There Must Be A Mistake Ch. 17

"Sir that was not fireworks that was gunfire."

"You have to be wrong; you can still see the fireworks going off by the road."

The agent turned. He saw and heard the continuous sounds of fireworks going off uncontrolled. It was a conflagration of every type of fireworks there was. Then he heard a fire engine racing to the scene. Could he have been wrong? He could see no damage to the building. No one was hurt, and the dogs weren't alerting. What the hell was going on here?

William went to his son. "Can you see the fireworks across the road Patrick?"

"That man picked me up so I could see it better. Can we get closer daddy?"

"No, it looks like it's on fire. I also think we are leaving, I decided I don't like this man."

William picked Patrick up and pulled Jemma into his arm. "Ladies and gentlemen, after what you saw the vice president do to my son moments ago I've decided to withdraw my support for him. Any man who would put a child in front of him in order to save his own life is not worthy of my support. It's not because Patrick is my son, it could have been anyone's son. A child has a right to life. It's incumbent upon any adult to protect that child with every ounce of courage in him. By his actions here today, the vice president displayed he does not have the courage to be the leader of this great nation. He speaks like he has it, but in his heart he is not a courageous human being, and we have all witnessed it firsthand. I am ashamed that he was able to fool me. I thought I was a better judge of character than I turned out to be. I hope he doesn't try to cash the $50 million check I handed him this morning. The bank associate may hit him with it. I will barely be able to hold my temper, until we leave this pretenders palace. However, if my wife sees that lowlife, he's in trouble."

William's attorney said to the chief of staff, "If I were you, I would have four limousines here within 20 minutes to take William and his family away. If he has to wait much longer, he may burn this building down, and make sure the Vice President is in it."

"I won't be his chief of staff much longer that man is an insult to his office."

*************************

The Secret Service did a complete investigation of the house, lawn, and tree line areas in front of the estate. There was not a bullet hole anywhere. They checked deep into the forest area looking for shell casings, and did not find one.

They did find a young man and woman, with a speedboat off an inlet of the Monongahela River. They were barbecuing steaks and corn on a grill, while performing other activities on a blanket a short distance away.

The agents closed in on them, and said, "Freeze."

The young man complained, "Come on man not now, I'm right there."

The young woman bitched, "If you make him stop, I'll claw your eyes out."

One agent laughed, "You may continue."

While they continued their exertions, the agent turned the steaks, and rotated the corn for them. He heard her scream, and his grunt. Then they gave them a few moments to recover.

"Are you guys alright now?"

"If you'll throw us our bathing suits, we'll get dressed."

He threw two moist bathing suits towards them, and watched with interest as they dressed. They were in their late teens at best."

"Can we help you officers?"

"Do you have identification?"

"Yes sir, they are in the boat."

"Who does the boat belong to?"

The young woman replied, "It belongs to my dad."

"Do you have permission to use it?"

"Of course I do; he expects us back by 4 PM."

"Did you see or hear anything different this afternoon?"

"Yes sir, I thought I heard shooting, but then I saw cloud of smoke coming from the highway. It looked like fireworks were going off, so I figured that must have been it."

"You didn't see any people running by, or boats leaving this area?"

"No sir, we've been here since about 12:30 PM, and nothing interesting happened except the fireworks."

"Okay, have fun, don't get her pregnant, and the steaks are done."

"Thank you officer."

************

"How many more years is it going to take them to figure out that you are 28 years old?"

"I don't know, Allison. It will probably be right after you grow out of your 'A' cup."

"The only way that's going to happen is if I have surgery, and that's not going to happen."

"We do make love well together though. Do you want to go to Spain with me?"

"For how long Luke?"

"I guess until we get tired of each other."

"You keep your money I keep mine."

"We can do that, or we can take $1 million each, and put it into a joint account. We can live off that for a very long time. That amount of money won't hurt either of us."

Allison asked, "Do you want children?"

"That would be nice, but it's not a deal breaker."

"I'd like a couple of them. I'd like to live on the Mediterranean side, the weather is nicer there."

"Yeah, that sounds cool. We can leave right after the pussy party. I don't have anyone to say goodbye to, do you?"

