A Horse with No Name Pt. 02

I thanked Detective Monroe and told him I would stop by after lunch to sign my statement.

At a loss for anything else to do, I poured a cup of coffee and headed up to my office. I pulled out another shoe box full of pictures, this one marked, Summer1998 Grandma Sullivan's House. There were several pictures of my mother and me and an older woman on a beach somewhere. On the back of one of the prints someone had written 'Outer Banks.'

Then there were pictures of me sitting with a book. It took a moment then it hit me. In the picture I was sitting in my living room, only it was seventeen years earlier.

A short time later I found a picture of me sitting at the roll top desk and the woman that I presumed to be my grandmother was pointing at something in the upper right-hand side of the desk. Then I remembered. If you remove the four drawers in the upper right side of the desk and pull out the pigeonhole separators there, is a sliding door that hides a small secret compartment where you can keep small objects or important documents. When I opened the secret compartment I found a 16 gigabit flash drive. There was nothing on the drive to identify what might be stored on it, but I had a feeling that I knew what it was.

After I ate my lunch, I slipped the flash drive into my pocket and drove to the police station. I spent twenty minutes waiting for someone to bring my statement so that I could sign it. Once I my statement was signed and witnessed, I headed over to SA.

When I walked into the SA building I went over to the receptionist, and said, "Good afternoon Brenda, I am an employee here, but I don't have my badge."

Sign the log in sheet, and you can go back," Brenda said.

I took the elevator to the third floor and headed straight over to Dave Stanley's office. I stuck my head in the door and said, "Dave, you got a sec?"

"Mike, I wasn't expecting to see you here. What's up?"

"Detective Monroe told me that you have a copy of Interapp, I was just wondering if you managed to get it to work."

"We can't get it to load. The first three discs load fine, but the last disc just spins for a minute and then ejects."

"Can I see it that for myself?"

"Why, do you think you can fix it?"

Dave and I took the elevator down to the first floor and then went through a door marked Development Lab. Sitting at a computer just inside the room was George. When George looked up and saw me he smiled and said, "Are you here to save the day?"

"I don't know about that, but let me see what happens when you load the discs. It took about five minutes to load each disc, and after George loaded the third disc he said, now watch, what happens when I load the fourth disc. It spins like it is being read for a while and then the disc ejects."

"George, let me see that last disk. The label on the disc read Last Disc. This is the last disc."

"We already know that, Mike."

"As I said, this is the last disc, not the next disc to be loaded," I said.

"What are you talking about, Mike?"

I have to admit I was having a little fun with Dave and George. When you copied these discs from the ones the police found in Kaplan's apartment, did you use the same labeling as the originals? Disc 1, 2, 3 and Last Disc?"

"Yes, of course, we did. Why?" George said.

"I just thought that maybe after loading disc 3 you should install this before loading the last disc," I said, and pulled the flash drive from my pocket and handed it to George.

When George saw the flash drive his eyes lit up. "Where did you find it?"

"In a hiding place I didn't remember I had. I just kind of stumbled upon it," I said. I decided not to tell them where my hiding place was because you never know when you might have to hide something again.

George, slipped the flash drive into the USB port, and it loaded flawlessly. Then George picked up the last disc and said, "Cross your fingers," and put the disc in the reader. After another five minutes, the Interapp logo popped up on the computer screen.

George was smiling and shaking his head. " "So you did hold back some of the code. You must have been worried that someone might try to steel it."

"I have no memory of that. I guess I was just playing it safe. Unfortunately for Kaplan, he figured it out and came looking for the flash drive and it cost him his life."

"Mike, how would you feel about working with George on the Interapp beta test," Dave said.

"The thing is that I have no memory of Interapp. I don't know what it is or what it is supposed to do and to be honest; I don't care. Interapp has cost me more than I care to think about and it almost got me killed twice. I am still trying to come to terms with my new life while trying to fill in the gaps in my old life.

"Yesterday I learned that, while I lost most or all of my personal memories, I still know how to do programming, and at some point in the future I may want to work as a software designer again but not right now. If I decide to do that I will let you know."

Dave Stanley patted me on the back and said, "If you want to come back I will have a job for you."

"How about stopping at 42nd Street for a beer tonight," George said.

"Can't," I said. "I am leaving for Brodricksburg in the morning and have a lot to do before I go."

"How long are you going to be gone?" George said.

"I don't know. It depends on how successful I am on this trip. When I do come back I'll let you know, and we will get together and have a beer."

"What about Lisa?"

