Chapter 29

It took less than one second for Jerry’s men to surround David Leigh and bring him down. He was handcuffed and dragged towards the stairs.

"It’s no good!" Jerry yelled. "I can see the flames coming up from the basement. There’s no telling what that blast did to the structure of the building. But we need to get out of here now! There’s nothing we can do for the girls."

"The window," Phillip panted, heavy with the dead weight that Leigh was. Leigh had long since decided that he would be of no help in getting them out of the building alive.

They turned back to the small window at the back of the room and opened it. It was a drop down to the ground level, but one that had to be made rather than risking the stairs.

"I’ll go out first," Jerry said with a determined look. "Then Mike. Then Andrew. Then dump him out. We’ll think about catching him but if he breaks his neck on the landing, too bad." And with those words, he dropped out of sight to the ground below, landing with a dull thud and a grunt. Mike and Andrew promptly followed, sensing that the fire had reached the bottom of the stairs. They could feel the heat rising through the floor beneath them. Phillip and Jake heaved David Leigh over the side who tried the last resort of clinging to the window. But as Phillip himself climbed over and purposely stepped on Leigh’s fingers, he let go, howling as he dropped. He was caught by Jerry, who glanced behind him only long enough to see Jake drop to the street just as he heard part of the upper room floor cave in.

"We need the fire department," Andrew yelled.

"I already hear a truck," was Mike’s reply. They were running as fast as they could down the street to get back to the front side of the building where they had left Matthew Wheeler, Jim, Mart and Regan. Jerry was having difficulty breathing as he wondered how he would break the news. Reaching Long Isle again, the fire truck was passing them as they reached the cross street.

"Go, go, go," Jerry yelled, motioning for Jake and Phillip to take over their captive. "There are two girls still in the basement of the building!" He ran, trying to catch up to the fire truck, and the ambulance that had passed close behind it. By this time, the entire building was an inferno. He knew there was no way possible that anyone still left inside the building could have survived.

Being told to stay back and out of the way, Jerry punched his fist through the air hoping to hit something, anything that would give him enough pain to focus on rather than the thoughts presently running through his mind. Mike, Phillip, Jake and Andrew had meanwhile caught up to one of the police cars, hauling David with them to place him in formal custody. Wishing he could rather sink to his knees and bury his face in the ground, Jerry knew that he had to find the others.

He moved behind the fire trucks and towards the corner that he had left them on. But when he arrived, he found no one. Thinking in the pandemonium that he had missed them near the building, he turned around, asking emergency personnel officers if they had seen anyone near the building. Each answer was a negative. Making his way back to the police cars and his men, he spotted something in the sand dunes across the road from the storefront lined street.

"I don’t believe it," came his whispered words.

Jerry broke into a run as he crossed the street, slowing down as he got close enough to believe in what he was seeing. At the same moment, under the watchful eyes of Regan, Matthew Wheeler looked up from where he cradled his distraught daughter in his arms. Mart Belden knelt beside his rather sleepy looking sister while Jim Frayne held her head in the crook of his arms rubbing her wrists and keeping one eye on his sister. As Jerry slowly approached, a look of relief mixed with confusion on his features, Matt spoke, softly enough for Jerry to understand that he was entirely shaken up, but loudly enough to be heard in the noise and confusion.

"I told you. Over my dead body."

 

The next day dawned as hot and humid as every other day in Charleston. Trixie and Honey didn’t mind however. Their ordeal was over and the man responsible for the crimes had been placed in custody. They were sitting in the beds in their hotel room, brunch trays on their laps. Matt, Mart and Jim had come down late that morning to join them. Regan was in morning conferences and Yvette was giving tours, after promising to meet with them for dinner that evening. News of the events had reached the morning edition of the Charleston Post and Courier and the facts were now being brought to light.

"I just can’t believe what greed will do to a person," Honey said. "I mean, he was your friend Daddy. And he had everything."

"Unfortunately, some people are never satisfied with what they have Honey. Apparently Leigh found himself in the position of loosing a fortune if the gambling business were brought here."

"How so?" Mart questioned.

