Chapter 11

On landing at the airport, she had called the house and hadn’t been able to reach anyone. She then called the police and found that Bob had been taken to the hospital, but the dispatcher didn’t have any details concerning the events of that night. Calling the hospital, she had learned that Marguerite and Kelly were there as well, but not available to take her call. Convinced that everyone had been injured, she had been elated to learn that John was at the FBI office.

Ling stormed into the Federal Building looking for John. They had just lost Beth and now someone was trying to kill another member of the family while she had been away. When she entered the FBI offices, she told the receptionist, “Take me to John, right now.”

The receptionist knew that John was in a meeting with Ann and didn’t want to disturb them. She replied, “I’m afraid that I can’t disturb them. If you’ll wait, I’ll let him know that he has a visitor.”

Impatient, Ling raised her voice, “Take me to him now!”

Two agents, on their way to get some coffee, heard the commotion in the lobby and went in to see if they could help. The taller agent asked, “Is there a problem here?”

Irritated at Ling’s insistence, the receptionist answered, “She’s making a scene.”

The agent made the mistake by grabbing Ling by the arm. Ling had worked half the night to arrange a flight home, spent two hours on the plane, and worried the entire night about her family. She wasn’t in the mood to be jerked around. Over reacting, she threw the agent to the ground and put her foot on his crotch. The other agent moved in to subdue her and found himself bent over with his arm twisted behind his back. In a voice that was loud enough to carry down the hall, Ling shouted, “Take me to John right now or I’ll twist your arm right off.”

Within seconds, John raced into the room shouting, “Stop it, Ling. I’m okay.”

She let go of the agent and walked over to John. Hours of worry and frustration boiled over. She slapped him across his face, the sound reverberating through the office. Anger fueled by worry drove her as she asked, “How dare you not call us? We’ve been worried sick.”

John rubbed his face in shock. “Ah, I didn’t have a chance.”

She held up a cell phone and asked, “Don’t you have one of these?”

“No, I don’t.” They had tried to get him a cell phone earlier, but he could never keep it charged and never thought to use it.

“You had better get one, today! Ed and I were going crazy. No one was at home. We called the police office and they said that there had been an assassination attempt on you. The dispatcher didn’t know if you were okay. She only knew that an ambulance had been called to take one of the men to the hospital.”

“Ling, calm down.” He turned to the other agents and helped the one off the floor. The other one was standing sheepishly rubbing his shoulder. John said, “I have to apologize. She was worried about me.”

The agent that had been on the ground shook his hands in front of his body. He knew that he had grabbed her and triggered her reaction. “No problem. Let’s just not mention it to anyone. Please.”

Taking a deep breath, John said, “Okay. I’ll get her out of here as soon as possible.”

“Thanks, John. Your wife is a tiger.”

John laughed as he said, “You should see her when she gets mad.”

Ling snarled at John and then asked, “Are you done here?”

Ling and John left the Federal Building after a very brief conversation with Ann. On the drive to the house, John told Ling about the events of the previous night. Dave, the security person who had replaced Ling when she married into the family, had let the intruders into the house. The men had taken the women in the house one at a time and tied them to the chairs in the dining room as bait for him. When they went to take Bob, Bob had fought like a madman getting knocked unconscious during the fight.

Even though the house was quiet when they reached it, Ling was happy to see Cathy was at her post. It tore her apart to see Cathy that tired and she was pleased when John sent her to bed. It still bothered her that no one had answered the phone when she had tried to call the house.

Ling went through the security office identifying the sabotage that Dave had performed. He had set the telephone switchboard in the house to route all long distance calls to the security office. That explained why she hadn’t been able to get in contact with anyone in the house. Dave had removed all the security tapes before the attack so there wasn’t any record of what actually happened in the house.

Looking over at John sleeping in a chair in the security room, Ling realized that he had been awake all night. She shook him awake and sent him to bed. She went back to checking the security systems that she had installed.

