Power (River Sunday Romance Mysteries Book 8) Page 11

  He looked at the sky above the hold. “First we get the cardboard box out of this hold.”

  Ringo called to the man running the crane above the hold. “Get me a cable coming to me with some grapple on the front.”

  Captain Jimmy asked, “You think it won’t blow up if we move it?”

  “I’ll take a look inside to see what we are up against.”

  Ringo moved closer to the box. “I don’t hear any noise. I suspect it is to be set off with a cell phone message to a phone inside.”

  The whine of the hoist let them know the cable was descending. When it reached them, Loggerman opened the grapple - a multi-fingered device which could grab the sides of the box.

  “So far so good,” he said.

  Ringo peeled back one of the flaps of the box. He started inside and said, “It’s for sure a bomb. From what I can see it’s got enough explosive to do big damage. I can’t see the detonator but it looks like a cell phone setup.”

  The box was attached and it ascended.

  “What next?” asked Loggerman.

  “We deep six it. If they explode it later we will be a long way away. Folks around her might see a big spray of water go up in the air. We can’t be sure whether the phone will work either under water. The police can salvage it.”

  The crane moved the box in the grapple out over the water alongside the ship. It was lowered into the water. It sank quickly.

  “Let’s get the ship a few hundred yards away toward the Chesapeake. If they blow it then it will miss us.”

  The loading resumed after the ship was anchored downstream. Loggerman and Ringo looked out over the bay water. The box had stayed resting on the bottom in the growing shadows of the afternoon. They studied the farm fields near the bomb site. “The cornfield on the shore near the bomb might get a little rain if she could go off,” said Ringo. “Haw. Haw,” he said with his big grin.

  They watched.

  “Hey man, there she is.” Ringo pointed to the box, bouncing and moving towards shore with the tide. The top of the box appeared above water.

  “It’s in the air. The Tinkers can send a message to the exposed antenna. Glad she’s away from us.”

  Without warning, an explosion threw bits of cardboard and a torrent of water into the sky. Some of the stevedores and longshoremen working on the deck towards the stern yelled about getting drenched.

  “Apparently the woman got home to spread the word to her greenie friends,” Ringo said. “Haw. Haw.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  When he returned to River Sunday, he went directly to Doctor Mike’s clinic. In front of her house, Big Ben had parked his truck, still loaded with his garden tractor. Loggerman stood at the door for a moment in the twilight. Inside, he heard Ben’s husky voice. He went inside and found the doctor and Ben talking in the kitchen.

  They smiled as Loggerman came in. Ben immediately asked, “Did we get any information they can use in Washington?”

  “I don’t know,” Loggerman said. “Did anyone see your boat in the night?”

  “Everyone in town knows my boat. It’s hard to say.”

  “We have news about his brother, the sheriff,” Doctor Mike said with a grimace. Her face showed tears.

  Big Ben motioned to her and said, “I’ll tell it all now he’s here, Doctor Mike.”

  He leaned against the counter, his head down. His right hand moved up and down to accent his words as he spoke. “See, I was sitting in the rowboat waiting with the mosquitoes. Pretty soon, I realized I had once been a pretty good policeman. Matter of fact, I would have been named Sheriff if Tinker’s people had not gotten in thick with my brother. Out in the river darkness, I also realized the only reason I was there with you two was Gramps had faith in me. He trusted me. It was the first time anyone in a long time respected me.”

  Loggerman said, “You risked a lot waiting for us in the boat. You might have been seen.”

  “I was almost hoping they shot me. I ain’t got any pride anymore. Nothing worth saving. See, I’ve been here all my life. When I was a cop I loved getting justice done. In those days we had a nice town. Makes me feel bad to see these Tinker guys in charge. All I can do is keep my head down like my brother wants. He sees his people don’t bother me or my family.”

  “Your family?”

  He sighed. “Ok, they have a mortgage on my property, too, so I can’t get out, move away.”

