Run into Trouble (14 page)

Drake was not easily surprised by most
events, but this was a surprise. He hadn’t seen his father for over
four years. From around the time he quit working for the federal
government. It wasn’t that Admiral Justin Drake had disowned him.
He just hadn’t communicated with him. He rebuffed Drake’s attempts
at communication.

Drake saw his father before the older man
saw him. He looked trim and fit as he sat ramrod-straight on the
edge of a chair, reading something. Even his civilian clothes were
worn with military precision, including a gleaming belt buckle. His
short hair was snow white, and the wrinkles on his face had been
earned by many years of service and sacrifice for his country.

Drake hated to disturb the peaceful scene,
but he had no choice. “Hello, Father.”

Admiral Drake looked up from the piece of
paper he was reading. “Hello, Oliver.”

They had always addressed each other
formally. The admiral stood slowly, and Drake saw some strain in
his face. He suspected his father had arthritis, but he would never
admit that his body wasn’t in top shape. He didn’t smile as they
shook hands. A hug was out of the question.

“I’m glad you survived the shelling
today.”

“I am too. One of our runners was
killed.”

“I know. I listened to the news on the way
over here. There are four confirmed dead. The involved houses are
still being searched for casualties.”

A dozen questions competed with each other
in Drake’s head. He chose the least personal one. “How do you know
the houses got shelled?”

“I got a call from Andy Anderson. He’s on
the board of Giganticorp.”

Admiral Anderson. Drake knew that Anderson
and his father had been in the same class at the Naval Academy.
That also explained how his father had heard he was in the race.
His father lived in Bakersfield, in the San Joaquin Valley. He must
have hopped in his car and driven here as soon as he got the call
from Admiral Anderson. Drake suspected that his main reason for
coming was not to see his only son.

Drake knew the answer to his next question
as soon as he asked it. “Why does Admiral Anderson think that the
houses got shelled?”

His father looked surprised. “He said you
saw shells being fired from a vessel.”

Bad news traveled fast and became
exaggerated as it went. Drake had called Blade. Blade had contacted
the military. The military pipeline apparently included retired
admirals, like Anderson, and now his father. Drake knew one thing
for sure. When he made his official report, he would have to word
what he had actually seen very carefully and sign a document to
that effect, if possible. Wars had been started because of
inaccurate intelligence.

Something else puzzled Drake. “Why did you
come here?”

“Isn’t the welfare of my son a good enough
reason?”

No. It had never been before. Perhaps if he
had followed in his father’s footsteps and attended Annapolis
instead of enlisting in the army as a private, he would have won
his father’s approval. As things stood, he was a failure in the old
man’s eyes.

They were still standing in the middle of
the lobby with Drake facing the entrance. He saw Slick open the
door, stick his head in the doorway, and give a nod to indicate
that he wanted to speak to Drake. So Slick was going to debrief
him. He didn’t want Slick’s presence here to be generally known,
not even by a retired admiral.

“I have to go to a meeting. Are you going to
be around for a while, sir? You can have dinner with Melody and
me.”

“Melody?” Admiral Drake smiled for the first
time. “That’s right; Andy said she was your running partner. Always
did like that girl. She’s got spunk. Unfortunately, I can’t make
it. Andy and some of the other board members of Giganticorp are
coming here. I’m having dinner with them. Maybe we can get together
tomorrow. I’m staying overnight.”

Everybody was converging in Malibu. Events
were getting curiouser and curiouser. Drake shook hands with his
father and headed out of the motel. He saw a black Porsche sitting
in the far corner of the parking lot and walked toward it.

***

Drake was sitting on a bed in the room
belonging to Melody and Grace who were sitting on the other bed. He
had told them both what he had seen or thought he had seen.

Grace looked scared. “Do you think we’re
being attacked by the USSR?”

Melody patted her hand. “That’s not likely.
If they attacked us, they wouldn’t just destroy a few houses.”

“But it says on TV—”

“You can’t believe everything you see on the
telly. Unless…”

“Unless they want to get our attention,”
Drake said. “Show us how vulnerable we are.”

