Roswell Fanatics

Well politicians never change.......they can never have enough power or influence.
It's a sad world we live in, and that our grandchildren will have to live in.
JP yelling inside the house......is that ever familiar! They can't help but get excited over things.

I hate that there is so little activity on this board now. And there are some great stories that were never finished. When RF was "off the air" for so long, that seemed to have killed what little interest there was left.

Hope all is well with you and you have recovered from your brother's visit.
Take care,
Carolyn

Carolyn: Lordy could I get started on the state of the country, but I'm fighting High Blood Pressure as it is....God, what a mess it is. Bro's been gone about 2 weeks now and I'm a little lonesome, and concerned about him but I'll have to deal with my thoughts regarding his health because He really didn't say too much about what was bothering him but I think there may be some things he's keeping to himself.

As for JP's yelling, well, I think it's a given....I used to yell back..."Silence is Golden" and my husband would just get up off his chair and go outside. Something that worked at the time though....Bill Cosby's records. I would put "Why is there air" on the stereo, turn it up, and the next thing I knew I would have 3 kids sitting in front of the cabinet laughing....it worked every time. I won't even get into his problems, but I know his recordings relieved a lot of stress in our house. What a mess we leave in our wake!!!

Have a great fourth of July....I wonder if people really know what the holiday is all about or if they just figure it's another day off. Makes me wonder sometime.

Chapter: 41

About 8:45 that evening Chief Dennis called Max who was already set up in the library and was on the phone with his father, and Jesse in New Mexico, for a conference call. It was already 10:45there. They had all been discussing all sorts of scenarios when the Chief’s call came in…

“Hello Chief Dennis, we have our partner from our Roswell office joining us this evening, Jesse Ramirez. Jesse this is Chief Dennis Lewis, he prefers Chief Dennis. We’ve been waiting to hear from you. How did things go?”

“Well, we are here in Joey’s room…as you know three of us have been waiting here while Carl and his partner, Dwain, followed him from the bus station. The instructions are very clearly printed out but the time and how are left to Joey since Liz’s schedule has changed. It’s almost as if the judge has someone working with him because he knows all about the home schooling and this did not come from us as Philip well knows. This person is very keyed in to Liz’s whereabouts and he also knows that she doesn’t leave the house alone so we need to give him something that will make him relax and slip up. Our men did not see anyone suspicious enter the bus station but we haven’t looked at all of the tapes yet.”

“Chief, what if those instructions have been at the bus station all along?”

“That’s a thought but Max, these can’t be the same instructions that Don had. Joey got his phone call right at 10:00 p.m. telling him which locker to go to and our men were there from the time we left your house until right this minute, they just walked in. It’s a possibility, but I doubt it very much...too many things have changed.”

“Does the bus station have any surveillance cameras in and around the premises?”

“They might…most places do where money is concerned and there are ATM machines in the bus station so I would assume that someone has surveillance tapes running. Let us check it out Max and in the meantime we will go over our tapes with a fine tooth comb but I don’t think we will find anything on them. We can only hope and we do know which locker we are looking for this time. We will check in at the bus station and with the owner’s of the ATM’s as well and see what we can come up with. We’ll get back with you Max. We are taking Joey back to the station with us so you can relax.”

“Yeah, thank you chief…I’ll make sure Liz knows there’s no use in seeking out Joey tonight.” And all the men laughed…Liz walked into the library right at that time and hit Max with the towel off the top of the load of folded clothes she had in her hand. Max just shook his head at her and grinned…he knew that would piss her off, then he grabbed her and kissed the top of her head.

“Well, what did they find out?”

“Not a whole lot yet. They’re still not sure who all is working this but we know there’s another player besides the judge, Joey and Don.”

Liz is not stupid, remember…

“And just how do you know this?” Max didn’t really want to tell her how…

“Well, the judge knows you’re home schooling the kids and he knows you don’t go anywhere alone.”

“Oh.” Was all she said.

*
After Liz had the folded towels put in the linen closet in the central hallway she started making her way into each child’s bedroom to make sure they were all tucked in and asleep like they were supposed to be. She found JP with his little arms wrapped around his kickin’ boots and had to wonder what in the world had him scared tonight…things were not that bad were they? He had to be listening in to his dad’s conversation; it’s the only logical explanation. She turned the little night light on in his bathroom and left the hallway door open just in case he needed to find her in a hurry for whatever reason and headed on over to hers and Max’s room. Jack still had sentry duty and was lying there very quietly with one eye following every move she made. She reached down and gave the dog a gentle pat on the head before going into her room and found Max missing. ‘Now What!!!’ She thought to herself and then she spied him out on the balcony looking out over the fence toward the street. She made her way to the door and followed her husband’s line of sight…

“What’s up Max?”

“I don’t know Liz…it just puzzles me no end. Come on in sweet, let’s have a nice little pow-wow, just the two of us.”

Liz looked up at Max and could see the wheels spinning…when they had a private pow-wow it was usually where no one else could possibly hear and this concerned her. What was he thinking? She followed him back into their bedroom and left the door to their sitting area slightly ajar and Max raised an eyebrow…

“JP is sleeping with his boots so he might need us during the night.”

“Mmm hmm…strange isn’t it?”

“I thought so and then I wondered if maybe he hadn’t heard your conversation in the study awhile ago. He could have gone down the back stairs to find one of us and got caught up in a conversation he shouldn’t have.”

“Hmmm, I hope not. C’mere…” And Max took hold of his wife and helped her out of her robe and into bed, he wrapped her in his arms because he needed to and then he started thinking out Loud…

“Liz, Chief Dennis said that the judge knows your every move and it makes me wonder how. The only people that know your every move live in this house. The school knows we are home schooling the kids but they were asked to keep it quiet so that only leaves the people in this house. I know that Jesse trusts everyone he has sent us but does everyone that is here know everything they should? I don’t want to falsely accuse someone of doing the opposite of what they were hired to do, but damn Liz, something is not right about this. I’m sure the Chief trusts his men just as we trust ours but there’s a leak somewhere and we need to find it and quickly. I don’t want anything happening to Joey anymore than I want anything happening to the men on Jesse’s staff. God, this is a nightmare.”

