The Journal: Crimson Skies: (The Journal Book 3) (7 page)

“No!” I placed my hand on his arm. “You
promised to never leave me, remember? If you go, they may not let
you come back!”

“I will guarantee his safety, Ms. Smeth, and
I will personally bring him back in the morning,” Colonel Andrews
said from the doorway.

“Allex, I know so little about gynecology. I
could learn a lot from Dr. Streiner. Knowledge that someday may
help me save you, Emilee, or Amanda. I’m a doctor, Allex, this is
what I do. Please don’t make me choose, because I
would
choose you,” my husband pleaded with me. I removed my hand from his
arm.

“You’re right, Mark, this is you and I won’t
make that demand of you out of my own fear.” I kissed him lightly
and turned to the Colonel. “You better keep your word on this!”

JOURNAL ENTRY: August 11

It’s hard to believe that we’ve been married only
nine days and how quickly I have become accustomed to having Mark
by my side. Without his presence I slept poorly and fidgeted all
night. This morning finds me restless and bleary eyed, anxious for
his return.

All of what Col. Andrews told me yesterday keeps
running through my mind and little of it makes sense. I understand
him investigating this kind of a problem from a lesser rank; many
will open up to someone closer to their own status. For this I can
forgive him, though it isn’t my place to bestow forgiveness to
anyone.

What still doesn’t make any sense is why anyone
would be trying to hurt us. This is a small town, we haven’t harmed
anyone, well at least no one that didn’t try to harm us first, and
then that was just self-defense.

I don’t get it.

*

While I was pouring a second cup of coffee,
Emilee came bounding across the road. She seems to be getting
taller every day.

“Nahna, Dad just had a phone call! He says
you need to come over right now,” Emilee relayed in a very grownup,
matter-of-fact tone.

“Yes, Col. Andrews?” I kept my voice level
when I returned his call. Dispatch had saved the phone number from
yesterday, so it’s now our means of communication. I don’t mind,
it’s better than going to the township hall to make a call.

“I thought you would like to know things have
moved quickly,” he said. “I have all four culprits in custody and
they can’t stop talking.”

“What have you learned and where is my
husband?”

“Dr. Robbins is assisting in a second surgery
this morning. Another rape victim came into the ER during the
night, a victim of the same attackers. We picked the guys up a
couple of hours ago. Your friend should be awake soon and I need
her to identify these men. It would help her to have you here.” The
actual request was left unasked.

“Do I get the same safe passage?”

“Of course. In fact, I will meet you at the
security gate myself.” He sounded relieved. “One hour?”

~~~

“No, Eric, you
cannot
come with me!” I
said to my son. “I will
not
risk any of you being detained.
If the colonel is still lying, then he has Mark and me and we will
find a way to escape. Do not argue with me! Besides, I need you and
Jason to take care of Bob. We can’t leave him in the house, tied to
a chair.”

“You’re right, Mom. We’ll take care of it.
Please be careful.”

~~~

I waited a hundred yards from the rusting
security gate on County Road 695, until I saw the colonel walking
up to the single guard, then I drove forward.

“Always so cautious, Ms. Smeth?” Colonel
Andrews asked, smiling. He lifted the gate so I could drive my car
through.

“Yes, Sir, I am, and I think I have every
right to be. I want to see my husband.”

