and Bill coached Jon on landing and taking off. It was called touch-and-go, and Bill was ready to take control at a moment’s notice. But he didn’t need to, although Jon’s first landing was rough. With the first landing out of the way, the rest were smoother. After the touch-and-goes, Bill had Jon change altitudes and directions.
Returning to the airport, Bill called the tower for landing clearance, and Jon landed the plane. They taxied to the private terminal, and Bill showed Jon how to close out the log for today. Then they did the post-flight inspection, and Jon paid Bill cash for the fuel and lesson. They agreed to meet again on Monday and said goodbye. Hudson removed his disguise and stopped at a Burger King drive-thru for lunch. Arriving home, he ate lunch, thinking about his first flight and excited about continuing.
After lunch, Hudson unconsciously teleported to the cave, stripped, got into the hot springs, and passed out. He awoke floating, got out, dressed, and teleported to his bedroom. Hudson checked the time, and it was almost 5 p.m. He cleaned up and headed to the kitchen because Mom was on her way home. While waiting, he thought about Raymond’s lab, and he needed to explore it in more detail. If it were like Old Man Cosgrove’s hidden room, there was more to discover.
During dinner, Mom told Hudson that John interviewed attorneys and legal secretaries all morning. He hired two attorneys and one legal secretary. Then he went to visit Thomas at the hospital. They called because John was Thomas’ emergency contact on his health insurance. He visited Thomas and spoke with the doctors, then returned. John said Thomas checked out of the first hospital against the doctor’s advice and suffered a severe stroke.
Mom said John told her Thomas was in bad shape. He can’t speak, and his right side is paralyzed. The doctors said that with intensive therapy, he could regain some movement and speech. But he’d never fully recover because the damage was too severe. Hudson said knowing Thomas, he’ll refuse therapy, and Mom agreed. She said John’s planning on Thomas not returning and turning his office into a conference room. Mom asked if he wanted to go to the yard and farm sales on Saturday, and he agreed. They finished dinner and went to bed.
Early Saturday morning, Mom and Hudson picked up a newspaper on the way to McDonald’s for breakfast. While eating breakfast, they viewed the classified section and found three yard sales and one farm sale. After breakfast, they went to the farm sale first, and it was a bust, but Hudson saw a gun safe in the barn. He asked about it, and the lady said she didn’t have the combination, so it’s worthless to sell. He offered $100, and she gladly accepted it. Several men there helped him load it into the F250.
On the way to the first yard sale, Mom asked him what he wanted with a safe you can’t open. Hudson said something to play with, and if I can get it open, it’s worth five times what I paid. The first yard sale was all clothing, but the second had books, and Hudson bought three boxes of science. The lady’s soon-to-be ex-husband was a science professor. She caught him cheating on her with his assistant. They are in Florida attending a seminar, and she is selling everything of his.
Hudson asked if he had a computer, and she said yes, but it was still in his home office. She showed it to him, and they agreed on $250 for the computer, monitor, and books. Heading to the third yard sale, Mom said that the woman was pissed at her husband. Hudson agreed, and he would be pissed to see all his things gone, and they laughed. The third yard sale was a bust, so they headed home. Hudson was stuck unloading everything because it was his. He got the safe off the truck and on a dolly.
He put it in the corner and then took everything else into his room. Lunch was ready when he was done, so they sat and ate. Mom said You never said how your research at the university library went. Hudson made up a story and said it went well, but what’s a magic tongue? Mom laughed hard and told Hudson to stop reading her books. He said a girl at the café saw me eating an ice cream cone and said I had one. Hudson stuck his tongue out, wiggled it, and asked if his tongue was magic.
Mom was laughing so hard she couldn’t talk, and that ended lunch. He went to his room and organized the science books he purchased. At the bottom of each box were the professor’s journals with experiments he developed for an outside contractor. The textbooks were for up to a master’s degree in science, and he set them up to start with the first year. Then he set up the computer and monitor. It was a little bit faster than his, so he wouldn’t change it. But the programs were something else.
