Chapter 25: A Wedding Maybe and Fall Is In the Air

The semester was over for the year and I had gotten all my grades turned in to the registrar. I had officially given the college my resignation with regret. I think some of the people were really sad to see me go. I had not really gone out of my way to become close friends with fellow faculty. I know I was considered a loner by some and by others just down right weird. But that was all right it is was it is and I could live with that. My last day on campus was nice, some of former students came by to wish me good luck on my new position and others wanted to know if they could use me as a reference for a job or a graduate school recommendation. I assured the ones that I felt deserved it I would give an honest evaluation of them for their jobs and applications for graduate school.

At home I and Mrs Jorgeson helping, were boxing things up for my move. I couldn’t believe it I was actually leaving with less than what I came with. That meant I could use a smaller moving truck and to transport my things. And to make things even easier. Karen flew up one weekend and drove back in the yellow bug. That would make the moving a lot easier. She had already sold her beast of a car and would drive the bug for the time being. My things would go into the truck along with my motorcycle. A vehicle trailer was reserved to put my pick up on so I could pull it behind the moving truck. I didn’t know if I wanted to keep the truck but it was something we could decide once I made the move to Chicago.

Mrs. Jorgeson soon to be grandma-in-law was weepy my last week in town. I knew she was going to miss me as much as I was going to miss her. Of course she would be there for the wedding it just wasn’t the same.

Three days before my official departure date I had a surprise visitor, it was Special Agent Lawrence Foster who told me he was going to assist with the driving to Chicago. I was stunned that he would show up let alone offer to help. He was turning out to be the good friend that I thought he would be. Of course when Mrs. Jorgeson saw him there and found out he would be in town for a few days she scooted back to her house. I am sure she burned up the phone lines letting the prospective brides know that their intended was in town. We were both stunned when there was a knock at the door when we were watching a Chicago ball game on TV and an attractive in a matronly sort of way female was at the door asking for him. She brought over an apple pie slice she thought he would like to sample. It was in my lady lady’s dining room and she wouldn’t take no for answer. So we both trudged down the steps and over to the house. I will have to admit it was one the finer apple pies I have ever sampled.

Mrs. Jorgeson called me into the kitchen saying she needed my help putting the desert dishes back on the upper shelves of her kitchen cabinets. So I went as asked. After I was through helping I went back out into the dining room and both the buxom Fraulein and Agent Foster were gone. My landlady said she was tired and was going to bed early. I gave her a hug and went on up back to my apartment.

Huh. No Agent Foster was up there and the ball game was a total wash. They were so far behind it would be a miracle if they could pull it out. I gave up on them and switched channels watch the end of some goofy movie I had seen hundreds of times as a kid. It was still fun to watch.

Two hours later a disheveled Agent Foster came into the apartment. He looked entirely wore out.

“I guess she wanted to see your gun and you showed it to her.” I said innocently.

“Another word and you are a dead man.” a rather perturbed FBI agent spouted.

I didn’t just laugh I went full guffaw. I was laughing so hard I had tears. Agent Foster just looked daggers at me.

I got up and went into the bedroom to get some sleep. I figured poor Agent Foster of the FBI field office of Chicago would need his rest.

Next morning I got up at 7AM and I figured Foster would still be asleep recovering but I got a surprise. He was up and already moving when I went into the kitchen to grab some breakfast. I didn’t say anything more about last night. I figured I got my digs in last night. This would be my last day in the apartment so Foster and I carried boxes of my things down to put in the back of my truck and in the moving truck. We tore down my bed and carried it down to the truck and that was followed by the rest of my furniture. By noon we had the majority of it packed away secure in the truck. That night we would sleep on the floor in sleeping bags and leave bright and early the next morning. The only difficult thing we had to pack in the moving truck was my motorcycle. There wasn’t enough enough tie down spots in the truck to make secure so we spent an hour improvising a method of securing it. With luck it would make the trip to Chicago without getting damaged. By 3PM we were loaded. I had the moving truck in position so we could attach the car carrier to the hitch in back of the moving truck and could easily negotiate the truck down the drive and out on to the street to begin the fourteen hour drive. I figured it we left as close as possible to 4 AM we should pull in at the town house around supper time. It would be still light enough to unload.

