Carolyn: Keep reading...he's a slime for sure!
earth2mama: I don't know why?
Eve: Yeah, that is a surprise...isn't it?
Hey guys, if my replies seem flip excuse me...I've been up since way too early and I'm really rummy ...
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Chapter: 11
Sunday came and went and Monday seemed to roll by without any unusual events. Liz had called Diane and Nancy to set up a time for dinner and they all seemed to think the “Liberty Bell Dining Room” would be a good place for everyone. It was easy access and the place had a way of catering to large families without too much undo stress for all concerned. So Liz made reservations for eleven at 6:00 p.m. and they all showed up right at 5:30 just as she knew they would.
By the time the kids were all unbuckled and out of the Escalade the grandparents had said their helloes and everyone was getting hugged by everyone else. When all was said and done they were all headed into the restaurant by 5:45 and were seated in no time.
All five of the children sat together at one end of the table flanked by a grandmother who sat across from each other. Liz sat next to her mother and Max across from her and then Jeff next to Liz and Philip next to Max. This made it easy for everyone to visit without shouting and soon the men were in deep conversation about the events of the past week while Liz was trying to fill her mother in on all that had happened.
Diane took it upon herself to entertain the kids and after their soft drinks had been delivered she proceeded to pick a straw out of Max’s coke, wiped it with her napkin and laid it across the candle holder that was on the table in front of her. Then she watched as the straw began to bend as it heated up. JP immediately picked up on what his grandmother was doing and pulled his straw from his glass, dried it off and did the same thing as grandma. Soon all 5 kids were bending straws and all were fascinated by the changing of the molecular structure of all of the items. When Liz noticed the action going on at the end of the table she proceeded to tell the kids to stop it and behave themselves…Max and his dad looked at her and wondered what the hell was wrong and then Jeff noticed what the kids were doing and started to grin and looked the other way. Finally JP looked at his mom in all innocence and informed her that grandma started it. Diane just looked at Liz and shrugged her shoulders…
“Just a little science experiment to keep them occupied.” She said. Liz just shook her head and looked at Max who gave her a grin and continued to talk to his dad and Jeff.
Nancy smiled at Liz and said…”As you were saying?” And Liz looked at her mother in utter disbelief, she couldn’t believe that Nancy wasn’t perturbed by the whole business…Nancy just smiled and waited for Liz to continue with her story, which she was truly interested in as well as being concerned about her family. ‘Thank God Liz got out of that situation when she did’ was all that kept running through her mind as Liz continued on with her story.
*~*~*
Meanwhile, back at Philadelphia Memorial a strange little man had managed to follow a group of doctors to a locker room where he observed a supply of blue scrubs and shoe covers all lined up on shelves. He waited until the coast was clear and then managed to take two sets of scrubs, shoe covers, caps and surgical masks. He had a brown grocery bag in his pocket which he unfolded and then placed all of the items safely into the bottom of the bag. He then put a white nondescript package on top of all of the folded items and then made it safely out of the room and headed back to the waiting room in the main lobby where he took a seat in his favorite corner so he could sit and watch without being disturbed. Soon he saw the detective from the Evans’ come in again and he watched as he went to the elevator and rode up to the fourth floor. Don was still here…that was all he needed to know and he picked up his bag and the package and left the hospital and headed to the shelter for the night.
When Officer Bradley got off the elevator on the fourth floor the nurses station was vacant of personnel and this disturbed the detective to no end. What in the hell happened? When he arrived at Don’s room he found the guard missing as well…’what the hell is going on?’ he thought and then he entered Don’s room only to find everyone that was missing in the man’s room. It seems that Don had somehow managed to fall out of bed and was hanging by one handcuff and the other was undone.
Bradley asked John, the guard, “what happened?”
“How did he get un-cuffed?” Bradley was really concerned about this because, even though he knew the man, this was not normal.
“It’s okay detective, I unlocked that one. Somehow he managed to get himself all tangled up and we needed one arm free to get him back in bed. We think he’s having nightmares or something. He keeps mumbling something about the frump and payback. None of it is making any sense.”
Officer John Stokowski was truly in a state of confusion.
