A Hero's Reward (14 page)

“Only for idiots. You know, the ones like the sixty year old
men that marry eighteen year old girls and then wonder why their wife
cheats on them. You're very attractive and there's more to you than
just looks. I prefer that over a vapid woman who is only focused on
trying to be pretty any day.”

“I'll have to take your word for it. I don't think of myself
as attractive.”

“Just wait until we're out and about later on today. I'll
point out the men I see checking you out.”

Margaret blushed but didn't reply.

“We need to be at the FBI office around two o'clock today.
Then we'll go down and get Jack.”

Margaret's smile returned to her face:

“Do you really think we'll be able to?”

“I think the FBI are just looking for an excuse to get
something on that church or their members so I'm guessing that there
won't be a problem at all.”

“I hope you're right; I miss Jack. I worry about what his
father might be trying to do to him also.”

Greg and Margaret shared the clean-up tasks in the kitchen and
then decided how to spend the morning. There were a few more minor
loose ends to clear up for Margaret that could be done quickly, so
they spent part of the morning on that. When it was almost time to
leave they moved the child seat from Margaret's car into Greg's
Saturn. They had decided that they'd take the Saturn as opposed to
Margaret's car at Greg's request. In case they were in the car for
very long, his Saturn was comfortable and would be easy on his back.
If he was any judge Margaret's station wagon wouldn't be.

They had lunch at a small diner downtown near the FBI building
since Margaret was very impatient. During lunch Greg pointed out
several men who he believed were checking Margaret out. She had a
hard time believing it but couldn't otherwise explain why they kept
looking at her and why one of them blushed and turned away when she
accidentally made eye contact with him.

Two o'clock couldn't come fast enough for Margaret but it was
finally late enough for them to go to the FBI office and only be a
few minutes early. They entered the building but then had to wait at
the desk for the agents to show up. Once they did, one of them pulled
Greg aside:

“Hi, you must be Greg?”

At Greg's nod he continued:

“I'm agent Brown and my partner here is agent White. We'll
be the ones helping you recover Jack.”

Greg snickered, he just couldn't keep it in:

“Kind of like Men in Black?”

“Yeah, we've heard it before. But really, those are our last
names. You can call me Ben though if it'll make things easier for
you.”

“Okay Ben, so what's happening?”

“We've been checking out this situation and there are a few
interesting facts that you may not be aware of.”

“Such as?”

“Did you know that Margaret's house burning down is being
investigated as a potential arson case?”

“No, although that explains the yellow tape around the
debris.”

“Yes, and the only suspect the local police have so far is
her ex-husband Freddy. You know, the gentlemen we'll be paying a
visit to today. We'd like to try something if you don't mind. It will
mean you'll need to take your own car and follow us though. We think
that the sheriff in that county is crooked, we know he's a member of
the same church as Freddy. We want to wait until we're there and then
give him a 'courtesy call' to let him know that we'll be paying a
visit to Freddy to reclaim the child he's kidnapped. If, as we
suspect, he has been neglecting or sabotaging his duties in relation
to his fellow church members we anticipate that Freddy will come
charging out of his driveway a few minutes after we make the call,
with Jack in the car.

If that occurs we'll subpoena some phone records and if they
indicate a call from the sheriff to Freddy right after we called him,
well we'll know then, even if we can't prove it. It would be
sufficient cause for a deeper investigation if he refuses to step
down from his office at our polite request that he do so.

Freddy hasn't shown any violent tendencies with the child, that we
know of, so we think he ought to be safe. But this will give us
leverage to get that sheriff out of there and let their church know
that we're keeping an eye on them. It serves several purposes all
around but if you would prefer we not do that we can just go up and
knock on the door instead.”

“I'll have to ask Margaret, he's her son. It'll have to be
her call.”

“Alright, would you prefer to explain it to her or have me
do so?”

“I'll do it. I think it's a very good opportunity for you
also and might save some grief for others in that area, but it'll
still have to be her call. I'll let her know my opinion on it and
that might sway her some.”