We both took a shower at Mrs Jorgeson’s house. She said she had a crew coming that evening to give it a final clean up. She thought neither of us would be in any shape to attempt to do a final clean up. She wasn’t wrong on that assumption. By 4:30 PM both of us was showered and relaxing on the porch enjoying the afternoon. A woman I estimated to be in her late thirties came walking up the walk and onto the porch carrying a basket. I figured she was part of the cleaning crew and just nodded my greeting to her as she went on into the house. She was average in looks and build. No beauty queen like Ginny was or even Karen but she did have a very pleasant face with a smile on it as she passed us.

Promptly at 6 PM we got called into supper. I was tired but I was still hungry. Agent Foster and I sat down at the table waiting to see what Mrs. Jorgeson had prepared for us tonight. She came into the dining room emptied handed and sat down. I was at a loss as to what was going on. Agent Foster looked over at me and with his eyes looked at me as to say what is going on? I didn’t have an answer but figured we would have one shortly. About this time the lady we had seen enter the house earlier came out of the kitchen carrying a tray with four filled plates of food. To use an overly used phrase, it smelled heavenly. She served each of us a plate and sat the fourth down across from Agent Foster and sat down herself. All of a sudden I started to smell a rat. Prospective bride #2 was there to show her talents. I don’t think Foster caught on yet. I looked over at my future grandma-in-law whose facial expression warned me to be silent. So I picked up my fork and took a bite. OMG! What a great tasting meal. This woman could cook. I looked over at Foster and he had just taken his first bite. I don’t think I had ever seen him so content. Not many words were said while we ate. After the dinner dishes were cleared and dessert also made by this mystery lady was served we sat around feeling sated.

I heard Mrs. Jorgeson clear her throat. She had done it to get everyone’s attention. She looked directly at Agent Foster.

“Lawrence, this is Camilla, she is the grand daughter of a very good friend of mine,” she said. “Camilla is a local girl who is known for her cooking abilities. She unfortunately was widowed last year by a drunk driver and needs to feel wanted. Besides cooking she works for a local attorney as a paralegal.”

“Hello Camilla,” a rather confused FBI Agent Lawrence Foster said addressing the lady across the table from him.

“Hello,” said a very shy Camilla.

“Lawrence, Camilla here is in dire need of a husband and you need a wife. You are perfect for each other. I wanted to fix you up with one of my remaining grand daughters but none of them are worthy of a man of your stature. So while I and Bozo over there do dishes I want you two to get to know each other. Now off with you.” said my persistent future grandma-in-law.

“You promised,” I said to my soon to be grandmother-inlaw. “You promised me you would not try to play matchmaker with him and yet you did.”

“Did not!”

“You did so!” I replied.

“Didn’t you see his reaction to her when she first came up the walk? He was completely gobsmacked by her”

“No I didn’t and I am not so sure you did either.” I answered.

“HUMPH! We shall see.”

“Yes we shall see,” I added.

We decided to sleep on my Mrs. Jorgeson’s living room floor instead of staying up in the apartment. If we were to be on the road by 4AM that meant we would have to be in bed asleep by 8 PM at the latest. I decided to take my shower that evening so I wouldn’t have to take the time to do it in the morning. That way I could get up and get dressed, roll my sleeping bag up, and have breakfast and be on the road on time.

About 7:45 PM Foster came slinking in trying very hard not to wake me. He set up his sleeping bag and crawled in it.

“Have fun lover boy?” I asked from inside my sleeping bag, Trying to stifle a laugh and not succeeding.

“It isn’t like that with this one.” he answered. “This is one classy lady that she and I have a lot in common.”

