Blue Bloods of Bois D’Arc (23 page)

Chapter 53

After the fire

Rod made it home just in time to watch the family open their gifts from under the trees scattered throughout the house. Cass’s anger at Rod for leaving the dinner had cooled down to a low simmer. Everyone appeared visibly relieved when he arrived and the party resumed its cheerful holiday mood.

“So glad you could make it back,” Cass coolly greeted Rod when he entered the large room circled with family members. She leaned in and gave him a chilly kiss that barely brushed his cheek and whispered, “We’ll talk later. Let’s try to enjoy the rest of the evening.”

Cass took charge as master of ceremonies, while Rod was assigned to collect all the wrappings in a large trash bag. Everyone received a gift they had to open in front of the group and model it if it was clothing. The gifts were personalized, but not extravagant. Most were items such as sweaters and blouses for the women, except for Jessica, who received a skimpy transparent black negligee. The card read,
Merry Christmas and happy honeymoon
.

“I appreciate the sentiment,” she said, blushing, “but it may be a while before I will wear this since Renaldo has another year of law school.” She held up the Neiman Marcus item and got chuckles and whistles from the audience, “And I’m definitely not modeling it for you.”

The men got the more traditional gifts of shirts, sweaters, and ties, but not just any shirt, sweater and tie. Cass had done all her shopping at Neiman Marcus in Dallas and all the shirts and ties as well as the sweaters and blouses had Neiman Marcus personal labels in them, even the black negligee.

Everyone had received a gift but Cass and Rod. The crowd waited with great anticipation to see what their hosts would give each other.

“It’s my turn to be master of ceremonies.” Rod stepped forward, put his arm around Cass and said, “I apologize for disrupting the wonderful dinner you ladies prepared. I will be eating turkey and
crow
all next week.” The comment got a laugh from everyone except Cass, who managed a strained smile. “If you all will accompany me to the front porch, we can all get a good look at my gift to the love of my life.” The group straggled toward the front door.

“No, no, not now!” Cass panicked. “Let me give you your gift first, and then we can all go to the front porch.”

Taken aback, Rod responded, “Sure, whatever you want,
dear
,” he said. “This had better be good.”

“Don’t worry, it will be. Now everyone go back to your seats in the den for a moment.” When everyone was seated, Cass said, “Stay right there. I’ll be back in a second.” She turned and ran to the front door and vanished outside. At a loss, Rod shrugged.

Cass quickly returned to her guests. “Is everyone in their seat? You sit here,” she motioned to Rod pointing to a chair that had its back to the front door.

Rod sat in his designated chair and looked up at her. “What’s going on?”

“You’ll see, just sit here and don’t ask questions.” She turned toward the front door and placed her right thumb and index finger to the corners of her mouth and sent an ear-piercing whistle across the room.

Her Gramps had taught her how to whistle like that in their backyard when she was just a little girl. As a teenager, Margaret cringed every time she did it and forbade her to do it in public. It just wasn’t proper for a young lady to behave in such a tomboy manner. This was an emergency and the only way to set her long planned surprise for Rod in motion. She looked at Margaret with a smile and silently mouthed, “Sorry.”

Everyone’s ears were still ringing from the shrill whistle when a fat, jolly Santa Claus came bursting into the house with a hearty, “Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas, everyone.” He was followed by two costumed elves pushing a refrigerator-sized box wrapped as a Christmas present with a huge red bow on top. They wheeled the oversized present to the center of the room in front of a dozen pairs of surprised eyes.

Once again, Cass took center stage. “I saved the best for last. Rod, come and open your present.”

Rod cautiously eyed the huge gift-wrapped box, then asked Cass, “Is something going to jump out of that box at me? I’ve already had all the surprises I can handle for one
night.”

A flustered Cass replied, “Why don’t you open it and find out. Give the ribbon a yank and see for yourself,” Cass said.

Rod approached the big box, eyeing Cass with each step. He reached the box, grabbed the ribbon and yanked it as hard as he could. To his surprise, the sides of the box fell open and exposed a fifty-five-inch color rear-projection TV. Rod was speechless. Cass had come to his side. He took her in his arms and gave her a passionate kiss, drawing a chorus of ahhs from the family.

“How did you know I had been looking at one of these? I couldn’t be more surprised. How did you get it out here this time of night?”

“Oh, I have my ways. Now you can watch the big game tomorrow almost life-size. I called TJ and told him you’d be watching and wished him luck.” It was her most elaborate effort yet to have Rod spend more time at home.

Still in awe of the huge screen, Rod watched as the technicians disguised as elves quickly hooked it up and tuned it to
It’s a Wonderful Life.
Mary Virginia had told
Cass it was
Rod’s favorite movie after he watched it during two lonely Christmas days at Shimya Air Force Base with a crew of homesick airmen.

