CHAPTER 12

The story that was coming out of her phone sounded complicated. Patty listened anyway and, besides that, what else was she going to do right now? Bob was in her bathroom shaving and he acted like scraping hair off of your face was an art form. He took too much time doing it, so, Patty figured he’d be awhile. Even so, she would have still listened to this call no matter what. Of all the people that Patty had met over the course of her career, she felt particularly attached to the guy on the other end of the phone. She didn’t know why but, she did.

“All I’m saying Nate,” Patty told him, “is just be careful, ok? You’re in a vulnerable place right now.” She listened to him for a second and then had to explain, “no I don’t mean the hotel. I mean you. I’m glad you’re getting along with her mother and sister. I guess you needed to face that. Just, take it slow with the rest, ok?”

Bob came walking back in the bedroom, with a towel in hand, and wiping at his face. Patty hung up her phone and tossed it over on a chair. She then looked at the clock, saw what he did with the towel, and got right off the bed. She walked over to the dresser and pulled the towel away. It had concealed the little bottle of brown liquid. She huffed at him, “you were in there three minutes too long. Go to the fucking dentist Bob!”

“It’s not that bad,” Bob complained as he went back to his cleaning up. As Patty stomped off he asked her, “was that shit head who was on the phone?”

Did he have to start another fight right after the tooth thing? Patty grunted, “Nate is a nice guy, ok? What are you, jealous or something?” She knew damn well that was not it but, she could hope.

“No,” Bob answered anyway, “it’s a shit head thing and, I don’t care if he is the most wonderful guy in the world, Patty, he was screwing one of his privates.” Bob waited a second, thought about that, and then said, “ok that didn’t come out right.”

Patty almost laughed but, even so she still protested, “Angie was a sergeant.”

From Bob’s point of view that was not any better and, “that’s even worse when you get right down too it. Doesn’t matter any way. He’s just damn lucky I didn’t know about it back then. Caldwell was already skating on thin ice as it was. He was a screw up. Don’t know how that guy ever became a Ranger, let alone an officer.”

They’d been down this road before. Patty was not ready to throw her head against a brick wall again. Then a thought occurred to her, “conflict of interest I guess?”

“Exactly,” replied Bob as he went rummaging through his dirty pants, looking for his wallet.

Then Patty replied, “sort of like you working at the White House and screwing a reporter?”

Bob stopped, looked back at her, scratched his balding head, and then asked, “is that what I’m doing?”

“Don’t avoid the issue Bob,” Patty sternly warned him.

“It’s not an issue Patty,” he defended himself, “this is entirely different from that. Nothing going on here is likely to get somebody killed.”

“Course not,” Patty smugly replied, “you only work in the building with the largest number of classified documents on planet earth, where you’re responsible for the safety of millions, instead of just your own privates.”

“My privates are just fine, thank you,” Bob said as he got back to dressing. Then he replied, “still not the same thing and, stop doing that!”

“Doing what?” Patty snickered, “being right?”

“You’re not right,” Bob said huffy, “you’re just being smarter than me. Stop that, I’m around people like that all day and it gets old.”

“Oh come on Bob,” she pleaded with them. “It’s not like they were together when she really was under him…” Now Patty had to concede, “ok that didn’t come out right ether. Not the point! The point is, those two were thrown together by circumstances that were, well, pretty intense. They faced life and death together. How can you not expect them to form a bond?”

“A bond sure,” Bob replied. “Me and Phil been through thick and thin together, I’m not screwing him.”

“I don’t think you’re his type,” Patty replied. “Look, men and women serve together now. It’s a fact of life. You people are going to have to deal with the ramifications of this stuff.”

“Who says we’re not,” Bob said as he started looking for a shirt. “They come up with all kinds of regulations covering this stuff Patty. They changed a lot of them to deal with this crap. Doesn’t make something ethical though. Caldwell knew that. It’s hard for you to understand unless you been in combat.”

“Bob,” Patty said with a hint of hostility, “I have been in combat, more times than you, in fact.”

“OK fine,” Bob told her. Why did she always one up him on everything! Then he put the question to her, “and all those times you were in a war, did you fall in love with just anybody?”

“Yes, in fact, I did,” Patty said with a smug smile, “with you.”

“Oh,” Bob said as he stopped and developed a look of confusion. Then he said, “that’s different.”

Patty slapped her forehead, “oh get off your high horse already.”

