A Horse with No Name Pt. 01

"Wow, I love it," I said.

That's good, because I spent almost an hour in Victoria's Secret, trying to decide what to buy."

I started to slip my hand inside her robe, but Kate stopped me. She said, "Last night I opened a bottle of wine and never got to drink any of it, so tonight I am going to finish this beer before I submit to you, or you submit to me, or whatever. Why don't we finish our beers and then go up to your room?"

Later that night, after Kate had left to go to her bedroom I lay in bed pondering the strange situation in which Kate and I found ourselves. I believed we were falling in love, but I had no life to share with her. We could never make plans for a future without finding out about my past. Events from my previous life could render a long-term relationship with Kate impossible. I started thinking that maybe I should leave now rather than wait until I have established a close relationship with Kate and Megan and then be forced to go. It was with those thoughts in my head I drifted off to sleep.

I couldn't have been asleep more than a couple of hours when I awoke. My mind was a little foggy, but I remembered part of a dream, I was having. In the dream I was getting ready to go somewhere, and Kate was holding on to me asking why I had to leave. Then she asked how she could get in touch with me. I told her to call me at... I could almost remember the phone number I gave her, but it faded quickly from my memory.

After that night Kate made frequent visits to my room.

Chapter 9 The Number of My Dreams

I had another dream about leaving Kate to go somewhere. This time when Kate asked me how she could get in touch with me, I gave her a phone number and then repeated it two more times. Remarkably, when I woke up, I remembered the phone number. That was on Thursday, June 30th; I remember the date because I wrote the phone number in my notebook that night. (919-555-9407). I didn't recognize the number and didn't know if it was the same one from the first dream. I puzzled over it for a few more minutes, then put the notebook away and went back to sleep.

In the morning, after Kate left to take Megan to her day camp on her way to work, I pulled out my notebook and looked at that phone number again. The number still didn't register with me. It was a shot in the dark, but I had to try, so I called the number.

The phone rang four times, and then it connected with a recorded message. "You have reached the offices of Stanley Applications. Our office hours are 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM ,Monday through Friday," then the message stopped. I looked at the kitchen clock, and it was only 7:45 AM. The name Stanley Applications didn't ring any bells for me. I had a job to do that day with Tom and Craig, so I couldn't wait around the house to call the number again after eight o'clock. I wasn't sure calling back would help anyway, what would I say to them? I would give it a try, anyway, if I had time. I decided that I wasn't going to mention the dream or the phone number to Kate. I didn't want her to worry about what that number might mean when I had no idea if it had any importance to my previous life.

I got home from work after five o'clock, so I did not have a chance to call that number again. I was starting to think the number probably meant nothing. If it was important, why wasn't it familiar to me? Megan was watching television while Kate was making dinner and I was watching Kate with thoughts of getting her into my bed later when Captain Hobbs came to the door.

Captain Hobbs said that he was there for his weekly visit. "Carrie also told me to invite the three of you over to our house for a Fourth of July cookout." Then he looked at me and said, "If you are coming you will have to stop calling me Captain Hobbs and just call me Brian."

"We'd love to come," Kate said.

"Great, Carrie is looking forward to meeting Ben." To me, Brian said, "So, Ben, any new revelations?"

"Couple of things, let me get my notebook and show you," I said and guided Brian away from the kitchen and Kate. I showed Brian the phone number and told him about the dream. I told him about calling the number that morning and getting a recording that said the name of the business was Stanley Applications and gave their hours of operation.

"You know you could probably have looked Stanley Applications up on the internet," Brian said.

"I don't know how to do that," I said.

"What, you don't know how to look something up on the internet?"

"I have never used a computer, at least in this life," I said.

"I'll check this out for you. Don't call SA again. The number may not be anything, but if it is, we have to be careful how we handle it. We don't want to let the wrong people know you are still alive," Brian said.

After Brian left, I asked Kate why Brian's wife was looking forward to meeting me.