Liz just laid there in her husband’s arms and listened to him ramble…it was the best way for him to analyze situations and come up with answers so she stayed quiet for the time being. Her thoughts on the subject were to get hold of Jesse and have his friend at the FBI run checks on all the men in the house and also on the detectives working with the chief of detectives. She knew Carl’s full name and the one called Dwain and only knew the other two by sight but she could easily get hold of their names from Joey if she wanted to.

Then Max pulled her in tighter and suggested…

“We need Jesse to check out everyone that has body guard duty and that includes the cops.”

Liz smiled and scooted her way up a little on the pillow to face Max and looked him right in the eye…

“Have a plan do you?” She asked with a raised eyebrow and a grin.

Max grinned at her and nodded as he said…

“Yes I do…and I’m almost certain that whoever is giving out information doesn’t know he or she is giving it to the bad guys.”

“I agree…now can we go to sleep?”

“Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”

“Well, I was a minute ago.”

“Mmmmm, can I change your mind?”

“If you think you really should I guess that can be arranged.”

“Well alrighty then…let’s just arrange it.” And that was the last word Liz heard for the next forty five minutes or so and life was good again… for a little while anyway.

Hope they find the leak soon. I feel sorry for JP.......how long will he have to sleep with his kicking boots?

Ginger, sure hope you continue to be safe from the wild fires. Those are dangerous! We had lots of rain for a while, now it has stopped so we're hot and dry.
Thanks,
Carolyn

Carolyn: I'm sure things will even out soon. I'm not that close to the fires yet. If worse comes to worse I'll pack a bag and go to the Bay Area and stay with my son until it's safe. Or,I could move up to the cabin in Tahoe and be by myself....that sound even better. All the modern conveniences and casinos . woo hooo!!!! Just kidding. I'm really fine.

[bChapter: 42


The next morning everyone was up bright and early and doing their morning chores…JP was getting quite good at making a bed, just ask him, and Liz was downstairs preparing breakfast for everyone. Jonesy came into the kitchen to give her a hand and Bob, one of the night shift guards was just coming in from the patio area and headed on into the bathroom off the back door before helping to set the table. All of the men were becoming quite comfortable with making themselves at home and useful and Liz really appreciated their help no matter how small the gesture. Every little bit helped.

After they were all seated around the table Max slid the fact that the main character under suspicion seemed to know everything that was going on in the house and then he added quietly…

“Do any of you have any idea how one Judge John Abbott may know the comings and goings of Liz and her habits? We aren’t accusing any of you but if you can shed some light on this it surely would make the Police department’s life easier right now because they have the two perpetrators in custody but there is a brain behind this and we have a pretty good idea who he is but he seems to be one step ahead of everyone.”

Jonesy turned white! He looked at Max, then Liz and then around the table at the children and his fellow guards. He was the lead guard for God’s sake and he was the leak.

“Max…it’s me. I told you I talk to my wife every night and she can’t wait to get the latest on the kids. Well, she went to college with Joey Abbott, Josephine Abbott? She has lunch with her every time she comes to town. God Max, I am so sorry. I had no idea.” And Jonesy was beside himself, the man looked like he would cry any second and then JP popped up,

“It’s alright Jonesy, my dad will fix it.”

And Jonesy couldn’t control the tears that ran in a stream down his cheeks…the kid was just too much.

Then Max looked at everyone and said very quietly…

“It looks like we didn’t have enough people in our meetings with Chief Dennis and I sincerely apologize for not giving you all of the information you needed to do your jobs in a more efficient manner. I take full responsibility for this and JP is right. We will get it fixed. Jonesy, this is not your fault. We have discussed your wife, you told me you were telling her all about us and I was very proud of the fact that you thought enough of us to want to share our lives with her...I am so sorry. Don’t beat yourself up over this, it will be dealt with.” And then Max thought to himself…I just wish I knew how.

The rest of the men could only sit there and admire the man they were protecting. God knows they wouldn’t want to hire an army to protect their wives and children from a lunatic and then have to shoulder the responsibility for pertinent information leaving the premises that way, it was truly a wonder. Breakfast became a little quieter after that conversation and Liz felt truly sorry for Jonesy. She knew the man was putting his life on the line everyday for them and she didn’t know how they were going to make him feel comfortable around them again…he had become a part of their family and she didn’t want that to change. They all liked him.

When Max had finished his breakfast he took his dirty dishes to the sink and walked around the table and grabbed Jonesy on the shoulder to let the man know that he understood. Then he said to all of them,

“From now on we will have our meetings in the living room with everyone present, including the kids. All of you will know exactly what is going to take place and when. There will be nothing left to chance. You kids have to know that your mother is in some kind of danger and we think we know why but we aren’t certain. I can tell all of you that we think it has something to do with the judge’s grandson. He is 13 now and is in a care facility similar to the one that we run. He was too old for our facility so we recommended him to another one and it is our belief that the judge wants Liz to see him professionally. That’s all we have come up with so far. Joey said that he and Don’s instructions were explicit; they were not to hurt Liz. They were to kidnap her and take her to a destination that only Don knows and he’s got amnesia and not talking, so we are sort of in the dark.”

Max continued to tell all of the men and the kids exactly what they thought was going on and how Liz wants to use herself as bait. The kids all looked at their dad with their little faces showing all kinds of emotions…fear mostly, and Liz noted this and waited for Max to finish talking before telling the kids what she thought…

“Okay guys, it’s like this. If I go with Joey to meet this person that we think is the judge we can get this all taken care of and it will go away for good. There will be plenty of police to see to it that I’m safe and if it is the judge I know what he wants. So it won’t be a bad thing.”

“What if it isn’t the judge?” Parker wanted to know…the little thinker. Liz smiled.

“Sweetheart, if it isn’t the judge the police will still be there to take him into custody so there’s nothing to worry about. Do you think I would do this if I thought that something would happen to me? I’m too selfish to let anything happen to me, I don’t want anyone else taking care of you. You’re mine.” And she smiled at her little son.

