The Burning Question – Part II
By
By the time Min came down the stairs, it was night, the cabin was dark and Gloria had turned in for the night. Min walked quietly into the kitchen and turned on the light, she opened the fridge and got out the milk and the jelly and set them down on the counter. She went to the pantry and took out the jar of peanut butter and the bread.
“Is he all right?”
Min whipped around and saw Gloria standing in the kitchen doorway, she had on a white robe.
“Not really.” Min went back to making two sandwiches, one for her and one for Johnny.
“He found out what happened didn’t he?”
The young woman nodded, her back still turned. “Yeah he did.”
“Are you going to tell me or should I wait until he does?”
“I think you should wait, he’s not done yet, I know he’ll tell you everything when he’s ready to.”
Gloria nodded. “I’m going to go back to my room now Min, kiss my son good night for me.”
Min turned back around and smiled. “I will…he needs a lot of that right now.”
“Good night Min.”
“Good night Gloria.”
She finished the sandwiches and poured two glasses of milk, she spotted a tray on top of the fridge and loaded everything on it.
Johnny was sitting on the bed, a blanket was wrapped around his shoulders, he had taken off his clothes and had changed into his pajama bottoms. He heard the sound of someone walking, the door opened and Min came in carrying a tray with a plate and two glasses of milk.
“I hope you don’t mind peanut butter.” She set the tray down on the nightstand and Johnny opened up his blanket. “Its fine, come here.”
Min sat down on his lap and he wrapped it back around both of them, she leaned her head against his chest. “Are you feeling better?”
“A little.”
Min looked up at him, he did look a little less pained, but his voice was softer than normal. “I think you should eat something.”
“I will but not right now.”
Johnny leaned in close and kissed her deeply, Min returned it and put her hand on the back of his head, it moved down his face and neck, coming to rest on his chest. Their lips parted and she opened her eyes, she knew what that kiss had meant but she also knew that he wasn’t looking for pleasure, he was looking for comfort. Min put her other hand on his chest as well and gently glided them up to his neck and back down, he closed his eyes and sighed. That made her smile a little as she gently pushed him back against the headboard, she started to kiss his neck very lightly. Johnny touched her head and she kissed up to his jaw. She kissed his mouth hard, he opened his eyes and looked at her, she put her arms around his neck and kissed him again. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered in her ear. “Make love to me Min.”
She let go of his neck and put both hands on his shoulders, she moved him away from the headboard and laid him down on the bed.
“I think someone pushed him off the building.”
Johnny and Min were both still wrapped in the blanket, but they were both laying down on the bed, they had eaten their sandwiches and were lying quietly in the dark. Johnny was flat on his back and Min was curled up beside him.
Johnny shook his head. “No, not pushed, his safety belt wouldn’t let him simply fall.”
“It would if it wasn’t attached.”
“My father wouldn’t have done that, he knew better, be up on those skinny I-beams without an attached safety belt? No way. I keep thinking about what Marty said, she swore it was on him when he fell, someone must have done something to his belt.”
Min thought about what a safety belt looked like. “It has a big hook on it right?”
“Right, that’s what you attach through the beam or wherever.”
“Is it attached directly to the belt?”
“No there is a strap with a link on it in between the hook and the belt.”
“A link, like on a chain?”
“Right.”
“What if someone cut that strap, wouldn’t that be a good reason to take the belt off of him? If someone were to look at the belt and see that the strap and the hook weren’t there, wouldn’t that look suspicious?”
Johnny sighed. “Yeah it would, and I bet you anything that Roberts had something to do with it, I mean why would he be on that building all of a sudden? Especially if he hadn’t been on it for a while.”
“Are you going to go talk to him?
“Marty told him the name of the construction company he owns, I think I should pay him a little visit.”
Doug Roberts was sitting behind his huge oak desk doing paper work, his phone buzzed and he sighed as he hit the button.
“What is it Nellie? I thought I made it clear to you that I had a lot of work to do today.”
“I’m sorry Mr. Roberts but there is a John Gage to see you.”
Roberts was filling out a form with a pen and when he heard the name the writing came to an abrupt stop. “What name was that?”
“Gage, John Gage.”
Roberts mouth and throat went dry, he licked his lips and cleared his throat. “Send him in.”
