Chapter 21: Moving In and Meeting the Neighbors

Robert met us at the hotel bright and early the next morning and drove us to our new home. I unlocked the house’s doors and then went to unlock the side gate to the driveway. Karen was to take command from here. I went exploring my new domain while she waited for her ladies in waiting, mainly Olive and Jean, to arrive. I was looking over the back patio, and what I had thought was a low wall was in fact an outdoor barbecue grill and preparation area. The grill was covered with ivy, making it hard to distinguish what it really was. The grill hadn’t been used in years, and the ivy allowed to grow hid its purpose. I went into the house through the back door and called for Karen. She soon came to see why I was calling for her. I took her by the hand and led her out the back door to the patio. I thought that it would be easier to show her than try to describe it to her. Confused by my urgency, Karen was apprehensive at first. She began looking around to see what had excited me when we exited. It didn’t take her long to see the outdoor grill and preparation area. It was made of brick with a cast iron inlet grill.

“It was so covered in ivy that I thought it was a wall at first,” I excitedly said, “Then I pulled some of the ivy off and realized what it was. I had to come get you to show you what I found.”

“OOH! Just think of all the entertaining we can do out here,” Karen excitedly said. “I’ll find some outdoor furniture and accessories. Have you ever grilled, James? I can’t recall a time that you did any outdoor grilling in the time we have been married.”

“You wound me to my core, woman. I am a male, aren’t I? Of course I can grill, it’s part of my genetic makeup!” I answered back.

Both of us laughed and held each other, looking to see if we found any other secrets the back patio was willing to give up.

“I want to have the grill thoroughly checked out before I do any grilling. Our homeowners insurance will demand that we do,” I said.

It suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks; homeowners insurance. Neither of us had thought about it, and we were currently not covered. I panicked, and I think my complexion went pale.

Karen being a nurse noticed something about me was amiss. “What’s wrong, James, you suddenly went pale? Are you all right?” she asked, very worried.

“I have been concerned about so many different things that getting homeowners insurance completely slipped my mind,” I said in a panic. “You wait for your friends and the moving company, I am going to go see about insurance.”

I walked to the corner where the cul-de-sac connected to the main street. I seemed to recall us passing an insurance agency nearby, and I went on the hunt for it. I went off in the direction I thought I had seen the office. It was my good fortune that I spotted the agency halfway up the next block. The office had just opened their doors, and the office workers were just settling in when I walked in.

I walked out the door an hour later, covered for the year and with several hundred dollars less in my bank account. I had the home insured for its replacement cost and our contents covered in the same manner. I had to pay a premium price for a rider since the house had significant historical value. The agency had the previous owner as a client and was familiar with the property. I also got a recommendation for a local mason to come check out the grill and food preparation area.

I walked back to the house and saw the moving company there with Queen Karen and her ladies in waiting supervising the unloading. Karen greeted me with a hug, and I got similar hugs from Olive and Jean, though Jean needs to lighten up in her hugs. I could swear I felt a rib pop. Karen doing the supervising and I went back to my exploring. I discovered a stone pedestal and sundial lying on its side in the tall weeds back in the sunny area where there had once been a garden. Resetting the sundial and ridding the yard of weeds would be a worthy project some weekend.

I heard someone calling my name and I turned to see who it was. Robert had returned and was heading my way, waving in greeting. I pointed at the pedestal and sundial when he came nearer. It met with his approval. I looked around some more and didn’t see anything else that called to me, so I decided to go explore the carriage house. Robert tagged along and we both entered the carriage house through the side door. There were the stairs to the upper level to the right, and the open part of the carriage house was ahead of us. You could still see where there had been stalls for horses along one wall. That part of the carriage house floor was dirt. The part where the carriages had been was brick in a herringbone pattern. You could see what remodeling had been done to the carriage house when looking back toward the front of the carriage house. You could see the alterations made to accept a much wider opening, yet maintained the building’s integrity. Looking around and guessing, I decided there was enough room in the carriage house to keep all three Volkswagens and the motorcycle, with just enough room for a push mower.

I finished my inspection and went upstairs to join Robert, who had gone up there when we first entered the building. There was no upstairs to explore; this story was an open area except for what looked like a built-in closet that was big enough that it could pass for a bathroom. Thinking back to what Secret Service Agent Barnes, who had been with us that first day, had said, this could serve as a protection detail-ready room. What I called a closet converted into a usable bathroom with shower, and there would be enough room in the rest of this story to have a monitoring station, a kitchenette, a bunkroom, and a common area for the Agents. I would check with Jean to get her input later. The only thing I could see that made this idea unfeasible was the cost of running water, sewage, and electricity to the building.

