B.B.U.S.A. (Buying Back the United States of America) (26 page)

That was as long as he could hold it together. Florin felt sick, knowing that his Idaho Mom was their next target and surmised that Leo’s wife and kids were probably with her. He ducked into the first bathroom he could find, trying to control his shaking hands. He splashed cold water on his pale face. He could taste the bile from his stomach lining burning at the back of his throat, he spit into the sink trying to rid himself of the taste. He had to do something, but what? He briefly contemplated running after Carl and coaxing him into a restroom to take him out before he could ever board a plane to Namibia, but knew it would never work in such a busy terminal. Besides, that wasn’t who he was. He was not an assassin. He held deep religious views and treasured life. How could he stop Carl? Could he locate his ‘Idaho mom’ and warn her? What would he say to her? Would she believe him? He was running out of time.

The five team members arrived back safely in Boise by late afternoon. They were so exhausted they couldn’t appreciate the beautiful valley with its many trees and changing leaves. Bob told them to get some rest and report back to the office in the morning.

He decided to listen to the recorded messages from Leo’s house before calling it an evening. There had only been two calls made. One was a follow-up call from a police detective regarding the previous intrusion. The other call lasted for forty seconds and was from a security agency checking on David’s well-being. He called headquarters one last time to make sure that all the arrangements for Carl were in order for his mission to Namibia. He breathed a sigh of relief knowing that his back-up plan was unfolding smoothly.

Next Bob visited with the employee that was assigned to calling all the Corrigan listings in central Idaho. The agent was posing as a long lost Army friend looking for Major Corrigan that had served with him in ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom.’ Bob felt confident that by morning they would have the name of the Idaho town where Doug’s mother lived. Once satisfied that all arrangements were made, Bob decided that he, too, could finally call it a night.

Two nights of sleep in a row made a world of difference to the way Leo felt. His reasoning powers seemed back in full force and he had a million ideas running around in his head. They had a good breakfast at the local truck stop. Leo paid for their breakfast and requested several dollars in change from the cashier. While Doug gassed the truck, he found the nearest pay phone. He called Natasha from the restaurant and was not entirely surprised to find her at the office on Sunday morning. Leo requested that she send a copy of all eight of the B.B.U.S.A. file closing documents to Leo’s grandmother’s house via express overnight mail. He asked her to give clear instructions for the delivery person to place it in the front door mail drop if his grandmother wasn’t home, or did not hear the doorbell as she was eighty-eight years old and hard of hearing. Leo expected to be there when the delivery arrived anyway, but wasn’t sure that he would feel very comfortable answering the door in case it was one of Bob’s hooligans.

He was very cautious not to give the address over the phone but rather told Natasha to get it from their Christmas list. He also asked if anyone had been around asking questions. She reassured him that everything was just fine; business was up, no problems other than some simple vandalism one night when some kids threw a rock through the glass door. He told her to keep up the good work and that he would be in contact with her in a couple of days if she needed anything. He further assured her that Sarah and the kids were having a great vacation at her father’s place and that all was well. Leo didn’t think he’d said anything that unwanted ears on a bugged phone line could use to their advantage.

Leo had figured that he would be able to reach Natasha at the office even on a Sunday morning. She was a workaholic and he never once remembered her attending church services on Sunday. She always volunteered to cover the office on weekends. Natasha turned heads. She was intelligent, capable, well educated, yet never seemed to take an interest in anyone on a personal level, and she seldom spoke of friends or family. Someday he and Sarah would undoubtedly sell the business to her.

His remaining quarters were used to call his grandmother and warn her of his arrival. She was delighted to hear his voice but reminded him that she was just leaving on her two week Alaskan cruise vacation. She told him to make himself comfortable and to stay as long he wanted, and that she’d call from the ship to let him know how she was doing. He was pleased to hear her voice and somewhat relieved that she would not be there in case Bob and his gang showed up at her house in Challis.

Doug and Leo packed up their few belongings, dropped off the room key, and got back in the truck heading for Idaho. Although Doug was highly frustrated with the computer, he immediately started working again while Leo drove.

The phone rang and didn’t stop. Joyce was still sleeping, but she could hear the noise in the distance. She was dreaming that she was calling a travel agent to purchase tickets. In the dream she was too late. Something was very urgent. She had to purchase the tickets, but the travel company was not answering the phone.

The ringing continued. Joyce stirred and finally awakened, yet she could still hear the ringing in the distance. She looked at the red glow from her electric clock. It was nearly five in the morning; she would have to get up soon anyway. She rolled out of bed, grabbed her robe and her keys and headed for the still ringing phone in her office on the other side of the courtyard.

She hurried across to the lounge door and unlocked it. As she stepped in she automatically flipped on a bright overhead light, and then rushed to her office. As she fiddled with the lock on the office door she became more concerned about the ringing phone. Perhaps it was Leo desperately trying to reach her. How long had the phone been ringing before she was even aware of it? She fumbled with the keys and tried the wrong one. She tried again. Joyce wiped her blurry eyes with her free hand, trying to clear the morning fog. The phone continued to ring. She felt desperate, still clinging to the dream of anxiously trying to get the travel agent’s office.

Finally, finding the right key, she turned the knob and flicked on the light switch at the entrance. Bright light bathed the office as completely as the absence of sound filled the space. Total silence prevailed.

Fearing she was too late, Joyce grabbed the receiver and yelled. “Hello! Hello! Is anyone there? Hello, Joyce speaking. Hello?” She reluctantly hung up the receiver. Who had called? Was it Leo? Was he in trouble? She felt awful. She wanted to cry. She sat next to the phone for the next twenty minutes, willing it to ring again. It never did. Reluctantly she returned to her quarters to shower and get dressed in preparation for another day of business. She left all the doors ajar, just in case she should hear the phone again, so she would have a clear run.

