Sensory
Overload
Part
Three – Return of the Ox
By
R. L. Keller
“Peace is the result of retraining your mind to
process life as it is, rather than as you think it should be.” Wayne W. Dyer
(I’ve been asked multiple times when Lee is going to
marry Becca. NEVER. Good friends are essential, but my ‘boys’
will remain single and available 😊) Story presented for the Contest Picture
“Forest”.
Just as
Dr. R. Lynn Radiwan’s last client left her office this Wednesday afternoon, her
secretary buzzed her. “Yes, Melissa?”
she answered tiredly. The last couple of
weeks had been complicated and exhausting, and she was really hoping
that none of her patients was having a crisis.
“Your
favorite sailor is on line one,” the woman teased her. By now, everyone in the office was well aware
of the psychologist’s special friend.
She called
her secretary something slightly rude, they both laughed, and she hit the right
button. “Hey, sailor, long time no
hear.”
“Been out
to sea longer than planned,” came back a little flatter than Lee’s usual light
tones to her and it pricked her interest.
But she carefully kept her tone light.
“Visiting
Beverly Beach?” She mentioned the
B&B run by friends of Lee’s, where they’d first met.*
“Actually,
didn’t want you to call the cops when you get home. I, ah, sort of let myself in. I was really hoping that you hadn’t changed
the electronic codes.”
“Humm. That particular code number means something
to me, and I wasn’t in the mood to try and remember a new one. But the security company I hired said that
they were putting in the best locks they had.”
She worked to keep her voice full of laughter, and had a moment of
relief when Lee almost answered in kind.
“Specialized
training,” Lee managed to tease.
“Ah, those
missions.” She immediately changed her
tone when Lee groaned and added a disgruntled snort. “Are you alright?” she asked seriously.
“Sort of
depends on your definition of all right.”
There was a slight pause between the carefully spoken last two words,
but that was followed by half a chuckle.
“You’ll find a five-dollar bill on your kitchen counter.” That was in reference to a time she’d maneuvered
him into telling her about an extremely unpleasant time in his life.**
“I’d
better…” She cut off telling him that
she’d better find him there as well.
But he
seemed to read her mind. “Yeah, I’ll be
here. At least through the weekend. If you’ll have me. Not sure I’m very good company at the
moment. Not sure why I…”
Her turn
to read minds. “You came because we’re
friends, and you know that you can talk to me.
About anything.” Her voice held
honest sincerity. “Just don’t drink all
the scotch before I get home,” she added, an order in her voice. “I haven’t had the most wonderful couple of
weeks, either.”
It caused
him to chuckle softly. “I’ll save you a
few swallows.”
“You’d
better, sailor,” and she laughed softly, too.
“Be home in about an hour.” They
both hung up.
Lee did
pour himself half a glass of the amber liquor from the half-full bottle he
found in one of the kitchen cupboards.
Leaving the bottle on the counter, he tucked the promised money under it
and settled into one of the living room chairs.
He’d meant
what he’d told Admiral Nelson at the Monastery; his mind was so full of
thoughts, most of them contradictory to each other, that he couldn’t think
straight. He just knew that he had to
get away, to some place where he could lose himself for long enough to figure
out how he wanted to go forward with his life.
He figured that it was fate that sent him to Becca.
He’d
settled FS1 into her alternate berth at NIMR and left the grounds as fast as he
could. He only went to his office long
enough to grab his car keys and tell his secretary that he would be gone for a
while. He figured that Nelson had called
Angie because she merely nodded at him as he passed her desk outside Nelson’s
office and told him to have a good time on vacation. With no thoughts of where he wanted to go
he’d driven home, quickly threw things into two suitcases, and took a taxi to
the airport. That’s where fate entered
the picture – the next flight out had originated in LA, was making stops in
Santa Barbara, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon before its final destination
of Seattle, WA, and there was a seat available.
He thought about calling ahead, but in the end had left his cell phone
and all I.D. except passport, driver’s license, and two credit cards at
home. Once he landed in Portland he rented
a car, drove to Becca’s house and, as he’d told her, let himself in. He finally realized that she’d probably freak
out, finding a strange car in her driveway, and called her office.
Now he
stretched out, nursing the strong alcohol.
He had no idea what Nelson would have told Chip to explain why Lee had
left early. Nor, at that exact moment,
did he particularly care. Chaos! His mind was so scrambled that he wasn’t sure
he could even be civil to Becca. Another
sip and he acknowledged that, if there was anyone right now who could
unscramble his brain it was her, and sent her a silent toast. He wasn’t sure that he could even make enough
sense that she didn’t immediately pack him off to the nearest funny farm. And she’d probably have every right,
he told himself as he angrily drained the glass. Berating himself, he got up and poured out
another two fingers. But he studiously
made that last. There was still half an
inch left as he met her at the door when she got home a good 15 minutes faster
than she’d said.
She gave
him a long hug and then glanced at the glass still in his hand. “My second, only,” he told her, a small smirk
on his face, although it morphed fairly quickly into half a frown.
“Good,”
she gave him a small punch. “After the last
couple of weeks I’ve had, I need it more than you do.”
“Doubt
that,” Lee said softly to her back as she headed to change clothes. Returning by way of the kitchen and now
wearing a soft t-shirt and sweat pants instead of the suit she’d worn to work,
she pocketed the money, poured out half a glass for herself, and settled into
the chair across from him.
“Gad,” she
muttered mostly to herself and took her own long swallow, drinking about half
of what she’d poured. Easily reading
Lee, something she kept to herself for the most part because she’d realized
very early in their friendship that it made him uncomfortable, she focused on
herself – well, sort of. She hoped that
if she started a conversation Lee would relax.
Even stretched out as he was, his body language radiated stress. “I love my job,” she started, and let out a
long sigh. “I love helping people get
through whatever challenges life happens to be throwing at them at any given
moment.” She studiously ignored Lee,
pretending not to notice the glare he sent her that he immediately tried to
hide behind taking a sip from his glass.
“But every so often there’s a period of time where all I seem to get are
whines that the suggestions I make aren’t working; that problems are getting
worse, not better. I get frustrated
because I know they aren’t being honest with me. They aren’t really trying to help themselves;
they just want that fifty minutes to whine that everything is someone else’s
problem, not that they, themselves, are causing ninety-nine percent of the
issues.” She signed heavily again and
took another sip of her drink. “One or
two a week I can handle. But the last
two weeks, I swear, it was every other person who walked through my door.” She saw Lee flinch and hurried on. “David said the same thing.” Becca shared a practice with another
psychologist, David Bassett. “Is Mercury
in Retrograde or something? The world’s
gone crazy!” When Lee only shrugged she
immediately changed the subject. “What
kind of pizza do you like? I’m starving, there’s nothing in the house to fix
because I haven’t had a chance to go grocery shopping, and I’m not changing clothes
to go out!”
Lee
finally sent her a small grin. “Double
meat pepperoni, sausage, and green pepper,” he told her, the smile
spreading. “On a standard crust.”
“Gawd,”
she drawled. Actually, that didn’t sound
half bad, but she decided that needling Lee was probably a better option at the
moment than asking him why he was here.
She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, scrolled through her
contacts, and punched a button, also hitting the ‘hands free’ button.
“Bruno’s
Pizza,” was spoken briskly after two rings.
“Maria?”
It’s Lynn Radiwan.” Lee was reminded
that she used her middle name for work, plus her mother’s maiden name, after
all the hassles she’d had with her ex-husband.
“Hey,
Doc. How goes the shrink business?” was
said with laughter in the pleasant voice.
“Far too
busy, I’m afraid. I was just telling my
friend that I think Mercury must be in Retrograde.”
That was
met with giggles. “Ain’t that the
truth. Your usual, Doc?”
“No. Well,” Becca paused, “sort of. A large regular crust, only half the Hawaiian
with extra pineapple…” She had to bury
her own giggle at the face Lee sent her.
“The other half is double meat pepperoni, sausage, and green
pepper. Is your youngest son
delivering?” Lee raised an eyebrow.
“Nope,
he’s got a hot date. So he says. It will be Anthony.”
“Good. Andrew isn’t old enough to also bring a
six-pack of your husband’s best homemade beer.”
That got
another round of giggles from the woman.
“On its way in a jiffy, Doc,” and both hung up.
“You been
talking to Chip?” Lee asked. When Becca
merely looked at him, he told her, “Chip says you can’t properly eat pizza
without beer.”
“Great
minds, and all that,” she said with a flip of her head, and then laughed. “How’s the…what do you call him, the
bottomless pit?” She immediately wished
that she’d kept her mouth shut as Lee’s expression went blank, but he covered
quickly.
“Still
that,” he told her. “At the moment he’s
bringing Seaview home from Central America.
The Admiral had a…project there.”
Becca didn’t say anything, and Lee sent her a shy half-smile. “I got told to take some time off,” came out
low, but he sent her another smile, “and the first plane out of Santa Barbara
was headed here.” His shy smile came
back.
“Works for
me,” she told him. “I’m in definite need
of thinking about something besides work.”
Again she wondered if she’d said the wrong thing, as Lee’s expression
once more turned slightly dark. But
something made her continue. “So, how
much time do you have? When do you have
to be back at work?”
“When I’m
da…darned good and ready,” came out hard as Lee launched himself out of the
chair, and then stood with his back to her.
“If ever,” he added, and glanced at her over his shoulder. “Right now, I…” He just shook his head.
“Bad week
for you, too?” she asked softly. “I did
wonder about the five dollars.”
He turned
and settled back into the chair. “Bad
bunch of weeks.”
She sent
him a smile. “We’ll have something in
common,” she told him, and drained her glass.
“I’d better go grab my purse. The
pizza place isn’t that far away.” As Lee
reached for his wallet she pointed a finger at him. “Don’t you dare,” she ordered, and then
grinned. “You can get the next one.”
The pizza
was hot and delicious, and the beer was cold and delicious. They talked sparingly, each eating more than
they probably should have. Lee,
especially, hadn’t realized that he was so hungry until the pizza box was
opened between them at the kitchen table.
Becca watched with amusement as he polished off the next to last slice
of his half, and then pushed himself back with a groan.
“Been a
while since you ate, sailor?” she teased.
Lee had to
think about that as he drank the last of his second beer. “Ah, dinner, last night?” He frowned.
“Was it only last night?” came out almost to himself. Before she could say anything, he was unable
to cut off a huge yawn that ended in a loud burp. They both ended up laughing, he somewhat
bashfully. “Sleep has, unfortunately,
been in even shorter supply.”
“Trust me,
I have no intentions of staying up to watch the late news,” she quipped. “Five am comes way too soon.” She got up, snagged some aluminum foil, and
wrapped up the last of the pizza. Once
that and the rest of the beer were in the fridge, she tossed the pizza box in
the trash. “I so love this kind of
‘doing the dishes’. I know that you know
where the guest room is because I already saw your bags there.” She sent him a bright smile.
“At least
I can walk there myself this time,” he told her, in reference to the first
night he’d spent in her house.** He
groaned again as he stood up. “Maybe,”
he told her. But he didn’t move that
direction. Instead, he just stood there
for several seconds before walking over to the fridge and snagging one of the
remaining beers. Once he’d popped the
top, he settled back into the living room chair.
Becca
remained quiet until he sat, then leaned on the counter between the two
rooms. “Would you rather have the rest
of the scotch?”
Lee sent
her a shy smile. “This doesn’t leave as
bad a hangover.”
“Depends
on how many you drink.” She told him.
She didn’t return the smile, but neither did she frown.
“There’s
only one left.” His smile did increase
so she gave him half a one. They’d both
had two with the pizza.
“Nightmares?”
she asked gently, staying where she was.
She knew Lee well enough to know that he wouldn’t take being pushed into
a corner – in this case only figuratively, but with him it would be the same so
she continued to lean casually on the counter.
“If it
were only at night,” came out miserably.
Becca carefully didn’t react.
He’d come to her, and she didn’t totally buy the story of this being the
destination of the first flight he’d found.
He’d teased about the money, but they both knew that she’d been a major
part of helping him through some difficult issues in the past. “Lately,” he told the beer bottle, not
looking at her, “it’s been night, day, nearly 24/7.”
“Bummer.” He sent her a quick glare, but couldn’t hold
it as she sent him a kind smile. “I have
heard it described as ‘sitting within a circle of TV sets, each one tuned to a
different channel, and all of them blaring way too loud.”
Lee
thought about that for a bit, taking a sip of beer. “No,” he finally decided. “One TV, but hooked to so many different
channels that all you get is extremely loud static. A bit of this channel, a little bit of that
one, and absolutely nothing makes any sense.”
Her turn
to give that some thought before nodding.
“Sensory overload. So many
thoughts hitting all at once that the brain can’t process them in a logical
sequence.” She tried a smile. “I like your description better.”
“I suppose
that it has some long-winded name I couldn’t even hope to pronounce,” came out
in a low growl.
She
shrugged. “TMI – too much information,” she
said with a quirky grin.
“Any
suggestions for how to turn it off?”
“Actually,
I gave it to you when we first met.” He
sent her a look of total noncomprehension and her smile increased, working hard
to keep Lee as relaxed as possible. “One
question at a time. One ‘voice’ at a
time.”
“I don’t
even know where to start,” he told her miserably.
