Page 13 of Daniel Watson

“What’s that supposed to mean? You’re not going to kill me. Or have me killed. I’m a very powerful man, and I can’t just disappear. People will ask questions.” He nearly jumped out of his skin when someone knocked a book off of a shelf. The room burst into laughter when he cried out and put his hands over his head. When he was ready to knock some heads around, he noticed that there was a large screened television being plugged in. “What’s the meaning of this now? Are you going to watch cartoons? I heard that you were just immature enough that you sat around watching them instead of working.”

He told himself that he wasn’t grasping at straws here. Even when the words slid from his mouth, he couldn’t believe them himself. No one said a word but no one was looking at him either. Turning to look at what everyone seemed to be glued to, he saw himself as he hadn’t.

There sat an old man who was past his prime and sitting in a chair that was much too large for him. It took him a few minutes to realize that it was him looking back at himself. Even his suit, one of his favorites, looked as if he had some of his lunch on it as well as his tie looked like he’d used it for a napkin, it was so crumpled up.

“Am I on television?” He looked around the room and realized that he wasn’t in a good position to be talking to the American people. “What have you done to me? I demand that you turn this off and—”

“The people want to know if it’s true that you had one of your own men killed and nearly killed one more.” He asked his aid, a man that he’d been meaning to fire for some time now, what he was talking about. “You’ve been on the news since it broke that you were being taken from office and arrested. The American public wants to know if what you’ve been saying is true. Though I’m here to tell you that I don’t think they’ll believe you anyway.”

“What is the meaning of all this?” Smiling at the camera that had been in the room all this time. “You’ve caught me at a disadvantage, I’m afraid. I usually have something prepared when I speak to the public.”

“You mean the truth of what the others have been accusing you of? Or is it the lies that have spilled from your own mouth when you speak about how you’re going to protect us? I guess we should have been wondering if you were protecting your own butt and not those who put you into office.” He couldn’t think beyond the old man staring at him from the screen in front of him. “Mr. Davis, are you listening to me?”

Wilhem stood up and sat down again quickly when he saw one of his agents, his agents put their hand in their gun. This was getting out of hand quickly, he thought. Standing up one more time, he stood there thinking, his hands on the desk that he’d come to love so very much. He asked if there was any way that he could have a few minutes on his own to take care of some things.

Given five minutes, he made his way to the door but was cut off. He was pointed to a chair that was just off camera, and he sat there. Christ, he was going to prison. Or someplace no one would hear from him again, that was for sure. Putting his head between his knees, he reached down to tie his shoes. From there it was an easy thing for him to pull out his small revolver and put it to his chin.

~*~

Daniel had to laugh each time he thought of Davis and his attempt at suicide. The idiot actually thought that he could get off that easily when there were several men around who were ready for him to do something stupid. He’d not come out completely unscathed, having his arm broken when he’d been tossed to the floor like a rag doll had made it so that he got to treat him. Daniel hadn’t even bothered with giving him anything for pain. In his mind, he didn’t deserve any kind of niceties after all the shit that he’d done.

“You’re thinking about Davis again, aren’t you?” He turned to look at Cassie and smiled. “Yes, well, I don’t know if you have gotten this far yet, but everyone in the entire world wants to speak to you. Why, you ask? Because Caleb told them that this was all our plan to bring him down.”

“Well, it was indirectly.” She smacked him on the arm. “We got justice for your brother and you. That more than makes up for everyone wanting to have an interview with us, don’t you think? Also, you won’t have to be looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life. And you can come out of hiding. Not that you were really hiding away, but it’s nice to be able to move around the town now.”

“Yes. You’re right about that. I’m also happy that he has to face judgment, too. Or has the powers that be decided on something else for his punishment?” He told her that everyone wanted him to face the jury of his peers. “Good. I think I like that better. Everyone should hear it from his mouth about the things that he did. By the way, how is Caleb doing today? Yesterday, when I spoke to him, he was still upset about things. I wish we’d been able to tell him that Davis killed his mother before that day. My heart breaks for him.”

“Mine too. She was directly responsible for all of us being found, and it hurts me, too, that she’s not here to meet us all. I think that’s his feelings as well.” He thought of Caleb after the televised thing with Davis. “His heart was broken. I don’t know what he might have done had he not had Tabby there for him.”

They all, his brothers, had gathered at his home to be with Caleb the morning after Davis was taken away in cuffs. He had been sitting at the dining room table going over the books that his mother had put together about their lives. Each of them had taken a book when they arrived and had asked questions about the trip or adventure, which in turn got Caleb to talk about her more. Then, the unthinkable had happened.

Last night, Sheppard Anderson, grandfather to Caleb and dad to his mom, passed away gently while taking a nap before dinner. His uncle, Shep, had been visiting and when his dad drifted off, he’d gone into the kitchen with his mom. They’d only been gone a few minutes, and when they returned, he was already gone. Melissa, his grandma, had taken it very hard, and Daniel had sedated her so that she could be calmer. It was Shep who had called Caleb and he was so broken that it had been difficult for him to say the words.

