Chapter 74
Jesse hated hospitals, and the thing he hated most about them was the smell. Every hospital he ever entered had the same smell, and it immediately made him want to run for the exit after just stepping through the doors. But today, he didn’t seem to mind the odor because he was there to visit his old XO, boss, and friend, General Bennett. As he approached his private room, he noticed the beefy guard in plain clothes outside his door. Jesse didn’t know the man. He was not one of the members of his company. As he drew nearer, the man gave Jesse his full attention. He had Special Forces written all over him, and Jesse could tell that this man was no stranger to violence. He had a tight smile, but it was all for show. Before he was within 10 feet of the man, Jesse pulled out his creds and held them up for the guard to see. Jesse was allowed to enter after verifying his credentials and checking with the General by two-way radio. He slowly opened the door and found Bennett lying on his bed, engaged in a lively conversation with a beautiful woman standing by his bedside.
“Hello General…I must say you look awfully good for a man that, by all accounts, should be dead.” Jesse said as he walked toward the bed and extended his right hand to greet Bennett but switched hands when he saw Bennett’s right arm was in a sling.
The two men shook hands as Bennett grinned and said, “Well, it looks like I cheated that old grim reaper again. Jesse then eyed the attractive woman beside his bed and said, “It looks like you’re being well cared for!”
Bennett turned his head to look at Miss Hottie. He smiled and was about to introduce her when she extended her hand across the bed and said, “Hi, I’m Judy Wright…one of Paul’s neighbors.”
Jesse leaned over Bennett’s knees, and it took all of his self-control to keep his eyes on the gorgeous woman’s face instead of staring at her ample cleavage that was now in his face as she leaned forward. He took her soft hand and was surprised by her firm grip.
“Jesse Taylor…the General and I go back a long way. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Judy.”
Jesse couldn't help but notice that the woman looked like a Vargas pinup girl for the 1950's. She had a cute, dimpled smile and a gorgeous figure. Around her slim neck was a navy blue and white polka dot Hermes silk scarf that was tied in a sailor's knot just above her tight-fitting white cotton blouse that was unbuttoned at the top and tied in a knot at her midriff. She rounded off the Vargas look with a pair of short, tight-fitting white shorts, navy blue pumps, and a matching blue Dooney and Bourke handbag perched on Bennetts's bed. Jesse wasn't even concerned about the hospital smell any longer because the perfume the woman was wearing was very pleasant and almost intoxicating.
“Well, I’m sure you boys have things to discuss, so I’ll just go and powder my nose and get a cup of coffee.”
Miss Hottie bent down, kissed Bennett softly on his lips, and whispered, “Just give me a ring after you boys are through talking business.” With that, she winked at him and started for the door. As she passed Jesse, she said, “It was very nice to meet you, Jesse.”
“The pleasure was all mine, Judy.”
Jesse watched her leave, placed the first knuckle of his index finger into his mouth, and bit down hard, but he quickly removed it when she turned and waved before going out the door.
When the door finally closed, Jesse said, "YOU'RE NEIGHBOR?"
"Yeah…we just met recently."
"You got to be shittin' me?"
"I shit you not, Major."
"Do all your neighbors kiss you like that?"
"No… just her."
Jesse shook his head and said, "Why can't I have a neighbor that looks like that? I must be doing something wrong."
Jesse was about to tell Bennett to be careful with this woman, but he knew he was a big boy and could take care of himself. Jesse also knew that Bennett was a prize catch, not because of his looks and well-kept body but because of his wealth. His sister and only sibling started working for Microsoft shortly after it was founded, encouraging her brother to invest in the fledgling company. Now Bennett was worth millions, although he didn’t live like it. He was content with the simple things in life. But one of the things he did with his wealth was to start and fund the private company Jesse now worked for. Bennett had officially retired five years ago, although he was still actively seeking government contracts.
“What? I thought you were the lady killer.”
“I’m afraid those days are long gone, General.”
“Shit, son, the day I give up on women is the day they put me in the ground.”
“From what I heard, you came very close. Scuttlebutt says that you came under some pretty heavy firepower from those men. I also understand they wore body armor, and you still managed to come out on top. I’m impressed!”
“Well, they got in their licks before I put them down. I think I had a guardian angel watching over me. I also heard that you were in a little skirmish yourself the other day. It looks like you fared much better than then I did.”
Jesse knew that General Jackson had filled Bennett in on the operation.
