Chapter 2
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As they pulled into the stone-walled property, Vanessa rolled her eyes. “Johnny lives here? I knew he had money, but this place is like... huge.”
Tres replied, “Look at that fountain. Who has a fountain that big right in front of their door?”
Mace nodded. “He's never been one to flaunt his wealth. I prodded him about it once or twice, but he wouldn't give up any details. Said it wasn't important to who you were.”
Vanessa laughed. “I'd say his lifestyle is a lot more important than mine. Ah! Look at those doors. That's something I would expect to see on a castle!”
They parked and hopped out onto the light-gray granite pavers that circled the fountain. Two marble lions graced either side of the entrance to Johnny and Jane's palatial home.
A valet opened the car door. “Ma'am, sir, will you be in for the remainder of the evening?”
Jane held out the car keys as she stepped out. “I think we're done, Dirk. You can take her around if you like.”
The valet offered a slight bow as Jane strode past him on her way toward the large portico that led into the house.
Vanessa asked, “You have servants?”
Jane smiled. “Goodness, no. Only Dirk. I got fed up with maids and cooks years ago. Johnny does most of the cleaning. Strangely, he enjoys it.”
Vanessa joked, “You need to get some girlfriends who'll come over and hang out. This place needs to be seen.”
They followed Jane through the huge oaken doors.
Greetings were offered by two small dogs with wiggling tails and wide eyes.
“The Westie is mine. Her name is Molly. The doxie is Johnny's, Derwood.”
Vanessa stopped just inside as she knelt to pet the dogs. “Whoa... this place is gorgeous! And, Derwood, who named you that?”
“Meh,” Jane replied as she looked around. “It's kind of like living in a museum. Haven't touched a thing other than our room, the kitchen, and Johnny's den since we've been here. And that's been twenty-two years. And Derwood was named by my twelve-year-old husband.”
Johnny reached down to pet his dog. “Twenty-three, dear. And Derwood is a classic name. Aren't you, Der-Der.”
Jane sighed as she counted on her fingers. “Hmm. Twenty-three it is. Can I get any of you a beverage?”
Vanessa nodded. “I'll have something. Just about anything would be fine.”
Jane pointed at each of the guests. “We have wine. A Mangrove. Mace? The usual?”
Mace nodded. “That would be good, thank you.”
Jane turned to Tres. “And our friend whom Johnny refuses to introduce?”
“Hey now. We just got here. Jane, this is uno dos Tres. And he'll have a soda, if I'm not mistaken.”
Jane held out her hand for a shake. “Don't mind him. He's not much for manners.”
Vanessa laughed. “I just said that not twenty minutes ago.”
Tres shook Jane's hand. “It's just Tres. And soda is good, thank you.”
They followed Jane into the kitchen.
Dirk entered from another hallway. “Will there be anything else this evening, Ma'am?”
Johnny put his hand on Dirk's shoulder. “I think we're good here, but the power is out again. Looks like it might be out for a while. You can head home. Or if you want my opinion, you should go and bring Donna and little Dee back here for the night. You can take refuge in the front bedroom again.”
Dirk smiled. “Thank you sir, but I believe we'll be fine.”
Jane added. “Give Dee a hug for me.”
Dirk bowed slightly and turned, walking down the hallway at a brisk pace.
He stopped midway to the end. “Anyone else have a phone signal?”
They each pulled their phones from their pockets. No one had a connection.
Mace said, “We didn't lose our phones during the last blackout. Must be something different this time.”
Johnny looked over his smartphone as he walked to a cabinet filled with bottles, Derwood trotting after. “Can't say I like this.”
Dirk waved as he pocketed the phone and turned back toward the door. “Thank you again for your kindness.”
Jane poured two glasses of wine as Johnny pulled a bottle of rum from the cabinet. After receiving the drinks, the guests followed the hosts into Johnny's den. A large marlin, a moose head, and several elk heads lined one wall.
Vanessa sighed. “Really?”
