This story follows Devious
Intentions. While it’s not necessary
to read that story to enjoy this one as I’ve highlighted the main points but
you might want to read it to get the full scope of what took place.
Consequences
By JSRobertson
Seaview had just returned from a routine re-stocking mission
to one of the underwater laboratories. A mission that almost cost Lee Crane, Seaview’s captain and Chip Morton, her
exec, their lives. Lawrence, a member of
the crew, tried to kill Lee’s wife, Janet, in revenge for the death of his
brother on one of Lee’s first missions as captain of Seaview. Although he didn’t
succeed in killing her, Lee and Chip suffered the consequences. Lee going into anaphylactic
shock as the result of ingesting morphine and Chip nearly drowning and being
stabbed. Janet also nearly drowned on
her scuba diving test for Seaview’s regulations and was knocked out in a
storage room as a result of
Lee worried that Janet might
be killed or hurt on another mission was contemplating removing her from her
position on Seaview. Before they left the boat at the end of the
mission, he mentioned it to her and Chip.
Janet was not very happy as she didn’t want to leave Seaview. In fact she was pissed that Lee
would even consider it. She loved
working with the admiral, Chip, Lee and the crew. Chip was also not very happy and couldn’t
understand why he would even do it. He
had driven with them to the dock and was now stuck riding home with the very
unhappy couple. He couldn’t wait to get
out of the car as they didn’t say one word to each other on the short ride
home.
“See you tomorrow,” Chip said
as he quickly left the car after Lee pulled in their driveway. I don’t
want to be in that house tonight, he thought as he walked down to his
house.
“Bye Chip,” Lee said tensely.
“Night Chip,” Janet replied
quietly.
((()))
Lee unlocked the door while
Janet grabbed her gear out of the car.
Lee took his gear and followed Janet in the house. As soon as they were in the house she dropped
her gear on the floor. “What the hell
are you thinking,” she yelled at him before he could close the door. “I don’t
want to leave Seaview.”
Lee put his gear down. “I’m
doing it for your safety. I don’t want
you to get hurt or killed,” he replied grabbing her arm trying to give her a
kiss.
She pulled her arm away. She wasn’t going to let him seduce her with
one of his fantastic kisses this time. “No
matter where I am I’m in danger thanks to ONI.
Are you quitting?” she said sarcastically.
“Wait a minute that has
nothing to do with this. If you are at
NIMR you will be safe,” he told her running his hand through his hair.
“What about when I’m not at
NIMR? Or are you banning me from going out of this complex to keep me safe,”
she replied harshly.
Janet, I love you and don’t
want you to get hurt, please see it from my point of view,” he pleaded.
“I have to see it from
your point of view, but you never see it from mine when you take on ONI
missions. Please tell me what the
difference is,” she said furiously. “You
kick me off Seaview you have to resign from ONI; it’s only fair so you’re here
to PROTECT me!”
“Sweetie, please calm down,”
he implored.
“I’m going to bed. You can sleep in your office tonight,” she
cried as she went upstairs.
Lee just stood there. He didn’t know what to say. This is the first time since they’ve been
married that they had an argument this serious.
Lee had never seen Janet so angry.
By the time he got upstairs, his pajamas were on the floor outside the
bedroom door. He stared at them and the closed door. Since they’ve been married
he has never worn pajamas at home. He
tried the door and it was locked.
“Janet, please let me in,” he
asked softly but got no response.
Sighing deeply, he went back
downstairs to his office. Luckily for
him his office had a bathroom. He untied
his tie, undid the top button on his shirt and rolled up the sleeves, went into
the bathroom and threw some water on his face. He knew sleeping on the couch
wasn’t going to be very comfortable but he stretched out anyway trying to sleep
but eventually got up and looked out the window at Seaview bobbing in
the sub pen. As he stared out the window, he was trying to figure out a way to
convince his wife what he was doing was for her own good. He laid back down on the couch but never fell
asleep.
While in their bedroom Janet
wasn’t having any luck with sleep. She got up and looked out their bedroom
window at Seaview. How could
he take her off Seaview? I love working
on her and with the crew, she thought. She laid back down on the bed crying. She didn’t get any sleep either.
((()))
When Lee woke up the next
morning, he went upstairs hoping the door was unlocked so he could talk to
Janet and get ready for work. The door
to the bedroom was open but he didn’t see Janet. He checked the bathroom and she wasn’t there
either. He didn’t check the kitchen
before he went upstairs but could smell the coffee brewing so he knew she was
there. By the time he went downstairs,
Janet had already eaten her bagel and was cleaning up her dishes.
He went over to her, “Sweetie,
please let’s talk,” Lee said putting his hand on her arm stopping her from
leaving the kitchen.
“Are you going to reconsider
and leave me on Seaview?” she asked hopefully.
“No,” he replied honestly.
“Then we have nothing to talk
about,” she answered angrily removing his hand from her arm and went upstairs
to finish getting ready for work.
Sighing deeply, he poured
himself a mug of coffee and sat down to eat his bagel.
Janet went downstairs a little
while later and grabbed her jacket out of the closet. She went out to the driveway and waited for
Lee in the car. He quickly grabbed his jacket, cover, got in the car and looked
over at his wife. She was looking out
the window totally ignoring him. They
drove to the office in complete silence. When they arrived at the institute, she got
out of the car and walked to the entrance and would have gone up to the office
alone but had to wait for the elevator so Lee would have to ride up with her. Since Seaview had no missions
scheduled for a few weeks, they would be working at the office together
something Janet wasn’t looking forward too.
((()))
Chip and the admiral were
already at the office and in the waiting area getting a cup of coffee. Chip was explaining to the admiral what Lee
was contemplating.
“Chip, why?” the admiral
asked confused.
“He’s afraid someone might
try to hurt her again,” Chip said shaking his head.
“She’s been working on Seaview
for over three years and no problems.
This was just one isolated issue,” the admiral stressed.
“I know sir, try and tell
that to your hard headed captain,”
Chip replied.
Chip and the admiral heard
the elevator doors open and knew Lee and Janet had come in as Angie and Wanda
weren’t due in for another thirty minutes.
“Brr,” Chip said to the
admiral as he saw the looks on Lee’s and Janet’s face.
“Brr is right,” the admiral
remarked sighing. “Let me try and talk
to him.”
“Good luck sir,” Chip replied
as he left the waiting area for his office after pouring some more coffee in
his mug.
“Good morning, Lee, Janet,”
the admiral said smiling. “Lee could I
please see you in my office?”
“Now?” Lee asked tersely.
“Yes, now,” the admiral
replied sharply as he went into his office and waited for Lee to enter before
shutting the door.
“What’s going on son,” the
admiral asked. “Chip tells me you want
to take Janet off Seaview.”
“After what happened on the
last mission, I’m worried someone could try it again and succeed,” he said
unhappily. “Admiral, I’m concerned about
the crew and the other passengers we may take on board. I know we check out the
crew thoroughly but somehow
“Lee, do you really believe
that someone on the crew would try and hurt her? You know those men; they would do anything
for Janet. As far as passengers that may
come aboard, we all could be in danger if our check fails. I talked to Jamie and he told me
“I didn’t know that,” Lee
replied shocked at what the admiral told him, “I know I shouldn’t be worried
but I don’t know what I would do if something happened to her.”
“You do realize that working
for ONI has put her life in more danger than being on Seaview,” the
admiral said softly.
“I know that, I’m terrified
that someone from my past missions will get to her,” he replied sighing deeply.
“Lee, please reconsider. She’s safer on Seaview more than
anywhere else,” the admiral told him patting him on the shoulder. “And Lee, I can override your decision,” he
added.
Lee had a surprised look on
his face as he never considered that the Admiral would leave Janet on Seaview
against his wishes. He left the
admiral’s office, said good morning to Angie who had just walked in. She
noticed how upset he was when he walked out the door. She looked in the admiral’s office and could
see he was upset too.
Lee went to Janet’s office,
paused outside the shut door but continued on to his own. Angie saw Lee stop outside Janet’s door and
not go in. Wondering what was wrong she
knocked on the door to Janet’s office and went in. She found her with tears in her
eyes staring at Seaview in her pen.
“What’s going on,” she asked
putting her hand on Janet’s shoulder.
“Lee just left the admiral’s office looking pretty upset.”
“Lee wants to take me off Seaview,”
Janet answered quietly turning to face Angie.
“Why?” she questioned as Janet
explained to Angie what had taken place on the last mission.
“It was something that would
more than likely never happened again but Lee is over reacting. He worries too much. I can take care of myself. He needs to realize I’m his wife and he’s not
my father,” she said tearfully.
“Janet, he loves so much, he
doesn’t want to lose you,” Angie replied defending him. “He waited a long time for you to come into
his life.”
“I know but how many times
has he left to go on an ONI mission and comes back beaten, battered and near
dead. I’ve never demanded he give up
ONI. Maybe suggested it a few times. Every time he leaves I’m petrified he will
not come back. Doesn’t he understand I
love him that much too?”
“Oh Janet, I’m so sorry I
can’t help you. You’re going to have to
work this out between the two of you,” Angie said giving her a hug.
Angie left Janet’s office and
went to hers noticing the admiral had closed his door. She felt very bad for the both of them. She had never seen them that upset at each
other since Lee asked her for a divorce to protect her but even that was just a
cover. She knew Lee and Janet would never get a divorce.
Chip waited until Lee had
left the admiral’s office before deciding to talk to him. He stood outside
Lee’s office hesitating at the closed door before going in. Did he really want to talk to Lee
now? Sure, he was his ‘brother’ and they
could talk about anything.
Knocking softly Chip entered
Lee’s office. “Morning Lee. How’s it
going?” Chip asked warily.
He found Lee leaning on front
of his desk staring at the door, “Not so good,” he responded despondently,
“Janet is sure pissed at me. I had to
sleep in my office. Chip, I’ve never had to sleep there since we got married.”
Looking Lee in eye, “What did
you expect? She doesn’t want to leave Seaview,
aren’t you over reacting just a little,” Chip said carefully knowing he was
pushing his luck.
“Over reacting? Put yourself in my position. I don’t want anything to happen to her. Chip, you know how much she means to me,” Lee
said miserably.
“I know bro but stop and think, you know as
well as I do she’s very capable of taking care of herself...you can’t keep her
in a bubble,” he told him truthfully. “Besides
that she loves working on Seaview.”
Sighing, “I know you’re
probably right,” he replied rubbing his forehead. “Maybe I better reconsider.”