They went over to Margaret and explained the situation. Greg told
her that he thought it was a good idea and that there shouldn't be
any danger to Jack. The only drawback was that she might have to wait
an extra half hour to get her son back.

After a little discussion Margaret agreed. After all, as she put
it, the FBI agents were already doing her a favor, she should return
that if she could. She could wait an extra half hour to help pay back
the people that were helping her reclaim her son.

Ben gave Greg a small hand held radio.

“That will let us communicate on the road. It's a dedicated
side-band channel so there shouldn't be much interference.”

“Thank you, we'll need to gas up before we leave. Is there a
gas station around here or on the way out of town?”

“Sure, when we pull out and you start to follow us we'll
turn into a gas station a couple of blocks away and let you top off.
Thank you for your cooperation with this. We're hoping that letting
them know we've got an eye on them and that we won't tolerate any
monkey business will keep a lid on the church and keep it from going
even more radical on us.”

“You're welcome. You're doing us a favor also so we should
be thanking you. We'll just call it mutual assistance and leave it at
that.”

Ben nodded:

“Cooperation works best when it works both ways. I think
we're both coming out on the upside in this case.”

They headed out to the cars. As promised, the unmarked FBI car
pulled into a gas station a couple of blocks away and Greg got out to
fill the car. Even if he couldn't drive, he could at least fill the
gas tank. He took the moment to stretch his back a bit and reminded
himself that he was due for his pain pills shortly.

Once the Saturn was filled up, he got back in the car and the
unmarked FBI unit led the way out of town. The drive took a little
more than an hour to the state line then another twenty minutes
beyond to the county where Freddy had Jack. The little radio buzzed
as soon as they passed the county line.

“This is Greg.” Greg said, holding down the transmit
button.

“Greg, this is Ben. We're about five minutes away from the
turn off the highway. We'll want you to stay back about a tenth of a
mile or a bit more once we're approaching the driveway. If we're
wrong and there is a problem we don't want you right there. Sorry,
you're civilians and all that.”

“Got it Ben, can do.”

Margaret looked over at him, a hint of fear on her face:

“Is there going to be trouble?”

“No, there shouldn't be. I'd bet this is standard procedure
for them when there are civilians involved.”

“Okay.” Margaret said, looking slightly mollified but
with a tiny hint of fear still visible on her face.

The two cars pulled off of the highway and onto a poorly
maintained blacktop road. After a few miles down that street they
turned onto a hard packed dirt road. The radio buzzed again:

“Greg, this is Ben. We're going to pull over and block the
end of the driveway then call the local sheriff. The house is about a
quarter mile farther up this road on the right hand side. So it's
probably best if you folks stop as soon as you can see the driveway.
We'll tell him that we'll be arriving in half an hour then wait
twenty minutes after we call before heading up to the house. If we do
have to head to the house, follow us up the driveway until you can
see it, then stop.”

“Will do Ben, thanks.”

The lead car slowed down as it approached a driveway leading back
into the woods. Margaret stopped their car as the unmarked FBI car
slowed down. The house wasn't visible from the road so Freddy
shouldn't have any warning that he was being set up.

Margaret sat in the driver's seat, looking nervous and impatient.
The tension in the car was thick enough to cut with a knife. Greg
reached over and took Margaret's hand, holding it firmly as she
gripped his hand hard enough to turn his fingers white.

It was less than fifteen minutes after Ben had called on the radio
when the sound of a car starting up echoed from somewhere in the
woods. Two minutes later, the car was coming to an abrupt stop as it
found the exit from the driveway blocked. A man who looked as if he
might have once been muscular but had let it all go to fat got out of
the stopped car and walked towards the car blocking the driveway,
spilling a torrent of filth and bluster from his mouth.

“What the hell do you think you're doing blocking my
driveway? Get the hell out of my way or I'll run your fucking car
over and tell the insurance company that it was your fault. You hear
me asshole? Get your fucking car out of my way!”