“Well, I was always a better soldier than you, sir.”
Bennett snorted; “Only in your dreams, kid.”
At that, Jesse chuckled a bit before both men started to laugh. Suddenly, Bennett’s laughter was cut short by the pain in his chest.
“Jesse you asshole… don’t make me laugh. It hurts too much.”
Jesse finally got down to the real reason for his visit. He gave Bennett a firsthand account of the events that took place in Phuket.
“Has the Mossad been able to extract anything from Rakov yet?” Bennet asked Jesse after he had finished giving him his synopsis.
Jesse shook his head, “I spoke with Eli this morning. He said he believes Rakov wants to cut a deal, but they’re having difficulty understanding him because his jaw is wired shut. Compounded by the fact that his writing skills are not very good. Yet despite all that, he still feels like they’re making progress and should have something for us very soon.”
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“I’m skeptical that he knows anything of any value. What’s your take on him?”
“I have to agree with you, sir. But right now, he’s the only lead we have that can tie this all together.”
Bennett rubbed the stubble on his chin and nodded.
Jesse had never told Bennett about his conversation with Sanders on his last day in Xuan Loc, and for the next few minutes, he relayed his story. Bennett listened respectfully and kept his opinions to himself during Jesse’s entire disclosure, only asking a few questions along the way.
When Jesse finished, Bennett said softly, “I’m surprised you didn’t know about Sanders, but then again, you had your problems at the time. Back then, I did hear some rumors about Sydney. And from what I gathered, there was no significant proof that would hold up to any scrutiny. Now, it seems that the rumors may have been true. But I still have a hard time believing that she had anything to do with Jensen’s death.”
Jesse sincerely wanted to believe this, yet the facts didn't bear that out. Despite everything he had learned recently, he still had a soft spot in his heart for her.
Jesse left before Miss Hottie returned and promised to inform the General of any new developments. He walked out of the hospital and was thankful to finally breathe fresh air again, although the woman's scent still lingered on his mind. Maybe it was time that he found someone. It had been a long time since he…well. He left the thought drift out of his mind.
As he stood outside the hospital and breathed the fresh ocean air, he said aloud to no one in particular, "Lucky bastard."
*****
Jesse’s next stop was to visit David Choi, who was recovering at St. Thomas Hospital. He met with David and discussed everything that happened in his apartment and the events in Phuket. Jesse also took a picture of the two of them and sent it to Shawn and Tim Choi. Jesse spent some time with his doctor and was told that David would fully recover but would need extensive physical therapy before he could return to work.
A few hours later, Jesse left the dry California sunshine for Minnesota's warm and humid air. He arrived at the nursing home in Farmington in the late afternoon and was directed to a day area where he found Zed sitting alone. Jesse sat and talked with the elderly man and sadly realized that Zed was no longer the man he once was. Zed could remember only bits and pieces of his past, although nothing that could help Jesse in the least. He thanked Zed for his time and was soon heading for the exit. The nursing home administrator happened to see him leave, and she stopped him just before he made it to the exit.
“Mr. Taylor, thank you for coming by to see Zed. He hasn’t gotten many visitors since his wife died, and he is such a nice man. I only wish you could have spoken with him before, well…you know. One of his nieces from St. Paul came in the other day and told me they’re having an estate sale at Zed’s farm today. Maybe you should go there?”
Jesse thanked her for the information and soon headed for the small town of Castle Rock, just a few miles south of Farmington. The day was pleasant, with a warm breeze from the south, and Jesse enjoyed seeing the rolling hills in a sea of green. He saw a few tractors working the fields as the framers cultivated their crops of corn and soybeans in the warm sunshine. Nothing seemed to change in the country. He could imagine Peter Jensen as a young boy on one of those tractors working the fields as they were today. Following his GPS navigation, Jesse pulled off the tar road and onto a two-lane gravel road that led to the Jensen farm. He noted with amusement that most of the drivers that he passed waved at him, and he found himself waving back just to be polite. Soon, he saw signs for the estate sale, and within minutes, he was pulling into the Jensen’s farmyard and parking his rented sedan along with about a dozen other cars and trucks in the farmyard.
Despite not being raised on a farm, Jesse knew this was different from your typical barn and farmhouse. They were too new. Dressed in tan khakis and a simple short-sleeved white shirt, Jesse grabbed his navy blue sports jacket for the passenger’s seat when he got out of his rental. He slipped it on and headed for the main door to the farmhouse. He casually walked past the front yard, littered with old junk that was for sale that nobody probably wanted, and entered through the front door. Jesse was greeted by a bubbly woman about his age that carried a few extra pounds.