Patting him on the shoulder, “That’s
a good idea,” Chip said as he left Lee’s office shutting the door behind him
breathing a sigh of relief that maybe he convinced him to change his mind.
Lee sat down at his desk his
back to the door thinking everyone was right. Maybe he was over reacting. Just
as he was getting up to tell Janet he wouldn’t take her off Seaview
after all his phone rang.
“Crane,” he answered. He could tell Janet hadn’t put the call
through as she always tells him who’s calling and wondered where she was.
“Hello Commander,” Admiral
Johnson said, “I need you to take an assignment immediately. It’s a matter of life and death and you need
to leave for
Sighing, “Admiral now is not
a good time,” Lee remarked.
“Commander you don’t have a
choice,” he replied sharply.
“Aye sir,” he said
reluctantly and hung up his phone taking a deep breath. Damn,
why now? Lee thought.
((()))
Slamming his fist on his
desk, Lee knew would have to tell Janet he had to leave on an ONI mission. He figured she was going to be even more
pissed at him. He got up from his chair, opened the door and walked to Janet’s
office. The door was open and he noticed
she wasn’t at her desk. As he walked by
Chip’s office he looked in and saw she wasn’t there and either was Chip. He went to the admiral’s office stopping at
Angie’s desk. “Angie, where’s Janet? She’s not at her desk.”
“Lee, I don’t know. She was there a few minutes ago,” she
answered with concern as Janet always told her when she was leaving the
office.
“Thanks Angie. I do need to see the admiral, is he in?”
“Yes, he’s in there along
with Chip,” Angie replied sensing that Lee had a problem.
Lee knocked on the door and went
into the admiral’s office. He and Chip
both could tell something was up by the look on his face. “Problem Lee?” the admiral asked softly
sitting back in his chair.
Taking a deep breath, “I’m
leaving in ten minutes for an ONI mission,” Lee told them.
“Ten minutes,” the admiral said
angrily. “Can he give you any shorter notice?”
“I know. I told him now wasn’t a good time but it’s a
matter of life and death.”
“Aren’t all his missions life
and death,” Chip said sarcastically.
“Please cut me some
slack. Do either of you know where Janet
is?” he asked unhappily.
Surprised she wasn’t at her
desk, “No, I haven’t seen her since she came in,” Chip told him. “We’ll meet
you by the elevator and walk down to the heliport with you.”
“Thanks,” Lee answered
disappointed as he left the admiral’s office. He went back to his office, changed
into the fatigues he had there for emergencies, grabbing his 45, extra ammo,
GPS, and radio. He put the gear in his
duffle bag with the extra clothes he kept there in case he needed them and hung
up his uniform in the closet. He stood
in his office for a minute very upset that Janet wasn’t in her office but also
worried as to where she would have gone.
He grabbed his duffle bag and waited for the admiral and Chip by the
elevators. When they got to the heliport,
he put the bag down and ran to Seaview to see if she was there. He knew she liked to sit on the bench by the
dock looking at his ‘gray lady’.
Breathing heavily, “Bailey,
have you seen Mrs. Crane?” Lee urgently asked the guard on duty.
After saluting Lee, he
replied, “She was here earlier Skipper but I don’t know where she went when she
left the dock.”
“Damn,” he said dejectedly,
“thanks for your help.”
The admiral and Chip saw Lee
running back to the heliport alone as they heard the helicopter approaching. “She was there but they don’t know where she
went,” Lee said worriedly. “Please take
care of her.”
“You know we will,” Chip
replied patting him on the shoulder.
“Please be careful.” He shook the
admiral’s hand and Chip’s as the helicopter landed and he hopped on board. He was upset he had to leave without saying
good bye to Janet.
((()))
Janet left her office about
an hour after she got there. She walked
down to Seaview and stood on the dock watching her bob in her pen. She couldn’t fathom not being aboard
her. She loved sitting in the
observation nose watching her glide under the water, doing the walk-around with
Lee and working with the crew. How
could he take her off? She left the
dock and walked down to the beach. When she got there she removed her shoes and
sat down with her knees drawn to her chest resting her chin on them as she
watched the waves. She didn’t want to be
angry at her husband but what could she do, she didn’t want to leave Seaview. All of a sudden she heard a helicopter hovering
over the heliport landing near the office.
She knew from previous experiences Lee had been called on an ONI
mission. Quickly putting on her shoes, she
ran as fast as she could to the heliport hoping she would get there before he took
off but missed him by a minute. He left
on a mission before she could say good bye.
What if he never came back? He
wouldn’t know she still loved him more than anything. She started to cry. Chip saw her running up to the heliport
just after Lee took off. He went up to
her and saw her crying.
“Where’s he going?” she said
sobbing. “I didn’t get to say good bye.”
Chip took her in his arms as
she sobbed. “I don’t know. He had to leave right away a matter of life
and death according to Johnson. Where
have you been? He looked for you in the
office and on Seaview. He was
very upset he had to leave without telling you good bye,” Chip told her
gently.
“I went for a walk on the
beach. What if he doesn’t come back, he
will die knowing I was angry with him,” she sobbed uncontrollably.
“Janet, he knows you love
him,” Chip reassured her as she brushed the sand off her clothes and they
walked back to the office.
Lee saw her running to the
heliport from the helicopter as he took off.
He waved to her but she didn’t see him. He didn’t get to tell her he
loved her but would call her once he got to
Janet went into Lee’s office
as soon as she got back to the institute.
She took his ring out of his desk drawer and put it on the chain he kept
there for her. She put the chain around
her neck. She looked in his closet and
saw his uniform there. She took his
dress coat off the hangar, wrapped herself in it and cried. Janet was terrified she would never see him
again. She was still asleep and wrapped
in his coat when Chip came in to take her home.
He checked on her after right after Lee left, saw her asleep in his
office and left her there as he knew she didn’t get much sleep the night
before.
“Janet...Janet” Chip said
softly, “wake up, it’s time to go home.”
She opened her eyes and saw
Chip’s blue ones staring at her. “Sorry I must have fallen asleep,” she replied
as she got up from the couch. She hung
up Lee’s coat and went to her office to get hers. She really didn’t want to be by herself
tonight but she knew Chip and the admiral had plans for the night so she would
have to go home alone.
Chip dropped her off at
home. “I’ll be home later so call me if
you need anything. I’ll pick up you tomorrow since we left your car at the
institute.”
“Thanks Chip,” she replied as
she got out of the car and unlocked the front door. Chip stayed there until he heard her re-lock
the door. Once inside, she put her
jacket and purse in the closet. She
wasn’t hungry and went directly upstairs to their bedroom. She grabbed one of Lee’s dirty shirts out of
the laundry hamper and put it on. It
still smelled like him. She lay down on
the bed and cried herself to sleep.
((()))
Lee arrived in
“Everything okay Commander?”
Johnson asked cautiously.
“Not really, but what do you
need me to do, sir,” Lee replied seriously.
“You said it was life and death.”
“We need you to extract a
civilian from a small island off the eastern coast of
“A civilian sir? Why is ONI involved?” Lee asked tersely.
“Actually ONI isn’t involved. Jeff Pearson called from the State Department
and asked me to contact you regarding this matter. You do know him?”
“Yes sir, he came to NIMR for
a visit a few months ago. They wanted Seaview
to do a mission for them.”
Not knowing how to say what
he needed to tell Lee, Johnson blurted out, “The civilian you need to extract
is your mother.”
Lee paled and grabbed the
arms of the chair to steady himself. He
knew his mother had gone to
“My mother…why was she
kidnapped…what do they want…who kidnapped her,” Lee asked Johnson as he rubbed
his forehead.
“His name is Damian Davis. He lives on an island off the coast of
“Can’t we send in Brazilian
troops to get her out of there,” Lee asked worriedly.
“The State Department found
out the Brazilian officials would rather not deal with him. Seems he has information on most of them they
don’t want to get out so that’s why they’re unwilling to help. He wants twenty million dollars delivered by
you in two weeks,” Johnson told him somberly.
“Why didn’t Mr. Pearson
contact me directly instead of going through you...why didn’t this Mr. Davis
contact me directly... my mother knows my phone number?”
“Lee, slow down. I was at the State Department meeting with an
aide to the Secretary of the State when the ransom note came in. The note was given to Jeff Pearson and he
knew I worked with you on ONI missions. The airline noticed she wasn’t on the
plane after she checked in and contacted the authorities at the State Department
when the Brazilian officials didn’t show any interest in helping them locate
her.”
“But Admiral I don’t have
twenty million dollars. I couldn’t even
get my hands on one million dollars let alone twenty million and why the hell
didn’t the State Department contact me when they first got the ransom note and
when did they get it?” Lee asked angrily.
Looking at his notes, “A week
ago,” Johnson answered.
“A week ago?’ Lee stated. “Damn, they’ve wasted a whole week.”
“They had to verify that she
was really there so they demanded proof before they contacted us. Mr. Davis sent them her passport,” he
remarked handing Lee the passport. He
looked it over and knew it was his mother’s.
Standing up after closing the
passport, “Admiral why her and how did they find out about me?” Lee inquired as
he pace in Johnson’s office.
“They must have been watching
her while she was in
“Admiral, what will happen to
her if I don’t give him the money?” Lee asked quietly.
“The State Department doesn’t
know,” Johnson admitted.
“Damn, so now I not only put
my wife in danger with my ONI missions but my mother is now in danger because
of my day job. I’m in a no win
situation,” he said disgustedly.
“Sorry Lee. Your helicopter is ready to take off as soon
as you get to the airport. They will
take you to a survey ship in the
“Yes sir,” Lee replied. “Just one more thing, may I use your phone to
call Janet? I didn’t get a chance to
tell her good bye.”
“Sure. Why don’t you use
He left Johnson’s office and
stopped at
“Damn,” he muttered as he
turned the phone back to face her. “Can
I use your computer to send an e-mail?”
“Sorry Commander, we’re
having problems with the computers. I can’t send or receive any message and the
phone system is also down so none of the land lines work. I was hoping they would be up and running by
now,”
“No thank you,” he replied
softly picking up his duffle bag and slinging it over his shoulder. He walked out of the office to the car that
was waiting to take him to the airport. His
mother was in trouble and he didn’t tell his wife that he loved her, I’m on the
losing end of everything, he thought.
((()))
He boarded the helicopter
that would take him to a survey ship about twenty five miles off the coast of
the island. The chopper hovered over the
ship while Lee prepared to jump out. He
threw his duffle bag out and jumped onto the deck stooping down so he could
clear the blades. Once he was clear, he
signaled the pilot and the chopper took off.