She
shrugged. “That’s why vacations were
invented. See you in the morning,” and
she headed for her own bedroom. He
hadn’t moved when she returned several minutes later with a small bottle of
pills. She couldn’t remember ever seeing
that particularly fierce expression on his face. “Chill,” she told him, and held up the
bottle. The label read ‘Melatonin’. “A natural supplement known for helping the
brain calm down. Doesn’t always
work.” She shrugged. “Sometimes it does. Definitely doesn’t hurt to try. Totally safe, non-addictive. Doesn’t interfere with any other meds you
might be on.” The fierce look came
back. “You left arm hurts; I noticed it
when you were picking up a slice of pizza.”
Lee’s eyes
dropped unconsciously to his left forearm.
“Minor owee,” he looked back up and sent Becca one of his sheepish
looks. She tossed the bottle softly to
him and he purposely caught it left-handed.
They both chuckled and she headed once more to her room.
Lee set
the bottle on the end table next to his chair and glared at it with extreme
skepticism. On the other hand he’d
learned to trust Becca, and knew that she would never intentionally cause him
harm. He finally picked up the bottle
and read the directions. While still a
nonbeliever, he took one 5mg pill with the last swallow of beer, but continued
to sit, staring blindly into the empty beer bottle.
* * * *
He awoke
to soft humming and the smell of coffee, and it took him extra seconds to
remember where he was.
“Can’t
imagine that’s the most restful night of sleep you’ve ever gotten,” filtered
through the haze and he discovered Becca in the kitchen, dressed for work.
“At least
it was sleep,” he told her, stood up, and headed for the coffee pot.
“There’s
half a bagel and a little cream cheese in the fridge,” she told him with an
apologetic shrug. “Told you I haven’t
had time to go shopping.”
“There’s
pizza,” he mumbled around downing his first mugful of coffee practically in one
long gulp, “unless you already ate it.”
He sent her a smirk and got an instant glare back before they both
grinned.
“I’ll stop for a few things on my way home
tonight,” she told him as she turned and grabbed up her keys.
“Where’s
the best place to shop?” he sent at her back, and she stopped and turned. “It will give me something to focus on,” he
told her with one of his shy smiles.
She
nodded, gave him directions to where she usually shopped, and headed out. She’d made a full pot of coffee and only drank
one cup herself. Lee polished the rest
off before taking a shower. On dry land
he enjoyed the luxury of taking his time, letting the water wash away more than
just too many hours in the same clothes.
It wouldn’t last – the memories would all too soon invade. But for this little bit he could put them at
bay and try to relax.
Once
dressed, he prowled through Becca’s cupboards, freezer, and fridge, making a
mental note of what was there. At the
store he ambled up and down each aisle.
He picked up things he usually stocked in his own house, plus
ingredients for things he’d seen Becca eat in the past. With a grin and a nod in the direction of
Beverly Beach, he also gathered together the ingredients for the seafood pasta
dish that Annie Hughes had taught him how to make the first time he visited she
and Tim; in addition to the fact that it was absolutely delicious, it was a bit
of a reminder that that’s when he and Becca had first met.
The
supermarket was part of a large mall.
Once the car was loaded, Lee drove through to see what else was there,
and two places caught his attention. The
first was a liquor store, where he replaced Becca’s nearly depleted scotch with
two bottles of fine Glenlivet, one of the Admiral’s favorite brands. That thought gave him a painful moment but he
willed it away, and also picked up a couple six-packs of beer.
His other
stop was at an electronics store. He had
to get a little rude with the salesman who insisted that Lee needed the most
up-to-date – and therefore most expensive – cell phone with all the bells and
whistles, plus unlimited usage options.
The man wasn’t at all pleased when Lee insisted on the cheapest model,
with no GPS and limited service. He’d
purposely left his own phone at home so that Chip – and therefore Nelson –
couldn’t track him down. But he quickly
realized that being totally without instant communication wasn’t the smartest
thing he’d ever done. He did have to
admit to himself – grudgingly – that leaving in the first place wasn’t all that
smart, either. But one issue at a time
was all that he could manage at the moment.
And barely that!
As he put
all the groceries away, drinking the last of Becca’s beer and restocking the
fridge with what he’d bought, he let himself ponder what Nelson might have told
Chip. Nelson wouldn’t lie. No way.
But Lee was pretty sure that the Admiral would have phrased his comments
so as not to upset and/or worry the blond.
A ticked off Chip was not someone you wanted to be stuck on a
submarine with for the two days it would take Seaview to get home. Now that the ball bearing housing was fixed,
Lee figured that Chip would waste little time returning to Santa Barbara so
that everyone could go on their belated Leave.
That would put them home no later than 1800 hours the next day,
Friday. Lee knew that Chip was supposed
to head for his parents’ farm so that would, hopefully, keep him from worrying
about his absent friend for a couple of weeks.
Lee hadn’t heard what plans Nelson might have, mostly because he’d
barely talked to his boss since leaving the Majuro Atoll. One mess at a time, he told himself,
organized what he’d need for the pasta, salad, and garlic French bread he
planned to have ready for dinner when Becca got home, and took a long walk.
* * * *
It was just
as well that he didn’t know what happened when Nelson returned to Seaview after
seeing Lee at the Monastery. Chip’s
immediate response, while surprised that Lee hadn’t returned with Nelson,
wasn’t too bad. He even teased Jamie a
bit about having gotten a little over-zealous “kicking Lee’s backside off NIMR
property.” Will, of course, knew nothing
about Lee’s having left until told by Nelson when Lee didn’t appear for
lunch. But ‘something’ in the OOM’s
expression had Chip leaving Lt. James with the Conn for half an hour after the
meal and searching Lee’s cabin. Lee had
only taken the small backpack with him that morning and Chip discovered that,
with the exception of the one uniform he was wearing, everything that indicated
Lee’s service to Seaview and NIMR remained, while every one of Lee’s personnel
items he liked to have aboard, which admittedly weren’t many but included
several pictures and a small paperweight he used on his desk, were
missing. Lee always kept some civilian
clothes aboard and they, too, were missing.
That in particular puzzled the blond because there hadn’t been that much
in the backpack, meaning Lee had cleared that out in the short time they’d been
home before leaving for Central America.
Chip
pondered just what might be going on, but chose to keep his thoughts to
himself. He could tell that Nelson was
trying to put on a good front for everyone else, but wasn’t overly happy
himself with current events. Will seemed
pleased that Lee was taking some time off, and even the crew seemed to be
breathing a little easier now that they weren’t subject to the tension between
OOM and CO that hadn’t been kept completely quiet, no matter how hard the pair
had tried to outwardly cover it up.
* * * *
When Becca
opened the front door Thursday after another rotten day at work she was met
with a combination of smells that included garlic and seafood, and for a moment
just stood there with her eyes closed, inhaling, until she heard Lee chuckle. “Coffee, beer, scotch, or white wine?” he
asked, standing in her kitchen.
She
finished walking in and closing the door.
“Not much of either scotch or beer left.”
Lee sent
her his sheepish grin. “Replenished
both,” he admitted. She looked over the
counter to see a pot of noodles just starting to cook, and a creamy sauce in a
skillet in which she could just make out bits of shrimp, scallops, and some
kind of white fish barely simmering.
Most of the garlic smell was coming from the oven. “Garlic bread,” he explained as she glanced
that direction. “Everything will be
ready by the time you change and set the table,” he added with a little
smirk. “I prefer my white wine chilled,
but…” He sent her a raised eyebrow.
“Me, too,”
she told him, and headed to change.
Her turn
to groan as she pushed away from the table later. Lee had cooked the noodles only about
two-thirds done and let them finish in the seafood sauce, soaking up all the
flavors including what Becca discovered were small chunks of both crab meat and
cod besides the shrimp and scallops. The
accompanying salad was a simple toss of butter lettuce, sliced radishes and
croutons, plus slivered almonds for crunch, finished with a light Italian
dressing.
“No
dessert,” Lee told her, “but I did grab a couple different kinds of cookies
from the bakery department.” He laughed
out loud at the glare she sent him, before together they cleaned up the
kitchen. The only leftovers were some of
the garlic bread. Becca had demanded the
recipe, and laughed as Lee explained that there wasn’t really one; that Annie
had merely shown Lee how to put it together, and left portions to be dictated
by how many were planning to be served.
As the
night before, they hadn’t talked much while eating, but once they settled in
the living room, he with beer and she with wine, she let out a long sigh. “Another bad day?” he asked carefully.
“Had its
moments,” she told him before giving him a long look. “You really aren’t going back to work
Monday?”
“NO!” came
out stronger than Lee intended, and he lowered his eyes. “No,” came out softer. “Definitely not next week and…” He buried what was trying to come out, that
he might not ever return to work at NIMR.
“Why?” came out very controlled, as was the look he sent her.
“One of
David’s patients…” She sent him a small
grin. “He’s the father of an old school
friend of mine, so I don’t see him,” she explained. “But I usually at least say Hi when he comes
in.” Lee nodded. “Anyway, he has a cabin just outside some of
the national forest south of Mt. Hood.”
She chuckled. “The term ‘cabin’
is a tad misleading. The place has every
modern convenience known to mankind, all powered by solar panels. He calls it his hunting lodge.” She laughed outright. “The only thing he and his buddies hunt for
is the next bottle of beer.” They both
grinned broadly. “David’s bugging me to
take some time off.” She sent Lee her
own sheepish grin. “He was already
mentioning it, but now that he knows you’re here…” They sent each other shy grins. “Long story short I, or rather we, have the
cabin starting Saturday if we want it.”
Lee
concentrated on his beer for a bit. He’d
actually thought about heading to his friend Pete’s cabin*** as he’d flown FS1
home from Ocho Negra. But he’d quickly
rejected that idea; both Chip and Nelson knew where it was. “Does it have cell service?” came out in a
bit of a grump.
“Unfortunately,”
Becca answered in kind, but she sent him a smile as she continued. “The office will deny any knowledge of my
whereabouts until further notice. As
well as yours,” she added as Lee continued to frown. He did finally send her a shy smile at her
next comment. “The five dollars takes
care of that small detail.”
“I bought
plenty of food.”
“And
there’s a small country store not that far away.”
Lee sighed
heavily. “Not sure how good company I’ll
be.” He looked at her. “So far…”
He sighed again.
She
shrugged. “We can take both cars,” she
suggested. When Lee didn’t answer, she
continued. “Look, Lee. I don’t know what you’re dealing with right
now.” She raised a hand as he would have
started to answer. “And I don’t need to,
beyond anything you choose to share.
Trust me, I have a few things going on in my own life that I’m not
overly anxious to deal with, although at some point I’ll have to, I guess. The cabin is huge, and surrounded by enough
forest that we don’t even have to see each other all week.” Lee sent her a sheepish half-grin, and she
returned it.
“No
seagulls for you to scream at,” he teased her.
She
shrugged. “Lots of Steller Jays. They’ll do.”
She hesitated as Lee all but choked on the swallow of beer he’d just
taken. “What!” But Lee merely looked at her practically
through his eyelashes. “Humm,” she
muttered. “Something else I need to
wheedle out of you at some point.”
“Something
else?”
“Yeah. I haven’t forgotten that little comment
concerning what your fourth-grade teacher was interrogating you about.”**
“You
weren’t supposed to remember that,” he told her sheepishly.
“Harrumph,”
she sent him a glare. Lee instantly
frowned at one of Nelson’s frequent mutterings, but it disappeared just as
quickly. “Lots of trees for you to slam
your fist into, and pine cones to throw,” Becca changed tactics with a bright
smile. It changed to a chuckle as Lee
let out an exaggerated groan.
“How long
a drive?” he finally asked. “Or walk, if
we only take one rig?”
Becca
chuckled again. “About three hours. But I have a meeting tomorrow, right after
work, so I won’t get home until well after eight. Don’t wait on me for dinner; the group meets at
one of the local restaurants.”
“The rest
of the pizza,” Lee told her.
“We can
both get a good night’s sleep…” Lee
pointed an eyebrow at her. “Hopefully,”
she added, and he nodded, “and leave first thing Saturday morning.”
Lee sent
her a look. “Your ‘first thing’, as I
recall, is usually five am.”
She
shrugged. “So second thing –
seven-ish.” Lee nodded and they both
smiled.
* * * *
“Am I
going to have to take away your driver’s license?” Nelson tried to tease Chip
as Seaview settled into her berth shortly after 1300 hours Friday. “Something about excessive speed?”
Chip
straightened to Attention. “Just testing
the new ball bearing housing, sir.”
There were muffled chuckles from several directions in the Conn.
“Uh-huh,”
Nelson drawled. But understanding Chip’s
tactics only too well, he happily aided and abetted. “Obviously Lt. O’Brien and his team did their
usual fine repair work.”
“Yes,
sir,” came back crisply.
Nelson
chuckled and Chip relaxed. Almost. “Shore Leave assignments?” Nelson asked his
XO.
“All crew
will be off-base by 2000 hours. Base
Maintenance and Security have been notified.
I’ll have the final list on your desk first thing in the morning.”
Nelson
sent him a look. “That Leave schedule
better include you, Mister.”
Chip
ducked his head but grinned. “My flight
to the folks’ place leaves just after 1000 hours tomorrow, sir,” he told his
boss. Nelson grinned and gave Chip’s
shoulder a quick, light, backhand.
“And don’t
be in a hurry getting back,” he ordered.
