And the Meek Shall Inherit (Harbinger of Change Book 2) Read online

  And the Meek

  Shall Inherit

  Timothy Jon Reynolds

  American Pride Press

  Copyright ©2016 by Timothy Jon Reynolds

  All characters, businesses, and situations within this work are fictional and the product of the author’s creativity. Any resemblances to persons living or dead are entirely coincidental. Publisher assumes no responsibility for any content on author or fan websites or other publications.

  Front cover art and design: Andrei Bat

  Editor: Patti Whitman

  Interior design and layout: Marian Hartsough

  American Pride Press

  1344 Disc Drive #372

  Sparks, NV 89436

  Visit us at http://www.timothyjonreynolds.com

  Other Novels from Timothy Jon Reynolds:

  Harbinger of Change series

  The Harbinger of Change

  Without Wrath

  Chesed

  And Thou Shalt Not

  Others Novels

  YOCTO

  The Meth Chronicles

  Rock

  1 – Rabbits

  Niners had the ball on the thirteen-yard line and the Dallas Cowboys looked to be finished. With forty-five seconds left on the clock and down by a point, it looked like a shoe-in for the San Francisco 49ers. First it was a false start penalty, then a holding call, and finally a sack. Next thing Matt knew, the Niners were forty-five yards out and trying to win on a long field goal.

  The kick went up and wide right and the Cowboys won as time ran out. “Damn it!” Matt slammed the table. He pulled on his beer and looked out over the compound. Their condo was a deluxe version, upgraded from the standard quarters that the rest of the Ants inhabited, as the tattooed workers were referred to here.

  They had a private terrace off their bedroom and a secluded patio on the first floor. The terrace overlooked the entire compound and Matt could see the hacienda on the left, as was the monolithic warehouse. Straight ahead lay the quarry, and to the right was the helicopter pad. Matt had the compound’s leader, Pablo Manuel, install a Satellite TV for him so he could catch the one thing he couldn’t live without, the San Francisco 49ers.

  Matt’s dad was their most rabid fan, and for once the Hurst household caught a break, as Matt was their second most rabid fan. The fact Matt was an Oakland A’s baseball fan was already a ripple in the Hurst household, but anything other than a Niners fan in football would have caused Don to disown his son.

  The ceviche was incredible, and Matt still couldn’t believe how many foods she’d shown him that he never thought he’d like. Ceviche, a bag of chips, and a cold cerveza were his most recent obsession. Vera had never learned to cook, so they hired a live-in housekeeper, but man did she choose one that could cook! Vera made sure to choose Julia, who was more over the hill than the other candidates, pushing mid-fifties he figured, slightly arthritic, slightly overweight. She’d picked her for a reason—she didn’t want any competitions in the house.

  Vera walked out onto the deck and his world stopped. She was so breathtaking he could never get over it, which led to his heart skipping a beat when she walked over and kissed his head. She was wearing a yellow sundress; something about it made her look cute and girly. She had added a little body to her hair today as well.

  The strange part was that she looked at him with the same pleased look on her face, as if he were as attractive to her as well. Matt couldn’t believe that was the truth, but with this girl, it was her reality, Matt was her everything. She purred to him, “You were out late last night.”

  “Yeah, well, one of the hydraulic doors broke, so we couldn’t close a run. We also had a bad motion sensor and you know, every time we have a bad sensor, the next hour is an opportunity to train.”

  Vera questioned the logic of this, “The compound must be searched every time? Even when you know it was just a bad sensor?”

  “Yes it must, as the consequences of the improbable are too severe not to react with a purpose.”

  She straddled him and said, “I love when you talk like that. You know you should have woken me up.” Then she started kissing his salty lips. She recoiled when he really tried to kiss her back, “Your breath smells horrible!”

  They laughed and started to wrestle around, Matt panting his shrimp breath on her and Vera screaming bloody murder.

  Pablo watched on the closed circuit TV from inside his mountain lair. It was always like this, the two of them were as in love as any two people he’d ever seen. How improbable love was? Just like Eva and him. After all the doubting and speculation of Matt’s true intentions, Pablo had to finally give in and accept the fact that the minute those two got together, they were intertwined forever. How many relationships start with each participant saving the other’s life within seconds of meeting?

  Not too many, was Pablo’s guess. Vera was so happy now, but it didn’t start off that way— either time he had to rescue her. That time in Brazil, when he saved her and brought her home, she wasn’t catatonic, but she was terrified beyond all reason. She thought he was going to take her to a place even more depraved than the Anthill.

  This time she was in such bad condition that they had to sedate her to get her off of Matt. Once she was injected with the sedative, she fell off the gringo like a wild animal darted by a tranquilizer gun.

  It took drugs, and it took another lengthy hypnosis session, but two months after Matt had brought her back to the compound, she was herself again. That’s when the guilt set in and she couldn’t stop apologizing to Pablo. Not only that, she started to refuse to see Matt. As far as she was concerned, she had broken her pact of just a few short months ago with the only man on earth she had ever loved.