The door opened and Roberts’ breath stopped in his chest as he watched Johnny walk into his office, he could see Evan so clearly that it frightened him and it was not only the young man that he could see scowling, he could see Evan scowling as well behind his eyes. “Can I help you with something?”
Johnny took a good look at the portly, balding man with little round glasses behind the big wooden desk, he was wearing a white short sleeved shirt. “Do you know who I am?”
The older man nodded slowly. “Yeah.” He smiled widely, trying to hide the surprise and the tiny bit of fear that was on his face. “You’re Evan’s boy.”
“That’s right I am, is it all right if I ask you a few questions?”
Roberts adjusted himself in his chair and pointed to the one at on the other side of his desk. “Sure, why don’t you have a seat?”
Johnny sat down in the chair, he leaned forward a bit, his brown sport coat was caught under his behind a little. He wondered if he was a bit overdressed, he was wearing blue jeans and a white button down shirt under his sport coat. He was burning hot but the coolness of Roberts’ office made him feel a little more at ease. “Thanks.”
“I hear that you’re a fireman over in LA, pretty exciting compared to Hollister.”
“Yeah, it has its moments.”
Roberts felt a little more relaxed, he put his pen down and leaned back in his chair. “So what did you want to ask me?”
Johnny saw his chance and he grabbed it. “I came to ask you about my father’s death.”
The stout man nodded a little. “I remember it, a real shame too, he was a good worker, a nice guy.”
Johnny was watching him carefully. “I heard from someone that your report said that my father wasn’t wearing his safety belt and that’s how he fell off the building.”
Roberts nodded. “Yeah that’s right John, he wasn’t wearing his belt, it must have slipped his mind to put it on.”
“I don’t think so, he knew better than that. I heard that his belt was there one minute then gone the next.”
Roberts started fidgeting in his chair. “No, when the ambulance got there, he wasn’t wearing it, I remember that.”
Johnny raised an eyebrow. “That’s not what I heard, I heard that he did put it on and it was there when he fell.”
Roberts shook his head and creased his brow. “Where did you hear that?”
“Marty Mathews.”
The name rang a huge bell in his head but he tried not to let it show. “Marty huh, she was pretty upset that day John, she could have been mistaken.”
“She wasn’t upset when she watched him strap it on.”
The older man was getting a little flustered. “So what are you saying? That someone took it off of him? Is that what you are suggesting?”
Johnny couldn’t help but smile. “I didn’t say that Mr. Roberts, you did.”
Roberts eyes were suddenly blazing behind his flimsy looking glasses. “I think its time for you to go now John I’m much too busy to waste time talking about stuff that happened a long time ago.”
Johnny stood up, he had stirred up enough trouble for one day. “Well thank you for your time Mr. Roberts.” His eyes were full of amusement but his face remained stoic. “It’s been educational.” He stuck his hand out and Roberts reluctantly shook it.
“Have a nice trip back to LA.”
Johnny nodded. “Oh I’m not quite ready to go back to LA just yet, have a nice day.”
Roberts watched as Johnny left the room, he waited until he heard the outer door close, the minute he heard that sound he picked up the phone and started dialing.
Johnny and Min were sitting at the kitchen table, playing poker, Gloria had gone out, she had a few errands to run and had to buy groceries.
“You should have seen his face Min, he looked like he had seen a ghost!”
Min looked at her hand, she had three aces. “I’ll bet a nickel. He probably thought Evan had come back for his head.”
Johnny took a quick glance at his card. “All right, I’ll see your nickel and raise you a nickel, I call.” He set his cards down and picked up the deck. “How many cards do you want? You should have seen how antsy he got when I told him what Marty said about the belt disappearing.”
Min set two cards down on the table. “Two please, what did he say?”
He dealt her a couple of cards and took two for himself. “He said that he wasn’t wearing it when the ambulance got there.”
Min looked at her cards, she got a pair of tens, she now had a full house. “Okay, I’ll bet a dollar.” She took a dollar bill and moved it to the middle of the table.
Johnny looked at her, she had to have been bluffing. “I’ll see your dollar and raise you 5.”
She placed a 5 on the pile. “Okay I call.” She set her cards down on the table. “Aces high full house.”
Johnny frowned and threw his cards down. “I thought you were bluffing!”