"Carrie Hobbs works as a fundraiser for many of the local charities around Brodricksburg, and she raised a lot of money for Brodricksburg Memorial Hospital," Kate said. "She has a lot of influence at the hospital."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"When Brian told her about you, Carrie went to battle with the hospital administration to make sure that you got the care you needed. Mr. Jacobs wanted to move you out of the hospital earlier than they did, but Carrie went to war for you so you could stay as long as you did. She is still not happy that they forced you to leave so soon."

"I guess I will have to thank her for her help," I said.

"Don't say anything to her about it. She didn't want me to tell you what she did."

"Now I want to meet her," I said. "Brian said something about doing searches on the internet. Do you know how to do that?"

"You don't know how to use the internet?" Kate said.

"I've never done it, at least in this life. Can you show me how to do it?"

That evening after dinner, Kate showed me how to log onto her computer and how to access the internet. By ten o'clock that night I knew how to do searches on the internet, I established an email account and was able to send an email, although Kate's email address was the only one I had.

The next morning after Kate and Megan left, I sat down at Kate's computer and did a search for Stanley Applications. What I found was a little discouraging. It turned out that Stanley Applications (SA) is a software development company in Raleigh, North Carolina. I knew nothing about software development, and although I knew where Raleigh was, I had no idea if I had ever been there. I concluded that the phone number from my dream was just a random number and had nothing to do with my previous life.

On Saturday, July 4th, Kate, Megan and I arrived at the home of Brian and Carrie Hobbs shortly after noon. Brian met us at the door and guided us to the backyard where I recognized a few of the other guests. Lieutenant Hanratty was there with his wife whose name I later found out was Linda. There were a couple of the nurses I remembered from the hospital, and Dr. Colson was also there with his wife, Mary.

Kate said that she was going to go into the house to see if she could help Carrie.

Megan saw a couple of girls she knew from school and ran over to play with them.

"Come on, I want to introduce you to the chief," Brian said. I followed Brian over to an older couple and introduced me to Chief of Police Joe Pasiak and his wife, Helen.

The Chief gave me a firm handshake and said, "So you are the famous Ben Franklin that has kept my two top officers busy these last six months. Well, I am glad to meet you."

Brian slipped away leaving me with the Chief. "How have you been doing?" The Chief asked.

"As good as I can under the circumstances," I said.

"You know you were a real puzzlement to Captain Hobbs," Chief Pasiak said. "When they first brought you into the hospital, Captain Hobbs was sure that you were faking your amnesia and that you knew who tried to kill you and why. He assumed that you were part of some criminal activity and your cohorts turned on you. Captain Hobbs now believes that you are the innocent victim of a criminal conspiracy. Let me just say that I trust Captain Hobbs' judgment."

"Thank you. Those early days in the hospital I didn't know what was going on, but I sensed that Brian and Lt. Hanratty didn't believe me. It was unnerving to feel like I was a suspect and I didn't know if I was guilty of any crime."

Just then I saw Kate walking toward me with an attractive dark haired woman.

"Ben, this is Carrie Hobbs, Brian's better half," Kate said.

Thinking back to what Kate told me about Carrie fighting for me when I was in the hospital I developed a large lump in my throat that made it hard for me to speak. I wanted to thank her for what she did for me but I could not. I froze because I had no idea of what to say to her.

"So you're the mysterious Ben Franklin Brian keeps talking about," Carrie said. "I am happy to meet you, finally."

I was surprised that Hobbs would spend any time talking about my case with his wife.

I finally got my act together and said, "I am happy to meet you, also. Kate has told me many good things about you."

"Kate has always been too generous with her compliments," Carrie said.

"In your case, I don't think so."

With all of the introductions out of the way, we ate burgers, hot dogs and barbequed chicken with lots of side dishes. For dessert, there were several different kinds of pie and ice cream.

It was about 8:30 PM that Brian said he wanted to talk to me before the fireworks.

"What fireworks?" I asked. I didn't see any evidence of fireworks in the yard.

Brian pointed to the east and said, "Fort Brodrick is about a mile that way. They have a big fireworks display, and we will be able to see most of the show from here."

"Megan will love that," I said. "What is it you want to talk to me about?"

"I checked out that phone number from your dream," Brian said.

"Yeah, I looked it up on the internet," I said.

"Oh, I thought you didn't know how to do that."

