Frank Klus - Azaleas Don't Bloom Here

“Thank you.”

Dennis just looked up at Faith with a sardonic smile. “Well, let’s see the big guy.”

Dennis made his customary three sharp raps on the door and entered. Casimir was pacing the floor behind his desk. He was tall, wiry, and about seventy years old. He was bald with taut but wrinkled skin. He turned to face Dennis as he entered and saluted.

“What the hell happened, O’Reilly?”

“Sir, I was just informed of this. Apparently the attack took place around 2:30 this morning. One of our squadrons came to Hell House in response to gunfire. They too came under attack. It was well-coordinated, sir. Whoever engineered the attack must have known what it was, and who was in it.”

“Which leads you to believe what, Mr. O’Reilly?”

“That my brother was involved, sir.”

“Not just involved, but my guess is he engineered the attack and kidnapping of our most valuable asset.”

“Yes, sir. That’s very likely, sir. Some of the guards, rotated before the attack, told me that some of Ray’s old Blues were snooping around the house days before the attack.”

“Why the hell didn’t you do something then?”

“I only came to realize who they were when they showed me a picture of them. They didn’t know them.” There was a pause, and then Dennis dropped the other shoe. “They killed Sistrunk in the attack, and burned the house down. They destroyed everything.”

Casimir stopped pacing, and turned to Dennis again. “I heard about the fire, but I didn’t know about Sistrunk. Christ, O’Reilly, he’s irreplaceable.”

“But his son got away, sir; Peter Sistrunk. He knows the whole operation.”

“Still, it’s going to set us back.”

“I’m sorry, sir.”

“I want a full report on what happened on my desk tomorrow morning. Now, what are you doing to recapture our prize?”

“We have an all points on them. One of the squad members got a partial license plate, and a description of one of the vans used to get my brother and his team out. We tracked the vehicle down, but there was no sign of any Blues or Sulke. My guess is that they are outside Squad territory.”

“Just fucking great,” Casimir growled. “I don’t blame you, Dennis. It’s that fucking security leader. What was his name?”

“Crawl, sir.”

“Crawl?”

“Yes, sir. That’s what we call him; John Viecrawl.”

“You picked him?”

“Yes, sir. His resume seemed impressive. I monitored his plans. He had about three dozen men under him.”

“That seems like overkill to me. One thing I know is if you don’t want someone knowing your business you learn to keep a low profile. If you have a safe, you don’t advertise it with a lot of no trespassing signs.”

“Yes, sir.” Dennis was downcast.

“Find him, Dennis.”

“Yes, sir.”

Dennis looked at the charred house the Squad bought just for “treatment”. “How many dead?” Dennis said to Squad leader Foulker, who witnessed the attack and carnage.

“Fifteen men, sir, plus the doctor.”

“Why the hell did they have to kill Sistrunk?”

There was no answer.

“Let me have a list of every member of the security team still alive?”

“Just give me a few minutes, sir.”

When Dennis got back to the office he began calling each member of the team. Most heard about what happened, but they couldn’t provide any additional details. Only Marvin Goodspeed, a squad leader and a volunteer for watch duty, heard from Taylor Albright the night of the attack. He relayed the conversation to Dennis.

A pall fell over him as he came to realize that his computer must have been hacked by Ray’s team. The way they knew where everyone was could only come from my own documents. I failed again , he said to himself as he started beating himself in a mocking gesture. They knew what was going on better than most Squad members who helped set up Hell House. I can’t have that. CAN’T HAVE THAT ! I’m going to kill him, goddamnit. Kill him. He’s fucked with me for the last time. I will kill him if it’s the last thing I do.

“Come on in.” Dean said it like he was hoping they would leave. They all went in and Joanne made some sandwiches for everyone. Dean just sat there stoically, and then he turned angry as he looked at Gene. “What in the hell is going on, Eugene? A couple weeks ago you come in looking haggard with Dennis O’Reilly, telling me how he rescued you from the prison that you two put him in.” He was staring at Ray and Cassandra now. “Now you come home in worse shape, and you two are supposed to have rescued him from a house. Do I have that about right?”

“Be nice, dear, until we know what’s happening,” Joanne pleaded.

“That’s what I’m trying to find out.”

Gene dove into his sandwich, and recounted the horrifying details of his kidnapping and imprisonment. Joanne reacted with shock, while Dean was stoic but angry.

Ray understood the tenuous nature of his being there and gulped before countering Dean. “Mr. and Mrs. Sulke, if Eugene is recaptured they will either kill him or put him back in Hell House. They know where he lives, works, where you live—well, you know what I mean. There’s really no other choice—all of you have to leave for New America.”

“Leave?” Dean asked with clear incredulity.

“Leave our home?” Joanne repeated. “But why?”

“Because you’re both in danger,” Ray said.

“You mean, because they could use us to get to Gene?” Dean said.

Ray nodded. “Exactly!”

“What can I do?” Gene said, rhetorically. “I’m screwed. Everything I ever wanted I’ve lost. First Catherine, and now I can’t ever go back to work. I can never enter Squad territory again. I don’t want to do anything that would lead me back to that house again.”

Dean looked at his wife. He was silent for a few minutes, but he had a look of determination. “I’m not leaving my home. This is still America. We have laws, and that Casimir guy has no jurisdiction here. We’re staying. Eugene can stay here with us. He’ll work here in neutral territory. He can come to work for me; prepare to take over fully. I’m nearing retirement anyway. Eugene can sell his home and buy a new one. He could even change his name. There are things he can do. There are people who can help him.”

“I wish I could make you understand that staying here is not an option,” Ray said. “No place is safe. You’re not safe. There are no people you could ever know that could keep your family safe. Please reconsider, Mr. and Mrs. Sulke. You must get away.”

“Can you get him a visa into New America?” Dean asked.

“Absolutely!” Ray said. “They’re given to anyone not on their non-approved list, and this is a list of American Party leaders in government and a few media moguls they accuse of being extremists in their hatred of New America. The real problem is getting an exit visa.”

“An exit visa? What the hell is that?” Dean said.

“It is approval from the government to travel anywhere outside of the state you live in,” Cassandra said.

“Wait!” Dean said. “This is the kind of stuff these commie countries do. We’re a freedom-loving country.”

“You might want to rethink that freedom-loving stuff,” Cassandra said.

“Well, it’s a fact, nevertheless,” Ray said. “They’ll also revoke his passport. Now, the exit visa generally isn’t enforced if you drive across state lines. Technically, you need one, but very few states ask for it. Busses, trains, and planes are different, however. You can’t buy a ticket that takes you across state lines without showing an exit visa on the ticket.”