Chapter 6

I awoke spooned against Brooke. More than a little embarrassed, I pulled back from against her. I had meant to hold her, not spoon against her. I shifted as I attempted to leave the bed. I was concerned I had done something that had hurt her. I tried as best I could to follow what the nurse/rape counselor at the hospital had told me, but I didn't know how to help her.

When I moved, Brooke asked, "How did you sleep?"

She didn't seem upset that I was against her. I said, "I hope I didn't snore and keep you awake. I was more tired than I thought. Were you able to sleep?"

"I slept a little. I felt safer after you got in bed."

I said, "You know I love you. I want you to get well."

"I think I'm a little better."

She didn't look like she was better. She didn't look as if she had gotten much sleep.

"I'm going next door and get clean clothes. I'll probably go for a little run. I'm getting sluggish. Will you be alright?"

Brooke said, "I'm okay. I'm going to get up too. Go on."

I checked on Nicole on my way to the door. The Danish au pair was up and was fixing breakfast as I left. She waved, and I stopped. In German I said, "I'm going out for a few minutes. I don't think Brooke slept much. Stay near her until I get back." I gave the au pair a hundred dollars in twenty dollar bills. "Thanks for your help."

She nodded and replied in German, "Mrs. Jenkins is very nice, and I'm very fond of Nicole. I'll do what I can to help."

"I appreciate it."

Brooke, like my Mother had with my au pair, had Nicole's au pair speak German when she was with Nicole. Our family believed Nicole should be exposed to a second language early. The au pair only spoke German in Nicole's presence. Brooke and the family only spoke English with Nicole. We tried to speak German with the au pair. Like most educated Danes, the au pair's English was excellent. She understood us, and we understood her. Brooke had German in high school and at Gettysburg College.

Leon and I jogged for forty-five minutes. When I got back, I showered and dressed, and then Leon and I went to breakfast at the dining hall. As soon as we got back from breakfast, I called Grandfather's room at the hospital. The call was answered at the nurses' desk. I couldn't get through to Will's room either. I went back to Brooke's side of the duplex. She sat in the bedroom with the blinds down. Mostly, she held Nicole and rocked.

Shinkle put in phones, cameras around the outside of the duplex and base stations for walkie-talkies. The walkie-talkie and camera network were monitored by Shinkle, Henley, Leon, Mac's sergeant major, and me. We had a security monitoring room, a ready room where Leon stayed, and a sleeping room for the person not on duty in the other side of the duplex Brooke was in. While Henley and Shinkle monitored the equipment, they drew flow diagrams of the securities code sections and regulations.

Brooke and I sat with Nicole in the darkened living room most of the day. We listened to jazz tapes that Fritz made at the radio station and sent to Tuscaloosa for me. We also listened to blues tapes. I read a little, but mostly, I looked at Brooke, smiled and listened to blues. I didn't push her to talk. Brooke was like me; when she was down, she preferred blues. Leon was always close.

I got Brooke to eat a little lunch. In the afternoon, Roxy McMillan came by. Her visit seemed to pick Brooke's spirits up a little. I left them on the duplex's small patio and walked a little. Sitting with Brooke sapped my energy.

Sunday night I stayed in Brooke's room again, but on the recliner. She was very restless all night.

After she awoke startled from a bad dream, I said, "I'll stay awake. You sleep. You don't have to worry about anything. I've got you covered."

She asked, "Is that what you did in Vietnam?"

I nodded. I didn't talk much about Vietnam, but I couldn't refuse sharing confidences with Brooke. "Yes, I had a buddy, Dallas Williams. We watched each other around the clock. When one of us slept, the other watched. I've had plenty of practice guarding."

Brooke asked, "I see you have a gun. Do you need a gun?"

"I have a trench gun, a 12 gauge shotgun. I got it from a Marine in Vietnam. It's the best weapon for protection. I feel very comfortable with it. We probably don't need it, but just in case, I have it."

Brooke didn't get much sleep. Whenever she was asleep for any length of time, she had bad dreams. It often sounded like that in her dreams that she struggled with someone. She cried out in the dreams. The more I was with her and saw her pain, the more I wanted to get the men who raped her. I hadn't felt as much hatred since the incident with the fat Vietnamese Colonel, who caused Dallas' death. Brooke's rape became the second thing I knew I would never get over.

Jan and Richard brought food, and we ate together at noon. Brooke took a short nap in the afternoon. While Brooke seemed a little better, I became increasingly upset and hardly slept.

At night, Brooke was very restless. After a really bad dream, she asked me to hold her. I got in bed with her and held her. We didn't spoon; she put her head on my shoulder. She went to sleep on my shoulder. I drifted in and out of sleep. I felt like I did on the wire in Vietnam.