"Lisa and I are no longer engaged," I said. "The person that Lisa was engaged to no longer exists."

Chapter 19 -- Moving On

Back at the house, I called Kate to tell her I was driving back to Brodricksburg in the morning, but she didn't answer my call. I left a voicemail asking her to call me, but she didn't return my call. I could not think of a reason why Kate would not answer my call or call back other than Lisa's answering my phone when Kate called the previous night.

I got on the road shortly before six o'clock Thursday morning. I made the approximately 445 mile trip in seven and a half hours, stopping once to use the restroom, eat lunch and buy gas. No one was home when I got there.

I thought about calling Kate to tell I was at the house but decided against it. I needed to be face to face with her to say the things I needed to say. I called the police station and left a message for Brian letting him know I was back in Brodricksburg. To kill some time, I went to the grocery store to get some things to prepare a special dinner for Kate and Megan. I bought two salmon filets, some fresh dill, and a lemon. I planned to serve the fish on a bed of rice and some steamed broccoli. For dessert, I bought an apple pie and some vanilla ice cream. By five o'clock I was ready to start dinner as soon as Kate and Megan walked in the door.

I heard Kate's car pull into the driveway at 5:25. I watched out the window as Kate took a minute to look at my car and walked around to look at the license plate. When she saw the North Carolina plates on the car, she must have told Megan that I was in the house because Megan took off running toward the kitchen door.

Megan came screaming through the door, "Ben, you're home," and she jumped into my arms. The greeting I got from Kate was a lot less enthusiastic.

"You're back," Kate said. "How long will you be staying?"

"There are some things we need to talk about, but I thought that could wait until after dinner," I said.

"Does Lisa know you are here?"

Before I could answer, we heard another car in the driveway. Kate looked out the window and said, "It's Brian Hobbs, what does he want?" Kate went to the door and let Brian in.

"Hi, Kate, how are you?'

"I'm good, how's Carrie doing?" Kate said.

"Carrie is great, but you should call her, I think she has something she wants to tell you."

"I'll call her later. I guess you are here to talk to Ben... I mean Mike. I'll leave the two of you alone so you can talk."

"You don't need to leave. I just wanted to see how Mike is doing. I just can't believe that he drove all the way up here so soon after what happened Tuesday."

"Why? What happened Tuesday? What are you talking about?"

Brian looked over at me and said, "Didn't you tell her what happened?"

"I haven't had a chance to tell her. Kate hasn't been taking my calls the last couple of days."

"Will somebody please tell me what is going on?"

Brian looked at me again but began talking before I could say anything.

"Detective Monroe, the Raleigh police detective working Mike's case, called me yesterday to give me an update. He told me that a man named Tony Kaplan was responsible for stealing the software program that Mike designed. Mr. Kaplan also arranged for Mike's abduction with the intent of having him killed and his body hidden where it would not be found.

"What nobody knew at the time was that Mike had removed some of the software code and hid it in his house. When Mr. Kaplan discovered that the program didn't work because of the missing code, he showed up at Mike's on Tuesday afternoon. Apparently, Mr. Kaplan was desperate to find the missing code so he could get out of town before the clowns he hired to get rid of Mike could identify him to the police.

"Mr. Kaplan pulled a gun on Mike and his friend George Bartlett and threatened to shoot George if Mike didn't give Kaplan what he wanted. Mike told Kaplan that the software was inside a baseball that he was holding. When Kaplan told him to hand it over Mike threw the ball at Kaplan, who managed to fire one shot before the ball hit struck him in the throat. Detective Monroe said that the bullet hit Mike's left side leaving a nasty gash but was not life-threatening."

I looked over at Kate, and she had tears streaming down both cheeks. "I called you Tuesday evening and that Lisa answered your phone. Why didn't she tell me that you had been shot?"

"I don't know why she didn't tell you. Detective Monroe drove me home from the hospital, and I went straight upstairs to get a clean shirt and get rid of the bloody one I was wearing. That's when I heard my cell phone ringing downstairs on the kitchen table. I was surprised when I heard Lisa answer the phone. I didn't hear her come into the house. By the time I got downstairs the call was already over. I asked Lisa who was on the phone and she said that you that called and that you said I should not bother to call you back."

Kate turned to Brian and said, "You are going to make sure that Kaplan guy goes to prison for the rest of his life?"

"Kaplan already got the justice he deserved," Brian said. "He died from his injuries. The baseball crushed his windpipe. By the time the paramedics got to the house Kaplan had suffered significant brain damage from lack of oxygen, and he died at the hospital later that night.