Oh crap! My soon to be grandma-in-law was right. He was gobsmacked.

It was about that time I heard a cackle coming from upstairs. I will never live this one down.

3:30 AM came early and I struggled to get up. I got dressed, hit the bathroom and came back to roll up my sleeping bag so I could carry it out to the my pickup and put it in the cab.

Agent Foster didn’t seem to have a problem getting up. He was way to chipper for this early in the morning. I figured I would go out to the kitchen and make some instant oatmeal or some cornflakes. But no I didn’t need to have worried there was my future grandma-in-law finishing up a platter of ham and eggs with biscuits. No one would starve this morning.

Agent Foster followed me out to the kitchen and we soon polished off the eggs, ham and biscuits. It was still ten minutes before I was wanting to hit the road.

Foster went to brush his teeth and roll up his bag to be put in the truck with mine.

Grandma looked at me and burst into tears. I just about did too. We held each other till it was time for me to go.

“You will see me in a couple of weeks. Now get out that door and on the road or you will never be in Chicago when you are expected.” said a teary-eyed grandma.

Agent Foster and I got in the truck and we waved goodbye when we pulled out of the drive.

We made pretty good time for the first four hours there was hardly anyone on the road. We stopped for a bathroom break in Fargo just before 9 AM. Neither of us were big coffee drinkers but did desire some caffeine. A big gulp caffeinated soft drink solved our caffeine needs. Before noon just outside of Minneapolis we made a quick stop to fuel up the truck and grab some food. I did the honors of fueling the truck and Agent Foster went inside to grab us some burgers and fries. Then we each hit the rest room I wasn’t about to leave the truck unattended. I had heard too many horror stories.

After fueling up Foster drove us through Minneapolis while I tried to get some rest. I didn’t get a restful sleep but I was able to recharge my batteries some. Just south of Minneapolis traffic picked up considerably and our traveling speed went down some. Though by my calculations we were still pretty much on time.

3PM we stopped at a rest stop at Tomah, WI and changed drivers. Hopefully this would be the last driver change. I would drive and Foster would navigate. Before we took off I got asked what was the address of the townhouse. He said he wasn’t sure where it was and he wanted to check with a buddy on the best way there and would call him to get directions. Ten minutes later we were back on the road.

Four hours and a small fortune in toll fees we pulled into the drive in front of the townhouse. At the door stood Karen and eight men I didn’t recognize at first. Then it dawned on me. It was most of the guys from the Chicago FBI Field Office. They had come to help unload. I was overwhelmed to say the least. Karen looked like she was about to burst. We still had light to work by at 9PM. The rental truck was empty and Karen was sweeping out the back. Everything had been carried in and put in the rooms where it would go. Without their help it would have taken me most of the next day to put stuff away. It was good to have this bunch as friends.

I had Karen earlier to go out and buy a couple of cases of a local craft beer. A couple of the guys were crowded around my bike admiring it and discussing the best routes to ride on. I joined them and soon I had a couple of riding buddies for the weekends. I told them to wait till after my wedding before inviting me. I didn’t want to upset the apple cart just yet. By 10:30 PM everything was done and the guys started drifting off. I promised I would keep in touch.

That night I slept on the floor of the townhouse while Karen went back to her place. The next morning I dropped off the truck at the rental place and was soon picked up by Karen. On the way back to the townhouse she filled me in on the wedding and what time I had to be there.

And as an aside she did add “God have mercy on your soul if you don’t show.”

I honestly believed she meant it too.

The next week went quickly and I actively explored around my new neighborhood. I found where there were good places to eat, to socialize, and to relax. It had just about everything. In the evening Karen and I walked around the neighborhood to get a better idea of what we were to be surrounded by. Overall I was pretty happy where we would be living though I preferred a smaller town.