Johnny laughed. “Relax, they aren't mine. I have trouble pulling fish in the boat. I love the challenge of it, but I always feel bad once they're in my hands. I tend to catch and release.”
Jane said, “He's a softy. The trophies belonged to his uncle. Family heirlooms, if you will. That was the one wall in this room we didn't touch.”
Tres stood in awe of the TV screen. “What is that? Eight feet?”
Johnny smiled. “It's ten. And it should be on by now.”
The host picked up a tablet controller from a coffee table as they each took seats on the large heavy leather couches in front of the big screen. “Hmm. Says it's scanning for channels. Rarely see it do that. Internet and satellite must be down too.”
Johnny swiped at several displays.
A broadcaster at an AM radio station came over the speakers. “Again, the blackout has spread to at least a full third of the eastern seaboard, affecting phones, cable, satellite and surprisingly, over-the-air FM broadcasts. The initial reaction from authorities has been a single statement that we should all remain in our homes for the evening. I'm here tonight with Jim Mathers, our K101 engineer. Jim, have you ever seen anything like this?”
The engineer replied, “No, Dave, I haven't. Both communications and power appear to be out in the northeast region. This has affected both cell phones and landlines. The latter of which I don't understand.”
The broadcaster asked, “Any idea what might cause something like this?”
Jim said, “Could be anything from a nasty solar flare to an attack on our country. Could be terrorists.”
Dave sighed. “OK, just for all our listeners out there, that was only speculation. We are not under attack and there aren't any reports of terrorists on the loose. I think we'll go with the solar flares.”
Jim yelled, “Ow! What was that for? Stop hitting me, man!”
The air was silent for several seconds. “OK, folks, sorry about that. Jim will be returning to his regular duties of keeping us on the air. It's shaping up to be a quiet evening, so just stay indoors, stay safe, and enjoy listening to the music.”
A tune from the fifties crackled over the AM airwaves.
Johnny laughed. “If we're back to AM only, it must be the apocalypse.”
Mace jokingly said, “So we may be holed up here for a while. You ready for that?”
Johnny shrugged. “You're all welcome to stay. At least until the power comes back on.”
Mace crossed his arms. “What if it never comes back on?”
Johnny frowned and offered a deadpan reply: “Then I chop you up and use you for fish bait. I gotta keep eating.”
Vanessa said, “I thought you threw the fish back.”
Johnny turned. “OK, that makes two of you for the chum bucket. Let's just hope the power comes back on.”
Seconds later, a flicker told of the generators switching back over to the normal power input from the grid.
Johnny smiled. “Looks like you're both off the hook.”
Vanessa said, “Still no phone signal.”
Johnny swiped at his tablet until a screen of his home power system displayed. “Outside power is up. Internet is connecting, and... up.”
Jane looked at her phone. “I don't show a phone signal either.”
The power flickered, and once again went out, taking the internet connection with it.
“You two, follow me. I'll get the bucket.” Johnny said as he stood.
Jane shook her head. “OK, enough of that. It wasn't funny to begin with.”
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“I have a phone connection. And data.” Tres held up his cellphone.
Mace said, “Try to make a call.”
Tres typed away. “Sent my brother a text. He's always watching his phone.”
Seconds later a vibration told of a response. “He says power was off there—Michigan—for about twenty minutes. Is out in sections going from Virginia all the way up to Maine. No word yet on the definite cause, but they're saying there's a massive amount of interference wreaking havoc on mobile phone service just about everywhere.”
Vanessa lit up. “Finally! Got my service back!”
She immediately sent a text to her date.
The power again flickered but remained on.
Vanessa received a reply. “Great. Canceled. We were heading up the coast, taking his parents' yacht across to Cape Charles from where it's moored. Now he says he's heading out to his grandparent's estate in Pittsburgh. Looks like I have a free weekend coming up.”
