Chapter 17: Preparations

Chief Crowley called the meeting to an end. He told Captain Abernathy to light a fire under the detectives and see if anybody had seen any African-American strangers recently. At best we had maybe a day or two before something might happen. Captain Bullfinch and Lieutenant Roscoe were told to give whatever support possible, including moving watch schedules around. Hank was told to assist me and dial up TRT.

As far as I was concerned, Priority One was taking care of my family. What was even before Priority One? Priority Zero? Could my mathematician wife tell me? That was too metaphysical for me. I looked at my lieutenant. “Hank, we need to get Kelly and the kids. Send somebody in an unmarked to get her and the kids.”

“Where do you want them?”

“Bring them to the house. I’ll figure out how to hide them. Please, now.”

He nodded and left. I needed to find a place to hide Kelly, Riley, and Seamus. The one thing I wanted to do was get them away from Matucket. I didn’t want them at the apartment, or my parents’, or her parents’, or any other places around town that somebody might be able to find. Still, one place came to mind.

I had known Tolley Hunter since 2006, when Bravo Three had rescued her USO tour in Iraq. She had sworn at the time that she would do anything for any of us at any time. Since then, Kelly and I had seen her several times, and she had always repeated that to us. There had been the time back when I got the Medal and met her in LA. Then, a few years later, she had given a concert in Atlanta and had invited us to attend, with free backstage passes and an invite onto the stage when she sang ‘A Song for Bravo Three.’

Just a few years ago she had done a police mystery movie in Atlanta, with her as a lady cop, and had me come over as a technical consultant. I had told her that I would be happy to help, but that I had a regular job. Her agent spoke up at that point and informed me what they paid for technical consultants; I promptly put in for vacation time and a brief leave of absence. The money involved might not be great in Hollywood, but in West Georgia it was some truly serious coin!

Being a technical consultant was hilarious. I made no friends with the wardrobe people when I informed them that lady cops didn’t wear spandex and spike heels. They wore body armor, showed no cleavage, wore flats, and took pains to not look sexy. It wasn’t just because the sleazeballs they were arresting were assholes. The sleaziest people they had to deal with were their fellow police officers! At one point I had Tolley arrange for a limo, and she took Kelly and some of the female police officers out for a girl’s night out. She got an Oscar nomination out of it, although the movie only made $200 million at the box office.

While doing the movie, she managed to come out to Matucket and stay with us several days. I remember one afternoon, when she was sitting on the dock while Riley and I fished for dinner, and Tolley said, “You have no idea what this means to me, Grim.”

“Hmmm?”

“This is normal life. This is how normal people live. I grew up normal, just like you did. My parents were normal people, ex-soldiers like you and Kelly – oh, face it, military spouses are military as much as their husbands.”

I had snorted out a laugh and agreed. “Okay, we hadn’t done the vows yet, but I’ll go along with that. Still, this isn’t normal.” I waved a hand around at the lakefront property. “Kelly as a professor and me as a police sergeant with an Army pension make a well-above average family income.”

“Yeah, but at least you know that. You have no idea how many people in Hollywood think that normal people live in Malibu and Beverly Hills, or maybe mid-town Manhattan overlooking Central Park. Being around you and Kelly reminds me all the time that normal isn’t normal.”

We were interrupted at that point when Riley got a tug on her rod and yelled out. I gave her a little assistance and we helped her reel in a mid-sized yellow perch. She was extremely proud, and we promised it would be dinner that night. Tolley commented later, “Like I said, Grim, normal.”

That same weekend she said, “You’ve been very good for my career, you know.”

Kelly and I looked at her in confusion. “Excuse me?” I said.

She laughed. “I’m halfway to an EGOT with you!”

“An EGOT?” I asked.

Kelly answered, “You mean an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony?” Tolley nodded and Kelly explained what that meant to me.

Tolley said, “I got another Grammy for Best Song for A Song For Bravo Three and an Emmy for the Fourth of July special we did in Baghdad. Too bad we couldn’t figure out how to do a movie or play about it.”

