Justice Ch. 03: Lawyers, Guns & Money

"I love you too, Danni," he said, hugging her back. "Now you take good care of my grandsons - both of 'em - y'hear?"

"I will, Grandpa, promise. Tell Grandma Lizzy we said hi and give her our love," she said. He nodded his head.

"I will," he said. "I'll be seein' y'all," he said, touching the brim of his hat. After he left, Danni came back over to me.

"Now, where were we?" she asked, unzipping my jeans with a mischievous smile on her face.

...

Epilogue:

A few days after that incident, I ran across a small article online about a foiled coup attempt in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. A Mexican Army colonel named Alejandro Rojas was credited with bringing down a wealthy businessman who had been building an army in an attempt to take over the state and eventually the entire country. Some of the men he captured claimed they had been attacked by demons on horseback. Rojas dismissed the claims as being the rantings of drug-induced madmen.

He also said the raid on the camp produced evidence of a shipment of illegal arms. The weapons were confiscated and the Mexican authorities said they were in the process of identifying who else might be involved. Initial reports claimed a lawyer working for a firm based in southern California was allegedly involved, but the unnamed lawyer had yet to be found.

Rojas was promoted to brigadier general, given a medal and hailed as a national hero. I saw no mention in the news of a cavalry assault - fortunately.

Lionel stayed in touch with me and let me know that he had filed a missing person's report on Cheryl, mostly to cover his tracks in case he decided to divorce her in absentia. He also started seeing a counselor.

About a year later, he called to say the stone in the ring he wore had started flashing blue. By then, our daughter, Elizabeth, had been born.

Lionel said he followed Grandpa's instruction and pressed the stone. Grandpa delivered a thin, haggard, hysterical woman to his home shortly thereafter. Lionel told me he cleaned her up and tried to reintegrate her into society, but with very little success. She barely spoke, refused to wear clothing most of the time and ate like every meal would be her last. He even had to retrain her to use the toilet, like a child. Moreover, it took her several weeks before she could even walk more than a few steps.

He let her stay out of pity, not wanting to turn her out into society until he knew she could survive on her own. I heard from him several times over the next few months and one day he called to say she was gone.

"She left the house?" I asked.

"No," Lionel said, crying. "She committed suicide. I thought she was starting to do better. I came home from the office and found her in her bed. She had taken an overdose of sleeping pills and pain medication."

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said.

"That's okay," he said. "Your grandfather said she finally made her peace with God and was ready to go. She wrote a fairly lengthy manuscript that explains quite a lot. It's pretty graphic in some places. She also left a will, giving me her entire estate - over five million dollars in an offshore account. I never knew she had all that. Maybe it was her way of apologizing to me."

"Wow," I said.

"Would you like to read her manuscript?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure, if you're okay with that," I said.

"I am," he said. "I'll have to go through it and clean up some of her mistakes. She spent the last month or so writing this and it's pretty hard to read in some places. It'll take me a while to go through all this. Maybe three weeks or thereabouts."

"Just take your time, don't rush it. Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said. "These last few months have reopened some old wounds, but I'll be okay."

"You take care of yourself," I said. "And stay in touch."

"I will," he said. "And thanks again for everything."

"You're welcome," I said. We ended the call and I told Danni what Lionel had said.

"That's too bad," she said. "But I'd be interested in reading what she had to say." I had to admit, I was curious as well. But, I figured, we could wait the three weeks. We looked out back and saw William riding on Grandpa's back, like a horse, as Elizabeth giggled and squealed.

I got a kick out of seeing Grandpa on his hands and knees making horse noises as he let William ride on his back. It was hard to tell who was having more fun, William or Grandpa.

I looked at Danni and saw the love on her face. Kissing her sweet face, I realized just how truly blessed I really was.

...

Notes: Fort Sumter was fired upon by the Confederates on April 12, 1861. The 8^th Regiment of Indiana Cavalry was first organized as the 39th Regiment of Infantry on August 29, 1861 and re-designated the 8th Cavalry on October 15, 1863. It fought in a number of battles until it was mustered out on July 20, 1865. The name Elijah Jones does not appear on any list I could find for the unit, so I exercised a bit of artistic license there. Fielder A. Jones, however, did serve as a Colonel in the regiment.

Those who have read some of my previous stories, specifically, the Cheater's Gallery, and a couple entries in "The Cheating Zone," may recognize some of the "technology" used by Adrestia Rhamnousia. As you may have surmised, she is the one Elijah referred to when he said he isn't the only one who does what he does...

I am debating as to whether or not to turn Cheryl's manuscript into a story. If that is something you'd like to see, let me know in the comments or drop me a line. If anyone wants to take a stab at writing that story, please feel free to do so with my blessing.

And stay tuned...