It was approaching midnight before the movie ended. Everyone exchanged Christmas wishes and hugs, and the party was over. Gramps was the last one out and got one last hug from his beloved granddaughter. The silence was welcomed while Rod and Cass caught their breath.

“Oh, my God,” Suddenly Rod turned to Cass. “In all the excitement about the TV I completely forgot about your Christmas present. I’m so sorry. Your gift threw me for such a loop, I just forgot. And I’m also sorry about leaving in the middle of dinner. You’re such a rock. I don’t know what I would do without you. Everything was really great thanks to you and both our moms. And let’s not forget Essie’s wonderful recipes.”

Cass pressed her index finger against his lips. “Shut up and let’s go to bed. It’s been a long day and I don’t want to argue. I want to see just how sorry you are about dinner tonight.”

“Okay, but first you have to at least take a peek at your Christmas present. Come on.” He led a not-so-willing Cass by the hand outside past the front porch and to the far corner of the driveway in front of their multiple-car garage.

“Okay, so what am I looking for? It’s dark and cold out here,” said Cass sarcastically.

“Look a little harder,” Rod urged his uncooperative wife.

Cass walked closer to a large, black lump sitting just beyond the edge of the garage light’s beam. The closer she got, the more animated she became. “Did you buy me a new car?”

“Why don’t you pull that tarp off and see for yourself?”

With that encouragement, she grabbed the corner of the tarp and whipped it off in one graceful motion. She screamed and leapt into Rod’s arms, and locked her legs around his waist. “I can’t believe it. Where did you find it? Oh my God, thank you,” and smothered him with kisses. “This is only a down payment for later.”

Cass released her grip on Rod and walked slowly around the car. She stroked it softly with her hand as if she were caressing a fine animal. Rod had tracked it down after Roger used it as a trade-in for her new BMW convertible. While she liked her BMW, she was sad to lose the T-Bird that had a history dear to her heart. The completely restored, red 1956 T-Bird had been in desperate need of repair when Rod found it.

It was in better condition now than when her Gramps bought it for her sixteenth birthday. It was previously owned when she saw it on a Dallas used car lot, fell in love with it, and had to have it. Ford had stopped producing the single-seat sports car by then, but she chose it over a new Corvette favored by Gramps.

She returned to Rod and pressed against his body for warmth. It was after midnight and the temperature had dropped noticeably. “What a perfect Christmas gift,” she said softly. “It brings back many fond memories.” She abruptly pulled away from him. “I’m still mad at you for skipping out on dinner. But right now I’m cold and want to go to bed. You have a lot to make up for, leaving me here to handle everything by myself. But, out of the goodness of my heart”—she flashed a wicked smile—“I’m giving you the opportunity to make amends. Then I’ll decide if I forgive you. It may take some time for you to repay that debt.”

With arms entwined tightly around each other’s waists, they headed into the warm house for what would surely be a memorable conclusion to their first disruptive Christmas together after their much-delayed wedding.

Chapter 54

The morning after

“I forgive you.”

“What did you say?” Rod rolled over on his side, facing Cass, blinking his eyes trying to wake up. It was the day after Christmas. Oddly, he felt hung over. He hadn’t had anything to drink except a few sips of wine for the dinner toast. Still there was a little hammer pounding away inside his head as he thought of what he faced back at work.

“I said I forgive you for leaving last night.” Cass propped up on her elbow almost nose to nose with Rod. “Your apology was definitely worth the fight. Maybe we should have more fights so we can make up like the old days at the golf course . . . just kidding. I know the fire was a serious matter and needed your attention. But, seriously, you have been a little neglectful of your husbandly duties when you come home late from work almost every night too exhausted to wake me up and kiss me good night . . . or anything else. Please work on that, it can be your New Year’s resolution.”

“I’m sorry. You’re absolutely right,” he said, fully awake now, rubbing her nose with his, giving her Eskimo kisses. “I
have
been neglecting you lately, and I promise to do better. That will definitely be my first New Year’s resolution—I promise to cut back on my work hours and be more attentive to
your
needs. I just need to learn to delegate,” he said with emphasis. “Only a crazy man would treat the most beautiful and wonderful wife in the world that way.”

“Keep talking, cowboy, we may just have an encore,” she said and pressed her firm, bare breasts against him, rolling Rod onto his back.

Looking perplexed, Rod said, “I really do need to go in for a little while today and check on the fire damage and see how the investigation’s going.”

“Excuse me? You just promised to pay more attention to my needs. You do know the company is shut down all week,” she said with a big smile. “I’m not hungry for breakfast and we have nothing else to do the rest of the morning. We can watch TJ’s game on your new big-screen TV this evening. So relax and enjoy the ride.” She pinned his wrists above his head against the mattress, teasing his lips with her nipples. Rod offered no resistance.

