Group Writing Project #4
Author's Note: There are many people who helped me out on this chapter. Thanks to Mark & Bethlorr for giving me some feedback… Thanks go out to Lynn and Shana for editing and being available to bounce ideas off of…and to my husband - who helped me to figure out how to get the Bob-Whites headed towards Utah!
And for anyone interested in the 6th Floor Exhibit Museum - you can find more info at www.jfk.org
One Hour North of Austin, Texas
Trixie could hardly keep her mind on their trip. What had started out as a fun summer vacation had turned into a nightmare! She glanced at the dark haired young man currently at the wheel. She sighed. She couldn't explain it, but for some reason she felt safer with Dan driving than the other guys. Glad I'm not driving…wouldn't be able to concentrate on the road, the traffic, or these crazy Texas drivers! She glanced in the rear-view mirror to see her brothers and Di pouring over some literature they had picked up in the gas station in Austin, the state capitol of Texas. They were hoping to find something between San Antonio and Dallas to help kill three days.
GLEEPS! THREE DAYS! She couldn’t believe it would be three days before they could…could rescue Honey. She had done nothing but mentally kick herself over and over for not DOING something back in San Antonio. WHY oh WHY did she and Jim just walk away - and leave Honey. She glanced over at Jim, who was sitting on the other side of her…he had been unusually quiet…
Brian finally spoke up - shattering the silence in the car. "I think we've come up with a place to kill some time - how about Hillsboro?"
Jim turned in the seat and glared at Brian. When he spoke, his tone was icy. "What on earth is Hillsboro? And what could we possibly do there? Can you only think of killing time? We need to get some planning done!"
Fire & Ice, thought Di. She saw what could easily turn into a bit of ugliness between the boys. Honey was usually the peacemaker of the group - but with Honey missing - Di knew she would have to step in. She leaned forward and gently placed her hand on Jim's arm.
"We're all upset, Jim. Brian's just trying to help us all take our minds off the situation. And a distraction just might be what some of us need so that we can plan."
Jim's shoulders slumped and he ran his fingers through his short red hair. "I'm sorry, guys…I'm just so frustrated." He patted Di's hand. "And just feel so…so…angry with myself for just leaving Honey there…"
Di just squeezed Jim's hand back. "I understand Jim. We all do. Let's just try and calm down and relax a little. You'd be surprised how much clearer you'll be able to think." Jim nodded…and the Bob-Whites drifted back to silence…
Hillsboro, Texas
Prime Outlets in HillsboroThough all six of the Bob-Whites in the car were feeling the strain of the past few days, Di's words to Jim made sense to all. Trixie had begun to watch the "mile markers" and the roadway signs. "Look at that sign, Dan. It says 'NEXT EXIT HILLSBORO'." Dan guided the station wagon into the right lane and exited off of I-35.
"Hey, Dan - why don't you head to that "Good Eat's Café". It's about that time, and I for one, think better on a full stomach." Mart spoke up from the back seat. All the Bob-Whites looked out the window for the Prime Outlets in Hillsboro. They could see a variety of stores - Nike, Levi, Mikasa - but sure enough, right in front of the complex, was a restaurant called The Good Eat's Café. Everyone was so intent on seeing what the outlet mall had to offer that no one noticed the dark blue sedan that had taken the exit - following them just two cars back.
Everyone scrambled out of the car. Trixie stood on her tip toes and reached towards the blue sky. "Well, two hours may not seem like long to you guys, but after sitting in the middle here, I can't wait to stretch."
"I sure don't know what the rest of you are going to eat, but I'm hoping they have that Chicken Fried Steak here." Mart exclaimed. Everyone laughed as they filed into the restaurant.
In the blue sedan, a man picked up his cell phone.
"They've stopped."
"Do you still have them in sight?"
"Yes. I see them through the window. All six of them just went into a restaurant at the Prime Outlets place. You were right about where they would stop. Will you contact M?"
"Will do. Keep an eye on them and I'll be there to help you bring them all in hand.
"Consider it done. If we get separated, are we to meet at that B&B we staked out? We should have the place to ourselves."
The Bob-Whites walked out of the café laughing. True to his word, Mart had found a Chicken Fried Steak on the menu and put away an enormous amount of food.