“After the last few weeks we all need to unwind.”
“Yes,
sir. I’ve given the entire crew two
weeks, knowing that we don’t have another cruise scheduled for just over
three.”
“Excellent,”
Nelson told him.
“I’ll
probably be back in about ten days,” he hesitated, “unless I need to come back
sooner.” He sent his boss a look.
Nelson
knew what Chip was implying; Seaview’s timetables had a way of shifting at a
moment’s notice. And that wasn’t even
taking into account Lee’s absence. “A
full two weeks for you as well,” Nelson told him firmly. “After what we’ve been through, Seaview’s
going nowhere until I say so.”
“Yes,
sir. Ah…” He hesitated.
“When is Lee due back, sir?”
Nelson
knew that Chip caught the pain that instantly hit his face before he could
cover it up. “Afraid that he’ll get back
and catch you napping?” he tried to tease, but his voice betrayed his feelings.
Nonetheless,
Chip recognized Nelson’s ploy as by now the whole Conn crew was listening, and
he once more came to Attention. “Would
never let that happen, sir,” came out firmly.
Nelson’s answering chuckle was a bit lackluster, but he once more
backhanded his XO’s shoulder, and left the boat.
It took
Chip until nearly 1530 hours to get all of his reports and paperwork done, turn
the boat over to the Base crew, and head home.
But his first stop was at Lee’s.
He really didn’t expect to find Lee there, but wanted to check
anyway. He’d tried calling both the
house phone and Lee’s cell once Seaview docked, but had only gotten voicemail
on both. A quick check of the garage
showed Lee’s little red sportscar safely inside. After getting no answer to a quick knock,
Chip used his key to enter Lee’s beach house.
That Lee
had indeed come home was evident by the uniform Chip found discarded on the
bedroom floor. “Yep, Lee was ticked,”
Chip muttered softly, and picked it up and draped it over the back of a
chair. The small backpack had been
tossed on the bed, and Chip found the items Lee had taken from his cabin on
Seaview inside. As he walked past the
dresser on his way to check the bathroom he spotted Lee’s cell phone laying on
top, along with all of Lee’s NIMR identification. A word Chip hardly ever used slipped
out. “Lee, if you’ve taking an ONI
mission…” came out in a harsh growl. But
he finally shook that off. All things
considered, ONI would be the very last place Lee would have headed. Just in case, Chip checked Lee’s gun safe but
nothing seemed to be missing. What was
missing was toiletries from the bathroom, a fair amount of clothes, and both of
Lee’s suitcases; the bigger one he checked when flying, and his smaller
carry-on. With a grin, Chip sat down and
pulled up a number on his own cell phone.
“Spindrift
Inn,” sounded after the second ring in Annie Hughes’ pleasant tones.
“Hey,
Annie, it’s Chip. How’s business?”
“Crazy,”
came back in a huff before she chuckled.
“But the Driftwood room upstairs is free if you’re planning a visit.”
“Actually,
Annie, I was wondering if a certain brunet had maybe showed up on your
doorstep.”
“Did you
misplace your captain? Shame on you,” she could barely get out around
continuing laughter. “Fine XO you are.”
Chip
played along, not wanting to cause trouble.
“Nah,” he told her. “Not really,
anyway. The whole crew’s on Leave. I’m headed to my parents’ place
tomorrow. Just wasn’t sure of Lee’s
plans, and wanted to touch base before I left.”
“Well,
haven’t seen hide nor hair of him. But
if he shows up, I’ll have him call you.”
“Thanks,
Annie. Appreciate it. Tell Tim I said Hi.”
“Will do,”
and they both hung up.
Chip sat
for a second and then walked over and picked up Lee’s cell, checking the
Contacts list. When he found what he
wanted, he punched the numbers into his own phone. After four rings a mechanical voice answered,
repeated the number dialed, and requested the caller to leave a message. “Dr. Radiwan, this is Chip Morton. Lee’s friend,” he added. “I seem to have misplaced him,” he continued
the tease he’d started with Annie. “If
you see him, could you have him give me a call?
Much appreciated,” and he hung up.
With no other ideas, he relocked Lee’s place and headed to his own
condo. He wondered if Lee had perhaps
headed up to his friend Pete’s cabin but the missing clothes didn’t really
indicate that as the destination. Besides
the fact that his car was still here, Lee usually only took jeans, t-shirts,
hiking boots, and his jogging clothes up there, and most of those things were
still in the drawers and closet. “Lee,
be safe,” he mumbled softly.
* * * *
When Lee
got back from a long walk, he noticed the flashing light on Becca’s answering
machine but ignored it as he cleaned up, then reheated the leftover pizza. He’d teased Becca about her half but admitted
that it wasn’t all that bad, that being most of what was left.
He was
busy packing up things to take to the cabin when Becca got home. “You bought all that yesterday?” she asked,
looking at the several boxes on the counter and kitchen table.
“Made
another trip this morning,” Lee admitted.
“That’s when I picked up the boxes.
Forgot to ask if you have a cooler for cold and frozen stuff so I picked
up that cheap one.” He pointed to the
floor under the kitchen table where he’d stashed the Styrofoam container.
“Just as
well. The last time I used mine it fell
out of my friend’s pickup and got dented so bad I’d be afraid to trust it.”
“Friend?” Lee sent her raised eyebrow, along with a
broad grin.
Her hands
landed on her hips. “I told you,” she
growled, “that one of my girlfriends’ parents own a ranch in Eastern
Oregon.” She finally grinned as Lee sent
her a sheepish nod, still grinning
Becca
headed to change out of her suit, but stopped when she saw the light blinking
on the answering machine. She stood
quietly, not reacting to the look on Lee’s face as they listened to Chip’s
message, a strange combination of anger, sorrow, and something she couldn’t
quite put her finger on – at least on this man’s face. It was, for all practical purposes, a look of
defeat. It wasn’t there long. Thankfully.
When he did finally look at her directly, everything had changed to
resignation. “Should I call him and lie
through my teeth?”
Lee
frowned. “Do you have his number?” he
asked softly. It was conceivable that
Chip had given it to her when they’d met.
“No,”
Becca told him.
“He didn’t
leave his number. If you call him now,
he’ll know you’ve seen me.”
“Sneaky,”
Becca teased, trying to break up the tension.
“But why didn’t he just call you?”
“Left my
cell at home. That’s probably how he got
your home number.”
She turned
to him and softened her voice. “Why?”
“All too
easy to track the GPS in newer phones.”
He saw her glance at the one at his waist. “Bought that here. A total cheapy, just to have it.”
“I wonder
why he called the house, and not the office or my cell?” Becca wondered out
loud.
Lee
lowered his head, giving her the shy look she so loved, and found so unexpected
on the face of a man of such immense responsibility. “Those numbers I have memorized,” he told her
softly, before looking back up. “I’m a
little careful who I actually put in the Contacts list. The house phone listing is under just
‘Becca.’ Friends like Chip would know
what it was, but no one else.” He sent
her a small smile.
“I gather
you’re good at numbers.” She laughed,
once more trying to relieve all the tension she still easily read in Lee’s body
language. “I have trouble remembering my
own cell phone number.”
“That’s
why you didn’t change the security alarm code,” Lee guessed.
“Got it,”
she agreed. She hesitated, then asked
carefully. “You going to call him? Despite the comment, I heard worry in his
voice.”
Lee
nodded. “So did I,” he admitted. “If everything stayed as planned, he’s headed
to his parents’ place tomorrow. You said
that there’s cell service at the cabin.
I’ll call him tomorrow night.
Maybe,” he added with a little smirk.
Becca didn’t challenge the tease, although she knew that the two men had
an extremely strong friendship. Right
now, Lee needed his friends more than ever.
But right now wasn’t the time for her to be pointing that out. She merely nodded and headed to change.
* * * *
They
didn’t get away by 7-ish. They’d started
to pack Becca’s Subaru with the non-perishables they were taking before Becca,
glancing at Lee’s rental, suggested that they return his car so he wouldn’t
have to pay for it sitting around unused all week. Lee countered that, with it sitting there, it
would look like someone was home.
Between Becca reminding him that not everyone could so easily break in
as he’d done – to which he’d sent her his shy smile – and Lee realizing that,
if he did leave NIMR he wasn’t sure when he’d have another paycheck, he
agreed. By the time they got back they
didn’t finish all the packing before they both decided to get some sleep. Neither in any great hurry to get up Saturday
morning, they finished packing and finally left closer to 8:30. Lee grinned as he had to remind himself that
landlubber meant ‘o’clock’ time, not ‘hours’ time, and got a laugh from Becca
when he had to explain the soft grin.
All Lee
could do was stare when Becca turned off the small country road into a long
gravel driveway and stopped briefly in front of a two-story building almost
three hours later. She’d insisted on
driving so that Lee could enjoy the scenery.
Yes, the ‘cabin’ was built of logs.
But anything resembling ‘rustic’ was instantly disguised by its large
size. Decks surrounded the cabin on
three sides, Lee saw as Becca continued around and parked in the back. The front of the cabin faced Mt. Hood, with
sweeping forest in between. The center
part of the front had been extended out, creating an enhanced view. Where they parked in the back, the forest
fell slightly away down a gradual hill.
There weren’t any large windows in back, but enough to let in a fair
amount of light. And with the wide
porch, one section at the other end from where they parked screened in, there
was still grand views in all directions.
From this back side solar panels could be seen on the roof, as well as a
cleverly mounted and partially disguised satellite dish.
Becca
grinned as she got out of the car. “Told
you that it wasn’t exactly a simple mountain cabin.”
“Eesh,”
was all that Lee could manage at that point, and followed her inside.
They
entered by way of a covered area off the back porch, and Becca pointed to their
right. “You can have that bedroom if you
want. It’s the master, with both a tub
and a shower. I prefer one of the two
bedrooms upstairs, also each with its own bathroom.”
“Less
chance up there of getting eaten by a bear,” Lee teased. She slugged him – half-heartedly to be sure –
and they continued into the Great Room at the front, with its glorious
views. A huge stone fireplace on their
right had been converted to electric but was still extremely realistic. To the left was a dining area separated from
the kitchen beyond with a counter and bar stools. Beyond the kitchen, towards the back, was a
breakfast nook that joined the covered part of the porch by a sliding
door. Between there and where they
entered was a utility/laundry area, a half bath, and stairs leading up to the
second story. There Lee found a lounge
area in the back, the front open to the ground floor, with large bedrooms on
either side. Becca called the lounge a
quiet retreat area, nodding toward the several large bookcases. Even though it was a bit back from the front
of the house, another section of large windows enhanced the view toward the
mountain.
“Like I
said,” she told Lee, “except for the kitchen it’s easily divided into two
large, peaceful, spaces.”
“Trying to
hide from me already,” Lee smarted back.
She took
another swing at him, which he easily avoided, and they both laughed before she
sent him a look. “You’re not the only
one who needs time to think.”
He reached
out a hand. “Something besides work,” he
guessed quietly, but not making it a question.
She
nodded, but then shrugged. “We’d better
get the car unloaded. That cooler you
bought will only keep things from spoiling just so long.” Lee sent her another look but allowed the
diversion, and they spent the next hour getting settled in.
After a
simple lunch of soup and sandwiches they took off for a hike, Becca pointing
out the trails and where there were other cabins and houses in the area, but
all hidden from their cabin. Most of the
trails headed deeper into the forest toward the mountain. Becca told him that somewhere in the cabin
there was a rudimentary map of the area showing the trails and houses, to keep
guests from getting too lost. Lee agreed
to how easily that could happen, as thick as the forest and underbrush was,
especially the deeper they walked. For
this day they stuck to the main trail leading away from the cabin and toward
the mountain. While Becca was somewhat
familiar with the area, neither wanted to take the chance of getting turned
around. And even that trail, while
seemingly well-used, was quiet and peaceful, relaxing them both.
Becca
hadn’t exaggerated when she’d told Lee that the cabin was well-equipped. From smokeless electric grill and microwave
in the kitchen, along with pretty much every appliance a person might dream of
having, to the converted, no-maintenance, fireplace, the cabin would have fit
right into any expensive community. The
satellite dish served not only a huge flat-screen TV in the lounge area, but
also smaller ones in each bedroom. The
stereo system was spectacular, with ways to pipe it to every room. Or not, depending on who did or did not want
to listen, and included CD’s of every style of music from hard rock to grand
opera. Lee could only shake his head
when he found at least a dozen of the CD’s Chip liked to listen to, to relax –
ones that used soft classical music to a variety of background sounds including
birds, streams, waterfalls, ocean waves, and other nature ‘music.’ Lee pointed an eyebrow at Becca.
“You’d
mentioned them in passing, I think when we were at the Visitor’s Center on
Hurricane Ridge that time, when you found out they had one based on sounds of
the park.” Lee nodded that he
remembered. “When I got to looking I
actually found quite a few, in different styles.” Lee nodded again – Chip also liked ones with
light jazz as the music choice. “I find
them ever so relaxing…”
“So do I,”
Lee admitted. He frowned slightly. “When I have the time to listen to them.”
“I bought
a bunch, some for home, some for the office, and brought duplicates up
here.” She grinned. “I seriously doubt that Clay and his gang of
‘hunter friends’ care for them, but his wife mentioned that when she and her
friends, or K.C., their daughter, come up, they do enjoy them.” She’d pronounced the letters individually,
wanting Lee to understand that she’d not meant ‘Casey’, and Lee raised the
expected eyebrow. “Kelsey Charlene. She can’t stand either one of them.” They both laughed.