He had a dozen programs for searching chemicals, compounds, and formulas. There was an encyclopedia from the beginning to now, so he’d use it while studying. Another thing he found was a file of the professor’s current and past projects. But the most surprising was his offshore bank account. David Goodhart, the cheating professor, had a Cayman Islands Bank account with over two million dollars in it. The fool had his password and login saved, so he changed it.
Hudson turned off the GPS, then turned off the computer. He thought David Goodhart would blow a gasket when he found his wife had sold his valuable things for $250. Hudson also wondered who David was working with and hoped it wasn’t a three-letter agency. There will be a shit storm at the Goodhart home when he arrives home from his romantic vacation with his girlfriend. Mom called that dinner was ready, so he headed to the kitchen.
While they ate, Mom said she had something serious to discuss. She told Hudson he was bigger than most men, including in tongue length. So be careful because you could get into trouble with women. Hudson asked how, and Mom said that was all she had to say about the subject. He said, “That’s ok, I’ll ask Jody,” and Mom laughed, saying, “Don’t do that.” She will tell everyone, which will cause you more trouble at the office. Just take my warning and be careful showing it. They finished dinner with Mom giggling the whole time and went to bed.
Early Sunday morning, Hudson read two science textbooks, then did more exploring on David Goodhart’s computer. He found a file and was shocked to see he had cameras in his classroom and lab. Besides the low angle to look up the young women’s skirts, there was a higher angle that recorded people in the room. That’s where he saw two men in suits enter the empty classroom. Professor Goodhart handed them a USB drive, and they gave him a gym bag.
He watched them leave, and David went to his office, opened the left credenza cabinet door, removed a false bottom, and put the bag inside. This confirmed that David was an idiot and a pervert. Why would he allow himself to be filmed accepting an illegal payment and hiding it? That gave him an idea, and he looked up Professor David Goodhart. Hudson found that he taught at Colorado Springs University. Looking at the video again, he saw the breaker box by the side door.
Hudson went to the kitchen, and Mom had breakfast ready. While eating, she asked what she had planned for the day. He said a quick trip to the university library and then nothing. Why? Mom said we need to go to the market and maybe Sam’s, but we can do it after lunch. He said, “Great, I should be back no later than 11 a.m.,” and he left when they finished breakfast.
He stopped at Walmart and got a ski mask, gloves, and a camo poncho. Then he drove to Colorado Springs University and parked behind the library. He carried his purchases to the science building and stopped between the buildings. Hudson tried the side classroom door and found it unlocked. He put on the ski mask, gloves, and poncho, then entered. Hudson shut off the breakers and then went to Professor Goodhart’s office. He opened the credenza bottom door, lifted the false bottom, removed the gym bag, and left.
Between the buildings, he removed his disguise, returned to the Tahoe, and drove home. His adrenaline was pumping as he opened the gym bag. It was filled with bundles of twenty-dollar bills. He figured the small denominations were easier to pay the students and for supplies without raising suspicion. He’d count it later, but there had to be over 100k inside. Poor David would have some explaining to do with the suits, and it wouldn’t be good.
Hudson broke open each bundle to be sure there weren’t any trackers and stashed the gym bag in the garage. Arriving in the kitchen, Mom asked if he got everything done, and he said yes. They ate an early lunch, then went to Sam’s first. Then they went to the gas station and the market, and they arrived home around 2 p.m. Hudson unloaded the Land Cruiser, and Mom put the groceries and supplies away.
He returned to the garage and looked at the safe he purchased at the farm sale. It had a digital keypad, and he remembered reading a crime novel. It was about a gang that targeted the homes of the rich and famous while they were on holiday. Hudson took a deep breath, then blew hot air on the keypad like cleaning a pair of eyeglasses. It worked by showing finger oil on four numbers. Hudson wrote the numbers down and began entering the combinations.