The woman noted his clothes and said, “Hello, thanks for stopping by. The sale is just about over, and I want you to know that the prices are negotiable now.”
“Thanks, but I’m here for another reason. Are you the administrator of the Jensen estate?”
“Why, Yes, I am. I’m Susan Hustead, Mary, and Zed’s niece. How can I help you, Mr.?”
Jesse pulled out an official-looking badge he used for occasions like this and quickly held it up for Susan to see.
“Taylor Ma’am, Jesse Taylor. I’m with a branch of the U.S. Government that is currently investigating a closed incident that Zed may have been involved in years ago.”
Jesse stretched the truth but wasn’t far off.
“Oh my, is Zed in some kind of trouble?”
Jesse kept a straight face and shook his head, “No, Ma’am, not at all,” Jesse said using a Jack Webb line.
“As you may or may not know, Zed’s son worked for the CIA. This case involves something that he was working on back in the early 70’s. Susan, did you find any old letters anywhere in the house…maybe in a shoebox or the bottom of a desk drawer? I’m specifically looking for letters written to Mary and Zed from Peter while he was in Vietnam.”
Susan thought momentarily, then said, “There were some old letters in a desk drawer, but I don’t recall who they were from.”
“Can you show them to me?”
Just then, a man wearing bib overalls placed a few items on the table set up as a check-out counter and eyed Jesse before clearing his throat.
Susan told the impatient man she would be with him in a minute, and then turned back to Jesse.
“Mr. Taylor, you’re more than welcome to look through the entire home, even the marked private room. That’s where you’ll find the desk and other things I keep for myself. I’d show you, but I’m the only one working the checkout.”
Jesse nodded and said, “Thank you, Susan; I think I can find it myself.”
Jesse knew that Clayson had already sent a team to search the Jensen home without Susan’s knowledge, and they came up with nothing, but he wanted to look for himself.
Jesse found the room marked “Private” and entered. He quickly spotted the desk. Before he started his search, he noticed two pictures on the wall. Jesse had never seen a picture of Peter Jensen before, but he was sure he was looking at him now. One photo looked like it was taken from his senior year in high school, and another photo was of the same young man standing next to what appeared to be a younger teenager, although he stood a foot taller.
It took Jesse about fifteen minutes to review all of the desk's material. He found no letters from Peter or any notes or material remotely related to encryption. Everything he saw was recent. Jesse finished looking through everything else in the room and then looked through the rest of the home. Susan correctly stated that there wasn't much left in the house for sale. He did find a stack of books, but they were primarily recent fiction novels mixed in with some Christian books, including several Bibles. He noticed several large paperbacks by Joel Rosenberg and knew none were published before 1975 because he had read a few.
Jesse weaved his way around all the shoppers, and he finally came to the front door, where Susan was engaged in a conversation with a little old lady who was paying for several small items. From the sound of their conversation, the old woman knew Mary Jensen, and just because another customer was waiting, she wasn’t about to finish talking anytime soon. She looked at Jesse up and down and kept talking about Mary even though she had received her change and had her items wrapped in newspaper and placed in a brown paper bag. Jesse finally had enough, and he butted in despite the irritated look on the old woman’s face.
“Thanks again for all your help, Susan. I’m just going to look around outside, and then I’ll come back and see you before I leave.”
“You didn’t find what you were looking for, Mr. Taylor?” Susan asked.
The old woman stopped talking and stared at the rude man who interrupted her. She glared at Jesse through squinted eyes, and her lips formed a tight, thin line, indicating her disapproval of his discourteous behavior.
“No, I didn’t, but thank you for your help.”
“You’re entirely welcome, Mr. Taylor. See if you can track down Nils. He should be somewhere outside or in the barn. You can’t miss him; he’s a mountain of a man. He was the Jensen’s long-time neighbor helping me with the things in the barn and the outbuilding since I didn’t have a clue about any of that stuff. Oh, by the way, Nils and Peter were childhood friends. I just thought you’d like to know.”
Jesse thanked Susan again and smiled at the old woman, who now had her mouth open and was staring daggers at Jesse.
Just before Jesse walked out the door, he heard the old hag ask, “Who was that rude man?”
“I’m afraid that’s confidential, Ma’am.” Jesse simply smiled.