“All right Patty,” Bob stopped and got serious, “lets say you went into combat with Caldwell and that girl, what…”

“Angie!”

“Whatever,” Bob went on, “let’s say you went into a fight with them. You don’t think the fact that them two, doing the horizontal twist, wouldn’t effect his judgment in a situation that might cost you, your life?”

“Well General,” Patty was still smug, “I have in fact been in that exact situation. It was not theoretical. Oh yeah, and if you remember, it was almost two missions. I was almost on the one where those two got shot out of the sky.”

It came back to Bob, “yeah you were almost on it. Aren’t you glad I pulled you now. The chopper you would have been on was the one that got toasted.”

“Not the point Bob,” Patty said keeping him on topic.

“Yeah the point is you haven’t answered the question,” Bob left it at that.

He watched Patty go into deep thought and Patty was remembering. What she was trying to hide was the fact that, now, she was recalling an incident at the Temple of Mjolnir. She remembered the gist of what she had told Nate there. Something about thumping his chest because Angie was around. Patty then looked up at her boyfriend and said, “anyway, I’ll be out of town for a few weeks, probably. Not sure exactly when I’ll be back but...”

Bob was apparently satisfied with the lack of an answer. As he started working with his tie, he did have one more question for her, “how the hell did Caldwell get mixed up with Clancy Oldham?”

Patty winced in distaste, “you were ease dropping?”

“No,” Bob replied, “not exactly. I was just, you know, couldn’t help hearing that name.”

“You know him?” Patty was a little surprised. There were a lot of congressmen that came and went around this town. It was hard to remember all of them and especially a guy who was a one time deal. Patty only remembered him because of whispers about him and the former president. None of it ever amounted to much though.

“Know of him,” Bob told her as he stepped in front of the mirror. “You know, the way I got it figured, he’s the main reason your little buddy is dead.”

“What?” Patty had to hear this, “Angie? How?”

“My boss,” Bob said, “you know the guy currently in the oval office, he tells me that the old press secretary, whatever his name was, and this Oldham guy, were sitting in on the meeting that decided to turn her and Caldwell into instant heroes. I kind of got the impression it was their idea.”

That hit Patty in the gut. She thought back to over a year ago and remembered what Bob had told her then, that the media coverage was likely what had made Angie a target. Still, somewhat in shock, she asked, “is this about those other people, you know, the ones with the large round table?”

“Probably,” Bob replied. Because of Patty, and for her personally, he had kept tabs on the CIA and DIA’s investigation into Angie’s disappearance. They really never turned up much more than what that Patterson girl had originally. It was just like Sergeant Angela Thompson had vanished off the face of the Earth and, these days, that was literally possible. “Course, when you look back now, it could have just as easily been the elves. Who knows. We don’t have much more than what you and Caldwell told us. You know that better than the people that interviewed you.”

Patty stayed in deep thought until Bob picked up his brief case and reached the door. He then told her in a very serious way, “be careful over there. It’s a lot more dangerous, right now, than you know.”

That actually gave Patty a shiver. She asked him, “is there something you’re holding out on me?”

Bob thought about it and then said, “yes.” He walked out.

Patty lingered in bed a little longer but, not for as long as she would have liked. She had packed most everything the night before but, there were always those last minute things. She still made it to Reagan International, in plenty of time, and actually had to wait a little before boarding. She actually caught up on her sleep while flying across the Atlantic. She figured she had enough rest when she landed at Heathrow. It was times like this that she actually envied Bob. When he flew to Coven Hill, he got to fly all the way there because he was on a government plane. Patty had to board the supersonic train that they built to run up there from London. You got right on it at Heathrow but, it would be so much easier to just step right off where you wanted to be.

Sometimes, when dealing with issues concerning Coven Hill, the Dell, and Feyland, Patty felt like she was stepping back in time. Waiting for a train was definitely one of those moments. Then she looked across the platform and saw the elves unloading down on the other end. That made her feel like she had either just stepped back into the dark ages or, was in some outer space movie. Yet there they were, going about their business like they had flat ears, and nobody even paid them any attention at all. Patty found it strange how much times had changed in just a few short years. She found it equally strange how most people didn’t even notice, or, was it just that they didn’t care?

