Chapter 22: Family Additions and Getting Down to Work

My father called back the next morning as promised. He sounded less stressed over the phone. We talked for almost an hour, planning the best way for him to come to Washington. What we planned was that my father would pack a change of clothing in his carry-on bag, and walk to the bus stop after Mom left to go to her club on Friday. He would take the bus to the City Center Plaza Transportation Complex, and take the express bus to the airport from there. I arranged to have a ticket for him on the afternoon flight to Washington’s Dulles Airport. Robert would meet him there and bring him to our home in Alexandria. He could call home and talk to my mother after a few days if he chose to. I was staying out of their squabble otherwise.

The rest of the week would keep Karen and me busy, with Karen getting her household in order and me making sure that our security was in place. I also had to see about setting up my office in the Truman State Department building. The security concerns were simple; I could see results looking out the window. Getting the office organized was a nightmare. My efforts to acquire the office space we would need got me nowhere until I called my former host and now mentor. No one in the State Department wanted us there. I lost count of the number of middle-level bureaucrats in the State Department who thought that I should report to them. It took multiple phone calls to accomplish anything. We won out in the end. The office space was allocated, and the memo that we were to be left alone went out. Anyone who disobeyed would become the new US Trade Representative in Saharan Equatorial Africa, negotiating with Bedouin traders.

Friday turned out to be an extremely busy and momentous day for us. My precious motorcycle and our Volkswagens arrived. Karen and I checked our Beetles for any damage, and finding none, signed off on the delivery and parked them in front of our next-door neighbor’s house for the time being. The contractors hired by the Secret Service to do the remodeling of the carriage house showed up and started their initial site survey to locate where the power and utilities were to be placed. Burying all the electrical wiring instead of stringing it between the house and the carriage house was the best solution from a security standpoint, as well as being aesthetically pleasing.

With all that going on, I had to check with Robert to make sure that he would pick up my dad at the airport as I had previously promised. It was still a go, so that was one less thing I had to deal with. Lastly, I called all my team and said we would have a staff meeting in our new offices at 8 AM Monday. I told them to be prepared to work and have fun at the same time.

I missed having lunch with Karen, as she had to go to the grocery store. I had to meet with a security system installer at the same time. The installer and I would consult with the head of my protection detail. We were to go over the planned security system, looking for any shortcomings we may have in our original plans. The cost of the security system and the remodel of the carriage house were housewarming gifts from Uncle Sam.

I asked Agent Barnes, now the head of our protection detail, to stick around for a minute or two after our meeting with the system installer. I wanted to ask him how big a concern the Soviet threat would be to my family. He was straight with me and I appreciated that.

There normally wouldn’t be any security risk at all, but I had been part of the team that had penetrated one of their most guarded secret locations. We had gotten away with some very revealing intelligence. Added to that, we had successfully escaped even with our escape route compromised. The final humiliation had been we had stolen a Communist Party member’s personal car and had driven it unchallenged for a thousand miles through the heart of the nation. Barnes was positive that they knew who we were and were out for blood. In his opinion, it wasn’t if, but when, they would try to seek revenge.

I made the decision after talking with Agent Barnes to call a meeting of Scotty, Jean, Randy, Andi, and myself for that weekend. It would be brief, but I wanted to share my concerns with them. I went up to my bedroom and shut the door. I got my Walther out of the nightstand drawer and checked it and the magazine.

I would be carrying the Walther around the property until further notice. As my training had drummed into my head, you are the one ultimately responsible for your own personnel safety and that of your family’s. The Walther took its place on my waist at the 3 o’clock position, and I covered it with my untucked shirt.

I was starving from skipping lunch and felt lightheaded by mid-afternoon. I knew Karen wouldn’t be back for hours, and my dad would arrive in just over two hours. I got the eggs out, scrambled a couple, and made a couple of slices of toast. Karen would be proud; I even cleaned up after myself.