Minutes later, one by one the broadcast channels began to come online. The talking heads took to their desks and the speculations as to what had happened began. A half hour into the highly varied stories, word came in of a train derailment that had taken out a main feeder line. The experts pointed at the loss of the feeder for the power outage, but remained baffled by the loss of communications.
“Brian, what I don't understand is our loss of mobile service. The towers are up, the backup generators, from what we've been told, continue to function. We've had word of some type of massive RF interference happening, but nothing definite. Perhaps the Russians or Chinese are testing some new satellite weapon?”
The news anchor held up a hand. “Let's not be too hasty with that one, Garth. Wouldn't that be considered an act of war?”
Garth Roberts shrugged. “Just not sure where else it could come from. If this was a solar event, we would have had a warning from the scientific community. They keep tight track of those things so precautions can be taken to prevent outages or damage. There haven't been any reports of solar flares of late. At least none that have been mentioned. And this is the second week of outages.”
The power and communications again failed.
Tres threw his hands in the air. “This is great. If I don't have the demonstration line up and working by Monday we lose our shot at a contract. I needed tomorrow's time.”
Speculation continued among the group as the evening turned into the wee hours of the morning. Jane offered rooms and beds in the main house to her guests. All were soon sleeping in comfort.
The following morning saw no revival of the power or communications. The guests were invited to stay the day. A hardy breakfast and a morning of chat led to Johnny firing up his barbecue and cooking up a load of steaks from his freezer.
“Sorry they aren't fresh from the butcher. For guests I like to bring home the beef that's been properly aged.”
Mace replied, “I think these might be thicker than any I've ever seen.”
Tres laughed. “How am I supposed to eat that? It weighs half of what I do?”
Johnny shrugged. “Split it with Vanessa. I've seen her tear into a burrito over at the bar. It was savage.”
Vanessa scowled. “It was once. And I was hungry... hadn't eaten all day.”
The afternoon was one of relaxation and chat. Attempts at fishing from the dock brought laughter as the beer and wine flowed. The warm afternoon soon turned to evening with the power remaining off.
Jane said, “Dirk? Why don't you head home and bring Donna and Dee back here. No sense in them sitting in the dark over there.”
Dirk nodded. “If it wouldn't be too much trouble. Our neighborhood backs up to a less desirable part of town. We were kept up half the night with a block party of sorts that went until this morning.”
Jane waved at the door. “Go. I'd love to see little Dee.”
Dirk hurried for the door and was soon out of the drive and on his way home. Johnny continued to scan for TV and radio stations with no luck.
Another quiet night was followed by an easy afternoon. As the sun set on the second full day of outage, the group returned to the comfort of Johnny's den. Dirk made a run back to his house for supplies for the infant.
Several loud pops could be heard from outside.
Jane said, “That sounded like a .45.”
Johnny shook his head. “Just kids out having fun with fireworks.”
Jane replied, “That's heavy stuff if it's fireworks. Sounded substantial.”
Nearly an hour later, Dirk returned with extra diapers and clothing for his daughter.
Johnny asked, “Any traffic out there?”
“I-264 is backed up. I waited for fifteen minutes just to cross under the overpass. If people were supposed to stay in their homes, they're not complying. The grocery store was being mobbed.”
Mace said, “They had power?”
Dirk shook his head. “No, sir. Looting. Headlights lighting up the interior while mobs of people ran about. The windows were all smashed out. I heard several gunshots as well.”
Johnny frowned. “It's only been a day. How quickly we devolve into being savages.”
Dirk glanced over at the hallway. “I passed a group of fifteen or twenty on the roadway about a mile from here. They didn't look to be up to any good. I think some of them were breaking into a house. And I noticed the perimeter lights were not on outside. Perhaps we should brighten things up?”
Jane said, “I told you that was gunshots we heard. Might be time to secure this place.”
Johnny stood. “Mace, Tres, Dirk, come with me.”
They followed Johnny down the back hall, through an exterior door, and across a paved area that led to his massive garage. A broad door rose up as they approached.