It seemed as if it took more time getting on the train than the actual ride itself. Patty watched the English countryside fly by at an incredible speed. She had to remind herself that she was traveling faster than the speed of sound and doing it while still on the ground. Most jet pilots have never flown so fast, so low. Patty also had to remind herself that the whole of the British Isles was smaller than most US States. All of Europe was pretty compact and, even though Patty had spent plenty of time here, she often had to remind herself of that fact after spending prolonged time at home.

Then there was Coven Hill. Every time she came back here it was different. They were working on the place the last time she was here and they were still working on it now. They were making incredible progress as well. While Patty was waiting to get checked into her room, she was standing in the lobby of the housing set aside for journalists. She noticed the pictures up on the wall, across from the front desk. They had pictures of Coven Hill that were as recent as only four years ago. There was that mound, now called Building 13, and it was sitting in the middle of a cow pasture. It was open range as far as you could see with the only structure being some manner house up on a far hill. Patty wondered about that. She had never noticed it before.

Her hotel room was different from the last one which, was different from the one before that. Patty had been here many times now and she had never stayed in the same room twice. For one thing, as they added on, they kept changing the area’s designated for journalists. For another, they had more rooms than they had people to put in them. The housing units were basically three story motels with outside doors and breezeways. There were so many new ones up now that Patty had lost count of how many rooms they had but, it was far more than they currently needed.

It was going on three and half years since the discovery of the Dell and, still, average people were not allowed here. There was no tourist trade, no vacationers, not even day tripping sight seers. With the war going on it was kind of understandable and, like everyone else, Patty had just assumed that it would be coming one day. The more time that went by, however, the more Patty began to wonder about that. Right now, to get to Feyland, you had to have a damn good reason. They didn’t just take your reasons at face value either. They checked you out from top to bottom. Patty had been here so much that many of the clerks knew her on a first name basis but, even so, they checked her out every single time.

A lot of that had to do with the elves. Patty had met enough of them to know that they were not exactly thrilled at the idea of human tourists. They were also apprehensive about mankind’s track record with things like terrorism. Patty supposed she could not blame them. There were already rumors, floating around, about how middle eastern terrorists had already tried to attack this place. Patty could not find a single shred of evidence that it was true but, the idea itself was a powerful one.

Elves seemed to have an easier time getting to earth. In fact, at the beginning, people were screaming for them to send more representatives. The Elves always promised there was more to come. That seemed to be something they were good at. Not following through with those promises seemed to be their second most proficient skill. Patty had noticed but, like with most things, few people noticed and even fewer cared. Sometimes that made Patty wonder if she was doing her job right.

After napping away some of the exhaustion of travel, Patty found herself unable to get back to sleep. Her body was still mixed up about what time it was and, quite possibly, she might should have stayed awake on the flight. When her attempts to sleep proved to be futile, she figured she would go see what was new here. Patty had never really got to see the indoor mall. The one time that she actually had a prolonged stay here, waiting to go over to Feyland with the Rangers, the mall wasn’t finished yet. Neither was the big Feyland welcome center. People were raving all over the internet about the welcome center. Clips of it were showing up on every social media sight there was.

It was interesting to Patty, as she stood there looking at that giant two story statue of Solenceaus the Twenty-Second. She had seen the real guy, in his own palace even, and he was not anywhere near as interesting as his stone counterpart. It was surrounded by a fountain and the statue literally looked like it was walking on water. Every thirty minutes, a light and water show would start up. It was pretty spectacular and the video’s could not do it justice. The lights reflecting off the water gave the curved entrance, to the welcome center, a constant shimmering glare.

Most of the mall was closed right now. The shops had been finished and stocked, all duty free, only they were not yet running the planned twenty four/seven schedule. Patty figured, why should they? There just weren’t enough people, that were using this place, to warrant them being open but, not much around the clock. Of course, that only applied to civilians. Patty had noticed that there seemed to be a lot more soldiers at Coven Hill right now. Of course, that was only in passing because they weren’t allowed to visit area’s like the mall. Patty remembered that from her first visit with the Rangers. Those guys really bitched about it too.

That was why Patty found it interesting when she actually saw two soldiers, in full gear, standing in the middle of the mall. She wasn’t completely sure but, she guessed they were British. It was hard to tell with so many armies from so many countries stationed here. After a while, they all looked the same. These two guys were talking with two of the internal security guys. At first Patty figured they were both on patrol or, whatever they called it. Then one of the guys, in the more standard looking camouflage uniform, shoved one of the guys in black. Patty almost jumped for cover since all four of them were so heavily armed.

