The Librarian Pt. 03

"It isn't everyday I get to take care of a real life hero."

Uh, Oh.

"UHH, hero, doc?"

"Sure, you got wounded stopping a wanted criminal and saving two pretty ladies', glancing at Mary and Jasmine and smiling, "And you put your life at risk. Makes you a hero in my book, as well as most other people in town."

Whew, for a moment I thought I was exposed.

HE patted my shoulder and said I could stare eating 'solid' food again. Great, that meant mashed potatoes and tuna fish. Well, it was a step in the right direction.

I got visitors, Hiram, Penney, daughters, and friends. Hiram was smiling at me while Penney fussed at my blankets and wound dressings.

"Well, son, you're one up on me. I never managed to get shot in 'Nam, so that just makes you a bigger dummy than me".

And flowers. Lots and lots of flowers. It seems I was a hero in a lot of people's eyes. My boss from work and a couple of guys from the shop stopped by. Then Hi and Jethro along with Micheal stopped in. Magically, a couple of Big Mac's showed up, too. Yay!!

Everything slowed down and I was working my way back to being ready to go home. That's when my world flipped- again.

Mary and Jasmine came and kissed me, then sat and fidgeted a little. They were soon joined by Hiram Jr. and Jethro, and they looked grim.

'This doesn't look good', I thought to myself. Then in walked-Alexander Colton and Timothy Ross. Alex came up to my bed, and extended his hand.

'Oh, shit!', I thought.

"Mr. Dorne. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you. You probably don't know who I am. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Mr. Alexander Colton, Asst. Director of Operations for the CIA. This is Agent Timothy Ross." Timothy Ross, walking to the window, tossed a salute to me and leaned against the window sill.

I was so screwed, and here he was acting like I didn't know who he was.

"UHH, pleasure to meet you, sir."

He grinned. He was having a really good time with this.

"Mr. Dorne, we were out here looking into the disappearance of a federal fugitive, one Micheal Starne. You may have heard of him on the news. A dastardly fellow, who is hiding from justice. We had reason to believe he was in the Sacramento area, but that proved to be incorrect.

"While we were out here, we caught your story on the news, about your little exploit a few weeks ago, saving these two beautiful young ladies from a nefarious criminal, and Tim and I felt, as long as we were out here, we should come and meet you."

He was really into it now. I tried to see a way out of here, but there's a cop and two feds right there. I'm sunk. I was sweating bullets, and staring to panic.

He kept on.

"We've been here about a week now, while you recuperated, and we've talked to a lot of folks. Your lovely wife, your feisty daughter," and here stared with a mischievous grin at Jasmine, "and your 'sponsors', the Lovebirds, the Lt., his brother the Asst. D.A., your boss at the Ford dealership, the guy at the corner gas station, even Pablo, who owns the restaurant where the 'shoot-out' took place.

"To a man, they all agreed you are the real deal, John. A true hero. So we had to come and meet the man himself."

Alright, he had run the gamut. He stared at me and I wondered how he was going to drop the bomb on me.

'This really sucked', I thought.

"Well, anyway, we need to get going. We're leaving for San Diego today. There's a rumor that Micheal Starne was seen trying to cross into Mexico. We think we've got him." He rose and again extended his hand. I took it and shook it again, feeling his warmth and noting his smile. I knew I should keep quiet. I had dodged a bullet. I should take the win and SHUT THE F_ _ _K up. But a bad case of dumb shits grabs me and I couldn't resist.

"UHH, Mr. Colton, what does the FBI think?"

I noticed Hi blanch, and Jethro almost groaned. Mary shuddered, and Jasmine gasped. But Alex just smiled.

"Oh, they are sure he is in Southern California, someplace. That's where they are concentrating their search". He looked at me. "More power to them, I say. I personally think we will never find Mr. Starne." His grin was confident.

"Come on, Tim. Let's let these nice folks get on with their lives".

Hi breathed again, Jethro blessed himself, Mary collapsed a little, and Jasmine exhaled and shook.

Alex moved towards the door, and Tim came towards me with his hand out. I automatically took it and shook. He stared at me, winked, and with a grin, said, "Good luck, Mike". They left and the room swam and resumed normalcy.

If that was possible.

Jethro looked at me.

"Well, John, I think you've used up all your good luck for this life. You had better behave yourself."

"AMEN!," said Hi.

Mary came and hugged me. She looked at me, kissed me, and whispered in my ear, "Dumb-ass!".

Jasmine was giggling and bouncing around.

"You're stuck with us now, daddy. So you better behave."

Yeah, I definitely need to find a different line of work.

Two days later I was discharged and went home. For good, I hope.

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Epilogue

It seems that Mr. Dixon went into the hospital in critical condition. Gut shot, broken leg, broken knee, crushed (a little) and was in intensive care. The three firearms involved were illegally obtained and found to have been involved with several felonies. The the individuals involved were also found to have parole violations.

Jasmine got a lawyer and had a swab test done, and it was proved that Dixon was her biological father. That solidified the rape charges and it would appear his goose was cooked.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, he took a turn for the worse and died in the hospital. Too bad-not.

Two weeks later, we received a large case, by Fed-Ex, from Washington. On opening it, I found all my confiscated firearms. I took the antique flint lock Brown Bess musket, and went to Hiram's house.

The Man was working in his shop when I went in. I walked behind him. He turned, not quite surprised at my presence, and stared.

"So what, are you gonna shoot me?", he asked.

I held the musket out to him.

"I want you to have this. Thank you for everything,..dad".

I never seen the man cry before, but his eyes teared up and he sniffled. He hesitated and finally held out his hands and took the weapon.

"Thank you, son", he quietly said. The tears came quietly and I got a hug. A small one but hey, it's a start.

About two months after that, I was at work when one of the secretaries paged me and said I had a visitor. I walked out to the parking area, and there stood Timothy Ross, next to my old F-250 pickup. Next to him stood a petite blonde, looking to be about his age. In the bed of the truck sat my motorcycle.

I walked up to Tim and shook his hand. He smiled and handed me the keys.

"I'm led to believe this is yours, Mr. Dorne. This is Tawny Ross, my new wife. We're on vacation and someone asked if I could deliver these things to you."

I congratulated them and offered to put them up for a few days.

Many things came out in the course of the three days they stayed with us. Tawny and Mary bonded, along with Penney and the other Lovebird females. Jasmine was besides herself with all the attention.

It seems that Ms. Duschense rolled on quite a few 'operatives' in the D.C. area, and the FBI was able to roll up several minor operatives. She got a deal and was granted immunity. They put her in witness protection and relocated her to Maine, with an accounting job. Unfortunately for her, she was found dead in a parking lot outside a lesbian bar, of a drug overdose. Coincidence?? You figure it out. We had a nice visit and they left to continue their vacation.

Seven months later, just after Thanksgiving, Mary blessed us with 6 lb. 4 oz. baby boy.

We name him Micheal John Dorne. My son.

Life goes on.

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I want to thank everyone for hanging with me. I hope it was worth it. Like I said, I love happy endings.

Now, lighten up, as they say:

When a man looks at a woman, he looks into and sees her heart.

It's not our fault that it's right behind her breasts.

God Bless everyone. The BEAR