"Well, I had to fill in the blanks from the paper this morning, but I did manage to talk to Jerry who got much of the story from Leigh last night. Remember that Leigh was involved with both Schuler and Burrow and The Sherman Project. Both companies are involved with scientific research. Schuler and Burrow were funding the Sherman project’s gene therapy research, which was essentially headed by Leigh. Leigh had begun some rather experimental trials that weren’t seeing good results. They fixed the genetic problems of the animals they were using, but created far more serious ones in place. Schuler and Burrow knew this but had planned to place the product on the market anyway. Much money can be made from a faulty product before it’s ever pulled. They all knew however, that if gambling was brought to Charleston’s waterfront, all funding that the state and federal governments had been giving to projects such as theirs would be scrutinized severely and if necessary, cut out all together. It’s an unfortunate consequence of receiving government dollars. Every time a new venture comes up, changes are made, and sometimes that includes cuts."

"But why would the government take research money and turn around and use it for gambling?" Jim asked.

"Well Jim, the problem isn’t just the gambling. There are much larger issues at stakes. When huge venues like a gambling trade come to a city, everything is changed from housing, to industry, to employment - all of those things. So the government has to keep tabs on every dollar it spends and spend it in the best way possible, they say. And I think that Schuler and Burrow knew that they would be were scrutinized carefully. As you pointed out, the government won’t take dollars from a worthwhile project but it will make sure it’s legitimate to begin with. So ultimately, they might not only have the plug pulled on their dollars. Even worse, someone could realize that they had been faking their test results and in the long run, would loose tons of money by no longer having a "miracle product" to place on the market or get shut down altogether by the government. They apparently told Leigh to make sure that gambling never reached Charleston, or they’d threaten to expose him and make sure that he went down with the ship."

"That explains why he did what he did. But what about the attacks themselves," Trixie asked. "How did he accomplish those?"

"Well, being a science person or sorts, David had access to all sorts of odd chemicals and things. He said that the gas at the Ballpark was R290-T gas. It’s odorless, colorless and virtually makes people very ill. His target was indeed the man and his family who had to go to the hospital that night. The point of release for the gas was the ventilation system on that level of the ballpark. Leigh didn’t care that the gas was so strong it would affect the entire stadium.

"The bridge disaster was simple. Explosives rigged under cover of night. He hired someone to help him with that one - a former stuntman who repelled over the side of the bridge in the wee hours of that morning, and set the explosives up. Leigh himself detonated the device. He knew that Charles Devereaux would be returning from a brunch meeting in Mount Pleasant that morning. Devereaux is a rich Atlanta businessman who owns part of the largest commuter service between the major cities in the southeast. Obviously they would want gambling to come to Charleston, as it would be very good for business. He said that he also knew Devereaux never used the other side of the bridge for fear of safety. With high-powered glasses, he watched for his car, which is Devereaux’s pride and joy by the way – a one of a kind Rolls Royce, and when he came near, detonated the bomb. With Devereaux out of the way, there would be one less person to sway everyone to the "yes" side of the vote.

And of course the yachting incident was also a bomb. Leigh hired the same person to go out to the boat and plant the bomb while Steven was on shore. Leigh hadn’t really cared if Steven was in the boat or not. He banked on the fact that the boat being blown up would serve as enough of a warning. And by the way Trixie, you were right. Leigh did send the note and in fact, he sent many notes. He was targeting the people who had yet to publically change their position on the vote."

"Including you," she answered.

"Yes," Matt sighed. "Including me. Leigh took it upon himself to stay informed about everyone here, and that includes my purchase of the horses. When he couldn’t complete that job, he tried the next best thing. Heavens, I wish I had never brought you all here. How you can manage to get caught up in a mystery every time we go some place is beyond me." Is words came out sternly, but they could all see that he was simply relieved to have them back relatively unharmed.

"Well, it’s over now. So does that mean we get to stay and finish our vacation?" Trixie asked. "I mean, Jim has a birthday coming up that we wanted to celebrate here with a beach volleyball party, and we wanted to go to St. Michaels for services with Yvette and we wanted to go see Hilton Head, and maybe Savannah and…"

"Whoa," Matt laughed, holding up a hand. "Well, Regan does still have a conference left to attend. And there are some things in the city I have wanted to see as well. And since I will be able to be with you much of the time… I supposed you can stay."

The smile that came across her face was all the thanks he needed.

"But Trixie – "he broke into the loud cheers and clapping. "No more mysteries for a while, please. I just don’t think I could handle any more vacation ‘Trixie-style’, okay?"