Robert called my name and motioned for me to come over. He had been going over the closet to see if there was anything in it. There was nothing to see, but Robert had a flashlight with him and pointed it at the wall. ‘John Smith and Hessy Jones married Oct 12, 1874’ was written on it in a childish scrawl. That was interesting and worth learning more about. That would mean that this building had probably been here before 1874. It would mean that the carriage house was original to the property. My dad would go nuts over that if he were here, as he was an even bigger history buff than I was. Only his fascination with anything ‘James Bond’ superseded it.

Robert and I finished with the carriage house exploration and walked back toward the house. We went through the back door in time to hear Karen tell the movers that she was satisfied with their work and had signed off on the job completion form. The movers finished removing all the packing materials and were heading out the front door as Robert and I entered the front hallway. I looked at my watch and saw that it was almost noon. I was sure everyone was getting as hungry as I was. I suggested that I order takeout and everyone agreed. A quick poll and everyone decided that Chinese would work best. Robert remembered seeing a Chinese place up the street the other day, so he and I walked up to the restaurant and ordered the meal. It would take forty-five minutes to complete the order and have it delivered. We walked back and found the phone company truck parked in front of the house.

Karen was telling the installer where she wanted the telephones placed. She turned to me and asked if three would be enough. She decided she wanted a wall extension in the kitchen, a phone in our bedroom upstairs and a third extension in the room we decided would be the study. That sounded reasonable to me and I agreed. The installer went out to his truck to get the supplies he would need to do the installation. I decided to walk around the house to see what needed done. I was impressed; Karen had kept the movers busy. All that needed done was unpacking our personal effects. The movers assembled the beds and placed them in the rooms. Too bad the movers had left before I came back or I would have tipped them extra for the work they had done. I went back into our bedroom to look for a certain box. I had labeled my boxes as ‘James’ and each of those had a number. I was looking for the box labeled as ‘James box 3 of 6’. The sea bag and the treasures that it hid were in it. I was getting nervous until I found it hidden under a couple of boxes with Karen’s name on them. I removed the boxes stacked on top and moved it off to the side. I decided I would wait until after lunch to come up here and unpack it.

Karen called up to me to come eat as lunch had been delivered. I went down the stairs and into the kitchen where I thought everyone would be. Everyone was in the process of filling their plates when I came in. I looked around and noticed the phone installer even had a plate. Karen saw me staring and motioned for me to come to her. Her Midwest roots showed, and she thought it was rude for the rest of us to be eating in front of him, so she invited him to join us. There was more than enough food. She was right too, as I went nuts in ordering. Karen mentioned that she wanted to borrow Robert to drive her, Jean, and Olive to the store after lunch to get supplies she would need in getting the house ready. I was jumping for joy, as that would allow me to open box ‘number 3’ without anyone getting nosy.

I told Karen I would start unpacking my things while she and her friends were at the store. She was OK with that, and they left as soon as they were finished eating. That would only leave the phone installer and me in the house. I grabbed a kitchen paring knife to use on the boxes and went upstairs to unpack. I shut and locked the bedroom door so I could get the sea bag out and check its contents. I cut the tape holding the box closed and peered inside. The sea bag was there and didn’t look disturbed. I took it out of the box, placed it on the bed, and removed my keys from my pocket. I found the key I needed and used it to remove both padlocks. Everything appeared to be there: the three Makarovs, the three Skorpions, my Walther, its holster, spare magazine, and lastly, three separate rolls of money in a mixture of US dollars, British pounds, and Russian rubles. I put everything back into the sea bag, except my Walther and its holster. I placed it in the nightstand drawer on what I thought would be my side of the bed. I secured the sea bag once again, and I placed it on the back of the shelf on what I claimed was my side of the closet. I had emptied my second box, marked ‘James 2 of 6’, when the phone installer knocked on the door and asked if he could install the bedroom phone. I pointed to my side of the bed when he asked where he should place it, as I thought I would be the one getting most of the calls at night.

The installer came into the bedroom carrying several boxes and went about setting up the beige princess phone. He mounted a wall jack near the baseboard and ran the cable around the perimeter of the room until he reached the junction box. Without wall-to-wall carpet assisting in hiding the cable run, he did a credible job of hiding the cable under the base molding. He continued out into the hall after he was done in the bedroom and continued hiding cable. I spotted where he had hidden the junction box and started to run the cable down to the first floor when I was heading downstairs to dispose of some of the cardboard boxes. It was hardly noticeable. This guy was good at his job.

