There Must Be A Mistake Ch. 18

"Yes I did. Why did you send it to General Delivery?"

"I was told it was sent to General Delivery."

Rod handed me a nondescript three-inch cube, wrapped in plain brown paper, and covered sloppily in scotch tape. If anyone looked at it, they wouldn't give it a second glance.

"Jen do you have anything that could open this? I don't think my nails will do it."

I don't know what women carry in their shoulder bags, but I'm sure it includes a chain saw, lug wrench, and a set of throwing knives. It didn't take her a second to find a scissor and start taking the wrapping off the object.

Inside the brown paper was a brown corrugated box. She dispatched that box quickly, and found a white box inside. This one offered more of a challenge, because it looked pretty and she didn't want to destroy it. She went back into her bag and came out with a tiny cuticle scissor. Cutting along the bottom edge of the box until it came free, she opened it to find a blue box sitting inside it.

The jig was up.

"Even what are you up to?"

"Jen where have I been for the last eight weeks that you haven't been. You have made all my phone calls. I have not been out of the room without you at my side. You have been with me every moment I've had a guest. Open the box and let's see what's in it?"

She opened it, still glaring at me. I didn't need a verbal affirmation from her. Her eyes went glassy, and tears flowed freely from both of them. She turned her head to me and stared.

"Happy anniversary my love."

"Even it's not until next..."

Our anniversary was Wednesday, the day after my operation. I wasn't sure if I would be awake enough to say these words of love to her.

While Dycke and Payne were visiting us, and the girls were involved in a separate conversation, I asked him for this special present. I told him to bill it to Rod.

Knowing how sick I was, he said, "Sure thing Even, anything you say."

It's tough inheriting diamond mines, but I guess someone has to get them.

Jen finally composed herself. She took the ring out of the case.

I joked with her. "Don't drop it; it's glass."

"It's Payne's favorite color, pink, just like her airplane. I've never seen a pink diamond this big. How big do you think it is Rod?"

"It's probably seven, maybe eight carats."

"Rod will be able to tell you exactly how big it it's, he will be getting the bill for it."

Jen handed the box to Rod.

She gave me the ring, and stuck out her right hand. I looked at the beautifully cut round diamond. Then I looked up at the exquisite face of my smiling wife.

"I want to make you as happy as you are at this moment, every moment of your life. You deserve nothing less. I love you Jennifer Stars Luck. I've loved you from the second I first saw you."

I slipped the ring on her finger, as she clambered onto my lap. The waterworks and the kisses started before she settled down.

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

"Oh God, he's feeling better. They are going to have sex in public again. Rod couldn't you control those two?"

"Delicious, if your husband just gave you an eight carat pink diamond ring, I wouldn't be able to control you either."

She hit Gray in the ribs. "My father is very sick and he is still thoughtful, romantic, and remembers his anniversary, Mister Thyme. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Your father has been lying down on the job for the past eight weeks. I've had to do his job and mine. Then I have to listen to you complain about our son correcting all your work. If you had done it right the first time, at least I could get some peace and quiet; and possibly a good meal every once and again."

Delicious was about to attack him, when he grabbed both her arms and pinned them behind her back. He whispered in her ear, "Listen to me Prego, I can't do a lot of things to you that I want to, because of your condition. But our son tells me he's going to have four brothers and two sisters. I can make sure your last pregnancy is when you're 60 by wearing three or four condoms every time we have sex."

"Gray do you listen to your son at all? My mother said there is a plan for us. I think you could pack your balls in chemical ice, and screw me. If I was supposed to get pregnant that day, I would."

"I wonder if I stopped working so hard on the spacecraft if everything still would get done on time."

"No it wouldn't dad. Grandma said something would happen to you."

Delicious bent down and asked Newt, "What did grandma say would happen?"

Newt jumped into the air and his feet landed perfectly on his father's exposed toes.

Gray howled in pain.

"That's what's going to happen to daddy if he doesn't work hard mommy. Everyone's going to step on daddy's toes."

As Gray hopped around the room looking for an empty chair to sit in, I looked to the heavens and said to my sister, "Will you never change?"