"Nope, my people are dead, at least those I care about are. Do you want to go house hunting online?"

"I think we should eat before that steak turns to shoe leather. Then we can head back to the hotel and leave for Washington to get you a gown and that other stuff. You can get married in it."

"Who said anything about marriage?"

"The kids will need parents. We don't have to co-mingle the money. I will never go after yours, and I know you will never come after mine. We both know the ramifications of it if we do."

"Where do you want to get married?"

"Isn't that always the bride's choice?"

"I always dreamed of Tahiti."

"So will get married in Tahiti. Then we will continue on to Spain."

"Really, that's okay with you?"

"Can you cook better than this steak?"

"I can take lessons."

"I'd rather take you to the beach. We can eat out, until we have children. I know how to boil water. We can buy a coffee maker, or we can make tea, with toast and jelly, for breakfast."

"I am marrying a gourmet cook; he knows how to make toast."

"This one more thing I have to tell you Allison."

"What are you going to tell me Luke that you've been staring at my ass for five years?"

"No Ali, I've been in love with you for five years. I've just been afraid to say it. I didn't want to jinx the relationship we had on the job."

"I think we better tell the Colonel."

****************

"Do you two think the rest of us have been blind? That's why we kept you two separated while we were working. As long as you continued doing your jobs professionally, we kept you on. You've been good for us, and we've been good for you. Now it's time for you two to stop. I'm very happy for both of you. Wrap up any loose ends you have here. Use your real identification from this point on: Driver's licenses, Social Security numbers, DD 214's, and passports. They should all be clean. Check with Harvey and make sure they are. Your shots are up to date, and you two should be fine for a very long time. If you break up, like I have three times, don't get angry with one another. Break up as friends, because sometimes love just leaves. You can still have a relationship with one another without love. I'm still friends with my first two wives. My third wife is another story. I'm glad you're getting out of this business, when I am. It makes it a lot easier for me. Goodbye guys, best of luck to you."

****************

"Lucius, the answer is 'NO!' You are not going to give him a party. I want him to suffer for a very long time. If you heard what he told me in our private conversation, you would know this man is mad. He has delusions of grandeur. Now, and forever more, he will be the butt of every comedian's jokes, and story line. Any time he shows up in public, he will be castigated. This was my plan from the very beginning, and you performed your work perfectly as usual.

It has been an honor for me to work with you all these years. If at any time you need help from me, just call and I will be at your side. The only thing I will not do for you is give you Jemma. She is mine."

"William, you are the best friend any man could ever have. You have made me wealthy beyond my wildest dreams, and torturing you, while playing word games with Jemma, has been my pleasure. She is a wonderful person, and I know she loves you beyond all else. I saw pictures of the two of you, embracing as we started our mission. You two are one and the same. There is nothing in this world that will ever separate you from each other. You have picked wisely, and it should only have happened to me. Unfortunately my marriages did not stick as yours has. Goodbye my friend, if you need me, call."

"Godspeed and long life Lucius."

"The same to you my friend. You are the smartest man I have ever known."

**************

Gordon was so tired he slept through the entire day and into the next morning. He looked at his alarm clock and could not believe the time. He was already late for work. He didn't understand why I didn't wake him up and take him to work with me.

He jumped out of bed, pulled his clothes out of the closet for the day, and ran to take a shower. He opened the door, and ran into a wall. He fell back into his room and onto his ass. As his head and eyes cleared he looked up and saw the wall he hit. It was Montgomarie.

He screamed, "Monty, your back! How was your vacation?"

"Boring, I didn't have a little shit to beat up on. I intend to catch up on that starting tonight at 6 PM."

"Monty, I don't get home until 10 PM."

"Little man, I am back, would you like to bet your ass on what time you're getting home tonight? Your father told me about the attitude problem you have developed, and I intend to straighten it out one way or another. One way will be painful. The other way will be extremely painful. The choice will be up to you. You will be in bed by 10 PM every night. You will get up at 7 o'clock in the morning, shower, get dressed, and have a proper breakfast. We will leave together at 7:45 AM. Do you have any questions; if you do I will be glad to explain them to you in another way."