“Welcome aboard, Commander,”
the captain of the ship said as Lee walked over to him.
“Thank you, sir,” Lee
answered shaking the captain’s hand as a crewman took his bag.
“Why don’t we go the bridge? I’ve
been briefed by Admiral Johnson as to what your mission is and I have some
intel to give to you,” the captain said as he led Lee to the bridge. “He sent it to me while you were on the
helicopter.”
Lee followed him into the
bridge and walked over to the charting table.
“Here was what I have regarding the island. It isn’t too much but it might help you out,”
the captain told Lee handing him several sheets of paper.
“Thanks,” Lee replied as he
took the intel. He looked it over and
found most of the information very helpful.
No known sects or terrorist
groups were located there. The island
was only twenty miles wide and fifty miles long. The island’s main export was
sugar cane and they imported most of the other goods they needed. On the east
side of the island was the only harbor.
Lee figured there would be a lot of ship traffic in and out of there so
he would be able to blend in with the sailors leaving the ships. The captain also gave him a detailed map of
the island. He could see it had a lot of
coves and small inlets where he could hide a zodiac.
“Is there anything special
you’ll need besides a motorized zodiac?
We’ll drop you off three miles off the coast. We don’t know if they have any tracking
devices and don’t want to risk getting any closer,” the captain reported to
Lee.
“I understand and just a
rifle and tarp should do it. I’ve got my
own sidearm, GPS and radio,” Lee replied.
“I’ll see that you get those
items,” the captain told Lee. “How about a cup of coffee? It’ll be an hour before we’re at the drop off
point as we’re not quite as fast as your submarine,” the captain said smiling
knowing Lee was the captain of the Seaview. “Would you like something to eat?”
Smiling too Lee replied,
“Coffee sounds good. Thanks for the offer but I’m not hungry. Is there a place
I can change out of these fatigues?” Lee asked.
“Follow me, Commander,” the
captain said leading the way to his cabin.
“You can change in here. The
wardroom is right down the hall on your right.
I’ll be waiting for you in there.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Lee
said as he quickly changed out of his fatigues and into the extra clothes he
had hoping he would blend in with the other sailors. When he was done, he went to the wardroom and
helped himself to a cup of coffee and sat down with the captain.
“I’ll radio you as soon as
I’ve found my mother and meet you at the same spot you dropped me off,” Lee
told him as he sipped his coffee. “This
is pretty good coffee,” Lee remarked.
“The stronger the better,”
the captain smiled as he took a gulp.
The two of them sat in the wardroom talking about ships and submarines
when the bridge called letting them know they were in position.
The zodiac was on the side of
the ship and several sailors were holding it in place as the seas were a little
rough. “Thanks for your help,” Lee said to
the captain shaking his hand.
“We still have some surveying
to do in this area so we’ll be waiting for your call,” the captain
replied.
Lee climbed down a rope
ladder into the zodiac and carefully left the side of the ship. He motored to
the west coast of the island where he found a small cove to hide the zodiac leaving
the rifle in the boat and covered it with the tarp along with a few branches
from a fallen tree. He would leave the
zodiac there for now until he could check out the area. Somehow he knew he needed to get the zodiac
closer to the large stone house he saw in the distance. He found his way from the cove to the harbor and
noticed there were a few ships at the dock waiting to leave. Standing off to the side of the dock he spotted
a ship already unloading her cargo and knew the crew would be dismissed shortly
so he would be able to blend in with them as they went on shore leave. He
didn’t have to wait too long before a group of sailors left the ship. He followed them into a bar with his duffle
bag over his shoulder. He sat down at a
table when a young waitress came over to him.
“What can I get you to
drink,” she asked sweetly.
“Beer,” Lee answered
politely.
She brought his beer back and
stared at him. By now he had a day’s
worth of beard and looked pretty scruffy.
“Is there a problem,” he asked her as he took a swallow of his beer.
“No, it’s just that I know
most of the sailors that come in here and I’ve never seen you before,” she
replied looking him over.
“This is my first time here. I hooked up on the ship that just came
in. What can you tell me about this
place? Sure isn’t very big,” Lee said
flashing a smile.
“No, it isn’t too big,” she
replied smiling back. “Most of the
residents have lived here all there lives.
Some of them will leave for other countries but most of them stay
because their families have always lived here.”
“Daisy, get your ass over
here and serve some drinks,” the bartender yelled to her as he looked at Lee
suspiciously.
Frowning, “Alright, I’ll be
right there,” she replied as she left his table.
Lee watched her as she served
other patrons. She was pretty friendly with all of them. He finished his beer; put some money on the
table and included a generous tip hoping Daisy would be able give him some more
information. He would look around the
town and see what else he could find out.
He was curious about the big black stone house on the hill at the end of
the main road.
((()))
Lee grabbed his duffle and
went outside with a couple of sailors who just left the bar with him. “You better think twice about hooking up with
Daisy. Her boyfriend, Raoul, is the
bartender and doesn’t take kindly to anyone talking to her for any amount of
time,” one of them warned him.
“If you’re looking to get
lucky, come with us were going to
“No thanks, guys, I’m a
happily married man,” Lee told them as he walked away.
Lee continued to walk down
the main road and found what looked to be the only hotel in town. It was a three story white building and was a
little run down. He went into the lobby
and was given the key to a room on the second floor. He opened the door and looked around noticing
the room was small but it had its own bathroom and a decent size bed. He put his duffle bag down on the floor, sat
down on the bed and removed his shoes. He was exhausted and not getting much sleep
the night before, knew he better set his watch alarm now for 6:00 as he wanted
to get an early start in the morning.
After using the facilities, he laid down on the bed thinking of Janet
and hoped she knew he still loved her even if she was angry with him and fell
asleep.
((()))
At the big stone house,
Damian Davis was waiting for Lee to show up.
He only had a week left to bring the money. After checking the NIMR website he found out
that Lee Crane worked for Admiral Harriman Nelson, a world re-known scientist
who owned his own submarine and the research institute. He would surely have
the money; maybe he would help Crane out,
“Mrs. Crane, I see another
boat has come in the harbor and still your son has not come. He only has a few more days before.....”
Damian said snidely.
“Mr. Davis, my son does not
have twenty million dollars and I don’t expect him to pay. He will not give in to kidnapper’s
demands,” she said defiantly.
“Don’t be so sure about that,”
he said taking her by arm. “It’s time
for dinner.”
He escorted Helen Crane into
the dining room and poured them a glass of wine before sitting down to dinner. She had to admit he had not mistreated her so
far. She didn’t believe the story he told
her about making the harbor deeper for cruise ships to come to the island but
had no idea what he really wanted the money for.
“Well Mrs. Crane, I think
we’re going to call your son tomorrow.
Wouldn’t you like to see and talk to him?” he told her as he took a
drink of wine. When he called, he would
demand that Admiral Nelson appear with the Commander along with his executive
officer Lt. Commander Morton and of course Crane’s wife, Janet. He wanted to see the looks on their faces
when they saw Crane’s mother with him proving he meant business.
“Mr. Davis, I would love to
see and talk to my son, but I will tell him not
to bring the money,” she replied putting her glass down without drinking it.
“We’ll see about that,”
((()))
The alarm went off in the
morning waking Lee out of a deep sleep. He sat up in bed wishing he could call
Janet. He got up turned on the water in
the shower and stood there letting the hot water run over him. He trimmed his
beard and changed into a pair of jeans and denim shirt rolling up the sleeves
as it was already very warm even at this hour.
After locking and rigging the door with a thin piece of fishing line he
went downstairs. He noticed a small
restaurant in the lobby when he checked in and hoped it was open as he was
hungry.
When he got downstairs the
restaurant was open and not too crowded at
Lee noticed her name tag on
her uniform, “What do you recommend Sally?” he asked as he looked over the menu.
“All of the breakfast items
are good but you look like a meat and potatoes man. Try the steak and eggs.”
“Steak it is. Rare, eggs over easy, crispy hash browns,
toast and a cup of coffee, black,” Lee told her as he gave her the menu.
“You got it handsome,” she
said as she walked away.
Lee looked out the window and
saw that there were a lot of sailors milling around, probably waiting for their
ships to sail. He didn’t have to wait
too long before Sally brought him his food.
He took a bite of the steak and had to admit it was delicious as was the
rest of the meal. Sally wasn’t too busy
so she sat down at his table while he ate.
“Why you here...?” Sally
asked nicely. “You don’t look familiar.”
“Jeremy. I came in on the freighter that docked
yesterday. I’m looking for a job. I’m tired of boats and fish. Do you know of any jobs available? ” Lee
explained putting the last forkful of steak in his mouth.
“Might be an opening at the
stone house he’s always looking for guards and other help,” Sally replied.
“What’s up with that house? All the other houses I’ve seen are small. Who lives there?” Lee asked as he drank his
coffee.
Sally had to serve another
table so she left before answering his question. “Let me serve this table and I’ll come back,”
she told him as she took away his dishes.
“Please bring the coffee pot
when you come back,” Lee asked finishing up his coffee.
She came back a few minutes
later with the pot of coffee, refilled his cup and sat down. “Mr. Damian Davis owns the house and most of
the town. He has big aspirations for
this island. He wants to make the harbor
deeper and bigger, put more cutesy shops on
I know where he thinks
he's going to get the money, Lee
thought. But he’s not going to get it.
“What does Mr. Davis do
here?”
“Nothing just sits on his
back deck watching the ships before they come in the harbor. He owns most of the stores on the island, so
he collects a portion of the money they make but he does nothing to improve
them.
“Who should I see about a
job?” Lee asked finishing up his coffee.
“Go to the bar down the
street and talk to Daisy. Her father
works as a guard for Mr. Davis. Maybe he
can help you.”
“Thanks Sally. You were right everything was
delicious.” He asked her for his bill
which she gave to him along with her telephone number. He smiled and pointed to his ring finger
letting her know he was married even if he didn’t have a ring on. She winked at him and nodded. He paid his bill leaving her a nice tip. He
wandered around
((()))
Janet woke up the next
morning still very tired as she cried most of the night. She showered and got ready for work. Chip would be there in a half an hour to pick
her up. She made some coffee but didn’t eat any breakfast as she wasn’t hungry. She knew she would be very busy trying to
catch up on the work she didn’t finish yesterday. She washed her cup, turned
off the coffee pot and was ready to go when Chip knocked on the door a few
minutes later.
“Good morning, Chip,” Janet said
as she got up from the table.