As Delicious was laughing at her husband's dilemma, she realized she did not look at Jennifer's ring. She pushed everyone aside to get to us. She said a perfunctory, hi dad, and pulled Jennifer's left hand towards her.

"Where is it?"

"I took it off her as soon as I heard your voice. You've been known to abscond with things that are not yours."

"I only did that once and I paid for it by finding out your my father. I'm still paying for that."

"No I'm paying you for that; Five Hundred Thousand Dollars a year if I remember correctly."

"I'm still willing to do your operation for free. I have three days to study for it."

"What would you do with the other two days?"

"Dad don't make me laugh, I'm angry with you."

"Angry with me, why?"

"You're sick, and by your own reasoning, you are not supposed to be. I'm pregnant, and I'm not supposed to be worrying about things I can't control. And there's this thing going on at the N.E.S.T. that's worrying..."

Rod, Gray, Jayden, and Logan screamed, "DELICIOUS!"

The scream was so loud I was shocked, and Jennifer tried to climb inside me so I knew all this was new to her also.

Delicious tried to flee the room because of her mistake, but this time I yelled, "STOP DELICIOUS, get over here."

"Let me tell you how this questioning is going to go, so there will be no mistaking my intentions. This goes for everyone. If anyone lies to me I will cancel my surgery for Tuesday. I don't care what happens to me. I want to know what's happening with our spacecraft. Let's go to my room where we can keep this as private as possible.

Newton you are with Jennifer, and me. I am ordering you two scoops of ice cream. I know your mommy only wants you to have one, but today is a very special day, and I think you deserve it. What kind of ice cream do you like best?"

"Strawberry and cherry ice cream grandpa."

"I didn't know they made that combination of ice creams."

"They don't dad, you have to get him individual scoops."

"Logan have one of our guys go to a local ice cream store and get him what he wants."

"Right away Doctor Luck."

"Jayden tell me what's going on."

"It doesn't pay to be the only black person in a room with white people. They always see you first."

"Are you finished complaining?"

"No sir, I was going to ask Logan to do it."

"Should I tell you his answer, or do you want him to give it to you?"

"No, either way it would just be stalling.

General Morgan received information there was a hit put out on William's Zabo and his family.

(I wanted to scream why, but I held it in.)

Mister Zabo has a friend and former employee of long-standing who found out about the hit and called him. This man also worked with General Morgan in Serbia. They know who the moneyman is behind this effort, but they are not letting that information for public knowledge. At this moment we have a four-part plan in action.

Part 1. The hit team believes Mister Zabo and his family are in New York. We have purchased satellite time from everyone available to watch his home from overhead. The inside and outside of the Zabo residence is filled with electronic video and audio equipment and no upgrades were needed. His house is like a fort the windows are Lexan over coated with thermoplastic material. It could take a direct hit from a 250 mile an hour hurricane and come away unscathed. The doorway looks like an ordinary upscale door, until you trip a silent alarm. Pins shoot out from the doorjambs locking it into place. There are two panic rooms with all the comforts of home. You could live in them to for a week.

If the entire force decides to go into that home they are trapped. That will be the end of phase 1, because the New York City Police Department will wrap that up for us.

Part 2. It will be all over the papers that this mission failed, and Mister Zabo was not at home at the time. We will let it be known that he is the chief administrator of our project and has no knowledge of why anybody would be looking to kidnap or kill him. He is an investor and has been all his life, and so on, and bullshit.

Now the moneyman has a problem. 20 or 30 people will not be enough to kill Mister Zabo. It also will not be enough to kidnap his wife or his son, for ransom.

All our men have been with us for more than two years, and are very well paid. If anyone attempts to co-opt them, more than likely they will tell us about it rather than turn over to the other side.

From General Morgan down to our last hire, we have 256 men in arms. The opposition wants two things according to our best estimate. They want Mister Zabo and/or part of his family, and they will want to destroy the Beach Ball because they know he is involved in it.