Di groaned "Even with splitting that plate of meatloaf with Trix, I'm stuffed. Why don't we leave the car here and walk around?"
Everyone quickly agreed with Di's suggestion and the group set off across the parking lot towards the array of outlet stores.
"Let's hit the Nike store first," suggested Mart. "I could use a new pair of basketball shoes for school next year."
"Sounds good to me," said Jim. After the scene in the car, he was doing his best to be a good sport, though inside, his stomach was still twisting and turning. Jim turned and followed Mart.
Brian grabbed Di's hand, following Jim and Mart. Dan put his arm around Trixie and squeezed her shoulders. "Hang in there, Trixie. It'll all work out." They followed behind the rest of the group.
The Nike store was huge, and the Bob-Whites split up - Trixie and Di headed towards the Women's shoes while the guys headed towards the men's…
"Amazing to me how you can still stand to wear so much purple, Di. " Trixie laughed as Di held out a pair of white and lavender sneakers; then she looked down at her own shoes and realized that they were blue.
Suddenly, large hands clapped down on each of their shoulders. "I don't think that matters much. You two are coming with me." Di's violet eyes got large, and Trixie opened her mouth to scream… "And don't make a sound if you know what's good for you."
When they finally got to turn towards the man, Trixie gasped. "Daniel Stuart!"
He nodded, and again told them not to make a sound. As he ushered them towards the front doors of the Nike outlet, Trixie and Di saw the boys ahead of them - and some federal agents were escorting them out the door as well…
The group silently walked to three almost identical dark blue sedans - parked only spaces apart. The Bob-Whites were separated and put into the three separate cars. In case any plans had been made to escape, Brian and Di were placed in one car, Mart and Jim in the second, and Trixie and Dan were placed in Daniel Stuart's car.
Once the door was shut, Dan spoke up "I demand to know where you are taking us."
"Look, Mr. Tough Guy, this is for your own good. You'll know where we are going when we get there. So just sit back, shut up, and enjoy the ride."
Similar conversations were taking place in the other vehicles…
The vehicles pulled in front of a large Victorian mansion that had been turned into a bed and breakfast; across the name of the inn was a large banner that read "CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS", obscuring the Inn's name.
The Bob-Whites filed out of the individual cars, glad to that the others were all arriving at the same juncture. As they were ushered up the steps, the front door flew open. Standing there were a small, honey haired woman and a large red-headed man.
"I can't believe all of this Mother, why didn't you ever tell any of us?" Jim was still in shock. His delicate, adoptive Mother had been a CIA agent, often going under cover into dangerous situations.
"Well, Jim, your father knew. But I really had felt it was important to keep that part of my past private. I just never thought you kids would have any need to know about my life before I was married to your father."
"But now the kids are affected, Maddie," said Matt Wheeler, as he placed his hand on his wife's shoulder. "Some lunatic has Honey."
"Ahh, but I don't think we really have to worry about Honey's safety. I know this man well, he wants those plans," Daniel Stuart quickly interrupted.
"Well, there has to be something we can do!" exclaimed Trixie.
"There is, Trixie, but it's going to require the full trust and cooperation of each of you kids. But if things go well, we will rescue young Madeleine, get Maddie out of the spy business for good. It was the whole reason that arrest thing was staged and hit the press - they had to think I was out of it."
"Well, Mr. Stuart, we're listening," said Brian.
They all listened intently, argued some points of the plan with the experienced FBI agent. In the end, everyone was satisfied that a good plan had indeed been hatched.
That night, Madeleine Wheeler picked up her cell phone and made a call to the contact number they had all been given. "The Lear cannot land at DFW airport - besides - with the country under a terrorist alert, I feel it's best to steer away from the airports. We'll land the day after tomorrow at Dallas-Love Field and meet you somewhere in downtown Dallas." Madeleine listened for a moment. "Well, we'll meet near Dealey Plaza - at the 6th Floor Exhibit Museum - 2 PM. We'll meet you at the corner window." She listened as the man on the other line agreed with the meeting time. "And one more thing. If you harm one hair on my daughter's head, you will have hell to pay - I will literally bury you. Is that quite clear?"
