Chapter 23

It was almost 5:00 p.m. when Candice and Melissa / Katrina finally met Constance Taylor at the Cheers Bar in the main concourse of Boston’s Logan International Airport. On a signal from Candice, Katrina loudly proclaimed she needed to go potty, and Constance offered to take her. Candice thanked her, replying she’d finish her drink and meet them at the gate. As a result no one seemed to notice when Candice left the bar she went to one gate while Constance and Katrina went to another. Within thirty minutes all three were in the air, with Candice on her way to London while the other two were on their way back to Phoenix.

After things calmed down in Maria’s room Hawk called the new house to let them know Maria was out of recovery and everything seemed copacetic. While they talked Brenda advised him Mary Beth had transferred all the utilities into the name of the new management company, including the previously installed cable modem.

Next Hawk called Dennis to let everyone there know about the results of Maria’s surgery. Hawk also reminded Dennis all the paper work for the California deal needed to be completed as quickly as possible, as it would probably be ready to conclude on Monday or Tuesday of the following week. Though it wasn’t specifically stated this was related to Tom Jackson’s sisters and their greedy asshole of an uncle.

Next, Hawk went down to the cafeteria and got a Coke and went out into an open garden area. He turned on his cell phone and received a voice mail message from a detective named Ira Worthington. Hawk returned the call, but was placed on hold for almost ten minutes. Finally, a voice responded on the other end of the line, and Hawk identified himself. The detective replied, “Thanks for getting back to me so quickly Mister Gray Hawk, and even more thanks for asking Zed Andrews to get involved.”

Hawk responded, “No problem. I wasn’t sure if he could help, but even in my young years I’ve learned to listen to people who have the vast years of experience a man like Zed has.”

“Well, it was a great idea because the crime team was about to go nuts when he arrived. There must have been twenty-five different sets of prints in there. His suggestion was so simple and logical that it made the team feel kind of stupid. They probably would have resented it if it came from anyone else, but he just reminded them it was easy to get into a routine and go through standard procedures without thinking.”

An inquisitive Hawk asked, “So, what did he come up with?”

“He told them the real key was the damaged furniture and stuff, not who had been in the apartment. With his help they started looking at the different pieces of furniture, as well as the TV and DVD. Then, instead of just dusting everything for prints, they looked for how someone would have had to hold things to break them in that manner and dusted in just those areas. At the same time they pulled a copy of her prints from the booking on the embezzlement charge. Within minutes they had sufficient evidence to show she was the culprit.”

“So, they’d already arrested her for the embezzlement? Where do we go from here?” Hawk asked.

“Yes, they caught her late last night trying to cross the border into Mexico, and from what I understand, she was carrying a substantial amount of money. As for your future involvement, it looks like you’re going to be out of the situation. Since we’ve discovered some other damage she did at the apartments the District Attorney has decided to not treat the action against your apartment as a separate attack on you and your wife, but as a part of her actions against the apartment management as a whole. Thus, these new charges were simply added to the embezzlement charges that had already been issued.”

“That’s good. My wife had a miscarriage which I’m sure was caused by that woman’s actions. The less we have to be involved, the better.”

“Then you have my condolences, as well as my understanding. I’ll do everything I can to keep both of you out of it.”

“Thanks. Now, what about our stuff and cleaning up the apartment? Can we get in there now, or is it still a crime scene?”

“Well, we’ve finished that part of the investigation, so you’re free to return for your items. I’d suggest you check with the Resident Manager, as I understand the apartment’s insurance is going to make good on all the damages, as well as handling the cleanup. Their adjuster has already been on site.”

Hawk thanked the detective and called the apartment office. Alicia answered. “Alicia, this is Hawk. I just got off the phone with the detective, and he suggested I give you a call.”

“I’m glad you did. How’s your wife?”

“She came through the surgery fine and returned to a room filled with roses.”

“Wow! You’re pretty sharp for an ol’ cowboy. I bet that made it all worthwhile.”

“Well, I figured she needed a lot of reassurance right now, and I couldn’t think of a better way to give it.”

“I happen to agree with you. Now, I assume you’re calling about the apartment. I had a fight with the adjuster over the value of everything, but I’ve a check here for twenty-three thousand. Is that sufficient?”

An astounded Hawk replied, “More than sufficient. What about our personal items?”

“They’re already working on cleaning the apartment, and any undamaged or personal items, will be stored until you can pick them up. Is there anything particular you’re concerned about?”