  Doctor Mike said, “I didn’t know it was so bad. Why did the sheriff take after his own relative?”

  Big Ben hesitated. “I decided to come here about the truth. I got to tell you, Doctor Mike. I know about your brother’s death.”

  She gasped and put her hand to her forehead. She asked, in a grim voice, “What do you know, Ben?”

  “It’s why the Sheriff retired me. I knew too much.”

  “He threatened you?”

  “He told me he didn’t want to kill me. He said too many family members would ask questions. He talked about my wife and all. He instead retired me. Of course he controlled the pension payments. He went around claiming I was hurt on the job protecting citizens. People thought I was a hero but the real story was he forced me to keep quiet.”

  “You were hurt.”

  “He made it all up.”

  He continued to look at the floor. “I see you and Gramps trying to put these guys down. I can’t sit by no more, not tell what I know.”

  He went on. “Your brother and I spent a lot of time together, fishing, hunting. You know I used to visit all the time. So one night we were talking out by the pool. He said, ‘Bennie, I found out something real bad and I want to go to the River Sunday police about it.’ ”

  “ ‘Hey,’ I said, ‘Tell me. You sound pretty worried. What is it, a robbery or something?’ ”

  “He was quiet for a while, then said, ‘Someone has been molesting a student girl up at the Institute.’ ”

  “ ‘Oh, for God’s Sake,’ I said. “See, those kids, young men and women were being trained to work in the cities with folks interested in Energy and the Tinker Institute. They were like promoters of the cause.”

  “Anyway, Tinker wasn’t involved, he told me. He said while it was going on, he was too drunk. It was the punk Whithers, the one who sneaks around. Ferrars is protecting him. He said he needs him to run all the computers so it’s being hushed up.”

  “Was my wife involved in the cover-up?” asked Loggerman

  “Can’t say she wasn’t. Doctor Mike, your brother told me Elizabeth kept shut because she loved Ferrars. She was pretty close to Tinker for years. When Ferrars come into the organization she switched to him. Spire was the one in charge of the volunteers so Spire might have been involved. She might even have been molesting the girl herself. He said, ‘I wouldn’t trust any of them, Bennie.’ ”

  Ben continued, “When the girl threatened to go to the police, she disappeared. Your brother was told about this.”

  “Who told him?”

  “He didn’t say. Apparently there is someone up there who is honest. So your brother wanted to report to his Baltimore newspaper editor what he had been told. He was also going to go to the compound and demand to talk with the volunteers. I told him to wait until I informed the sheriff. I suspected my brother was in tight with Ferrars because he had recently received a big salary increase, more than the town could ever afford. On the other hand I thought he would do the right thing about a sex crime and rape.”

  He looked up at Doctor Mike. “Your brother thanked me for helping him get the attention of the River Sunday law.

  “You see, I made the mistake of reporting to my brother. After I had finished relating all this information, he looked at me in a way I’ll never forget. I saw a stranger, standing in his office, his gray sheriff uniform with the gold fringes all pressed so clean. He seemed like he had nothing warm in his body, ice in his blood.

  “ ‘Benny,’ my brother said, ‘We’ll talk about what to do. Let’s go for patrol tonight, you and me, in my squ
ad car. Make the rounds together like old times. We haven’t been out on a ride together for a long time’

  “He came to pick me up in the evening with a present for my daughter. He visited with my wife. We took off and pretty soon we were near the River Sunday Airport. My brother turned off his lights and stopped, engine idling, down the road from the airport.

  “For some reason your brother went by us and drove in to the entrance for parking. Maybe he wanted to send some material by airplane shuttle to Baltimore. I don’t know. I said, ‘Let’s go talk to him.’ I hit my door handle. The sheriff ordered, ‘No, we wait.’

  “It was getting dark. Your brother sat in his car for a few minutes and then backed out. He headed for the other exit about a hundred yards from us. I saw another car start up in the lot and follow your brother. The two cars drove towards town over a very dark high crown road.