Then the boy genius had to put his two cents in…

“Well, I still don’t know why he didn’t just ask you for your help. This seems like an awful dumb way to do things.”

“You’re right JP, it is an awful dumb way to do things but not everyone thinks straight when they’re upset.”

“Okay, but you sure you’re going to be okay?”

“I’m sure JP, I’ll take a skillet.”

Everyone tried to stifle their laughter and were doing pretty good until JP said…

“Well okay, but you take the big one, Jonesy can help you carry it.”

And that did it. Grown men began to leave the table as though they were being driven with cattle prods and Max laughed…Liz just stood there and shook her head. God how she wished she never would have met that man, meaning Don, and she shivered all over. Jonesy seemed to be taking all of this in stride and then said…

“Liz, I would like to be on the guard detail when you go with Joey.”

Liz looked at him and realized the man needed this….

“Jonesy, if they let me do this you will definitely be allowed to come along. I might even be able to convince the Chief to have Joey tell the judge that there’s a new player and have you go with me. We’ll work it out.” And she smiled at the man who was feeling too down over all of this and she would see to it that he was included.

Max just smiled at the two of them and then Olivia came through the back door and JP ran straight to her and started filling her in on all of the excitement. Olivia had learned by now to listen to the boy because he usually had things pegged pretty accurately.

Max headed to his office to call Chief Dennis and fill him in on all of the news from his end of town and to say the chief was shocked was an understatement. Max explained that he knew Jonesy was telling his wife all about them and never gave it a thought. He told the chief it was their fault for not filling in all of the blanks for the guards to begin with and the chief agreed with him then they started discussing the possibility of Liz actually going through with the plan of being the bait. Max couldn’t see any other way out of it since the judge knew all about what was happening at the house. They couldn’t let the judge’s daughter know that Joey was in custody so maybe Joey could convince the judge that he needed a partner for this since the house was so well guarded and that he had a friend that he trusted to help with the abduction. The Plan was starting to come together and the Chief said he would make arrangements for the detectives to come back over for another meeting and Max told the chief to just give him a call. He would most likely be home from the Children’s Facility by two so if they wanted to come over today it was fine with him. And they rang off.

*~*~*
In the meantime Chief Dennis called Carl and the other three men into his office and explained to them what had taken place over at the Evans’ home this morning and they were all shocked and relieved, they really did trust each other but things weren’t looking all that good and regardless of how well you know someone when shit happens you tend to wonder. At least it wasn’t coming from their office and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

“I want to take Joey with us this afternoon. He needs to know the entire plan in order to make this work and I don’t think he will ever do anything to hurt Liz or those kids. For some reason the man feels very protective of little JP.” And all of the men smiled and Carl added his thoughts on the subject.

“I think he feels protective of JP because JP isn’t afraid of him and has acknowledged him since day one. I don’t think JP is afraid of anyone.”

“Oh Carl, I don’t believe that statement for a minute. JP told his mother if she’s going to go to the kidnappers that she needs to take her skillet and Max is certain that the only way Liz is going to get out of that house without JP being terrified is for Liz to take the skillet with her.”

“Why would they tell the kids about this in the first place?” Carl asked.

“Because they knew the leak had to be coming from their home and they needed everyone to know there was a problem including the kids. They all have computers and cell phones and Lord knows what they might be telling their little friends that they shouldn’t be telling. They’re smart little kids but they’re still kids.”

They all agreed and then Carl went to go get Joey from his private holding cell.

*~*~*

Ginger, this is getting complicated. And everyone is in on all of the information. I'm with JP, Liz needs to take that big skillet.
Liz is braver than I would be to serve as bait.
As for the honest mistake, we all have made them at times without thinking. But at least JP's dad can fix everything. I love that!

Hey Ginger, that Cabin in Tahoe sounds just perfect. Better not advertise the address or you might have some visitors. I love that area, and loved visiting my daughter when they were living in Sacramento.......so close to so many great areas.
Take care,
Carolyn

Carolyn: I'm not so sure I'll head back up to Tahoe anytime soon, that's where I was headed home from when I rolled my car in March....LOL. It's still a sad memory for me in more ways than one...I miss my Honda and although the jeep I bought is cute that's about all I can say for it....it's cute. Oh well, at least it has a windshield....

Let's see what Liz and JP are up to this week.


Chapter: 43

So that afternoon Chief Dennis checked a seven passenger SUV out of the garage and had the van full of his four detectives along with Joey Sabotini and they made their way to Max and Liz’s right at 1:30. They made sure that Joey had his cell phone with him and it was decided that all plans would be made at the Evans’ home with one Bill Jones aka: Jonesy at the helm so to speak. Chief Dennis had grown to respect the man over the past couple of weeks and liked the way he handled himself with the situation and the children involved. He did some research into Jonesy’s past and found out that he was a retired Marine Lt. and not just a hired gun for the Evans’. He really was an asset to them and it was definitely not his fault for talking to his wife about his life away from home. They had been separated for quite awhile now and it was only natural that he would become closer to the subjects as time went on and would want to share his life with his wife. Max knew he was sharing information with her for God’s sake and never gave it a thought. No one would have ever thought that the world was so small as to encompass the main suspect in the case they were working on, it was positively ludicrous.

When the chief drove up the circular driveway Smith was sitting at the front of the house today and he nodded to the group of men as they walked up the pathway to the house. It was not surprising to the chief that Smith was at the front post today due to the dire situation and the fact that Jonesy would be involved in any plans that would take place from now on. He, Smith, just wanted this to be over with. His wife was getting bigger with child by the day and he wanted to go home. Max and Liz both suggested that she come and stay with them, but like Jonesy, he felt the situation they were in just wasn’t an ideal spot to be in and she was more comfortable in her own home anyway so she stayed in Roswell. She and Jonesy’s wife were good friends and they spent an awfully lot of time together so it wasn’t that she was ‘lonesome’ lonesome, she just wanted her husband home and Smith smiled, that’s what he wanted too.