“Alicia, Maria’s the granddaughter of what you would call the Medicine Man for the entire White Mountain Apache Nation. I don’t know if she has any tribal dress or artifacts there, but they need to be kept, even if they’re damaged. In addition, I’ll need her school books, her notes, and the hard drive out of her old computer.”

“I’ll personally see it’s taken care of, and I’ll hold the items and the check here in the office until you come get them.”

“Thanks. I might send someone after them, but, if I do, I’ll call first.”

With that completed Hawk returned to Maria’s room, and spent the rest of the day ‘being there’ for her. Around 8:00 that evening, at the suggestion of the nurses, Hawk gave Maria a good night hug and kiss.

Leaving the hospital he drove to the ranch, where he was greeted by an exuberant Brenda. After bringing her up to date about both Maria and the apartment he moved his clothes from Maria’s car, as well as the computer equipment from Brenda’s, into the house. He moved the equipment into the ranch office, which was off the central great room, and got everything set up and connected. He did discover the previously installed cable modem wasn’t connected to a router. This wouldn’t be an immediate problem, but it would need to be addressed soon, so Maria and Brenda could share the Internet with him, as well as the printer.

After double-checking that everything was connected properly he booted the system up. He again checked things. and decided he was pleased with the current system, including the Internet connection. He locked down the firewall and removed all sharing on the hard drive. This should help prevent someone from hacking into the system via the cable. Next, he logged into his email account in New Zealand. There were a few messages, but mostly spam or information updates from the web host. He sent an email to Dan to meet him at their favorite place. He then logged in at the specified site and went to chat room seventy. A few minutes later, the screen displayed:

‘AUTiger, are you there?’

‘I’m here, tiggertoo. Wanted to give you an update on Maria and go over a few things with you.’

‘What’s going on with Maria?’

‘No one let you know she had a miscarriage Sunday morning?’

‘No. This is the first I’ve heard about it. Is everything OK?’

‘Yes. She had a D and C this morning, along with removing some scar tissue. Her spirits are good, and the doctor was very encouraging.’

‘That’s good. What else is going on?’

‘We’ve bought a ranch southeast of Phoenix. Gives us some seclusion and some room to work. Also, the partnership purchased an apartment complex yesterday. Took a loser and made it into a winner in less than eight hours. I’ll give you more details when we are face-to-face.’

‘OK, but why did it take you so long? LOL.’

‘Too many other things going on. Did you get an email from Dennis with a representative agreement attached?’

‘I sure did, but I wasn’t sure what to do with it.’

‘Send it to me as an attachment. I’ve got some things to do to it before I e-mail it back to you. When you get the revised copy I need you to print it and FedEx it to Dennis.’

‘He’s right there, why send it from here?’

‘We need to establish a trail. Send it in the name of Tom Jackson from some hotel down there. Pay cash, no fingerprints.’

‘Consider it done. How long till you’re finished?’

‘Haven’t started. Assume it will be there in the a.m.’

‘OK. See you in a few days.’

They both logged off. While he was waiting for Dan’s e-mail Hawk hacked into the California driver’s license database and found the digital image of Tom’s license. He saved it to disk and exited from their system. By this time Dan’s email had arrived.

Hawk loaded a copy of the image into a graphics program. He had the program separate the various components of the image. Next he extracted the component that was Tom Jackson’s signature and saved it as a separate file. Finally, he ran the signature through a utility program he’d written years earlier. The program enlarged, and slightly revised the image. As a result the new signature and the license signature appeared to be written by the same person, but with enough differences that if you compared them it was obvious the new signature wasn’t just a copy. Now, he had a copy of Tom’s signature to work with. In addition, it was a copy that could fool most experts unless they compared ink and pen marks. He pulled the revised signature back into the graphics program and changed its color by adding just a little blue. Finally he opened the agreement Dan had sent him, completed it, and inserted the signature in the appropriate place. As an afterthought he tilted the signature a few degrees so it would be less than perfect. He printed it on the color laser, and it was ideal. If someone went over the signature with a rounded stylus most experts would swear it was the real thing. At that point he saved the signed copy of the agreement and emailed it to Dan.

Thinking of what else he could do he hacked into the New Mexico driver’s license database and got a copy of Robert Gray Hawk’s license. He didn’t make any changes at that point, but he had it to work with later. When he finished, he spent the next couple of hours doing research concerning the Apache.

What he found turned his stomach and broke his heart. Sometime after midnight, Hawk shut down the computer. He took his medicine and cuddled with Brenda in the bed. Unfortunately, he had a very fitful night of sleep, as it seemed as if he had nightmares of every atrocity he’d found. It was like he was personally experiencing the betrayal, humiliation, and injustices the Apache had experienced over the past two hundred years.