Freddy walked over to the unmarked car and slammed a hand on the
roof. Greg could see the passenger window on the FBI car roll down
but whatever the agent said to Freddy was too quiet for Greg to hear.
Whatever it was that Ben said had Freddy jumping back from the side
of the car and all of the sudden appearing quite subdued.

Ben got out of his car, holding his identification in front of him
like a shield. Agent White got out of the driver's side of the car
and came around onto the driveway as well. As Agent White engaged
Freddy in conversation Ben picked up his radio.

“Okay, come on in. It looks like he isn't going to be any
trouble.”

As Margaret pulled the car up to the driveway, Ben approached
Freddy's car. A minute later he was heading back towards the group of
people leading a young boy who was carrying a small gym bag. Margaret
and Greg were getting out of the Saturn and when Margaret saw the
child, she went running to him.

“Jack!”

“Mommy!”

The two came together in a hug that somehow managed to block out
the rest of the world for them for a brief span of time. Their joy at
seeing one another was interrupted by Freddy.

“What are you doing here bitch, I told you he was staying
with me!”

Greg was ready to step in and cold cock the man, FBI agents
present or not, but he was amazed to find out that it wasn't
necessary.

Margaret straightened up, put herself between Freddy and Jack, and
turned to face Freddy.

“Really? The courts gave
me
custody. These gentlemen
here are FBI agents. Were you aware that kidnapping and transporting
the victim across state lines is a
federal
offense? I believe
that these gentlemen here are all ready to arrest you for that crime.
Guess what, that means the county sheriff and judge can't
lose
the
paperwork and get you off again.”

She marched up to Freddy and glared at
him:

“So, do you still want to try to
make him stay here with you?”

“I don't know what you've been
doing to get so uppity bitch, but you better learn your place again.”

Greg had been moving in closer all this
while and was quicker than either FBI agent when Freddy drew his hand
back as though to slap Margaret. He grabbed the hand and drew it
behind Freddy's back. When Freddy started to try to pull away he
applied force upwards. He wasn't very worried about whether he
injured the man or not. The FBI agents didn't seem to have any desire
to intervene either now that Freddy wasn't threatening Margaret. As
Greg drew the arm high enough to draw a cry of pain he whispered in
Freddy's ear:

“Her place is with me, for as
long as she wants that to be her place. With an actual human being,
not some slob of a religious freak that thinks beating woman and
children is his right. If you feel like you want to try some of that
beating on me, just let me know and I'll be happy to oblige you.”

Greg gave another upward push on the
arm before letting go. Freddy turned to glare at him and took a step
back when he realized that his glare would only be aimed at Greg's
neck unless he craned his head up.

Margaret had evidently heard Greg's
soft words because she was simultaneously beaming and glaring at
Freddy. Jack came running up from behind Margaret:

“Dad, this is the guy I told you
about. He's the one that saved mom and me from the fire.”

Freddy turned slightly pale but didn't
say a word.

“He's so cool!” continued
Jack, “He made it into the newspapers and the videos of him on
Youtube went viral!”

Freddy glared at his son as though
willing him to shut up. In return, Margaret, Greg, and both FBI
agents glared back at Freddy. Jack was oblivious to the whole thing,
he went over to Greg and grabbed his hand.

“I was hoping I'd have the chance
to thank you in person. Thank you, so much. For both my mom and
myself.”

Jack's words broke the group glare that
had been occurring. Greg looked down at Jack as the FBI agents
approached Freddy.

“You're welcome Jack. I came with
your mom to come get you. You have a place to live for as long as the
two of you need it. I have extra bedrooms and I volunteered them to
your mother.”

“That's so cool! I can go back to
my own school? I hate this home schooling stuff they've been doing
with me this past week. They keep trying to tell me stuff that I know
is wrong because I learned the real thing in science class. Plus my
father keeps trying to tell me stuff about how a man should treat a
woman that is just totally wrong.” Jack turned his gaze to
Freddy and subjected him to yet another glare.