Liz was at the front door before the men had a chance to knock and she welcomed them all into the dining room this time. The kids were busy doing home work in the library and she didn’t want to mess up their routine and JP, feeling very important, was in there practicing his letters and numbers while his brothers and sisters practiced their spelling exercises and arithmetic problems. Liz really didn’t like the idea of JP being there while they did their studies because she felt he was getting too far ahead of his age group but it was the best solution to a complicated problem right now and nobody seemed to mind but her so it was alright, she guessed.

When Joey entered the large home his heart did a flip flop. He knew people lived in homes this big but he never dreamed he would be inside of one. It was positively over- whelming but not pretentious. It had pictures of family everywhere…on walls, tables and in every room visible off the main hallway, which was huge, warm and inviting. Joey didn’t feel the least bit uncomfortable and then the dog ambled down the stairs looking like the lord of the manner. He stopped at the foot of the stairway and looked at the six men standing there with his mistress and walked right over to Joey and sniffed. Joey put his hand out, knuckles up, and allowed Jack to sniff and then patted the dog on the head and said, “Hey Jack” and the dog wagged his tail and ambled out toward the back door. Max had just walked into the hallway as the dog walked past him and he followed him to the back door and let him out and then returned and smiled at all of the men.

“Hey guys…come on in. Liz, why don’t you go get Olivia to serve up the coffee and whatever else she’s prepared for us and I’ll take everyone into the dining room?”

Liz smiled at Max and headed on out to the kitchen. She knew Max wanted to lay some ground rules without her being present but these rules would all go by the wayside when all was said and done. She knew her husband needed this and she would not interfere with his release of tension, everyone dealt with problems in their own way and this particular problem was weighing on Max very badly and she knew it.

As she was headed to the kitchen Philip walked in and she gave him a great big smile and a hug and pointed to the dining room where all of the other men were congregated and that included all of the guards that weren’t on duty. God knows what that judge was up to these days and hopefully there wasn’t any more of his men outside the property checking on them. That would be just too bizarre. She and Olivia soon returned with three trays of various pastries and cookies to go along with the various beverages that had already been set out on the buffet behind the dining room table. Jonesy pointed to the Kolache and told the men,

“You’ve got to try these nut ones, they are out of this world, I think Olivia needs to package these things up and sell them, she’d make a fortune!”

And they all laughed including Olivia. Then Liz asked her friend…

“Olivia, will you make sure the kids stay out of ear shot today? JP has a tendency to over think his role in this and it also upsets him even if he gives the appearance of handling it like a big boy. He’s already sleeping with his ‘kickin’ boots and God knows what else he’ll be doing if he gets too worried.”

“I certainly will Liz. Maybe we can read another story today, possibly one of JP’s since he’s been working so hard on it.”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea. Don’t worry about anything else, just the kids today. We’ll all pitch in and do the rest…right guys?”

“Absolutely…You bet…for sure.” And they all agreed in various ways but agree they did.

“Joey, there’s nothing formal here. You help yourself to anything you see and if there’s something you don’t see that you would like just speak up and if we have it I’ll see to it that you get it, okay?”

Joey couldn’t believe these people…they were not treating him like the criminal he was and he had the most humbling feeling come over him…If he would have ever met them under different circumstances there might have been an entirely different outcome to this entire fiasco.

“Thank you Liz, but it seems you’ve got everything that anyone might want and then some. It’s very nice.” Joey didn’t know what else to say, it was overwhelming.

Then Chief Dennis started the meeting…

“Philip, is there anything we need to know regarding the legalities of this situation?”

“Dennis, the only thing that remains an issue is the child, the judge’s grandson, and I don’t see any reason whatsoever that his name would ever be brought into this. The Judge has hired two men to abduct Liz, his reasons are his own. We can move on that issue and never mention Alexander again.” Philip replied.

“Great. Now, Jones, or do you prefer Bill?”

“Actually, Jones is fine Chief.”

“Good, Jones it is. Have you come up with any plans for this…” and Chief Dennis grinned, “operation? I think ‘sting’ better suits the situation but operation is more professional.”

“Well yes, I’ve given it a lot of thought and the first things we really need to do is to get the judge to agree that Joey can’t do this alone and then sell him on Joey choosing his partner. We need to make it reasonable, pricey but not too pricey. I think the man has money but we don’t want to be ridiculous and price ourselves right out of the picture. That would really complicate things so we need to agree on a figure and I think Joey would be the best one to come up with the dollar signs since that’s his expertise.

“Then, there’s the plan for the abduction, which won’t be a problem but we need to give the judge a reasonable plan, something that sounds well thought out and feasible. There again we need Joey’s input on this, After we have devised all of this it’s a matter of contacting the Judge, or the person on the other end of that phone over there who we think is the judge, and get all of his input. I’m sure he has a place he wants Liz delivered, God knows what he intends to do with her once she’s there but we can make sure that she’s safe whatever his intentions are.”

Then Max looked at Dennis and raised an eyebrow….

“Well, Max came up with a suggestion earlier, before all of you arrived, and I think it’s a good suggestion. He thinks we should use a “Liz” lookalike police woman.” Chief Dennis looked around the table as he spoke and then his eyes settled on Liz…UH OH!

“No! That’s not a good idea! We have enough people in on this “sting” already and I will not take the chance that any of my family will be hurt anymore than they already have been. We have been a prisoner in our own home for weeks now; we have men sitting around this table that have been taken away from their families to protect us. Our children are afraid to go to sleep at night because they think their mother is going to be hurt. This has got to end and I will not take any more chances than we are discussing around this table…this ends now Max, NOW!”

Chief Dennis, four detectives, five of the eight guards, Joey, Philip and Max all looked at this little woman that had the determination of Patton running his fifth armored tank division glare on her face and they all knew this subject was closed…there would be no substitute going into this for her.

“Alright sweet, if that’s the way you feel then we will make sure that nothing happens to you.”

“Maxwell Evans…what in the hell is wrong with you, don’t you think that a substitute is just as important as I am? What would make the substitute safer than me? Don’t you think they are going to give me the same protection? I don’t understand your line of thinking Max.”

