Eavesdropping, Drunken Sot, Back To Business, Calls to Mom and Dad & His Embrace
Hotel – Strategy Room
The Vinson's and Anastasia had arrived and dropped off Cyndi then headed out. The group was still discussing dinner plans. There was debate between the Callaghans and the Braddocks as to who was going to be picking up the tab for dinner.
Mason, Koala, Sam and Jules and the rest of Team One sat back and watched the show as both sides insisted they be allowed to pay for dinner.
Sam's phone rang and he looked at the caller id. He smiled as he answered and moved to a quieter corner "Hello Bella."
["Hello Sammy. How are you doing? I heard about the problems at the competition from your mom" Bella said.]
"I'm doing well Bella. How are you doing?" Sam asked.
["I'm doing very well now that I hear the smile in your voice. Please call your mom tonight" Bella answered and requested.]
"I will. After dinner" Sam responded.
[Bella smiled and said "I called for another reason too Sammy. I got an emergency request for a scholarship award. We haven't had one of those in years. I wanted to talk to you about it. Do you have time right now or should I call back later?"]
Sam looked over at the others and saw the discussion still going on between Mark and Patrick but the others had started to mill about. He nodded to Finley who had sauntered near his corner as he said "Sure I have time right now. What are the details?"
[Pulling her notes toward her and putting on her reading glasses Bella stated "The request came from a former recipient of the Louise Grace Hunter award, Skye Chambers. She used her award to get a degree in Criminology. Here's where it gets interesting Sammy. She is a police officer with the Medicine Hat Police Force."]
"Really? Wow, talk about coincidences. Okay you have me intrigued who is she requesting an emergency scholarship for?" Sam asked.
["It seems a girl, well young woman really, she is nineteen. Her name is Rena Trevino. She aged out of the foster system. She has been homeless ever since. Sort of reminds me of Matt's and Richard's situations. Anyways, she came forward with some pertinent information that helped the police shut down a prostitution ring. She is in protective custody and willing to testify."
"But according to Officer Chambers, Rena is an orphan. Her parents and three little brothers were killed in a plane crash when she was twelve. They were flying out to pick her up from a camp for kids that had cancer. She had no other family and entered the system."
"Luckily she beat the cancer. Rena was a stellar student with a 4.0 GPA. While in school and during the summers, she volunteered regularly at the local equestrian stable that had a program to assist children who had cancer experience the joys of childhood again by interacting with horses."
"When she aged out of the system she had no support. She had applied for grants and scholarships but did not get any."]
"So Officer Chambers believes that Rena is a good candidate for a scholarship. What does Rena want to study? What is her dream and do you get the impression that she is willing to do what is necessary to achieve it?" Sam responded.
Finley didn't intend too but he began to eavesdrop because Sam was discussing scholarships and Finley knew Skye Chambers too. Skye had introduced him to Dexter Hendrix a foster boy who was interested in becoming a vet last month. He was mentoring Dexter as part of the Big Brothers program.
Part of that mentoring was to help Dexter understand the criteria for scholarships and grants. The boy was only a sophomore but he had his heart set on becoming a vet. Finley wanted the boy prepared to meet the stiff criteria for scholarships.
Finley's friend Robert, who was just graduated veterinary school, had told him about a scholarship just for foster kids and orphans. Robert had told him he received the Charlotte Anne Preston award that was part of MBH Scholarship.
It was one of the scholarships he intended to look into but Finley was always on the lookout for other scholarships because the competition to get them was fierce. The more scholarships Dexter applied for the better his chances would be of winning one of them. So he eavesdropped on Sam's conversation.
[Bella answered "Yes I believe she is willing to do what is necessary. She had the fortitude to come forward even though the man she was providing information on threatened to kill her if she talked. She is courageous and a survivor. As to her desire, that would be culinary arts. Rena said that she wants to get training in that area and then open a restaurant."
"According to Officer Chambers, Rena has plans that her restaurant will eventually offer free meals to homeless young adults who are willing to work for an hour to earn a meal. She also wants to set up a dedicated line in her restaurant to take messages for them while they are job hunting. Seems Rena has been homeless, hungry and cold since she aged out of the system. She tried to get a job but being homeless with no address or phone she was never hired."]