“Is it a good morning? You sure don’t look like you got much
sleep. I can see dark circles under your
eyes that your make up doesn’t cover and you probably didn’t eat breakfast.”
“No I didn’t get much
sleep. I’m so worried about him. If he’s upset it might cause him to make a
mistake and get himself killed or seriously hurt,” she told him tears welling
up in her eyes.
“Janet, he knows how to
concentrate on the job that needs to be done,” Chip reassured her.
“I know,” she said quietly
knowing Chip was right.
She grabbed her jacket and
purse out of the closet. They climbed in
Chip’s car and drove to the institute.
Janet would drive her own car home after work in case she needed to go
out.
((()))
When they arrived at the
office Jamie was there talking to the Admiral about some new items for
“Janet, I can tell you didn’t
sleep and what did you have for breakfast?” Jamie asked her worriedly.
“No I didn’t sleep and didn’t
have breakfast either. Not hungry,” she
replied honestly knowing she was going to be in trouble with Jamie for not
eating.
“Come on, you’re going to
breakfast with me right now,” Jamie said as he grabbed her arm. “Admiral, Chip would you care to join us?”
“Sure, let’s go,” Chip said as
he grabbed Janet’s other arm as he didn’t have breakfast either.
The admiral declined as he
had already eaten. They made their way
to the cafeteria where Jamie put pancakes and fruit on Janet’s plate. She
smiled at him as she put a forkful of pancakes in her mouth. She had to admit they tasted very good.
“See, that wasn’t so bad,”
Jamie said smiling when they were finished.
“Will I have to come and drag you to lunch or can you go on your own?”
“I will see that she eats,”
Chip replied as he finished up his second helping of pancakes along with some
bacon.
“I will eat,” she promised.
Jamie left to go back to
((()))
Helen Crane woke up with the
sun shining in her window knowing it was going to be another beautiful day. As she dressed she wondered if Mr. Davis
would carry out his threat to call Lee today.
There was a knock on her door and when she opened the door
“Good morning Mrs.
Crane. Mr. Davis wants you in the
living room right away,”
“Thanks
“Sorry, I’m to escort you
down now,” he replied quickly.
She closed the door to her
room and followed
He linked his arm in to
Helen’s and walked her into the dining room where the cook had just put out
their breakfast. Helen sat down, took
the napkin and put it in her lap. She took
a sip of the coffee, trying to find a way to dissuade Mr. Davis from calling
Lee. When they were done eating, Mr.
Davis arose from the table and came over to her. “Let’s go into the study and make the phone
call,” he told her taking her arm. Helen
Crane stood there waiting while Mr. Davis dialed the number he got from the
State Department after he sent her passport to
“Who’s calling?” the
secretary asked.
“Tell Mr. Pearson its Mr.
Damian Davis and I need to talk to him right now. Tell him it’s regarding a
Mrs. Crane,” he snapped.
The secretary went into
Pearson’s office and told him who was on the phone. “This is Jeff Pearson, Mr. Davis. What can I do for you?”
“I demand to talk to
Commander Crane personally. He has less
than five days to get me my money or he will be sorry.”
“I know he is working on
getting the money,” Pearson lied.
“Not good enough. I will talk to him via web cam in five hours
before I take drastic action. Please
make sure Admiral Nelson, Lt. Commander Morton and Crane’s wife are also present. I will need your contact address and I
expect to see you there too, Mr. Pearson.
I don’t want any tricks or Mrs. Crane will suffer the consequences.”
Pearson told him the contact
address but before he could say anything more,
“
((()))
Jeff Pearson slammed down his
phone and called his secretary. “Linda, get me Admiral Johnson at ONI
immediately. I need to talk to him right
now. Tell whoever answers the phone to
find him if he’s not there.”
“Yes, sir,” she answered
placing the call immediately.
Admiral Johnson was in his
office and took Jeff’s call. “Gerald, we
have big problem.
“Damn, yes he’s there, he got
there yesterday,” Johnson replied unhappily,
“Let me call Admiral Nelson and see if he has any ideas. I’ll get back to you.” He hung up the phone
and sighed heavily. He dreaded calling
the admiral as he was hoping he wouldn’t have to get him involved in this
mission. But he would now have to call
him and explain to him where Lee was and why he was there. He picked up his phone and dialed the
institute’s number.
((()))
Angie answered the phone and
put the call through to the admiral after Johnson told her he needed to talk to
the admiral promptly. “Gerald, you
better not be calling me to tell something has happened to Lee,” Nelson said
tersely.
“Calm down Harry. Lee is not actually on an ONI mission. His mother was kidnapped on her way home from
“Damn Gerald. Why the hell didn’t you call and tell me
that’s where he went? What can we do to
help him?” The admiral motioned to a pale looking Angie who was standing at his
door to come over to his desk. He wrote
down on a piece of paper to get Chip and Janet.
She nodded and left.
“Well we didn’t think it was
going to be a problem until a few minutes ago.
Mr. Davis, the person who kidnapped his mother wants to talk to Lee via
web cam in person along with you, Commander Morton and Janet.”
“Helen kidnapped? Gerald, you
had better give me all the details,” the admiral demanded as he sat back
in his chair listening to Johnson tell him what had taken place so far.
“How are we going to get Lee
to the phone?” Johnson asked Nelson tensely.
“Give me a few minutes. I’ll call you back,” Nelson said sharply and
hung up. Shit.
By this time Chip and Janet
had come in the admiral’s office. He got up from his desk and motioned Chip and
Janet to sit down on the couch. “I just heard from Admiral Johnson and there’s
a problem,” the admiral said as he sat down across from them.
Seeing Janet pale at what he
just said, “Lee’s fine,” he reassured them and explained what Admiral Johnson
had just told him. Both Chip and Janet
were upset that Lee’s mom had been kidnapped but knew Lee would figure a way to
get her away from Mr. Davis.
“Admiral what are we
going to do?” Chip voiced his concern.
“Chip, I don’t know,” the
admiral replied running his hand through his hair.
“Jason. Get Jason Weldon,” Janet said quickly. “He could pass for Lee. They have the same hair color and body
structure. We could put Lee’s uniform on
him. Web cam pictures aren’t always that clear, hopefully he wouldn’t be able
to tell the difference. Plus he’s never
met him.”
“Great idea. Hopefully he’s around and not off on some
mission,” the admiral replied dialing Johnson’s personal phone number which he
answered immediately. “Gerald, is Jason
Weldon around? If so, we can put Lee’s
uniform on him and pass him off as Lee.”
“Yes, he is in town, good
thinking Harry,” Johnson answered breathing easier.
“Gerald it wasn’t my
idea. Give the credit to Janet she
thought of it,” the admiral stated looking over a Janet.
“Obviously someone has to do
the thinking, ONI sure doesn’t,” Janet muttered out loud disgustedly. The admiral and Chip chuckled softly at that
remark.
“Janet, did you say something?”
Johnson asked after he heard her voice.
“No sir,” she said as she
rolled her eyes.
“How soon can you be
here? He wants to talk to Lee in five
hours via Skype. Can you be here by
then?”
“Gerald, five hours, that’s
cutting pretty close but we’ll be there,” Nelson replied as he hung up the
phone.
Before the admiral hung up
the phone with Johnson, Chip ran out of the admiral’s office and stopped by Angie’s
desk and picked up the phone that connected directly to Seaview. He hoped someone was near the radio shack and
would answer the call.
“Sharkey here,” Sharkey
answered hearing the radio as he happened to be walking into the control room.
“Chief, start doing the
pre-flight check on FS-1 and then get as many of the crew back from shore leave
that you can. The admiral, Mrs. Crane,
and I are leaving for
“Aye, aye sir,” Sharkey answered just as Riley
walked into the control room. Sharkey
hung up with Chip and called to Riley.
“Riley, help me with the pre-flight check on FS-1. The admiral is leaving for
The admiral hung up the phone
with Johnson and noticed Chip wasn’t in his office. He had a wry grin on his face knowing Chip
would have whoever is on Seaview do the pre-flight check list on FS-1
and have notified Sharkey to re-call the crew before he even asked him.
After Chip finished talking
to Sharkey, he ran into Lee’s office and took Lee’s uniform out of the closet
making sure he had everything. Janet had
Lee’s ring on a chain around her neck.
They might need it in case this
Before he started the engines,
he called the control room, “Chief, are you ready to launch?” he asked
impatiently.
“All green sir, we can launch
when you’re ready,” Sharkey replied.
“Well, launch her,” the
admiral sniped.
“Aye sir,” Sharkey answered
and launched the little sub. He noticed
that the admiral had an edge to his voice and knew he was worried about
something and figured it had something to do with the skipper as he saw him
leave on a chopper yesterday. Flying at
Mach 2 and barring any problems, they should be in
((()))
After Admiral Johnson hung up
with the admiral he called
“Yes, sir,”
“You needed to talk to me,”
Jason asked when he finally got the message.
“I need you to impersonate
Lee Crane,” Johnson told him explaining the situation to him.
“No problem, sir,” Jason
replied. “I’ll be there in twenty
minutes.” He had worked with Lee and
Janet on a couple of missions and would do anything to help them out.
“That will be fine,” Johnson
answered with a sigh of relief hanging up the phone.
((()))
FS-1 ran into some heavy
weather and it slowed them down. They
would get to
“Okay Harry,” Johnson replied
quickly. Jason was in his office waiting
for them to land so they could get him dressed as Lee. He and Johnson gathered up what they needed
and climbed into the car Johnson had standing by to take them to the State Department. He would send another car to pick up the
admiral at the airport.
The admiral landed FS-1 at
the airport and made sure she was secure before they left the airport. There
was a driver waiting there for them and a police escort to the State Department. The three of them ran in and found where
Jason, Admiral Johnson and Jeff Pearson were waiting for them. Jason and Chip found a bathroom where Chip
quickly helped Jason into Lee’s uniform. When they returned to Pearson’s
office, Janet took off the chain around her neck and gave Jason Lee’s ring. He
took the ring, put it on his finger and gave Janet a wry grin knowing it was
hard for her to let someone else wear his ring. The uniform fit perfectly and
they were surprised that Jason looked a lot like Lee. They could only hope Mr. Davis thought so. They just finished getting him ready when the
‘answer with video’ button lit up on the computer.
Pressing the green button
Pearson answered, “Jeff Pearson.”
“Mr. Pearson, do you have Lee
Crane there along with the admiral, Mr. Morton and the other Mrs. Crane?” Mr.
Davis asked abruptly.
“Yes, they are right here,”
Pearson replied as they stood in front of the web cam.