"No Monty, I understand everything you said. You lost weight on your vacation. How many marathons did you?"

"Do you really want to know, or do you want me to train you to run to work every day and run home at night?"

"Can I use a treadmill instead?"

"Why this sudden interest in physical health?"

"Dad said if I want to have sex, I have to learn how to dance, and go to a movie to meet girls. I look at all the boys on television. They have muscles, and I do not. I am very thin, and I have no muscles. I'd like to get some of them so girls will notice me."

"Okay, I will help you whip you into shape, but as usual, you are not going to like me."

Gordon tried to put his arms around her, but it was useless. She was just too big.

"Thank you Monty; I missed you."

"From what your father told me about your behavior, I have my work cut out for me."

"No you won't; whatever you say is law. I don't want you to leave me."

"Take your shower and get dressed, breakfast is in ten minutes."

"Yes ma'am."

Gordon smiled as he tried to edge around her. Monty was as hard as stone. He knew she would teach him everything he needed to know to get into good physical condition, and to protect himself. He missed her, and was very happy she was back.

79. Moving On Up

It was 5:30 AM when there was an earthquake. He woke with a start and attempted to get out of bed. It was no use; the roof was holding him down. He wondered how long he had to live.

Then the roof started talking to him. "Are you awake?"

"Yes, but something has me pinned to the bed. I can't move."

"That's my hand. You have 10 minutes to wash up and get dressed. Put on a pair of shorts, a T-shirt, socks, and sneakers. I am going to teach you how to run."

"The sun isn't up yet. You said I wasn't getting up until 7 o'clock."

"That was before you said you wanted muscles. Now you will wake up at 5:30 AM and be at the front door by 5:45 AM. Don't worry about it; we are only going to run for one mile this morning. You won't even break a sweat."

"A mile is 5280 feet Monty. I don't walk that much during the day."

"If you are not out of bed in 30 seconds, I will make it two miles."

"If you don't take your hand off my back, you can make it a marathon and I won't be able to get out of bed."

"I took my hand off your back a minute ago; get out of bed before I hit you. You have 12 minutes to be at the front door."

"What happened to 15 minutes?"

"You wasted three minutes arguing with me. If you don't start moving your ass young man, I will start hitting it."

Gordon threw off his covers, ran into the bathroom to take care of his needs, and brush his teeth. The clothes he needed for the morning run were laid out on his bed. He looked at his clock and it was 5:42 AM. He couldn't believe how much time he took in the bathroom.

He took off his pajamas, dressed and ran to the front door. No one was there. He looked into the kitchen, and Monty and two other agents were sitting there drinking coffee.

"Isn't it time for us to leave?"

Monty said, "Look at the time Gordon."

He looked at the nuclear clock on the kitchen wall and it said 5:35 AM.

"You tinkered with my clock."

"It got you to move faster didn't it?"

"I'm beginning to think I may go without muscles."

"I'm beginning to think you're acting like a baby. I'm here two hours before my shift starts because you asked me to help you. There is no way you are backing out without me breaking a few bones. Do we understand each other mister?"

"Yes ma'am, I will not argue with you again."

"Yes you will, and you will be in pain, I guarantee it."

"Good morning everyone, why isn't my son screaming?"

"Dad, don't you start, she has already threatened me twice this morning with corporal punishment. Unlike you, I believe her."

"Monty, you just received a pay raise. I can't frighten my son, because he knows my weak points. I hope you have a wonderful time straightening him out."

"Wait until you see what he looks like on Saturday, Doctor Luck. His muscles will be so cramped up we will need a 'come along, get along' to straighten him out."

"I work on Saturday Monty."

"Not anymore my son, I told you your schedule was going to change, and it has since Monty has come back from vacation."

"I'm beginning not to like you dad."

"Where have I heard that before? I believe it was from my daughter, who now adores me. It may take you a few years, but I'm sure Monty will change your mind."

"Look at the clock Gordon. We are now one minute late. We will have to make that up while we are running. Get to the door young man, your training has begun."

"I know I'm not going to like this dad. Monty never smiles, and she is smiling now."