Karen was back from shopping at 3:30 PM. Both Agents who went with her looked exhausted, and that made me smile. I wasn’t the only one she wore out on her shopping expeditions. The poor Agents even carried the groceries in for her. I told her about my boring day while she was putting things away. I deliberately didn’t tell her what Secret Service Agent Barnes had said; there was no sense in alarming her. Karen looked up at the clock after she finished putting things away, a couple of minutes after I had. My father would be arriving in less than an hour if he made the flight.

4:30 PM came and went, so I guess my dad wasn’t coming and would stick it out instead. I felt sad for him. No one deserved the constant grief my mother and brother were giving him. I did my part by offering him sanctuary for a few days. Mom had her hooks into him deeper than I thought.

I went out to the kitchen to see if there was anything I could do to help get supper ready. My scrambled eggs and toast earlier had only taken the edge off, and I was still hungry. Karen, thinking my dad would have been here, had gone all out and used one of her grandmother’s recipes that she knew was an all-time favorite of mine; a pot roast like no other. She even made home baked biscuits.

The doorbell rang at 5:30 PM. I went to get it, assuming that it was our protection detail’s shift change. It was Robert and my dad standing there looking around at the activity outside instead. Dad didn’t know what to make of all those strangers hanging around keeping a close watch at my front door.

I grinned at him and said, “Welcome to the big city; you aren’t in Kansas anymore.”

Robert knowing that he was always welcomed in our home said, “Is that pot roast I smell?”

Dad put his travel bag down and came over to give me a hug. He turned and gave one to Karen. “Thank you for taking me in to your beautiful home,” Dad said in earnest. “I needed to get away and think for a while.”

“We understand, Dad. Now come in and eat supper with us. We need to get in there before Robert eats it all,” Karen said with misty eyes. “Robert is both a pain and a blessing; he is one of your son’s most trusted friends and confidants.”

Dad laughingly said, “I would refute that statement from listening to him all the way here. The man tells me my son is a constant pain in his side.”

We walked to the kitchen in time to see Robert putting an extra table setting on the table. He grinned at us and sat down the opposite from where my dad decided to sit. Karen brought the basket with the homemade biscuits and the huge bowl of pot roast over, and went back for the smaller bowls containing the vegetables and steamed potatoes. We talked about our house’s history over dinner. He smiled when told how we came to acquire it. Dad was most impressed with the house’s history.

I know my dad was curious about the presence of the protection detail, so I beat him to it. I told him that it came with the job. It was necessary to offer protection since I dealt with sensitive information. The government was hedging their bets by protecting my family and me. My dad replied that he understood the logic to it.

Robert left shortly after eating, claiming that anyone still here after eating had to do dishes. He told me to call if I needed him over the weekend. I gave him my thanks for picking my father up and told him to send me the bill.

Dad and I decided to walk around the back yard after eating; he wanted to see the yard and carriage house. We had just finished touring the carriage house when my dad cornered me and asked what the real reason for all the security was. He knew about security from his days as a military policeman.

He blanched when I told him about the perceived threat to Karen and me from the Russians and the mind games they played. I told him about the measures we were taking to secure the house and the yard. He agreed with them; he also suggested I go to the local animal shelter and acquire the biggest and ugliest mutt I could find. The dog would be our best friend and companion if we treat it well. The dog would as soon die as let anything happen to his fellow pack members. He had seen it during his time with K9s and the dog handlers in the military. I liked the idea and thought that would be something that we could do the following day. We could at least see what the local shelter had to offer. Lastly, he asked if I still had my revolver. He thought that I might have gotten rid of it after the Ginny B affair. I pulled my shirt up and showed him the Walther that I carried in the waistband holster. He nodded his approval.

It was getting dark when we decided to go in for the evening. Karen was on the couch in the living room reading her romance novel. I made mention to her that we had not shown my father his room yet. Karen apologized and asked Dad to get his travel bag and she would show him to his room when he wanted to go up. Karen sent out one of her silent communiques to me while Dad got his things, wanting to know what was going on. I just shook my head no, looked over at her, and shrugged.

