Operation Last Ditch Effort

Chapter 30

                  

Rutherford came bolting down the hallway holding a paper above his head. He was shoving people out of his way trying to get to Jude's office. He burst into the office out of breath holding out the piece of paper. Waving the paper at Jude Rutherford panted trying to catch his breath. Jude rose from his seat startled by Rutherford's abrupt entrance. He walked over to the man bent over holding out the piece of paper. He grabbed the paper and read it.

Employees of Frontline,

Jacob Barns, arrested for assault and battery, attacked a Mill employee, charges dropped

Barney Grilly, arrested for breaking and entering, tried to hack the Mill's systems, charges dropped solid alibi.

Delilah Cook, resisting arrest, refused to leave protest. Charges dropped.

Sarah Moore, suspected arson, suspected of burning down Mill employees home, charges dropped insufficient evidence.

The listed continued onto the back of the paper. Jude looked down at Rutherford and back at the paper before he spoke "All of these people were employees at this company?"

"Yes, but that's not it. Every single employee I searched had some arrest relating to the Mill and the charges were dropped including Mrs. Garvey. They all started to work at Frontline after they were arrested. Also it appears that every single one of them was bailed out by the same person. Ben Fremont."

Jude shook his head as his headache grew stronger he stumbled backward. His head was spinning and he was trying to control his thoughts. Freemont. Who is this man? Who are these people? What am I supposed to do with this? Why is my head spinning? I need to speak with this Megan. Leaning against his desk Jude looked up at Rutherford and he could see Rutherford smiling. Rutherford was pleased with his findings and knew that he had been right. Jude walked behind his desk and pulled out a gun. He held the weapon in his hand and said "Ok let's go get some answers." Jude quickly punched in his code into the elevator and rode it down. His head was throbbing as the two men exited the elevator. Jude was marching down the hallway almost jogging as Rutherford was trying to keep up. They passed by several doctors including Dr. Taylor who was in shock of the man storming down the hallway. Dr. Taylor followed to see where Jude was heading. Jude burst into Megan's room with his gun raised and his finger on the trigger. Rutherford was like a gleeful child bouncing behind Jude in delight. Dr. Taylor saw Mr. King through the window and was stunned. He sprinted off towards an elevator. Jude boomed as he asked "Who are you?"

Megan sat straight up as she tried to keep herself calm she responded "Megan Garvey."

Jude continued walking closer to the bed with his gun raised he asked "And who do you work for?"

Megan quivered as she stared down the barrel of the gun "I wor-rr-ked for Frontline Insurance."

Jude was not buying her innocent act for a second and he pressed on "And what did you do?"

"We sold insurance Sir." Megan replied quietly.

Jude walked right next to Megan's bed and pressed the gun to her head and whispered "What did you really do?"

Megan knew she was in hot water and if she didn't act soon she would be dead. She quickly replied "We sold insurance."

Cocking the gun Jude repeated in a darker tone "What did you really do?"

Megan gulped know she didn't have any other options. She thought to herself Lord forgive me for this. "I spied on the Mill." She replied quietly as she shrunk back.

Rutherford let out a squeal of delight when she said those words. Jude backed away shaking his head and asked "Who are you?"

"Megan Garvey, but I already told you that." Replied Megan looking confused.

Jude stumbled backwards as he grasped his forehead in pain. He thought to himself What is happening to me?

#

Out of breath Dr. Taylor ran up to Carly and drug her away from a patient. Carly jerked her arm away and asked angrily "Hey! What's the big deal?"

Whispering Dr. Taylor quickly said "I don't know who you are working for, but if you have any connection to Mrs. Garvey you should know she's in trouble. Your father is questioning her with a gun."

Carly's eyes widened as Dr. Taylor explained the situation. She quickly pulled out her phone and dialed a number.

#

                  

Sal and Joanie were in the kitchen cleaning up their breakfast when the phone rang. Joanie walked over to pick it up and said "Hello, oh hey Carly what can I do for you?"

Turning around to look at Sal, Joanie's eyes told him that something was seriously wrong. She quickly hung up the phone and bolted for the door. Sal was following her asking "What is it Joanie?"

As they both hopped into the car and speed off Joanie said "They've got Megan."

That was all she and Sal concerned asked "Well what on earth is your plan Jo?"

"We're going to get her out of there. That's the plan." Said Joanie as he kept her eyes peeled on the road.

They were speeding down the road and Sal was trying to come up with a plan "Joanie we can't just burst in there, guns blazing. We don't have the man power to do that. We need some sort of plan."

"I don't care Sal, I won't lose someone else to them."

"It's been two weeks Sal and there is no sign of him." Joanie said as she put her head into her hands.

"I know JoJo they will find him. We just have to have patience." Said Sal as he rubbed her back.

Marjorie walked into the room and looked at Sal and he knew it wasn't good news. Marjorie quietly approached the two of them and sat down at the table. She held out her hands and grabbed Joanie's. Joanie lifted her head to meet Marjorie's eyes. Joanie's eyes were filled with pain and sorrow. She looked for any kind of hope in Marjorie's eyes but she found none. Marjorie let out a small breath before she spoke "Jo, I got a call this morning. The office found something. It was a body." Stopping Marjorie felt a hitch in her throat as she looked into Joanie's eyes and knew these words would destroy her friend. "It was Ju--." Standing up abruptly Joanie screamed at Marjorie "NO! DON'T YOU DARE SAY IT! DON'T YOU DA—" Sal rose to grab hold of Joanie as she fell down sobbing. Her world came crashing down on her. Julian was her only family and the Mill took that from her.

As Joanie made her way to the Mill her memory fueled her anger even more and she pressed the gas further. Sal was thinking of what they should do when they reached the Mill. As screeched their tires pulling into the parking lot Joanie was storming towards the entrance. Sal ran up to her and said "WAIT! I have a plan." Joanie stopped only for a second to hear Sal out.

"What if we use that Dr. Taylor to help us get inside?" Sal asked.

Joanie turned and nodded her head in agreement. They both approached the building and Joanie tried to calm herself enough to stay composed. They walked into the front lobby and turned heading towards the medical wing. Carly was waiting for them with a man in a white coat standing behind her. He looked nervous and was fidgeting. Joanie asked "You, can you get us to her?"

The doctor nodded his head in response and Joanie continued "Ok, lead the way."

Dr. Taylor led the two of them down the hallway towards the supply room. On the way they stopped into a doctor's longue that was surprisingly empty and Dr. Taylor grabbed two white coats and handed them to Sal and Joanie. They made their way to the room where Dr. Taylor said the password and the elevator was revealed. They stepped onto the elevator and rode it down.

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