"Mike, I am going to need you to come down to the station tomorrow to file charges against Pruitt and Peterson for assault and attempted murder. We want to file these charges now so if and when they ever get out of federal prison; we can lock them up again in one of our pleasant Pennsylvania institutions. "

"I'll be over in the morning," I said.

When Brian left, I turned to Kate and said, "Should I start dinner now?"

"Dinner now? Are you kidding me? I need to know what is going on with you and Lisa. Are you going to marry her?

I smiled at Kate and said, "Wouldn't you rather have this conversation on a full stomach?"

"Start talking buster and answer my question."

"No." Now I was teasing Kate.

"No? Are you saying you won't answer my question?"

"No."

"You are confusing me. What are you trying to say?"

"No, I am not going to marry Lisa."

"Why not?"

"Would you marry someone you don't know?" I said. "I was probably very much in love with Lisa before I got hit in the head, now it is like she is someone I just met. Lisa was making an effort to resurrect our relationship, but it was too late."

"Why was it too late?"

"Because I had already fallen in love with someone else," I said.

I could see a smile starting to appear at the corners of Kate's mouth. "And who is the lucky woman you have fallen in love with?"

"I'm not sure if you know her," I said. "She is a tall blond physical terrorist who tortured me for several weeks earlier this year. I think it was the Stockholm Syndrome that got me. Anyway, she has a daughter named Megan."

Before I could say another word, I heard Megan shout, "That's me."

Kate came to me and put her arms around me and leaned forward until our foreheads were touching. "I do know that physical terrorist you speak of and she loves you, too, but I have one question. If there is nothing between you and Lisa why was she answering your phone the other night?"

"As I said, I didn't know she was there. She came in while I was upstairs changing my shirt. I think that George must have called Lisa to tell her what happened. Anyway, after you called, I told her who you were and how important you are to me, and that was the end of our engagement."

I held Kate's head so that she was looking directly into my eyes and said; "I am sure that Lisa hoped to resurrect our relationship, but there was never any chance of that happening," I said. "So, tomorrow I would like to take you out and buy you the ring of your choice."

"I haven't said I'll marry you yet."

"I haven't asked you yet. If you're not interested in marrying me, I'll buy you a friendship ring."

"I don't care how small it is, but any ring you buy me better have a diamond on it, and I think you know my answer will be yes when you do ask."

"I was hoping so."

We were starting to kiss when we suddenly had a pair of small arms wrapped around our legs. I reached down and picked Megan up. "What are you two talking about?" Megan asked.

"Megan, how would you like to have Ben be your father?"

"I would love it," Megan shouted. "But Mom, his name isn't Ben anymore. It's Mike, but I want to call him Daddy."

Later that evening, Kate called Carrie Hobbs and told her that we were unofficially engaged, but that we were going to look at rings the next day. Carrie said that she was very happy for us and then, Carrie told Kate that she was three months pregnant. The two women were on the phone for the next half hour while I got busy making dinner.

Chapter 20 -- Where are We Now?

All of this happened three years ago. Kate and I got engaged a week after my return to Brodricksburg and where married seven months later. Kate made us wait seven months so that Carrie could have her baby before the wedding. Two years ago I officially adopted Megan, and now Kate is pregnant, and the baby is due in five months.

One of the first things I did after proposing to Kate was to sign up for some computer courses at Bucks County Community College. I learned very quickly that my computer skills were still with me and I ended up tutoring several other students in my classes.

That fall I started a small computer consulting business. While I was waiting for my business to get going, I continued working home improvement projects with Tom and Craig as well as working on the renovations on Kate's (our) house.

I still don't have any actual memories from my previous life, although with the help of my Uncle Patrick, Aunt Helen and friends in Raleigh I have been able to build a biography of my life. It is not as good as having memories, but it is the best I can do.

Kate, Megan and I have been back to Raleigh a few times over the last three years. I stop by SA whenever we are down there, Kate and I always go to 42nd Street to have a beer with George. Sometimes Sonja and John join us. Last year, George told me that Lisa got engaged to an old friend of mine who I don't remember.

Six months ago I finally put my house on the market, and it sold within the first two weeks. I kept the best of my furniture and, of course, my roll top desk and sold everything else. Now I am a permanent resident of Brodricksburg, Pennsylvania. My consulting service has expanded to the point that I have to rent office space and hire a secretary and a programmer. Occasionally, Dave Stanley contracts me to do some work for SA.

I am now content with my life. Every day I make new memories with my little family, and I continue to work on the biography of my previous life.

Fini