When Brooke awoke, she said, "The way you cuddled me, made me feel really loved. I feel so close to you. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have family who I could trust." She paused, then went on, "I trust you completely with my and Nicole's lives."

"Tell me how I can make you feel better, and I'll try my best."

"Just stay with me until Will is well. I don't want you to do anything that could get you hurt. I couldn't take that."

I nodded and left Brooke's bedroom. I checked on Nicole, then went next door, showered and got dressed. Roxy came to see Brooke not long after Brooke dressed. Roxy and Brooke ate breakfast at the mess hall, while Leon and I jogged.

I was impressed that Leon was sober and in good physical shape. He had less trouble running than I did. We hadn't gotten a chance to talk much since I had returned.

I asked Leon, "How are things going?"

"Really well; I think all of the men will make EMT and more than half will probably go on to paramedic. Right now we are working on becoming a disaster response team and are cross training as firefighters. Doing vehicle extraction is a welcome break from medic training for the men. I'm enjoying firefighter training. We've gone on a few rescue calls with local fire departments. All of us are in decent shape. From time to time someone backslides and goes on a bender, but so far, everyone, who has had a problem, has been able to get a handle on it quickly. We have a club with nice television sets. They serve alcoholic drinks, soda, several fruit drinks, sandwiches and pizza. It's kind of like an NCO club without women."

I asked, "How are you doing?"

"One day at a time, but it's nice to be a part of something again. It's a home. I hope we can keep that feeling. Forming a disaster quick response team was a good idea; it's a reason to stay sharp. How are you doing?"

"I've gone from being an irresponsible partying college student to being seriously up to my ass in alligators." I continued more seriously, "It's harder than I thought to deal with Brooke's pain. I feel so helpless."

Leon shook his head and said. "I understand about dealing with others' pain; it got to me." He smiled and continued, "And it's a bit hard to think in terms of the big picture when you're up to your ass in gators."

I nodded. "There are a few things I'm having problems dealing with. Why do I feel more responsible for Brooke than Will? Will said he did something to cause this; he told me that much; yet, I'm not mad at Will. Strange. And I want to get the people who did this."

Leon said, "I'm sure he didn't intend anything to happen. Maybe you gave him a pass because you knew that Brooke knew what she was getting into when she signed on with him, and he will always be big brother. I don't know him, but just from the little I've seen of Brooke, I can see she is first class. She's no dummy either. And you've got it bad for her."

"She's like the perfect older sister I wished I had had. If she asked me, I'd try my best to find the people who did this to her, but she says it'd make her feel worse. I'm really afraid they'll turn up and hurt her again. I'd do anything for her. Anything. This kind of thing shouldn't have happened to her."

Leon said, "You learned in Vietnam about bad things happening to good people. There are a few of us who'll help, no questions asked. If you decide to do something, don't be the Lone Ranger. You need to be very, very careful."

We waved at Roxy and Brooke as we entered the mess hall. They looked as if they had finished eating and were just drinking coffee and talking. Most of the men were up and at breakfast. Leon and I didn't eat in the small guest area with Brooke and Roxy; we ate in the regular area.

We sat at a table with Mac's old sergeant-major, who functioned as Mac's administrator at Summerdale. Of course, he knew why Brooke and I were at Summerdale. Brooke, Will, and the au pair weren't going to normally eat in the mess hall.

The sergeant-major asked, "How do you want to handle questions about them being here? I suspect Leon knows everything?"

"He knows. I think we should go with the truth without the why. My sister-in-law, brother, and their child are down for a visit until my brother recovers from some injuries. You could say that I invited them down. If anyone asks why they can come, say that they own stock in the parent corporation that has the contract for this place, but are here strictly as my guests. I hope they won't have to be here more than three or four weeks, but it may be longer. I'm going to be here while they are here."

The sergeant-major said, "It won't be a problem any way you want it handled. The men will only be a little curious. They've been schooled for years not to ask why questions. You don't need to justify bringing them here. So you know; we have the gate monitored. And I have a roving night patrol. The grounds should be secure."

"I don't doubt for a minute you can handle it. And I appreciate it."

Richard and Jan brought Ania and Bessie to the duplex. I was really glad to see them. I introduced Ania and Bessie to the au pair. Jan brought fresh fish, vegetables and groceries. She checked Brooke's side of the duplex for cleanliness. Jan sanitized Nicole's room before she would let us bring in the baby furniture that she had brought from the bayhouse. Bessie gave the au pair some relief, while Ania helped Brooke with her hair and clothes. Bessie took the laundry to the bayhouse to do. Richard worked out a schedule with Brooke for the help.