Wednesday of that week I had a meeting at the university. They again went over my resume and asked me pointed questions about my research. They were interested in how it may work in with the current projects. Plus they were interested what courses I may be interested in teaching. Over all I think it went well. And later the same afternoon I received a phone call from the department head welcoming me to the university and how he was looking forward in working with me. My first day would be the middle of July, about five weeks from then. Plenty time to get married, have a honeymoon, and get to know my new bride.

Karen was working in the ER at the university hospital. While she was working I spent my time unpacking and organizing. Why I bothered I don’t know but I was sure she would move things to suit later. Mostly I did it to keep myself busy and feeling useful.

In the afternoon I got the itch to get the motorcycle out and explore the area. Between the town house and the University are several large parks. I thought they would be a good place to start exploring and possibly a safe place to ride away from heavy traffic. I got out my safety gear and put on my safety visible glow vest, my helmet and gloves. I backed the motorcycle out of the garage and took the time to make sure everything was in working order. After a quick once over I climbed on, inserted the key, and then hit the starter. The bike started right up. For as old as this bike was, it was in amazingly good condition and I intended to keep it that way. I did a quick 360 to check for any traffic, seeing none I put it in gear and headed off out on to the main street. Traffic wasn’t too bad this time of day and I intended to be back home before evening rush hour began. That left me almost three hours of riding time.

I headed east several blocks east intending to check out Washington Park. Up to now we had driven by it a few times and I wanted to get a better idea of what it was like. The park was mostly open grass area with trees dotting the area under people could sit and read, take a nap or what ever. At this time of day there were very few people in it. There were several nice ball diamonds and what I think were soccer fields. All I know is that I would hate to have to be the one responsible for mowing it all. Besides the ball fields and the open green space what impresses me most was the wide boulevards that hugged the perimeter of the park. After doing a loop around this part of the park I headed south on my exploration loop I thought I saw water like in a lake or large pond. I liked that. I always thought sitting beside a body of water just staring out at the water to be one of the most relaxing things to do. After my second loop around the open green space. I took a right and followed it to a more wooded area. This was heavily wooded and it reminded me of the wood lots on the farms outside of the rural community I grew up in. Next to a body of water a woods is the second most relaxing place I could think of.

There was an additional loop of boulevard that hugged the perimeter of the park here as well. I saw several what looked like to be smaller side streets that went into the park towards the lake. On the east of the park I looked to my right and I realized where I was. I was on the western side of the campus of where I would be working. I filed that away for future reference as a place to escape during free time. I could hop on the bike and escape campus and spend some moments out among the trees and the lake. I decided to follow one of the side paths that served to access the park. The one I chose went out on to a point of land that had water on all three sides. I could have gone further but there was a locked gate blocking the rest of the way.

I turned around and started to head back the way I came, when an impulsive thought arose. I pulled over and parked the bike. Looking around to see if there were any others around climbed off the bike and removed my helmet. I walked over to the lake looking on the ground hoping to find what I was thinking of. Found them, several small flat stones that were placed there to aid in erosion prevention of the lake’s bank. I picked them up and for the next several minutes I had a competition with myself skipping the stones across the surface of the lake. I didn’t disappoint myself. I had several that skipped four times and one even did five times. For me that was a personal best. Short distance away there was a smaller oak tree off by itself. I headed over to it and sat under it.

Once I sat down I knew this was it, my personal place to come, to think, to relax and to contemplate. This would be where I would come to when things in my life got to be too much and I would sit under my tree and look out on my lake and think about what I wanted for my life. It was perfect, being isolated, quiet and had everything I needed, a lake, green space and lots and lots of trees.

I stayed maybe 10 minutes at my place before I got up and thought about riding over to campus and see if I could discover a simple traffic free means to go from campus to here and possibly further, to the town house. For those ten minutes that I sat there I thought of Ginny and how she negatively impacted my life over the last several years. Though not everything was bad but she was the reason for the bad times. I stood up resolved to not think about Ginny and my troubles caused by her. She belonged in the past and not my future. I had a bright future ahead of me and that did not include her. I was at peace.