Florin was at his wits end. He looked at the phone in disbelief. First he had spent nearly an hour trying to find the correct number through information. He had been disconnected twice. Once he cleared the international operator he’d reached a South African operator that did not speak English. In desperation he called his wife, Vickey. She was able to locate an old letter from Joyce with her address and telephone number. He did not reveal to his wife why he needed the number, and she did not ask. Her sweet voice calmed him.

When in similar conditions before, Florin would easily become very sick and lose ten pounds in sweat overnight. Realizing that he was on the verge of such a depression, he fought to remain balanced and in control of his fear. His wife had helped him, but when he’d tried calling Joyce to warn her, she did not answer. First he told himself that he would let it ring ten times. When it reached ten he let it ring fifteen, then twenty, and finally an operator came on the line telling him to try his call later as the party he was trying to contact was not answering at this time.

Now what? When would he ever get a chance to break away again in order to call her? Would he be able to do it in time? How soon would Carl make it there and begin with his instructions? Was she already someplace else and he didn’t need to worry at all? He simply could not fail. He would never be able to live with himself. He had been in deep depression once before, when Joyce recognized the signs and pulled him out of Job Corps to live with her and Leo. She had nursed him back to health. He had to stay under control now to pay back his debt to her.

Florin changed his clothes and left the small one-bedroom apartment and went for a run. He would try to run off his frustration and fears. It was already dark and the moon was beginning to peek over the mountains on the horizon. The evening was very brisk; perhaps there would be a light freeze tonight.

After breakfast, Joyce told Sarah about the unsettling phone call. They were both concerned and decided to attempt to call Leo at his grandmother’s house in Challis, Idaho. No one answered on the house line, so she tried calling her mother on her cell phone. Elsie cheerfully answered her cell phone on the second ring. She was just outside of Idaho Falls and on her way to catch a flight for Seattle, as she would leave the following day on her cruise. She had not seen Leo, but she told Joyce that he had called a few hours earlier saying that he was heading for Challis. She had told Leo she would miss him because of the cruise, but he and Doug were welcome to her house.

Joyce and Sarah felt relieved to hear some news and decided that it had probably been Leo trying to call earlier, to tell them the same thing. He had probably called his grandmother when he couldn’t get through to them and it seemed he must be all right.

They decided there was nothing they could do, and went back to work. Sarah and the boys were already helping Joyce around the restaurant. Traykie and Chris were stocking shelves, unpacking boxes, taking the trash out and even vacuuming the upstairs rooms and hallway. Sarah was filling in for Ursula, who had the day off. She was the hostess for the day, and was occasionally taking orders and delivering food from the kitchen. It was a new experience and she was enjoying herself. The clientele liked her accent and were happy to meet another American. Sarah was quite efficient and surprised herself at how natural it felt to do these duties. After the lunch rush was over, Joyce saw that Sarah had it under control, so she snuck off to her office to catch up on the books. Sarah and Joyce were so busy that they had both forgotten about the early morning phone call.

Leo and Doug were intending to arrive in Challis late that evening. Doug decided not to call his own mother because she would want him to spend time with her and, frankly, he didn’t have any time to spare. If all this nonsense Leo was talking about was even partially true, it would be better if he made no contact with her at all for her own protection. He had worked on the password until his eyes could no longer focus, and he had become carsick.

In Pocatello they pulled off Interstate 15 and stopped to fill up the truck. Leo bought a box of Dramamine, fresh cold drinks, and take-out sandwiches. The motion sickness pills were beginning to help and Doug felt better. As it was getting dark, he decided to give up working on the password. The two men felt relieved now that they were driving in such familiar country. Both were slightly elated at the prospect of finally coming home. Leo visited his grandmother fairly often as Boise was only about a four-hour drive, but it had been a long time since Doug had been back to the Challis area.

They saw a herd of about forty antelope near Mt. Borah and a few deer near Willow Creek Summit. The Challis area was well-known as a great hunting area, and home of big game. Both of them watched carefully for animals; although they liked to see them, they didn’t want to see them on the road. Cars and deer were a deadly mix that caused many accidents yearly.

As it was well after dark now, the Twin Peaks were just an outline and could not be seen as clearly as usual. Doug and Leo talked about the many hunting and fishing trips they’d taken, heading over those peaks into the true Idaho wilderness areas of the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. Miles and miles of seldom-used jeep trails were literally the only signs of civilization beyond the Twin Peaks lookout, with the exception of the remains of a few derelict mining ghost towns or abandoned cabins left about a century ago.

“You know, Mom loves to tell the story of the first time she took me back to the end of the road behind Twin Peaks,” Leo said.

“I don’t think I ever heard it. What dumb thing did you do that time?” Doug asked.

“Well, I was just fifteen at the time and we’d just got back from living in Africa after Mom and Dad got divorced. Mom was crazy to get back in her beloved mountains and show me the Idaho she grew up in. I was four when we left the States and nearly fifteen when we came back so I didn’t remember much of anything about America. The first thing Mom did was buy that old red 1961 Chevy truck we used to have. On a late fall weekend she drove me over between the Twin Peaks. As you know, it is 50 miles of nothing, just high ridges and sheer drop offs, timber and some rocks and animals. She showed me all the lakes she used to fish in as a kid and told me all her stories about camping and hiking into the Lakes with her family.”

“That doesn’t sound too stupid yet, but I’m sure you will get around to that.”

“Well, I was pretty impressed. I lived in Africa for the ten years prior to that and the highest elevation was the Brandberg Mountains at eight thousand feet. The Twins are both over twelve thousand feet. Being able to look down into the valleys and over at peaks clear in Montana was pretty impressive to me. All the way in she told me about that guy from Wisconsin. Did you hear about him?”