Ed had paced the room from the moment when Ling had flown out until had she called. Once he had found out the details, he was furious with himself that he hadn’t taken just a few minutes to talk to Dave before leaving on this trip. One conversation and all of this could have been avoided. The villains, whoever they were, had taken advantage of Beth’s death to attack John when he didn’t have the full support of the family available. It was only after she let him know that everything was under control back at the house that he actually relaxed.

After talking to Ling, Ed hung up the phone and turned to look at Mrs. Hayes. She had sat on the couch waiting with him all night for news from the house. Although she was sitting ramrod straight in the chair looking very proper, she looked as tired as he felt. With a weak frown, he said, “Someone tried to assassinate John last night.”

Putting her hand in front of mouth in horror at the thought that someone would want to do that, she asked, “Oh, my! Is he all right?”

Nodding his head in the affirmative, Ed said, “John took care of them, but Bob, our handyman, was injured.”

“That’s terrible,” replied the elderly woman.

With a sigh of weariness, Ed answered, “Yes, it is. There’s a lot of evil in this world.”

Mrs. Hayes watched as Ed walked to the window and looked down at the city below. By his posture, she could tell that the sight bothered him. She asked, “What’s the matter?”

“I don’t like cities. The only improvement that I’ve seen in city life is air quality. Since John invented the fusion battery, the air is cleaner. The people are still miserable and there is no reason for it,” said Ed. With low-cost and highly portable power available, it was possible to live anywhere a person might want, yet people still clung to cities as though there was some benefit to being packed together like sardines in a can.

Mrs. Hayes answered, “You just don’t know what the city has to offer. There are all kinds of stores, restaurants, and things to do. Cities are vibrant and alive.”

Smiling at her assessment of the city, Ed replied, “I guess I like my little town. I know everyone and everyone knows me. When I walk down the street, people stop and talk to me. The stores may not be set up for hundreds of shoppers, but the owners take the time to know me. They even stock stuff they think I’ll like. Maybe the variety isn’t the same as in the city, but the quality is just as good.”

She laughed and said, “I guess there are differences in people that can never be resolved. I like watching the variety of people in the city.”

Several days later, leaning against the limousine as he waited for Ling’s arrival, Ed thought about the past ten days. The investigation had progressed nicely and the scope was now national in scale. The case was very ugly. Even listening to the details as the agents brought in the reports made Ed sick to his stomach. He couldn’t wait for the case to end. His plans for the day were simple, pick up Ling and start the arrests.

The case wasn’t the only thing on his mind. Ed was curious to hear about this mystery man that had moved into the house. No one had provided him with any details about how it had come to be that they had a full time guest. The only thing that anyone said was that he would like the guy when he met him.

When the plane landed, he watched as a very vibrant Ling climbed out and headed towards him. She ran to him and threw her arms around him. After a very passionate hello kiss, she cooed, “It’s so good to see you.”

He lifted her up and swung her around as he replied, “I’ve missed you so much. How’s John and Kelly?”

Ling giggled as she said, “Oh, John is still one of the two sexiest men in the world and no one can lick a woman like Kelly can.”

Laughing at the answer, Ed said, “And to think that I was stuck in this horrible city horny as hell.”

When they climbed into the limousine, Ling settled on his lap and promised, “I’ll take care of that little problem.”

“Little? I’m crushed!”

Giggling, Ling answered, “I said that the problem was small, not the parts involved.”

Laughing and relaxing for the first time since she had left, Ed asked, “So tell me about the visitor that’s moved into the house.”

Wiggling on his lap, Ling said, “John said you would be curious about Leroy.”

“Of course, when John calls and says he found someone that might make a good husband I have to pay attention,” replied Ed as he ran a finger over one of Ling’s shirt covered nipples. The lack of protest made his movements a little bolder, pinching it a little before returning to rub it. He asked, “So how did you find this guy?”

As her nipple stiffened under his touch, Ling said, “John, Kelly, and I were going into Phoenix for a charity event when a drunk driver passed us going at least one fifty. He would have clipped our car, but we drove off the road.”