“Better
than a whale shark researcher we had aboard once,” Lee told her. “Myrtle Lysandra.”+ Becca shuddered. “Yeah,” Lee agreed. “She went by Sandy.”
“Gee,
can’t imagine why,” and they both chuckled again.
But
thoughts of that trip invaded Lee’s quiet evening as they both sat downstairs
after a simple dinner of grilled steaks and baked potatoes. Seaview had lost a crewman on that cruise,
too, although before the researcher had come aboard. He had no idea of how hard he was holding his
glass of scotch until Becca’s voice penetrated his dark mood.
“If you
break it, not only will it make a mess, but the shards could leave nasty
cuts.” He looked at her and she pointed
to his hand, fingers turning white from how hard he was gripping the glass.
“So…” he
started to tell her ‘sorry’ and stopped just in time. Becca hated that word.
She
chuckled at the shy grin he sent her instead but decided to sidetrack whatever
his brain was being tormented with.
“It’s after 7 o’clock; depending on how far East Chip is…” She didn’t finish as Lee nodded and pulled
out his cell phone.
He hesitated
before punching in Chip’s cell phone number.
While this phone had no GPS, the number would still register on Chip’s
phone and give the blond a way to phone back.
Instead, he punched in the Morton house phone. While that phone had caller I.D., Lee was
hoping that Chip would be sidetracked enough not to write down the number. He got lucky when Chip’s mom answered. “Hello?”
“Hi,
Mother M.,” Lee tried to keep his voice light.
“How goes your end of the world?”
“Oh, Lee,
hello. And all’s well here. Well,” she chuckled, “as well as can be with
a house full of children, sons-in-law, and assorted grandchildren. Come join the party.”
Lee
laughed. The Morton household was rarely
quiet, even now that the kids were grown and had families of their own. The two oldest girls didn’t live that far
away, and they and the grandkids visited often. “Sorry, Mother M. As much as I enjoy your cooking, I’ve found a
nice quiet spot to unwind.”
“Can I
come there?” she laughed, before getting a bit more serious. “Chip mentioned that things have been a
bit…hectic.”
“That’s
one word for it,” came out a little harsh, and he took a deep breath. “Is the rotten blond around?”
She
laughed. “Nope. The little kids are in the rec room watching
a movie and the big kids went to another friend’s place for a bar-be-que. They should be back before long.”
“No
biggy,” Lee hurried to tell her. “Just
tell Chip I called.”
“Will
do. Sure you aren’t coming? The pie cherries are ripe.” They both laughed, remembering why that
particular fruit made Lee blush and Chip giggle.++
“Thanks,”
Lee told her. “But not this time.” After good-byes they both hung up.
“Mother
M.?” Becca asked.
Lee
nodded. “Chip’s mom. She’s my Mother M., and my mom is Chip’s
Mother C.”
“You two
are closer than I realized.” Lee merely
nodded. “Why the blush?” Becca couldn’t
resist prodding.
The blush,
which had left, came back. While not
necessarily wanting to explain, it gave Lee an excuse to think about something
other than dead crewmen. He frowned when
Becca burst into hysterical laughter as he got to the part about the friendly
cow, but it didn’t last and he finally smiled and nodded. He left out trying to eat a fresh pie cherry;
some things Becca didn’t need to know.
“Humm,”
Becca finally calmed down. “I’ll have to
check at the little store to see if they have canned cherries.”
“You know
how to make a pie?”
Becca
glared at him before shrugging. “Bet I
can find a recipe on the internet.” They
both chuckled.
* * * *
The next
morning after a light breakfast, and each with a small backpack to carry water
and lunch, along with a few other things like bug repellant, bear spray, and a
first aid kit that Becca was for some reason surprised that Lee packed, they
studied the trail map and set out for a long hike. Lee had to quickly moderate his long strides
as it became apparent that, while Becca did keep fit, she wasn’t quite up to
Lee’s frustration-driven pace. He’d
barely slept and hard, physical activity was one method he used to calm his
mind. He expected Becca to make some
comment but she seemed lost in her own thoughts and apparently didn’t notice
when Lee slowed down.
She did
notice when Lee abruptly stopped. “What
the…” she started as she almost ran him over before realizing that he wasn’t
moving; she’d let him lead the way while she dealt with a few personal demons
of her own, having not slept well either.
She stopped and glared at him when he held up a hand, motioning for
quiet. She finally realized that his
body was stiff and he was extremely alert, listening intently. It took nearly a full minute but he finally
relaxed. “Sorry,” slipped out before he
could stop it, and she slugged him before they both grinned. “Thought that I heard something,” he finally
explained.
“We’re in
the forest; there’s lots of ‘somethings’,” she told him grumpily.
He shook
his head. “This was something that
shouldn’t be here. Well,” he
backtracked, “at least I wouldn’t expect it.”
He shrugged. “But apparently I’m
still a little wired,” he admitted with a lowered head.
“Probably
better than my mindless wandering. I’d
have walked right into a bear,” she admitted.
What I
think I heard wasn’t a bear,
Lee thought but said nothing out loud, merely sending her a little smile. “I haven’t been any great conversationalist
either. Out here,” Lee gestured around
them, “it works.” She nodded and they
continued on, now each more aware of the other and chatting off and on. Lee remained on alert for sounds that
shouldn’t be there, but worked hard to hide that fact from Becca.
The trail
they were following, once they left the main one, came to a place where it crossed
a small stream coming off the mountain.
It could be easily forded, but as it was now almost 12:30 they decided
to sit close by and eat their lunch before heading back, calling the hike good
for this first day. “And perhaps
tomorrow as well,” Becca told Lee, looking at how clouds were starting to
filter into what had been a clear, sunny, day.
“I didn’t
bother looking at a weather report,” Lee admitted.
“I glanced
at Portland’s, but here closer to the mountain things can change faster.” Lee nodded. “No biggy,” she continued. “After the last few weeks I could probably
sleep most of the day.”
Lee
shrugged. “And then I really
wouldn’t sleep tomorrow night,” he told her wearily.
“Spoil
sport,” she muttered.
“Told you
I wasn’t particularly good company.”
She
reached out and smacked his leg. “And
I’ve been Little Miss Mary Sunshine,” came out in a growl. “Guess we deserve each other.” She sent him a quirky grin and he returned
it.
“Anything you
want to talk about?” he asked with a look of genuine caring.
She was
silent as she gathered up the wrappings from her lunch and stowed them back in
her pack. “Remember the Ox?” she asked,
barely loud enough for Lee to hear.
“Your
ex-husband,” Lee said, but instantly had to bury an almost-giggle. Buried badly, as it turned out. Becca sent him as scathing a glare as he had
ever seen from her and he had to quickly wave his hand. “Sorry,” came out, they both ducked, and Lee
hurried to explain. “Chip had a
temporary secretary a while back.”
“Oh, oh.”
Another
giggle slipped out. “Among other things,
she sent out a memo to all departments without proofreading it well, and it
ended up reading, “By order of the OX, instead of XO.”+++
“Oh, no,”
Becca breathed out.
“Hadn’t
thought about that for a while, until…”
“I reminded
you,” she finished his sentence.
“Yeah. So, he’s back? Your Ex,” he qualified.
She
shrugged. “Actually, I’m not totally
sure. I thought that I caught a glimpse
of him while I was shopping a couple weeks ago, but when I looked again he
wasn’t there. A few times…” She hesitated. “I don’t know. I just get this feeling…”
“Getting
paranoid, Dr. Radiwan,” Lee tried to tease her.
But it didn’t quite come out that way as a bit of his earlier ‘feeling’
reappeared in his mind.
Happily,
Becca didn’t seem to notice, and smacked him again. They both ended up chuckling, finished
policing their chosen picnic area, and headed back to the cabin.
* * * *
When the
Morton clan was back from church and getting things together for their big meal
of the day, Joanne finally remembered to tell her son about Lee’s call the
previous evening. It was late when he
and the others had returned, and there was always a bit of chaos getting the
little ones settled down for the night so that the bigger ones could crash as
well. Not to mention even more chaos
getting everyone, especially the little ones, dressed for Sunday School.
“What did
he say?” came out a little stronger than Chip intended, but his gaze at his
mother remained mild.
“Just to
tell you that he’d called,” Joanne told him, but there was a definite question
in the words.
“How did
he sound?”
“What do
you mean? He was just Lee,” Joanne told
him. “I invited him here, but told him
that it was crazy. As usual,” she added
with a grin as several childish screams filtered in from the back yard. “Can’t imagine why he declined,” she added
with a chuckle as adult voices joined in whatever games were going on
outside. She continued to give Chip a
questioning look.
Chip
sighed heavily. “Things got a little…out
of hand,” he settled on, not wanting to go into details, “the last few weeks,
and Jamie ordered R&R.” It was
always safe to blame the doctor. “He
left before we had a chance to talk.”
Joanne
nodded. “I sort of got that from what he
said.”
“Did he
say that he’d call again?”
“Not
really. Why don’t you call him? There’s time before dinner’s ready.” Chip grimaced and it didn’t get past his
perceptive parent. “What?”
“Lee left
his cell phone at home. I don’t know
where he went, and I have no way to reach him.”
He sent her a look. “He knew that
I could track the GPS in his phone,” he admitted sheepishly.
“You’re
worried about him.” It wasn’t a
question.
He
nodded. “Yeah,” he told her. “I am.”
“The fact
that he called should tell you that he’s okay.”
Chip
grimaced again. “Not really. He called here, not my cell, where I’d have a
record of the number he called from.”
“Humm,”
Joanne pondered that for only a bit before she shrugged. “Lee’s a big boy,” she teased her oldest
child. “He’s probably just making sure
you don’t play ‘big brother’ and disturb his plans to get some peace and
quiet.” Chip started to defend himself,
but she continued. “Go set the table,” Joanne
ordered, ending the conversation.
As he
started grabbing dishes out of the large hutch they were stored in he muttered
under his breath, “Lee, be safe. Little
Brother,” was added with a small grin.
* * * *
Becca’s
weather prediction ended up spot on. The
wind started blowing just about the time they both headed for bed. Early, especially for Lee, about 9:30, but
the fresh air, sunshine, and exercise had them both yawning. Lee actually slept fairly well, and got up
about 6:45 and got the coffee going. The
wind had died down to a soft breeze, but before the coffee was ready it started
to rain. The lower area being cool, Lee
started the fireplace. Even fake as it
was, it was pleasant to watch, and gave off enough heat to make the front of
the house quite pleasant. And, he knew,
the heat would rise and make the upstairs comfy as well. He was on his second cup of coffee when Becca
meandered down the stairs. Dressed in
sweats, both shirt and pants, she poured herself some coffee and joined Lee staring
into the flames.
“Thanks,”
she indicated the fireplace. “Up here,
this close to the mountain, the mornings can get brisk.”
“Especially
with the rain,” Lee nodded toward the windows.
“Glad that
we hiked yesterday. I needed the
expenditure of energy.”
“And
release of frustration that goes with it,” Lee added, and she nodded. “Still going to sleep all day?” he asked.
She
shrugged. “Giving it serious
consideration.” She grinned. “But I’ll probably just curl up with a good
book.”
“Sounds
like a plan,” Lee agreed.
The pair
spent a totally relaxing day. They read,
listened to music, ate when they were hungry, and vegged away the entire
day. Lee was reminded of spending time
at Tim and Annie Hughes’ B&B, but didn’t say anything to Becca. In fact, they barely spoke all day. But it was a comfortable silence. Both would have been surprised that, at
different times, each thought to bring up what was troubling the other but
ended up saying nothing, not wanting to risk spoiling the other’s peace.
The rain
stopped sometime during the night but Tuesday dawned overcast and cool. Both Lee and Becca agreed that it was
probably too wet in the forest to enjoy another hike. Becca once more curled up in front of the
fireplace. Lee joined her for a bit
before getting antsy and telling her that he was going for a walk, but that
he’d stay on the road. She made a
comment about him walking back to Portland and he smarted back a somewhat
obscene reply before they both ended up laughing. He’d only packed a light jacket, so with
things still so wet he looked in the closet by the back door for something a
little heavier. Finding a black leather
jacket that fit, he almost put it back because it reminded him too much of the
flight jacket he wore when aboard FS1.
With a chastising shake of his head, he slipped it back on and headed
down the long driveway to the small country road. He headed further along the road, merely
because he’d seen what was the other direction when they arrived and was
curious what lay ahead. Not much, he
discovered about two hours later, as the road simply curved around and came
back to the small town they’d passed through about two miles before turning
into the driveway. But the walk allowed
Lee enough physical exercise that when he got back he was able to sit still
without fidgeting. Becca was in the
kitchen, and he apologized for not checking out the small store he passed for
canned cherries. They both chuckled, and
Lee settled in to watch the flames in the fireplace.
At one
point Becca walked over and joined him.
“How you doing, sailor?” she asked softly.
Lee shrugged. “Wish I knew,” he told her honestly. “I’ve actually been avoiding thinking about
all of the…” he sighed heavily. “Not a very productive way to deal with the
issues.”
“Tell me
about it,” she muttered. “Been doing
pretty much the same thing.”
