Chapter 17

The hall was typical of hotel conference rooms, with folding partitions that allowed it to be turned into two separate rooms. The carpet on the floor was utilitarian, more than capable of resisting the normal spills of buffets, conference meals, and cocktail parties. Lined across the room, row after row of stackable chairs faced the speaker’s podium with a large screen lowered for display of computer presentations.

At the podium, Kelly spoke about the career projections for individuals entering the medical field. The audience of academicians in charge of nursing programs at universities around the country didn’t look too happy about what she had to say. The number of graduating nurses was increasing to a point that in six years there would be a surplus. Unless the schools cut back on their nursing programs, they would be doing a disservice to their students and to the profession as a whole.

When she announced that the Fusion Foundation would be cutting back in scholarships and assistantships for nursing students, there was a general grumbling in the audience. The hostility of the audience was understandable. They were in charge of growing their nursing programs and the news that they may have to consider cutting back their efforts was not something they wanted to hear. It didn’t help when Kelly pointed to areas of the health care industry, in which growth was predicted, none of which fell under a nursing related field.

Sitting in the back of the room, Ed understood the difficulty of the task that Kelly had undertaken. She had accepted the burden of telling people a truth they didn’t want to hear. That was the problem with serving truth and one that Ed faced almost daily. Most people preferred lies when it fit their particular goals or interests and pointing out the lies tended to make people angry. He didn’t expect Kelly to have too many difficulties with the crowd. These were professionals and they would decide what actions made sense for their needs. The fact that the message was being delivered by a Druid gave it a significance that no other messenger would be able to convey.

Once Kelly was done with her presentation, she returned to the table. Leaning over to him, she said, “You can go and play now.”

“Thanks,” replied Ed with a wink before slipping out of the room. He wasn’t really interested in the nursing field beyond being there as moral support for his wife. Walking down the hallway of the hotel, he was the subject of significant interest as people watched the Druid stroll aimlessly down the hall. Having nothing better to do, Ed stopped occasionally and looked at the displays of various shops within the hotel.

Reaching the lobby, Ed looked around and decided that he had enough of being inside for the day. Stepping outside, he noticed the large square outside the hotel. People were sitting on benches as others walked past them with the intensity that comes of having a purpose that they saw as important. An occasional tourist took a moment to look around while consulting a map or asking for directions. Looking over the large square, Ed was disappointed that the ground was covered with paving stones rather than gardens. A little grass or flowers would have provided people with the connection to the earth that was entirely missing.

Most of the benches contained two or three people, sharing a seat while busy following their own agenda. People read books, maps, or just watched others walking around. There were maybe fifty of people around the square, none talking to another person except on their cell phones.

A woman, in her early thirties, sat on a bench alone. Her makeup was applied overly thick as though it was hiding a black eye. Shoulders slumped, back curved, and arms clutched tightly around her chest, her posture screamed out to the world, ‘Leave me alone.’ It was not the posture of a person that was angry for the moment, but the posture of a woman that had the life beaten out of her and was convinced that no one cared what happened to her. She sat there with a negative solidity that made her feelings a reality.

A dark ominous shadow fell across her blocking out the light and warmth of the sun. Looking up, she was shocked to see a black robed man standing in front of her with his hands on his hips and staring into her eyes with an intensity she had never before experienced. Her isolation from people and news didn’t allow her to recognize him for what he was, a Druid. Driven by habit, she said, “Go away.”

Looking down at the woman, Ed didn’t change the steady expression on his face in reaction to her command. Instead, he replied, “No.”

Surprised by his flat insistence at staying there, she looked around frantically before she said, “Please go away. He’ll see you.”

This was what Ed had expected to hear and was the reason that he had come over here. Her fear of some powerful force, which although not present, was the reason that he didn’t leave. The medallion around his neck felt warm. Instead of leaving, he sat down next to her and turned to face her. Indifferently he said, “I would assume that you refer to your husband.”

His comment struck her as hard as a slap. Frantically, she looked around for some place to which she could relocate, but there wasn’t an empty bench available. Thinking more about the reaction of her husband than the identity of the man next to her, she said, “Look, I’m warning you. You had better get out of here.”

Crossing his legs and leaning towards her so that he gave the appearance that they were having an intimate conversation, Ed asked, “Is he that bad?”

“You don’t understand. He’s very jealous and doesn’t like me talking to other people. Just get out of here. Now.”

Looking beyond her, Ed asked, “Are you afraid that he’ll hurt me or you?”

Getting angry at his continued insistence on talking to her, she answered, “He’ll kill you and hurt me.”

Ed continued to sit next to her even as she turned so that her back was facing him. With a very quiet voice, he said, “You can run, but you can’t hide. He’ll keep it up until one day either you or he will be dead.”

“I have kids!” cried the woman as she considered the impossibility of her situation. Life was not like in the movies she had watched before getting married. Men didn’t chase after women with roses and sweet words, but forced them into submission with cruel words and closed fists.

A man came over to the bench and glared at Ed with narrowed eyes. He took in the robe and recognized that it meant this stranger talking to his wife was a Druid. He didn’t know what that meant, but rather than confront the man, he commanded, “Come on bitch. It’s time for you to get your fat ass home.”

As though examining a particularly ugly patch of pond scum, Ed looked up at the man. The only phrase that went through his mind to describe the man was trailer park trash. With a very definite chill in his voice, Ed replied, “That’s not a very nice way to talk to your wife.”

“I suggest that you get out of here or else...”

The last two words of his suggestion hung in the air between them. The effect of the threat was undermined when Ed extended a hand to the woman and said, “I’m Ed Biggers.”