I had just carried the trash down from upstairs when the front door opened. Karen and her crew came into the house each carrying a bag. Poor Robert was bringing up the rear and looked more like a pack animal than human. I continued out to the back patio with the trash and placed it up against the wall out of the way. I intended on cutting it up to make it easier to dispose of later. Robert had just made his second trip in from the SUV when I came back in. The man looked exhausted.

It was mid afternoon and I could see the others were starting to flag, I suggested we take a break and come back for a bit this evening. We would have extra help by then, and things would go a lot faster. Everyone thought that was a great idea and we all headed out the front door. I was the last one to leave, as I wanted to lock up and make sure everything was secure. Jean and Olive were already gone when I got to the front door, and I saw Karen in a heated discussion with the neighborhood busybody. I went over to see what was upsetting the old biddy this time.

I got there in time to hear the old biddy say, “We don’t want children around this street, they are loud and tear up property. It was a mistake for you to purchase that house.”

Karen was in tears by this time and I was seeing red. Robert was beside the SUV with his mouth hanging open in disbelief, and saw me coming. He started shaking his head ‘no’ trying to catch my attention. All I saw was that old biddy emotionally berating my wife, this after I warned her to leave us be. I decided right then and there that I would leave the legal system deal with her. I walked up to them and put a protective arm around Karen and looked directly at the old lady. In as calm of a voice as I could muster I said, “I warned you to not confront my wife and you did it anyway. Now I am going to act on it. You bother us again and I will contact the authorities and let them handle this.”

Robert opened the back door to the SUV and I walked Karen to the vehicle and helped her in. I looked back and the old lady hadn’t moved. I would be making a few phone calls when we got back to the hotel, and have the situation remedied. I was suspecting the old lady wasn’t in her right mind. No matter what, I wasn’t going to tolerate her causing emotional stress on Karen. The trip back to the hotel was a quiet one. Robert stopped, got out, and came around to help Karen out of the SUV when we pulled up in front of the hotel. Karen was still upset, so whatever the old lady had said to her must have been very upsetting. I asked Robert to stick around and then walked Karen into the hotel and went up to the suite with her. I suggested that she lay down for a while and said that I would be right back.

I went back down to the lobby and out to the SUV where Robert was still standing. I asked him what happened that got Karen so upset. He said the old woman told Karen that it was a mistake and that we would soon regret buying the house. She said that she would do everything she could to make us move. Do not even think about having children at the house, children get hurt every day from playing outdoors and riding bicycles in the street, after all. I had heard enough and thanked Robert for telling me. I asked if he would drive me back this evening, as Karen would be staying at the hotel this evening. He didn’t have a problem with it and I told him to go grab supper in the lounge or the restaurant and put it on my bill. I had some things I needed to take care of.

I went back into the hotel and went to the front desk. The desk clerk on duty greeted me by name and asked what she could do for me. I asked if I could talk to the manager if he was available. She went to find him and shortly came back with him. He greeted me and asked how he could be of assistance. I said I needed to make a couple of local calls, and I didn’t want to use my room phone and disturb my wife. He volunteered the use of his office phone, and I thanked him for his kindness.

I went into his office and made my first call to Jean. She answered after the third ring and asked what was up when she heard it was me. I told her about the old lady threatening Karen and myself. Jean about exploded over the phone and said she would be right there and she would send Scotty to sit outside the house until we got there. Jean made a comment that confused me at the time. Something about that lady had no business saying such things to Karen, and in her condition, too.

I could have kicked myself for not acknowledging the fact that I was no longer in Kansas. I, James Mercer, was no longer a small town math instructor. I was now in the big leagues, and with it came changes that could negatively affect me and my family. My new position placed me and my family under public scrutiny. Not everyone would like what I did, and there were others who were insane. My crazy neighbor made that fact clear. I would need security here as I had in Chicago. There was no getting around the fact that I would need to screen those dear to me from everyone else.

My next call went to my host and mentor. I told him that after buying our home, a neighbor I believed had mental issues had threatened and harassed us. I didn’t feel safe with her being near my home. He said I would have a protection detail at the hotel and in front of my house in less than an hour. I already told him I had my security people watching the house for me and that a female Secret Service Agent who was friends with my wife was coming to the hotel to be with her. He was OK with that and hung up. I thanked the hotel manager for the use of his phone on my way back up to the suite, and then went to use the elevator. I had just gotten to the suite and had checked on Karen who was asleep, when there was a knock on the door. I went to check and saw that it was Jean. I opened the door for her and she came in and gave me a hug. I pointed to the bedroom and Jean nodded her head. She went over and sat down on the couch.