She gathered up her money and tucked it into her pocket. “Nope, I wasn’t.” She reached across the table and looked at his cards, he had a pair of sixes. “You bet 5 dollars on a pair of sixes?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I thought I could bluff you.”
Min shook her head. “I should have bet clothing! So you want to play another hand?”
“No, if we keep this up I’ll be broke before its time to go home.”
The phone rang and Johnny got up from the table and answered it.
“Hello?”
“Looking for clues about Daddy?” The voice on the other end of the line was flat and low.
Johnny looked over at Min, she looked puzzled. “Yeah I am, who is this?”
“That’s not important, but what I have for you is, meet me at the construction site just outside of town in an hour.”
“I’ll be there.”
The line disconnected and Johnny hung up the phone.
“Who was that?”
“I don’t know but whoever it was says they have information that I need about my dad.”
Min got a feeling in the pit of her stomach and shook her head. “I don’t know Johnny I don’t think you should go.”
He sat back down at the table and gathered up the cards. “I have too, what if this person really does have information that I need.”
“And what if this is a set up? I’m going with you.”
“No you’re not.”
“Yes I am! I’m not about to let you go alone.”
Min had a stern look on her face, there was no way Johnny was going to win this argument, he sighed. “All right you can go but you’re staying in the car.”
“Fine, where are we going?”
“The voice said to go to the construction site just outside of town.”
Gloria had returned within the hour and the couple told her they were going to go out for a drive. She eyed them both suspiciously but agreed to lend them her Wrangler. They drove a few miles out of Hollister’s main square to an old construction site, there was rusting equipment and the frame for a building that was rather weathered looking and sun beaten.
“Nice place, very charming.”
Johnny parked the Wrangler and turned off the engine, but he kept the headlights on so he could see, it was dusk and the red-orange glow was quickly disappearing. “Just stay here okay?”
“Okay.” Min looked around, she didn’t see anyone and she hoped that this wasn’t someone’s idea of a mean joke. He got out of the vehicle and walked around it, the headlights were focused on an old cement mixer and he stepped into the light. The wind started to blow, it howled as it blew through the old equipment, giving that place a strong eerie feeling. Johnny looked down at the ground he had kicked something and he saw a bunch of rivets scattered all over the ground. He moved one of them aside with the toe of his boot, he heard something and he lifted his head. There was a dump truck straight ahead and a little to the right of where he was standing, he started to walk towards it. Min watched him get farther and farther away from the light and she shook her head.
“Johnny…I don’t like this.”
He was over by the dump truck looking around there wasn’t anything there so he turned around and started to walk away, the headlights suddenly came on Johnny turned around, the light was right in his face and he shielded his eyes. The driver side door opened and someone stepped out of the truck, the light made it impossible for him to see who it was, he only saw a dark form.
“Who are you?”
“A friend.”
“If you are a friend why are we meeting here in the dark?”
“I’m a friend that wants to stay in the dark, if you get my meaning.”
“I get it.”
Johnny looked around, he expected to see a bunch of guys come out the dark to either beat him up or kill him.
“Relax Johnny, I’m no threat to you, I know you’ve talked to a couple of people already.”
“Yeah, Marty Mathews and Doug Roberts.”
The man that was currently blinding Johnny with headlights, chuckled at the mention of the foreman’s name. “Roberts huh, I bet he was really helpful.”
“No as a matter of fact he wasn’t.”
“I’m not the least bit surprised.”
“Marty told me the safety belt was there on my dad and then disappeared and Roberts told me to ignore Marty and that the safety belt wasn’t on him.”
“It was there, I saw Evan put it on.”
“So you were there that day?”
The man sighed. “Yeah I was there.”
“What else did you see?”
“A lot more than Marty did.”
This news made Johnny’s heart start to beat hard, maybe now he was going to get some answers. “Can you tell me?”
“I’m afraid not.”
Johnny turned and walked away a little, Min watched as he came briefly into her view and then walked back. “Then why did you drag me out here?” He was frustrated, it seemed that everywhere he turned there was another door slammed in his face, he was getting tired of it.
“You don’t seem to realize that there is a lot at stake here Johnny, money, power and lives. I don’t mean just Evan’s but I mean yours, mine, your wife’s and your mother’s.”
Johnny’s jaw clenched, the thought of Min and his mother being in danger angered him instantly. “They’ve got nothing to do with this.”