The dimly lit room smelled like a coffee house. It was six o’clock Monday morning at the sprawling vacant facility, thanks to a union-negotiated contract closing it down from Christmas until the day after New Year’s. Jack was on his second pot of coffee. Black and white images reflected against the glass wall of the conference room separating it from his and Rod’s office.

He had run the security tape over and over. There was no doubt Homer Jones was the charred body the firemen discovered in the aircraft after the fire was extinguished. He was seen entering the aircraft shortly before flames burst through the side panel where the computer navigation system was installed. He never came out.

A knock at the office door pulled his attention away from the security video. When Jack opened the door, Security Chief Johnson ushered in a man Jack didn’t recognize.

“Jack, this is Special Agent Manuel Garza from the Dallas FBI field office. He has been assigned to the case. He has top-secret clearance.”

“Welcome aboard, Special Agent Garza,” Jack said with a firm handshake. “It’s good to see you. I was just reviewing the security tapes. I trust Cal has briefed you on what we know so far. So why don’t you look at them with fresh eyes and let’s compare notes?”

Garza reviewed the tapes for nearly half an hour and then shut the machine off. “Mr. Workman—”

“Jack—please call me Jack.”

“Fine, and please call me Manny. Was the man on the tape the only employee in the hangar?”

“Yes, except for security guards who make rounds every thirty minutes. The company shuts down during the week between Christmas and New Year’s. He had no business being in the facility. As far as I know, he’s been a trusted employee for over ten years. I guess we’ll never know why or what he was doing on that aircraft. Manny, let me speak frankly. We have had a rash of accidents in the last couple of months, but only on this particular program. I think someone is trying to sabotage our effort here. We provide jobs for most of the people in this community and pay them well. I just don’t understand it. What’s your take on this situation?”

“Let me review your other security tapes and see if anything suspicious shows up. If they don’t turn up anything, I’ll go under cover if necessary. I have some engineering background. Maybe I can sniff something out.”

“That sounds great; Cal will set you up so you can watch tapes to your heart’s content. When can you start?”

“No time like the present.” Manny stood up and took off his coat and tie.

“Are you serious? Cal, do you mind briefing him on the equipment and pulling up the cameras where the Saudi aircrafts are located?”

“Sure thing, Jack, it’ll only take a few minutes. Why don’t you go home? You’ve been up here all night. I’ll stay here with Manny as long as he needs me. Go on, get out of here, we’ll take it from here and hope to have something more definite tomorrow.”

“Thanks, guys. Check you later.” Jack moved slowly, making his way toward the office door. He was exhausted and his legs were stiff. His head throbbed from the effects of skipping two doses of his blood pressure medicine. He hesitated at the top of the stairs until he got control of his balance.

“You okay, Mr. Workman?” the security guard called up to him on the mezzanine from the main lobby below. “Can I help you with anything?”

“Nah, Sam, I’m just a little tired. It’s been a long night since the fire. I’ll be okay.”

“Mr. Workman, you got a minute? I may have something about that fire.” Sam met Jack at the top of the stairs and held his right arm as Jack slowly descended down to the lobby and took a seat on a couch.

“What do you have for me, Sam? I’m all ears.”

“Well, me and some of the other guards have been hearing scuttlebutt that some guys had a burr under their saddle about this contract. Don’t know what it’s about, but one of the first-shift guards said he noticed the guy who got burned up in the fire had been acting funny for several weeks. He was always looking around like he thought somebody was watching him. He’s been spotted going into that plane by himself after the equipment had already been installed, tested, and signed off on. Don’t have any proof of anything, just a gut feeling that he was up to no good.”

“Was the aircraft he was seen entering the one that caught fire last night?”

“Yes, sir, that’s the one. Roy seen him messing around in that plane Friday night, the last work night before the holiday and again last night. Roy walked up and surprised him and asked him what he was doing there. There wasn’t supposed to be anybody on the facility, except us guards. He sort of stammered and said there were some last-minute things he had to finish up. Roy said he was going to check with the union steward and find out if he really was supposed to be out here. After Jones got burned up, he kind of forgot about it”

“Thanks, Sam, you’ve been a big help. I’ll follow up with Conrad tomorrow. If any of the other guards have seen anything suspicious, you’ll let me know, okay?” Too tired to go back upstairs to relay Sam’s information, Jack walked over to the receptionist’s desk at the front of the lobby and lifted the phone. He called his office. It rang several times before Cal answered.

“Jack? Where are you? I thought you would be on your way home.”

“I’m down in the lobby. I’ve been talking Sam. He told me Homer Jones had been acting strange for a few weeks before the fire. He was also seen on board the aircraft that caught fire. Pull his file photo and familiarize Manny with him so he can watch for anything out of the ordinary from Homer. I’m really leaving this time. I’ll see you tomorrow and compare notes with what Manny sees. Don’t stay any longer than you need to, Cal. It’s still the holiday. I hate to ask you to come in tomorrow, but we really need to get this thing solved.”

