“Get rid of Lisa first,” Melissa laughed. “And that’s not going to happen in our lifetime!” she added wistfully.
“I hope I’m someday loved like that,” Sandy said, then stood and followed Tommy up the stairs. She was followed by Melissa, who was followed by Adam.
* * * * *
At eight o’clock the next morning, Tommy stepped through the door of Wanda’s hospital room. Although it wasn’t officially visiting hours, he had promised Linda he would only be a moment. He knew she wouldn’t be that strict on him. But, he wouldn’t take advantage either.
“Good morning, Handsome,” Wanda said shyly, batting her eyes and tucking her chin slightly to the side.
“Are you flirting with me, Wanda?” he asked, stepping over and kissing her cheek.
“You bet your boots, I am!” she smiled, her cheeks rosy red, as he sat a vase of wild flowers on her bedside table. “At my age, I take advantage of every chance I get with a good looking young man, like you. Such beautiful flowers,” she exclaimed.
Tommy wondered if she meant the flowers or the handsome young men.
“You know I’m a married man!” he teased, kissing her cheek again.
“I don’t take up much room anymore. She can slide over a little!” she kidded, reaching up to pull him closer. “I heard what you done to them bully-boys yesterday; serves them right in my book!”
“It’s necessary to remind some people that other people have rights, too. Yesterday was one of those days. And the Anderson boys were a bunch that needed reminding.”
“Linda told me they put Jack in a room with a man from the Middle East. He was injured in a car accident last week. They didn’t know if he would survive or not. But he got better. Linda told me he kept repeating, ‘kill mystery - clean sweep’. They have no idea what he means.”
Tommy knew immediately what the man was raving about. There could only be one connection to a man from the Middle East and ‘clean sweep’.
That connection was Cramer. He had made arrangements before he left Pakistan, just in case he failed. This man was his insurance.
“I think the Anderson boys learned their lesson this time. I doubt they’ll forget again.”
“I hope not Wanda. They only get one chance to reform their ways with me,” he said, gently brushing a lock of silver-blue hair from her brow. “I stopped by to see how you’re doing and to tell you I may be away for a couple of days. But, Lisa and Linda will be in every day to check on you. And as soon as I get back from California I’ll stop in, too.”
“Important doings in California, I suppose?”
“Yes, I’m going to go see a professor at Berkley.”
“What does he profess?” she laughed at her own joke.
“Political Science and Constitutional Law.”
“You’re getting in pretty deep, aren’t you?
“No deeper than I have to, believe me.”
“Oh, I do. You be careful. Airplanes are dangerous.”
“Not brand new ones with excellent pilots. Our new private jet is being delivered this morning. We’re flying it out to Berkley.”
“I’d like to go somewhere one of these days. I’ve never been farther than Tulsa in my life.”
“When you get well, just name someplace you’d like to go and we’ll go there, Okay?”
“Okay. I’ll think about it.”
“I’ve got to go, but I’ll see you maybe tomorrow evening, day after at the latest.”
“Okay, Tommy. You be careful. Promise?” she said seriously.
“I promise, Wanda. But, you promise me you’ll be good and heal up fast, so we can go somewhere. Okay?”
“I won’t promise I’ll be good. I’m too old for that,” she winked, then shooed him out the door.
“I guess I’m interrupting your beauty sleep?” he asked, laughing as he headed for the door.
“No, I’ve had that. But Doctor Lyons is due any minute,” she smiled, big eyed.
“You’re cheating on me already?” he asked incredulously.
“I’m running out of time, Tommy. I gotta get it while I’m still hot!” she said as if joking, but serious.
Tommy laughed and pulled the door open. He stepped out into the hallway. As the door closed behind him he thought of the man somewhere in the hospital that had come at Cramer’s request.
Before he left the hospital he talked to Linda and learned all he could about the man, Aaron Spelling. Even the name sounded fake to him. Aaron Spelling was a movie director in Hollywood and he certainly was not from the Middle East.
Well, he thought as he left the Nurse’s Station, if the man ever recovers, I’ll deal with it then. His chances were very slim, from what Linda had told him.
By the time he pushed through the front doors of the hospital his mind was back on Presidents and he had nearly forgotten about assassins and Middle East visitors named Spelling.
* * * * *
Dr. James Carver, PhD. sat deep in thought after listening to Tommy, Sandy, Melissa and Adam. He studied them as they studied him.
