Filling the Second Grave Pt. 01

Her eyes started to close slowly, her breathing slowed, and the last conscious thought she had as she slipped into the void was, "I'm coming, lover. I'm coming."

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Chapter 7

Someone mentioned to the office that there was water running from under the door in room 124. Maintenance showed up when they couldn't get anyone on the phone. They had to cut the chain to gain access to the room.

Then they called the police.

The kids came home from school and found- no mom. They went next door to Mrs. Wagner's house and told her 'they had lost mommy.'

Mrs. Wagner really liked me and didn't understand (or like) what Helen had put me through. In spite of what Thornton had said, word got around and several videos leaked. So when 8:00 p.m. rolled around, and no Helen, she called me.

I came and got the kids and took them out for a late dinner because the only food in the house was Mac and Cheese, and lots of wine. They got home about 9:30- still no Helen. So I put the kids to bed and crashed on the couch. The next day was Friday. Let's see what the day brought.

Friday dawned clear and cool. Still no Helen. I called the school and told them the kids were out sick. I called a few of her friends and her parents. No luck. So I took the kids to work with me, after calling my lawyer and checking on the legality of what was going on, and what I was doing.

I had not put two and two together yet.

He said not to worry; he would make all the necessary calls and file a court action to move temporary custody to me.

The kids, being 7 and 5 years old, loved going to work with me, and my staff being mostly middle-aged women loved them to death.

I found out about her death that afternoon at work and had to go to the morgue to identify her body.

I called her parents and found out they had gone to Houston for the weekend. I told them to come to get her body as soon the police were done with the investigation. They balked and said it was my duty. I responded with one word-"DIVORCE". I hung up.

My lawyer had been busy, contacting the cops, the courts, and her lawyer.

He had me awarded sole custody of the children, because of the mysterious circumstances and the abandonment aspect.

I told the kids that mommy had gone away, I don't know where to, and that they would be living with me from now on. They were a little sad because their mother had not even bothered to say goodbye. But my parents had stepped right up and they shifted gears and got into a new routine. The weekend rolled on and we coped.

Monday dawned cloudy, and I went to work after a fairly happy two days.

At 3:30 that afternoon, while all the other shit was flying around, I got a phone call.

"Hey, sport, I heard about our favorite pussy offing herself. Too bad, she was a great piece of ass."

J.D. Thornton. I started a slow burn. "I guess I'll see you at the wake and the funeral. Oh yeah, Don sends his regards, and regrets. He thinks she was a fine fuck too." He was laughing uproariously. He obviously didn't know about Don.

"Fucking ass-wipe," I swore at him and slammed down the phone. His company was going down the tubes, no one wanted to do business with him, and the state of Nevada and the Feds were breathing down his neck. And he was telling ME his shit didn't stink. I swore I would get him.

One hour later, I got another call.

"Mr. Butler, I need you to leave now and take I-35 South to 1327. Go East about ten miles to the abandoned gas station, and meet us there. This will finish everything. And sir, you have our condolences on you ex-wife's passing. Please get going, sir." CLICK. He hung up.

I stared at the receiver and wasn't sure who had called. I called my parents and said something had come up, and that I would be a little late. Then I let Sandra, my secretary, know I was leaving and that I would see her tomorrow.

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Chapter 8

I left in my car and drove south on I-35. The Ford Fusion ate up the miles as I turned the conversation over and over in my mind.

What did he mean that this would finish everything? What would I find out here in the boonies? And who was it that called? The voice sounded vaguely familiar but I just couldn't attach it to anyone.

I got to the turnoff for 1327 and exited to the East. I slowed a little bit and decided that I would be cautious about showing up. After all, I had no weapons and I didn't know who was involved.

I'm not a former Navy Seal, so I wasn't prepared to wipe the floor with ten bad guys.

Or maybe even one bad guy.

Soon I came up to the derelict gas station. I slowed to about 15 miles an hour. I scoped the building out as I passed and noticed that it was boarded up. I drove past about 1 mile and turned around.

I came back and pulled over about a hundred feet away. I couldn't see anything. Decisions, decisions.

Hell, I had already made the decision. I was there, wasn't I?

I drove forward and made the turn into the apron area. Almost immediately, a man stepped out from the back of the building and motioned me forward.

The building was a one-story concrete block affair, about sixty feet across by forty feet deep. The pumps were gone from out front, and there was a bit of refuse strewn around. But it didn't appear to have been closed that long.

I got to the back and he motioned me to pull around, out of sight. That's when I recognized him- Joseph, or Joey if you will, from Las Vegas. There were two other vehicles there and between them stood Jeremy and another young man I didn't recognize. I pulled up, parked, and got out.

Jeremy came up and extended his hand. We shook. "Mr. Butler, I'm sorry about Helen. You have my family's condolences, especially from mother and father. This" he turned and motioned to the third young man, "is my brother-in- law, Kevin Dewars. He is also here for closure."

I shook Kevin's hand and with that Joey came up and also shook my hand. "Sorry for your loss, sir."

"Don't be. I'm not," I said through clenched lips. A little harsh, but it is what it is.

Jeremy took over. "With his last phone call to you, I figured we had waited long enough." He turned and walked to the back wall. A chain-link fence set about eight feet from the wall, with those orange plastic strips in the fencing, was there, and we walked around it to see Conrad, the security guy, and J.D. Thornton tied to the wall.

Conrad was a little beat up and had a ball gag in his mouth. But J.D. was a different story.

His right eye was closed and bloodied; his left was leaking something. His nose was just a bloody mess, and his mouth was split and bloodied, with at least a half dozen teeth missing.

His left arm was not aligned correctly-sort of at a right angle. His legs were also not holding him up, as the lower legs and ankles didn't appear to be attached to anything.