“Did you hear that Melissa was going to be living with Caleb and Tabby? I think that it won’t be long before she joins her husband. Shep said that she was taking it pretty hard herself.” Cassie asked him if he knew her all that well. “Not really. However, the others did. I was the last to arrive so I didn’t get to spend as much time with her as the others. Sheppard was a good man, and I really enjoyed speaking to him.”

“I didn’t know either of them but only in passing. It breaks my heart too that Caleb has lost so many people in his life.” Daniel agreed with her too about Melissa. He was going to make sure that he spent some time with her as a doctor and friend. She didn’t need to be thinking of joining her husband just yet. “How much longer before our house is ready? I think you were talking to the contractor when I came down this morning.”

“I was. He said that it would be at least another week. The paint is dried but the carpet needs to be taken up in two more rooms. He said that it was so old and dirty that it would have to be taken up with masks and the whole nine yards.” She nodded and told him that she loved him. “And I love you. More than I can put into words.”

He knew that he’d spoken to Caleb and Tabby about signing the other house over to Sen and her family. It was going to be a good home for the five of them and large enough, too, that they could stay in it and raise their own families. They were close, the lot of them, and he couldn’t think of a better way to stay together than for them to live in such a large home together. Plus, they got to see Luke whenever they wanted. He was becoming a fixture in all the homes in the family, and he believed like they had done, he had his own room in each of the houses that he could stay in.

When he opened his eyes, not even realizing that he’d dozed off, Cassie was just sitting down in the lounger. Asking her where she’d been, she told him that they had an offer on the other house. Intrigued, he sat up in his seat and asked her how much.

“Well over the asking price. In fact, just as you predicted, there is a bidding war going on between four couples. I think that our asking price was a good one but with the way that this is going, we’re going to end up with double that we had marketed it for.” He rubbed his hands together and laughed. “You’re silly. But what do you think we should do about this? Let it go or accept—hold on. I have another message. We have another bid on it. Ten thousand more than the last offer.”

“In answer to your question, I think that we should just let it ride. If they’re willing to pay that much for it, then we shouldn’t burst their bubble.” He laughed when she did. “I think the money will go a long way in doing the things that we wanted to do when we talked about it. Since you’re willing to share your insurance money with me and everything else that you have, I’m willing to help you spend it.”

“Again, you’re silly.” He was also being paid by the government for his part in the arrest of Wilhelm Davis. While he didn’t have any idea how much that would be, Caleb said it would be a good deal of money. He’d also explained that whatever he had, they all had, but it would be nice to have enough money in the bank to at least come and go as they pleased on trips. They were both retiring from the Feds, but he was going to remain a doctor in good standing until he couldn’t do it anymore. It was the one thing that he’d done that had made his mother proud of him. And he was going to do it just for her. If for no other reason than she was his mom, and he loved her.

The evenings were shorter, the sun going down a good deal sooner than he wanted it to. Daniel still tried to cram into a day more than he should have, but he was able to sleep at night and not wake up aching because he’d overdone it again. Getting to sleep with his best friend helped, too. Cassie and he were as close as anyone else in the family.

“What do you say that the two of us take the kids, I’m betting now that it would only be Luke up to Amish country and have a day of it. I know that Mrs. B has been wanting us to head up there for a while now. Something about the best cheese prices in the world.” He said that he wasn’t entirely sure that they were the best prices, but he’d love to go. “I have to go into town in the morning. When I get back, we’ll head out. You see if Luke or any of the others want to hang out with us.”

“I’m betting that we’re going to have to get us a larger car if they all say that they want to go. I’d rather not arrive in a limo if it’s all right with you. I don’t know why, but I think that would draw more attention than arriving in a buggy.” She laughed and went into the house to get herself a smallish—he had no idea what that was blanket that she could use. Pulling out his cell phone, he called the house.

After asking if any of them wanted to go with them, he knew that the van rental for the day was going to happen. After getting the women to calm down, squealing about the fun they’d have, he was glad that they decided to drive up themselves if he and Cassie would travel with Luke. After hanging up, he called his other brothers and their wives to find out if they wanted to go or needed for them to pick up anything. The consensus was that the prices were hard to beat on a great many items that they were going to see about picking up for the others. Also, and he thought this a wonderful idea since they were leaving in the morning to do their shopping, the others, including Caleb and Tabby were going to meet them at one of the restaurants to have dinner together.

Daniel was in bed by midnight. Luke had decided to come and stay with them so he’d be ready. He said that the girls, his sisters, would hog up the bathrooms, even though they each had their own, and he’d be without hot water. Or he’d be in hot water. He couldn’t remember which he’d said. Laughing a little he crawled into bed and wrapped his body tightly around Cassie’s. She’d gone up to bed earlier and was now fast asleep. He didn’t blame her for sneaking off. He was simply too exhausted to make love to her again tonight.