“It’s okay John, I thought maybe we failed to lock one of the cuffs properly. We really need to make sure he’s shackled just in case. He not only could hurt himself but someone else as well. After reading his file I’m not so sure he’s psychologically sound.” And Bradley meant every word he said…he realized that Don Adams wasn’t as all together as he had once thought he was.
“Thanks detective, I’ll make sure everything is in order before my relief shows up.”
“Good John, I guess I’ll head on home. I was just checking in to see if there had been any improvement…you take care.” And with that Bradley headed back toward the elevator shaking his head in wonder.
*~*~*
Meantime, back at the restaurant everyone was eating and enjoying their dinners, all science projects put aside, and then it was time to head on over to the school. They caravanned, just like they had planned to do, and when they arrived they went to the first grade class room first and was greeted by Mrs. Johnson, the boys teacher, who was as pleased as punch to meet the entire family and to show off the work of her students. She had art work displayed all over the room and each child had their abc’s displayed proudly on their desks. After looking over everything a familiar little red head from the school pick up area came over and grabbed Gerard by the hand and promptly led him over to a couple about Max and Liz’s age and Liz looked up at Max and smiled and mouthed “Marlene?” . Max just grinned at her and then a mirror of her came and grabbed Parker and took him in the same direction. Both sets of parents caught the eye of the others and smiled a knowing smile and soon the kids were introducing Mr. and Mrs. Blair to the Mr. and Mrs. Evans’ and Parkers. Both sets of parents and all grand parents looked down on the young children and smiled and then Max had to tell on Liz.
“Liz wanted to know if it was always going to be like this…twins for twins?...” and then Liz punched him, out and out punched him hard and he chuckled and said,
“What Liz doesn’t want me to say is that they will probably be having litters!”
And everyone laughed but Liz, she was speechless…he had no business saying that to these people but everyone thought it was funny and she wanted to find a hole to crawl into, then she had to grin too…it was true.
So everyone met Marlene and Maggie, short for Margaret and when they got to the girls room they met Tim and Tom, also identical.
The girls display was sitting in a place of honor on an artist’s easel as you entered the classroom and Liz and Max couldn’t have been prouder. Miss Jacobs was very pleased with her star pupils and spared no praise. Liz assured the teacher that she had nothing to do with their display, it was all on their own and that she too was pleased with their efforts. She did explain that they went to the office supply store for the supplies though. Miss Jacobs smiled and told her that part was allowed. Max and the grandparents hugged both girls and told them that they should all go for desert before heading home in celebration of their good work but Liz said she felt that they should visit the rest of the classrooms and then go home. Tomorrow was a school day after all and maybe they could do something together over the week-end when Maria and Michael were there. Everyone thought that would be better and they all headed to the rest of the classrooms to see what the other students had accomplished before heading home. All in all it was a great day, thank God, and nothing noteworthy had happened.
Nothing that they knew about anyway.
*~*~*
Back at the hospital Joey had slipped into the men’s room and donned the blue scrubs he had placed in the shopping bag, put his own clothes in the bottom of the bag and when he was sure the men’s room was void of other people he exited the stall he was in and removed the trash can liner from the trash bin and put his shopping bag on the bottom of the trash can and replaced the liner with the trash on top of it. He had observed the trash pick up earlier and made sure it was safe to roam at 7:00 in the evening. He then headed on out into the hallway and walked directly to the elevator, keeping his head up and looking straight ahead. He learned a lot in prison and one thing was to keep your eyes straight ahead and keep moving. People had a tendency to ignore you when you didn’t look suspicious. When the elevator door had closed he pushed number 4 on the key pad and waited patiently for the cage to move up. When the doors opened to what Joey figured to be the prison ward he noticed one door with an armed guard in front of it. It had to be Adams room. All the rest of the rooms were glassed in and there were only a few occupied beds that could be clearly seen from the hallway. Adams was not in any of them so he had to be in that room.
Joey made his way to the nurses station and picked up a clip board that was laying on the counter and pretended to check it out as he kept his eye on the officer at the other end of the hallway…when the man seemed oblivious to Joey’s presence Joey simply took the clip board and headed directly to Don’s room and walked in. Nothing was said by either man and Joey was proud that his plan was working. When he got into the room he noticed that both of Don’s hands were cuffed to the bed and Don was hooked up to numerous machines and appeared to be sleeping. Joey made his way over and quietly shook Adams by the shoulder and got no response, he tried again without any acknowledgement at all to his presence and then that cop from the estate walked in…shit!!!
