K. Janssen - Hampton Manor

He returned ten minutes later. “I’m afraid I have some rather bleak news. I spoke with Jim Wesson, the head of the Town Council. He said the pumping station exploded and broke the main water conduit. The water towers drained into the hole. Downtown is about a foot underwater right now. The town is without water and Jim thinks it may take several days to restore service, but, he was just hazarding a guess. He hasn’t spoken to any of the system engineers yet.”

“You better check on the back-up generators in case the flood waters knock out the town’s power. I remember what happened when we had that hurricane.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll do that right away. I’ll tell the staff to conserve water until service is restored. I took an inventory of the bottled water the other day. We have twenty five-gallon bottles stored under the grand stairway. We’ll need to ration them until we know the status of things.”

“I know I can count on you to manage things. Do the best you can. If it’s going to take too long, we’ll just move out until things return to normal. The West Wing will be a problem, though. Tomorrow, when we know more, we’ll see if we can move my father to a private facility. In the meantime let’s not keep that duck waiting. Suddenly I have a ravenous appetite.”

At 8:30, Adam entered the West Wing. John greeted him and Adam filled him in on the water situation and plans to evacuate the wing if the water problem became prolonged. “See Milton about getting some extra water bottles for the toilet tanks. Set the floaters lower to preserve what little water we do have.”

“I’ll take care of that right away. I’ll bring four bottles and store them in my office.”

“Adam picked up his father’s chart, scanned it for any warning flags, and motioned to John that he was ready to meet with his father.

John turned to one of the nurses. “Neil, will you make sure Mister Hampton is ready to visit with his son.”

“Sure, John.”

As Neil was leaving the reception area, John turned to Adam. “I shut off the recording devices as you requested.”

“Thanks John. Why don’t you keep the dogs here with you tonight. They distract my father sometimes and I need his full attention.”

“Not a problem. I have some dog biscuits and some squeaky toys that should keep them amused for a while. I enjoy their company.”

Neil returned, and held the door open for Adam.

Adam headed back to his father’s den determined that by the time he left he would know the name of the “mystery heir”.

Adam was surprised to find his father dressed in a blue suit with a red “power” tie. His father gestured to Adam to sit in the chair opposite him. John should have warned me. The old man is acting as if he’s holding the meeting. I don’t like the look of this.

He looked into his father’s eyes.“I asked you to meet with me today because I need to get a few things straight.”

His father looked surprised. “What on earth are you talking about? I called this meeting and I’ll thank you to sit there quietly until I’m finished. You can speak then, but I warn you that I won’t tolerate any insubordination from you . ”

Adam was startled by his father’s behavior. What the hell has gotten into him? This wasn’t going to be as simple as he thought it would be. Why does everything have to be so difficult.

Chapter 43

Neil Gordon waited until he saw Adam enter his father’s den. He closed the door and reached for his cell phone. As he hit the “on” button, he heard John call his name.

“Neil, I need you to help me with something.” It was John and he was standing at the door to the main building.

“In a minute, John. I have to make a quick call.”

“Now, Neil,” John said with a firm tone. “You should know that personal calls are not permitted in the West Wing during Mister Hampton’s visits. Put that phone down and give me a hand. The water system is out and we have to bring in at least four five-gallon bottles of water as backup for drinking and for the toilet tanks.”

Neil placed the phone on John’s desk and reluctantly headed for the door.

John saw the look on Neil’s face and added, “Look, as soon as we get the water in here, you can take a break and make your call, but you’ll have to make it fast and from the main building.”

“Thanks, John. It’s important or I would wait until my shift is over.”

“Okay, then, let’s get this job done.”

They made their way to the faux panel under the main staircase. John pushed the panel and slid it one side. He flipped the light switch and a dim light filled the room. It was a credit to Milton’s housekeeping that the bottles of water and boxes stored there were free from dust and cobwebs as one would expect. The bomb that the Assassin planted was immediately above their heads, expertly concealed by slats of wood.

The bottles were heavy and it took them a few minutes to carry them down the hall to the door of the “wing”. John had to put his bottle down to unlock the door.“John, why don’t you just prop the door open with one of the bottles?”

“Can’t do that. Mister Hampton would have my head. The door must be closed and locked at all times. It can’t remain open longer than sixty seconds. If the sensors they set up detect any threat the “wing” acts as one big “panic room.” All doors and windows lock down and can’t be released until either Milton or Mister Hampton deactivate the system. Fortunately we’ve never needed to use it, although it’s tested every month.”

“Wow, I’ve never heard of anything like that. I guess if you’ve got the bucks you can get the best protection that money can buy. Where should I put this bottle?”

“We’ll put them against the wall over there, for now.”

John hoisted his bottle to his left shoulder as he shifted his body to hold open the door. As he did, the keys slipped from the his fingers and fell silently to the plush carpeting. His foot kicked them behind a wastebasket as he moved quickly to the wall.

“Boy, these mothers can be hard to handle if you don’t get a good grip on them.”

“You got that right.”

“Let’s get two more. Then you can take that break.”

They stepped through the door and it closed automatically behind them. They picked up two more bottles from storage and when they arrived back at the door, John began a frantic search for his keys, patting each pocket several times.

He turned to Neil and asked, “Do you have the keys?”

“No. Why would I have them? You must have dropped them somewhere. I’ll go back to the storeroom and look around.”

“I think that we would have heard them if they dropped on the concrete floor. They probably dropped out of my pocket in the office.”

“Well, I’ll check the storeroom anyway. We’ve got nothing to lose.”

“You do that, Neil. In the meantime, I’ll find Milton. He has a backup set. God, how could I be so careless? This is so embarrassing. It has never happened to me before.”

They went in opposite directions. Neil to the storeroom and John towards the kitchen, where he knew Milton would be planning the next day’s meals.

Neil checked his watch. Perspiration began to appear on his forehead as he realized that it was almost eleven minutes since Adam Hampton III had gone into his father’s den. What if he finishes early and leaves. What can I tell the man. He may want his money back and half of it is spent already. I should have kept my phone with me. I’ll never make that mistake again He looked around the storage area, but couldn’t find the keys, so he returned to the West Wing door to wait for John.

John rushed up with the backup keys in hand. He pushed open the door and scanned the floor. He quickly retrieved his keys, helped carry the remaining two bottles in and turned to Neil.