The pathetic woman looked at her husband in terror and, on the verge of tears, begged, “I didn’t invite him here! You’ve got to believe me.”

Ed turned to look at the man, his eyes boring into the stranger’s soul, as he said, “Her posture drove me here. I couldn’t resist her. To see a person so afraid of some monster required me to come to help her.”

“The slut is my wife, so get lost,” replied the man with anger. All he needed was for this woman to start getting ideas. She was already a pain in the ass, requiring constant attention to make sure that she obeyed him in everything.

A tight smile, almost threatening, slowly spread across Ed’s face as he listened to the man. Nodding his head, Ed said, “It looks like I have found the monster.”

The man reached out to grab his wife. Rather than grabbing her hand, he grabbed her hair to drag her behind him. As he pulled her off the bench, he yelled, “Whore, you’re leaving with me. What did you promise him for his help, a blow job? Taking it in the ass? You fucking bitch, wait until I get you home!”

Unable to resist the hand pulling her hair, the woman followed along. Her fear was plain for all to see, but no one else in the square moved to stop her abuser. Stepping in front of the man, Ed said, “I’m going to make your life so miserable, you’ll beg me to take you in the ass rather than the federal hassles you are going to experience. Right now, I’d like to ask you about your taxes.”

The man released his wife and turned to take a swing at Ed. Rather than ducking or blocking the swing, Ed accepted the punch although he made sure that it connected with his chest rather than his face. As soon as the blow landed, Ed immediately wrestled the man down to the ground and held him there. Once the man was subdued, he said, “You have just assaulted a federal agent.”

The woman had been about to hit Ed, but his comment about being a federal agent made her realize suddenly that hitting him was asking for serious trouble. Her enthusiasm for saving her husband evaporated when he shouted at her, “You whore. This is all your fault.”

A police officer came over to investigate the disturbance. As he approached, Ed called out, “This man just assaulted me. Would you mind detaining him?”

The cop took in Ed’s black robe and the gold medallion around his neck. The word among various law enforcement personnel was that helping a Druid was a very good way to get promoted. He immediately cuffed the man on the ground without asking a single question. Once that was accomplished, he turned to Ed and asked, “What happened?”

Ed pulled out his IRS badge and, after leading the officer a few steps away from the man on the ground, said, “He was pulling his wife around by the hair as a result of me engaging her in a conversation. When he hit me, I immediately subdued him and threatened him with arrest for assaulting a federal agent.”

“Do you want him charged?”

For several minutes, Ed whispered some instructions to the officer while the man nodded his agreement and smiled. With great deliberation, Ed walked over to the woman and led her to the bench on which she had been seated. She stared at him with fear in her eyes, wondering what was going to happen to her and her husband. Looking off to the distance, Ed said, “You are responsible for your own happiness.”

“What?” The unexpected comment took the woman by surprise.

“You are responsible for your own happiness.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Are you happy?”

She stared at him as if he were speaking a foreign language. She glanced at her husband who was listening to the policeman. Finally, she said, “No.”

“That’s your fault.”

She bristled and said, “You don’t understand.”

“I understand much better than you can possibly imagine,” replied Ed as he looked into her eyes. His voice was far colder than anything she had ever heard used in her presence. Without breaking eye contact, he said, “You have chosen to be unhappy.”

She shivered as if it was cold outside under his intense stare. All pretense of protecting her husband evaporated, but years of self- hatred came boiling forth. She said, “It’s my fault that he’s mean to me. I don’t live up to his expectations.”

“That’s true, but not in the way that you intended. It’s your fault that he’s mean to you since you continue to stay with him,” replied Ed as he looked contemptuously at the man on the ground.

“I have children.”

“That’s not an excuse. They aren’t immobile. You can take them with you. In fact, by allowing them to stay around your husband, you are harming them.”

The woman, frustrated by his lack of understanding, broke down into tears. Sniffling, she knew that she was no good and couldn’t do anything on her own. In her mind, it was a fact that she was a waste of space. Her parents had told her that and her husband had beat that fact into her all of the time. If she left him, she would starve to death before she could find a job. The only future available to her was as a prostitute and, if her husband was correct, she was a lousy fuck that wouldn’t be able to get a single customer.

Ed watched as the woman cried knowing exactly what thoughts were going through her head. The last thing that she needed was for him to act in an understanding manner. She had tough truths to face about herself, her life, and her future.

The cop knelt down next to the man on the ground. In an amused voice, he said, “You have no idea who you hit.”

“You mean, I hit one of those religious freaks.”

The cop laughed and said, “No, you just hit one of the most important men in the IRS.”

“IRS?” asked the man as his stomach started performing flips on him. No one ever wanted an IRS agent angry with him or her. That was when he realized the guy had even started to ask questions about his taxes before he had hit him.

“Oh yes. His husband is a major player in the FBI. Dude, you’re really screwed,” laughed the cop.

“FBI?”

“I imagine after they take your house, your earnings, your savings, and cars they will feel like it’s a good beginning. Once you think you’ve hit bottom, then they will really get to work on you. You are so fucked.”

Desperate, the man tried to think and came back with the comment, “I’ll join the Fusion Foundation Emergency Response Team. They will hire anyone.”

“So long as that person hasn’t pissed off one of the board members and congratulations, that’s exactly who you pissed off.”

The man stared at the policeman from his position on the ground and said, “You can’t be serious.”

“His husband is John Carter, founder of the Fusion Foundation. Did I tell you that you were really fucked? I’m beginning to think that was an understatement,” said the officer.

On the bench, Ed had waited for the woman to finish crying. When she had stopped, he said, “You have a choice to make. You can stay with him until he either beats you to death or you kill him. If you don’t like those choices, you can leave him today while he is detained.”