She took my father up to the guest room. They were not gone long, and they were laughing when they both came back into the room. My Karen had a pink hue to her; that was something new. Karen would not look at me and turned a deeper shade of red when I inquired as to what was going on. It was then that my father repeated what he had told Karen earlier. He had said that he hoped he could get some rest and not be awakened by loud, strange noises coming from our room. That’s my dad; he loved to get people’s goats and tease them. I simply told Karen to ignore him, as he was harmless.

Karen rejoined me on the couch, and my dad sat in the club chair I had found at an auction. A lodge in Chicago had folded and they were selling the assets off to satisfy outstanding debts. It was then that I asked Karen what we had planned for the morning. She couldn’t think of anything, so I told her what Dad had suggested for enhancing our security. Dad then proceeded to tell her what he thought would work for us, based on his experience as a military policeman around K9s and their handlers. She wasn’t for it at first, but finally did agree to at least go to the local shelter and see what was available.

Karen looked at the clock on the mantle, another find at that lodge auction. She wanted us to watch a movie on cable with her. She and my dad went to make popcorn in the kitchen. I went to inform our protection detail our plans for in the morning at the same time. Karen had the popcorn, and my dad was carrying several canned sodas with coasters when I came back into the living room. I cringed when Karen turned the TV on and the movie title appeared. It was a romance comedy flick sharing a similar story line to maybe a hundred similar movies produced by the same cable production company. The movie ended to my relief ninety torturous minutes later. My dad fell asleep shortly after the opening scenes and snored through it. We decided that we would need to get to bed if we wanted an early start in the morning.

We were up eating a quick and hot breakfast of instant oatmeal and fruit at 8 AM. I saw Jean and another female Agent. who later introduced herself as ‘Alyssa’ when I went outside to check on the protection detail. I waved and went over to see who was going to the shelter with us. It would be Jean and the other female Agent, Alyssa. I told them we would be ready to go in ten minutes and that there would be the three of us. Jean gave me a nod, and I turned and went back into the house.

The three of us went out the front door when Karen was ready. Karen dragged my father over to introduce him to Jean as I was locking the door. Jean, in turn, introduced the other female Agent, Alyssa, to my wife and father. Jean pointed to a black SUV across the street from our house as being the vehicle she was to drive, and Alyssa would ride shotgun. I decided to sit behind Jean, and my dad took up the middle position, and Karen sat behind Alyssa. It took us an hour to find the animal shelter and a place to park. We waited in the SUV until Jean and Alyssa gave us the all-clear. We got out and went into the animal shelter.

We looked at the pictures of the puppies that were available for adoption when we went inside. They were certainly cute, but they would not work for us. We needed an adult dog of medium to large size.

An employee of the shelter asked what sort of dog we were interested in. I said we were looking for an adult dog that was as large as a German Shepherd or bigger. The attendant pointed to a group of kennel cages where they kept the larger breeds. We walked down the row of kennels, past all sorts of goofy hounds barking and jumping, trying to get our attention. None of which I saw would be very protective. If anything, they would make a great playmate for a child.

We were almost to the end of the kennels when I saw this dog sitting back away from the kennel door. He was huge, dark brown in color with lots of matted hair. He was definitely intimidating-looking. He started to show his teeth when I went closer to his kennel. I started softly talking to him; he stopped showing his teeth and carefully watched me. I stopped moving and stood there, following his lead, staring right back at him. Karen came to stand next to me and looked to see what I was looking at. The dog stood and slowly came up to the door and woefully looked at both of us when Karen appeared. It broke your heart to see the look the dog gave us. The pitiful look he gave us made us think that we were his last chance. My dad came up, smiled, didn’t say a word, turned, and walked back down the corridor.