  “My brother started up and followed them. We got close. The following car went right up behind your brother. I could see your brother trying to pull to the side of the road to get out of its way.

  “Unfortunately he slid off the road into the deep ditch at the side. I saw a farm tractor, big one, parked in the ditch ahead of him.

  “Your brother crashed right into the farm machine. He didn’t stand a chance. The tractor transmission ended up in the front seat of your brother’s car, splitting his vehicle’s body in two.

  “The other car went right on by and disappeared. It had no license plate. I never saw it again.

  “We parked and went to the car. He was dead, trapped under all the bent metal with his blood everywhere. The sheriff called it in. Nothing we could do so we sat in the cruiser. We waited until the ambulance came along and then we followed it back to River Sunday.

  “ ‘Guess nothing more to do on accident,’ the sheriff said to me.

  “ ‘Why?’ I asked. ‘We need to find the car caused the wreck.’

  “ ‘He’s long gone. Never seen car around here.’

  “ ‘Sheriff, this is murder,’ I said.

  “My brother slowed the cruiser and pulled to the said of the road. The road had become wider and we parked in a sandy space.

  “He turned off the engine and said, ‘Ben, you sure don’t know anything. When we get back to town you are going to settle up with the department and retire. About time you spend more time with your family.’

  “ ‘I don’t think I can do that. I want to investigate this murder.’

  “He said, ‘Whatever you think you know, I’ll make sure if you talk it will end you up in jail as an accessory. You want to go to jail, brother?’

  “I didn’t say anything.

  “ ‘You keep your mount shut, then. You got a nice wife and little girl and you sure as hell don’t want anything to happen to them.’ ”

  He said in a low voice, “I did what I was told.”

  After Ben left they sat on the back porch again. Both of them had a stiff drink. Bugs were crashing on the screen panels.

  She turned to him, “Would you stay with me tonight?”

  He reached out and held her close. The sorrow of loss was in their eyes. Like animals grasping for a perch out of thick mud trapped them, they had found firm ground.

  He said, “If you had not asked me, I would have asked you.”

  “I know,” she answered.

  He said, “Africa is not much different than here.”

  “I know. I think of those places outside of River Sunday as having better sunlight and better stars. I know is not true.”

  “I like the people though.”

  “There are good people here, too.”

  “I think I am building something there.”

  “Maybe you are. I still think I have an opportunity here.”

  “Yes, your animals.”

  He was quiet for a few minutes, looking out at the backyard. Tripod nuzzled his boot. He said, “All this freedom talk by Cole Tinker. Here in the States I see it as part of the way folks live. It is almost an expectation. When I grew up in Maine, life was different. I worked for my father and got paid for my hours. Nothing was given to me without work.”

  “You want to go back to your childhood?”

  He laughed. “No, too late. Besides I found out about girls.” He squeezed her hand. “I felt good, though, in those days. I feel good in Africa working for Joe Henry. So do a lot of us in New City. We earn our money and progress with the company. I know there are free programs from the government like there are here, but the people who work for us like making their own money. It is freedom, they tell me.”

  “I like what you say, but I’m too involved with the life here. I know I have more restraints than I did when I was little. The cost of living; the constant licensing and supervision by the government of my job. I’ve learned to cope. I’m not sure I can survive in a free environment without expecting someone to observe me or allow me.”

  “Yes, everything has changed. If I lived here I would feel the same way. I’d be in favor of the free energy, too, from the beneficial all-knowing government.”

  He went on, “I had this old friend in Africa. He was a chief and his family owned most of the land around us. He leased land to us and helped us fight the terrorists. We seemed to have a new brand of terrorist every year.” He smiled. “The chief was like a godfather to my little daughter in those days. He’d take Stephanie out on the river and teach her to sail.”