Tommy had to admit, the man had a commanding presence and a genuine smile. He had intelligence, grace and a sort of Regal baring that seemed to shout, ‘you cannot influence my beliefs, so remain silent!’
“How do you propose to make this come about, Mister LeSade?” he asked after a few minutes silence. “I’m completely unknown, except in certain academic circles.”
“First, Doctor Carver, I must know that you will accept the position of President of the United States of America as the same man you were yesterday; with the same beliefs, desires, and commitments that you espouse to your students,” Tommy said, as if it were his decision alone who would be appointed President of the United States.
“That, Mister LeSade, is the problem with politics and politicians today. Many are corrupted by influence, money, power, pride, envy, the list is endless. They enter the arena as brave, strong gladiators, ready to slay the enemies of the world and they are immediately overwhelmed by more experienced, stronger veterans. They make promises they can’t, or won’t keep. And others they have no intention of keeping. They lie to get there, then lie to stay. They become a parasite on the nation; a vampire sucking the very lifeblood out of the nation, if you will. I would love to get a chance to rid this nation of its parasites and make it great, strong and free again. So, yes, I would be the same man tomorrow as yesterday.”
“Then, consider yourself the next President. If you betray me, my friends, or my nation, you will die. Plain and simple,” Tommy promised, deadly serious, looking Carver straight in the eyes. “What I’m about to show you is the most highly guarded secret in the world. Presidents and Vice Presidents, along with some cabinet members have died because of their betrayal of this trust. Should you betray it, you shall likewise die. Do you understand this commitment, Doctor Carver?”
“Yes,” Carver replied simply.
Tommy stepped to a computer monitor on the Professor’s desk. He typed rapidly for nearly two minutes. The screen was filled with letters and punctuation marks. He motioned the Professor over.
“This,” he said, “is your advisor. I am its creator and I alone know the code to enter its domain. It’s not too late to change your mind and return to your life of yesterday.”
“No way. I’m in!” Carver said seriously.
Tommy entered the last keystroke, the image dispersed into millions of fragments. An explosion followed and a mushroom cloud began to rise to the top of the screen. It boiled and roiled as it rose upward and sped outward toward the viewer. A blinding flash and then a floating in outer space scene appeared. Each star represented a government, Agency or Corporation somewhere in the world.
“What would you like to know about, Mister President?” Tommy smiled, looking sideways at Carver.
“What is the truth behind Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance?”
“That would be FBI. Here,” Tommy said moving the cursor to the star re
presenting the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
When the Great Seal appeared Tommy placed the cursor on the small “i” of Investigation and clicked the mouse. The massive vault appeared. Tommy entered a series of letters. The massive chains and locks began falling away. The great wheel began to turn. When it stopped, the door swung open. The Spy stepped from the shadows and beckoned them forward with his finger. As he led them into the vault, he pointed at the overhead menu.
Tommy typed in ‘Hoffa’.
A great cylinder of file drawers rose from the floor and began to spin slowly clockwise. It stopped on a drawer with ‘HOFFA’ written across the front.
Tommy clicked on the drawer. It slid open. From front to back were files. Each labeled according to its content. The last file in the drawer was labeled HOFFA-DEATH-CONCLUSION. He clicked onto it. It rose from the drawer and opened for them to read...
MEMORANDUM
FROM: James, Donald T. Date- XXXXXXXX
FILE NO: 20643A767D
SUBJECT: Hoffa, Jimmy
On this date, Special Agent James, Don T. and Special Agent Borne, Greg A. intercepted subject as subject exited location C. Subject was taken into custody and disposed of in accordance with Special Presidential Order No. 68742D authorizing same.
SIGNED: Donald T. James
WITNESS: Greg A. Borne
“Seen enough?” Tommy asked.
“Yes,” he answered, straightening. “Just as I thought all along! The dirty Feds! They got him! Then disposed of the body. Classic! Then investigated themselves and found nothing, of course! What else can this program do?”
“Anything. Everything. Whatever you need to make the right decision,” Tommy assured him. “This is your advisor. Accessed by me and me alone. Whatever you need I’ll get you. Anytime. Anyplace.”
“How will I get it from you, fast?”
“I’ll write a program to access your computer and establish a direct link between the two. Whatever you require you will be able to review via me. You ask, I deliver. Simple as that.”