“Commander Crane it’s so nice
to see you. As you can see I have your
mother here with me. Would you like to talk to her?”
“Yes, please,” he replied as
he saw Mr. Davis grab Helen’s arm and put her in front of the web cam. “Hi Mom, are you okay?” Jason asked calmly
even though his hands were sweating.
Janet, Chip and the admiral
held their breath hoping she would go along with the set up. “Yes Lee I’m fine,” she answered
quickly. She knew that wasn’t Lee but
didn’t let on. Where is he? she wondered.
“Commander you have four more days to bring my
money or else your mother will pay,”
“Don’t bring it Lee,” his
mother shouted in the background.
They could hear Helen shriek
as Mr. Davis slapped her across the face.
Janet was near tears after hearing her shriek and grabbed Jason’s hand
so
“Crane, that is only the
beginning if I don’t get my money,”
Once the connection was
broken Jason apologized, “I’m sorry if I messed up. I could tell she knew I
wasn’t Lee but I don’t think
“You did fine,” Nelson told
him patting him on the shoulder. “Thanks
for helping us out.”
“Is there anything else I can
do...I assume you’re going to the island...do you want me to come with?” he
volunteered eager to help out if needed.
“No, thanks for the offer,”
Nelson told him.
Jason changed out of Lee’s uniform,
handed it back to Chip and gave Janet Lee’s ring back which she quickly put
back on the chain and around her neck.
“Thank you,” she said softly as she kissed his cheek.
The admiral was still worried
about what would happen to Lee’s mother if the money wasn’t delivered but knowing
Lee he was working out a plan to rescue her.
((()))
The three of them left on
FS-1 as soon as they were finished. They
were cleared for take-off after a short wait on the tarmac. They needed to get back to Seaview so
she could leave when they returned. They took off two hours after they got
there. Chip would pilot FS-1 home
instead of the admiral. Janet fell
asleep about an hour into the flight as she was exhausted. Chip looked back at her and was glad to see
she was sleeping. FS-1 made it back
NIMR with no problems.
Janet woke up just as Chip
was berthing FS-
“No problem, but you could
have told us you snored,” Chip said with a grin as he turned off the engines
and un-strapped himself from the pilot’s seat.
Undoing her harness, “I
didn’t know I snored,” Janet responded embarrassed.
“Honey, you didn’t snore.
Chip was just giving you a hard time,” the admiral replied smiling as he got up
from his seat and went back to help Janet.
Janet smiled back realizing
Chip was teasing her. “At least I got
you to smile,” Chip said as he started up the ladder to un-dog the hatch.
“Thanks Chip I needed
that. Watching Mr. Davis hit Lee’s
mother was very un-nerving. I hope Lee’s
get her out of there soon as I don’t even want to think of what he might do to
her.”
Hesitating before going up
the ladder, “You know Lee will do whatever it takes to get her out,” the
admiral remarked as he went up into the observation nose where Chief Sharkey
was waiting for them. He helped Janet up
and was followed by Chip.
“Admiral, we’re ready to
shove off whenever you are. All crew is
present.”
“Thanks, Chief. We’ll leave in an hour,” the admiral replied.
“Aye, aye, sir,” Sharkey
responded making sure the control room stations were manned and ready to go.
Janet, Chip and the admiral
went home to pack what they needed for the trip and were back on board Seaview
in less than an hour. They left on the
night tide sailing for the island.
((()))
Lee fell asleep and woke up
around
Lee walked back to the rental
place and rented a boat, fishing pole and bought some bait. The men helped him launch his boat and
chuckled as they pushed the boat in the water and almost fell in. He could have done it better and faster
himself. They told him how to get out of
the dock area and into the ocean. Following their instructions, he made his way
out of the dock area and into the ocean looking for a place he could bring the
zodiac closer to the stone house and leave it there for when he needed it.
He spotted a few larger
fishing boats and stayed near them as he looked at the back of the house. He noticed the house had its own pier for
docking but the area around the dock had huge boulders and rocks. If you didn’t
know where you were going it would be hard to get a boat safely to the pier
especially at night. The house had a
second floor deck but he also noticed a small area underneath the deck with a
door. He could see a man and woman on
the deck. He didn’t have any binoculars
but the woman looked like his mother. He
didn’t want to stay to long in one place so he motored past the house still
looking for an inlet to hide the zodiac.
He finally found one a little further down from the house.
After looking at the house,
he knew the only way he was going to get in was through the lower level. He decided he would make his move tomorrow
night. He didn’t see any guards at the
back of the house but maybe they would be there at night. Guards or no guards
he would have to take a chance so he could rescue his mother.
Since he had nothing else to
do he decided to throw a line in the water and see if he could catch
anything. He fished for three hours and
didn’t catch a thing but maybe a sunburn so he gave up and brought the boat
back to the rental place. He never could
understand how anyone could spend all day just sitting in a boat waiting for
fish to bite. He found it quite boring. Being in the hot sun made him thirsty so he
would stop at the bar to see Daisy hoping she would give him some information
before he moved his zodiac to the inlet.
((()))
After
A couple of hours later Mr.
Davis summoned Harvey to the living room, “Go get Mrs. Crane and bring her out
to the deck for dinner,” Mr. Davis demanded as he walked out of the house and
onto the deck.
“Yes, sir,”
“Mr. Davis wants you on the
deck for dinner,” he told her. “I’m
sorry he hit you. I guarantee he will
not hurt you again,” he whispered to her as he knew the room was bugged.
“Thanks
She went out on the deck and
sat down for dinner. Mr. Davis didn’t
say anything to her while they ate.
After they finished, he got a phone call and left her alone. There was a pair of binoculars on the table
as Mr. Davis liked to see what ships were coming into the harbor. She picked them up and was scanning the water
when she noticed a small boat with a man in it.
Damn, she thought, that man looks like Lee.
She continued looking out the
binoculars and as the boat got a little closer she saw it was her son. So that’s why he wasn’t on the web cam. He was there to rescue her. Mr. Davis came out of the house so she
quickly put down the binoculars as she didn’t want him to see what she was
looking at.
“We’re going for a boat ride
this evening,” Mr. Davis told her.
“Mr. Davis, I really don’t
feel well. I’m going to lie down for awhile,” she told him. She was afraid to be alone with him and
didn’t want him to check out the boats on the water afraid he would see Lee.
“Very well,” he said and
walked back into the house and told
“It’s okay,” she told him as
she heard the door lock. I need to
think of a way to contact Lee, she thought as she sat down on the chair by
the window hoping to catch a glimpse of her son.
((()))
Seaview made it through the
“Admiral, I have the
coordinates for the pick up point from the survey ship and told them that we
would pick up Lee and his mother. The
captain is on the radio and would like to speak to you,” Chip told him as the
admiral neared the radio shack.
Picking up the mic, “This is
Admiral Nelson.”
“Hello, Admiral. I’m Captain Taylor. I understand that you’ll be picking up the
Commander and his mother.”
“Yes that is correct,” the
admiral replied. “What equipment does he
have and did he give you a time frame?”
“He’s got a motorized zodiac
along with a rifle we supplied him. He
said he had his own firearm, GPS, and radio. He didn’t give us any time
frame. Sorry sir.”
“Thanks for you help
Captain,” the admiral answered.
“Good luck, admiral,” Captain
Taylor responded as they broke the connection.
Chip and the admiral returned
to the plotting table where Chip laid out the map of the island he got from
ONI. He studied the map before plotting
the course to the coordinates. “Admiral,
looking at the map, the only harbor into the island is on the east coast. I suggest we have Seaview positioned
about two hundred yards off the west coast.
I’m guessing that Lee would’ve met the survey boat on the west coast but
they would have been further away so they wouldn’t be spotted.”
The admiral looked at what Chip
was pointing at, “I agree. We’ll hold
trim at ninety feet and wait for Lee to call.”
“Aye, aye sir,” Chip
responded and gave the coordinates to the helmsmen.
Janet went to the observation
nose and stood there watching Seaview plowed through the water listening
to the admiral and Chip discuss where they should wait for Lee. She was afraid something would happen to him
or his mother before they could pick them up from the island.
((()))
Lee went into the bar where
Daisy worked and found a table in her section.
He also saw Raoul stare at him when he walked in. He really didn’t want to get into an
altercation with him as he had three inches and about twenty five pounds on
him. Lee was still looking at him when Daisy came over to his table.
“What can I get you to
drink?” she asked quietly.
“Beer, please,” Lee answered.
“I’ll be right back,” Daisy
told him as she walked away and gave his order to Raoul.
He wanted to talk to Daisy
but knew it would be very difficult with Raoul watching every move he made. When she brought him his beer he whispered,
“Daisy I need your help. What time do
you get off tonight?”
“I’m off at
“Can you meet me at the end
of the pier in the gazebo after work? I
really need to talk to you,” Lee answered softly.
“I’ll be there,” she replied
not sure what he wanted but knew she had to meet him. Raoul would be working
until
Lee drank his beer, left more
than enough money on the table to cover his beer. When he left he walked down to the pier. It was a little before
“Hi Daisy,” Lee said, “I’m
Jeremy and thanks for meeting me.”
“Hi Jeremy,” she replied,
“Why did you want to meet me?”
“I need to talk to your
father. Sally said he might be able to
help me. I need a job. Do you think I could meet with him tomorrow morning? Please
help, I’m desperate for work. I’m almost
out of cash so I need to do something...anything.”
Staring out into the ocean
she told him, “He starts work at
“That’s fine. I will be there. Thanks for your help,” Lee replied getting
ready to walk her back down to the street.
“Daisy, Daisy are you down
there?” Raoul yelled as he started to walk down the pier. One of the men at the bar told him they saw
her walk down there after she got off of work.
Raoul had spies everywhere.
“Hide in here. If he sees I’m with you, he will beat you to
a pulp,” Daisy said as she walked out of the gazebo and ran down the pier to
meet him.
“Raoul, I’m right here,” she
replied as she ran towards him before he got to the gazebo. She grabbed his hand, gave him a kiss and they
walked to a small house on
Hold on Mom, I’m coming, Lee thought. It
wasn’t quite dark by the time he was done talking to Daisy. He found his way to the cove where he hid the
zodiac and brought it to the inlet he found earlier in the day. Luck was with him as the back of the house
was as brightly lit as the front. He
managed to avoid the rocks near the inlet, pulled the zodiac on land, covered
it up and found his way back through the woods to the main street. He was exhausted by the time he
finished. He went to his room and sat on
the bed thinking over what Daisy told him about
((()))
Lee woke up early, showered
and decided not to shave again today. He
trimmed up his beard but it still looked a little scruffy. He was out the door by
Lee walked into the bait shop
at
“Jeremy?” he asked quietly.