“Liz, my God, you know that’s not what I meant, but an undercover cop knows how to deal with these situations better than you do. She would have training in such matters.”

“Look Max, we don’t know what the situation is going to be. Suppose there’s some kind of test presented before the final steps occur. What if the undercover cop doesn’t know the answers to pertinent questions and the thing falls apart before it’s completed. You don’t know what the hell is going to happen anymore than the rest of us do…all you can think of is my safety. Well, whoever goes into this isn’t going to be any safer than the next guy and it’s my children that I’m thinking of here. Maybe I’ll take JP up on his plan and carry a skillet. Would that make you feel better?”

“Liz, you’re being ridiculous now.” Max was starting to lose it…he hated arguing with his wife. It wasn’t something they did very often and he just couldn’t get his mind around this…at all.

“I’m not ridiculous and you know it. You’re scared Max…but I can guarantee you that everyone around this table is fighting some kind of fear and you know that too. So, here it is, I’m going. Now get these plans made and let’s get this show on the road.”

“Well Max. Should we make some plans?” Chief Dennis was sure this personal argument was not over but this was something that these two needed to figure out for themselves. A double would be the best way to go as far as the Chief was concerned but then again…suppose the judge and any associates he may have working with him on this know Liz’s appearance as well as their own. That could cause a problem too. Liz could be right…this wasn’t going to be as easy as they thought.

*~*~*

Good luck to Olivia trying to keep JP occupied during the meeting.
Everyone is tense and walking on egg shells...........hope this plan will work and the sooner the better.
Joey finally realizes he wishes the situation would have been different.
I liked the idea of a substitute police woman for Liz...........but Liz didn't go for that.
Wouldn't it be funny if she did start carrying a skillet?

Ginger I had forgotten about your accident in March. Sorry that you had to deal with that.
Take care,
Carolyn

Carolyn: Let's hope JP can be contained for just a little while longer...

Chapter: 44

The next afternoon Chief Dennis called Max and told him they had checked all of the surveillance tapes and were working on identifying the man who put the envelope in the locker at the bus station. It looked as though it might be someone who did not know what they were involved in because they merely walked into the bus station, found an empty locker, put the envelope in it and put the key in an envelope, pasted it to the back of the first row of lockers and left. The person did not try to hide his identity in any way and seemed perfectly at ease with what he was doing.

“Whoever he is he’s clueless Max. We’re working on his identity as we speak and as soon as we know you will know. In the meantime, have you made anymore decisions at your end?”

“Not really, only that Liz and Jonesy will be doing this together with Joey. There’s no changing her mind and I have all the faith in the world that Jonesy and even Joey will do their best to take care of her. As soon as you’re ready give us a call and we’ll all be here.”

“I’ll do that Max. I think that as soon as we find out who this ‘messenger’ is we can get this show on the road. It will be to our benefit to know as much as we can about whom we’re dealing with before going into this.”

“Well, I certainly agree with that Chief. Like I said, just give us a call.”

“As I said, we’ll be in touch. Take care Max.”

And the two men rung off.

It wasn’t five minutes later, as Max was sitting at his desk doing some research that his phone rang again.

“Hello, Max Evans speaking.” Max wasn’t expecting any personal calls so he figured it had to be business…

“Hey Max, it’s Dennis again…we found the identity of the messenger and guess what, the man is a taxi driver for God’s sake. He’s on his way in right now. When we called the cab company he had just signed in for the night so we asked if he could pick up a fare at the police station and he was more than happy to oblige. I’m sure the man has no idea what he’s involved in but he knows damned well where he picked up that envelope, you can count on it. No one calls a cab to deliver an envelope to a bus depot.”

“God Chief, I hope you’re right. This seems just too easy; I can hardly wrap my mind around it. I’ll let Jonesy and the rest of the group know what’s happening after I call my dad. He’s not going to believe this, hell, I don’t believe this.”

“I know what you mean Max…it’s just too simple. I’ll call you back as soon as we talk to the man but I just had to let you know what was happening.”

“Thanks Dennis. Maybe I’ll wait until I hear back from you. I’ll have Jonesy and Liz sit in on the conversation as I’m sure that they will be wound up tighter than an eight day clock before too long.”

Chief Dennis laughed at Max and then they said their good-by’s and rung off.

*

On the other end of town an anxious gray haired man paced his office waiting for a special phone to ring. What would he do when he had this Dr. Parker-Evans in his fold was still troubling him? She would know what to do when she found out what he needed from her. Yes, he would wait until he was face to face with her, it wouldn’t be long now.

*

Max called Liz and Jonesy into his home office and proceeded to tell them about Chief Dennis’ call and they just sat there staring at him. This was next to impossible to fathom and they were both speechless. ‘Even JP could have done better than this’ was running through all of their minds…it can’t be this simple.

“Well, we need to get with Joey and see what he has to say about this. I’m really not into planning crimes per se’ but I do know that we all need to be in on this one.” Jonesy said.

“I agree Max…we can’t make any plans without everyone, this needs to be full-proof, I don’t want anyone getting hurt and that includes the judge, Joey, Jonesy or me and none of the cops either. I just hope the old fool is working alone. It’s too bad he couldn’t have let his daughter and her husband live their own lives, make their own decisions about their child and learned to accept dinner table conversations for what they are, dinner table conversations about things going on in your life. I still have trouble wrapping myself around this, it’s just too bizarre!” Liz was flabbergasted by the whole scenario and the more she thought about it the more riled she got.

“You’re right sweetheart, and as soon as Chief Dennis calls me back we’ll set up an appointment and get busy with plans and a phone call, just relax.” And Max, who was as uptight as his wife, tried his best to keep his cool.

*

Back at the police station Chief Dennis had Carl, Dwain and Joey in his office while the other two detectives, Steve and Wayne, on the case were in the main lobby of the police station waiting for the cab driver to make an appearance, it didn’t take long.

Steve saw the cab driver get out of his rig first and headed through the lobby doors as Wayne waited quiet and alert in case they were wrong about this man being clueless and soon Steve walked in with the driver after putting a parking pass on the vehicle that was parked in a 20 minute zone.