The Bob-Whites were shocked to hear the usually soft spoken woman display this hard-as-nails attitude. Dan leaned towards Trixie and whispered in her ear, "Well, at least we know that Honey gets her strength from her mother - I never would have guessed."
Two Days Later
Dallas, TexasIt had been decided that Trixie and Jim would enter the museum with the Wheelers. Since Victor had likely not seen the Belden boys, Di or Dan, they would enter separately - and go to posts throughout the museum. The FBI and CIA agents assigned to the case would be disguised as tourists, and do their best to blend in. The museum saw almost 400,000 visitors a year, so they had hoped that it would be busy - thus adding confusion, and aiding the recovery of Honey.
The Wheelers, Trixie and Jim quickly found the Corner Window area of the museum. Madeleine carried a large tote from the gift shop, containing a large tube with counterfeit airplane plans. All outward appearances must appear to Victor that they had every plan of going through with his demands. All of the Bob-Whites knew that Mrs. Wheeler had brought in counterfeit plans - unbeknownst to everyone except Daniel Stuart, Madeleine was also carrying a Glock 9mm semi-automatic pistol.
From the Brian & Mart's post near another window, they saw Honey entering the building with two dark haired men.
As Honey and the men approached the Corner Window area, the FBI and CIA agents quietly moved in. Brian and Mart watched from the entrance of the Movie Theater while Dan and Di quietly watched from the museum gift shop. They were all thankful that Honey looked well treated - and surprisingly, only slightly shaken. She had held her composure under this extreme stress, making each of the Bob Whites admire Honey and her inner strength.
The men and Honey approached the Wheelers, Trixie and Jim. "Well, Lady M," Madeleine Wheeler seemed visibly shaken at the use of her former code name. "Oh, you don't mind if I call you by your Agent Name, do you?" She shook her head no. "I see that you are waiting as instructed," said Victor.
"Well, I do put a high value on my daughter, as you well know. And am now having to betray my country to protect her. You don't make these conditions very easy. But let's get this done and over with." Madeleine held out the bag.
"You don't have your daughter yet. Let's move somewhere so that I can see if you have lived up to your end of the bargain." While his brother continued to hold on to Honey's arm, Victor moved with Madeleine a few steps away. He opened the tube and slid the thick stack of drawings out of the tube. He nodded. "so you did live up to your end of this thing." He turned back towards his brother. "Release her." It was deceptively easy to Trixie - were these men THAT stupid? The man roughly shoved Honey into Trixie and Jim, and Trixie quickly embraced her best friend.
"Now that you have your plans, and I have my daughter, I'd advise you to leave." Madeleine was quite icy with both her speech and her look at the men. But VICTOR had other plans. His hand quickly snaked onto Madeleine's arm and he began pulling her along with them. "Did I forget to mention that part of this exchange meant that YOU, Lady M, would accompany us back to the airport?" He chuckled at everyone's shocked expression. "Don't think I'm a simpleton, I know the FBI agents stationed around here won't harm me if I have Lady M here with me as an insurance policy."
"Don't take my mother, please." Honey pleaded with the men who had held her these last few days.
"No, Honey. You being safe is the most important part of all. I'll go with them." Everyone gasped, as the usually delicate woman appeared to go voluntarily with these two men.
Matthew Wheeler had been previously warned to not interfere in any way, but he couldn't just let his wife leave with these men. The Bob Whites watched, shocked, not knowing what to do, as this was not in any way part of the plan they had outlined. The Federal Agents didn't know what to do and looked to their leader, waiting for instructions. Daniel Stuart's look was telling them to do nothing! As the threesome approached the elevators, heading downstairs, Madeleine suddenly jerked out of Victor's grip. As his brother, Andre, reached out to retrieve her, Madeleine pulled out the handgun and shoved it into Victor's side. "One move from you and he is dead. I believe I was quite clear on the phone."
"You are now a society lady. Your threats mean nothing to me." said Andre. With that, he grabbed at Madeleine, trying to wrench the gun from her hand.
Two shots rang out in the otherwise silent museum, and VICTOR fell to the floor. With a quick move, another shot rang out and Andre fell to the floor, lying beside his brother.