“If you follow me, we will go directly to the
hospital. There you can see Dr. Robbins and your friend,” he
replied, handing me a security clearance badge, his smile gone.

~~~

We rode the elevator up to the sixth floor of
the quiet hospital in strained silence. There were few visitors and
fewer patients, since all elective surgery was cancelled and only
the direst of illnesses or injuries were admitted, a necessity with
the lack of doctors and nurses.

Stepping out of the tiny elevator, I breathed
the relieved sigh of a claustrophobic. Then the smells assaulted
me: disinfectants couldn’t hide the odors of urine and feces and
blood that wafted through the halls.

“This way to the surgical lounge,” Col.
Andrews said, leading the way. When we approached the double doors,
they opened and Dr. Streiner stepped out. Her face froze when she
saw me.

“I will leave you here, Ms. Smeth, while I
make arrangements for you to see Kathy,” Col. Andrews said, and he
left.

“Dr. Streiner, how is Kathy doing?” I asked
when she emerged from a set of nondescript double doors.

“I removed her uterus. It was damaged beyond
repair, but I know Kathy had no interest in having children. There
were other injuries as well, though none life threatening.” She
looked solemnly at me. “She’s lucky you found her so quickly or she
would have bled to death within an hour. For all of that, she’s
doing well, but I’d still like to keep her a few days for
observation.”

“Where is Mark?” I asked, glancing behind
her.

“He did amazingly well for not having much
OB/GYN training.” She avoided my question.

“Where is he?” I asked again.

“You should really consider encouraging him
to stay here, where he would be more useful.”

There was something about her stance, her
tone, and a look in her eye. There was a smug hostility I didn’t
like. She was more of Mark’s professional equal than I was and I
felt jealousy rising within me. I tamped it down and took another
approach.

“Denise, I know Mark is an amazing man, and I
know he’s handsome, and charming and kind. He’s a really good
person. But he’s
my
husband.” I could have said more, lots
more, but I didn’t.

She looked away. “Am I that obvious?”

I smiled in understanding. “He has the same
effect on me.”

“He must love you a great deal, Allexa.
You’re all he would talk about,” she admitted. “But I
will
take him away from you. You’re just a mousey little farmer and he’s
a brilliant doctor. You don’t deserve him.” Denise lifted her chin.
“He’ll be out in a minute,” and she stepped toward the double
doors, sneering at me. I was shocked by her verbal attack and I was
trying very hard to ignore the insults she just lashed at me.

The swinging doors opened and Mark stepped
out. His somber expression faded when he saw me and he took me in
his arms for a long, embarrassing kiss.

“Ahem,” Denise cleared her throat. “Excuse
me. Let’s look in on our patient.” She turned away from our blatant
display of affection.

We walked down the hall to the elevators and
rode in silence to the floor Kathy’s room was on, which was
marginally cleaner and by far less noxious in odor. She lay against
the crisp white pillow, her freshly washed red hair fanned out like
a flaming halo. She opened her eyes and smiled.

“Hi, Allexa,” she said sleepily. I sat down
next to her on the bed and took her hand, tears threatening behind
my lids.

“Hi to you too,” I said softly. “You look
better than the last time I saw you.”

“Well, that wouldn’t be hard to do,” came the
retort I expected from my gal-pal of many years. “I was a mess.”
Now the tears formed in
her
eyes. “I owe you one, my friend.
I understand I owe you many. If you hadn’t come by when you
did…”

“If she hadn’t, we wouldn’t have caught the
men responsible,” Colonel Andrews said from across the room. None
of us had seen him waiting there in the shadows when we walked in.
“Do you feel up to making a visual confirmation on these
scumbags?”

“The sooner the better, Captain.” Kathy
saluted the Colonel from her bed and he laughed.

Mark and I rode with Kathy in the ambulance
that took her and a wheelchair to the National Guard Armory where
the men were being held under heavy guard.

Colonel Andrews pulled in beside us as we
were settling her in the chair.

“Please follow me,” he said, walking briskly
around the outside of the squat red brick building along a broken
cement path to what looked like the parade grounds.

The ride was a bit bumpy for her, and Kathy
winced. I stopped Mark from pushing only once.

“Are you okay, Kath?”

“Let’s get this over with,” she replied, and
we kept going until we hit the open field, where four young men
were standing in front of a brick wall, handcuffed and
shackled.

Against the red brick building stood a squad
of a dozen soldiers at parade rest. Sheltered and semi-hidden by
the gloomy shadows, they were there as security and as
witnesses.

“Ma’am, do you recognize any of these men?”
the colonel asked Kathy formally.

“Yes, I do. I recognize all of them as the
men who attacked my husband, raped me, and that fat one on the end
is the one who shot my husband in the head,” Kathy replied calmly,
with tears streaming down her still bruised and swollen face.

“Corporal Jones, do you have anything to
say?” Colonel Andrews addressed the first man. The answer was
silence. “Then for the charges of rape, accessory to murder, theft,
and for behavior unbecoming a member of the military, I sentence
you to death.”

Colonel Andrews went through the same charges
with Corporals Carter and Griffin. When he got to Sargent
Streeters, he added the charge of first-degree murder.

“Do any of you wish a blindfold?” he asked.
The one named Griffin said yes. “Tough, you can’t have one, close
your eyes,” the colonel replied harshly.

Colonel James Andrews pulled his service
revolver, and shot each one of them in the head from a short
distance.

Mark was shocked by the execution; I was
expecting it. I’m not sure about Kathy, but she didn’t protest.

“Doctor, can you confirm death for me?”
Andrews requested. Mark pulled a surgical glove from his pocket and
after slipping it on, felt for a pulse on each of the soldiers
lying in the brown grass.

“You were quite effective, Sir. May we leave
now?” Mark asked flatly.

“Thank you, and yes, please return Ms. Kathy
to the hospital,” Colonel Andrews replied, and then turned to me.
“I would like to talk to you further. If you’ll ride with me we can
talk.”

“No,” Mark interjected immediately. “She
stays with me. If you want to talk to her, you will talk to
us
. You can either come back to our car or we will rejoin
you here, but we will
not
be separated!”

“As you wish, Doctor. I will wait for you
here.”

We helped Kathy back into the wheelchair and
pushed through the ER doors, only to be met by Dr. Streiner. She
beamed at Mark, but her smile for me was less than friendly.

“I can see you’re getting ready to leave.
This has been a pleasure, Mark. I’ve got some surgery scheduled in
a couple of days I think you will find interesting. I’ll give you a
call and let you know the times,” Denise said, offering her
hand.

“Don’t bother, Dr. Streiner,” Mark said
stiffly sliding his hands into his pockets in obvious rebuff. “I
have no intension of ever working with you again.” Denise looked
like she’d been slapped. “I heard every word you said to my wife
outside the surgical suite. You insulted her, and you insulted me
and the integrity of my marriage. I don’t care if I ever see you
again, and I’m certainly not going to be caught alone with you
under any circumstance.” With that, Mark turned his back to her and
we walked arm in arm to the parking lot.

Before getting into the car, Mark took me in
his arms and hugged me tight. “You’re twice the lady she is and you
have a class that she doesn’t even know exists. I’m proud of the
way you handled her,” he kissed me soundly then and said “And I
can’t wait until we get home!” His lascivious grin made me laugh
and forget all about Denise Streiner.