To Patty’s relief, the only weapon anybody pulled was a radio and that was one of the security guys. The two regular looking soldier types beat a hasty retreat for the outer doors. The guys in black gave chase and, Patty was just fine with that. What disturbed her even more than the little spectacle was what Bob had told her before she left. What did he know and, exactly how serious was it? The shoving match suddenly brought that warning home.

That’s when Patty decided to get a drink, she needed one and maybe it would help her get back to sleep. She wanted to get as much of that, before traveling to Feyland, as she could. She remembered how screwed up it was over there the last time. Fortunately, the one place that was never closed was the lounge. It was actually much bigger and far more plush than what the image of a ‘lounge’ conjured up. In fact, the place could give some of the swankiest clubs in NYC a run for their money, and a few in DC as well. Patty actually found herself excited about exploring and mingling.

As with the mall itself, there were not a great many people here but, there were a few. Patty got hit on before she got to the bar. The guy only asked her to dance and, he was kind of young and cute, so, she figured what was the harm? As they slid around on the dance floor he even gave her his name and screwed up doing it because he said it in that sexy northern English accent of his, “Captain Carter James. What’s your name?” Then he backed up and played it off as a joke, “don’t mind the Captain part. I’m not dressed for the occasion.”

Patty laughed, “it’s ok, I won’t rat you out to the MIB’s. And don’t worry, my boyfriend is a General.”

The guy became confused and then he said, “that was a joke, right?” Patty shook her head, no, and then James asked, “he’s not a well armed General by any chance, is he?”

Patty really laughed now, “do you know any other kind?”

“Good point,” at least the guy was laughing back. Then he stopped chuckling and Patty realized it was not because of her. His eyes were fixed across the room and focused on the front doors. She looked and saw what had obviously drawn his concern. Three security guys came walking in. Two of them were like the guys who had been out in the mall, or, maybe they were even the same two. They had on armor, helmets, and carried those big guns that made Patty shiver.

The third man, the one who lead them in, was wearing the black uniform but, minus all the gear. He even had a bare head which was pretty uncommon for military types who seemed to have a hat fetish. There was no mistaking the guy for what he was though, a soldier. Patty had seen eyes like his more than once. They were scanning, they were alert, and she felt the danger radiating from them. Apparently, so did Captain James. He excused himself and quietly ducked out the back door.

After being stood up by her ‘date,’ Patty ordered a drink and went and sat in the part of the lounge that wasn’t being saturated by dance music. This place was almost empty, peaceful, and modestly decorated when compared to the rest of the club. Patty sat down alone but, another lone woman, got up and joined her, asking, “mind the company?”

Patty wondered about this woman. She was not a journalist because Patty knew them all by at least their faces and most by name. The girl had a most definite British accent but, it almost sounded like it was blunted by something else. Patty couldn’t exactly pick out the region the girl hailed from. Patty was just not that good with their accents.

“I’m so glad you let me join you,” the woman said with a nervous edge. She too was looking somewhere else and, this time, when Patty followed the eyes she was surprised to find them locked on the exact same guy that the Captain had been so concerned about. The woman explained to Patty, “If I’m with someone then he most likely won’t come an make an ass out of himself.”

That got Patty to thinking and she just had to ask, “do you work here or something?”

The question obviously surprised the lady with the jet black hair that Patty would kill for. “Oh no, no, heaven’s no. It’s just, well, I grew up with him and, he can be rather annoying at times. I really don’t feel like talking with him now.”

Patty got it, “won’t take no for an answer?”

The woman nervously sighed, “that’s putting it mildly.” The woman extended a hand for a shake, “I’m Carol.” Patty returned the favor and the woman blushed, “yes miss Walsh, I do know who you are. I’ve seen you on the television.”

That was not something that was exactly unique. It happened to Patty all the time but, she was glad that this time, it was someone who was being polite about it. Patty decided to keep it that way by changing the subject, “I just have to ask Carol, I love your accent. Where are you from?”

“New York,” the woman replied and left Patty somewhat surprised. Then Carol laughed at her, “yes, I suppose that I get that as much as you do the annoying comments about your broadcasts.”

That also surprised Patty, “you seem to know the ins and outs of my business.”

“Of course I do,” Carol replied, “it’s kind of my business too. So, are you traveling to Feyland or returning?”