“Yes,
“What can I do for you? Daisy
said you’re looking for a job.”
“Yes, is there some where we
can talk?” Lee asked as he looked around and noticed the men running the shop
were watching them closely.
“Follow me,”
Caught off guard Lee didn’t
know
“Huh? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I got here two days ago on a small cargo boat
the Maersk Endeavor. Ask Daisy I met her
in the bar the first day I was here.” Lee replied.
“What do you need? I can do just about anything from guard to
maintenance man; I can even pass as a decent cook. I’m tired of being on boats for the moment
and this seems like a nice place to drop anchor for a while.”
“We need someone to help
clean and do odd jobs around the house, is that something you think you could
do?”
“Yeah, that would be
fine. I just need something to generate
some money that doesn’t involve boats or fish.” Lee replied with a smile.
“Okay I suppose you’ll
do. Can you start today?”
“The sooner the better, I’m
just about out of cash.”
“All right then come with me
and I’ll give you a trial run.”
“Thanks,” Lee replied
sticking out his hand. “I really
appreciate this.”
((()))
Seaview was in place at periscope depth waiting for Lee to
call the survey ship and let them know he was on his way.
Chip walked into the
observation nose. “Please stop
pacing. I can’t take it any more,” he
told her softly, “Go pace up and down a passageway but please stop pacing here.”
“I’m sorry, Chip. I can’t stand waiting. I’ll go to my office. But promise me you will call me if you hear
from Lee,” she pleaded.
“You’ll be the second person I
call,” he told her with slight smile. She
knew the admiral would be the first one and she didn’t mind. She left the control room and went to her
office as she did have a lot of work to do so that would take up some time.
“Where’s Janet,” the admiral
asked Chip as soon as he came down the spiral staircase to check on her noticing
she wasn’t there.
Sighing, “I sent her
away. She wouldn’t stop pacing and she
was driving me nuts,” Chip explained.
“I did notice she has a habit
of pacing when she’s worried,” the admiral replied. “Any word from Lee?”
“I told her she would be the
second person I call when we hear from him.”
“The second person?” the
admiral questioned.
“You would be the first of course,”
Chip answered. The admiral gave him a
wry grin and went back up stairs to his office.
If Lee doesn’t call soon I’m going to start pacing, Chip thought
as he stood at the plotting table tapping his pencil.
((()))
Harvey and Lee got to the
house before
“Jeremy, stay here while I
see what Mr. Davis wants,”
Mr. Davis had his back to the
door when
“I see. Did you hire him?” Mr. Davis asked.
“Yes, he’s waiting out in the
foyer. He’s going to start by cleaning
up the place. Since the cleaning lady
quit, it’s getting quite dirty. I’ll
have him start with the bedrooms and bathrooms,”
“Fine,” Mr. Davis replied
looking at his watch. “Bring Mrs. Crane
down for breakfast as soon as you get the new guy set up. Hopefully she is feeling better today.”
“Yes, sir,”
“Good morning...” Helen
replied turning around and but didn’t finish her sentence as she saw Lee
standing there with a dust cloth, mop, bucket, and vacuum cleaner. Helen just stared for a moment before
gathering herself. “Who is this?” she
asked quickly.
”This is Jeremy,”
“Okay,” Helen remarked
walking by Lee wishing she could grab his hand. “Thank you for tidying up the
place.”
“No problem, ma’am,” Lee
replied as he set down the supplies and started to make the bed.
“Much better,” she replied as
she sat down at the table.
Taking a drink of his juice, “Time
is running out and I really don’t want to hurt you so hopefully your son will
arrive on one of the ships coming into the harbor today,” Mr. Davis said
seriously. “I have a lot of work to do so you’ll have to stay in your room.”
“Yes, sir,” Helen replied as
she picked up her cup of coffee looking over the top of the cup at Mr. Davis.
After they finished
breakfast, Mr. Davis would have
((()))
Lee felt he had no choice but
to reveal to Harvey who he really was after his mother recognized him. He would
have to take the chance that
Sighing deeply, “
Lee sensed that
“What about the other
guards. I noticed a couple of them out
front,” Lee remarked.
“Don’t worry about them, I
will see that they are nowhere around,”
“Thank you
“Thanks for trusting me,”
“I’ll need to get out of here
by
“No problem,”
Smiling, Lee replied, “I can
do that.” Lee continued to clean up his
mother’s room and the rest of the rooms managing to stay out of
((()))
Lee left the stone house at
He walked down
“Lee I’m so happy to see
you,” his mother exclaimed softly as she gave him a kiss.
Returning the kiss he told
her, “Mom we need to leave right away before Mr. Davis returns. There’s a zodiac right outside the house near
the dock.”
Before leaving she gave
Returning the hug
Lee took her hand and led her
out the door carefully walking around the rocks to the zodiac. When they got to
the zodiac, Mr. Davis appeared on the top deck.
Flipping on a switch the whole pier and dock area was illuminated in
bright lights.
He went to the edge of the
deck to get a closer look at the zodiac. “Ah Commander, I see you finally got
here. Did you bring my money?” he yelled to Lee.
“No, I didn’t bring your
money...I would’ve never paid you the ransom,” Lee shouted back as he continued
to help his mother into the zodiac.
“We’ll see how far you get,”
he hissed back pulling a gun from his pocket and aimed it at Helen.
As Mr. Davis took a shot, Lee
stepped in front of his mother and was struck in the right side. He felt the pain sear through him and fell to
the bottom of the boat. Realizing he
missed, he took aim again at Helen but before he could get off another shot,
Mr. Davis looked at where the
shot came from and saw
“I would never let you kill
Helen or destroy this island,”
Helen looked at
I’ll be waiting,” he replied
as he stood in the water watching the zodiac float away from the rocks.
Lee grimacing in pain managed
to sit up, start the engine and steer the boat to open water. He pulled his radio out of his pocket and radioed
the survey ship, “Help,” he said surprised to hear
He put the radio down and
started to sway toward the side of the zodiac, “Lee, stay with me,” his mother
begged as she caught him before he fell overboard.
Catching his breath, “I’m
okay, Mom,” Lee responded as he steered the zodiac with one hand while holding
the other hand to his side trying to stop the bleeding. His mother opened the duffle bag, pulled out
a shirt and pressed it to Lee’s side while he steered the zodiac.
((()))
Seaview was
at periscope depth waiting for the call from Lee when Kowalski finally spotted
a small object on sonar.
“Mr. Morton, a small boat,”
Kowalski shouted just as
Chip went to the periscope
island, pressed the button and waited as the periscope got into place. Looking
out the scope he turned searching for the boat when he finally spotted it. “Surface, surface, surface,” he told the
helmsman and pressed the klaxon. “Rescue
detail to the deck on the double.”
Seaview broached the surface about two hundred yards in front
of Lee and his mother. The deck crew was
already launching a raft by the time Chip ran up the ladder to the bridge. He saw the zodiac with Lee and his mom and
could tell Lee was hurt.
Reaching for the mic, “Jamie
report to the control room with a stretcher and corpsman, the captain’s hurt,”
Chip radioed.
The admiral and Janet heard
the klaxon and ran out of their offices. Janet almost knocked the admiral over
as they ran down the spiral staircase to the control room. By the time they got there, Seaview had
surfaced and Chip was already on the bridge. Janet ran up the ladder before the Admiral
could stop her. Standing on the bridge
resting her hands on the side, she could Lee was hurt as his mother held a wadded
up shirt to his side. Lee looked up on
the bridge, saw Janet and smiled at her before he passed out. Janet scrambled down the ladder to wait for
them to bring Lee aboard.
Patterson and Riley motored
their raft to the zodiac and as soon as they were close enough, Patterson
jumped aboard and took over steering it to Seaview. Once he got to there, the rest of the deck crew
gently picked Lee up and handed him down to Jamie and John, the corpsman, who
placed him on the stretcher.
John and Kowalski carried Lee
to
((()))
Jamie and John took Lee off
the stretcher and placed him on a gurney.
Janet was in
“I’m going to have to get the
bullet out immediately,” Jamie told Janet.
“I need to operate right now.”
“Jamie will he be okay?” she
asked with tears in her eyes.
“I won’t know until I see how
much damage the bullet has done,” he replied as John prepped him for surgery.
By this time Lee’s mom, the admiral
and Chip had come into
“Helen, we’ll wait in the
wardroom,” the admiral said as he took her hand and led her into the wardroom
helping her sit down at a table. Getting
her a cup of coffee, the admiral asked, “Helen, how did Lee get shot?”
She wrapped her hands around
the cup hoping they would stop shaking. “Lee and I were leaving when Mr. Davis
pointed his gun at me. Lee stepped in
front of me so I wouldn’t get shot,” she told the admiral near tears. “He wasn’t supposed to be there. He went to a meeting and must have come came
back early.
“This man Harvey who is he?”
the admiral asked, “Could he have tipped off Mr. Davis about Lee being there?”
“He was
“As soon as we know how Lee
is I’m going to the island and will take you with me if you want,” the admiral
told her.
“Yes, I would like to go back
to thank
((()))
After waiting an hour in
Jamie’s office, Chip and Janet couldn’t stay sitting any longer so they went to
the passageway outside of
“What if he dies? He won’t know I’m sorry I was mad at him,”
she said tears running down her cheeks.
“Janet, he knows you aren’t
mad at him,” he told her squeezing her hand.
The admiral and Helen stood
in the passageway near
“Yes Helen everything is
alright, just a slight misunderstanding,” the admiral told her patting her hand
as they went back to the wardroom to wait.
Chip and Janet went back into
“He’s going to be fine. The bullet nicked his liver. I had a hard time stopping the bleeding and
was worried I would need more blood but I finally got it under control. He’ll be out of commission for a couple of
weeks,” Jamie told her as he removed his gown covered in Lee’s blood.
“Can I please see him?” she
asked wiping tears from her face.
“Yes but he is still
unconscious and I expect him to stay that way for a few hours,” Jamie told her
gently as he led them into the room where Lee was asleep in one of the bunks
with the IV’s still attached.