The three men entered the elevator together, the cabbie between the two detectives and headed up to Chief Dennis’ office where the other four men waited.

“Hello, Frank is it?”

The cabbie nodded his assent…

“Chief Dennis…” Dennis held out his hand to the cabbie…”these are my fellow officers. Frank, the reason you’re up here is the envelope you picked up yesterday and delivered to the bus depot. Do you remember where you picked it up?”

“Yeah. It was at the receptionist’s desk in the lobby of the court house. I had a dispatch to go over there for a fare, it turned out to be an envelope that had a hundred in it in 20’s and instructions to take the enclosed envelope to the bus depot, get a locker and put it in it, take the key and put it into one of those envelopes that have that peel and stick stuff on it and stick the envelope to the back of the first locker next to the wall. Why, is something wrong? I didn’t figure there was anything wrong with that. A lot of people don’t have time to get off work and this seemed like a really cool way of dropping off money or something for a bus passenger. Never would have thought of it myself.”

“No Frank, nothing’s wrong. Do you have any of the twenties on you? We’d be glad to trade one with you.”

“Yeah sure. The fare was seven so I kept the rest of course.”

“Of course, that’s what it was for. You may be called in to be a witness at some time in the future, we don’t know just yet how this is going to play out but is driving a cab your only form of employment?”

“Yeah, I love it, wouldn’t change for nothin’.”

“Fair enough Frank. We’ll contact you if we need any further information. Do you have a card or anything?”

“Nah…just call the dispatcher. He knows where to get hold of me.”

“Okay. And Frank. Thanks, you’ve been very helpful.”

*

After Frank left the chief’s office Carl took the 20 dollar bill down to the Forensics lab and had them run it for prints. It was going to be a long process and Carl explained that the cabbie and the chief’s prints were on the bill and they could run comparisons as they searched the data banks. The tech told Carl they’d get back to him as soon as they had anything and Carl left. Now they waited.

*

“I need to talk to Joey!”

Liz was pacing the dining room as Max and Jonesy looked on….

“Liz, what the hell do you need to talk to Joey for? He can’t tell you anything until we know who this is and what we’re going to do?”

“I know! I just need to do something.”

Max looked at Jonesy and grinned.

“Sweetheart, why don’t you bake us one of those great chocolate cakes you make? You know the one…the one with all the fudge in the middle and all that marshmallow frosting on top.”

Liz gave Max one of those ‘don’t try to bullshit me’ looks and he grinned…then Jonesy looked at Liz and smiled…

“Have I ever eaten one of those Liz? I don’t think you’ve made one of those that I know of.”

“Okay you two; you’re in cahoots here aren’t you?”

Both men looked innocent as hell and then Liz thought, maybe that would take her mind off this shit…she could make one of her white cakes with the butter cream frosting topped with chopped pistachios and filled with stewed apricots too. That would take up the better part of the day and everyone could enjoy some homemade desserts of a different kind other than Connecticut pies. She never said another word to the two men, she just up and left the room and headed to the kitchen.

Max looked at Jonesy and winked…

“She really does love to bake and that cake is out of this world. If we’re lucky we might just get a couple of them.”

And Jonesy grinned…

“Killed two birds with one stone man; looks like we all lucked out on this one. She’ll have to bake a couple of both if she wants to feed all of us…should keep her busy for quite a while.”

Max chuckled…

“Absolutely.” And both men smiled as they left the room to attend to other matters while they waited.

*

This is getting like a gag movie.........clueless......and calling a cab to deliver an envelope to the bus station.
We all agree JP could have done better.
I'm surprised anyone can get prints off of a $20 bill............ out of thousands that have handled it.

We're all doing okay. It sure is hot, and dry. We don't get out very much......our church is having a summer picnic the 30th, from 4 -7 p.m. That's the hottest part of the day and Bob has already announced that he can't take that heat and doesn't plan on going.
Take care,
Carolyn

Carolyn: Hey, I don't blame Bob one bit for not going out in that heat...it's 112 today and I'm going to turn my a/c off before it ices up and blows a fuse...what mess.

I guess this is the final chapter of this little fic and if I ever get around to checking out part 3, which is what started all of these repeats in the first place, I'll put it up. I'm getting like "Bob" sitting in front of the vent watching tv seems to be the order of the day. Too hot to do anything else.

You have a great rest of the summer and keep me updated on email. Stay cool.


Chapter 45

The Forensics lab was amazed at how quickly the twenty was ready to go; they got lucky due to the fact that the thing came out of a fresh stack. The few bank employees showed up, one Judge Abbott showed up, the cabbie and Chief Dennis just as Carl had predicted. Chief Dennis was in his office working on other cases when the report came in and to say he was relieved was an understatement. He called Max immediately and Max got on the phone with his dad. Another meeting was set up at the Evans home and it looked as though things were moving right along.

When the detectives and Joey showed up there was an array of freshly baked cakes sitting on the buffet in the dining room all presented on various cake platters and a mountain of paper plates, plastic forks and napkins. The men all looked at the display and were practically drooling. Max stood there grinning and Chief Dennis smiled and nodded then walked over to Max and whispered…

“Did you manage to keep her busy today?”

“Yep!” Was the only reply and the Chief grabbed a plate, napkin and fork and headed right to the display with the rest of the men. It seems that Max and his crew had already had their fill and Joey thought he had died and gone to heaven. He hadn’t seen anything like that since he was a kid and got to stay with his grandmother sometime. She always had something like that for him when he was there. God, did he miss her.

“Well, gentlemen, we all know why we’re here. Liz, where are the kids?”

“They’re at Diane and Philips. Diane followed Philip over in her SUV and hauled them all to her house for an overnighter. We don’t want them overhearing anything they shouldn’t know about and we felt this would be the safest way to play this out.”