“Ye Gods!” I replied.

She laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ll get an Oscar in the near future. Disney is doing another one of their princess animated movies and I got tagged to do the voice and singing for the princess, as well as to write the songs. That’s pretty much a lock for Best Song. If they ever turn it into a Broadway play, I might even be able to write something for that.”

“Huh.”

If there was one person who could help, and who would mean it and have no ulterior motives, it was Tolley Hunter. I found an empty office and pulled out my phone. I dialed her number and ended up with an assistant. “Tolley Hunter’s phone. This is her assistant, Devin Reynolds. How can I help you?”

“This is Graham Reaper. I need to speak to Tolley as soon as possible.”

“I’m sorry, but Miss Hunter is not available. Can I take a message?”

I glanced at my watch. It was eleven in the morning Georgia time, which made it eight in California. “Miss Reynolds, is she anywhere near? I need to speak to Tolley as soon as humanly possible. That means I need you to interrupt her shoot or song or whatever. If she’s at home, find her. I promise you, she will be happy you did, and unhappy if you don’t. Tell her the Grim Reaper says it is a matter of life and death, and he is not using a figure of speech.”

A couple of minutes passed before Tolley said, “Grim? Is that you? What’s up? You really got Devin flipping out! How can I help?”

“Tolley, remember when you told me you’d do anything for me, for saving you in Iraq?”

“Grim?”

“Do you remember, Tolley? Please! I’m calling it in. I need some help.”

The line was quiet for a few seconds. “Grim, what’s wrong? What’s going on?”

“Tolley, I can’t explain much, but there’s a threat. I need to get Kelly and the kids out of Matucket for a few days. I can’t explain this, and you can’t ask or tell anyone, but I need them out of here, right away.”

“Grim, you’re serious?”

“Yes.”

There was another delay of a few seconds. “When do you need to get them away?” she asked.

“Yesterday. I have an unmarked unit grabbing them up right now.”

“Okay. Give me a few minutes and somebody will contact you at this number. You can’t tell me anything?”

I replied, “Sorry, no. I might be able to explain soon, but I can’t even promise that. I simply need to get them out of here immediately.”

“Okay. Somebody will contact you soon. Do what you need and tell Kelly I’m here for you both.” With that she hung up and I put my phone back in my pocket.

I went to Hank’s office and said, “I’m heading home. Figure I’m off the schedule for the next few days.”

He nodded. “Kelly and the kids?”

“Working on it.”

“Abernathy sent an unmarked with another unmarked as an escort to Matucket State. From there they are heading to Riley’s school.”

I nodded. “Thanks. I’ll call you as soon as I get things sorted.”

Hank sent me on my way, and I drove home. On the way home, my phone rang through the Bluetooth to the speaker in the car. It was a man who was calling. “Sergeant Reaper?”

“Yes.”

“My name is John Belden and I handle security for Tolley Hunter. Miss Hunter asked me to call you. I gather there is a security threat to you and your family.”

Tolley must have believed me. “Yeah, there’s a problem. I asked Tolley to help.”

“Can you explain the nature of the threat, Sergeant?”

“Not at this time, but it is serious. There is a potential for multiple hostiles. That is all I can say, and you can’t tell her or anybody else.”

“How many individuals need to be evacuated.” I hesitated, and he said, “I need to know for transportation purposes, Sergeant.”

“Three. My wife and two children. Oh, and the dog,” I answered.

“Size and breed of the dog, please?” I blinked at that. This guy was one cool customer. He just asked technical questions with no change in tone. I answered a few more questions and he said, “I can have a plane at the Matucket County Airport by five this afternoon. Will that be satisfactory?”

“Yeah, that will be fine.”

“We’ll contact you half an hour before we land. Can you meet us securely?”

“Yeah, not a problem.”

“See you then, Sergeant Reaper.” He hung up.

I wondered if I had ever met Belden before. Tolley had security around her, but she kept it very low key. Still, she was a major Hollywood personality. She didn’t go to the bathroom without somebody doing a ten-point security check.