Junior's Luck - 33
The police station
Links to previous chapters: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32
Summary of previous chapter, Chapter 32 - Banker’s shoes
As the Frenchman attempts to climb out of the shaft, Kelsey kicks the trapdoor closed and smashes the Frenchman’s fingers. Then Kelsey pulls a trunk on top of the trapdoor. He leaves the storage area and looks out an open window. There he views the remnants of the explosion and men with flashlights combing the estate grounds. The absence of police and other emergency personnel leaves Kelsey perplexed. He realizes he will have to save himself.
Leaving the window, Kelsey finds his way into the kitchen at the back of the mansion. The need to pee causes him to grab two large paper cups from the counter and squat in an entryway to relieve his bladder. There, he hears someone enter the kitchen. As the armed intruder steps into the entryway, Kelsey showers him with pee from the paper cup and scampers through a backdoor, across a porch, and into the arms of two men who drag him around to the front of the mansion.
Kelsey assumes Hartley’s men have captured him. When he is released, he falls to the ground in front of a man wearing a pair of black wingtip shoes and assumes it is Hartley. It turns out to be an FBI agent. Kelsey is driven to the local police station for a debriefing before joining Laura, Stephenson, Carrot, and Arlene.
Chapter 33 - The police station
Agent Sarver swung into an underground parking lot. From there, he and Kelsey rode an elevator to the second floor of the police station. After checking in with a sergeant, Sarver hustled Kelsey down an empty corridor to a room with “Interrogation” printed on the door.
“You wait here.” Sarver pointed to a straight-backed gray metal chair, one of several scattered about a metal table. “Someone will come to take your statement.”
“Where are my friends? When can I see them?”
“After we obtain statements from all of those involved.”
On the way to the station, Kelsey had asked Sarver how the FBI found out about Hartley and the Frenchman. Sarver said they received tips from two separate sources, one military, the other civilian, and put the mansion under surveillance earlier that week. But Hartley wasn’t their primary target. They had been trying to nail the terrorist Jean LeMarque for years, but never acquired enough evidence to build a case that would stand up in court. If they caught LeMarque receiving stolen property, they’d have what they needed to get a conviction. Unfortunately, because of Kelsey and his friends, the operation failed.
“You should have stopped us when we drove into the bank parking lot,” Kelsey said.
Sarver explained they didn’t connect the activity at the drive-in bank to the Hartley investigation. In fact, they suspected it was an amateur attempt at bank robbery. They didn’t intervene for fear of alarming LeMarque and his gang. But when the bomb went off, they had to move in and take what they could.
Half an hour passed before a pair of men, whom Kelsey assumed were FBI agents, entered.
Kelsey had spent the time trying to figure out how to explain the situation to his parents in a way that would put his actions in a favorable light. But no explanation changed the fact that he lied to them, deceived them, and violated their trust in him. Now that he had been exposed, his deeds took on a heartless, sinister quality of which he had not been conscious before. Could he persuade his parents to sympathize with his motive: loyalty to a friend? On the surface, it sounded noble, but in his heart, Kelsey doubted whether that had been the real motivation for his actions and wondered how he could have been so thoughtless. He’d just have to endure his punishment and hope his mother and father would forgive him.
One agent set a tape recorder on the table. The other offered Kelsey a paper cup full of watery vending machine hot chocolate, then settled into a chair next to him.
“Are my mother and father here yet?” Kelsey sipped the chocolate.
“They’re outside.”
The agent at the recording machine clicked it on. “Now, tell us what happened. Start from the beginning.”
Kelsey told them everything and took so long the agent next to him twice fetched refills of hot chocolate. Kelsey was in no hurry to deal with his parents.
When he finished his statement, the agents left. Kelsey fished in his pocket for the bologna he swiped from Hartley’s refrigerator and munched on it while he drained his third cup of hot chocolate, a convict’s last meal.
An officer came to escort him to a large first-floor conference hall furnished with folding chairs that were divided into two sections. She seated him beside Carrot Walker in the section on the left side of the room. Stephenson sat on the other side of Carrot with Arlene, who held one of Stephenson’s enormous hands in both of hers. Laura, who had somehow exchanged the bathrobe for slacks and a sweater, occupied the chair next to Arlene.
“This is all your fault, stupid nerd,” Carrot Walker growled after Kelsey parked himself.
Stephenson glanced at Carrot and told him to shut up. Carrot grunted. Arlene stroked the back of Stephenson’s head.