  He was quiet for a moment, and then moved his hand in the air. “He was pretty old when I knew him. Back in the years before World War Two he bought an airplane from a European farmer. It was an American Waco biplane. He painted it bright red and managed to keep it flying. He’d buzz over our houses and oil rigs and tip his wings.”

  “You loved him,” she said.

  “I guess we all did. One night he and I were sitting just like this on my porch looking out at the river. Something he said to me I have never forgotten. He said, and I can hear him now, his rough voice in the dark, ‘Loggerman, you talk all this time about America and freedom. Way you say it, freedom is free.’ He’d chuckle and add, ‘You know as well as me nothing is really free.’ ”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Saturday

  Eddison texted him as he dressed for the trip to Baltimore.

  “I know that you are attending the Tinker speech in Baltimore tonight. I wanted to inform you crowds of anti-Tinker activists will be on the street. We expect some of the protests will be violent.”

  Loggerman said, “So far I haven’t seen much of the anti types. The crowds I have dealt with at the ship have all been pro-Tinker. One farmer tried to hurt Tinker in River Sunday. Ferrars arrested him and I suspect his men beat him in the River Sunday jail. It wasn’t a major national protest.”

  “We see an undercurrent of people who don’t like the Tinker program. They think it is socialism. They are beginning to go to the streets to engage the Tinker people. We don’t know how strong they are.”

  He added another text, “In addition, we are watching several cities tonight where we see unrest. Large groups of Tinker supporters have joined local crowds. So far there has been no violence.”

  Loggerman called in to Eddison and asked, “Why did you pick these cities to watch?”

  Eddison replied in a worried voice, “The material on the computer that you found for us indicated this date for a major Tinker activity. The speech is part of it. We think the utility companies in those areas may be due for some kind of attack, perhaps a blackout.

  “We have military and police teams in the areas. These are firms not in the Tinker Institute membership. We think the mobs will protest the companies. Then a blackout of part of the city will occur. The blackout with be brief and the crowds will disperse. We can expect the targeted company will join Tinker Institute within a few days. You see, we know that much of the electric grid is in the membership of Tinker Institute. These firms seem to be held to the Institute by Tinker in some kind of blackmail. The managers will not discuss the arrange
ments with the government officials. We think they are afraid the Institute will again affect their power output in their market territories.”

  Loggerman observed, “Do you think it is possible that the Institute could force the US government into accepting the Tinkers as a power in the energy business, something like a giant blackout and blackmail? It would be a huge grab of the energy output of the country. How do you stop it?”

  “We plan for the best we can do. We call their bluff if we have to and fight to regain control of the energy facilities they control. However, these people have an immense following, like a major political party with millions of fans following on social media.”

  Eddison added. “Keep your head down. What are you going to say when you get on that podium?”

  “I talked with Joe Henry this morning. He said to be polite with these guys. He said, ‘You and I been together for a long time. We have built up a pretty good company and a city that really helps some of the local people. Yet,’ he said, ‘this Tinker thing may reach here. Our trucks might run into militias from the local towns, or bandits or terrorists who don’t like us. I am assuming that you understand that. We don’t get out of our trucks and take on a lot of nasty people with guns. Instead we bargain or pay our way through the roadblock. So my advice to you as a company man is to get that ship loaded and get the hell out of there. If you have to give a speech to accomplish that, do it as a bargain and afterward get back to your crew and start the engines.’

  “I replied, ‘Joe I can’t argue with that.’ ”

  Eddison asked, “What about Stephanie?”

  “I’m going up there to see her. It’s the deal Ferrars promised.”

  “At our end, we will keep trying to find where she is. So you will say good things about the Tinker Institute?”

  “Well, Henry is not going to join them for sure. On the other hand, I’ll say the energy movement has some good points.”

  By early afternoon, Ferrars sent the Tinker limousine to pick him up. Loggerman was dressed in a blue suit with white shirt and tie. The suit pants covered his work boots.