“Okay. Now, how do I get into office?”
“Leave that to me and my aides,” Tommy said, looking over at Adam, Sandy and Melissa. “Or should I say, your aides? Soon to be Cabinet members.”
“What capacity? What are their qualifications?”
“Explain yourselves,” Tommy said. “Adam, you go first.”
For the next thirty minutes the three told Dr. Carver their life stories. He smiled, liking what he heard.
* * * * *
On the flight home, Tommy, Adam, Sandy and Melissa put their heads together and wrote an email to all members of Congress which stated simply, that any opposition to the appointment of Dr. James Louis Carver, PhD, as acting President of the United States would result in their being ruined politically and possibly indicted and prosecuted for various crimes they were in fact guilty of, then sent to prison for very lengthy sentences.
The four reread the email carefully. They discussed it, approved it, and sent it from the air over Arizona.
Two days later, not a single Congressperson objected to the appointment of Dr. Carver as acting President. In fact, they all, without exception, touted his flawless character, credentials and personal vision for the United States, to the world at large.
Within hours after his taking the Oath of Office, fourteen Congressmen and three Congresswomen were called into the Oval Office, one at a time. They were invited to resign their seat in Congress, or be exposed publicly and prosecuted on charges ranging from bribery to treason. They all tendered their resignation, citing personal reasons.
Two Supreme Court Justices, ten Appeals Courts judges and twenty-six Federal District Court Judges soon followed in the wake of the others.
Next came the Assistant United States Attorneys. Twenty-three in total decided private practice was their true calling.
Seventeen high ranking FBI officials, twelve CIA Agents and five Secret Service Agents along with Twenty-two U.S. Marshals decided it was time to feed elsewhere.
And that was just at the Federal level of government. President Carver was just getting warmed up. Before he had finished his first month in office three-hundred-and-eleven State and Federal parasites were feeding elsewhere.
He, Tommy, Adam, Melissa and Sandy selected their replacements based on personal interviews and on extensive personal and public background checks. Plus, each was exposed to the Mistri Virus’s unflinching scrutiny. Far more failed this final test than passed it.
When the dust settled at the end of the second month the United States was operating like a well-maintained machine. One on which every operator was owner and mechanic. Defects were hurriedly fixed and the machine was restarted and allowed to run as designed. No cost was spared or pinched.
At the end of his first year in office, President Carver had the United States he had envisioned for so many years. He was a happy man and the United States was a happy place once again.
* * * * *
Tommy sat on the front porch swing with a twin in each arm. Tommy Junior was on his left hand over his heart and Lisa Adell was on his right, and strongest side. He looked out across the pastures at his horses and their foals.
In the background, he heard Lisa in the kitchen singing to herself and Wanda. He heard the sound of trucks up on the distant hill. He heard the sound of Colonel Lake down at the stables. He heard the sound of hundreds of birds in the trees and on the ground. He was a happy man; at peace with the world and universe at last. His crowning jewel had come from Linda earlier that morning. It seemed Jack Anderson had taken offense that Mr. Spelling would not talk to him and had strangled the paralyzed man to death. Jack would not be prosecuted for his crime. Instead he would be sent to the State Hospital in Vinita.
THE END
About the Author
In 1991, Larry E. Huddleston, along with a close relative, was charged and convicted of numerous counts of bank robbery, armed bank robbery and use of a dangerous weapon during the commission of a crime of violence. He was sentenced to 292 months for the bank robberies, 60 months consecutive for the weapon and 60 months supervised release. In total, he must serve 29½ years before he is eligible for release in 2017.
From January 1992 until March 2006, he served his sentence at the United States Penitentiary at Leaven-worth, Kansas. He saw it turn from a maximum security prison to a “maximum security housing medium security inmates”.
After 18 months at Leavenworth as a medium security inmate, he was transferred to FCI Texarkana, a “low security” facility.
While incarcerated, Larry became interested in writing and has since written 29 completed movie ‘spec-scripts’ and twelve completed novels of several genres, from western to sci-fi, romance to war, comedy to horror.
Look for Larry’s current and upcoming books at:
MidnightExpressBooks.com
Available now:
Sacred Curse
Original Intent
Just Beyond the Curve
The Devil & Jenny
Street Sweeper
The Cherokee Queen
MIDNIGHT EXPRESS BOOKS
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https://MidnightExpressBooks.com
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