American Shutdown - Chapter 22: The Mourning After

Sam had been drinking too much coffee while waiting with Peg and Mimi at the command center. They had found no reason to carry on a conversation. That left Sam making continued trips to the government’s coffee table. He had a buzz on that was making the stress from the day’s events seem even worse.

Peg, with Mimi napping on her shoulder, had herself been napping off and on. All Sam could think about was whether Bernie would somehow finesse his way out of getting hurt in this deal.

At that moment, Agent Ramos came into the trailer with another agent behind him clad in a domestic battle gear. Upon seeing them in the corner, they both pulled chairs over near them and sat down in front of the awaiting trio. Peg touched Mimi on the shoulder. They both straightened up in their chairs to face their visitors.

“Folks, this is Agent Brad Carlyle with me,” Agent Ramos announced. “I’m afraid we have bad news. After we disabled Mr. Soloff’s access to the networks and booby traps we entered the building to make our way to the third floor conference room, announced ourselves in the hall outside the door and before we could get a response, Mr. Soloff took some kind of poison pill that killed him in an instant. Ishaan Gilbert from M-Mtek, the last hostage, witnessed everything. Mrs. Soloff, I’m so sorry. We didn’t have a chance to talk him out of there. I’m so sorry.”

Mimi’s eyes were red and swollen from crying all day. They became wet with tears, again. All she could think of saying to Agent Dean was, “He didn’t want to be thrown on the heap of surplus men. That’s what he always said. He knew they could dispose of anyone at any time. He sure was right about that.”

Mimi returned her head to Peg’s shoulder to softly speak these words, “It’s OK, Dean. You tried your best. It wasn’t meant to be. Peg, I need to go home now. This place has done me in.”

Sam looked at Peg and said, “Peg, bring her to our place with your car. We’ll come back and get hers, tomorrow. Make her comfortable while I stay here to wrap up the details on where we go from here. Mimi, are you OK with that?”

With her eyes closed from Peg’s shoulder Mimi uttered, “Whatever.”

Peg coaxed Mimi from the chair. After a three-way hug with Sam, she said, “Luv ya, Sam. Life’s a bitch.” Slowly, she escorted Mimi out the command center to make their way to the front parking lot. Captain Jim decided to escort them in case they were accosted by media reps who might be still milling around the plant grounds.

When it was all clear, Sam angrily shouted loud enough for the entire command center to hear, “F-U-B-A-R. Fuckin’ FUBAR.”

There was a pause in the hum of the office as the occupants turned their attention in the direction from which the shout came. Then, in cadence, they all returned to their government duties. Sam sat down and began to sob with his hands covering his face.

Agent Dean sat down next to him, put his arm around Sam’s shoulder and tried to console him with, “Sam, you did your best to talk him out. But, he was on a mission. We see this all the time. Bernie executed his plan like a fine Swiss watch. He had a loaded AKA on the conference room table. We had to go in there to try to save Gilbert and maybe, him. He even had a plan for that. In the end, you can’t do much when your up against a guy who is as smart as Bernie.”

“Sam, are you ok to drive home?,” Dean asked.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Sam threw back. “I need some rest. Just another bad day at the office, I guess.”

Sam reached out, shook hands and clasped elbows with Dean, turning away from him with a brisk walk to the door for the cold walk to his S.U.V. parked in the front lot. Along the way he saw the media trucks breaking down their gear and packing to get back to their stations when suddenly someone from behind him grabbed his elbow and asked him if he knew anything about the hostage taker.

He turned to see a young man with a microphone and wireless head set chasing him. He snapped back to him, “Do you know what ‘FUBAR’ means?”

“No, I don’t, sir. What’s it mean?“ the baby-faced reporter asked.

“Well, google it on your smart phone,” Sam said. “Now leave me alone or I’ll call your den mother.”

Sam had reached his truck, opened the locks, started it, slid in the seat and sped off on his trip home. He called Peg on Blue Tooth. She answered, “Hey.”

“Hey. I’m on my way home,” Sam said. “How’s Mimi doing?”
“She’s out like a light in the spare room. I’ve been holding off having a drink waiting for you. Hurry up, I need a drink,” Peg noted.

“You got that right. Luv ya, Peg,” Sam quietly said.

Peg signed off with, “Luv ya, Sam. Drive safely.”

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American Shutdown by Benjamin F. Campanelli
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