Janet grabbed a chair and sat
next to his bunk holding his hand. Lee’s mom and the admiral checked the
passageway and saw the Chip and Janet were gone. They ran into
“Jamie is he going to be
alright?” the admiral asked. “Yes,” Jamie replied explaining to them what his
injury was. Lee’s mom went over to the
bunk where her son was lying. Chip pulled up another chair for her. She sat down next to Janet and grabbed her
hand and gave it a squeeze. Janet
squeezed it back and didn’t let it go.
The admiral, Chip and Jamie
left them sitting there and went into Jamie’s office. “It looks like I will now have two Crane’s in
my way,” Jamie chuckled. “I know Janet
won’t leave and I’m sure his mother will want to stay too.”
Jamie changed into his
uniform and sat down at his desk watching the two women as they held Lee’s
hand. Sighing he returned to his
paperwork again having to fill out another injury report on his most frequent
patient.
((()))
Chip and the admiral left
The admiral was getting ready
to go to the island as he wanted to talk to
Going over to the bunk where
Janet and Helen were sitting, Sharkey whispered, “Mrs. Crane.”
“Yes,” the two of them
answered turning to look at Sharkey.
“Oh boy, this is going to be
real confusing,” he said shaking his head.
“Chief, call me Mrs. C. from
now on,” Janet told him with a slight grin.
“This way none of us will be confused.”
“Yes Mrs. C. Mrs. Crane, the admiral is going to the
island and asked me to get you if you still wanted to go. We’ll be leaving in ten minutes.”
“Janet, I really need to go
back there, do you mind if I go?” Lee’s mom asked not wanting to leave them
alone.
“No Helen, I understand. Please go I will stay here with Lee,” she
replied softly.
Helen left with Chief Sharkey
and went to the control room as the admiral was getting ready to go up the
ladder and out the sail hatch to the raft that was waiting for him. Riley helped Lee’s mother up the ladder,
where Kowalski was waiting at the top to assist her out the hatch. The admiral, Chief Sharkey and Helen boarded
the raft to go to the house. They noticed
the house and dock area were still lit up.
“Mrs. Crane why were you at
Mr. Davis’ house,” Pete Danner, police chief of the island, asked pulling out a
notebook to take notes.
“He kidnapped me as I was
getting ready to board my plane in
“Did your son come to the
island with the money?” he continued writing down what she was telling him.
“Yes, he did come to the
island but didn’t bring the money. He
made arrangements with
The police chief stared at Seaview
bobbing in the ocean, “He’s captain of that?” he asked.
“Yes he is,” she
replied. She turned to the police chief,
“Chief Danner, this is Admiral Harriman Nelson.
He is the owner of the submarine and Chief Sharkey.”
Chief Danner shook the
admiral’s and Sharkey’s hand. “Nice to meet you.” Turning back to Helen, “How was your son
shot?”
Taking a deep breath, “Mr.
Davis pointed his gun at me but as he fired, Lee stepped in front of me and the
bullet hit him in the side.”
“Where is your son now, Mrs.
Crane and how was Mr. Davis shot?” Chief Danner asked.
“They took him aboard the
submarine. They have a doctor on board
who operated on him,” Helen sighed before she continued, “Mr. Davis took aim at
me again but before he could fire,
Closing his notebook the
Chief said, “Your story corroborates what
“Thank you, he should okay,”
Helen told them as the admiral and Sharkey stood by her side.
The island didn’t have a
coroner so the chief and one of his officers removed Mr. Davis’ body from the
premises.
“Admiral, Chief Sharkey, it’s
a pleasure to meet you,”
“
“Admiral, he told everyone
that he wanted to make the harbor deeper so cruise ships would stop here. He was going to improve
“What will happen to the
house now that Mr. Davis is gone?” Helen asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe he has some relatives that will come to
the island,”
“Helen, why don’t you stay
here for awhile,”
“I’m sorry
“I’ll hold you to that
promise,” he said giving her a rather long kiss that didn’t get by the admiral
or Sharkey.
“Helen, we need to get back
to Seaview so we can head for home,” the admiral remarked as he and
Sharkey headed for the raft.
“Okay Harry,” Helen answered
walking with
Once aboard Seaview,
Sharkey helped the deck detail secure the raft while the admiral and Helen went
down the ladder to the control room where Chip had assumed temporary command.
“Chip, let’s head for home,”
the admiral told him.
“Aye, sir,” Chip replied
turning to Mr. O’Brien who was at the plotting table with the course already
set just waiting for Chip to tell them to get underway.
“Mr. O’Brien, take her down
to two hundred feet and run at standard speed,” Chip ordered.
“Aye, aye sir,” O’Brien
replied telling the helmsman the depth and the engine room the speed. Chip would stay there until they were
underway. Once underway, Chip returned
to
((()))
Lee had been unconscious for
two hours and Janet was still holding his hand when Helen came back to
“Helen, she will not leave
him until he regains consciousness and even after he is awake I will probably
have to order her to their cabin. She
will never leave him alone when he is hurt or sick.”
“Does he get hurt a lot?”
Helen asked surprised at what Jamie just told her.
“Not a lot,” Jamie lied to
her as he thought, more than he will ever tell you. Jamie wasn’t sure if Lee’s mom knew he worked
for ONI so he didn’t want to tell her any more.
Helen went over to Janet and
put her hand on her shoulder. She could
see Janet was as tired as she was. “Do
you want me to sit with him while you get some rest?” she asked softly.
“No I’m fine,” she whispered
still holding Lee’s hand. “You can sit
with me if you want.”
“Honey, I’m tired. I hope you won’t be upset if I go lie down
for awhile,” Helen said wearily.
“Helen, I wouldn’t be upset. I will call you when he wakes up.” Janet replied
noticing she did look beat. The admiral entered sick bay and noticed how
tired not only Helen looked but Janet as well. He heard the two of them talking about the
man he loved as a son. The admiral knew Helen wasn’t fond of Janet when Lee
married her but he hoped she would realize that Janet loved Lee more than
anything and would do whatever it takes to make him happy. He stood in the door of
“Harry, I am exhausted,”
Helen replied, “It has been a very long and trying day.” As they walked down the passageway to her
cabin, Helen stopped and asked him a question.
“Harry does my son love Janet as much as I can see she loves him?”
“Helen, Lee is the happiest
I’ve ever seen him since he married Janet. And yes he does love her as much as
she loves him,” the admiral reassured her.
“Thanks Harry,” she replied
as they arrived at her cabin door. He
showed her in and left with a smile on his face. The admiral returned to
((()))
Lee finally started to stir
about an hour after his mother left.
Janet was dozing when she felt him move his hand.
“Jamie I think he’s waking
up,” Janet said as she got up from her chair and knelt down next to the bunk.
Jamie was sitting at his desk
waiting for Lee to wake up before he left for the night. Grabbing his
stethoscope he walked over the bunk and took his vitals. They were much improved over the last time he
took them. Lee’s eyes fluttered a little
before opening up. He closed them again
and re-opened them. “
“Yes, Sick Bay and welcome
back,” Janet said softly. “How are you
feeling?” She could see he was in pain.
Jamie went to get some pain
medication and was going to inject into his IV.
He had removed the IV giving him blood right before he woke up. “Can you wait a minute, I need to tell Janet
something,” he barely whispered.
“I’ll give you one minute
before I inject it and you will go
back to sleep,” he said to Lee. He
walked back to his office and left them alone.
“Mom, is she okay...she
wasn’t hurt was she,” Lee asked worriedly.
“She’s fine,” Janet told
him. “She was here but went to her
cabin. She was exhausted. I’ll let her know you woke up.”
“Sweetie, are you still mad
at me...can you forgive me for wanting to take you off or Seaview?” Lee
asked urgently. “And I’m sorry...I did
over react...You can stay on Seaview...Besides that I would miss not
having you on board,” he told her as he grimaced in pain when he tried to sit
up.
Gently pushing him back down
she replied softly, “Honey, I’m sorry I was angry with you, there’s nothing to
forgive. Thank you for not removing me...I
would miss working on her...but most of all I would miss you.” She gave him a
gentle hug and kiss.
Jamie returned and injected
the pain medication into Lee’s IV. He
could feel the medication slowly take away the pain and fell back to sleep. Chip was standing in
“How’s he doing,” Chip asked
Jamie when he returned to his desk.
“He’ll be fine. Not hurt nearly as bad as some other times,’
Jamie remarked, “Chip, you look done in.”
“I’m beat Jamie,” Chip
admitted. “I’m going to go to my cabin
to get some rest. I’m on duty early
tomorrow.”
Chip went over to Janet
before he left, “I’ll stop by in the morning before I go on duty.”
“Okay Chip.” Janet replied
noticing he looked exhausted.
He patted Lee on the
shoulder, “See you later,” he told him.
As he walked away he took one more look at his ‘brother’ thankful he
would be alright.
Jamie walked back to Lee’s
bunk where Janet was sitting, “Now you will go to your cabin and get some
sleep. You can come back tomorrow
morning, no sooner. I don’t want Frank telling
me you came back during the night,” Jamie told her quietly.
“Yes, Jamie. I promise I will not come back until
tomorrow. Thanks for taking care of him
again,” Janet said to Jamie giving him a peck on the cheek.
Jamie dimmed the lights in
Simulating nighttime, Janet
walked down the dimly light passageway to Helen’s cabin. She knocked on the door and hoped she wasn’t
asleep. Helen opened the door and was
surprised to see Janet there. “Is he
aright?” she asked nervously.
“He woke up about ten minutes
ago. Jamie gave him some pain medication
and he went back to sleep. I’ve been
ordered to my cabin but if you want to you can sit with him. Even if he’s sleeping he would know you were there,”
Janet told Helen tiredly.
“Thanks for letting me
know. I will go and stay for a few
minutes,” she said to Janet as she gave her a hug before she left catching
Janet by surprise.
Janet went to their
cabin. She was tired and happy she could
stay on Seaview. She got ready
for bed and climbed in their bunk wishing Lee was there but all she cared about
is that he was back on board and going to okay.
Helen went to
((()))
Janet was up early the next
morning and headed to
“Hi Sweetie, don’t look so
worried. I’m fine,” he said trying to
sit up and laid right back down.
Janet chuckled at that
remark, “Sure you’re fine. You can’t
even sit up.”
Jamie was in his office and
walked over to Lee’s bunk and took his vitals.
“They are better this morning
but don’t even ask. You are not leaving
“But...I need to talk to Chip
about the boat’s status,” he protested.
“I’ve been gone for a few days.
Jamie, please?” he begged.
“Chip can give you the
information only nothing more,” Jamie relented.
Chip walked in
“Good morning Lee. Seaview is fine. We’re running at
standard speed at two hundred feet.