It was then what Jean had said hit me like a ton of bricks, “and in her condition, too.” Karen and I were expecting. It made me weak-kneed for a moment and I had to hold onto the back of a chair. No wonder Karen acted the way she did. With all else we had going, mother nature had decided to give us a gift. I wasn’t against us having a baby, it was just the timing. Jean alarmed, immediately came over to where I was, concerned about my well-being.

I smiled weakly, and said, “You, my friend, let Karen’s secret out of the bag. We are going to be parents, aren’t we?” Jean turned a nice shade of pink to show her embarrassment for letting the cat out of the bag. I gave her a hug and informed her that I wouldn’t tell on her. I asked her to stay with Karen as I had some other things I needed to take care of. I also told her to bring Karen down to the restaurant to eat when she wakes up. I would be down there with Robert.

I went down to the restaurant, found Robert eating, and joined him. I asked the server to bring me what Robert was having. I could see the front entrance to the hotel’s lobby from where I was sitting, and watched for the protection detail to show. It wasn’t long before I saw a black SUV pull up, four men get out, and come into the lobby. I excused myself, and got up to meet the detail in the lobby. I recognized one Agent and waved to get his attention. I walked over to where they were standing and explained the situation. My calling Jean had some heads nodding as they approved of my decision. I gave them the street address where my house was, and explained the threat to them as I saw it to be. I explained that the threat was an old woman who I thought had mental issues, and who had confronted and threatened my wife after I had told her not to. This was something they knew how to handle.

The Agent in charge asked if I had a name for the person, I apologized that I didn’t, nor an address. I was able to tell them where her house was in relation to mine, and I gave them a physical description of what she looked like. He would have a team sent to track her down and see to that she was taken in for an evaluation. The Agents would also canvass the neighborhood to see if they gather any other intelligence on her. I finished up by saying that I and a few friends were planning to return to the house that evening. I was going to convince my wife to stay at the hotel with Jean. He agreed with my plans, so I excused myself and went back to the restaurant to finish eating.

Robert and I were ready to go back to the house after I finished eating. I still had some things to take care of before we left and asked him to give me ten minutes. Robert decided to kill time and sit in the lobby to people watch while patrons waited for their reservations. I went back up to our suite to call the others to let them know when I planned to go back to the house. Karen was awake when I went back up to the room. She and Jean were just leaving to go down to the restaurant to eat. I asked Karen to join me in the bedroom, and for Jean to wait in the sitting room. No one objected, and Karen followed me back to the bedroom. I told Karen that had I contacted Jean to stay with her while I went back to the house and unpack some more. I also let her know the Secret Service had a detail downstairs as well as a team waiting at the house. I assured her that I would be back before ten PM. I said I loved her and would do anything to protect her and our child as I was leaving.

Karen incredulously asked, “How did you find out? I kept it from everyone until this afternoon, and I know you haven’t been around any of them.”

I answered her with, “The Jorgensons aren’t the only ones who have special abilities.”

Karen looked stunned as I left the suite. I had a good laugh on my way down to the lobby in the elevator.

Robert was waiting for me where I left him. I motioned to the door and he nodded and followed me out. I noticed a member of the protection detail joined us as I was heading toward the door. He followed us to the SUV and got in front with Robert as I grabbed my usual seat in back. We pulled up in front of the house thirty minutes later. Scotty was there, as well as Randy, Andi, and Olive. A Ford sedan with four people sat parked when I got out of the SUV. I recognized my protection detail as they joined us at the front door. I went to open the front door and one of the security team asked if they could make entry first to check on the property. I nodded my permission. All four of them entered the house while the rest of the party waited outside curiously looking at me.

One of the Agents came out a few minutes later and gave us the all clear. I allowed the others to go in ahead of me. This was the first time they had been to the house for a couple of them, and I gave them permission to go explore before I came in. The Agent, who identified himself as Agent Young, came out of the house and I motioned for him to follow me. I led him over to the locked gate to the driveway. I unlocked it and had him follow me into the back yard. I told him my idea about using the carriage house and wanted his opinion. I also asked that he do a site survey to find any security deficiencies. I wanted them corrected as soon as possible if there were any. I was taking my family’s security serious now with Karen and a baby on the way. Dealing with Ginny B, and now the old woman down the street, convinced me to take all threats seriously, a decision I had come to earlier and the reason for security being there as we unpacked.

I went back into the house to start the others on unpacking while the Agent went off to check what I was proposing. I had Randy and Andi follow me up to my bedroom. I showed them where I had placed the sea bag. I also told them they were come to the house ASAP if anything happened to me, remove the bag from the house, get rid of the hardware, and share the proceeds equally among the two of them and my heirs. That is when I told Andi and Randy that I was going to be a dad. I got a handshake from Randy and damn good hug and kiss from Andi. I told them I would make sure that they each got a key that fit the locks.