“Sooner or
later I have to decide. Do I really want
to leave NIMR? Part of me says no, I
love it there. But then I think about
all the…” he sighed again. “I’m not sure that I can still handle
everything that sometimes goes on; not sure I want to,” came out a
little hard.
“What
would you do?” she asked, again softly, with true caring easily heard in her
voice.
“There’s
always work for a Certified Master Diver,” Lee told her, “as well as Maritime
pilots. All over the world.”
“You
wouldn’t go back to the regular Navy?”
Becca knew that he was still in the Reserves; had to be to serve as an
officer on Seaview.
“NO!” came
out hard. “No,” he continued a little
softer. “I’d instantly get grabbed up by
ONI, and that would be worse than Seaview.”
“You
couldn’t just say no?”
“Then I’d no
doubt end up in command, and probably with a desk job.” He looked at her. “Even worse,” he admitted with half a smile.
She
returned a genuine one. “Oh yeah, I can
really see you stuck in an office all day every day.” She laughed.
“The building would never survive!”
“I
wouldn’t, that’s for sure,” he agreed.
Humm,”
Becca mumbled softly and headed back to the kitchen, deciding that she’d pushed
as far as she could for the time being, and a little surprised that Lee had
said as much as he had.
Trying to clear a once again
jumbled brain, he used the sound of the stereo playing softly in the background
as a focal point, and then concentrated harder as he realized what he was
listening to.
Looking’ for something that I can
believe in, looking for something that I’d like to do with my life
Lee recognized the lyrics of “Sweet
Surrender” by John Denver. “Ain’t that
the truth,” he muttered to himself.
What the future is holding in
store. I don’t know where I’ve going, I
don’t know where I’ve been
“Oh, John,” Lee breathed. “You have absolutely no idea…”
“What did you say?” came from
Becca’s direction and Lee looked up.
“Just muttering to myself,” Lee
told her with a small grin.
She nodded. “Been doing a fair amount of that lately,”
she admitted, and they both grinned.
Sweet, sweet, surrender John
Denver continued. Live, live without
care, like a fish in the water, like a bird in the air
“If only I could,” Lee told
himself, this time almost silently, a voice filled with pain.
* * * *
Admiral Nelson reached for his
coffee mug, found it empty, and couldn’t remember finishing it. He was in his office trying to unbury himself
from the multitude of folders scattered across his desk. Between NIMR department reports, requests for
Seaview’s services, Navy bulletins, and half a dozen other odds and ends he was
a bit overwhelmed. And it wasn’t helping
a bit that his concentration kept getting interrupted by thoughts of his last
conversation with Lee.
To say that it had been disturbing
was a gigantic understatement. Nelson
had recognized in Lee, from shortly after their first meeting at Annapolis, a
man of deep convictions and a commitment to duty increasingly rare, it seemed,
in today’s society. Quiet and studious,
he’d at first been easy to overlook. But
several days in close proximity, when Nelson ended up driving Lee home to
Newport, RI after his mother had been injured, enlightened Nelson greatly to
the younger man’s character.^
The Annapolis years, plus having
Lee serve under him aboard the ‘Nautilus’, only strengthened Nelson’s
admiration for the man Lee was becoming.
Nelson had originally wanted Lee as Seaview’s captain but that hadn’t
been sanctioned by Navy brass, who Nelson was still forced to deal with. But with John Phillips’ unfortunate death,
when Lee was called in to handle an extremely difficult and dangerous mission,
Nelson was able to pull enough strings to keep him. With Lee’s permission, of course. And Chip’s happy acceptance, Nelson
chuckled to himself as he refilled his coffee mug, sat back down at his desk,
but turned around to face the large window with its view of NIMR grounds, and
Seaview settled into her upper berth.
And at no time, in the years since,
had he been the least bit unhappy with how things had worked out. Oh, he admitted to himself, he did regret
losing Phillips. Unfortunately, he
hadn’t been the only one. And
probably won’t be the last, Nelson was forced to tell himself. And for sure, Nelson could wish that Lee
would give up his continued commitment to the Office of Naval Intelligence, who
had recruited Lee almost directly out of the Academy to run occasional
‘errands’ for them. But that was who Lee
was – serious about his commitment to those ideals and people he held dear.
Now, Nelson wasn’t sure what to
believe; that all too short conversation at the Monastery had shaken him much
more than he was willing to admit. Lee
had become such an integral part of NIMR – of Nelson’s very life – that he
couldn’t accept that Lee might not ever come back. Yet, that’s exactly how Lee had framed his
response. Yes, he’d been upset. He had every right to be, considering how the
last few weeks had gone. Nelson was
hoping that, as he’d said, once Lee had a chance to get away for a bit and think
things through, he’d be back and life could return to normal.
But, for one of the few times in
his life, Nelson had to admit that he was worried about what the future might
hold in store!
* * * *
The weather once more pleasant, if
a bit cool, the next several days passed in pleasant peace for Lee – at least
mostly. He still found himself muddled
down in negative memories at odd moments, but did his best to drive them away
either with long walks, or mildly harassing Becca about whatever happened to come
to mind. He was well aware that she was
having her own moments of despair and indecision, but they became comfortable
using each other to put the dark thoughts to the side as best they could.
On one of their now daily walks
they went into town to the small store, mostly for milk and bread, but Becca
made a point of checking for pie cherries.
While the crust recipe they found online that afternoon wasn’t quite up
to Annie Hughes’ version, the pie was definitely edible, and they both ate more
than they thought they could, teasing each other the whole time and both ending
up totally relaxed in front of the glowing fireplace as the sun set in the
distance.
As at peace as he was, Lee found
himself suddenly on alert, and didn’t for a moment understand why.
“Lee?” Becca asked, carefully as
she recognized Lee’s tense posture, still sitting but suddenly ridged.
He didn’t answer for several
seconds, but finally let out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. “I’m imaging things,” he muttered grumpily,
and got up to refill his glass of scotch.
He sent her an upraised eyebrow and indicated the white wine bottle, but
she shook her head, her glass still about half full, and he returned to his
chair.
“What did you think you
heard?” Becca said it more with curiosity
than concern.
Lee shrugged. “Probably a small animal or bird,” he told
her. “If the cabin isn’t used regularly,
they’re no doubt used to foraging around the foundation.” He sent her a small smile. “I’m just a little hyper-sensitive right now,
I guess.”
“Rough mission?” she asked
carefully.
He took a large swallow of the
powerful alcohol before answering. “Lost
crewmen,” he admitted softly. “Almost
lost more.”
“And you’re being blamed?” came
softly.
“I blame myself.”
“And should you?”
Lee didn’t immediately answer. Finally, “Probably not.”
“But you still do.”
“Yeah.” He took another long swallow. “No,” he switched with a shrug, “not
really.” He sent her a quick look, and
then once more stared into the flames.
“But still my responsibility. Sort
of.” Once more he hesitated, and this
time Becca kept quiet. “We were
following orders, but I can’t get past the idea that there should have been
another way…” His voice trailed off.
“Have you come up with ways that
could have changed the outcome?”
He sent her a quick glare, but it
vanished nearly as quickly as it came.
“No, Doctor, I haven’t,” he told her firmly, before taking a deep
breath. “Doesn’t mean that I can get past
it. Unfortunately,” came out in almost a
whisper.
They were both silent for several
minutes. “Ever hear of a man named
Fulton Oursler?” Becca finally asked.
Lee considered the question, but finally shook his head. “American journalist and playwright,” she
continued. “Passed away, oh, early
1950’s if I remember right. He was known
for writing mysteries, but I ran across him because of his work on the movie,
“The Greatest Story Ever Told.” She sent
him a soft smile. “It was one of Aunt
Theresa’s favorite movies.” Lee nodded
that he remembered who she was referring to.*
“There’s a quote of his that’s always stuck in my weird little
brain.” Lee sent her a quick grin at
that self-gibe. “He wrote, Many of us
crucify ourselves between two thieves – regret for the past and fear of the
future.”
“I don’t suppose that he offered any
advice about how to get yourself down off that cross?”
“No. Unfortunately,” Becca muttered with a frown,
and then shrugged. “Left that up to each
of us to figure out.”
“Swell,” it was Lee’s turn to
mutter, before he finally sent Becca a small smile. She returned it easily before they both once
more fell silent.
* * * *
The next couple of days fell into
an easy pattern. The weather was dry but
still cool, this close to Mt. Hood.
After a quick breakfast Becca and Lee would pack a lunch and water into their
backpacks and take a new trail into the forest; there were lots to choose
from. Both were enjoying the total
relaxation and peace of the mountain retreat, and neither wanted to spoil it by
bringing up the other one’s issues. Lee
still had a moment or two where he felt…he still wasn’t sure what it was. Almost a feeling of being watched. But he could never pinpoint why, and tried to
make sure that he didn’t upset Becca.
Even through his own pain he’d realized that she was stressed out over
‘something’. He was easily willing to
believe that it was work issues, as she’d claimed. All too well he understood how distracted one
could get when what should be an orderly plan for the day got jerked out of
whack by someone – or something – not following the ‘rules’.
He was actually starting to quiet
the multitude of voices, and their individual issues, in his head. Not that he managed any conclusions, but it
was a tremendous relief to not have them badgering him twenty-four/seven. He’d continued to take the melatonin Becca
had given him, not admitting that it helped all that much, but at least he was
able to sleep after only an hour of arguing with himself, not the five or six
he’d been battling, getting up more stressed than when he’d gone to bed.
Friday, as the pair prepared their
lunches, Becca brought up the subject they’d both been avoiding. “Any thoughts on how long we stay here?” she
asked ever so softly.
“Sort of depends on you,” Lee
admitted. “It’s your friend’s cabin, and
you’re the one who has a job to go back to.”
Becca sent him a long look, but
didn’t tackle that issue. “Actually, I’m
in no particular hurry to leave. Thought
that I’d call David this afternoon, make sure the office is still standing, and
see if he can manage another week.” She
grinned. “Have no fear, he’ll get his
turn after I’m back.” Lee sent the grin
back. “But we’ve both learned over the
years that we need time away!”
Lee hesitated as he put a couple
water bottles into his pack. “I can only
imagine the mental stresses you both have to deal with on a daily basis,” he
offered carefully.
“Has its moments, for sure,” she
agreed. “But it’s also balanced by the
good we can do. Over-balanced,
actually. Yeah, there are times, like
the last few weeks when, I swear, the whole world goes wonky.” She chuckled, and was happy to get a small
smile from Lee. “But I really do like,
well, we both like, our ability to help good, honest, people get past the crap
in their lives. Our little part of
making the world a better place.”
Lee was quiet as he packed his
sandwich and cookies next to the water.
“I wouldn’t mind staying another week,” he admitted. “After that…”
he shook his head, not looking at Becca.
“Another week it is,” she ignored
his non-answer and slipped her pack over her shoulders.
They chose one of the longer trails
that day, and didn’t get back to the cabin until almost 5:30. Too late to call the office, Becca called her
partner’s cell, laughing that she hoped that she didn’t disturb his Friday
night plans. Lee made her laugh even
harder with his comment that it was still early enough that David couldn’t be
that involved yet. As it turned out,
David was just leaving the office, and wholeheartedly agreed to Becca’s idea of
being gone another week. Things had
calmed down, both for his patients and those of Becca’s he was seeing. He postulated that, without Becca to whine
to, her patients were realizing that they had to own up to their issues, which
in the long run would benefit their abilities to cope. He and Becca tossed that idea around for a
bit, both agreeing that while it wouldn’t work in all cases, a little
separation wasn’t entirely a bad thing.
Lee knew that Becca hadn’t
aimed any of that conversation at Lee, she having put her phone on speaker so
he heard both sides. But it still hit
home. Perspective – back off and take a
good, hard, look at things. Admiral
Nelson had basically said the same thing when he told Lee to take the time off,
Lee now realized. He’d been too
emotionally fragile, too angry, he admitted, to understand at the time. Well, he himself knew that he had to get
away. But with a bit more perspective he
could allow himself to accept Nelson’s logic.
He still didn’t know if he could ever work for the man again. But somehow he knew that he needed to mend
their fractured relationship. He was
just thankful that he had at least another week to figure out how.
* * * *
Chip was just about it slay the
last of several attacking dragons, masquerading as his nieces and nephews, when
his cell phone chirped. He held up his
toy sword, took a few deep breaths to recover from the ‘attack’, and stepped
off a few feet. “Morton,” he answered
officially as Admiral Nelson’s name appeared on the screen. “How can I help you, sir,” he added.
“You can tell me if you’ve heard
from Lee,” came in a tone that Chip almost never heard, that of
hesitation. As the ‘dragons’ continued
their attack, now on each other, he moved even further away.
“Sort of,” he told his boss. “He called the night I got here, but the house
phone, not my cell, and I was out. Mom
didn’t tell me until the next day.”
“You know that he left his cell and
most of his I.D. at the house.”
“Yeah,” Chip growled. The ‘sir’ he added was said with a deep sigh.
“I don’t want to breach a
confidence…”
“Sorry, sir, but I have absolutely
no idea where he is, or how to reach him.”
He hesitated. “Is there a change
of plans?”
“No, no,” Nelson assured his XO
with a sigh of his own. “Just…”
“I hear you sir, and totally
agree.” He paused. “And the next time I get within ten feet of
him I’m going to smack him silly!”