Doctor Luck, our men may not have PhD's, or Masters Degrees after our names, but when it comes to the art of war we are as smart as it comes. Taking every point we have been able to ferret out of our conversations, making timelines, and looking through our industrial magazines, we think we know who is behind all of this. After taking an informal vote we decided it doesn't matter who he was. You have been upfront with us from the very beginning, and the only reason Mister Zabo is involved with us now is because you are ill."

"Jayden let me stop you there for a minute. If my friend William is putting your lives in danger, I want to know who this person is, why he's doing it, and what I can do to stop him before any blood is spilled."

There was a knock on my door, and every one turned to see who it was.

It was Adam. He was carrying a pint of strawberry ice cream, a pint of cherry ice cream, at least 20 napkins and a dozen spoons.

Newton's eyes were the size of silver dollars. He launched himself towards the tray of ice creams. He was intercepted before he got there by his mother.

"Mom, grandpa said so."

"Grandpa said two scoops, not two pints. We will get you a plate and put your scoops on the plates; okay?"

"Who decides on the size of the scoops?"

Delicious said, "I do."

Newton's head went towards the floor.

I said, "You're wrong baby, I do."

"Dad he'll get sick."

"Newt, you have to promise me one thing, you must not over eat, okay?"

"Okay grandpa, but who will eat the rest of the ice cream?"

I whispered into his ear, "Your mommy will."

"But..."

"Trust me."

"Go ahead Jayden, tell me everything."

He started with the July 4 story and William Silver holding Patrick in front of him like a shield fending off oncoming bullets when all that was happening was fireworks exploding on a highway adjacent to his property. He went through it point by point and I analyzed each of them.

When Jayden finished, I asked, "Are you sure that is everything the vice president is using as a cause of action against William? It's absolutely absurd. William announced publicly his support for the man. You don't give a man $50 million in the morning and set out to ruin him a few hours later. No wonder the vice president became the laughing stock of the Western world. Let me change that; the laughing stock of the entire world. It's truly a shame William is not a public man. He would have been on every television show for months at a time.

Let's get back to the problem at hand now. I want General Morgan here tomorrow morning at 8 AM. I would like to see William here at 10 AM if he's available.

Do you see how differently I treat those two people. General Morgan is an employee. William Zabo is a friend, and a lifesaver to this company of ours. I would defer every action I make to his wisdom if he thought I was doing something wrong. He is the smartest person I have ever met."

Adam came back into the room without knocking.

Jayden, Mister Zabo's house was attacked in New York. The police have it surrounded, with 11 or 12 men inside. The Satellite feed is coming in to the command post, and the audio from the inside of the house is being microwaved to us. The general was right on point with this one."

"What does he mean 'right on point', Jayden?"

"General Morgan said they would attack at a lazy time of day, on a weekend. In New York City, around Central Park, the laziest part of the day is between two and five in the afternoon. It's hot, and steamy, not too many people are walking on the sidewalks. They're in the park sitting under trees, or in their air-conditioned homes. It's 4: 30p.m. in New York City now, so they went off right on schedule."

"Okay, get back to point two; what do they do now?

"We strike first. Mister Zabo informs them where he is. They send a scouting team down here to verify it, and to see what they're up against. Then there will be a long pause, because he has to build a small army. He will see well-trained people guarding the building and the N.E.S.T. If he had anything to do with the shooting at Stephano's office, he knows he's up against professionals, because we already have one of his men. If he wants a total win, he needs about six hundred trained soldiers. That's not hard to do, but keeping it a secret is a bitch. Where are you going to train that many people for this type of an assault? You can't keep them sequestered for a long time, because they will go ape-shit on you. You can't train them in the jungle if they are going to fight in a desert. If you are going to fight as different units, you can train them as different units, and we can defend against that possibility. That part is to our advantage.

Step 3. You gave us another advantage on step 3, five years ago.

"You're going to use my balloon as a decoy?"

"What were you going to use it for Doc?"

"I guess I was going to use it as a decoy, but I didn't think about being attacked by an army."

"Well Doctor Luck, the Best Luck Two is on its way here from Akron Ohio along with three compressors that can inflate it in less than 20 hours."

"That's a lot of hot air."