Officer Bradley took one look at Joey and nodded and said,
“I see there’s no change. Do you expect him to regain consciousness anytime soon?”
Joey had to think fast….
“It’s really hard to tell. Well I have other patients to see. Good night .”
And Joey left.
Joey thought to himself, ‘Well, I guess that explains why he’s here. I wonder what happened back there at the house the other day. Who knocked Adams unconscious?’ And he made his way back to the elevator and headed back to the men’s room to change back into his street clothes. He would come back tomorrow and see how Adams was doing. He had to wake up some time … and back in California a young boy wondered about his dad and why his mother hadn’t told him or his sister about him.
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The next morning was like any other morning in the Evans household and soon everyone was on their way to school. Max was taking the twins to school today and Liz was looking forward to seeing Olivia. She had been gone for two weeks and although the aging housekeeper didn’t do that much anymore what she did do was better than any physical labor money could buy. Liz loved her and wanted her company, it was as simple as that.
JP went to the facility with Max today so Liz and Olivia had a chance to catch up with each other and Liz also had to point out the device sitting atop the refrigerator, she wasn’t really sure Olivia grasped the significance of the device though, so, after Olivia got settled in Liz told her that Maria and Michael and the two little ones would be here this coming week-end and maybe they needed to make a grocery list and go to the market. Olivia looked at Liz as though she had two heads and Liz put her index finger to her lips indicating to Olivia that she shouldn’t say anything negative about the shopping trip. Olivia looked at Liz strangely but nodded in assent and the two women got their light weight jackets and headed out to the car.
“Olivia, we have had some really strange excitement around here this past week and that thing on top of the refrigerator is a surveillance device. We think it was put their by a detective that was here last Monday and we are supposed to leave the thing alone and act like it isn’t there so now we go outside to talk seriously to each other. The kids are not aware of it and we’d like to leave it that way if we can. JP is our biggest worry…he’s just too open with everything.”
Olivia just looked at Liz as she backed the Escalade out of the driveway…
“Liz, what do you mean by excitement for God’s sake?”
“Well, to make a long story short, according to JP I whacked a guy over the head with a bacon skillet and killed him. I didn’t kill anyone but, Don Adams, the man that tried to have me killed was paroled and he broke in and held JP hostage. JP got away and I did hit him in the head with a skillet full of bacon grease and he’s now in the prison ward at the hospital in a coma. They don’t know when or if he’ll come out of it but all of his vitals seem to be okay. As sneaky as that bastard is I wouldn’t put it past him to be faking the whole damned thing.” Liz was getting herself all worked up again and had to stop talking.
“My God, who let that idiot out of prison?
“The new governor of Connecticut…seems he released model prisoners in order to save money.”
“Good God in heaven…pin a medal on him. He just won the insane award of the year!” Olivia was beside herself. “Who in the hell nominated the nut for the office in the first place? Sometime I think we would be better off without leaders, just give us the constitution and a forum of people willing to donate their time to see to it that the rules are enforced and we would be better off.”
Now Olivia was getting herself all worked up as well as Liz.
Liz giggled at her old friend and said…
“Well, you know Liv, maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all.”
And the two women finally arrived at the supermarket and exited the car to go in and buy some things they really didn’t need but it was good to get out without the kids for a change and Liz was thoroughly enjoying her visit with Liv as was Olivia. Olivia told Liz all about her grandkids and was so happy to have been able to spend the time with them. She also said that she was glad to be home again and Liz agreed…it was always good to be home.
Neither woman noticed the automobile that had followed them from the house to the market and the inhabitant thought it would be best to keep his presence unknown.
*
Meanwhile, back at the house another person was trying to figure out the best way to get into the estate un-noticed when he saw one of the biggest black dogs he thought he had ever seen in his life looking right back at him through the fence and the dog didn’t look too pleased. Now he would have to figure out the dog’s routine as well as the rest of the family…’This just wasn’t the best idea Adams ever had’ Joey thought to himself. Don needed to wake up and soon.