Johnny smiled as he gestured toward a locked door just inside the garage. “Gentlemen, welcome to the ready-room.”
The steel door was unlocked and opened.
As they came through, Johnny pointed. “To the left we have antiques. Most of those belonged to my uncle. I don't think we'll be needing those this evening. Straight in front we have handguns. Last count we were at ninety-six, I believe. If you're skilled at shooting, please help yourself. Smaller calibers start on the left, with a collection of .50s over here.”
Mace looked to the right. “Are these legal on this side?”
Johnny grinned. “These are all fully registered and legal. And we have at least a thousand rounds of ammo for each weapon. Jane's a bit of a fanatic.”
Tres stood in disbelief. “Are you expecting World War Three?”
Johnny laughed. “No. Jane and I spent several years as competitive shooters. We might have gone a bit overboard with our collecting at the time. A good bit of this was inherited. Jane still competes. I mostly just watch.”
Jane stood behind them, with Vanessa, Donna, and Dee in tow. “Have you shown them the real stuff?”
Johnny hesitated. “Wasn't prepared to do that just yet, no.”
Jane glanced around the room. “Can you all keep a secret?”
Each of the room's occupants nodded as Jane looked them in the eye.
Johnny frowned. “You think that's a good idea?”
Jane waved her hand as she walked toward a bookshelf that showcased several dozen revolvers. “These are all good people here. I'm sure they have no problem with weapons used for self-defense.”
A hidden button was pressed and one end of the bookshelf slid out several inches. Jane pulled the shelf door wide open, exposing a smaller, neatly arranged room with more weapons.
Mace stepped forward. “AKs... is that a Thompson? And this? Not sure I've seen one of those.”
Jane grinned as she pulled the sub-machine gun from its place on the wall. It's Israeli. Weapons in this room are all fully auto. And yes, they are against the law to own without the proper Federal permit. However, I have a dealer license and I'm a certified importer-exporter for each of the manufacturers of these weapons. I have all the permits to h
ave them in 'inventory'.”
Mace nodded toward the Thompson. “I'm not buying that you have a license to export that. They don't even make those anymore.”
Jane smiled. “If you have the money, you can have an exact replica of virtually any gun made. You just don't talk about it.”
Mace said, “Who still makes a full-up Thompson?”
Jane pulled the sub-machine gun from its perch on the wall. “This one isn't a replica. It was carried by Johnny's grandfather on D-Day. He was a paratrooper dropped into France. Did a lot of fighting street-to-street with it.”
Jane placed the gun gently back on its holders. “We won't be using this today. I would suggest the Israeli model you were looking at.”
Mace looked down at the large case on the floor. “What's in the box?”
Jane grunted as she slid the case out and flipped it open. “It's an old .50 cal. Also from WWII. Saw action in Europe. Johnny's uncle collected that one when he was much younger. He used to tell Johnny it was ideal for hunting buffalo. His uncle was a hoot. I only got to meet him a handful of times.”
Jane lifted the Israeli gun from the wall, pulling back the bolt and inspecting the chamber. “The blue box, bring it with you. It has twenty thirty-round magazines. All loaded and ready to use. Today was gonna be a practice day for an upcoming meet. Dirk, for you and Tres, these AR-15’s will do. Grab one of those green boxes below them if you would.”
Vanessa stood with her arms crossed. “I've never shot a gun before. I hope you aren't expecting me to carry one of those.”
Jane smiled. “No, you and Donna will be staying in the house, but I'm not leaving either of you unarmed. I have a nice set of .32s over there that are light and easy to use. Johnny, watch the house if you would.”
They followed Jane to the other end of the garage and through another locked door. Down a handful of stairs, they came out into a dual-lane, indoor shooting range that stretched out over fifty yards. It had been dug below ground going out into the yard behind the garage, leaving it unseen from outside except for a well-hidden door on the other side of a shrub-covered hump.
Jane turned. “Who here, other than Vanessa, hasn't fired a weapon?”