~~~

Colonel Andrews was leaning against his car,
a dull brown Humvee, when we pulled back into the parking lot.

“Join me for a late lunch? There’s a nice
little restaurant around the corner,” he offered.

“There are restaurants open?” I asked in
surprise.

“Not many, but we
are
trying to bring
some normalcy back to the town,” he confirmed as we walked the
short distance.

We settled into a booth and the men ordered
sandwiches while I ordered a large salad and a bottle of water.

“I feel I owe you an apology about earlier,”
the Colonel said, “I know it was a shock, but the word will spread
quickly about the executions. Those who are taking liberties with
the populace need to understand that they are being hunted down and
the punishment is swift and severe. I have limited control over the
civilians, but I have full authority over the military, and that
includes all branches.”

“What about General Marlow? Doesn’t he
outrank you?” I asked.

“Ah, now that is a good question. I’ve been
doing some digging, as I mentioned, and his records are evasive.”
The colonel wiped his fingers on a red and white-checkered napkin.
“But that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. As a gesture of
good will, what can I offer you or do for you?”

I didn’t need to think twice. “Power. Can you
get the electricity restored to us?”

“That’s it? Just electricity? Done! It should
be back on in the morning,” he smiled in relief. “Anything
else?”

“Well I did ask before about shopping…” I
reminded him. Mark was sitting quietly, his sandwich finished.

“You must understand prices have gone up a
great deal. What is it you want to look for? I’m assuming
food.”