“I see. Well, it is the judge. He paid a cab driver to take the envelope to the bus station. We have one of the 20’s he put in with the instructions and the cab driver picked the envelope up at the courthouse. The judge’s fingerprints were on the bill along with the bank’s employees and mine. No other prints showed up due to the newness of the bill so we are ready to roll. We know who we’re after and I don’t think we need any more information than we already have in order to build a case.”

“Are you absolutely sure. We don’t want this man loose and running our courts ever again. Why don’t we play it out completely and let him hang himself. We don’t want to take any chances here.” Liz replied…she wasn’t sure that a jury would see this the way the Chief was looking at it…if she were on the jury she would think that someone had it out for the judge and was trying to railroad him into something. She wasn’t satisfied at all…she wanted to make damned sure that her kids were all going to be safe and that they were going to have a mother at the end of the day.

“I agree with Liz. We need to finish this once and for all.” Philip added … and the rest of the team agreed.

“Well, if you’re all sure then let’s make the call. Joseph, do you have the phone charged up?”

“Yes sir. Are you all ready?” Joey asked.

“Yes Joey, just make the call.” Liz was ready to roll.

Joey lifted the phone from the table and dialed the last number called and the person on the other end was there on the first ring.

“Hello Joseph. Do you have your instructions?”

“Yes…but as I said before I need another person and it’s going to be another fifty thou. for his help and I don’t trust just anyone. Can you cover that?”

“Yes Joseph…I’m willing to pay the extra if you feel you need this other person. How soon do you think this will happen?”

“Well, I’ve had my partner watching the house today and he thinks we can roll this afternoon. Do you have an address where you want the merchandise delivered?”

“Yes Joseph…There’s a juvenile facility located on the outskirts of the city. They will be waiting for the arrival of Dr. Evans upon my phone call. You can drive her there and drop her off at the main entrance. There will be a car waiting to pick her up at the gate and take her inside. Do you have a GPS on your vehicle?”

Joey had to laugh….

“No. Of course I don’t have a GPS on my vehicle. You’re going to have to give me an address and you’re also going to have to come up with some money before we do any pickups and deliveries here. I need a physical address, understood?”

The Chief was getting more impressed with Joey by the minute.

“Well alright Joseph…the physical address is 8253 Bustleton Ave. on the outskirts of the city. What time do you think you will be arriving?”

“I’ll call you back as soon as I’ve got the package.” Joey answered, “Don’t lose your phone. I have the bank number right here…you let me know when I can call about the money and tell the bank that I will be picking up cash and then I call you back with my information. Are we on the same page?”

“The same page Joseph. The funds will be waiting for you. I’ll be waiting. How do you plan on getting past all of those guards?”

“That’s my problem, not yours. Let’s just say that I hope the Evanses are well insured.”

“Joseph! Do not hurt anyone!”

“How can you say that when you are paying me to pick up this package and take it to a designated area?”

“That’s different Joseph. Just do the job you are being paid to do and everything will be fine.”

“All right then. How much notice do you need before we deliver the package?”

“I think the school employees won’t need more than a few minutes advance notice to get to the gate.”

“Okay, as soon as we have the merchandise, all of the merchandise, you’ll get your call.” And Joey hung up.

“Well?” Joey looked at the Chief.

“Okay…now we wait for the judge to call back. I want you four, pointing to Carl and the rest of his detectives, to get over to that school right now and scope it out. I need to know what we need over there. We can’t afford to take any chances with this and we don’t want to tip our hand. We don’t know who or what is going on inside that school since they are expecting Liz but I do know that we need to be there to see that no one gets hurt. This is absolutely ridiculous. The entire school faculty can’t be in on this program and yet there has to be someone in there that is familiar with this. This is a nightmare.” Chief Dennis couldn’t believe what he was trying to run through his mind.

“Not really Chief. One of my teammates has a kid that goes there. It’s not just for special kids, although they do cater to them. Let me give him a call.” Max said.

“Great Max…can you trust this guy?”

“With my life.” Max answered and called Josh. It didn’t take long for Josh to get back to Max.

“Hey Max…the principal informed me that Judge Abbott called him a while back and said that Liz was going to go over there and run some tests on his grandson and that it would probably be on short notice when this happened because Liz was so busy. What’s going on buddy?”

“To make a long story short, the judge is trying to kidnap Liz and take her over there and right up to this moment we had no idea why. Josh, don’t say anything to anyone, not even Anne, about this conversation. I’ll call you back as soon as we have this situation settled. And thanks buddy.”

“You bet Max…and don’t forget to call me back. Hey, would you like a couple of us to go over there and visit the kids this afternoon. Just in case you need some extra hands. We do have a good reason for being there you know.” Josh offered.

“Hold on a sec.” Max put Josh on hold and asked the chief what he thought about this and the Chief looked at Max and shrugged…

“How do you feel about it Max?”

“Hey, the guys all know Liz and, yeah, I’d feel okay about this. If they aren’t needed they’ll stay out of it.”

“Okay then…it looks like we have a plan.”

Max was back on the phone in a split second…

“Hey Josh, that sounds like a great idea. I’ll let you know what time they are going to be headed over there.”

“Fair enough Max. We need to get together buddy…it’s been too long. I know you’re as busy as we are but we just need to make time for each other.”

“You got it. As soon as this is resolved we’ll make some plans for all the families, not just trips to Arizona with the boys.”

“Right on…talk to you later.”

“Yeah…later Josh and thanks.” And the two old friends rang off.

About forty-five minutes later the call from the judge came in to Joey with instructions to pick up his money right at 5:00 p.m. at First National of Philadelphia in the old town square. Joey told the judge he would make his call as soon as he had everything and they rang off. In the meantime Chief Dennis and Max drove to the bank with Jonesy and Liz in the back seat while Philip stayed on the phone at the Evans’ home. The poor man was a nervous wreck and Philip never got nervous, he couldn’t understand why this was making him so uptight. Maybe because he knew everyone involved and felt so sorry for the judge who had to be absolutely out of his mind to try and do something so stupid for God’s sake. This bordered on insanity, what is his poor daughter going to think when she finds out that her father incriminated himself over her sick son. This was a nightmare for all concerned and what poor Liz and Max have gone through hasn’t been any picnic either. Philip decided, right then and there, that he was going to bring suit against the judge and recoup all of the expenses incurred for all parties involved to keep his family safe. It was the least he could do.