"Okay, Mr. W. I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try. I just can’t help it if these things find me wherever I go," she smiled earnestly.

"I think what dad is trying to say Trix, is to at least try for the next 6 days we still have left here," Jim grinned.

"I think I can do that. After all birthday boy, we have much more important things to do," she smiled, thinking about the party they had planned for Jim’s 17^th birthday tomorrow.

 

Epilogue

The sun had long since dropped behind the dunes and Trixie and Jim had taken off on a stroll down the beach. Between the volleyball games, and surfing attempts, they were pleasantly tired and ready for a quieter end to the evening. Matt had surprised Jim with the keys to a Jeep. It would be waiting for him back in New York, his father said, but he could have the anticipation now. Regan, Mart, Honey and Trixie had gone together to get him a load of things from the NYU book store like sweatshirts, t-shirts, running shorts, a license plate frame, other assorted items and from Trixie, a small NYU clad Springer Spaniel dog. Jim would be attending NYU in the fall.

They had walked along Folly Beach for a short while and presently, a familiar sight came into view. Morris Island Lighthouse stood tall and stark in the ocean, beyond the shoreline. "Deja vu," Trixie smiled.

Jim looked down at her gently. Taking her hand in his, he walked her to a flat rock and they sat down. "I have something for you, Trix."

"Something for me? But it’s your birthday."

"I know. But I just wanted to get you a little something. We have the summer, but then in the fall, I’ll be off to school. We’ll have some adjusting to do."

"Jim, you’re only going to NYU though. And Brian will be at Columbia. We’ll still have the Bob-Whites," she broke in softly.

"I know that Trix. And he and I’ll be home a lot on weekends. But this isn’t about making an adjustment with the Bob-Whites. It’s… it’s about making an adjustment between us."

"I’m not sure I understand, Jim."

"Well…." He stopped, trying to find his footing. "Um… well – you remember when I gave you the ID bracelet, right?"

She looked down and blushed. "Jim, of course, how could I forget." He had to strain to hear her words.

"And you remember what I told you when I gave it to you."

"Yes," she whispered.

Jim reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small envelope. "Trix – when I go off to school, I want us to know exactly where we stand with each other. I don’t want any questions or confusion about… about us. I know I’ll mess this up, but I’m trying to get this right."

Trixie had finally caught on to what he was trying to say and tried to hide her excitement beneath her wide, questioning eyes.

"Trix, I want you to wear this." He pulled a silver necklace from the envelope. On it hung a tiny heart. "Now, I know this is a bit cliché. But it’s only the truth. There’s to be no doubt about it. You are my special girl. You are my girlfriend. You are my heart."

Before he could make a move to place it around her neck, Trixie had leaned into him, hugging him fiercely. He held her in his arms until they parted.

"And you’re mine, Jim," she replied, still rather shyly.

After clasping the chain around her neck, he placed one hand underneath her chin. "Trix – would you mind, I mean… well… could I kiss you?"

A nod was her only response. Softly, and just briefly, he placed his lips upon hers. They smiled at each other after pulling back. Jim slid down onto the sand and pulled her along beside him. She leaned her head on his shoulder. There they sat for as long as they felt they had the time to be away from the others.

But just after they got up, Trixie felt the strange sensation of being watched. She whirled around and quickly grabbed Jim’s hand. There was no mistaking the glowing figure. It was Jeremy. Trixie felt an initial fear. Perhaps he had come to warn them again. But strangely enough, the fear soon dwindled as the ghost began making hand signals and soon disappeared.

"I wonder what that meant?" Trixie breathed.

"I don’t know. He made the same movement with his hands over and over."

"Let’s go ask Yvette if she’s still here. We should be getting back anyway."

He took her hand and together they made their way back to the place where the others still sat drinking whatever was left of the sodas and munching on leftovers.

"You two look like the proverbial cats and canaries," Mart said. "What gives?"

Trixie turned to Yvette. "We saw him again," she said softly.

Yvette merely smiled.

"He was making the same motion over and over again with his hands. Can you tell us what it means?" She and Jim both replayed their hands in the same manner that they had seen Jeremy do.

Yvette’s eyes left them and turned out to see. It was a moment before she turned around.

"He said – ‘I am at peace’." She turned to look back out to the blue water. They barely heard the rest of her words. "And now so am I."

The End