"I'll see you in 15 minutes my son, enjoy yourself."

"I'm sure I don't like you dad, you're smiling too."

"Enjoy your run Gordon."

"Why are you up at this hour of the morning mom?"

"I had to see my baby off on his first run, didn't I. Monty said the next time I see him might be in the hospital."

"Very funny mother, I think I'll do what dad said and run into Pluto."

"I think that would hurt all of us, wouldn't it? I love you, enjoy your morning."

"If Holden and Richard come walking down that hall next, you are only going to have one child left by the end of today."

Monty yelled, "If I have to come in the house and get you Gordon, you won't be able to run for three months. It will take you that long to get out of the body cast."

He didn't say goodbye to his mother, he was out the door standing beside Monty explaining his delay.

Monty said, "From this day forward the only excuse I will accept for being late is a personal visitation from God. He has to give you a hand written note excusing you on vellum. Do you understand Gordon?"

"Yes Monty."

His first lesson began with the importance of stretching before each run.

(I won't go through everything she did with him because it would take a page and a half to do. Let me say by the time they began running Gordon was on the verge cramping up. Even though he knew the muscle groups, he never used them before. The only reason he finished the mile was because Monty was yelling in his ear every step of the way. He wasn't running, he was barely walking, but he made it. He collapsed on the steps outside our home.)

Jennifer and I walked out onto the porch and glanced down at our son.

"Look dear, he didn't die. You owe me five dollars."

Gordon looked up at us with venom in his eyes.

Before he could say anything, I said, "This was not my idea, this was your idea. You wanted to gain weight and put on muscle, this is how you do it. I can't wait to see what Monty has in store for you this evening after dinner. I've purchased cameras so I can watch the entire training session, when I come home at night. Your mother and I will enjoy it immensely.

It may be instructional for Richard and Holden also. If they see what you are going through now. They may start training sooner in their lives, rather than waiting until they get to your age."

Gordon started to open his mouth when he was hit by a cramp in his leg. His scream would have woken the dead.

Monty was there in a nanosecond putting liniment on it, and rubbing his right thigh into submission.

"Young man you need a hot bath now." She picked him up as if he was the morning paper, brought him to his room, and laid him on the floor. She walked into the bathroom and started the water running for his bath. She looked at me and said, "We are going to need a larger tub, and a whirlpool bath."

"Are you going to need an ice machine?"

"Good thinking Doc that would be a great help."

Gordon yelled, "I'm dying in here."

Monty replied, "Did I give you permission to die?"

"No ma'am."

"Doc you better go back to the kitchen, he's not going to like this next part at all."

I reacted like my son does to her. I asked no questions, I turned and walked to the kitchen.

Monty turned off the water, tested the heat, put some solution into it that I had never heard of, and went to get him. He could not bend his knees for fear of cramping his thighs. She pulled him to a standing position and dragged him into the bathroom. She took off his shoes and socks and told him to raise his arms over his head. As soon as he did this she grabbed his running shorts and underwear and pulled him down to his ankles. His scream was so high pitched he sounded like a young girl.

As he tried to cover himself he said, "You can't see me like this I'm naked."

"No you're not," she pulled his T-shirt off, "now you are. If you think you're the first man I've seen naked, you're wrong. Get in the tub now."

As modestly as he could he edged over to the tub, sat down on the edge, and put a foot in. He screamed at the top of his lungs again.

"The water is too hot."

"Let me test it, it felt alright a moment ago."

Gordon should have known better than to let her get that close to him. As soon as she placed a hand on his shoulder and bent down to test the water, he was in the tub screaming for his life again.

"I'm not going to have any skin left, you're burning it all off."

Monty smiled. "This is only the warm water. Your mom is boiling hot water now."

"Oh God, what did I get myself into. If I knew sex was going to be this painful, I would've remain celibate for the rest of my life."

"I guess you were not going to go into space either young man."

"Why, what does one thing have to do with the other?"

"According to your father, everyone who was going has to be of childbearing years. If you're going to be celibate, you can't go."

"It really doesn't matter to me; there isn't anyone my age going on the ship."