  It took time, time for her to realize that Pablo was there to help her evolve. As much as it seemed to be pointing that way at first, he couldn’t be the answer to her romantic dreams, nor was she the answer to his, as he loved someone else. He was sure that after he and Vera witnessed the fall of humanity, he would return to Eva. He could feel it in his heart. That’s why he recently sent Eva gifts, to keep her company until he gets back. He told Vera about Eva. At first she didn’t believe him, sobbing, “You‘re just saying that to make me feel better.”

  He then showed her the last letter Eva had written him, “This is between us only, no one must ever know of her. I’m telling you this to set you free.”

  Vera read the letter. She was not surprised that it had said his Eva would wait for Pablo no matter how long, that she could never “feel this way about anyone else,” and the way she felt about him was beyond words. She would wait.

  The words seemed to cleanse Vera’s guilt and she became more open to the idea of moving on. After a day she came back, and he reassured her again, and that seemed to convince her. As soon as Pablo truly freed her from the guilt she was feeling, she ran back to Matt. They’d been attached at the hip ever since.

  Of course, Felipe was insistent that the gringo was not to be trusted, so they designed some elaborate ruses to try to get Matt to break, as they were both sure he would try to get away. First, they watched his patterns, and when he started running in the mornings, Felipe was sure he was forming a plan to escape.

  At first Felipe made a security unit train with him. After a while it was two men, then one. Nowadays, of course, Matt ran alone—which was the way it was designed.

  It had been a little less than a year since he had arrived at the compound, and one morning the fence was left open ever so slightly, right at a critical place in the complex. It was a place that would have made it easy to get to the road.
But Matt didn’t take the bait. In fact, he reported the breach of the gate to Felipe.

  Then came the trip to Guayaquil to buy security equipment that he requested from Felipe. Matt was left alone with a large sum of cash to make the purchase. Pablo and Felipe were sure that the whole idea of placing cameras in the tunnels was a ruse on Matt’s part to get this exact situation set up—so he could bolt into a big city with some cash. The security detail was outside, and they had picked a place that was too easy to slip out of, especially with a pocketful of money.

  Pablo and Felipe were almost drunk with hubris thinking they were right about Matt, that he was sure to break Vera’s heart.

  They ensured that he would never have been able to slip away, though, as the whole thing was a trap. Instead, however, Matt came back with a bunch of wireless mini-dome cameras, two monitors, and a DVR. He never even behaved as though, “aren’t you surprised that I didn’t run off?” either, much to Felipe’s surprise and chagrin.

  They even left him with what appeared to be opportunities for assassination, which Matt not only never acted on, but they were sure he wasn’t even aware of them. They were monitoring every vital in his body without him even knowing it. Pablo had created a room where everyone’s vitals were monitored from an array of different devices planted throughout, including heart rate sensors built into the armrest of his favorite chair.

  The Ants who were monitoring the situation knew everything, including Matt’s heart rate and body temperature. If he were an assassin, his heart rate would have risen in these situations, giving away his true intentions. This was fortunate for Matt because they were traps; there was even one involving a Pablo double.

  Pablo believed his instinct long before Matt put the camera system in for the kennel areas, but once Matt did that, he decided that enough was enough. The guy was no spy. He was a store security guard whom his Vera loved so deeply that he’d never seen anything like it, except for her devotion to him.

  As far as Pablo was concerned, Matt was either the greatest actor in the world, or he was truly head-over-heels in love with Vera, and simply supported whatever thing she did. As seen on the video screen he was now watching, she also supported him physically, as she’d made a wrestling arch move to try to escape from his clutches, unsuccessfully as he was still panting on her, she still screaming bloody murder.

  Pablo believed that Matt had become a “devotee,” as unwavering as his Anthill friends. Apparently he’d really meant what he said in those conversations they’d had, the ones where he claimed to be a most unhappy man in his former life. The stories he told were of his wife’s father being a bully, and always deriding him, never accepting him for who he was. Plus he had an ax to grind as Matt had stopped Jan from starting Pharmacy School. All true. Matt claimed he was sure they were better off, Jan never being happy with whom he was anyway.

  Sure enough, they investigated and found it to be just as he said. This Jan was living with her father, a man known in his circles as “a man not to mess with.” Further investigation led to the fact that he was a connected man, and had no love for his ex-son-in-law. Everything the gringo says has been true. Matt’s love for Vera is undeniable and now his new devotion to my well-being is actually quite touching.

  Pablo turned the monitor off as Matt and Vera began to make love, even after two years, the two of them were still like conejos.

  * * *

  A lot had changed in the two years since the incident at Conceptual Labs. Bob Thompson adjusted his bow tie as he looked in the mirror, believing he still looked good in a tux, even if this was his retirement dinner. He wasn’t ready to retire, of course, but when things happened the way they had, changes come, especially if one is the head of the CIA.

  He saw Stan LaRue heading his direction, “So who is replacing you, Old Man?”

  “Eric Barnett, and he’s a good man, Stan. You two should work well together.”

  “I know Eric. We worked together on the Shoe Bomber case.”

  “That’s right, you did. Well, that’s great, you should work out great then.”

  “That’s bullshit and you know it, Bob. That guy’s totally hardcore. I was just wondering how long you were going to sit there and lie to me.”