Richard and Jan were very concerned about Grandfather's recovery and were happy that he would be coming. Richard thought it smart that Grandfather was going to start at Westminster Village in Spanish Fort. Grandfather had a couple of men who he liked there, and WV had good nursing care.

Grandfather had agreed that staying at Westminster Village was a good idea until he no longer needed nursing care. Bessie had readied the bayhouse for him to visit or stay. I couldn't get Grandfather on the phone, but Thornton responded to my message a few minutes after I called for Grandfather. Thornton was at the hospital with Grandfather.

Thornton said, "Will had some complications and had to have surgery to relieve pressure on his brain. He was fortunate that he was here, and they responded quickly. Your Grandfather took it well, but Will will probably be here at least a week more. The doctors thought they fixed the problem and don't think there was much, if any, permanent damage."

"I'll tell Brooke that they won't release him until his headaches are better. She's not been able to sleep much as it is. I don't want to worry her more. If I told her about this, she'd want to come up."

Thornton said, "I hope Will's delay won't upset her."

I said, "We'll have to wait and see. While I was thinking about all this, I got a little worried about what would happen here if something were to happen to me. I want you to draft a codicil to my estate plan with a couple of testamentary springing trusts. Put in provisions for a million shares of St. Joe stock to be put in trust to support Summerdale. Set up another trust for a million shares for helping the guys from the unit through the VFW here and in Demopolis. I want you to be the trustee. I'd like for you to keep the St. Joe stock in the corpus and only use the dividends. I'd like for St. Joe to be a good citizen, too, and you being able to vote the stock should help that happen. I don't want St. Joe to end up like it did under Ball. I'll sign the codicil when I come up for Will and Grandfather."

Thornton said, "I'll have it ready. Would it be all right if Eunice came up?"

"Of course. She can fly up now, or she's welcome to fly up with me. I think you should plan on staying at Grandfather's apartment. We won't be there for a while, and Eunice shouldn't have to take care of an apartment."

"I think she'd rather come up with you than on an airline. Dr. Angell wants your Grandfather to stay three more days. It's going to be at least a week before Will can be discharged."

I said, "I'll plan to bring Eunice up and get Grandfather. I'd like to bring what Grandfather, Will and Brooke need to stay until the New Year, when I bring Grandfather down. We have to be careful that Will and Brooke's whereabouts aren't tracked here."

Thornton said, "I'll have their things packed to go down with your Grandfather. Eunice will have our things ready."

I took care of Grandfather's admission to Westminster Village and moved a few things from the bayhouse to a single unit in WV's skilled care section. Then I flew to Tuscaloosa and withdrew from classes. I spoke with Dorothy, but the real reason I went was to get the name from Karen's letter and make photographs of the men on the blackmail film. I wanted to know if the men on the film were the same men who raped Brooke. I knew it was a long shot, but I had gotten more and more obsessed with getting the men who raped Brooke.

I took the film to the University's library where I got a small film viewer. I stopped the film and got good Polaroid head shots of the three men. The film made me ill and really upset me. I shouldn't have watched it. There appeared to be three episodes with the same three men in each. I decided to get those men too, even if they weren't the same men who raped Brooke. I took the film and letter to the safety deposit box at the bank.

As soon as I got the film and letter put away in the bank, I flew back to Summerdale. I didn't talk with anyone at the fraternity or with Dorothy, Peggy or Jeanette.

My mood didn't get better flying down or after I got back to Summerdale. Brooke was unable to sleep and seemed worse. I had one of the former SF doctors give her medication. He used the medication they gave to a soldier who suffered from combat fatigue. He recommended I get her seen by a good psychiatrist.

I couldn't get the film's images out of my mind. I stayed up with Brooke all night. The medication knocked her out, but, even with her asleep, I couldn't sleep. I didn't want to take medication; my body chemistry was already a mess, and I was afraid of getting hooked on the stuff.

In the morning, I must've looked like hell. Leon said, "I'm worried about you. You need some rest. I think I should go to New York with you, when you get your Grandfather. Right now, you shouldn't be piloting a plane, and under no circumstance alone."

"I'm okay. The film of Karen upset me. I'll get past it."

"You need to be very careful; you don't need to fly into a rock filled cloud and kill you and your passengers. Brooke needs you now. And forget about the mob. You'll just get yourself killed, or worse, you could do something that would bring them down on your Grandfather, Brooke and Nicole. These people are big on revenge."

"I'll take you with me if you help me find out about these three men."

Leon said, "If you promise to stay out of it completely, I'll look into it. I've got a buddy up there, who is some kind of spook. We go back a long way. He has access to intelligence on the mob. I thought Brooke wanted you to stay out of it."

"They'll never leave her or Karen alone. I'll wait until Will's able to take care of Brooke, but then I want to eliminate them."

Leon said, "Word of honor that you'll check with me before you do anything."

