The Road to Round Mountain: The Betrayal by (13 page)

“Let’s go in and watch some TV, twilight zone should  be on”. Who am I to argue with 1960’s horror, “Cool, and  later you can tell me what shit the four horsemen are planning”. “The four horsemen of the apocalypse, how appropriate, and I’ll fill you in as long as we don’t have any others  around”. I was impressed about Gordon’s knowledge of the  four horsemen. As I said earlier, I didn’t read a lot, but I did  know about that.

Inside the rec. hall was quiet as we were the only ones here, everyone else is probably still at lunch. There was an old couch with a couple of even older chairs flanking each side of it. Gordon grabbed the remote off the couch, hit the power button and we plopped ourselves down ready for some twilight zone.

This one was a classic, William Shatner on a plane flight trying to convince everyone, that there’s a monster on the wing. Gordon and I were enjoying our viewing of choice. As I scanned the hall noting that we were still alone  I asked, “Well, what do they have planned”? Gordon took a moment to respond, “Me and Joey were playing darts, and they were playing poker as usual, they were being loud, but

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Frankie told them to shut up. That’s when the whisper-ing started. Between the TV being loud, two others playing ping pong and us playing darts they figured that no one would hear them”. I remember Gordon asking me about being hit by lightning when he was across the room and we were in the office. “Let me guess, you and your Vulcan hearing heard everything”.

“I did and was explaining it to Joey, but he kept looking over at them. It didn’t take Frankie long to figure it out”.  “That’s why we got the crap kicked out of us; to keep us quiet, and last Friday before the storm hit, they put in the new windows and the door in”. I was figuring that the four horsemen were not done with Gordon and Joey.

Gordon was starting to tell me their plan when Frankie came waltzing through the front door. “Well if it isn’t Pepe and the Geek”. Frankie came over to the couch and grabbed the remote out of Gordon’s hand and started changing chan-nels. “Hey we were watching that” Gordon shouted. Frankie just smiled at both of us as he pointed to some car show that was on. “And now gentlemen, you’re watching this”, as he pulled up a chair a little bit too close to Gordon for my comfort. I looked over at Gordon and he met my glance as I winked at him. I was focusing on the TV concentrat-ing, and bang, now its back on channel 32 and the Twilight  Zone. Frankie looked up at the TV, then down at the remote,  “What the fuck”, he said as he was changing the channel again. I waited until he was settled, then I changed the chan-nel again. The front door opened as Mr. Watkins came in.  Frankie saw him and got up from his chair, “Hey Watkins, this piece of shit needs new batteries”, as he followed Mr.

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Watkins into his office.

Gordon took this opportunity to fill me in on their plans.  According to Gordon, he heard Frankie talk about his Uncle  Paulie sending him a car to use when he gets out of here.  Both Frankie and Sully both have nine months before they turn 18. They have no plans on waiting that long.

What Gordon says’ they plan to do is to rob ten desig-nated businesses, shoot whoever gets in the way, then take the money and run. I wasn’t clear how guns got in the pic-ture, but Gordon said his Uncle left him some gifts in the trunk. The key to the car is at a place that Frankie has told no one yet as well as the location of the car. I have a much bet-ter understanding of Gordon’s fear, not only for his health, but also for his life; Gordon and Joey are witnesses. To make matters worse, they’re planning to do it this Friday, when the others are being taken to a movie. Today is Monday, so there’s less than four days to make sure no one gets hurt.

Gordon also heard, but on a different night, that Bay  Ridge Jewelers, was getting a shipment of uncut diamonds coming by boat, to be delivered late Thursday night. How  Frankie got that information he wasn’t sure, but he figured that his Uncle somehow supplied him that information. This was the big heist, they are doing the other petty robberies to throw the police off.

“Damn it Langella, get the fuck out of here, we put fresh batteries in that thing yesterday”, Mr. Watkins erupted. “Any more crap out of you and Biggs, and both of you will spend your last nine months in our little quiet time room”. Frankie wasted no time in flipping Mr. Watkins the bird.

