Chicago- The Present …
"Ben, pick up your room before we go to the hockey rink this afternoon, please." Benton popped his head into his son's room as the boy tried to tame the cow lick near his crown. He stopped to look at the frown on his son's face as he failed to do anything with the swirl of dark hair.
"Okay, Dad, what time are we leaving?" Ben set his comb back on his dresser and turned off the overhead light as he left the room.
"Four o'clock, right after you get home from school." A bright smile split the teen's face. He loved spending the afternoon with his dad, just the two of them, trading slap shots on the ice.
"Have you finished your homework for English class?" The frown on the boy's face told the Mountie the answer.
"I've only got one, last question to answer, I can do that in the cafeteria before class." Ben gave his father his most logical answer. Benton gave the boy the leeway he sought. Ben had improved his grades, making the A/B honor roll after the second semester in Chicago. It was an achievement for a boy who'd grown up bouncing around Alaska with his mother, on the run from the authorities.
"Alright, see that you do." Benton handed his son the lunch he'd made for him. Diefenbaker barked from his position on the kitchen floor.
"I haven't forgotten your afternoon snack." Benton waved a spatula at the old wolf. Dief nodded and laid his head back down on his paws.
"Dad, it's time to go." Ben said, hefting his back pack up on his shoulder. After a year together, there was still a lot the father and son had to adjust to. Benton had to think of every decision as it would affect the both of them. Maggie was only a phone call away when he needed someone for a sounding board. She and Ray Kowalski were enjoying their first year of marriage snugly settled in Maggie's post in the North West Territories.
"I'll be along in a moment." Benton slid his sandwich into a Rubber Maid container and collected his Stetson from a hook by the front door. He followed Ben out, Dief following him. It was a short, amiable walk for the three. At the entrance to the school, Benton clapped a hand on his son's shoulder and turned him around. He looked steadily into the boy's green eyes before speaking.
"Have a good day, Ben, remember, if you need anything you can reach me at the consulate." The boy gave him an impatient shrug. They went through this every morning. Still, Ben thought it was nice to have someone who cared so much.
"Dad, you practically tattooed your cell number on my hand. I'll be alright." He saw the smile pulling on Benton's face.
"I just found you, Ben, I only want you to be safe." The Mountie spoke low, so as not to be overheard.
"You're the one who chases purse snatchers instead of eating lunch, Dad." Ben reminded him. It was the Mountie's turn to shrug.
"I'll be here when school is out." Benton adjusted his Stetson and waved good-bye to his son. Some days the boy reminded him so much of Victoria. People who knew them both saw the strong resemblance to Benton in the boy.
Benton walked away from the school whistling a tune.
"Good morning, Sir." Turnbull greeted Fraser at the door.
"Constable Turnbull, hello." Both Mounties greeted each other as they'd done for the last fifteen years. Dief bound on ahead, toward Fraser's office, down the hallway and to the right.
"Constable Fraser." The Mountie turned at the sound of his name. The Chief Liaison Officer, Charles Winston Iverson's voice thundered through the halls. A stout, trust worthy fellow, Iverson worked the consulate with as little fan fare as possible. Both of his subordinate officers had been assigned to Chicago far longer than he had. A career RCMP officer, Iverson had great respect for Benton's father, Robert Fraser and for Buck Frobisher. He'd read Benton's extensive file and could only shake his head.
"Yes, Sir." Benton back tracked to enter Iverson's office, his Stetson in hand.
"I received a message this morning. It seems you have been requested for temporary duty by an Inspector in the North West Territories. It's the blastedest thing, the order is classified, there's no name associated with it." Iverson beckoned Benton around the desk to examine the paperwork for himself. Looking closely, everything seemed to be in order, official in every way.
"Have you called Ottawa for clarification, Sir?" Benton asked, racking his brain for an answer.
"I got off the phone with them a few minutes before you arrived at the Consulate. They reinforced the order but wouldn't give me any details, just that you were being sent to a place called Spencer Falls and that a replacement officer would be sent to relieve you." Iverson shrugged, his considerable girth pulling at the buttons of his business suit.
"When do I leave, Sir?" Fraser smoothed his eyebrow with his thumbnail, calculating the time Ben still had left before school was released for the year. It was the last two weeks before summer break, thankfully. Ben would be excited to stay with Maggie for a while.
"In three days it says. It's still the blastedest thing, wonder what this all about?" Iverson leaned back in his office chair, the burdened seat threatening to tip over backwards with him.
"This is a puzzle, Sir. I'll inform Turnbull and make the travel arrangements." Benton's mind went into overdrive. He had to make travel arrangements for himself, Ben and Diefenbaker. It was a logistical nightmare. He also had to contact Maggie and see if it was convenient for her to take Ben for a while.
"Let me know if you need anything, Constable Fraser, I'd appreciate it if you kept me in the loop on this." Iverson sat up, a keen glint in his rheumy, blue eyes. Benton nodded, glad the old officer hadn't ordered him. They had a good working relationship, more of a partnership. Iverson was at the end of his career and Benton was somewhere past the middle of his. The old man trusted Fraser to do his job without being micromanaged. Besides, it took too much effort to keep up with the younger man.
"Thank you, Sir, I'll keep you informed." Fraser didn't wait to be dismissed, and Iverson never thought to dismiss him.
"Hello, Constable Fraser speaking, may I speak to Maggie Kowalski please?" Ben heard himself say as he made his way through his to-do list. The name sounded so odd rolling off his tongue.
"Thank you kindly." The Mountie waited for a moment as the freshly minted officer switched him to Maggie's extension.
"Hey, Benton, how are you, how is my nephew?" The lady Mountie sounded glad to hear from her older brother. He could hear it in her voice.
"We're doing fine. I called to ask a favor actually." Maggie could hear the hesitation in Benton's voice and knew why. Neither of them liked asking for help, even between siblings.
"Anything, Benton, I don't mind." She listened carefully, sipping her coffee, sitting behind her desk.
"I've been given a temporary assignment to a place called 'Spencer Falls'. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind taking Ben for me until this is cleared up?" The atmosphere over the phone line changed.
"Did you say 'Spencer Falls' ?" A pin dropping would have made a racket.
"Yes. Iverson couldn't get a definitive answer from Ottawa. Why, have you heard something?" Ben toyed with his slightly imperfect eye tooth as he waited for Maggie's answer.
"Yes, I've been called for temporary duty there as well. Do you know who's calling us all together, Benton?" Alarm bells went off in both Mounties' brains.
"I'm not certain, Maggie, do you have any contacts that might have that information?" Ben stared a hole through the filing cabinet opposite his desk. Diefenbaker sensed the change in his human's behavior and sat watching Fraser intently.
"I'll have to make a few calls, Benton, give me some time. I can't help but wonder if we're walking into a trap." The worry in Maggie's voice was uncharacteristic of her. She was a rough, tough, female Mountie, little if anything worried her.
"I pray we aren't. I'll see what I can find out and call you this evening. Tell Ray hello for me." Both of Bob Fraser's children said good-bye after a moment of catching up. Ben hung up the phone with more apprehension than when he'd dialed it.
Author's Note: I have no earthly clue how Illinois runs it's school system as I've never taught there. I have, however, taught elsewhere and that experience is what I'm basing this on.