“Why would they do that?” Grace asked.

“Negotiating ploy. We’ve been making noises
about atrocities happening at the Berlin Wall. People trying to
escape from East Germany getting shot. Maybe they just want to
direct our attention elsewhere. Anyway, we’ve got destroyers
sweeping the area looking for submarines. The marines have set up a
machine gun on Malibu Beach and put out barbed wire.”

“Will we go to war with them?”

Melody was the one who answered, saying that
she hoped there would be no war. Before dark they had seen a couple
of the gray naval vessels off the beach. It brought back memories
of Korea to Drake.

He decided it was a good time to change the
subject. “We had the two notes you delivered to me checked for
fingerprints. There is one unidentified set of prints on the first
note, but it doesn’t belong to anybody at Giganticorp. The only
prints on the second envelope are those of the desk clerk at that
motel. The note doesn’t have any prints on it at all.”

“I’m glad my prints weren’t on them.” Grace
didn’t ask how they had gotten the prints checked. She looked
conspiratorial. “I have some information for you.”

She pulled a folded sheet of paper out of
the pocket of her shorts and handed it to Drake.

“During the confusion today I was able to
open Fred’s attaché case and look inside. Fortunately, he’s a
neatnik, with all his folders labeled. I looked in one called
‘Personnel.’ It had three sheets in it, each one giving information
about a man. I just had time to copy their names and telephone
numbers and addresses.”

Drake looked at the handwritten names and
numbers to make sure they were legible. He would pass these on to
Blade and Slick.

“Good work. Just be careful. We don’t want
you to get caught.”

Grace beamed. “I was careful. By the way,
Drake, I understand that your father’s here. I’ve never met a real
admiral. I’ve seen some at Giganticorp, but only from a
distance.”

“Maybe you’ll get a chance tomorrow. He’ll
like you. He’s got an eye for pretty ladies. Right now he’s out
with his buddies telling war stories.” Drake realized he shouldn’t
compliment Grace apart from Melody. He said to her, “I forgot to
tell you that my father mentioned that he wanted to see you. He
said you had spunk.”

“Better that than he said I stunk.”

CHAPTER 16

Today’s run is all on roads, so be extra
careful to watch the traffic. It goes from Leo Carrillo Beach to
Oxnard Beach Park in Oxnard. Start at Leo Carrillo Beach on Route 1
and run to Point Mugu. You will pass the Point Mugu missile display
at Wood Road. Head north on Navalair Road and west on Hueneme Road.
Along this stretch you will see many vegetable farms and fruit
trees. Turn north on Ventura Road through the city of Port Hueneme
and past the Seabee Museum. Head west on Channel Islands Boulevard
and north on Harbor Boulevard to Oxnard Beach Park.

***

The memorial service for Harrison had taken
place as promised by Casey, but not all of the runners had
attended. Some had used the day off to visit their families. Drake
didn’t blame them. He had barely known Harrison, himself, and
although he attended the service, his main feeling was the “it
could have happened to me” syndrome, which he had encountered in
Korea when his buddies got shot. He didn’t feel the guilt of “why
was I spared?” perhaps because it all seemed so unreal.

Today they were racing again. The
disadvantage of running on roads was that the runners had to be
constantly alert and often had to run single file. This resulted in
them being even more spread out than usual. When Drake and Melody
were able to run beside each other, they tried to make sense of
what had happened.

Drake’s main questions concerned the
response to the shelling. He took advantage of a wide area to pull
up alongside Melody. “If you believe the commentators on TV, we’re
already at war with the USSR. And yet, I haven’t heard that anybody
saw anything more than I did, which was almost nothing.”

“Grace turned the telly on first thing this
morning to watch the news. The report said no trace of any boat has
been found. Supposedly there are ships patrolling the whole west
coast, both Coast Guard and Navy.”

“Or at least a couple of destroyers. Since
we’re fighting in Vietnam, we’re spread a little thin.”

“There was also talk that the military might
occupy part of the coast. They’ve already sent a force of marines
to Malibu, as you know. That’s in addition to the specialists
combing the ruins of the houses for evidence as to what
happened.”

