Free Shell Shocked by Eric Walters Page A

enter Bill’s car.”
    â€œI didn’t know it was Bill’s car,” I said. “It was too dark and I was too far away. That’s why I had to get closer.”
    â€œAnd that’s when he was seen by surveillance and apprehended,” Bill said.
    Little Bill picked up a plate of cookies that I’d been eyeing and passed them around. I took two.
    â€œDo you like cats, George?”
    That was a strange question. “I guess I like them. We always had cats in the barn back at our farm.”
    â€œI almost see you as a cat.”
    â€œMe?”
    â€œYes. It’s a legend that cats have nine lives, and by my count you’ve used up at least four and possibly five of yours.”
    â€œI guess that means I have four or five left.”
    Little Bill laughed. “That is certainly an interesting perspective on the situation. Would you care to hazard a guess as to why your mother was meeting with Bill?”
    I didn’t have any idea why … wait, yes I did! “My mother is working in the plant as an operative.”
    A slight smile creased Little Bill’s face, and he nodded. He turned directly to Bill. “I told you the risk of employing Betty in that capacity was that the boys would discover her involvement.”
    â€œWe tried to keep everything as covert as possible,” Bill said.
    â€œI am sure of that, but a good agent will smell out a plot.”
    â€œSorry I slipped up,” my mother said.
    â€œNot your fault. For better or worse, we asked you to work as an operative, knowing that you’d have two good agents living in your house. And that is why the responsibility for this must rest with me. And now I am left with a dilemma. What do we do next?”
    â€œWhy do we have to do anything?” Jack asked. “It’s not like we’re going to tell anybody. We can keep a secret.”
    â€œI know you can,” Little Bill said. “Please do not ever imagine that I lack complete faith in you boys. But what of other people?”
    â€œWhat other people?” I asked.
    â€œYou were taken from the street two blocks from your house,” he said. “Who saw your abduction? Jack was spirited out of his house in the middle of the night—was that witnessed by anybody?”
    â€œWe monitored the calls to the local constabulary,” Bill said, “and there were no calls or reports to the police.”
    â€œThat might only represent a false positive,” Little Bill said.
    Jack and I exchanged quizzical looks.
    â€œA report would mean that you were witnessed,” he explained. “No report, however, does not mean that you were not witnessed. It merely means that nothing wasreported. A false positive could still be in place, and we don’t know what eyes might have been on you.”
    â€œBut there could have been lots of people who saw my mother get into that car,” I said. “This time and other times.”
    â€œYes, but witnessing that would only lead them to believe that your mother, a recent divorcee, was meeting a man. That would be the logical explanation. Seeing you pushed to the ground, a pistol to your head, would tend to suggest a different kind of scenario.”
    I hadn’t thought of that.
    â€œSo, what happens now?” my mother asked, voicing the question that we were all thinking.
    â€œIt might be necessary to relocate you again.”
    â€œBut I don’t want to move!” Jack exclaimed. “I like it here!”
    I knew what he was thinking. Actually, I knew who he was thinking of.
    â€œNevertheless …,” Little Bill began.
    â€œThat isn’t fair,” Jack went on. “If somebody had kept his nose out of other people’s business, none of this would have happened.”
    I couldn’t look at my brother. I felt my whole body flush.
    â€œI am afraid that if blame is to be placed, it must be placed squarely on my shoulders,” Little Bill