We went downstairs and helped unpack the boxes that were marked where they would go. Anything marked as belonging to Grandma Jorgenson went in her bedroom for her to unpack later. I went into the study and had started to unpack the boxes there when I realized that I didn’t have anywhere to put my books and other academic items I had collected. Another line item to add to my mental to do list was to shop for a desk, chair, and a matching bookcase and filing cabinet. This is where I planned to do my work on the algorithm.

I had just walked out into the front entrance way from the study when a man in a suit that was obviously Secret Service asked me to follow him. I walked over to him, introduced myself, followed him outside where we stood on the front steps. I never did catch his name, as he never introduced himself. He was a member of the team sent to track down the older woman I had found was threatening Karen. He informed me they had located her and had found her to be unstable after interviewing her. She went to a secure forensic behavioral unit for a 72-hour evaluation hold to be examined by competency experts.

He told me that teams of other Agents were out canvassing the neighborhood, checking with the neighbors about any encounters they might have had with her. He also said the Agent I had asked to check on the carriage house had immensely liked my idea. That Agent would have a report about security recommendations for me in a couple of days. I thanked him for keeping me informed and wished him a good evening.

It was getting close to 9 PM and the others had jobs to go to in the morning, so I suggested we all knock off for the evening. I would let them know by tomorrow’s suppertime if I needed additional help. I went around the house and locked things up. Randy and Olive were with me the whole time, making sure that I was safe. The protection detail was in a discussion outside while I was locking up. Randy had seen the third floor and how open the floor plan was. He made the comment that I should allow him and Olive to move up there since he and I were related through marriage. He would be close by If I needed help. I knew he was teasing, so he was laughing just as hard as I was when I told him to kiss my ass.

A very somber Secret Service Agent Barnes met us when Karen and I came down for breakfast the next morning. He asked to speak to me alone and had Jean accompany Karen to the restaurant. Barnes said that he hadn’t come across a person as controlling and feared as the crazy neighbor I had tangled with in all his years in the service. He said that she not only threatened me, my family, and the protection detail while in custody, but also those I worked for all the way to the top. He said the real craziness was that she held that cul-de-sac in constant fear for almost forty years. The real shocker was that people who went against her had unusual and unfortunate things happen to them and their families. Homes and personal possessions were vandalized, pets came up missing, and even worse things happened in the neighborhood, but there wasn’t evidence she was behind it yet. He gave me two examples that caused a chill to go up my spine. She had been quarreling with one a family over flowers planted in a flowerbed. The family died in their beds from carbon monoxide poisoning. In another instance that occurred in the mid-1970s, a family had a quarrel with her because she objected to their five-year-old daughter riding her bike in front of the old woman’s house. The little girl disappeared while riding her bicycle in front of her own house one day after the confrontation. Her parents had told her not to go down the street anymore.

The Secret Service, the FBI, and the local authorities were waiting on a warrant to search the old woman’s house to see what secrets they would discover. Barnes said this woman was insane in his limited experience, and needed to be locked up to protect others from her. I told him that I know crazy; I had to deal with it for five years before I had to put an end to it four years ago. I told to request and read my file when he got back to his office, and he would understand. Thanking him for keeping me informed, I went to join Karen and Jean in the restaurant.

I went back up to the suite after a late breakfast and called Lawrence. I told him I ran into another Ginny situation after making small talk and telling him about the house. He immediately asked how Karen was. I told him about the events of the last couple of days, what I had suspected, and called the Secret Service in to handle it. I said they had the lady under a 72-hour psych hold and were working on getting a search warrant. Lawrence swore and said that I must be a nut job magnet. I told him he might be on to something there.

The reason I was calling him was to get me into contact with the right people so I could legally carry a weapon in Washington and the DC area. He said he would try, and that I should use my contacts here in Washington as I might have more pull that way. I told him he and I had something else in common before I hung up. He asked me what that meant. I said that Karen and I would soon be doing late night diaper changes too. He congratulated me and wished me all the sleepless nights that he was sure were to follow. We said our goodbyes and hung up. I had decided to take another shower to see if that would help me relax and prepare for another day of unpacking, when the phone rang. I knew Karen and Jean were downstairs getting something to eat, so I got out of the shower to answer it. It was Grandma Jorgenson, and between the crying and the excited babbling, I found out that she wanted to know how soon before we would need her. I guess that Lawrence had called home and informed Camilla and her. I asked about who was going to help Camilla, and she said Camilla’s mother was there to help, and two grandmother types would get in each other’s way. I asked her give us a couple of days and I or Karen would call.