I nodded. "But I want all three of them and to do some damage to the mob."

Jan and Bessie came on alternate days and were a big help with Brooke. Ania came for a little while every day. Ania was good about running errands, bringing supplies and walking with Brooke. Richard and Jan were better at getting Brooke out and walking than I was. Bessie knew the most about taking care of a baby and laundry.

Thornton talked to Eunice, who packed their clothes and things for New York. I arranged to get her at the airport in Hoover on my way to New York.

The day before I planned to go to New York, I took the Polaroid headshots from the film to Brooke, to see if she recognized them.

When I showed Brooke the picture of the leader, she lost color and collapsed. I yelled for Leon. He came immediately, with a trench gun.

I said, "I showed her a picture. The leader's the same man."

Leon shook his head, "That wasn't very bright. Leave. Call and get the doctor here now. You need to go. And get those pictures out of here! Call someone to come stay with her."

I called for a doctor, and Leon stayed with her until the senior doctor came. The doctor was there in less than five minutes. I waited in the other side of the duplex. Leon came after Richard and Jan arrived to stay with Brooke.

When Leon came in from Brooke, I asked, "How is she?"

"Not good. I really don't know if you have it together enough to fly." He shook his head.

"Will she be all right?"

"The doctor gave her something that knocked her out. I think it would be better if we went to New York now. Are you able to fly? I'm ready to go now. Richard and Jan are going to stay with Brooke tonight. Someone will be here with her while we're gone, and Shinkle and Henley will be in the monitoring room full time. Bessie is going to come during the day, and Ania is staying at night. I really think we should go now. A couple of my buddies will be armed and stay in the ready room around the clock."

I said, "I didn't think I would hurt Brooke. I wouldn't do that on purpose."

Leon said, "You're not thinking period. You probably only put her back some, but who knows. You'll only make things worse by trying to fix what you did."

I called Eunice and she said that she was packed and could be at the Hoover airport in two hours. I talked with Thornton, who agreed to meet us at Macarthur Airport with a limo. He said he would bring Will and Grandfather's things so we could load them on the plane and take the things Eunice brought to Grandfather's apartment.

Ania arrived a few minutes after Richard and Jan. I talked with them, and they were sure they could explain my absence to Brooke. Leon and I flew out of Summerdale a few minutes after Ania arrived.

Eunice and her sister were at the Hoover airport when I landed. We unloaded a station wagon full of things into the plane. Eunice had it well organized. It didn't take long for three of us to hand things into the plane to Leon, so that he could pack and secure the things in the cabin of the plane.

Leon sat upfront in the right seat. We got off without trouble. While the plane was on autopilot, I got in a couple of twenty minute naps. Leon had washed out of the second phase of Army aviator training, so he had experience piloting a plane. He watched the radar and for traffic, while I napped. Before we got to Richmond, I was alert enough to land.

Eunice was tired from packing and slept almost all the way to Richmond. She was pregnant, and we landed in Richmond so that she could go to the rest room. We refueled the plane in Richmond. I refilled two large Thermos bottles we had brought from Summerdale with coffee. I was alert when we got into the busy airlane traffic from Washington to Long Island.

Thornton met us at the Macarthur Airport. He brought all the things that Will, Grandfather, and Brooke needed to stay in Alabama until New Year. We unloaded Thornton and Eunice's things and loaded the plane with the items going with Grandfather and me to Alabama. I gave Leon a few thousand in cash, and he went to see his buddy, who he thought could find out about the three men. Karen's letter identified the leader as Big George Luchhese.

Thornton, Eunice, and I rode to Grandfather's apartment, where Thornton and I unloaded his and Eunice's clothes and things into the lobby. I told Thornton. "Add a testamentary trust that I want you to administer, so you could give Freddy gifts, without Dorothy or Fred knowing. Also make sure there's enough to take care of any education needs and a million to help with each child of yours or Dorothy's for business startups."

Thornton said, "I'm in good shape to take care of my children."

"It'd make me feel better to know if something happened to me, the children of the people who mean the most to me, were taken care of."

Thornton said, "I understand. I'll have someone in the office draft that part and check over the rest."

"I don't want anyone else knowing about Freddy."

He nodded.

Thornton and Eunice stayed at Grandfather's apartment and put things away, while I rode in the limo to Presbyterian to see Grandfather and Will. I didn't stay long.

I got to the hospital early the next day. I spoke with Dr. Angell about a short stay at a psychiatric hospital for Brooke. Since I didn't want her to stay in the East, he recommended Sheppard Pratt in Baltimore or Menninger's in Topeka. He had good contacts at both places. He thought Menninger would be better to treat Will and me too, and he highly recommended that both of us get some help. I asked him to make the referral to Menninger.