I hopped back on the bike and headed over to campus to see how I could possibly find my way around campus from the park to the building in which I would be working. I still had several weeks before I had to show up. Eventually I found the building on campus where I would spend most of my time. I pulled up in front of the building, killed the engine and pulled off my helmet. I had only been stopped less than a minute.

“Hey you can’t park there, it is a no parking area. You will have to move on,” said a rather rotund university cop.

“Why is it you give a person gun, a whistle and badge and they turn into Caesar?” I thought to myself.

“I am a new hire faculty member and I was looking around for where the faculty parking area was,” I responded.

“Don’t care you still can’t park here. You need to go over to the security department and get your sticker and ID badge.”

Looking down at his shirt front I saw his name plate and his badge with its number centered just below the shield. “I’ll just do that Officer O’Malley, Badge Number 2335, as soon as you direct me on how to get there. I wouldn’t want you to get the wrong impression of me since I am sure we see each other frequently if this is your regular patrol area.” I answered. Silently wishing every pestilence known to mankind upon him.

He sort of beamed when I made the effort to recognize him and show what he thought was respect for his position. I grinned thinking about his response would be when Agent Foster and my other new friends from the FBI would come calling. Was all I could do to keep from laughing.

I thanked him for his directions and started up the bike and headed to the office where he directed me. I found the office and thirty minutes later I walked out of the office with my official ID badge and 3 parking stickers for my motorcycle, the truck and my canary yellow bug. I also had a map showing where I could park in the various faculty parking lots.

I easily found my way back to the park and from there I tried to retrace my route back to the town house. Several times I had to do an abrupt 180 and head the back I had came. Never knew Chicago had neighborhoods like the ones I started into. New York maybe but not Chicago. Like I said earlier I am a small town guy and not use to the big cities. I promised myself I would stay vigilant to my surroundings and not wander down the wrong side street.

The weekend came and Karen came over wanting me to bring my truck so we could take several loads of her things to the town house so it wouldn’t be all at once. On Saturday and Sunday we took over several loads. I wished we had the FBI crew here they would have made short work of carrying things down all the steps and out to the truck. I lost count of the many times I completed that trip down the steps to the truck and back up them. It wasn’t far but this was late June and it was a typical Chicago summer, hot and humid. By Sunday evening I was in no mood for any more trips back and forth from Karen’s Condo to my truck and back. Karen figure next weekend would do it and she would be completely out of the place. At the last minute Karen decided she wanted to start married life with all new furniture and she sold a lot of her things to interns and nurses just starting up housekeeping.

Twice the following week after her work I had to go with her to the discount furniture stores just off of I90 so she could find the just right furniture to furnish the town house. I was led to understand it was my responsibility to stand there keep quiet and grunt an occasional affirmative and nod my head in agreement. After she made her selections I was to pay for them. The way things were going I would be teaching full time at the university and taking that position with the FBI in their special support division to keep us out of the poor house. She spent a lot of my er ... our money.

One evening that same week I got a phone call from my soon to grandma-in-law in Minot. It was good to hear her voice. I really had miss her. She asked how I was getting along and other small talk and I responded accordingly. Then she went to crux of the phone call. She had called my mother and was testing the waters so to speak about the upcoming marriage and my future without Ginny. My mother was seriously affected by the turn of events but she was willing to move on and accept my choice for a wife as long as there were grandchildren in the plans. And she was eager to hear about my new position as a mathematician at a prestigious school as where I would be teaching and working on my algorithm. Something more to brag to the other mothers in the small community we were from. She ended the phone call by saying I could expect a call from my mother in an hour. Wonderful, a great way to ruin an otherwise good evening.

Not quite an hour later the phone rang twice and silence. Great I thought mom got cold feet and decided I wasn’t worth it. That thought just made me feel worse and caused me become angry probably more angry at my mother than I have ever been.