The next morning a very disturbed Hawk rose early, ate a quick breakfast, and headed to the hospital. On the way there he reviewed what he’d learned in his research, as well as what he’d experienced in his nightmares. While he reflected he came to a realization. He didn’t understand if it was just the intimate closeness with Maria, Andy, and Jason, or if it was the transfusion he had gotten from Jason earlier, but something was changing him. He was no longer John Grayson hiding behind the Robert Gray Hawk identity, but he was becoming Hawk. What surprised him even more was the fact it didn’t disturb him at all.

Shortly after he arrived at the hospital Doctor Adams came by to examine Maria. He thought she was doing well, but she did have a low-grade fever, and that concerned him. As a result she’d have to stay at least one extra day in the hospital.

A short time later the telephone in Maria’s room rang. Andy answered it. After talking for a moment, she handed the phone to Hawk. “Hawk, it’s Mary Beth. I called to check on Maria.”

“She seems to be doing all right, but she has a low-grade fever and they’re making her stay longer.”

“I’m glad she’s doing OK physically, though I’m especially concerned about her emotional state. Would it be OK for Doctor Johnson and I to spend the day with her?”

Hawk thought this was a great idea, and told her so. It wouldn’t only allow a trained professional to evaluate and make sure Maria was OK in that area, but it would also help bond two of the most important women in his life, Maria and Mary Beth. The fact this would also free Andy to spend some time with Jason before he headed to California was a wonderful secondary benefit.

When Jason came in to check on his future wife and on his Granddaughter he was delighted to see the bright smiles on both of them. He was even more delighted to learn Andy wasn’t needed for the day, and was able to spend that time with him.

Before they could leave Hawk grabbed Jason, and said, “Jason, I do need you to do one thing for me today, if you can. We need to start the ball rolling for building the new assembly operation on the reservation.”

“What do you want me to do.”

“Obtain tribal permission for a long term lease on a five-acre tract and authorization to build a ninety by one hundred and seventy-five foot, general-purpose metal building. It’ll contain an office, an assembly area, a parts warehouse, a finished goods inventory warehouse, and a shipping and receiving area.”

“How will it be used?”

“To assemble wind power generators. The manufacturing of the parts will be done elsewhere. This location will only assemble and test the final product before shipment to the customer. We’ll form the company when you get back, but I’d like to get this construction started. You might also advise the tribal council we’ll soon need lumber and materials for two hundred homes. That will be only the start, but we don’t want this to get out of hand.”

An excited Jason said, “I’ll call the tribal office before I leave. I think this is too important to wait.”

Andy, who had been listening, added, “I agree.”

Going outside the hospital to use his cell phone Jason called the tribal office. He told the receptionist who he was, and asked to speak to the Council Chairman. He was transferred, and heard, “Austin Manning, can I help you?”

“Austin, it’s Longbow. I’ve got some good news for you.”

“I could use some right now. I just heard a rumor our ‘Great White Father’ is about to give away another two hundred thousand acres of our timber.”

Jason replied, “Shit, just when we were making a proposal to build two hundred new homes.”

“You were going to do what?”

“A group I’ve gotten involved with wants to build a final assembly plant on the reservation. They’ll be hiring a hundred or more of our people to start.”

“Longbow, that is good news. What do they need?”

“A long-term land lease of five acres on a main road. They’ll build a sixteen thousand square foot building that will contain offices, an assembly area, an inventory area, and a shipping and receiving area.”

“That sounds very good. What will they be making?”

“Wind powered electrical generators for remote areas like many of our people live in.”

“This is good. You say this is assembly only? That should eliminate an environmental impact study. I will do a quick phone meeting with the others, as well as the Indian Agent. I’ll get right back with you.”

Austin quickly called the other members of the council and a motion granting the lease and the construction of the building was quickly granted. Then, as purely a courtesy, he called Brandon Stokes, their Indian agent and the local representative of the Department of Interior. In their conversation he also mentioned the commitment of the non-profit trust to the building of at least two hundred new homes on the reservation. Brandon cautiously replied, “Councilman Manning, I’ll discuss this with my boss. We’ll advise you of our decision in a few days.”

To read this story you need a Registration + Premier Membership
If you have an account, then please Log In or Register (Why register?)

Support the author's future writing by purchasing this book from Bookapy

The Hawk and the Chipmunk

Mike Lowe aka The Scot

$5.95