After Frankie defiantly left Mr. Watkins office, Sheriff

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Pasco came through the front door, coming face to face with  Frankie. “You got a problem old man”, Frankie asked. Sheriff  Pasco just smiled and said, “No Frankie, no problem at all, you see all I have to do is shoot you between the eyes, go home have some dinner, then sleep like a baby. Then the next day everyone is so happy over the news, they make me  Governor of Oregon. I hope that answers your question you snot nose punk”. He continued to smile as he went into Mr.  Watkins office.

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19

“how you doIng
 
Sam, I understand Sully gave you  guys a hard time again”. I’m fine Sheriff, but if that boy gets  any bigger we’re going to need to start carrying elephant  guns”. Sherif f Pasco gave a quick chuckle. “Well you might  enjoy part of the news I have for you then. First the bad part,  Joey didn’t make it, the doctor just called me about ten minutes ago. His internal injuries were more than the doctors  could fix before his body just gave out”. “Damn Sherif f that  was Gordon’s only friend here, and trust me when I say that  they’re not done with him yet either. You said there was some  good news in there somewhere”?

The Sheriff grew a sly grin, “You see, now that Joey’s  dead, it’s now a murder case and all parties involved can and  will be tried as adults”. “I’ll be damned, Christmas in July”,  Mr. Watkins replied with renewed enthusiasm. “If you don’t  mind Sam, I need to speak with Billy Speer for a moment;  can we use your office”? “Sure thing, I should go out there  and break the news to Gordon. Poor kid, this will just tear  him up”.

“Hey Billy would you come in here for a couple of  minutes”, The Sheriff ask as he poked his head out of Mr.  Watkins office. I looked over at Gordon, shrugged my shoulders, then got up and headed for the office. The Sheriff sat  on the corner of the desk when I came in and he motioned

me over to one of the chairs next to the desk. “How do you

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like this place so far”? “I had been here only two hours and  almost got my head caved in, but other than that I hate it”.

Sheriff Pasco rubbed at his jaw for a second, “I do have  some good news, and preliminary reports from the coroner  say that Dr. Bangor committed suicide. It seems that his wife  died not too long ago, and has been taking medication for  depression. The medication has side effects, one of which is  suicidal tendencies. In a nutshell case closed, and you don’t  have to worry about anymore visits by the Police”. I wish that  were true, but when Detective Hargrove gets wind of me being interested in his niece, I’m pretty sure I’ll get a visit.

“The other part of my visit concerns your parents Billy”.  I wasn’t quite sure what he was referring to, “What do you  mean”? “I was able to track your Dad’s insurance policy, and  the will. Both of your parents wanted to be cremated”. I do  remember Dad saying something like that. “The big question is, do you want a service for your parents. I can make  arrangements with the funeral home if you’d like”? I never  thought that I would be asked that question, and more important, I didn’t have a clue. I know I didn’t want any part of  a service. I remember when my Aunt Chloe died, and how  depressing the whole ordeal was. That memory helped immensely with my decision.

“I think I’ll skip the service, but I’d like to ask one request”? “You name it Billy”. I’d like to go to the 6
th
 
street  viewing station to spread their ashes in the Columbia, if  that’s okay”? “I think that’s a right fine idea Billy. I’ll get  back with you when everything’s ready”. “Before you go, can  you check on something for me”? “That depends, is it legal”?  “I was wondering if you could check out that black SUV

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across the street in Short stops parking lot. I think it’s the  same one that was parked at the hospital”. The sheriff had a  curious look on his face. “Any reason in particular Billy, are  they somebody I should know about”? “Actually I think you  should, I think they’re FBI”.

The Sheriff gave a scratch of his head, put his hat back  on and said, “I’ll check and see who they are. If its FBI, I’ll  let you know, but later I’d like you to explain to me how you  knew”. I nodded in agreement. The sheriff left the office just  as Mr. Watkins came back in, “Oh Billy, later I would like to  get your side of what happened at the mess hall earlier. “Sure  thing except I’m not quite sure what happened except that  Sully started it”. Mr. Watkins replied,” He usually does, Billy,  he usually does.

I went over to the couch and saw Gordon hanging his  head as if he had no working neck muscles. He looked up  at me with tears in his eyes, “He’s dead, Joey’s dead, they  killed him and now I’m next”. His head went back down

into his hands and I thought I would give him some space  and go back over to the office. I knocked on the door jam,  “Damn Billy, did I just detect some manners”? I must have  had a confused look on my face. “I meant knocking Billy, No  one has ever knocked before, and I’m impressed”. Thanks, I  guess, but is Gordon right, did that Joey kid die”?