*
After Liz and Olivia had finished their grocery shopping, and Liz realized that the trip was not in vain, they headed off to the little coffee shop next to the grocery store for a little r & r before heading home to stow all of the groceries. The two women were having a wonderful morning catching up on all of the events that had happened in the past two weeks, although Liz had the more dramatic tale to tell, and Officer Bradley was having one helluva time trying to stay awake.
This had to be the most boring idea he had ever come up with…nothing this woman did was any more interesting than what his wife did, he was better off with the waitress down at the ”Liberty Bar”. At least she knew he existed and was willing to spend some time with him… this woman didn’t seem to give a damn whether men were interested in her or not. He would never understand women… never. He made an effort to call on her and she had to report him to the captain of all things…and that damned dog of hers would most likely take his leg off if he got too close to her. What’s with that?…Most women would welcome some change in their lives, and the sarge, what in the hell was wrong with him letting a piece like that get away from him. The man had to be nuts for sure. Ed Bradley was living in a totally different world than the one surrounding him, it seems that his brain had taken a vacation leaving his body in its’ wake and he continued to watch Liz and Olivia.
*
After leaving the coffee shop Liz and Olivia thought it best that they get home and put the groceries away before the rest of the crew started to arrive from various parts of the city. Max had pick up duty today so Liz was free to do whatever she wanted to and she wanted to get ready for the big week-end with Maria and Michael.
“You know Olivia, I think maybe we should hire some help to get ready for Michael and Maria, what do you think?”
Liz left these types of decisions up to Olivia since she knew her limitations better than anyone else. There was a time when the two of them could handle all of this by themselves but that was before 5 kids and old age…not necessarily in that order.
“Well, maybe you’re right…what do we need to get done? I don’t think we should do the windows until the rain stops for awhile and the gardener seems to have the rest of the outside in order so what do you think…routine, tear it up and put it back together?”
Olivia and Liz had things pretty much figured out as far as the household chores went and with 5 kids, just keeping up with the laundry was a task in itself.
*
Officer Bradley sat in his car and just rolled his eyes at the conversation going on in the house and then he noticed something strange on the side of the fence next to the gate…what the hell?
*
“Yeah, let’s just get some youngsters in here to move the furniture around to dust and vacuum everything really good and you and I can wash all the knickknacks and take care of the rest of the stuff, like cooking. Does that sound about right?”
“Sounds good to me…I’ll call the employment agency and get those two youngsters we had over before the fourth of July. They really were good little workers, reminded me of Jo Ann, Charlotte and the girls. Remember when we first started working with them? They were a God send!” And Olivia smiled as she remembered the young college students.
Liz returned Olivia’s smile and nodded in agreement. They truly were a God send and they still are. The children’s facility wouldn’t be half the success that it is without them.
“You know Liv, I think I’ll give Max a call and remind him to invite them over for a bar-b-que on Sunday…he probably already has but just in case. Maria and Michael both think the world of them and if they don’t have any plans I think it would be nice to see all of them. How about you, do you have any plans for this week-end?”
The four college girls that Liz had hired to help out on her and Max’s first Thanksgiving proved to be one of the best things she had ever done for their family and their enterprise. They were able to help the girls after they graduated. They had agreed to work off their loans by working at the children’s facility for a time but since then the loans had all been paid back, the girls had all married, Joanne marrying Charlie’s son, and they were all still working at the facility. They were not only a part of the enterprise they were definitely a major part of their lives as well.
Olivia smiled at her dear friend and nodded…
“No. No plans Liz, we’ll be happy to come over…about 3:00 or so?”
Liz smiled her happy smile,
“3:00 would be great!”
And the two women continued to put food away while Ed Bradley tried to figure out who was doing what outside the estate. The PI that Jesse had sent to Philadelphia was now parked across and down the street from Ed Bradley wondering just how damned many men were watching the place. It was time to get in touch with Jesse and tell him what was going on here. It’s like a comedy around this place, everyone is watching everyone and no one knows who the hell the players are and farther down the block sat Carl, Bradley’s partner, taking it all in.
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