Karen went up to the kennel and started speaking softly to the huge dog. He just sat there silently looking at us. I’m not sure what happened next, but it was if something passed between the beast and my wife. Was it that Jorgenson connection? Did it extend to beasts as well as family members? That in itself was scary.

The dog was friendly; he stood wagging his stubby tail looking eager to be with us. Karen put her hand out for him to sniff. The dog tried his best to lick her hand. I came closer, held my hand out, and the mutt tried to do the same with me.

The attendant came up with my dad to see if we had any questions by this time. Karen pointed at the huge dog and said, “We’ll take this one.”

The attendant looked shocked and asked if we were sure. My wife assured the attendant that we were. The attendant tried her best to persuade Karen that there were other choices. Karen told the attendant we wanted this dog again. The attendant finally gave in and went to get a leash and a capture stick to get him out of the kennel.

She had two others with her to open the kennel and get the dog out when she came back. It was when the attendants came back that the big dog erupted. He turned from a pussycat into a terror. The dog lunged at the door, wanting to get at the male attendant. This wasn’t the same dog. I could only think that one of the attendants had abused the poor animal while he was at the shelter. I asked them to stand back. The dog settled down when they moved back, but kept his full attention on the others. This confirmed what I thought. I told the other attendants that we wouldn’t need them. They were not happy with my request but complied.

I asked for the leash from the first employee and went to stand in front of the cage. The dog had settled down to almost where he had been before the employees had shown up by now. I kept softly talking to the dog and opened the kennel door. The big mutt patiently stood and allowed me to put the leash on him. I kept talking softly and gently stroked him. Karen came to stand beside me, then reached down and scratched the dog between the ears.

We were walking out with a very playful and happy 120-pound dog of what we assumed was mixed heritage thirty minutes later, his dog license, and sampler bag of dog food which he destroyed before we even made it to the SUV. No one knew for sure when I asked for a guess at his heritage, as he was a stray picked up a few weeks back. The best guess anyone could make was that he was a mix of Bouvier de Flanders, a Great Dane, and maybe some Shepherd. All I know is that we had a very huge, intelligent dog that took a liking to Karen and me, though I think he liked Karen more. My dad kiddingly said that we needed a dog, not a pony, to protect the house. Jean opened up the back of the SUV. The dog didn’t need any encouragement and jumped up into the back of the vehicle. He rode looking out the windows with his head either on my shoulder or Karen’s on the way back to the house. He would occasionally give us each a lick on the side of the neck and we were soaked from his drool when we made it home.

We led him into the house and removed the leash. He went around sniffing and examining everything in sight. Karen ordered me along with my dad to go get the dog’s essentials. This was because he was our idea. We were off to the pet shop to find bowls, dog food, and toys suitable for a pony-sized dog. My dad, two Agents, and myself arrived back home an hour later. I opened the front door and carried the things I had purchased in. I laughed at the sight of a wet dog patiently sitting while a soaked Karen, Alyssa, and Jean were busy working the tangles out of his curly hair with combs.

I hoped this experiment was all worth it. This beast was going to cost me a small fortune to feed each month. I dreaded the mandatory vet exam; I could only imagine how expensive that would be. Karen thought it would be a good time to let him go out back to do his business. I will have to say the dog was a good gardener, as he stopped to water every tree in the backyard and went to the back of the property to fertilize the weeds. One of the new Agents made a comment about what a beast the dog was when the crew change happened. We soon referred to him as ‘the beast’, and that was how he gained the name ‘Beast’. All we had to do was call ‘Beast’ and he came running.

Karen set up his feeding station by the back door of the kitchen. Karen would tell him to go lie down when we were eating, and he would. I originally got him to be an outside dog, but he turned out to be more of an inside dog. He would be lying nearby wherever Karen went. He would always position himself between Karen and any strangers who were in the house. Beast turned out to be what we had wanted. He slept at the foot of our bed at night, and would patrol around the house several times during the night. I had a good feeling about him. He turned out to be a wonderful watchdog and protector.