Sins of Another Father
By phillydi
Chapter 3
From the Journal of Karl Brandel
June 6, 1946
She was a breath of fresh air and I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She was the prettiest thing I ever did see. A delicate butterfly lost in the devastation and destruction of war.
My army battalion had settled in Berlin at the end of the war to bring some stability to the region and we began the difficult task of rebuilding the city. I was part of a military police unit tasked to guard the old Nazi Air Ministry Building. The Americans and Russians shared the offices along with the Red Cross who had set up a refugee assistance camp. German nationals were flooding the Red Cross looking for lost ones separated from them during the war.
I was on duty that day at the Red Cross when I saw Marina for the first time. I watched as she joined the line of weary Germans all looking for family members or even worse, a place to live in this new world order that Hilter's insanity had created. As she walked by, she dropped her bag and began to falter. I caught her just as she was about to fall to the floor in a faint. As I lifted her in my arms, I could see her beautiful blue eyes begin to flutter and then close. I took her down to the make shift infirmary where they revived her and said she was probably suffering from malnutrition. I just couldn't leave her and kept staring at the beautiful blond haired beauty. I asked if I could sit with her and I watched as she slowly ate a bowl of gruel. The color returned to her cheeks and a brief smile formed on her face. That was the exact moment I fell in love with her. I only knew a smattering of German left over from the days spend on my grandparent's farm. But it was enough to form a bond so deep that I knew I couldn't live without her.
I visited Marina the next day and found that her father had been missing in action at the Russian front. The rest of her family was either scattered or dead as well. I vowed then and there that I would take care of her for the rest of her life! We married amidst the rubble in a tiny Lutheran church and three months later Marina came home with me to Pennsylvania as my bride. A year later, as I begin this journal, I am a happy man. But I fear this may change all too soon.
Deeks' flight touched down at Philadelphia International Airport just as the sun was rising over the busy city. The Delaware River shimmered in the distance as he stepped off the plane. He stopped to check his cell phone and was not surprised to see that Kensi had already left him three text messages while he was in the air. He wasn't ready to listen to any more reasons why she should have come with him. He was still determined to go it alone. He tucked the phone away in his back pocket and headed to the car rental counter.
The traffic was heavy as the built in GPS system directed him on to I-95 and then north on the Blue Route. The drive west on Route 30 was uneventful but as he got closer to Lancaster, the countryside turned rural. The landscape was dotted with grazing cows, pumpkin filled carts and picturesque old barns that could be right out of a Charles Wysocki painting. The rolling hills of Pennsylvania were a sight to behold to the California kid who spent most of his life growing up on the streets of LA.
He pulled off along the side of the road to take a picture of the lush green landscape. A group of sheep grazed peacefully next to the fence totally ignoring his presence. Deeks tapped the email photo button on his Iphone and sent it to Kensi's address. "Pretty coo, huh?" he typed under the picture. Hopefully the email would hold her off until he had a chance to reply to her texts.
Deeks' mind was a jumble of thoughts and emotions. He had been trying to come up with a plan of action ever since he boarded the plane in LAX. He still had no idea where to start? Suddenly an old diner appeared along the side of the road. As if on cue, his stomach started to growl.
"Ah, the hell with it," Deeks said out loud. He could think better after he had a belly full of eggs and a hot cup of coffee inside him.
The diner was a 1950's throwback to a more innocent time and the old art deco design made the whole place seem surreal. The screen door scraped along the concrete as Deeks pulled it open. The place was empty except for an old man in the corner, nursing a cold cup of coffee and reading the local newspaper.
"Sit down where ever you want, honey," the waitress called out to Deeks from two booths away.
Deeks looked around and since he had his pick of booths, he chose the one with a view. He didn't have to wait long for the older woman to come over to take his order.
"Well, howdy stranger, what can I get you?" she asked with a wide smile.
"How do you know I'm not a local?" Deeks smiled back.
"Pretty boy like you, comes strolling into this joint for the first time? Believe me; I'd remember if I had seen you around these parts before." Deeks blushed and hid his head in the menu.
She threw her head back and squealed with laughter when she saw his reaction. She just loved to tease the customers. It made the day go by a lot faster.
"Where you from?" she asked and Deeks looked up again and read the name tag on her uniform.
"Well Jody, I just got off the plane from Los Angeles," he responded hesitantly.
"Well then you must be really hungry. What can I get ya?"
"How about two eggs over easy and I guess I should sample some of that famous Philly scrapple I've heard about?"
"Ha! You sure about that honey?" she asked with a sarcastic laugh. "Then I better bring you a whole pot of coffee to wash it down because you're going to need it!"
Deeks eyes flew wide open, not exactly knowing what he had gotten himself into. The waitress turned to the kitchen and called out the order. "Two over easy and our movie star here from Los Angeles wants a side of scrapple," she yells. "Yeah, don't look at me like that Hank. Brown it up just right, do ya hear?" She turned back to Deeks. "So can I get you anything else?"
"Yeah, let me ask you something," he said. "I'm heading to New Bern. Do you know it?"
"Sure, sleepy little town, just down the road about 10 miles." She held up her thumb and pointed at the street.
"I need to find a place to stay for a few days. Can you recommend any accommodations around here?"
"Just stay away from those fancy hotels in Lancaster. If you want to get a real taste of life in these woods, my cousin runs a small B&B not far from here." She scribbled the address down on the back of a check receipt. "Tell her Jody sent you."