"Kate taught me how to search the internet. Anyway, none of the information on the Stanley Applications website registered with me. Besides, Raleigh, North Carolina is so far from here it just didn't make sense to me."

"I don't think I agree with you. The number you remembered from your dream was 919-555-9407. The phone number listed on the SA website was 919-555-9400. So, I called that number, and a secretary answered my call. I asked her to connect me with extension 9407, and she told me that no one was currently using that extension. I told her that I was trying to follow up on a business call from back in December that one of my associates had with someone I believe was at that number. My associate didn't put his contact's name in his notes I ask her if she remembered who used that extension in December. She said that she had only been working at SA for four months, but she knew that the last person that used the office that phone number had been assigned to had resigned from the company in January. I asked her if she could give me his name and she said that because he left the company, she would not be able to give me that information."

"So, you think that phone number might have something to do with me?" I said.

"What if that was your telephone extension? You show up here in January, and coincidentally the person that used that phone extension left SA in January. To drive from Raleigh to Brodricksburg would take eight hours in good weather, in a snow storm, it could take 12 hours. Based on your injuries we believe that the first injury to your head happened 12 to 15 hours before you arrived at the hospital here in Brodricksburg. Admittedly it's pretty thin, but it fits the timeline."

"So, what do we do now?"

"I think we need to take a trip down to Raleigh and check it out."

I was not convinced that a trip to Raleigh would uncover anything new, but Brian said that he just felt that there was something there that we needed to explore, and he already had the trip approved by Chief Pasiak. We made plans to fly down to Raleigh the following Tuesday. After our conversation, I was pretty worked up. Brian's enthusiasm started me thinking that maybe there was a chance that we would find some answers in Raleigh. I didn't know how I should feel. I was excited and scared. I wanted to believe that the answers I had been searching for were in Raleigh, while at the same time I wasn't sure I wanted to know. Learning about my past might not be a positive experience.

I found Kate sitting in a lawn chair with Megan on her lap. There was an empty chair next to them. "We saved this chair for you, Ben," Megan said.

I bent down and whispered in Megan's ear, "Thank you sweetie, I love you, too." Megan just giggled.

For the next hour we enjoyed watching the fireworks, well, Kate and Megan enjoyed it. My mind was somewhere else.

When we got home from Brian and Carrie's house, I told Kate about my dream and the phone number for SA. I said: "Brian feels that we should fly down to Raleigh on Tuesday to check it out."

"Are you sure you should be flying down to Raleigh because of a phone number you got from a dream you had?" Kate said.

"I don't know. I thought it was a pretty thin reason to go, but Brian thinks there might be something there. He said it fits the timeline," I said.

"What does that mean?"

"I'm not sure; I guess its cop speak for somehow it makes sense. At least it does to Brian."

"Who's paying for this trip?" Kate asked.

"Brian said that the police department would pick up the tab for our travel because this is part of a criminal investigation," I said.

"This whole thing scares me," Kate said. "If Brian is right and the people that tried to kill you are down there, they might try again."

"You might be right, but I can't live like this, not knowing if I have a future because I don't remember my past. If there is a chance I can find out who I am, I have to take it," I said.

Kate put her arms around me and pulled me close and said: "I know."

Chapter 10 - Stanley Applications, Raleigh, North Carolina

Tuesday morning Brian picked me up at the house, and we drove to the Philadelphia airport. On the way there Brian told me how he wanted to play things when we got to Raleigh. We had already decided that we would go directly over to Stanley Applications from the airport.

"When we get to SA I want you to say as little as possible," Brian said. If it is obvious that they know who you are, let me explain about your head injury and amnesia. You answer any questions about what happened by saying that you don't remember anything before waking up in the hospital. Also, I am not going to identify myself as a police officer. I don't want to put anybody on alert. We'll just say I am a friend trying to help you out."

Flying from Philadelphia to Raleigh was a strange experience for me. Everything about the flight, from the boarding process through the takeoff and the landing in Raleigh seemed somehow familiar to me, but I had no recollection of ever having been on an airplane before. It was a disturbing feeling.