“But they do, there are some people in this town that don’t want the truth to come out, it could cause a lot of problems and a big scandal.”
Johnny sighed and covered his face with his hands briefly. “I just want to know what happened and why, is that too much to ask?”
“Yes it is.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s dangerous, look what happened to Evan, he was killed because of what he knew. I want you to know that I hope you do find out the truth, you’ll never have peace until you do. But allow me to give you some advice, when the pieces finally do come together, you do what you feel is right, no matter what. I can’t tell you what happened but I can steer you in the right direction.”
Johnny uncovered his face and nodded. “All right, where do I start?”
The man got something out of the dump truck and threw it at Johnny’s feet, it was a set of rolled up blueprints. “This is probably a lot more than I should be telling you, but your father was a good guy, he always treated me with respect.”
Johnny picked up the plans and unrolled them, he couldn’t see much, the light was too bright, he rolled them back up.
“Good Luck to you Johnny.”
The headlights went out and the man was gone.
Min was chewing on her fingernails, she had a tire iron clutched in her hand, she was afraid that this meeting was some sort of trap that was going to get Johnny beaten up. She watched as he came back into the headlights of the Wrangler and she breathed a sigh of relief. He was holding something in his hand and when he opened the driver’s side door and got in she saw that it was something rolled up.
“What’s that?”
“I don’t know, blueprints to something.” He closed and locked his door and reached up and turned on the overhead light, he unrolled the prints and looked at them. They were the plans to what looked like some sort of manufacturing plant. “It says here Texcorp Industries, Why does that sound familiar?”
Min let the name roll around in her head for a moment. “I’ve heard of that company, they are the biggest manufacturer of microchips in the world.”
“Microchips? Here?”
Min looked at the blueprints and whistled. “Wow that’s a big facility, must have taken forever to build that sucker, looks like it takes up a lot of land.”
Johnny nodded. “Yeah it does, and according to this, it’s only about 20 miles away from Hollister.” He creased his brow. “I don’t get it…why did that guy give these to me? What does this have to do with Dad’s death?”
“I wish I knew Honey, but this is the first clue we’ve gotten, it has to mean something.”
Johnny rolled the plans back up and handed them to Min, he started the Wrangler and turned it around. “Yeah but what?”
“Well I suggest we take a trip to the County Courthouse first thing tomorrow and see what else we can dig up about this place, maybe we can find another clue.”
Johnny was lying in bed, his arms tucked under his head, he was thinking about everything he had turned up and the blueprints. He turned and looked at his wife, she was sound asleep, her face calm and peaceful and he reached over and touched her cheek. He smiled at little, she had been there for him when he needed it most and that was something that meant a lot to him. He turned over and kissed her gently on the cheek.
“I love you Min.”
She stirred a little and turned over, when she felt that he wasn’t laying down she opened her eyes and looked at him. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I just can’t sleep.”
Min yawned a little and rubbed her eyes. “What time is it?”
Johnny looked at his watch. “2 20.”
“How long have you been awake?”
“Not long, I was just thinking about the blueprints, that has to be what Dad knew about, he knew that place was going to be built.”
“Yeah but why would that get him killed?”
Johnny sighed. “I don’t know, but something about that place is the key.”
“Well we’re going to be finding out soon, why don’t we try and get some sleep.”
“Yeah, good idea.”
Min turned her back to her husband and he curled up next to her, he put his arm around her waist and sighed.
Gloria had gotten up at 7 30 am and started breakfast, by the time the couple came down the stairs at 8 there was a huge stack of pancakes and sausage waiting for them.
“Morning!”
Min was wearing a little white sundress with tiny blue flowers, while her husband was going a little more casual with a white polo shirt and a pair of black cotton shorts.
“Morning.”
“Morning Mom.”
“Come on dig into those cakes before they get cold.” She turned off the stove and sat down at the table she picked up the plate and started piling up hotcakes onto her son’s plate.
“Whoa Mom wait a second! Not too many now or my uniform won’t fit me anymore.”
“Nonsense, you are skinny as a rail, you could probably eat this whole stack and not gain a pound.”
Min accepted a few pancakes and put a couple pieces of sausage on her plate. “Tell me about it! He never gains weight.”
Johnny looked at his mother and winked. “That’s because I’m constantly being chased by women.”