As he’d hoped, Nelson
chuckled. “Now, now,” came in a more
normal-sounding tone, and Chip smiled to himself. “Sounds like you’re enjoying your time away,”
came over the cell as ‘battle’ sounds could easily be heard, Chip realized.
“Surrounded by invading dragons,”
he admitted. “But it’s nearly lunchtime;
they’ll settle down once they’re fed.”
He joined Nelson’s soft chuckles.
“Enjoy them.” While it almost sounded like an order, Chip
still heard the smile in Nelson’s voice.
“Absolutely,” he agreed. “Especially as I can send them back to their
parents any time I choose.” They both
laughed again and ended the conversation.
He paused for a bit, pondering just where Lee would have gone as he replaced
his cell in its holder. But the
‘dragons’, now that they realized he’d finished his call, once more attacked
and he was forced to give up thoughts of his friend to return to the fray.
* * * *
Tuesday dawned as had the days
previous, but Becca unfortunately woke up with a headache so decided to stay in
while Lee took a long hike. Not that she
had slowed him down all that much, but with just himself to think about he
pushed harder and longer than he’d been doing, and didn’t return until nearly
5:00 sweaty and exhausted, but actually feeling somewhat exhilarated. The cabin was quiet; Lee assumed that Becca
was still resting so he took a shower before walking into the main area. Or, started to. As he exited his bedroom and turned toward
the Great Room, something hit the back of his head and he fell forward onto the
floor of the short hallway.
He was disturbed to discover,
picking himself up, that nearly twenty minutes had passed from when he’d put
his watch on after the shower. “Becca?”
he yelled, unfortunately aggravating his own pounding headache. But right now that was the least of his
worries. When there was no answer he, as
quickly as his still shaky legs would take him, searched the house, but Becca
was nowhere to be found. Her bedroom was
in a bit of disarray, but since Lee had barely been upstairs the whole time
they’d been here, he couldn’t say for sure that it wasn’t how she was normally
leaving it. Nothing, that he could tell
anyway, was missing. Well, except
her. The car was still parked in
back. Lee had noted that the back door,
which he’d locked behind him that morning because Becca was resting upstairs,
had been unlocked when he got back, but at first he’d merely thought that she’d
finally been feeling better and stepped outside for a bit of fresh air, not
relocking it when she came in. Now he
went back downstairs, looking for any signs of where she might be. And especially for any indication of who had
hit him!
At first glance there didn’t seem
to be anything out of place. The fireplace
was off; he’d left it on, turned low, as the cabin had been a bit cool when he
left. He walked back outside through the
back door. There ‘might’ have been
scuffle marks in the gravel and dirt driveway, but nothing obvious that he
could define. But he was very
sure that Becca wouldn’t have left without a note of some sort. He snorted softly. And I’m sure that she wouldn’t have
cold-cocked me. He grimaced. At least I don’t think so, and he
continued to search the ground for any other signs.
He found it almost by accident, on
the west side of the house. A trail
headed from there into the forest but they’d never walked that way because,
according to the map, it only meandered around behind several other residences
and back to the road, not deeper into the forest. As Lee walked past it now, still scanning the
driveway, something shiny caught his eye as the starting to lower sun reflected
off it; Lee reached down and thought that he recognized an earring he’d seen
Becca wear. He wasn’t sure, but it
didn’t look like it had been all that long out in the weather. The trail was as good a place as any other to
start searching.
But Lee hesitated. He wasn’t armed; he did have his ever-present
pocket knife, put in his checked bag when he flew up. Whoever had hit him had been powerful enough
that one blow had leveled him, so Lee knew that he needed to be cautious. But the setting sun was going to shortly be
an issue and Lee knew that he dare not wait too long. He did go back for the black leather jacket;
it would keep him much warmer longer, since out of the shower he’d pulled on
simple dark slacks and a blue shirt. He
did take the time to grab a flashlight and tuck it into the back of his slacks
in case he was out after dark. He
thought briefly about dialing 911 to report Becca missing. But he had no idea of what local police force
there was, and suddenly wasn’t willing to take the time to find out as thoughts
invaded his mind about the weird feelings he’d had since being here; the
strange noises he’d heard, and the sensation of being watched.
Suddenly he was hit with a violent
shudder. “Oh, no,” came out in a soft
whimper. “I’ve been followed. Someone from my past… And now they’ve taken Becca for
revenge…” The thought stopped him in his
tracks, paralyzing him with fear.
He wasn’t sure how long he stood
there, literally terrified for Becca’s safety, before fear slowly turned to
anger. And anger to action, because all
his years of training had taught him that anger was counter-productive and all
too easily led to mistakes. As worried
as he suddenly was, he needed to think clearly; to not rush headlong, but
progress carefully. Slipping the earring
into his pocket, he headed down the path, watching the ground for further signs
of struggle and listening carefully to every little sound the forest around him
was releasing.
He realized that he was being
baited. Whoever was out there had all
day, while he was hiking, to grab Becca.
But they’d waited for him to come back.
They’d attacked him but not seriously, giving them time to get away but
wanting him to follow. It was no doubt
his attacker who had planted the earring, knowing that Lee was well-trained
enough to find the clue, luring Lee into the dense forest to where, if he
wasn’t extremely careful, his body might never to found. “And Becca’s,” he breathed, now concentrating
so hard that he literally forgot his still-pounding head. Whoever was doing this could then easily go
back, clear everything personal out of the cabin, toss it in the car, and leave
the car so far away that it could never be traced back. They might guess that someone knew that
they’d been here but with all traces removed, the authorities wouldn’t waste a
whole lot of time searching the woods; they’d merely assume that he and Becca
had left to go elsewhere.
Lee proceeded cautiously,
soundlessly, along the path into the virgin forest, the ground beneath the
trees a solid layer of ferns and underbrush.
Every so often a glint of setting sun would find its way through an opening
in the tree line to his left as the path headed mostly toward the north. He stopped every so often to listen; even
though he was trying to be silent, he worried that his own pounding head and
heartbeat might unintentionally mask any subtle sounds of movement around him;
sounds that he needed to trace his attacker.
As the sun set lower he was thankful for the dark slacks and jacket;
they tended to blend into the dark forest.
What showed of the blue shirt he ignored as he concentrated on his
present task.
Later he couldn’t quite remember
what caused him to pause at that specific spot.
He didn’t remember hearing anything other than the sounds of the forest
as it began settling into evening. No
path led from this trail, at one of the spots where the setting sun broke
through and softly illuminated the area.
Nothing on the ground indicated that anyone had been this way
recently. But ‘something’ caused him to
stop and look to his right. Barely
visible through the trees he caught a glimpse of one of the other cabins in the
area. He thought that he recognized
which one it was, from the walks he’d taken along the road, and at no time had
he seen anyone around, or cars in the drive.
Walking silently another ten or so feet, he found the path that most
probably led to the back of the house.
His stalker wouldn’t want him to pass right by so he wasn’t at all
surprised to find another earring barely a foot into the connecting path. Putting it in his pocket with its mate with
one hand, he pulled out his knife with the other. As a protective weapon it wasn’t much
help. But it was all that he had.
Knowing that he was expected, he
glanced around through the forest to see if there was a better, less visible,
way to approach the house than by the path.
Options were limited because of the thick underbrush but Lee did spot an
area, perhaps thinned out by the homeowners as a partial firebreak, and
carefully worked his way in that direction.
He was aware that he was no longer moving all that silently but he did
the best that he could, working his way closer to the structure. It was more small house than cabin, a
two-story building with white vinyl siding instead of logs, and a detached
garage. Lee made his approach on the
garage side away from the house and then slowly worked his way around. He was still against the garage, trying to
figure out his best route to the side of the house, when he heard voices coming
through a partially open window on the closest side of the house.
“Why doesn’t he answer?” came
harshly in a male voice. Lee couldn’t
immediately identify it as one he’d heard before.
“I have no idea,” came in what Lee
thought might be Becca’s. He wasn’t
sure; it had been spoken softly. “Maybe
you hurt him more than you thought you did.”
This time Lee was sure that it was Becca.
Lee was momentarily startled
because she sounded more defiant than scared, as he’d have thought she’d
be. What the hell… entered his
mind, and was instantaneously dismissed.
There was absolutely no way Becca could be involved in a plot against
Lee. No way! he repeated
silently, and moved closer.
“No way,” was echoed back by the
man. “I’ve had far too much
practice.” There was a soft snort. “Bassett should have been out cold for no
more than fifteen minutes. Thirty tops.”
Bassett?
The name stopped Lee in his tracks. Whoever took Becca thought that she was with
her business partner? He must not know
what David looked like, to have mistaken him for Lee. But that would mean that this is about
Becca, not me, Lee postulated, and her comments about her ex-husband Mike,
both this trip and when she’d originally told him the story, flooded Lee’s
mind. That’s Mike? And he suddenly realized that it must
have been Becca who surreptitiously dropped the earrings, leaving a trail for
Lee because, from what she understood of his training, he would know how to
follow the clues.
“Maybe the phone broke when he
fell?” he heard Becca try another tactic.
“I told you that it was a cheap phone because he didn’t want to risk
bringing his good one out here.” The
guy must not have searched my wallet, Lee decided. Thought he knew who Becca had come with,
and didn’t bother to verify. Lee
grinned to himself but there was absolutely no humor behind it, only
anger. This guy isn’t as smart as he
thinks he is, and Lee moved to the side of the house, the sun now behind
the horizon and the sky starting to darken.
He heard a tone, as if a redial button had been punched on a phone, and
glanced at his own. Since it didn’t
vibrate, he wondered what number Becca had given Mike. Obviously, one that she knew wouldn’t be
answered, and he once more grinned softly.
This time with humor. He’d
make on ONI agent out of her, yet, and had to bury a snicker at her reaction to
that comment the first time he’d used it.**
His thoughts were interrupted by
Mike – if that’s really who it was – uttering a string of oaths, then angry
footsteps headed for the back door. Lee
settled against the side of the house where he could peek around the corner,
closing the top of the jacket to hide the bright blue of his shirt. He heard the back door open but the screen
door stayed closed, so Lee unfortunately didn’t get a look at the man, to size
up his opponent. He did wonder if
perhaps he’d made some sort of noise that Mike had heard; that that’s why he’d
gone to the door. He didn’t think so,
but he was concentrating so hard on all this new intel that he could have
missed something.
The steps eventually went back into
the house but Lee didn’t hear the back door close, and silently crept to where
he could see for sure. No, the door had
been left open. From what Lee could see
through the screen, it led to a small mud room, and then through another open
door into the main part of the house.
With my luck lately, he muttered to himself, the screen door will
squeak to high heaven, but he eased over to the side where it opened. He slid his knife blade into the crack,
barely nudging it away from the frame, and sighed deeply when it moved with
nary a sound.
Even as dark as it was getting
outside there were no lights turned on, Lee guessed, because Mike had broken in
and didn’t want anyone to notice that someone was here in case any neighbors
might notice. That also worked to Lee’s
advantage. He took the time to zip shut
the jacket so that it totally covered the shirt, and ever so gently continued
to ease open the screen door. He could
hear heavy pacing from what must be the front room, but both voices now
remained silent. He made the assumption that Becca must be restrained somehow
as he’d heard no sounds of movement from her, even when Mike had gone to the
back door. Nor was she talking loudly;
Lee guessed that, if Mike had taken her captive earlier in the day, he’d
threatened her into not screaming or drawing attention in any way. That she might be a willing partner to
whatever Mike was planning now never entered Lee’s mind.
The screen door stayed blessedly
silent as Lee opened it only as far as he needed to, to slip into the
mudroom. There was just enough light
coming through the windows for Lee to make out a kitchen just beyond the small
back room, with a breakfast bar separating it from the front part of the house,
and stairs on one side leading up to the second floor, most likely where the
bedrooms were. Lee timed his movement to
the sounds of steps going away from him, meaning Mike was pacing with his back
to Lee’s position, and crept forward to where he was hidden behind the
breakfast bar. He couldn’t see Becca;
she must be on the same side of the room as the bar. But peeking out at Mike’s next pass, he
spotted the man.
Lee guessed, from the quick look,
that Mike was several inches taller and at least fifty pounds heavier than he
was. The old adage, ‘the bigger they
are, the harder they fall’, slipped into Lee’s thoughts, to be immediately
dismissed. Lee knew better; he’d run
into too many opponents who had proven otherwise to believe that nonsense. Nor did Mike’s bulk look the least bit
flabby; he apparently worked out regularly.
Lee didn’t see a weapon in his brief glance but that didn’t mean there
wasn’t one handy.
Lee sent a quick glance at the
small knife; it wasn’t even the right kind to throw with any accuracy. He glanced around for any other weapon;
perhaps Mike would again walk to the back door and Lee could drop him as he’d
done to Lee. But there wasn’t anything
heavy enough to do a decent job within sight.
It’s never easy, he muttered silently with a heavy sigh.
And then instantly wondered if it
had been silent, as Mike stopped pacing.
“What was that?” came out in a growl.
“Your conscience?” Becca
asked. Lee could hear the slight sneer
in her voice but apparently it went right over Mike’s head and he went back to
pacing.
“I’ll give Bassett another five
minutes, and if he still doesn’t answer…”
the pacing stopped, and this time Lee heard the sneer in Mike’s
voice. “I disabled the car or he’d have
no doubt rabbited back to Portland.”