  “It’s not my place to pass judgments, or second guess this stuff. Eric’s paid his dues.”

  “Well I already heard he wasn’t a guy to play inter-agency ball.”

  “Well then, Stan, he just won’t last very long, because the world’s changing fast and there’s no room left for Cowboys anymore, or so I’ve been told.”

  Just then, Bob spotted the President's Chief of Staff, Kim Sullivan. “Stan, you’ll have to excuse me temporarily, I must go speak to that young woman over there.”

  He wove his way through the crowded room and walked over to her side. She was in light conversation with four males, and he politely waited until their conversation waned. They paid their respects to him before they made off and afforded them some privacy. “Hey,” he said.

  With genuine sincerity, Kim asked, “How are you, Bob?”

  “Truthfully? Unsettled at best. I know I’m just a cog in this system, Kim, but I’m a cog that’s been protecting this place his whole life, and now what? Golf? Cruises? Hanging out with the wife? Let me tell you, Kim, after forty years in the spy game, she’s gotten more used to not seeing me than seeing me. She’s used to being on her own most of the time, and now I’m going to be home underfoot, and she’s not going to know what to do with me, which makes two of us.”

  “That’s why I’ll never marry, Bob.”

  “Probably a wise move, Kim. So listen, you’re the ‘gate-keeper’ now. Only you and Ray know and believe, so don’t forget, he’s going to find a way to message us. We just have to be looking for it.”

  She went to say one thing but changed course. Kim made that famous eye contact, “I think he’s dead.”

  Bob looked startled, “Why?”

  “Two years is a long time.”

  “Not on the inside it isn’t, and the only way to ‘truly’ be on the inside is to really be there,” He elaborated, “to not even have reporting in to us to be on his mind. If he somehow was able to harness and portray a character as well as one of our own, then two years is about right.”

  “Bob, you yourself have stated that those people are trained for a long time, often being put in makeshift communities like the ones they’re heading to. It’s just too much to ask of a civilian.”

  “Not if he’s an exceptional liar, Kim. We’ve had agents that were middle-of-the-road in every category but were great liars. They were very successful in the field, except for the ones that turned, of course. No matter how hard we try, the Ken Becks of the world slip through, sometimes with our misguided sanction.”

  “Bob, facts are facts. Matt Hurst is now considered the single biggest traitor in American History.” She had to check her tone as they retreated to the corner of the large oak bar. “Listen, I’m still on board; you’ve convinced me he’s not a bad guy. But you have to understand that he is in everyone else’s mind, including my boss, who has barely got a lead in the polls over this. So I’ll keep my eyes open, as I have been, but you also have to realize the very compromising position all this puts me in.”

  He gave her that look of admiration that he didn’t hand out loosely, “Have I ever not?”

  Kim nervously adjusted the hairpin that held her perfect bun together, “No, you’ve been very understanding of why we have to keep this from Lawrence, but the fact remains that Matt Hurst has replaced Benedict Arnold as the expression of the ‘Ultimate Traitor’ in this country. Convincing them otherwise is not going to be easy, even if he does end up coming in.”

  “I trust you, Kim, I know you’ll do the right thing.” They both turned and took in the room as President Caulfield made his way in, “He’s lucky to have you, Kim.”

  “We’re lucky to have him, Bob,” and she put her arms around his shoulders, “I’m truly going to miss you,
Bob Thompson. . . .”

  * * *

  This was off-the-charts bad, both professionally and National Security wise, but she had to know. It wasn’t fair, and Ray Callahan hated the nagging voice, as his compassion was his greatest strength as a human being, and his weakest fault as an agent of his country’s most secretive agency. Which was why he was stupidly about to let the wife of the great American traitor (maybe post mortem) know who he thinks her husband was.

  Once he confirmed his suspicions about Matt Hurst there was no turning back, and his conscience demanded he inform her. Acting on Director Thompson’s instructions, he had first tracked down Matt Hurst’s old co-workers at both Stor and Macy’s. He found out that Matt was involved in over one hundred arrests. Of the cases he researched, there was not one complaint of excessive force. In fact, no one had anything but incredible things to say about the young man.

  So Ray took it one step further and contacted two former employees who Matt had caught stealing and had arrested them for the crime. Both said that they were grateful to Matt for their treatment, and that Matt went out of his way to keep them out of more trouble. He remembered thinking, thieves who were grateful?

  Next he went through Matt’s actual cases, and Ray discovered that Hurst had shown great insight in many areas. There was really more to Hurst’s former job than people realized, especially the acting part. These detectives are all little actors and they play a different character to many people throughout the store every day. Ray was intrigued. He hung out one day with Matt’s old crew, as he was hoping to see if Hurst had any lasting influence on the people he had hired and trained.

  What he discovered was unbelievable. Matt’s crew kept his office just the way he had set it up—in apparent homage to the guy. After talking with them many a long hour, not one of them believed he was a traitor to his country. His office was a well-oiled machine. Then Ray caught something he’d missed the first time they went through this place. His former senior detective Charles (now the Manager) was filling out a log. This guy kept a log? Ray had to ask, “What is that you’re doing, Son?”