Chappter 25

Here is the next chapter. Chapter 26 will not be ready for at least a couple of days. But the writing is flowing and I feel great about finishing this very soon!

CHAPTER 25

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1989


It was just past 4 in the afternoon as Aleisha answered the knock at her door. She was surprised to see Kate Thompson standing there.
“Hey,” Kate greeted her.
“Hey,“ Aleisha wrinkled her forehead at the greeting. The two sized each other up.
“May I please come in?”
Aleisha took a step back. Kate walked by her and into the front room which was just on her right. As Aleisha closed the door, Kate sat down. Aleisha walked in and stood in the center of the room. “How can I help you?”
Kate shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Again, I am sorry for this week.”
Aleisha visibly stiffened. “I wish people would stop telling me how sorry they are for screwing me over this week!”
“I’m sor-“ Kate stopped herself. “I know it has been frustrating and I can understand your feelings.”
Aleisha softened slightly but still spoke through gritted teeth, “Thank you.”
“I have been up all night trying to get in touch with Jon. I gave you a card of mine and I have not heard from you yet. Since I can’t imagine anywhere else that he might be, I decided to check with you again.”
Aleisha backed up and sat in a chair facing Kate. “I wish I had, but I have not seen him since I left his house 2 days ago.”
Kate looked directly into Aleisha’s eyes. “Are you sure?”
Aleisha wrinkled her forehead again. “What is that supposed to mean, ‘Am I sure?’ Of course I am sure! Why would I lie about that?”
“I just found out last night that it seems that Jon might have thought that there was some misunderstanding between the boss and employee relationship and I know how relationships work, and he may have stopped by and told you some things, but I really do want to apologize for everything, and I know that you are sick of hearing that, but it’s true and I never meant to lead Jon on or anything like that but I don’t know what the hell I was thinking by taking him under my wing and training him and not expecting to get a little too attached, but since I don’t really even think about that with my past and my present and my future I never even thought to protect this great young man from any sort of possible illusion or crush and he likes you so much that it pains him to be pulled away from you and I think that his feelings may have bled over onto me because I was the female that pulled him from you and I didn’t mean for that to happen and I know that I said that already but its true and I’m sorry so I just want you to know that I am laying my cards on the table here and am asking for your help.”
Aleisha searched Kate’s face for any indication of a joke. “You’re serious?”
“Yes, I am. Deadly. I need to find Jon. He is needed at work and it is very important and I need to know everything you know about where he might be.”
“You know, I have to admit, you are a strange person, Miss- Wow! I don’t know your last name!”
“Thompson. It’s Kate Thompson.”
“You are very strange, Miss Thompson. I don’t really know what to say. I don’t know where Jon is. I have known him almost our entire lives, but we never really knew each other very deeply or anything. It was more a hi there and a hey did you finish your homework from Mrs.’ Perry’s class kind of a thing. If we saw each other in the real world, it was always a ‘What did you get at the store’ kind of a thing. I don’t know him anywhere near enough.
“Kate, I promise you, he has not been here. I don’t know what kind of trouble he is in, but please believe me when I tell you that he isn’t here, he hasn’t been by to see me, and that I would tell you if he had.”
Kate sighed and looked down at her hands, which were folded in her lap. “I do. I do believe you, Miss Madsen. Thank you for your time and I didn’t mean to bother you at all. Even though I do not know where Jon is, I still think it is possible that he will be at the game tonight.” Kate looked up. “I would recommend attending. If nothing else, it will be a hell of a show.” She smiled and stood up. “Thank you again. My number on the card still works if he happens to contact you.”
Aleisha stood up as well. “I will call, if I see him or hear from him. I will also keep both of you in my prayers. Especially Jon since there may be something wrong. I can tell you are very concerned for him.” She reached her hand out. “You’re a good friend to him, Kate. Whatever happens, please watch out for him?”
“I will.”
“This has to do with Jake and the shooting at the school, doesn’t it?”
Kate was taken aback. “How-?”
“I want to be a reporter. Also, the gun in your jacket is a dead giveaway.”
Kate smiled. “I’m sorry. No one is supposed to know.”
“It’s okay. You, Jon, Stan, and even Greg were acting so weird the last few days, I knew something was up. Then, when I heard about the shooting yesterday and how concerned you were about him at the funeral, it all made sense.”
Kate was now beaming. “You are alright, Miss Madsen.” She extended her hand.
Aleisha shook it. “Be careful, okay?” After she stopped shaking Kate’s hand, Aleisha held onto it a little longer. “Where do these people normally go?”
“What people?”
“People who get freaked out on a first job. What types of places do they normally go?”
“Most go to a place where they feel safe and secure, but we already checked his home, school, friend’s houses, and now here. A lot of times, when people are freaked out, they will also go to a house of worship, but Jon wasn’t at the church for the funeral yesterday-“ Kate stopped in her tracks. “Jon isn’t religious, right?”
Aleisha shook her head. “I don’t think so. He has never been to church whenever I go but we never talk about it.”
“He’s not religious, but he needs to calm down and feel safe again, which he doesn’t feel at school or at home….” Kate looked up and grinned at Aleisha. “Thank you! You have been a big help! Trust me, go to the game! He will be there!” Kate rushed out of Aleisha’s front door, neglecting to shut it as she roared away in her Agency car.
Aleisha watched as Kate roared away. “You are so strange, Miss Kate Thompson.”