There was a loud clang noise from Min’s fork hitting her plate, she looked at her husband. “Oh really? And how come you never mentioned this to me before?”
Johnny shrugged his shoulders. “Well… I just hate to brag.”
Min raised an eyebrow.” Uh huh, I just bet you do.”
Gloria shook her head, he was a big tease just like Evan was. “Johnny you stop teasing your wife this minute.”
“Oh that’s okay Gloria, he’ll just have to be punished later.”
Johnny grinned widely. “Promise?”
Min nodded her head. “Oh you can count on it.”
A young woman was leaning over the counter looking at the plans that Johnny had, she scanned them carefully.
“Texcorp, ah yes I do recall there being something about this place, give me one moment and I’ll be back.”
The young woman wearing a navy blue business suit disappeared through a door to a room that was filled top to bottom with filing cabinets.
Min sighed. “I certainly hope she can help us, she is the third person to look at these blueprints.”
Johnny nodded. “I know, talk about red tape, all we want is some information not their inner most secrets.”
She returned with a file and opened it. “According to our records, they are originally from New Jersey and have been in business for over 30 years.” She set the folder down and there was something folded in the middle of the papers, it looked like another set of blueprints.
“Ma’am may I take a look at these please?”
“Sure, but they are probably just another copy of the ones you possess already.” She handed him the square and Johnny unfolded it and spread it out. He looked over them and shook his head, the two prints did not match.
“These aren’t the same.”
The young woman creased her brow. “I beg your pardon?”
“These plans aren’t the same as the ones I have, here see for yourself.”
Johnny turned them around so she could see and moved them so that they were side by side. She looked over them and shook her head. “They aren’t…the area that this place is supposed to have been built is different.” There was a large map of Hollister and she turned her back to them.
“According to the blueprints we have on file the facility was going to be put here.” She pointed to an area that was about 30 miles south. “But they ones you have show it to be here.” She pointed to an area that was 20 miles north of town. “How strange.”
Johnny saw where she was pointing to; he came around the counter for a closer look at the map. “Here right?”
She nodded. “Right.”
The map was pretty detailed, the area she pointed to was in a wooded area and something about its location did not set well with him, but he couldn’t quite figure out why. Min saw the way her husband was studying the map. “Honey what is it?”
“I don’t know, something about that location.” He look over the map carefully and something that was a little further to the west caught his attention. “Ma’am, do you have the permits and stuff for this building on file?”
“We should, they would have had to have filed the proper paper work in order to start building.”
“Can you show them to us?”
“Of course, be right back.”
The young woman disappeared again and Min shook her head. “Did you find something?”
“Maybe…but I don’t know just yet.”
She came back empty handed and her face reflected puzzlement. “I couldn’t find the folder, it isn’t there, which is not possible.”
Johnny was still staring at the map. “Oh, I think it’s possible.”
“No! Without those papers they would not get the city council’s approval to start building or any of the permits, no papers, no multi-million dollar fancy company.”
He turned around and looked at her, something went off in his head and he turned back around slowly and looked at the map. “Ma’am, I think you should not tell anyone that we were here today or that you know about these phony blueprints or anything else, okay?”
“But why? We have to tell someone about this, this is all wrong, that place is totally illegal and shouldn’t even be there!”
“I know but for now we weren’t here and you don’t know anything about this.”
She was confused and didn’t quite understand but his low tone frightened her a little. “All right, I’ll go put all this back and pretend I never saw it.” She gathered everything up and went back into the filing room.
“Johnny was it? Why did you tell her that?”
He turned back around and faced his wife, he looked a little fearful. “I think I know pretty much everything now Min, and why Dad was killed.”
Min shook her head slowly. “How? From what?”
“The blue prints, and this map.”
“What is so special about that map?”
His hand was shaking slightly as took her by the hand and led her around the counter, she was standing beside him and he pointed to something on the map. “That blueprint on file with the city said the facility was going to be built here, but our blueprints show that it’s actually built here, 20 miles north of town.”
“Right, so what does that have to do with anything.”
“Watch.” Johnny moved his finger to the west and what it stopped on made his wife gasp and her eyes grew round.
“Oh my God.”
His finger was just below the words... IZHAPE SHOSHONE RESERVATION
To be continued.......part III