“Wow, sounds like the jerk wanted to get himself killed,” replied Ed knowing that Ling was the one driving the car. She always drove when she was in a car.

“Yeah. He got his wish, too. After we got back on the road, we get a little further up the road and there’s a car with the whole side smashed in. We stop but there is nobody in it. About a hundred yards further down the road is a second car. Now that one was in really bad shape. It was one of the old gasoline powered cars and the smell of fuel was everywhere. When we get to it, there’s a guy with a broken arm trying to get the person out of the other car.”

Raising an eyebrow, Ed asked, “You could tell that his arm was broken?”

“Big time. The bone was sticking out through his shirt,” answered Ling.

Grimacing at the image that invoked, Ed said, “So what was he doing?”

“The door on the car was locked. Leroy was trying to kick the window out so that he could open the door to release the woman that was trapped inside.” She laughed for a second. “You should have seen him. He couldn’t use his arm and each time he kicked at the window he lost his balance. He wasn’t going to give up no matter what.”

Ed nodded impressed and asked, “So what did he do when you guys showed up?”

“He was very concerned about the woman in the car, particularly since she was bleeding. He wouldn’t let us treat him until she was pulled out,” answered Ling. She shook her head as she observed, “Since most cars use the Fusion Battery for power now, most people think that an old gasoline car blows up after a wreck.”

“Only in the movies,” said Ed. This guy sounded like a hero and he could understand why John took him into the house. He asked, “So everything ended up okay?”

“He’s so much like John, that you wouldn’t believe it. He was more concerned about the woman getting treated at the hospital than himself,” answered Ling.

“It sounds like you like him.”

Nodding, Ling replied, “Yes, I do. He’s a real nice guy. I mean, he’s polite to everyone, even the staff. He’s also kind.”

“Hmm. What does he do for a living?” asked Ed wanting to find out more about Leroy.

“He’s a college student working on his doctorate in animal physiology, or something like that. He explained it to me one evening over dinner. He wants to understand how individuals within the same species that live in cold and in hot environments differ based on the environment in which they live.”

With a mischievous grin, Ed tickled Ling as he said, “You have to watch out for those doctoral students, they are a tricky lot. I know, ‘cause I used to be one.”

Reacting to the tickles, Ling playfully slapped his hand and said, “You stop that. First you get me all worked up by playing with my nipple and then you abuse me by tickling me.”

Ed laughed and stopped tickling her. Putting his arms around her, he asked, “How does he accept the rules of the house?”

“He fit right in. I don’t think anyone has explicitly told him the rules to tell the truth,” answered Ling uncertain of her answer. She had never thought to ask if anyone had explained the rules. She said, “He didn’t have a problem with nudity in the house. He never said a word about it. He hasn’t hit on anyone or made any untoward advances.”

Impressed, Ed looked out the window for a moment. It sounded to him like the guy was pretty nice. Seeing where they were, Ed reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of mirrored sunglasses. Ling noticed and asked, “What’s with the sunglasses?”

Smiling at her, he answered, “I waited for you to get back to make the busts. We’re on our way there now.”

Torn between her happiness that he had waited for her and her disappointment that he wasn’t going to ravish her, she said, “You got me all wet down there to take me to a bust?”

“I’m sorry, you’re just so beautiful that I couldn’t keep my hands off you.”

Thrilled by the unexpected complement, Ling said, “I’ll forgive you ... this time.”

The limousine stopped by the side of the street. Spotting Mike, Norman, Vanessa, and Jimmy waiting for him by a building, Ed said, “We’re here. Let’s get this taken care of so that you can have a little fun.”

Ling glanced over at the people waiting for them and got quiet. Hesitating, she asked, “Is Jimmy Lee going to be here for a day or two?”

Smiling at her, he answered with a wink, “I promised Jimmy Lee that you would have a sparring match this evening. I imagine that it’s going to take all night for you two to decide who has the most stamina.”