“That’s how little you know about
David.” Lee easily heard the emphasis
she put on the name and smiled as Mike went back to pacing.
This time Lee heard the sounds
coming through the screen door; probably small animals – or maybe even bigger
ones – foraging around what they thought was an empty house. Or thinking someone inside had put food out
for them; perhaps that had been done in the past when the house was
occupied. Not a smart idea, but some
people never realized that they could be doing more damage than good to the
local wildlife, encouraging them to come closer to civilization instead of
staying in the forest where they were safer.
The pacing headed Lee’s direction and he prepared as best he could.
Mike stomped past him, never
looking down, and all but slammed the back door shut. Lee used the motion and sound to mask his
attack. Laying the knife down he put
both hands together, stepped behind the larger man, and chopped as hard as he
could on the back of Mike’s neck.
Surprise and pain momentarily stunned the larger man. He didn’t go down and Lee quickly tried to do
it again. But Mike was even quicker,
spinning and striking out with beefy hands.
Lee backed off, but Mike made a grab behind with his right hand to where
Lee assumed that he had a gun tucked, and Lee sent a flying kick to that
shoulder. Something heavy dropped to the
floor as Lee heard the crack of the shoulder dislocating, instantly drowned out
by Mike’s bellow of pain. Lee used that
moment to step in and deliver a two-fisted blow to the man’s midsection, and
then another to his neck as Mike doubled over in pain. This time he went down and stayed there. Lee quickly searched and found what had
fallen – a nice sturdy Sig, and didn’t remember the flashlight he’d tucked in
the back of his own slacks until he tried to put the Sig there. “That was intelligent,” he grumbled out loud.
“Lee?” came almost frantically from
the front room.
“Yeah,” he continued to
mutter. “Be there in a second.” Checking the cabinets in the mudroom he came
up with a roll of duct tape and hurriedly but extremely efficiently trussed
Mike up, with no thoughts of how much more pain he might be causing. When he was satisfied that the man wasn’t
going anywhere without assistance, he finally headed to check on Becca. A loud growl erupted as he started to walk
past the breakfast bar, stopped dead, and reached back to pick up his
knife. “Idiot,” he berated himself, and
continued into the front room.
Mike had found his own roll of duct
tape. Or perhaps brought his own, as Lee
found Becca securely bound into a wooden high-backed rocking chair. “Thank you,” she breathed, looking upward
when Lee came into view. “Are you okay?”
was directed at him.
“Yeah,” he grimaced, shaking out
his left hand. The previous injury to
that arm decided to make itself known after over a week of remaining
silent. Knife in his right hand, he quickly
released Becca’s bindings. “You? Did he hurt you?”
“Scared the you-know-what out of me
when he woke me out of a sound sleep.
Thankfully I’d dressed before the headache started getting worse and
decided to lay back down.” Lee gave her
a bit of a leering look and she half-heartedly slugged him before they both
chuckled, more from relief than humor.
“What phone number did you give
him? Obviously not Dr. Bassett’s.”
She sent him an almost version of
his shy look. “The only one that came to
mind was your cell phone.” It was his turn
to send a shy smile; with Becca’s admitted lack of remembering numbers she’d
known his cell number, the phone no doubt still where he’d left it on his
dresser at home.
The next couple of hours went by in
a blur. Lee dialed 911 and with amazing
speed three county law enforcement vehicles appeared. As Becca started telling the Sheriff – or at
least the one most in charge – what happened, Lee caused a small commotion among
the two deputies when he reached behind his back and pulled out the Sig. He very carefully held it out to one
of them with just two fingers holding the handle, and maintained his grip until
the other one pulled out an evidence bag, into which Lee carefully placed the
gun.
His part of the story was much
shorter. An ambulance showed up partway
through Becca’s narrative and the Sheriff gave Lee a hard look as Mike’s
injuries – dislocated shoulder, possibly two broken ribs, and extremely tender
neck – were announced by the EMT’s. Lee
had initially identified himself with just his name since he carried no NIMR or
military I.D. in his wallet. Now he had
to quality his response with rank, and a glossed-over comment about specialized
combat training. As he handed Becca back
her earrings he very carefully avoided any mention of ONI!
Unlike the previous time Becca had
been questioned about Mike’s possible illegal activities, this time warrants
existed from several states. The most
violent was armed robbery, but with no major injuries. Becca told the deputies that Mike had taken
her in hopes of getting ransom from her business partner, who he thought was
Lee. He’d followed them, and waited
until he could get to her while Lee was gone.
The actual owner of the house was
notified of the break-in. There were
signs, when the house was searched, that Mike had been squatting there, but
nothing seemed to be damaged beyond the back door lock. The Sheriff told the owner, who lived in
Vancouver, WA, that there would be someone stationed there until a locksmith
could repair the damage, and the owner said that he’d be down that weekend and
do a thorough inspection.
That settled, Lee and Becca were
given a lift back to where they were staying, with assurances that they’d come
to the Sheriff’s office the next morning to make formal statements. Lee was a little surprised to find that it
was only just past midnight when they entered the cabin. So much had happened that it felt like many
more hours had gone by. Becca made a beeline
for her shower – she’d been adamant that Mike hadn’t hurt her – in any
way – but Lee still understood her need to get rid of any trace of him that she
could.
Lee, himself, was so wired that he
didn’t even try to sleep. After
returning the jacket and flashlight to their proper places, he poured himself a
water glass nearly full of scotch and sat nursing it in front of the now
blazing fireplace. His fractured nerves
needed the added warmth to help control the shakes that had settled in once the
excitement was over and now refused to go away.
Becca came back down nearly an hour later, dressed in sweats but still
wet from her long, hot, shower. As she
settled next to him on the couch he handed her the glass, and she nearly
drained the several inches still there as a hard shudder now hit her as
well. She handed the glass back with an
apologetic grimace. He merely shook his
head. “No need for an apology,” he assured
her. “What doesn’t kill us, makes us
stronger,” he quoted the 19th century German philosopher, Friedrich
Nietzsche. She slugged him again, but
then they both sat silently staring into the flames and every so often passing
the glass back and forth until it was empty.
While Becca eventually closed her
eyes, Lee knew that she didn’t sleep. As
the sun started to lighten the horizon he got up and started a large pot of
coffee – extra strong!
* * * *
Angie tapped almost hesitantly on
her boss’ office door, and entered as she heard the gruff “Come.” She only took one step in, and waited until
Nelson looked up from the mound of folders – and overflowing ashtray – on his
desk. The scowl on his face softened
only slightly. “What now?” came out
resignedly.
“There’s a call on line one, sir,
from a Sheriff Callen, calling from a county in Eastern Oregon. He wanted employment information on Cdr.
Crane and the switchboard sent the call up here instead of to Personnel. I thought you…” She stopped talking as Nelson was already
reaching for the phone, and quietly closed the door behind her as she headed
back to her desk. As much as she wanted
to eavesdrop, to find out just what was suddenly going on around here, and
especially between Lee and Nelson, her boss had not been in a
particularly good mood of late and she decided to leave his office before he
had the chance to throw her out!
“Sheriff, ah, Callen is it? This is Admiral Harriman Nelson. Why are you inquiring about Cdr. Crane?” As he realized how harshly his query had
sounded, he excused the slight pause before the response came.
“Cdr. Crane was involved in an
incident yesterday in my county. As part
of the investigation I’m merely trying to get a handle on all parties
involved. Crane had no identification
that indicated he was associated with your organization, or even that he was
still in the Navy.”
Nelson let out the breath he hadn’t
realized that he was holding. “I can
assure you, Sheriff, that Lee Crane is most definitely still in the Naval
Reserves, and serves here as captain of my research submarine, Seaview. What kind of incident?” That last came out in his best admiral’s
voice.
Which, apparently, the Sheriff
didn’t take kindly to. “Afraid that I
can’t comment on an ongoing investigation…”
“Are you accusing Lee of a crime?”
came out even louder. He was unaware
that he’d used Lee’s first name instead of title, but it did not go unnoticed
by Sheriff Callen.
“No, sir,” came back in a carefully
controlled tone. “He and another person
were attacked by…”
“Is he hurt?” Nelson broke in. “Who is the other person?”
Callen’s turn to take a deep breath
and he decided that the quick comments one of the secretaries had made
concerning her having read stories about this Admiral Nelson might not have
been so far-fetched as he’d originally thought.
“The quick gist from the initial report is, a woman named Lynn Radiwan…”
“Dr. R. Lynn Radiwan,” Nelson broke
in. “She’s a friend of Lee’s.”
“Dr. Radiwan,” Callen amended, “was
kidnapped by her ex-husband…” He stopped
again as a few words he tried not to define were muttered loudly over the
line. “Cdr. Crane,” he continued
carefully, “who was staying with Dr. Radiwan in a friend’s cabin near here, was
out for a hike and discovered her missing when he returned.” He heard ‘something’ muttered over the line
and then silence, so chose to continue.
“Cdr. Crane was able to track them to a nearby empty cabin…” His turn to leave a sentence open.
Nelson snorted. “The very last person you ever want to
tick off is Cdr. Crane,” he told the Sheriff firmly.
“I sort of got that impression,”
Callen told him. Nelson snorted again,
and he continued. “Crane was able to
disarm and capture Nesbit, then called 911.
We got preliminary statements last night, and when we ran Nesbit’s
prints, he has outstanding warrants in half a dozen states. Cdr. Crane and Mi…, ah, Dr. Radiwan are
coming in later this morning to make formal statements. I was merely trying to get a little more
clarity before they arrived.”
Nelson let out a long sigh. “Lee frequently leaves a lot of his I.D. at
home when he’s on vacation.” So, that
was a lie, but Callen didn’t need to know that.
Or that there was a difference between actual ‘vacation’ and ONI
missions, when he usually carried anything but his real I.D. “Dr. Radiwan wasn’t injured, I gather?”
“No. Tied up.
She was more ticked off than anything.”
Nelson chuckled. “She’s a remarkably resilient woman,” he
assured Callen.
“Kind of got that impression as
well,” Callen admitted, and Nelson chuckled a bit louder, remembering his
introduction to the psychologist.
“Appreciate the information,” Callen told him. “Ah, sorry that you got bothered, Admiral. I’d merely asked for confirmation…”
Nelson grinned to himself. “When it comes to Cdr. Crane, pretty much all
intel goes through me, so actually I’m not bothered at all,” he assured the
Sheriff. “And you’re more than welcome
to tell him you checked his background.”
Perhaps if Callen repeats what I’ve said, Lee will realize that I’m
not angry with him, Nelson told himself.
Not that I was…” He
pondered that as he absentmindedly finished the call and hung up. Lee, I should have known who you would
turn to, he admitted. Come home
safe, lad. Please, he added, and
reluctantly returned to his reports.
* * * *
It didn’t take Lee long, after
remembering that Mike had said something about disabling the car, to figure out
that he’d done nothing more than loosen the battery cables and shove a potato
into the tailpipe. Becca sent him a
raised eyebrow when, after the battery cables were once more connected tightly,
the car would start but immediately die and Lee searched further until he found
the cause.
“Plugging the exhaust means that
the cylinders can’t push out escaping fumes.
No old air out means no room for fresh air in, so the engine can’t run,”
he explained as he used his knife to pull out the vegetable residue.
“Gonna have to remember that one,”
she told him with a quick grin.
“TV and movies want you to believe
that it will make the car, or whatever combustion engine-powered vehicle,
explode.” He sent her a grin back. “Nope.
Just dead until it’s cleared.
And, if you don’t leave any evidence on the outside of the pipe, not
easy to spot and correct. Mike was a bit
sloppy, although I already had a pretty good idea what was wrong.”
“Yes?” she challenged.
“Slightly misspent youth around a
couple of Master Chiefs,” he admitted with a particularly shy look. “Ah, part of what ticked off my fourth-grade
teacher,” he added. Becca laughed out
loud, Lee finally grinned, and they headed for the Sheriff’s office.
Lee expected nothing more than a
deputy with a notary-licensed secretary, and pointed an eyebrow when he and
Becca were led instead into the Sheriff’s private office. It raised further when Callen welcomed ‘Dr.
Radiwan’ and he to have a seat. Becca
hadn’t mentioned her title the previous evening, at least that Lee could
remember. Callen noticed the reaction,
from Becca as well, and continued. “Had
a quick chat with your boss this morning, Commander. He added Dr. Radiwan’s title,” his expression
easily read as, ‘why didn’t you two?’
“It had nothing to do with what
happened,” Becca quickly told him. She’d
caught the ‘something’ that hit Lee’s face as Admiral Nelson was mentioned, but
it quickly vanished.
Not before Callen caught it as
well, and it was his turn to point an eyebrow.
“May I ask what the Admiral told
you?” Lee got out in a steady voice, although he suddenly wasn’t feeling all
that steady inside.
Several thoughts quickly went
through the Sheriff’s mind, starting with Nelson’s initial reaction to his
call, to now Crane’s quick expression change.
But he decided to keep to the topic at hand, realizing that there was
apparently something going on in the background but acknowledging that, as long
as it had nothing to do with the case, it wasn’t any concern to him. “While I was a bit surprised that whoever
answered the listed phone number for the Institute transferred me to Admiral
Nelson instead of Personnel…”
“I’m not,” Lee told him softly.