We landed in Raleigh around 2:15 PM and drove to the Stanley Applications building, arriving shortly after three o'clock. The brick three-story SA building on Glenwood Ave was just inside the 440 beltway on the north side of Raleigh. We sat in the rental car for a few minutes while I studied the building. Brian asked me if anything about the building was familiar. I told him that I did not recognize it. Before we got out of the car, Brian said, "Remember, let me do most of the talking."

Inside the main entrance was a reception desk attended by a young woman with a name tag that read Brenda. Brian addressed the receptionist and said, "I am Brian Hobbs, and this is Ben Franklin, and we would like to speak with Mr. Stanley."

"Do you have an appointment?" Brenda said.

"No, but it is important that we speak with him."

"Can I ask what this is in reference to?"

"Tell Mr. Stanley that we would like to speak with him about the person who formerly used phone extension 9407," Brian said.

Brenda looked at Brian and asked, "Are you the guy that called here last week asking about that phone extension?"

"Yes, that was me, and we do need to speak with Mr. Stanley.

"One moment please," Brenda said then pressed a button on her switchboard. A few seconds later Brenda began speaking to someone on the phone. "There are two men down here that would like to speak to you. A Brian Hobbs and a Ben Franklin... They said it is important that they speak to you about the person that used to use extension 9407... Okay."

Brenda disconnected the call and looked up at Brian and said, "Someone will be down in a minute to escort you to Mr. Stanley's office."

It was five minutes before a tall brunette got off the elevator. Brenda pointed at Brian, and the brunette came over to us. "Hi, I am Sonya Anderson, Mr. Stanley asked me to come down and escort you to his office on the third floor."

Brian introduced us to Sonya, and we all headed over to the elevator. The elevator was hydraulic and very slow, and the two or three minutes it took the elevator as it slowly made its way up to the third floor increased my anxiety level. I was feeling more and more like the trip to Raleigh was going to be a big mistake. Before we reached the third floor, I noticed that Sonya had looked at me two or three times, and I thought that she could sense my unease.

On the third floor, the elevator doors opened on a large room with rows of cubicles in the center and offices along the outside walls. Sonya led us to a corner office with a nameplate that read 'David Stanley, President and CEO.' Mr. Stanley was talking on the phone, and he held his hand up to indicate that he needed another minute to finish his phone call. While we were waiting, I noticed that Sonya was staring at me again and then, just as Mr. Stanley was putting his phone down, Sonja whispered to me, "Mike, is that you?"

I didn't know how to respond. Should I say no, or I don't know, or maybe? I was saved from my dilemma by Mr. Stanley. He had ended his call then thanked Sonja and invited Brian and me into his office and closed his door.

Mr. Stanley looked at Brian and asked, "So, what's your interest in extension 9407?"

As Brian started to explain, "Mr. Stanley, we are wondering if possibly, Ben might have been..."

At that point, Mr. Stanley looked over at me and before Brain could say more Mr. Stanley stood and pointed at me. With a lot of anger evident in his voice, Mr. Stanley said, "Ben Franklin my ass. Did you really think I wouldn't recognize you just because you grew a beard and your hair is longer? You have a lot of fucking nerve coming back here."

Brian was standing with his mouth opened in surprise. "You know him?" Brian asked.

"Yeah, I know this fucking thief."

I was stunned. Mr. Stanley said I was a thief. Could that be true? The shock of the accusation left me reeling and made it difficult for me to follow the rest of the conversation between Brian and Mr. Stanley. If it weren't for Brian recording the conversation, I would not have been able to detail the rest of the conversation here.

"What did Ben steal?" Brian said.

"His name isn't Ben, it's Mike Sullivan, and he stole intellectual capital from my company when he left."

"Did you report that to the police?" Brian asked.

"No, I didn't report this to the police. My lawyer felt that involving the police would create bad publicity for SA, and may even make it harder to get my software back. My lawyer suggested that we wait until Mike tried to sell Interapp and then sue him and his buyer to get my property back."

Brian looked at me shaking his head. I think he was disappointed to find out I was a thief. "Listen, Mr. Stanley; we have a very bizarre situation here. Mr. Franklin..." Brian started, but Mr. Stanley cut him off.