Patty knew a doge when she heard it but, now was not the time to ask, “on the way. Things have kind of heated up there now and…”

That drew concern on Carol’s face and, Patty recognized it was not the kind that people had when they heard a disturbing report on the news. It looked, even sounded, almost personal when Carol asked, “the war? Did something happen?”

“Oh I’m sorry Carol,” Patty replied, “no it’s nothing like that. Last I heard, that guy Hammond said all is in hand. I meant it’s heating up news wise. You heard about that missing soldier they found. Well it’s really hitting in the ratings right now. I’m kind of considered the,” Patty made quotes with her fingers, “expert on all that. I was there when she went missing.”

It was very interesting to Patty how Carol did not reply with all of the usual things. She didn’t say, “oh that’s horrible,” or “I hope she will be all right,” or any of that other meaningless garbage. Instead, she said, “yes, I did notice how that story knocked the elf temple story right into the scroll bars. It certainly is getting a lot more traction now but, I suppose that is to be expected. She was such a lovely girl before.”

Not only was Patty dying of curiosity about Carol but, the way she ended that statement really peaked Patty’s interest so she asked, “you’ve seen recent pictures of her? I mean other than that crappy one the Pentagon released.”

“Oh yes,” Carol replied. It was now obvious to Patty that the woman realized she had said too much. Then Carol did what Patty was hoping for. Carol took the ‘only way out of this is through it’ approach, “she looked horrible. That Pentagon photograph was doctored, I believe.”

“Um,” Patty licked her lips and tried to figure out how to ask this question. She had to know how this woman came by this information. Then, unfortunately, Patty lost the chance when a guy came wandering over to join them. He was clean cut, well built, had on a nice pair of slacks and a polo styled shirt. He walked right up to the table with a smile on his face and a beer in hand. He looked at the women and said, “you two ladies look as if you could use some more company.”

Damn! Patty was trying to figure out how to run this guy off when Carol excused herself and then got up and left. That left Patty groaning and alone with the guy. Just like with Carol, the only way she saw to be done with it was through it. She patted the chair next to her and the guy did not hesitate sitting down. He also seemed to know who she was.

“So are you looking for an autograph? Cause anything else and, I have to warn you, my boyfriend is heavily armed,” Patty told the guy.

The guy thought about it and asked, “really? What’s he got?”

Patty acted like she thought about it and then acted perky as she told him, “an airborne division I think.”

Again, the guy laughed and replied with, “can’t be Hammond. You’re way too classy for him.”

Now Patty’s radar went up. Most people didn’t know those kinds of details unless they were in the military. This guy was certainly cut that way and, as she studied him even closer, she realized there was something very familiar about him, “do I know you?”

The guy played it off, “I don’t think so. Just call me Dutton.”

Patty played a hunch, “say again, Dutton or Sutton?”

He didn’t react to the ‘say again’ part. That wasn’t a certainty but, that was almost an exclusively military way of saying, repeat. The military drilled it into the heads of their people even if Patty still didn’t know why.

Then Dutton just laughed that off and said, “doesn’t matter. It’s not my real name anyway.”

Now Patty was a little more than alarmed because as much as he laughed, he was not joking. She almost stood up saying, “I think I better go. I have an early day over at processing tomorrow.”

“Somerset,” the guy said. It was enough to stop Patty in her tracks. When she looked at him for clarification, or in this case confirmation, the guy acted business like and said, “you were just talking to Carol Somerset.” Then he made eye contact and told her, “and I think you know who she is.”

Patty sat back down and she was dead serious this time, “who are you?”

“Let’s just say,” this Dutton guy told her, “that I’m in the navy and lets leave it at that.”

He could have been but, Patty just got a sense that the guy was not an operator, what the Navy called their SEAL’s. She probed, “you’re in the wrong waters sailor. No military allowed over here.”

“I am,” Dutton said with a twinkle in his eye. That told Patty plenty. This guy was a spook. What did he want?

He didn’t waste any time ether. He reached into his pocket. Patty was not expecting a gun though, his pants were way too tight for that. What he did pull out was a crumpled envelop. The bright stripped borders told her that it was an elf envelop. She had seen plenty of those over there. He shoved it out on the table and left it there. Finally he had to nod for Patty to pick it up and when she did, the guy stood up, nodded again, and then vanished as quickly as he had appeared.

The letter was addressed like an elf would but, it was written in English. The handwriting was messy and hard to actually read but, as Patty studied it closer she was definitely able to make out two letters in the backwards looking street address. “P - A? Pennsylvania?”