SILENT GUNS (50 page)

As they struggled to escape the maelstrom, the
Hestia
sailed on.

~ * * * ~

epilogue

Simons bent to toss another small log into the iron
stove, then gently edged it onto the flames. Yellow tongues
greedily licked at the dry wood. He leaned forward and held his
hands to the flames. He sat in the chair and waited as the ache in
his legs gently eased. He wished his head didn’t feel so heavy,
that he could give himself over to quietude.

“
I’ve had a great thirty-year
career,” Simons reflected, easing back in the chair, “but never
have I felt such a feeling of triumph and achievement as I do now.
Closure. Your capture was inevitable, you know, but to me it became
irrelevant. I do feel a pang of pity for the way it ended. The
chase was exhilarating.”

“
Maybe, if we had landed
successfully, I would still have the helicopter.” Trent saw Simons’
face etched against the flames.

“
You’d be tracked to the threshold
of freedom.”

“
The
Hestia
later
foundered, you know,” Simons added.

“
I guessed as much. Trying to land
aboard was a desperate move on my part.”

“
I’d say suicidal.”

“
Stupid, at best. I forced the
pilots to land, but the blade caught a wave top and we rode the
‘copter in. The pilots never made it out of their harnesses. Harper
tried to swim away, but he went under. Wasn’t much he could do with
a broken arm.”

“
We never found
Graves.”

“
No surprise. He screamed the
money was his. He bear-hugged one of the suitcases and refused to
let go. It dragged him under; he didn’t come back up.”

“
The Coast Guard found all kinds
of debris where she foundered.”

“
The
Hestia
was a floating
junkyard. All sorts of stuff came over the side then shot to the
surface. Madden got nailed by a wooden crate that shot up from
underneath. Some noble sailor loosed a Carly-float overboard. I
swam towards it, grabbed on and climbed in. I called to Madden and
he answered, but even paddling as hard as I could, the wind blew me
back. His voice faded and I never heard him again. Exhausted, I
fell asleep and didn’t come out of it until morning. By then, the
storm had abated and the sun was shining brightly. I knew the wind
and current would carry me ashore. I just had to be patient. A low
plane flew over so I dropped over the side to avoid being seen.
With the float empty, it was ignored.”

“
The coroner said Maxie died of a
heart attack, but he wouldn’t have lived much longer, anyway. You
can’t take the blame for his death. I did tell you Flo died. She
didn’t know of Maxie’s death.”

“
I might have hastened his death,”
Trent replied. “I offered to call in the Navy; but Maxie wouldn’t
let me. This was the way he wanted it.”

“
We found Newby Hatcher’s body
bundled up on the lower projectile deck where you placed him. The
Coast Guard searched but never found Hank Graves or Ben Harper or
Madden, for that matter. We were sure you had drowned, too. We were
sure the pilots went down with the ‘copter. Fox 3 reported they
couldn’t have survived.”

“
I ran out of options. Maybe, if
we headed for the coast…dropped the idea,” Trent wrung his
hands.

“
We didn’t recover any of the
money.”

“
The suitcases were waterproof and
they were supposed to float. They sank like rocks. Whose idea was
that?”

“
Nobody’s! Packing in all the
money didn’t leave much room.”

“
You guys are the
losers.”

“
Yeah! I promised Mitchell we’d
recover the money. I read in the papers Mitchell and the city are
still fighting over whose to pay up.”

“
Grille got run out of office at
the next election; Chitterman is still there. Grille took the heat.
I think he was glad to try another career. I think he went into
banking. These hot-seat political jobs don’t last long.”

“
You mean, like a Police
Chief.”

“
Somehow, I got off easy. The
public fuss buzzed around me; but I didn’t take a hit. And, now I
have my pension. I notice it’s been a week. My buddies should be
getting back soon.”

“
What next?”

“
For one thing, I’ll keep my
word.”

“
I appreciate that. I’m doing
enough penance living in this place. Of course, in prison I’d get
three square meals and a warm, dry place to sleep.”

“
Be careful what you wish for, you
could end up keeping Burns company.”

###

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bob Neir is a graduate of the University of Michigan
and served in the U.S. Army as an Ordnance officer during the
Korean War. He resides in Kirkland, Washington where he has served
on the City Council and as Mayor. His interest in Naval history led
to the writing of this tale.

SILENT GUNS was named Adult
Contest Winner at a Pacific Northwest Writers Conference. He also
authored “A City Comes of Age,” non-fiction, published May 2005
(ISBD: 1-58619-112-8).