Chapter 5

Friday, June 8, 1979

After our morning cuddle and rapport, Bonnie, Missy, Sharon and I headed in to work for a while. We hadn't much more than got into my office before Ann came in.

"The police came by to see me last night," she told Sharon and me. "They wanted to know if I knew anything about my ex-husband getting beaten pretty badly yesterday afternoon. I assured them I didn't, and gave them the names of several people who knew I was at work when it happened."

"Did they say how badly he had been beaten?" I asked.

"Yeah, they said he had a broken arm and two broken legs. They said they were clean breaks and would heal fairly quickly."

"What did he tell them that made them come to you?"

"Evidently, he said the people who beat him up kept saying something about keeping away from me. I told them about being raped by him, but that I couldn't prove it was him. I told them I had told several friends about it and that one of them may have taken the law into his own hands."

"I'll bet they loved that."

"Actually they weren't too bad. They asked me to give them a list of the friends I had told, and I refused. They let it go at that. I was surprised, but I think they really felt sorry for what had happened to me."

We talked for a few minutes then Ann went back to work. Sharon and I had gotten into searching for stocks to invest in, when we heard a mental scream. <Missy! Is that you? What's wrong?> I asked frantically.

<Nothing's wrong Mike. Yes that was me. We got the other 200 acres.>

<Fantastic! Call your friend and see if she knows a surveyor we can use to get both places surveyed. Also see if she knows who we can get to put in a fence.>

<Will do Mike. I'm getting a legal description from them now. I'll call as soon as I can get out of here.>

{Sharon, my love, this is going to be so nice. I can't wait to get moved in. We may just have to take a stay at home vacation when we get moved in,} I said.

<That would be great, lover mine. We haven't had a vacation of any kind in over a year. Not that we work ourselves to death or anything, > Sharon ended with a giggle.

"Mr. Green, there's a Mr. Howser from the SEC out here to see you," we heard coming over the intercom.

I pressed down the button on the device and said, "Thank you, Jenny. Send him in please."

{I wonder what the bastards want now,} I said.

Howser came in before Sharon could even answer. He introduced himself and sat down.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Howser?" I asked.

"Mr. Green, I must admit my office is perplexed by you. We have been following your investments for some time now, and as far as we can find out, your company has never lost money on a stock. With the amount of trading you are doing, that is impossible."

"Well, obviously it is possible Mr. Howser."

"Not without cheating it isn't Mr. Green. We don't know how you are doing it, but we know you are."

"Mr. Howser. You've investigated us several times over the last couple of years. You've never found even the slightest hint we are doing anything illegal. Why do you keep hassling us?"

"Because we suspect you have some kind of insider trading racket going on. If you do, we'll find it."

"We have invested in over fifty companies in the last couple of years. Do you honestly believe we have insider information on all of those companies?"

"It's the only thing that would explain it. In all the years I've been working for the SEC, I've only seen something like this one other time. They guy who was doing the picking of the stocks was some kind of idiot savant. He claimed he had come back from the future or something. If I remember right, he ended up in a mental institution."

"Well, I'm no idiot savant or anything, and I didn't come back from the future. I'm just an ordinary guy who has a knack for picking stocks. Basically we are investing in technology. We've also invested a little in the medical area, but it is mostly technology. What was the other guy's name, who could pick all winners?"

"Johnson... no, Johnston. Harold Johnston. Like I said, he's in the funny farm."

"Was that here in San Francisco?"

"No, he was down in L.A."

"I thought I would have heard about him if he had been in this area. What else can I do for you Mr. Howser?"

"I just wanted to put you on notice that I am personally watching you people, Mr. Green. When I figure out how you are doing this, I am going to come down on you like white on rice."

Howser got up and started toward the door. "Good day Mr. Green," he said as he walked out.

{Can he get away with threatening us that way?} Sharon asked.

{I don't know, Sweetheart. I think I'll call Phil and see what he says. Maybe some of our attorneys can get this guy to back off.}

We sat, deep in thought, for a few minutes. {Sweety, I'm going to call Phil. Would you do some calling and see if you can find out where Harold Johnston is being held down in L.A. He just may be another time tripper like I was.}

{Yeah, I was thinking about that too, Mike. I almost dropped my teeth when Howser said the guy says he's from the future. But, if it drove him crazy, why would you want to find him?}

{My guess is that it didn't drive him crazy. My guess is that he said one too many times that he was from the future, and someone decided he is insane. If we find him, at least we'll be able to find out for ourselves.}

I called Phil and talked to him a few minutes about Mr. Howser and his threats. He said he didn't really think there was much we could do, but that he'd call our other attorneys and see if they could think of anything. He also told me he'd called our house earlier and talked to Beth. He had given her Josh's and Mayhew's addresses.