"Remember that dad; we've all had to listen to you for a long time."

"After Tuesday you may not have to listen to me anymore."

"Don't you dare say that, I would never forgive you."

"It would be okay, I wouldn't be around to worry about it."

"Dad stop it."

"Why, I didn't start it."

"Dad please stop, I don't want to think about Tuesday yet."

"I'm finished with my ice cream grandpa."

"Can I finish the rest of it?"

"It's very soft, be careful."

"We forgot to put ice cream on the list of items to put on the spacecraft. Children cannot live without ice cream. Jen make a note of it please. You are the pilot in command. We can always leave off 138 pounds of Delicious, and put that much ice cream on for the kids."

"I do not weigh 138 pounds."

"You will."

"I hate him sometimes."

"So what are we going to do with my balloon?"

"We are going to announce that the spacecraft is going to be taken out for one night and one night only to adjust our navigational aids and star charts to the nighttime sky. Everyone, William, Dan, the scientists, and everyone who has ever worked on the spacecraft will be there to see it happen. They are going to think it's perfect time for them to attack, but they will be walking into a trap from which they will never escape.

Step Four. William Zabo has a plan to get the former Vice President and a man named Jim Pierce: President and Chief Executive Officer of Advanced Algorithms arrested, and charged with grand theft, abuse of power, government corruption, and a couple hundred other crimes against the United States. He and his former employee are going to see that personally.

"Jayden, it all sounds nice and neat, but even Schwarzkopf said war is never neat. Is there anything I can get our guys to keep them as protected as possible, as I did for you and Logan in the armored cars. If there is, I want it on site as soon as possible. I don't care if it takes them a year to get 600 people to attack us. I would like us to be ready for them in 30 days or less.

I will tell General Morgan tomorrow morning what I want, and listen to what he has to say.

I will ask William what he thinks about the situation and listen to his advice. I want a wall around him so thick a nuclear weapon couldn't hurt him. Is that understood?"

"Yes Doctor Luck, what happens if he refuses?"

"You tell my friend this is the one time I want him to listen to me. If anything were to happen to him, I would never, I could never forgive myself. If you want it, I will give it to you in writing."

"That might not be a bad idea Doctor."

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

Tuesday morning 5:30 AM.

The lights in my room came on. Jennifer was already in the bathroom. Two nurses and one lab technician, with her assortment of needles and test tubes walked in. Why the hell they said, "Good Morning" was beyond me.

The technician was great, I didn't feel the needle go in, or be taken out of my vein, after she took four more vials of my blood to the laboratory to join the countless others that preceded them.

My love exited the bathroom dressed in greens from her head to her feet.

She smiled and said, "Ta da!"

I queried, "What is this, nurse for a day?"

She kissed me. "I can escort you all the way into the operating room dressed this way. I can kiss you just before they put you to sleep."

"Can we make love instead?"

"I think they would frown on that activity."

Nurse Constance said, "Doctor Luck, it is my high honor and great privilege to shave you from your neck to your ankles, including your dangling participles."

I smiled at Jennifer. "Why didn't you ever offer to do that for me?"

"Even, I've done a lot of things to your dangling participles, but shaving them was not one of the things I ever thought about doing. Constance, please be careful with the long thing in the middle. That is my personal property, and I have yet to take all of it."

"I'm very happy you said that Mrs. Luck. I thought it was part of his problem and was going to mark it for removal. It is a very handsome weapon. I haven't seen anything like it in my 28 years of nursing."

I was about to say something when Jennifer stopped me.

"Not one word Even, don't even think about it or you could go into the operating room in such pain the operation will seem easy."

"I was only going to say it's all yours."

"You couldn't say that with a straight face husband."

"I love you with all my heart wife. Where are your rings?"

"I had to take them all off so I could go with you into the O.R."

"Don't let Delicious get to them, you'll never see them again."

"Leave our daughter alone, she's come a very long way in a very short time."

"She has, I'm extremely proud of her."

"Mrs. Luck, you have to stand back, I have my lawnmower ready, and it's time for me to cut some grass. Doctor Luck, it's time to get you naked."