Five Hours Later
Still in Dallas, TexasThey had decided to have a celebratory dinner at Antares, the large revolving restaurant atop Reunion Tower.
Daniel Stuart was holding them spellbound with his stories of the now infamous "Lady M".
"…so you see, I knew that Madeleine could easily handle the situation. And I also knew that we didn't need any interference from anyone else in the room."
Jim finally spoke up. He had been silent most of the evening. "What I still don't understand is how the brothers realized the Honey was "Lady M's" daughter. That was years ago…"
Madeleine spoke up. "You see, Andre had been an agent or the KGB during the time I worked for the CIA - and I was the reason he basically lost his cover. The underground community is quite small. Many of the agents knew basically WHO the other agents were." She smiled at her daughter. "And Honey looks so much now like I did then, he put two and two together."
"But what will happen to the brothers?" Di questioned. She wanted to make sure they would not go unpunished.
"Well, once they recover from their gunshot wounds, Miss Lynch, they will be moved to a federal prison somewhere - most likely Leavenworth, Kansas." Daniel Stuart assured them all. He turned towards Madeleine and laughed. "Such a shame you didn't just kill them both."
Madeleine laughed back. "AHH, but you see, Daniel, they will suffer so much more in prison…"
Dinner was indeed a happy occasion, until the subject of the Bob-Whites' plans for the rest of their trip came up.
"Under no circumstances can I allow you kids to continue on," argued Matthew Wheeler.
"But, Daddy, I'm eighteen now. And I should have some say about what I do," Honey argued with her father. "The Bob-White's have discussed it. We want to go. We all want to see California. We want to continue on our road trip across the country."
"Come on, Matthew. This is the absolute worst thing that could have happen. It's unlikely that anything else could happen," Madeleine argued.
After a bit more discussing, they all agreed - the Bob-Whites' road trip would continue.
Mart had been a bit quiet, but finally spoke up. "Does this mean we can go through Amarillo, Texas?"
"What on earth is in Amarillo, Texas that you want to see, Mart?" asked Honey.
"They have this restaurant with a 72-ounce steak - and if you eat it all, you get it for FREE!"
Everyone laughed. Trixie patted her brother's hand. "Some things never change."
Four Days Later
Outside Gallup, New MexicoThe Bob-White station wagon pulled up to a roadside store marked "Borrego Pass Trading Post." They were all looking at the variety of items displayed in the store windows.
"I'd love to buy some of those cute little Kachina Dolls for the twins!" said Di.
"Well, I'd like to buy Moms one of those Navajo rugs," said Trixie.
The Bob-Whites piled out of the station wagon and made their way into the store.
The store wasn't very crowded, but a small group of old Navajo Indians were in the store. Ever interested in different types of medicine, Brian became quickly engrossed in a conversation with an Ancient looking man, who one of the women had told him was their Shaman, or Medicine Man.
The girls browsed through the hand-made gifts, and had each decided upon little silver and turquoise bracelets as a reminder of their trip through New Mexico. Once they left Gallup, they would be making a trip to "The Four Corners" - a place where Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona met.
Brian introduced them all to the Indian Shaman. When Trixie shook his hand, she felt an almost electrical shock pass between the two of them. His eyes held her gaze deeply, entrancing her. Jim spoke, breaking the spell. "We need to get going, guys. Especially if we want to get to the Four Corners before it gets dark."
The Indian reached under the counter and pulled out an ancient piece of pottery. It was a soft gray color on the outside, but the inside was painted with a black and white design. He thrust it into Trixie's hands.
"This piece is very old. It dates back to the Anasazi times - a tribe of Indians now extinct, the ancestors of the Navajo people. Take it. I know that it will be important for your future."
Trixie looked at the fragile bowl, and shook her head. "I couldn't take anything so valuable, Sir. But I do thank you."
"But you must take it. There is an archaeology professor, Dr. DeForrest, at Brigham Young University in Provo. Deliver it to him." He took Trixie's face in his wizened hands, looking again into her eyes. "I promise you - it is important to your future - to you and your slender friend." He nodded at Honey. Trixie could do nothing but agree with the man. She took the fragile bowl and cradled it as she would a baby.
"Well, you guys wanted to see BYU, didn't you? Let's go to Utah!"