Tres reluctantly held up his hand. “I've held a .45 pistol, but never shot one.”
Jane stretched out her hand for the AR-15 Tres carried, taking it with a smile. “OK, for you and Dirk, these have suppressors. That means they will make a lot less noise. Let's you communicate with others while you're firing. Anyway, this is the safety. Flip it like this and you're ready to go.”
Jane opened a green box, lifting a loaded magazine. “You have a thirty round mag. I just loaded them this afternoon in preparation for practice the next few days for a competition. I only load to twenty-eight so I don't wear out the springs. Turn it this way, stuff it up in there. First time loading may take an extra slap or shove. After that, simple and easy.”
Jane handed the rifle and magazine back to Tres. “Go ahead, load it.”
Tres fumbled with the weapon as he turned it in his hand.
Jane shook her head as she shoved the barrel down toward the floor. “First rule. Never aim that barrel toward anyone or anything you don't want shot. Hold it like this. Shove the magazine in until it locks. Pull back the bolt and let it slide forward. It's ready to fire.
“Now, if you aren't engaged, and you don't need to fire the weapon, make sure the safety is flipped on. And if for some reason you squeeze that trigger and nothing happens, check your safety. If it's good, pull back on the bolt to inspect the chamber. If a round is stuck, it should pop out the side. Release the bolt and you should be ready to go.”
Jane took the weapon from Tres. “Stock in the shoulder, line up the sight, squeeze the trigger.”
The safety was flipped off just before a round charged down the range lane, striking a ready target at thirty yards. A small hole opened in the bulls-eye. Jane flipped the safety on, handing the rifle back to Tres.
Tres nervously took careful aim, flipped the safety lever off, and squeezed off a round. The target in his lane, sitting at ten yards distance, showed a small hole in the outer ring.
Jane said, “Not bad. Now, five shots in succession. Should be about a half second pull of the trigger.”
Tres held up the weapon and squeezed.
Brrrrrrff.
Two rounds made it into the third ring.
Jane smiled. “OK, flip on the safety. Either of those would be a decent hit. Might not completely stop someone, but you have more rounds if needed. Go ahead and empty that magazine now.”
Tres nervously flipped off the safety, took careful aim and again squeezed the trigger.
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrff.
Jane gestured toward the safety.
Tres flipped it and grinned. “That was both terrifying and awesome!”
Jane nodded. “It's a powerful and deadly weapon. Always treat it with respect. Who's next?”
The training went on for another twenty minutes before the range door was closed and locked.
Jane said, “Johnny, if you would care to take the ladies and watch the house, we're gonna walk the property. And go ahead and lock down everything but the back door. If there's trouble, try to make it to the boat. We'll meet you there.”
Johnny frowned. “House duty?”
Jane smirked. “Who's the better shooter?”
Johnny sighed. “You are. I'm sure we won't have any trouble. If you like, we'll take turns watching the property on the cameras.”
Jane nodded as Johnny left with the girls.
Mace turned toward Jane as they began to walk. “You're the better shooter? Something you aren't telling me?”
Dirk replied, “She's won several national competitions.”
Mace returned a surprised look. “Is that true?”
Jane half frowned, seemingly hurt by the expression. “It is. One of the reasons Johnny gave up on target shooting. I have an iron stance and a solid aim every time. His is always good-day, bad-day. If you ever get into a ruckus, you'll want me to have your back.”
The twelve acres surrounding the house took fifteen minutes to walk. A paved jogging track followed a zigzag pattern near the property line wall as it circled the inner perimeter of the estate. The occasional light in the shrubbery made for an easy trek around the track, bringing them back to the garage where they had begun.
Johnny was standing at the door to the house. “You know, we have full view of the property with the security cameras.”
“It's nice out. Just thought it would be good for everyone to be familiar with the surroundings. Let's go see what the news has to offer, if it's running.”
Several pops from weapons fire could be heard in the distance as they turned toward the back door.
Jane frowned. “Those are getting closer.”