I turned to Jeremy and asked what happened to shithead?

He smiled. "Kevin. He had no case with Conrad, but J.D. was a different story. We let him 'talk' to him for a while." I turned and looked at the young man, who was nursing a sore right hand.

"Nice work", I said.

"Thank you, sir. Really, thank you. The rest is for you."

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Chapter 9

I turned back to the two miscreants and walked to Conrad. Jeremy followed me and put his hand on my shoulder. I turned to him and he handed me a latex glove and a.45 cal. Glock automatic. "This was Voisin's gun. Don't handle it with your left hand, please. When ever you're ready." He stepped back.

I walked up to Conrad and I could see the fear on his face. "You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Not your fault." He seemed to relax a bit. I brought the pistol up to his face and splattered his brains all over the wall.

I turned and walked to Thornton. He tried to laugh.

"Well if it isn't the cuck," he managed to spit out. "Looks like I win." He was hard to understand. "OH, and Don says 'HI'." He managed to smirk and snicker through his ruined mouth.

Time to end this. "Don is dead." I deadpanned right at him.

He stopped trying to breathe. What was left of his eyes blazed."NO, HE ISN'T!! HE'S ALIVE. I KNOW IT!! I'VE WON AGAIN!!!"

"No, and I didn't win, either. But you lost." I put one round in his balls, eliciting a garbled scream. I brought the weapon up and finished the mural on the back wall with his brains. The weapon locked open.

Jeremy reached up and calmly took the gun from my hand. "I guessed you would need three rounds. I figured it would give you closure. I'm glad I was right."

"What else would I have done? Dead is dead."

"There was a chance you would have turned it on yourself. I took the chance you wouldn't, but hedged my bet."

Kevin and Joey were already cleaning up the bodies. They loaded them in the trunk of J.D.'s Cadillac and grabbed the big pieces. "The heat and the scavengers will clean up the blood and fluids."

"Won't the Feds be looking for them?" I asked.

Jeremy grinned and said, "We will send a post card to his office from Mexico. Basically telling the FBI to piss off. They'll never find them. Again, they will disappear."

"How do you know so much about all this?"

Jeremy studied my face and looked to the West. Then he looked back at me. He reached down and moved his jacket aside, exposing the golden badge. "Agent Jeremy Raguso; this is Agent Joseph Longo. We are out of the Las Vegas office, FBI."

He was really enjoying this.

"But won't they know where you are?" I asked.

He chuckled. "Our cell phones are on a fishing trip-beer binge in northern Colorado. It's to help my brother-in-law recover from the emotional trauma that dropped into his life. Well, our cell phones are there, but we're doing the actual healing here, outside of Austin, Texas."

He looked at me. "We're legit, sir. This is that 5% my father talked about. Mom was o.k. with this because of the circumstances. Otherwise, she would be pushing to eradicate that last 5%. She's a good person, sir. But this was my little sister. My dad's favorite, thought he would never say it. That's why we're doing this."

"But what about me? I'm out of the office and I'M NOT FISHING IN COLORADO!!" I gasped.

Again he grinned. "No, you're not. But you are in a business meeting with Mr. Westbrook. At least a guy who looks a lot like you is. And Mr. Westbrook will swear it was you."

Now I was reeling. "What does Carl Westbrook have to do with this? Why would he go to the trouble of lying for me? I mean, he likes me and I have great respect for him, but...."

"Well, Uncle Carl likes you; a lot. And he and my dad were in Iraq together. He had called my dad when he heard about the scandal. Said he wanted to help."

So I had people helping me I did not even know about.

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Chapter 10

I sagged against the fence and disintegrated. I started to cry. I started to bawl. By the time Kevin got to me, I was on the ground in a fetal position and was just about catatonic. Kevin dropped down and wrapped me in his arms. He helped me stand and shook me. Jeremy and Joey stood there while Kevin took over.

"Mr. Butler? ROGER!! Look at me. Come on, come on.

"That's better.

"You have helped me take care of business. You may have done it without knowing it, but you did it anyway. And I thank you.

"Now you have to pick up the pieces and move on. Trust me, it won't be easy. But your demons are gone-behind you. You can do it. We will help."

I stared at his young man I had never met before today.

I wiped my eyes and hugged him.

"O.K., guys, let's get this show on the road," said Jeremy.

We went to the other side of the fence, with Kevin supporting me, and saw two holes-6 ft by 3 ft, at least 6 ft deep.

'Wow, the guys have been busy, I thought. They dumped the two bodies in the holes, added a couple of gallons of sulfuric acid to each hole and some quick lime, and we all started filling them in.

It took about 3 hours, but soon it was just two patches of disturbed dirt. There were slight crowns, but time would fix that.

We rolled our sleeves back down and picked up our suit jackets. The exertion had helped to soothe my mind. I needed to get home to my children. I shook hands all around, hugged Kevin, and told him to go home to his wife and soon-to-be child, love them and never let them go. Again, he thanked me.

Joey got into J.D.'s car and Kevin got into the passenger side of the nondescript Ford sedan and waited.

Jeremy came up to me and asked if I was going to be o.k. I told him it might take a little while, but time heals all wounds. This may take major surgery to fix, but I think I will be alright.

He looked at me and grinned.

"One more thing. This may turn into something like 'A Christmas Carol', but expect one more visitor."

"What do you mean?"

"AHH, AHH, AHH, no fair. It's a surprise. You'll see. Again, thank you, sir."

He tossed off a small salute and climbed into the Ford, and they drove away, following Joey to who knows where. And I really didn't want to know.

End of Part 1. Part two is on its way. It will be better; trust me.

The BEAR

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