I hadn't much more than hung up the phone when Cindi said, {Mike, Beth and I are outside Josh's house. I just wanted to let you know he isn't the one who has been causing us problems.}

<Thanks, Cindi. I really didn't think it was him.>

{Mike, this guy is a mess. He's on heroin. I've never been inside a mind that was drugged before, and it's scary as hell. Why would anyone do this to themselves?}

{I don't know, Lover. I've never been inside a mind that was messed up on drugs either. What's it like?}

{None of his thoughts are coherent. It's like he knows there's a world out there, but he's not part of it. What thoughts he has are mushy, and don't relate to anything around him. I was able to do a deep scan on him though, and his memories are there. From what I can pick up, he hasn't thought of you or Sharon in a long time, probably more than a year.}

{Cindi, my love, Josh has always been trying to escape from the real world. I think that's what all of the flatliner crap was about for him. I often wondered if he was thinking of doing himself in if he found there was something after death.}

{He still thinks about killing himself. He's a danger to himself, but not to us.}

{Well, at least we know now, Cindi. Thank you for checking up on him.}

I was just about to suggest to Sharon and Missy that we leave the office, when Sharon said, {I've got him Mike. There's a Harold Johnston in the State Mental Health facility in L.A. They wouldn't give out any information about him.}

<That's okay love. I just wanted to know where he is. Maybe we should make a run down there and pay him a visit.>

<That would be nice Mike. I love to travel with you. Maybe we should take the RV on a little run.>

<That does sound good. Bonnie, Missy, would you guys like to go to L.A. with Sharon and Me?>

{Mike, I'm going to be tied up the rest of today and tomorrow with the architect,} Missy said. {Otherwise, I'd love to go.}

{I should probably stay here too, Mike,} Bonnie answered. {I've been having some thoughts about the house I'd like to talk over with Missy and maybe the architect.}

{Hey, what about me?} Cindi asked.

{I was going to get around to you, little one. Have you been listening in on us again?}

{I listen in on you all the time, Mike. You said you didn't mind.}

{I don't mind, Love. Would you like to go with us?}

{Yes! When are we leaving?}

{Sharon and I are heading home now. We'll load up some things in the RV and take off. We won't leave without you though.}

{When will you be back, Mike?} Missy asked.

{Either late tomorrow, or around noon on Sunday. We'll keep in touch and let you know.}

It actually took a little over an hour for us to get everything packed and get the RV fired up. We hadn't driven it in a while, but quality tells, and it ran beautifully.

It was too late when we pulled into the L.A. area to go to the Mental Health facility, so we just found a place to park the RV and settled in for the night.

Saturday, June 9, 1979

I got up an made coffee, and shortly after I'd poured my first cup, Sharon was snuggling on my lap. I kissed her and said, {You know, as sweet as this is, I miss Missy.}

{Missy, are you awake, Love?} Sharon asked.

{Yes, I'm up Sharon. I'm having a solitary cup of coffee and missing you guys.}

{We were missing you too, Love. Let's see if we can do a rapport at this distance.}

We could. We stayed linked for almost an hour. Cindi joined us after a while, and then Bonnie. It seems like since we started our deep rapport, our powers, at least among ourselves have been increasing.

When we were first getting used to the telepathy thing, we'd have needed Cindi to help us contact each other at this distance. Now, it had been easy to contact Missy without help.

We finally decided it was time to break apart and start our days. I told Sharon I thought we should use a rental car to go to the facility. I felt the RV would capture too much attention, and Sharon agreed, so we drove out to the airport and rented a small car. We just left the RV locked up in the Hertz lot.

We drove out to the facility, and arrived right after the start of visiting hours. When we told the lady at the desk that we were here to see Harold Johnston, she acted surprised. When I asked her why, she said, "Mr. Johnston has been here for over a year, and you are his first visitors."

I don't know why I did it, but afterwards I was glad I did. When she asked for our names, I told her I was Cornelius Brown, and this was my wife Georgia and my sister Evelyn. I told her the reason we hadn't been in to see Harold before was that we were from Arkansas and had just gotten in last night.

She showed us to a private room, and said that Harold would be brought in shortly. As we waited, Sharon asked, {What's with the names, Corny?}

{Best I could do on short notice, George.}

{I'll George you!}

The door opened and the teasing stopped. Harold Johnston was a big man. He stood about 6'2" and weighed at least 225 lbs. Not an ounce of it was fat. Later he confirmed my suspicion that the facility had a good weight room and that he worked out daily.