Mr. Watkins reached over to close the door. “It’s true

all right, and now we have Frankie and his little gang in a  spot they won’t be able to get out of”. “What do you mean”?  “Shortly, they will be in jail, and going to trial for murder  and being tried as adults”. My spirits picked up quickly upon  hearing that news. “When is all this supposed to go down

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Mr. Watkins”? “Maybe a week, possibly a bit longer but for sure they are going away for a long time”. My spirits just plummeted back down to its previous level. He wasn’t aware of their plan for this Friday night. I didn’t know if I should tell him or if that would fuck things up. The ringing of Mr.  Watkins phone interrupted our good news bad news session.  “Billy if you don’t mind”, as he motioned for me to leave the office before I fried his phone. I close the door behind me and went over to the couch where Gordon was still hanging his head but no longer crying. I started to say something when the office door opened and Mr. Watkins said, “Billy, that was the Sheriff, he said to pass on that those people in the SUV are who you thought they were. He said that you would know what that means. So who are the people he’s talking about”? “Just some people I went to school with checking up on me”. I need to stop that, lying is becoming way too easy. “Good, it’s nice to have folks watching your back”. “Thanks”, I replied.

It might be nice to have someone watching my back, so maybe I should go over there and talk to them. I better check to make sure that it’s okay if I go over there. I went back over to the open office door, “Mr. Watkins, would it be okay if I go across the street and tell my friends that every things fine”. “Sure, sure, you go right ahead, and why don’t you take  Gordon with you”. He bent over to get something out of the bottom desk drawer and placed a coffee can on the desk.  “Here, get a couple of cokes or something”. He popped open the top of the coffee can and pulled out a handful of change.  “Well hey, thanks a lot and we won’t be long”. Mr. Watkins waved as he put the coffee can back in its spot.

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Making my way over to Gordon, who was at least now holding his head up? “Gordon, come with me”. “Where are we going”? “Across the street for a coke, let’s go”. Gordon hopped up with renewed enthusiasm, probably because he would be away from here for a while. As we were getting close to Marine drive I was trying to figure out what I was going to tell these guys, and if they would even believe me.

Traffic was fairly light so we didn’t have much trouble crossing. It was easy to see the black SUV parked in the grav-el next to the building, since it was the only vehicle in the parking lot. As we got closer I could see that we were being watched from the side view mirrors. The passenger side door opened up and out stepped a rather large man wearing a suit and tie. His outfit would raise plenty of questions around here, since most people wore overalls and hip waders.

The large man motioned for me to come over, but away from the van. I was getting hesitant and slowed a bit, as did  Gordon who was right on my tail. We ended up maybe twen-ty feet from the van as the large man just stared at us. “Sir, we could use your help”, I asked as politely as possible. The large man final spoke, “What makes you think I can help you”? I shuffled my good foot around the gravel a bit then replied,  “Look I know who you are and why you’re here; to keep an eye on me”. “I was sure that either the local Sheriff or one of our other agents told you of our location”. “Your location was at the hospital before here and I didn’t need anyone to tell me that, although I didn’t know who you were. “We do need some though, I’m Billy Speer, and this is….”

“I know who you are and who he is”, referring to Gordon.  “Sorry I forgot about that”, I replied almost apologetically.

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“I’m Agent Frank Landers”, was his introduction as he motioned for the other person in the SUV to come out. “The guy  on his way out is Agent Don Marrick, so now that you know  about us, what is it that you two need our assistance with”?

“Gordons’s life is in danger”. Landers looked over at  Marrick as he emerged from the back side of the SUV. “Don  don’t get too close or the tablet you’re holding is going to  start smoking”. “Oh shit, I forgot”, as Don dashed back to  the SUV to place the tablet in a safe place. “I take it you  remembered to leave your electronics in there”, as I pointed  to the SUV? “That’s correct, we watched your arrival in the  ER at the Hospital; quite impressive indeed. Do the gloves  help”? Landers pointed at the surgical gloves I was wearing.  “Yeah, so far”, I replied noticing that Landers is being very  dismissive of my request.