"Thanks, I'll be sure to do that," Deeks flashed her a smile as she left to seat a new customer.
"Ahhhh, come on Hetty!" Kensi pleaded and threw her hand into the air.
Hetty watched from her desk as her agent paced back and forth in front of her desk, still pleading her case as to why she should be on the next plane to Philadelphia.
"You know things have been quiet here since we got back from San Diego. I'm just spinning my wheels. Deeks promised he'd call but all I got was this picture of a goat for god's sake!" She showed Hetty the image on her cell phone.
"I believe it's a sheep, Ms. Blye, and will you please sit down?" Hetty said a bit more sternly and for the second time in their conversation pointed to the floor. "You're going to wear a hole in my Isfahan carpet!"
Kensi stopped abruptly not wanting to irritate her supervisor any further. She would need Hetty's blessing if she was going to find a way to help Deeks. Kensi reluctantly pulled out the chair and fell down into the seat.
Hetty sighed and felt that on some days she was more like the team's den mother than their manager. Kensi and Deeks had both lost their parents way too early in life and she felt she had an obligation to be less of an authority figure and more of a maternal influence at times. But Hetty was surprised that Deeks has been strangely quiet since he left for his family homestead. She had also received a short text announcing his arrival, but for the most part, Deeks had been off the radar. She was concerned but didn't let it show in front of Kensi.
"I'm sure he is fine, my dear. This is a solitary journey. Did it ever occur to you that there are some things too private to share even with the people who are the closest to you? I'm sure he will call soon and in the mean time, I believe there are a number of case reports on your desk that need to be finalized?" Hetty questioned Kensi already knowing the answer to her question.
"Besides it's a good lesson in learning to trust your partner," Hetty added.
"You know I trust Deeks, Hetty," she cried. "I'm just worried about him. I mean, I've never seen him so distracted. I just want to be with him if he finds something he can't handle - you know, emotionally?" she said quietly. "Not to mention the danger he's putting himself in. I mean, these jerks could still be out there." Hetty rose from her desk and came to stand beside Kensi.
"Patience, Ms. Bly," Hetty said, folding her arms over her chest. "If I find he is compromised in any way, I promise you, I will buy your plane ticket myself."
Kensi let out a long sigh, and nodded her head in defeat. She never had been good at playing the waiting game. Kensi straightened up out of the chair and returned to her desk.
"You owe me one, Mr. Deeks," Hetty said and exhaled softly.
Deeks finished up his coffee, decided that the scrapple wasn't that bad after all, and left his money on the table with a nice tip for Jody. He waived to the waitress and walked out the diner.
Jody watched him leave and leaned up against the counter stool with one hand on her hip."Good lord, that was one specimen of a man," Jody fanned herself with a menu while desperately wishing she was 30 years younger and beautiful again. Like that was going to happen, she lamented.
Deeks punched in the address for the bed and breakfast on the GPS and headed into the tiny town of New Bern. The gingerbread Victorian building was hidden off the main road and nestled in grove of old oak trees. The front sign swung lightly back and forth and announced his arrival at Jesse's B& B. Deeks got out of the car and propped his arm up on the hood of the SUV. The gentle old home charmed him. An explosion of colorful wildflowers grew along the borders below the front porch and stretched around both sides of the house. Three rocking chairs rested quietly next to multiple pots of geraniums and a squirrel ran back and forth along the porch railing trying to find a way to jump on to a hanging bird feeder. Time stood still in New Bern. He almost expected one of the Walton kids to come running down the stairs and into the dirt road. For the first time he was sad that Kensi wasn't with him. She would have loved this place.
Deeks suddenly caught the movement of a drape being pulled back ever so slowly from one of the upstairs bedrooms. A little girl stood looking out the window, twisting a strand of hair around her index finger. Deeks smiled and waved up at her but she quickly hid behind the lace curtain again.
"You win some, you lose some," Deeks laughed philosophically and grabbed his garment bag out of the trunk.
Deeks walked into the B & B and stopped. The foyer smelled of roses and there was hint of cookies warming in the kitchen. Yes, Kensi would definitely love this place. Flowers and warm cookies... what's not to love? All of a sudden the incessant pounding of a drum and blaring guitars filled the house. It definitely made for a sharp contrast to the delicate, old fashioned rooms around him.
"Lindy, will you please lower that music!" A small, round woman came running down the hall and up to the front desk wiping her hands on a dirty apron smeared with chocolate.
"I'm so sorry! I don't know how my daughter can listen to that music! I mean, my parents yelled at me for the same thing but it was the Beatles! Now that was music. Lindy! Please!" she called up the stairs again. Suddenly, the music became a faint hum in the background.
Deeks nodded not so much at the woman's dilemma but at her daughter's taste in music which was a lot like his own. He had a feeling he was going to like it here.
"Hello I'm Jesse," she smiled at Deeks. "Do you need a room for the night?"
"Well it may be longer than that…I'm just not sure."
"No problem. We should be able to accommodate you." She hurried to her books to find an available opening. "Mrs. Carter, we have another guest tonight!" She called out behind her.
An old woman came hobbling out of the kitchen holding a large spoon in her hand. She took one look at Deeks and grabbed the door frame to keep her upright.
"You! She pointed to Deeks. "You died!" she said softly as she fainted and slid slowly down to the floor.
I love hearing from you guys! I hope you are enjoying it so far….Deeks has a wild ride ahead of him! Stay with me….