“The locals must love all the attention.
They’re always fighting to keep people off their beaches, and now
they’ve got soldiers to contend with. They’d better lock up their
daughters.”

“The reporter said the residents asked for
the troops. They’re panicked and afraid that more shelling is going
to occur. Or some sort of an invasion.”

“Be careful what you wish for. Maybe the
commies have a kayak navy out there ready to storm the coast of
Malibu. My question is, why did my father show up?”

Melody put on her most concerned voice. “He
came to see if his little boy was all right.”

Drake snorted. “If I believed that, you
could sell me London Bridge.”

“Too late. Lake Havasu already has it.
That’s another thing you stole from us.”

“If we ‘steal’ many more things from you,
you’ll be rich enough to buy back the colonies. As you’ll recall,
when he was able to fit me into his schedule yesterday, instead of
talking to me, my father made time with you.”

“And Grace. Who was thrilled out of her mind
to meet a real admiral.”

“The feeling was mutual. There must be a
shortage of women in Bakersfield. Maybe things would have been
better if my mother hadn’t died.”

Melody nodded. “It’s hard to lose your
spouse. Don’t you think he came to see his old military
buddies?”

Drake pondered that. “As far as I know,
Admiral Anderson is the only one he knows from his years in the
navy. I don’t think they’re that close. I’ve heard my father say
derogatory things about him.”

Melody took a drink of Gatorade while a semi
rolled by; the noise from its powerful engine drowned out any
attempt at conversation. Phil and Brian were running a few feet
ahead of them. The wind stream that followed the truck blew the cap
off Brian’s head. Drake considered ignoring it and making Brian
come back and pick it up, but one thing his father had done was to
train him in good manners. He reached down and grabbed the cap.

Brian waited for Drake to catch up with him
and took the cap from his outstretched hand. He thanked Drake who
decided to ask him a question. “What’s your take on what happened?
Do you think it’s dangerous for us to run on the coast?”

Brian loped easily alongside them. He was
one of the youngest runners and obviously in top condition. He and
Phil were in second place overall.

“Naw. Even if that happens again, the
chances we’ll be there when it does are infinitesimal.”

“Lightning can strike twice—”

“Life is a risky business.” Brian smiled.
“Do you want to live forever?”

***

Casey had left for other climes sometime
last night, according to Fred. Drake wanted to ask Casey about the
meetings that had been held during the last two days. He was still
trying to get a handle on what his father was up to. Why did he
care? His father hadn’t cared much for him after he had strayed
from the straight and narrow path carefully laid out for him. Why
should he care what his father was doing?

Drake decided to ask Fred his questions. He
offered to buy him a beer at the local Oxnard pub. Drake used the
word pub instead of bar because Oxnard sounded a lot like Oxford in
England. Being around Melody brought back the English mannerisms he
had learned. Fred drove them a few blocks to a bar that was
practically deserted in the late afternoon heat. Drake purchased
two draft beers and took them to a rough wooden table Fred had
selected.

He didn’t want Fred to know the extent of
his estrangement from his father. That was none of his business.
However, he could make a kind of joke out of it.

“I was wondering why my father was here
meeting with your directors. He doesn’t confide in me very much.
You know how fathers are.”

Fred smiled as he took a thirsty sip.
“Actually, it wasn’t an official directors’ meeting since only four
of the directors were present, including Casey. We’re always
looking for opportunities to serve our country.”

“You’re looking for ways to boost your
sales.”

“Same thing. The U.S. Government is our
biggest customer.”

“What can you sell the government to fend
off an invasion by sea?”

“My, you are inquisitive. One would think
that you’re a stockholder.”

“I’m a taxpayer. I want to know where my tax
money’s going.”

When Fred laughed, he jiggled all over like
a plate of aspic salad. “We’ve developed a mini submarine that
could be used to patrol the coast. It’s much less expensive to
build and operate than a nuclear sub, of course, and only requires
a crew of six. If there’s an enemy ship out there, these subs could
be used to find it.”