“…he quickly verified your position
there as well as your Navy status. Oh,”
he added, “he insisted on knowing what happened, and making sure that neither
of you were hurt.”
Becca smiled. “Apparently you still have a job,” she told
Lee with a broad grin.
“There was doubt?” Callen jumped on
the comment, leaning forward in his chair.
Lee sent Becca a frown, and Callen
a shy look. “The Admiral and I haven’t
had the best last few weeks,” came out so low Callen barely heard it.
“I certainly didn’t get that
impression,” Callen told him, once more sitting back in his chair.
Lee shrugged. “Yeah, well…”
He let it drop with a quick look at Becca. He was actually glad when a woman walked in
the still open office door, and everyone settled in to take Becca’s and Lee’s
official statements. Lee was surprised
when Callen chose to let he and Becca make a joint statement – that wasn’t
accepted protocol. He eventually decided that the Sheriff was being very
watchful of the relationship between he and Becca and smiled inwardly, actually
starting to enjoy the unspoken byplay.
As it was his turn to add his part, he almost automatically switched
into how he would have officially presented a report to both Admiral Nelson and
his part-time boss, Admiral Robert Jones, head of ONI. His voice was crisp, his descriptions
detailed and succinct, and it earned him another raised eyebrow from
Callen. Lee didn’t take the bait, and
continued his narrative to the point where he called 911. Callen had a few questions, but not many as
Becca had also done an exceptional job of describing events, and had started
off by explaining that Lee, a good friend, had come up on vacation, and they
had decided to take advantage of Clay Bridger’s invitation to stay at the
cabin. She didn’t gloss over her previous
involvement with her Ex, including that she’d seen him, or thought so at least,
in Portland recently, and believed now that he’d been stalking her.
“I don’t believe that he will be
bothering you for a very long time,” Callen told her. “As soon as he’s released from the
hospital…” He sent Lee another
look. Lee sent him a bit of his
‘through-the-lashes’ look and it caused Becca to nearly giggle. Callen shook his head, but continued. “I’m already getting calls. Trying to decide who has jurisdiction, and in
what order, should keep the County Prosecutor busy the rest of the week. At least.”
“Good!” Becca told him firmly
“I wonder if that’s why he came
after you now,” Lee postulated softly.
“Ran out of places to hide and needed money.”
“I have no intentions of trying to
figure out why Mike does anything,” Becca growled back. Lee and Callen both smiled softly.
“How much longer will you be
staying at Mr. Bridger’s cabin, may I ask?”
The Sheriff sent them both a raised eyebrow.
Lee turned to Becca but said
nothing. “Probably go back to Portland
this weekend,” she told Callen, then turned to Lee. “I’d better not leave David alone any
longer,” she admitted with a grin that Lee returned.
“David?” Callen pounced on the new
name.
“My business partner, Dr. David
Bassett. I gave you my office number,
didn’t I?” Lee ducked his head at her
tone of voice – all business. Callen
didn’t duck but he did turn to the woman still taking notes, who nodded.
“One thing I didn’t ask,” Callen
continued, “was how he got into the Bridger cabin. We know that he broke the back door lock on
the other place…”
“First thing I checked when your
deputy dropped us back there last night,” Lee told him. “Well,” he amended. “This morning. I know that I left everything locked when I
left.” He glanced at Becca. “You might want to mention to Mr. Bridger
that he needs to use better locks. The
ones he has now are fairly easy to pick.”
He looked back to the Sheriff. “I
didn’t pay any attention to the other place.
I’d guess they used better locks, and Nesbit either couldn’t pick them,
or didn’t take the time to make a better effort.”
“I’ll give Clay the name of my
locksmith,” Becca told him, and once more Lee ducked his head. But they both grinned. Callen sent them both a firm look. But when neither chose to explain what was
apparently a private joke, he dismissed them.
They hung around only long enough for the statements to be typed and
officially signed.
Once back at the cabin they both
decided that they’d had enough excitement and adventure to need any further
exercise that day. They did fix a quick
lunch, and then Becca settled into one of the overstuffed chairs, feet on the
matching foot stool, and tried to read.
Lee grinned when her eyes closed within ten minutes. He totally wasn’t aware, stretched out on the
couch, when his did the same thing moments later.
* * * *
Admiral Nelson wasn’t at all
surprised to find Chip’s SUV parked in its slot when he got to work Thursday
morning. Even though he’d all but
ordered two weeks of down time for Seaview’s XO, the blond was just as dedicated
to his job, if not more so, than Lee. Well,
Lee until now, Nelson breathed out heavily.
What little he was able to ascertain from Sheriff Callen’s call, Lee had
simply been ‘Lee’: recognize danger – this time to a friend, not crewman, but
that made no difference – and neutralize danger. He wondered if Lee would recognize the action
for what it was – a trait so inborn in Lee, so intrinsic to his persona, that
he couldn’t stop it even if he wanted to.
He bypassed his own office, Angie sending him two raised eyebrows which
he merely smiled at, and continued down the hall to Chip’s open office door,
the blond’s secretary not yet in.
“Sir,” Chip bounced out of his
chair and came to Attention when he spotted his boss.
Nelson chuckled. “Chill,” he ordered, and continued in to sit
in one of the chairs facing the desk.
Chip slowly sat back down in his.
“Could have sworn that I said not to come back until next Monday.” As he continued to grin broadly, Chip slowly
relaxed.
With Nelson this amused, Chip
decided that he could get away with a bit of flippancy as well, something he
rarely did with his boss. “Actually, two
weeks would be tomorrow, sir.”
“And you’re back early because…?”
“I’d had all I could take of being
terrorized by my nieces and nephews,” Chip told him almost bashfully.
Nelson snorted and shook a finger
at him, but continued to grin. “Had a
call yesterday,” he started.
“Lee?” burst out of Chip’s mouth
before he could stop it. It made Nelson
smile more broadly.
“Well, about him, at least.”
“What did he do?” snuck out in a
soft growl. He instantly turned red and
shut up.
Nelson laughed out loud. “Actually, what he always does. He’s with Dr. Radiwan…” he paused as Chip all but smirked, which he
acknowledged with a nod of his own.
“There was some kind of threat from her ex-husband and Lee ‘handled’
it. The call was from the investigating
Sheriff.”
“Injuries?”
“Apparently only to the ex,” Nelson
confirmed. “I gather he ended up in the
hospital.”
“But you haven’t heard from Lee,”
Chip wanted clarification.
Nelson frowned. “No. At
least, not yet. I rather suspect that
he’ll call one of us in the next couple of days.” He shrugged.
“At least, I hope so,” he amended.
“Yeah,” it was Chip’s turn to
breathe out in a heavy sigh.
* * * *
Lee startled awake, then quickly
looked around. Becca was still sound
asleep in the chair so the scream he thought that he’d made had apparently been
silent. Stupid dream, he muttered
to himself, and checked his watch; it was just past three pm. Getting up quietly, he went to wash his face,
then checked the larder for what was left from which to make dinner. He set out two steaks to start thawing, and
cut two potatoes into half-inch-thick rounds to also grill, and put them into a
bowl of water for now so that they wouldn’t turn dark. Deciding that he’d probably had enough hard
liquor over the last two weeks to last him at least three months, he grabbed a
bottle of beer and turned the stereo on fairly low. Not yet needing the heat, he still started
the fireplace to just display flames and settled once more on the couch, this
time sitting up, not laying down.
He wasn’t paying much attention to
what was playing on the stereo as he stared into the fire and nursed his beer,
until once more John Denver’s distinctive voice penetrated his thoughts.
On the road of experience, I’m
trying to find my own way. Sometimes I
wish that I could fly away. When I think
that I’m moving, suddenly things stand still.
I’m afraid cause I think they always will. And I’m looking for space, and to find out
who I am, and I’m looking to know and understand.
It’s a sweet, sweet, dream,
sometimes I’m almost there. Sometimes I
fly like an eagle and sometimes I’m deep in despair.
All alone in the universe,
sometimes that’s how it seems. I get
lost in the sadness and the screams.
Then I look in the center and suddenly everything’s clear. I find myself in the sunshine and my
dreams. And I’m looking for space and to
find out who I am, and I’m looking to know and understand.
It’s a sweet, sweet dream, sometimes I’m
almost there. Sometimes I fly like an
eagle, and sometimes I’m deep in despair.
On the road of experience, join in
the living day. If there’s an answer
it’s just that it’s just that way. When
you’re looking for space and to find out who you are. When you’re looking to try and reach the
stars.
It’s a sweet, sweet dream, sometimes
I’m almost there. Sometimes I fly like
an eagle, and sometimes I’m deep in despair.
Sometimes I fly like and eagle, like
an eagle, Oh, oh, oh, yeah. ^^
“If there’s an answer it’s just
that it’s just that way,” he repeated as the stereo went on to a different CD,
and he shook his head almost sadly.
“John, you were wise beyond your years, and you left us way too
soon.” He toasted the air around
him. “But you died doing something you
truly loved,” remembering the singer-songwriter’s death in 1997 when the plane
he’d recently purchased crashed into Monterey Bay.
“What?” Becca mumbled, slowly
shaking herself awake.
“Nothing important,” Lee told her
with a grin.
“That better not be the last beer,”
she continued to mumble as she sat up.
Lee chuckled. “Nope.
And there’s still half a bottle of white wine in the fridge, although I
have set out steaks for dinner.”
Becca finally shook herself
awake. “Non-conformist,” she told
him. “I like white with red meat.” They both chuckled, and Becca headed upstairs
to freshen up.
Lee finished his beer, then
finished defrosting the steaks in the microwave before seasoning them, then
putting them into the fridge until he was ready to fix them. Then he grabbed another beer and returned to
his place on the couch. He knew that,
after Sheriff Callen’s call to Admiral Nelson he should call his boss as
well. But he still hesitated, not quite
ready to tackle those issues just yet.
* * * *
Silently, yet by mutual agreement,
Lee and Becca got up Thursday morning and started straightening everything
up. They packed what food that could go
safely there into the freezer, and what couldn’t, into boxes to take back to
Portland, then took one more hike into the forest toward Mt. Hood. Becca called Clay Bridger to let him know the
cabin would be empty by that evening, and after glossing over Mike Nesbit’s
invasion, strongly suggested that her friend have the cabin’s security
upgraded. She and Lee both just shook
their heads when the man didn’t seem overly concerned. They ended up getting back to Portland just
after nine pm, having stopped not far out of town for pizza.
With almost dread, Lee placed the
call to Admiral Nelson about ten am Friday morning. Becca had decided to go into the office; she
figured that by now her desk was a disaster zone and she’d try to get as much
of it organized as she could before she was back to seeing patients Monday
morning. With no excuse to put it off
any longer Lee dialed NIMR, then Nelson’s extension, and smiled when Angie
answered in her most efficient tone.
“Admiral Nelson’s office.”
“Hi, gorgeous,” Lee replied. It was his usual opening to her, although it
wasn’t said with quite its usual lightness.
“Lee,” came back a bit officiously,
and Lee cringed.
“Is the Admiral in?” Lee asked, now
carefully.
“Let me check to see if he’s
available,” and he was put on ‘hold’.
“Swell,” Lee muttered softly. “Not only is he ticked, but Angie is,
too. Not sure which is worse.”
He didn’t have time to ponder that
mess before Nelson picked up, his voice not at all strained. “Lee,” he said a bit breathlessly. “How are you?” was added almost hesitantly.
“Fine, sir,” Lee gave him his
standard answer. There was a soft snort
in the background that sounded suspiciously like a certain blond, and Lee
figured that Chip was present and Nelson had put the phone on speaker. That meant that Angie was no doubt listening as
well. “Figured that I’d better check to
see if I still have a job,” he got out, not nearly as casually as he would have
liked. He finally started to relax as
Nelson’s sigh could easily be heard.
“I would rather not have to hire an
entirely new crew after everyone current deserted if you don’t come back.” There was a pause, and ‘something’ was said
too quietly for Lee to decipher. “But
you’re on your own with your XO,” Nelson added, barely able to get out around
the chuckles he couldn’t control.
“Don’t you worry about him,” came
in Angie’s firm voice, and even Lee had to laugh.
“Yes, ma’am,” he finally
replied. “See you Monday?” he added
softly, once more careful.
“I’ll have your desk all nicely
buried by then,” Chip told him.
“Swell,” it was Lee’s turn to
mutter.
There was a moment when no one said
anything, until Nelson finally spoke.
“Lee?” was definitely a question.
Lee smiled to himself. “Working on it.”
“That’s all any of us can hope
for,” Nelson told him sincerely. “See
you Monday.”
“Yes, sir,” and the connection was
broken.
Lee took a deep breath, suddenly
grateful that only the phone connection was broken, not the connections he’d
made to those people he called ‘family’.
No, he still didn’t have all the answers. But he knew where to find the people most
likely to help him look.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
* See
“Friends” by R. L. Keller
** See
“There Will Be An Answer” by R. L. Keller
* * * See
“Feathered Friend” by R. L. Keller
+ See “For Every Action” by R. L.
Keller
++ See “The Legend Begins” by R. L.
Keller
+++ See “Chip and the Terrible, Horrible,
No Good, Very Bad, Day” by R. L. Keller
^ See “Cobwebs” by R. L. Keller
^^ “Looking For Space”, by John Denver