“Don’t worry about it, we Aggies know how to get things done. See you around ten tomorrow, Jack. You go on home and get some rest.”

Later that evening

Sitting in their den on the long couch in jeans and sweatshirts, Cass and Rod watched the first half of the division title game between the Rams and Minnesota Vikings playing on the Vikings’ frozen turf. The large screen made it look all the more painful. It felt like sitting on the sidelines, but without the freezing temperatures. The first half ended with the Rams trailing 17-0.

“The ten-degree temperature and zero wind chill factor is really affecting the Rams,” Rod said, shaking his head. “The blocked punt and two interceptions that led to scores in the first half is killing them. TJ and the guys better pick it up the next half or they’re done for.”

Rod got up and went into the kitchen. “Want a beer? I need something to pick me up.”

“No, I’m good, but I would like a back rub,” she replied. Taking every advantage of his time at home.

He returned with a beer and a bag of chips to refill the large bowl on the coffee table. He sat his beer down. “Turn around.” He began to massage her shoulders. “Why so tense?” She moved snugly between his spread legs. “Your shoulder muscles are tighter than guitar strings. What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. I feel like we’re sort of moving apart. It’s just another reason why I need you to come home at night. I think we may have fixed the other reason, at least for now.” She winked. “But, I want us to have more time together like we used to. The company will survive without you being there sixteen hours a day. You have good people working for you, use them to relieve some of the work load from your shoulders and my shoulders won’t be so tense with you here,” she said with her voice fading.

By the time Rod finished her massage, Cass was like putty in his hands. The third quarter started and Cass stretched out on the couch with her head in his lap. She was asleep in a matter of minutes. Coach Knox must have given his team one hell of a pep talk at half time. The Rams came out looking like a different team. Their opening drive caught the complacent Vikings flat-footed when TJ pulled in a screen pass in the flat in full stride.

“Yes, yes!” Rod leaped from the couch, almost dumping Cass on the floor. “All the way TJ!” Rod shouted. When TJ crossed the goal line, Rod punched the air with his fist and did a little victory dance. “Cass! Did you see that? TJ caught a short pass and took it sixty yards for a Rams touchdown!”

“Jesus, Rod, you nearly broke my neck. What happened? Is the game over?”

“No, the Rams just scored on their first possession of the second half. I think they have finally warmed up.” In a more tender voice, Rod said, “I’m sorry I got carried away. I didn’t mean to drop you. I think they may have a chance now. You can go back to sleep, I’ll try hold it down.” He planted soft kisses on her neck.

“Thanks, but I think I’ll just go lie down on the bed. You can tell me all about it later,” Cass said. She left Rod and forty-eight thousand cold, raucous fans to their ball game, not feeling convinced her little heart-to-heart had done any good.

It wasn’t to be. Late in the game, the players were tired and cold, just trying to keep warm between plays. The Rams scored again but couldn’t overcome the huge first-half deficit. After interviewing the game’s most valuable player
,
Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton, the game announcer, Pat Summerall, and his cameraman located TJ. He had just finished an interview with some California reporters and was still wrapped in a team parka trying to get warm.

“TJ, Pat Summerall here. You played a great game. It looked like your touchdown run sparked new life into the Rams. What was going through your mind when you caught that short pass out in the flat in the third quarter?”

“I knew I had my man beat and the strong safety was out of position. I knew I could score if I could outrun the other defensive back, who had to come clear across the field. These legs aren’t what they used to be, but they got me into the end zone. It was a big break. I thought we could come back and win the game. I give them credit. They were the better team today.”

“Do you think the cold weather gave them the advantage?”

“No, they were just as cold as we were. We made some mistakes early and they just outplayed us.”

“Your catch and run play was the biggest play of the game and your legs seemed to respond just fine this late in the season. You mentioned your legs, that brings up my next question. I’ve heard rumors this might be your last season. Anything to those rumors?”

“Well, I tell you Pat, it gets harder every year and takes longer to recover each Sunday after getting pounded every play. I’ve given it some thought, but won’t make a decision until next year. I’ll see how I feel after the off season and make my decision before reporting to next preseason camp.” TJ thanked the veteran announcer and trotted off the field to the warmth of the locker room for a hot shower.

TJ’s professional football career ended the day after Christmas on a bitter note. He wanted to go out a Super Bowl winner, but he knew his body wouldn’t take another grueling season for a shot at Super Bowl V next year. He wanted to come home to heal and celebrate New Year’s with his friends and family. The beautiful home he had built for his family would be his base of operation until he got rested. His two younger brothers had left home—one for the Army and the youngest for college where he was getting his teaching degree, thanks to TJ.