*

When Joey had the money in hand he exited the bank with Jonesy at his side and the two men got into Max’s truck and the Chief, Max and Liz followed them to a public park…making certain that they hadn’t been followed. There Chief Dennis took charge of the money, tagging it into evidence along with the tapes that were confiscated and the cabbies statement that was taken at the police station yesterday. Now all Joey had to do was call the judge and tell him that he was following Liz right at this moment and she was alone in the market.

“How soon do you think you will be at the school?” Judge Abbott asked.

“I figure she’ll be coming out of the market in a couple of minutes and my partner will just get into her car with her and then I’ll climb in the driver’s seat and get her between us. There won’t be any problems at all. We should be at the school in thirty minutes.”

“Fine, I’ll be there with my men waiting. You’ve done well Joseph, thank you.” And the old man hung up. The Chief and the rest of the group just sat and looked at each other. The man is truly deranged.

Liz scooted over to the middle of Max’s front seat, Joey took the wheel and Jonesy sat in the passenger seat while Max and Dennis got into Max’s truck and they all headed to the private school on the outskirts of town on Bustleton Ave. Joey called the number the judge had given him and the person on the other end of the line announced himself as a Dr. Evans. Joey told him that he was bringing Dr. Evans there and would arrive in about 15 minutes and this Dr. Evans said he’d be waiting and hung up. Jonesy called the Chief and gave him the man’s name and the Chief looked at Max as he dialed Carl…”This is too easy Max…I just hope we have all of our ducks lined up.”

Carl answered and the Chief relayed the information and hung up. Well, all we can do is wait…and Max got on his phone and called Josh.

“I know the man Max…I’ll stop him right now.”

“No Josh, don’t stop him, we need Judge Abbott.”

“Well, he just walked in the front door with two pretty husky looking dudes. Are you sure?”

“I’m sure and thanks Josh.”

“Hey Dennis, the judge just walked into the school with two husky looking thugs, you might want to warn Carl and the guys.” Which Dennis did immediately.

Next was a call from Jonesy announcing their arrival at the gates to the school…they were to wait there according to the judge’s instructions and soon the two burly looking characters showed up in a limo…which was soon surrounded by four of Philadelphia’s finest…come to find out so were the two characters the judge had with him. They were off duty patrolman. They just stood there and shook their heads in wonderment. They hadn’t a clue what was going on…the judge just paid them to pick up Doctor Evans and take her to the school’s entrance around back where she was to do some private tests on the judge’s grandson.

Well, that’s not the way it happened. Carl and Dwain drove the limo back up to the back of the school alone and when the judge came out with Dr. Evans they were greeted with a big surprise. The Doctor was taken into custody along with the judge just to make sure his only participation in this “mess” was to draw the judge’s grandson’s blood and oversee Liz’s progress. They all just stood there shaking their heads. When The Chief, Max and Liz showed up at the rear entrance Liz walked over to the judge and looked him square in the eye and held back the fist she was clenching as she gnarled through her teeth…

“You stupid old bastard…all you had to do was ask. What in the hell were you thinking? Do you have any idea the heartache you have caused my children, my husband and me…and not to mention the fact that the father of two other children is in a coma over this. You are one sick son-of-a-bitch and I hope you rot in hell!”

The judge just looked at Liz through glazed eyes…like he had no idea what she was saying and she walked away.

“He’s deranged Max…positively deranged. I pity his grandson if he inherited this gene, it’s just sad.”

And an entourage of men just shook their heads as she walked off calmly and got into the truck that was now vacant of men. She was ready to go home and Max nodded to the chief and told him that they would be home if he needed them. The Chief nodded back and Jonesy took Max’s other vehicle and offered a ride to anyone that might need it but there were plenty of other vehicles around to transport prisoners and evidence back to the police department so Jonesy drove off. He shook hands with Joey first and thanked him for his cooperation and told him that, when this mess was all over to contact him in Roswell, New Mexico. He was sure he could find a job for him and Joey was flabbergasted. He thanked Jonesy and got into the patrol car with Carl and Dwain, he wasn’t even hand cuffed and the chief smiled. Everyone needed a break sometime and the Chief was going to make sure that Joey got one.

*

When Max and Liz got home Philip was waiting on the front porch along with an entire platoon of private guards wanting information.

“It’s all over guys. The judge is in custody and Dr. Evans is being held for questioning although I don’t think he has a clue about what was happening. Let’s all go in and have some cake and pie.”

And everyone went into the house together and Philip excused himself and headed to the back patio to give Diane a call and let her know that the bad guy was in custody. And as far as they knew he was the only one responsible for this. To say that Diane was relieved was an understatement and then the kids could be heard in the back ground…. being little Evanses they knew something was up and Diane told all of them that the bad guy was locked up and then you could hear cheering echoing all over the other side of the phone and Philip Evans smiled a real smile for the first time in a long time.

All of the men could sleep easy tonight and tomorrow they were officially off duty and could go home. Jonesy couldn’t wait to get on that plane and neither could Smith for that matter. Smith was already on his phone making reservations for both he and Jonesy and although they would miss Liz and the kids they were going to be happy to be home again. As a matter of fact all of them were.

Finally Philip slapped Max across the back and gave Liz a big hug and bid everyone good night.

“I’m going home and watch a dumb Disney movie with my grandchildren; all of you have a good evening.” And he was off.

All of the men helped Liz and Max clean off the dining room table and Max verified travel time with the men and called the limo company to have transportation set up for them in the morning and then they all headed to bed…

Max grabbed Liz around the waist, turned her to look at him and he looked like he wanted to cry…Then he lifted her in his arms and held her close as he carried her up the front stairs and as they got to their bedroom he kicked the door shut and whispered to Liz, making sure she heard him as he nuzzled her…

“Oh Liz…No sleeping tonight!” And Liz giggled…

Life was good again at the Evans’ household…

*~*~*~*

The End