Then the phone rang again and kept ringing. I waited for it to ring several times before I decided to pickup.

“Hello,” I said.

“Hello son this is your mother calling” she answered

“Yes I figure as such, grandma said you would call,” I answered back

“Grandma?”

“Yes, Karen’s grandmother. She asked that I call her it that. She originally was my landlady in Minot and she couldn’t stand to see me happy single so she played matchmaker to get me connected with her grand daughter here in Chicago,” I answered.

“She is a sweet old lady that I have grown very fond of this past year,” I added.

“Are you closer to her than you are me?” my mom whined.

“Mom she never called me nasty names and then disowned me. If you want that level of closeness again you have some fences to mend.” I said bluntly.

“I am sorry I didn’t known Ginny was like she was.” my mother sobbed. “When she called collect last night I couldn’t tell her not to call again. She sounds so defeated over the phone.”

“Mom, if you intend to mend those fences you need to sever all ties with her. If not we can never be close again and I will make sure you will never see your grand kids. That is a promise.” I said angrily.

“OK, you made your point I won’t accept anymore calls from her. I am sorry. Am I and your dad going to be welcomed at your wedding?” said mom.

“Yes you are still welcome to come to be at our wedding. You can even stand on the groom’s side at the wedding.” I answered.

“Stand?” my mother asked rather confused.

“Mom we are having an outside wedding at a park near where we live. It has everything there that makes it perfect. It will be held in a green space with a lake in the background surrounded by trees. The setting is perfect.” I said. “You will like it I am sure.”

“OK son I don’t have anything else from this end. I’ll call next weekend to work out the details where we will be staying when we come for it. And we can talk more then. I am sorry for choosing Ginny over you, she was so convincing. I love you.” Mom said getting all weepy.

Before I could respond she hung up. The phone conversation sounded fairly positive, time will tell how much she meant of what she said.

I was violently woken by the sound of the door bell going off and someone pounding on the town house door. I looked over at the alarm clock on the night stand it was barely past 3 AM. Who could that be at this time at night. I got up to answer the door before the neighbors thought bad things about me and called the cops. I got up and made my way down the steps trying to be careful not to trip.

I looked through the door peep hole after I turned on the outside front entrance light. It was Agent Foster and what looked like several others. I opened the door wondering what was going on and Agent Foster and two of the others came in with him.

“What’s going on? It just 3 AM and I am not in the mood for pre-marriage games of let’s mess with the groom. Besides the wedding isn’t for another two weeks!” I said angrily.

“I am not here to play games my friend. I am here to protect your ass. Tonight earlier on they decided to move Ginny B to the Elgin MHC forensic unit and she somehow escaped custody. This is no joke we are serious as a headache. She got away after she dispatched the two attendants. One of them was married and leaves 3 small kids,” Foster said in all seriousness.

All of a sudden I found it terribly difficult to breath. I felt as if I was dying, but it was a full blown anxiety attack that I was experiencing.

“Go upstairs and get dressed and pack some clothes for a couple of days. We are moving you to a safe house where we can watch you better.” he added.

“What about Karen?” I asked.

“The part of the team is getting her now and she is being moved to a safe location as we now speak,” he answered.

“Hurry up and get dressed and packed. I want to be out of here in ten minutes.”

I was dressed and packed as Agent Foster had requested and in the blacked out SUV as he wanted. Over the course of an hour we played tag and hide the witness traveling all over the greater Chicago area. Up and down and the toll roads of Chicago we went. Finally we headed east and crossed over the state line into Indiana stopping in the town of Merrilville. We turned on to a side street and stopped in the drive of a ranch house at the end of a cul de sac. The agent driving activated a garage door opener that was attached to the sun visor. When the door was open we pulled in and waited till the it closed then the agents climbed out and motioned for me to follow. We entered the house from the garage and I waited in the kitchen while the agents checked out the rest of the house. After it was determined the house was clear and I followed Agent Foster in to the living room.