It was very dark as Kate walked down the left side aisle at the Villa theater. The movie ‘Cousins’ was halfway through its 4 o’clock showing and there was Jon- on the front row- alone. Kate hunched over as she made her way to the center of the row and sat down right next to Jon. He jumped as she did so. “What the hell-?” he exclaimed.
Kate reached over and gave him a big hug.“My thought exactly, Jon. What the hell are you doing here?” She hugged him tighter. “We were all so worried about you! What happened?” She let go and looked him in the eyes.
“What didn’t happen?”
“Jon, what-“ Kate paused. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”
“No. I’m okay. I didn’t stick around long enough for them to find me.”
“We looked everywhere for you! We thought you might stop by the funeral, so we watched for you there, we stopped by your house a billion times, went to Stan and Greg’s houses, checked the school several times, went to the Agency House, I even stopped by and talked to Aleisha. She’s the one that made everything click that brought me here. How long have you been here?”
“Not long, really. I wandered yesterday because I didn’t know of a safe place. I went to that diner where you gave me the gun because I figured that if a gun could change hands there with no one noticing I would be safe and I stayed there for dinner, a midnight snack, and then I grabbed a tiny room and got a hot shower this morning. I used the money my parents left for me to pay for everything with cash. I took a bus up here this morning and was here right at 930 when they started selling tickets and this is my 3rd time through this show. I grabbed a bit of sleep the last showing as well just because I am so exhausted. I paid for 3 shows and Tamara knows me so she is letting me stay here all day for just those 3 tickets.. As you can see-“ Jon gestured to the empty theater, “this is not a blockbuster.”
“So, you’re okay?”
“Yes, I’m unscathed physically. Mentally, I’m a goddamned basket case, but, I still have all of my appendages.”
Kate turned and watched the movie for a scene. She then turned back to Jon, “What happened, Jon?”
Jon’s eyes never left the screen and Kate could see the tears welling up and falling down his face as he talked.. “They killed him, Kate. They killed Moss. I could have saved him, but I was too stupid and I didn’t know any better and I was not the right person for Nicolas’ backup!” Jon’s breath started to come out haltingly as he tried to keep talking. “I screwed up and now he’s dead! I didn’t want that responsibility anymore, Kate! It’s too much. I just want to graduate, go to prom, get into college, go on dates- I don’t want to be responsible if someone dies, Kate!”
Kate wanted to be able to say something to make Jon feel better, but she knew she couldn’t. “You knew what the job was, Jon. You knew. I tried to make you understand that. We had the 2 drills, which were screwed up by some pretty stupid mistakes, but I thought that those, more than anything, would get you to understand that this is a great job, but not necessarily a fun one at all times and that, a lot of times, it would come down to life or death.”
“In my head, I knew. I understood it up here,” Jon pointed to his head. “Even seeing Jake Spencer dead in the freezer was not enough to bring it into stark relief, but…seeing Nicholas die in my arms and getting his blood on me- and not in a figurative way- that is another matter entirely!”
“It is what it is, Jon. If you want to quit, fine. I am fine with you quitting. But you can’t quit yet. You need to finish this. You need to finish this one job. It’s at your school, it may be something that identifies your school for years to come! Junior has the possibility of being a huge star! If someone is out to get him tonight and he dies or is injured or is kidnapped or is something else that I can’t think of yet and it happens on your gym’s floor- who knows what the fallout may be? You still have to attend this school. You have made an enemy out of several players and out of the coach who could make your next few months there until you graduate a real chore! Think about the big picture, Jon. If your life is in danger now, it will still be in danger in a few weeks or months if you quit the Agency and just try to assimilate to normal life! But, if you finish this, and try to get to the bottom of it, you will be a whole lot safer.”
Jon shook his head. “I wish I could believe you.”
Kate closed her eyes and shook her head this time. “Fine. If you won’t do it for me or for you, I’m going to pull the 2 cards I didn’t want to pull.”
“Chad was in the wrong place at the wrong time, Kate- that was not my fault!”
“I’m not talking about Chad.” She got up and knelt down directly in front of Jon. “Nicholas needs you. Are you really going to tell me that he died for no good reason because you refuse to go back and finish this?”
Jon stared straight into her eyes but made no motion.”And the second?”
“Stan needs you. With Nicholas gone, they will be down 2 players. If not for me, the Agency, Nicholas, or yourself, do it for Stan.”
Jon bit his tongue slightly, thinking. “Really? You pull that on me?” The tears came back. He took a deep breath. “Fine.” Jon stood up and walked toward the side exit. “Where’d you park? We’ve got a game to get to!”
Kate smiled. “That’s the Jonathan Mills that I recruited! If he could ever find out- you would make your father very proud of you!”