For All Nails #202: Bullet The Blue Sky
by Mike Keating
Phil Kimball picked up his briefcase on his way to the front door. He had several loans to finalize today at the bank. It was going to be a long day. He opened the door, and wondered what the two militia lokes were doing down the street. Which neighbors are they here for? Just to ask questions, or are they going to arrest someone? Phil supposed it would be the talk of the neighborhood when he got home. With that, he got in his Dickinson and drove off toward the city.
- 8:02 AM
Burgoyne Redding looked around the living room. The Chief Superintendent of the CBI office in Endicott was unsettled. He nodded to the housewife. "Again, thank you for the use of your house, Mrs. Thomas."
Mrs. Thomas smiled. "It's no problem, Mr. Redding. If these people are responsible for the bombing, then I want them caught as much as you do."
Along with the lower-ranked local militia and agents working the case, Captain Warren Brown of the local millies was there. The millies had been most helpful in investigating the case since the CBI had lost its facilities in Endicott. Brown looked over at him. "Bauch is ours. I'm sure he's the one we want; this has Brotherhood written all over it."
Redding nodded. "He just left for the day 30 minutes ago. When he gets back, I want us to move in soon after."
- 10:52 AM
Julius Bauch looked through binoculars at what was obviously a CBI operation a few houses down. They haven’t been keeping it quiet enough, he thought. Too many marked lokes. "I don't like this," he said.
"Neither do I, boss," said his right-hand man, Peter Monaco. "I'm wondering if they tied us to the bombing somehow."
Bauch didn't like that. "It wasn't even us, goddammit! It was Black Rock, all our boys were elsewhere. We have full deniability."
"The Johnnies won't care about that. They see us as the most likely suspects, so they go out of the way to bust us for it. I think we'll be seeing firsthand how Gilpin ran things in the 1840s. There was a lot of butchery then; we may be getting a dose now."
Bauch pursed his lips. "I have an uneasy feeling that you're right. The weird thing is that I'd swear they aren't watching our compound. Why are they on our side of the street and not across from us? Actually, they're in great position to watch Phil Kimball's house."
"Kimball? He's no Patriot! If I ever met anyone who was the classic Loyalist, it'd be Philip Kimball. The CBI is barking up the wrong tree! I'd guess that Phil is about to find himself wrongfully charged with blowing up a building."
Julius got up from his chair where he'd been looking out the window. He paced around the room for a few minutes. Then he stopped. "Pete, we've got to get out of here before they figure out they're half a mile off. Let everyone in the compound know that we're doing an emergency evacuation. Get everything out we possibly can. Guns, ammo, explosives, and anything personally incriminating. I don't want them finding anything with someone's name on it. Do as many fingerprint wipedowns as we can. I want us on the way to the backup compound within an hour. Make sure everyone knows it doesn't look like a bugout, or else the Johnnies may see and realize what's wrong. You and I are getting the money down in the basement."
The two men took a few minutes clearing out the green stacks of Ezras FN1 and Deweys FN2 downstairs. When everyone else was gone, Bauch and Monaco checked the house one last time, and then left themselves.
- 5:20 PM
Phil pulled into his driveway from the country road. He saw that the two millie cars were still over at the Thomas house. Not only that, but they had been joined by two unmarked cars. When he asked his wife Emily what was going on, she didn't know. "Dinner will be at six, darling," she told him.
Phil figured he'd kill the time by cleaning his hunting rifle. He thought he might go looking for deer after dinner tomorrow. Not for the first time, he was glad for the bank connections that let him get a Class B hunting license. FN3 The doorbell rang just then. "I got it," he called out, heading toward the door. He didn't notice the rifle was still in his hand.
CBI agent Bradley Seaver saw the door open to reveal a man with a gun. The barrel was pointing in their direction. Bradley panicked and fired his weapon. The man ducked, swung the rifle like a cricket bat, and yelled. The other agents started to shoot too, and the man fell.
Emily Kimball heard the gunshots, and knew she had to defend her home. It was under attack, probably from the same people the millies were after. She grabbed her sharpest kitchen knife and ran out to the front door. "HERE NOW, WHAT ARE YOU DOING, GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!" She raised the knife high at the intruders as she saw her husband lying on the floor. It was the last thing she would see. Her last thought was a hope that the CBI and the millies caught them.
Redding waved the men in. "Alright, case the compound and house; make sure you get anyone else! And bring any evidence you find." He turned around to notice Brown staring at something outside the door.
"Burgoyne ...," rasped Brown, "we have a problem." FN4 Redding walked out to see what he was looking at.
Brown continued, "That Brotherhood compound was at 45 Rural Road #4, right?" As he asked, he pointed to wooden numbers nailed to the left of the door.
The numbers read 54. "Oh my God, Warren," was all Redding could say.
Forward to FAN #203: All the World's a Stage.
Forward to 4 October 1975: Seven Nation Army.
Forward to Harold Pickett: Travelin' Band.
Return to For All Nails.