Everything is under control. We
will be docking in
Managing to give them a
slight grin, “No, it wasn’t the paperwork I was thinking about but the fringe
benefits I would miss if she wasn’t aboard,” he replied mischievously. Janet was embarrassed at what Lee was
implying but Chip had a big smile on his face.
Lee closed his eyes and fell back to sleep. Janet was sitting by his bunk when the
admiral and Helen came in to check on him on their way to breakfast.
“Did he wake up this morning,”
his mother asked concerned.
”Yes, he was awake for awhile but he fell back to sleep,” Janet told her
quietly. “I’m sorry I didn’t let you
know.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she
told Janet as she patted her hand, “I will stop by later when he wakes up
again. Why don’t you come to breakfast with us?”
“I’m not hungry right
now. I’ll get something later,” she told
them as she held Lee’s hand.
“You will go now with the
admiral, Helen and Chip for breakfast,” Jamie ordered Janet. “I know you had no lunch or dinner yesterday.
I’m not going to take on two Cranes.”
“I will eat and be right back,”
she told Jamie reluctantly.
“We’ll be right back,” Helen
agreed with Janet linking her arm into Janet’s as they walked out of
When they got to the wardroom
they saw Cookie had made pancakes for breakfast. As they went through the line, he put a
couple of extra pancakes on Janet’s plate along with some bacon and gave her
his look that told her she better eat it all.
She ate most of them but gave the extra pancakes to Chip who had no
problem eating them. They put their
trays in the dish container and Janet and Helen went back to
((()))
Lee woke up again a little
later in the morning. He was still in
considerable amount of pain so Jamie gave him some more pain medication and he
fell back to sleep. Janet sat there all
day holding his hand. Helen left after a
few hours. She needed to stretch and
walk around. It was late in the afternoon when she returned to her cabin to get
ready for dinner. The admiral knocked on
her door to take her to dinner. They
walked into the wardroom and sat down at the table. Cookie brought over a tray with two plates of
lasagna and put it front of them. He
went back to the sideboard and brought over two cups of coffee.
Helen looked at the
lasagna. “Is lasagna still Lee’s
favorite dinner?” she asked putting a forkful in her mouth.
Smiling, the admiral replied,
“Yes it is and Cookie makes the best.”
As they continued eating,
Helen asked, “Will Janet really sit there all day and night with Lee?”
“Yes if Jamie lets her. She will not leave his side.”
They finished up dinner and
Cookie brought over a plate of chocolate chip cookies and poured them some more
coffee.
“Thank you, Cookie,” Helen
said after he poured her coffee. “If I
stay on Seaview much longer, I would gain about ten pounds.” Cookie
smiled as he walked away. He would save
a few cookies for Lee hoping he would be able to enjoy them later.
After dinner Helen went back
to
“Thank you, Helen. I will be back shortly,” Janet replied as
Chip took her arm and led her to the wardroom.
Helen took Lee’s hand gently
into hers. It had been awhile since she
got to hold his hand. He woke up a few
minutes after Janet left. “Hi Mom. Are you okay?” he asked weakly. “Where’s Janet?”
“I’m fine and I sent her to
get some dinner,” Helen told him squeezing his hand.
“Good maybe she will listen to
you,” he smiled grimacing as he tried to sit up. “She doesn’t listen to me.”
Helen looked her son in the
eye, “Honey, I’m sorry I treated her badly when you first got married. I can see how much she loves you, please forgive
me,” Helen pleaded.
“Mom, please tell her
that. She still thinks you don’t like
her,” Lee asked quietly.
“I promise I will,” she said
as she brushed his hair off his forehead remembering how she would do that when
he was sick as a child.
He tried to stay awake but he
closed his eyes and went back to sleep. Janet
came back a few minutes later and sat down in the chair next to Helen.
“He just went back to sleep. He’s still very tired and in pain,” Helen
sighed deeply.
“I’m glad you finally got to
talk to him while he was awake,” Janet answered looking at her sleeping husband.
“You’re still worried aren’t
you?” Helen asked seeing the concern on Janet’s face.
Taking a deep breath, “Yes he
tells me I worry too much. But I just
can’t help it,” Janet replied.
Helen took Janet’s hand in
hers, “I owe you an apology,” Helen said thoughtfully, “I know I didn’t treat
you very well when you got married, but I can see you really do
love him. Please forgive me.”
“Helen there is nothing to
apologize for. I realize it must have been hard for you as we did get married
rather quickly and you didn’t know me very well but I do love him
more than anything else in the world,” Janet responded softly. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure honey, what’s wrong,”
Helen asked quickly.
“Nothing’s wrong I just want
to know if I can call you Mom instead of Helen?” Janet asked with tears in her
eyes.
With tears in her
eyes, “I would be delighted if you did,” Helen replied giving her hug.
They sat there together for
the rest of the night. Janet holding
Lee’s hand and ‘mom’ holding her hand.
((()))
It was early morning when Seaview
arrived at NIMR. Chip carefully brought her into her pen but somehow
managed to scratch her paint on the starboard side. Damn, he muttered to himself. Now he would have to pay up on the bet with
Lee. Maybe he could get it repaired
before he knew about it. Unfortunately
for Chip, Lee was awake and felt the boat scrape the dock. Smiling he thought, I got him. He couldn’t
wait to collect his bet. Both he and
Chip had gotten so good at getting Seaview in and out of her pen that they made
a new bet instead of the one that whoever scraped her paint would have to buy
dinner. The new bet was Chip would get to drive the Cobra for a week if Lee
scraped her paint and Lee would chose a day when Chip wouldn’t get any second
helpings on food, no desserts but more importantly no coffee for the whole
day. He knew Chip would have a monstrous
headache by the end of the day. He would
make sure to collect it on their next mission.
((()))
Once they tied down the boat
and most of the crew had left, Lee would be carefully removed from Seaview
and sent to
“No you will stay in
“Okay two days,” Lee conceded
unhappily.
As much as Janet wanted Lee
at home, she wanted no part of that argument as she knew Lee was going to lose
anyway. She would stay with him in
Helen would have liked to
stay a little longer with her son and daughter-in-law but she had to get home. She had gone to
She stopped in
“That’s fine, Mom,” Lee said
as she gave him a kiss good bye. Janet
went over to her, “Bye Mom. We’ll see
you soon,” she said with a grin. Lee
looked at the two of them. She called
her mom, Lee thought and knew things were okay between them.
((()))
Chip stopped in to see Lee
after his mom left. He was a little late getting there but had to make sure
maintenance knew what to do aboard Seaview and set up the security
detail before he could leave. He also
wanted to check out the scrape. It
wasn’t too bad but he was going to have to face Lee and tell him about it. He would have liked to keep it from him but
his conscious wouldn’t let him and besides that he knew someone would let it
slip out anyway. Janet was sitting in
the chair next to his bed when he walked into his room at
“Everything okay with Seaview?”
Lee smirked.
“You know don’t you,” Chip
sighed running his hands through his hair.
”How could I not know, I felt her scrape the dock,” Lee replied starting to
laugh but stopped grabbing his side because it hurt too much. “You know the “gray lady’ tells me
everything.”
“Sorry Lee. I though I had her a little left of center
and she strayed a little too far right on me,” he told Lee. “When do you want to collect the bet?”
“On the next mission of
course. It would be too hard to keep
track of what you’re eating while on land,” Lee snorted. Janet sat in the chair listening to the two
of them. She was glad she would be
aboard Seaview to see Chip pay off his bet.
“Okay Lee,” Chip replied as
he sat down on the other chair dreading their next mission already.
“Chip I do have one question. I didn’t want to ask when Mom was here as she
would want to know who Admiral Johnson is and I’m not ready to tell her about
that part of my life just yet. But who
did you get to impersonate me on the web cam?”
Chip looked at Janet who
answered, “Jason Weldon. He was the only
one that I thought could pass for you so I told the admiral to tell Admiral
Johnson to use Jason. I’m sorry we
really didn’t have much of a choice given the short notice. But after putting your uniform on him and
your ring, he really did look like you,” Janet replied.
“It was your idea to use
Jason?” Lee asked.
Chip piped up, “Yes Lee it
was her idea. None of us thought of him
but Janet and it did fool Mr. Davis.”
Lee looked proudly at his
wife. “Good thinking.” Maybe too good, she’s beginning to think
like a spy, he thought.
Lee told them about the
island and how beautiful it was and that maybe they should go there when they
get some time off.
((()))
Tommy was driving Helen to
the airport and at the last minute the admiral decided to go with her. When they arrived at the terminal, Tommy
unloaded her luggage as the admiral helped her out of the car.
“Take care, Helen,” the
admiral told her as they waited for the sky cap to tag her luggage.
“You too Harry, please take
care of Lee and Janet. I finally
realized how lucky I am to have a daughter-in-law that loves Lee as much as I
do.”
“You’re so right,” the
admiral said grinning and gave her a kiss good bye. I love them both too, the admiral
thought.
((()))
Janet stayed with Lee at
Lee was well enough that
Jamie released him a day early. “If you stay at home and rest for a couple more
days, I will release you for light duty at the office only. No running down to Seaview, climbing
in torpedo tubes or under consoles,” Jamie told them when they were ready to
leave. “I’ll check on you tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Jamie,” Lee said as
he knew Janet wouldn’t let him do anything anyway.
When they got home Janet helped
him upstairs, and into bed. Just the
exertion of leaving
“Everything alright,” he asked
sensing something might be wrong.
Janet went over to the bed
and took the box out of her pocket.
“What’s this for?” she replied as she handed it to him.
“I forgot all about that,”
Lee said grinning, “I bought it for you as a peace offering in case you were still
mad at me. Did you open it?”
“Yes, I’m sorry I didn’t know
what it was,” Janet answered. “Sorry if I ruined your surprise.”
“No sweetie, I’m sorry. I will never threaten to take you off Seaview
again,” Lee responded taking the bracelet out of the box and putting it on her
wrist.
Janet climbed on the bed and
laid next to him after giving him a kiss.
“Thank you.”
“Just one more thing,” Lee
said staring at the bedroom door.
“What would that be,” Janet
responded noticing him staring at the door.
“As soon as I’m able, I’m
taking the lock off that door. I don’t
ever want to be locked out of here again,” he stated.
“Okay Lee. I never want to
lock you out again,” she said quietly.
Now what about the pajamas?”
“We won’t need those either,”
he replied mischievously giving her a kiss on the forehead then pulled her
closer to him.
The End.
* See story “Harassed”
Thank you Christy for your
invaluable help.