Kelsey leaned forward and caught Laura’s eye. She gave him a weary smile.
“You all right?” he asked.
She nodded, and he looked past her to the people in the other section, mostly adults, Kelsey’s parents and Mr. Warren among them. Kelsey’s mother and father sat with their arms folded across their chests. When he came in, Kelsey had waved at them, but they didn’t wave back—a bad sign.
Mr. Warren’s face was pale and drawn, his eyes downcast. Kelsey assumed his teacher was mourning the death of his father and that he might have just come from identifying the body in the morgue.
He wondered whether Mr. Warren believed in ghosts or spirits. Kelsey wanted to assure him that Clyde continued to live, that Kelsey had seen his spirit; that, through the death of his body, the old man had joined the love of his life. If Mr. Warren believed in ghosts and spirits, this knowledge might comfort him.
Did his teacher blame him for Clyde’s death, like Mrs. Rush held him responsible for Junior’s relapse?
When he entered, Kelsey presumed he spotted Arlene’s parents, although he had never met them, sitting behind his folks at the far end of the row. The woman had Arlene’s features, and the man appeared to be irritated, which fit the way Arlene’s father sounded on the phone.
In the back, by himself, sat a dumpy fellow in dusty overalls. A rim of bright orange hair ringed his balding head: Carrot Walker’s dad.
A tall, slim gentleman with graying hair sat in the front row alongside a slender woman wearing a fur stole and a girl with long black hair who kept turning around and smiling at someone in Kelsey’s section. She was cute and appeared to be about his age.
Kelsey noticed Laura waving discreetly at the smiling girl. Of course! She mentioned having a sister about his age when he and his father tried to return the blueprints.
Now he didn’t feel so dejected as he speculated on the possibility of meeting Laura’s sister. Would she like him? Would Laura vouch for him?
Neither of Stephenson’s parents had shown up yet, if they were going to show at all, unless Kelsey was mistaken about someone’s identity.
Agent Ingram strode through the door to the front of the room, followed by three men. He stood between the sections of seats, his hands on his hips, tie loosened, collar unbuttoned, and surveyed those assembled before him. The men who accompanied him huddled near the wall.
Kelsey glanced at his parents, but their eyes were on the FBI agent, who was about to speak.
“Thank you for coming—and for waiting,” Ingram said. He cleared his throat with a nervous cough. “We have a rather awkward situation here.” The agent’s deep-set eyes found Kelsey. “You all have knowledge of an incident critical to national security.”
He explained that in situations such as the one at Hartley Mansion, where U.S. military weapons were involved, it was necessary, for national security, to keep such operations a secret. The government didn’t want other criminal elements with similar intentions to know when and where breaches in military security occurred. In addition, such information might damage the nation’s relationship with its allies and give its enemies the upper hand.
Those present remained silent as Ingram paused to let his message sink in.
“Normally we don’t have civilians involved in these situations.” Ingram paced back and forth, his head bent, hands locked behind him. “To have so many makes things difficult.” He stopped, squared up, and faced his audience. “You, all of you, are prohibited from discussing this case with anyone. For the good of the country, as good citizens, you must not mention this to your friends, relatives, co-workers, or the press. A leak will place countless lives in jeopardy.”
The tall gentleman in the front row stood up and straightened his suit coat. “State Senator Stan Duncan, Agent Ingram.”
“Yes, I recognized you, Senator.”
“I am confident I can speak for my constituents here and say that not a word of this will cross the lips of any person in this room.”
As he spoke, the senator made a sweeping gesture with his right arm while pivoting to face the gathering. Then he turned to Ingram and added, “These are all fine folk and loyal citizens here, sir. You can count on us.”
“Yes, well, thank you, Senator Duncan,” Ingram said, but the FBI agent did not look reassured. “Okay, that’s it. Thank you for your time. You are free to leave. We’ll be in touch if we need you for anything else.”
*****
A sigh of relief that Kelsey and the gang are finally out of harms way. Hoping that Kelsey receives the recognition he deserves. Also hoping for word that Junior is on the mend. Eager to read the wrap-up, KC. Great story!
Kelsey and crew really ruffled some higher-up feathers here. That's pretty awesome. Kelsey never gave up on his mission, and he's helped a lot of people. I can only imagine that Junior will think so highly of him after this. Wow, the final chapter is right around the corner. I'm looking forward to that. This has been a very fun journey, KC. Thank you so much for sharing.