Sam took in all the information then said "Okay, do the necessary background checks to make sure everything she claims is true. If it checks out then I think the best award to use would be the Charlotte Anne Preston award. If that one is not available then we could look at using the Louise Grace Hunter award. Both seem fitting in this case."
Finley whipped his head toward Sam, no longer covertly listening.
Sam saw Finley staring at him but continued with Bella "Also if Rena checks out, would you contact Max and Marco Leclair in Montreal? They recently opened a culinary school in Montreal and may be willing to open an immediate spot for her and perhaps even offer her a part-time job in their restaurant. It might be good for her to relocate. Both a fresh start and it would offer her more protection until the trial."
"Call me and let me know if it all checks out and which award you use. I would like to see her get help and if a former recipient is recommending her that holds weight. Officer Chambers would know the criteria well" Sam concluded and wondered at Finley's interest in his phone call.
[Bella smiled "I will do that. You keep yourself safe and in one piece Sammy. And have you and Jules selected a date yet?"]
Sam laughed "I will try to stay in one piece Bella. I will call Mom tonight too. And no we have not selected a date yet. I'll let you know when we do. But be prepared for Jules to want a small simple wedding. No big affair. But we will have a large party to celebrate with everyone after."
["That sounds like Jules. Give her a kiss from me. Love you Sammy. I'll call when I have all the details" Bella replied.]
"Love you to Bella. Take care" Sam said and hung up.
Finley contritely apologized then boldly asked "I'm very sorry for eavesdropping but you mentioned scholarships and Skye Chambers and it peaked my interest. Do you work with people that administer the MBH Scholarship?"
"You could say that" Sam cryptically answered.
Sam leaned down and kissed Jules's cheek when she sidled up to him. Then he said "That is from Bella. She asked about a date again."
Jules chuckled "She sure is tenacious. What did you tell her?"
"That I would let her know when we know. She also called about the scholarship" Sam responded.
"What about the scholarship?" Jules asked.
Sam answered "Bella got an emergency request for a scholarship. The weird thing is that it is from Medicine Hat." He then went on to give Jules the details on Rena.
Jules smiled "I'm so glad that you, Matt and Ripsaw started something so beautiful in the names of those you loved and lost. Which award are you considering using?"
"I think Matt's or Ripsaw's awards would be most fitting given her situation. Matt was homeless and hungry for so long. Ripsaw lost his parents in an accident and they have cancer in common" Sam stated.
Finley just listened and a smile grew. Here was another example of the goodness of the man Jules was going to marry. He asked "So do you think you could send me the criteria for the scholarships?"
"Why?" asked Sam.
Finley explained "I am a Big Brother for a foster boy and he wants to be a vet." Then Finley told Sam and Jules all about Dexter and how he was helping to prepare the boy.
When he was done Sam nodded "I'll email you the site that contains all the criteria. If Dexter works hard and demonstrates he deserves it then he will be considered."
Sam's stomach growled again and Jules laughed "Time to feed you."
Exhibition & Stampede Grounds – Bruce's Hideout
Bruce started to wake. He grabbed his scotch and took a long swig. He sat up and then rubbed his eyes. He realized he slept longer than he wanted to when he finally got his eyes to focus on his watch. He stood up and staggered over to look out of the attic vent.
Good. They were gone for the night. The events of the afternoon were over. He saw only one security guard. Bruce knew he could easily get past the rent-a-cop. Now he could sneak down and go find some food.
Scotch was good but his stomach rumbled. He took several more long drinks. He looked at his almost empty bottle and knew he needed to find more too. Beer would have to do. He could break into one of the vendors and grab what he wanted.
Bruce finished off the scotch and let the bottle roll away. He laughed in his excessively drunken state as he thought one dead soldier. Tomorrow he would add a real dead soldier to his list.
He left his backpack with his supplies and knife and crawled out of his hidey hole.
Exhibition & Stampede Grounds – Yum Hut Vendor
Bruce had no trouble breaking in. He smiled as he opened the fridge and found it full of beer and several pre-made sandwiches. He opened a beer and downed half of it. Then he grabbed three sandwiches.
He looked around for something to put them in and didn't find anything. He wished he had brought his backpack now. Bruce put down the sandwiches and finished off one beer. Then he stuffed one bottle of beer in each pocket of his pants.
Then Bruce scarfed down two of the sandwiches and half of another beer. He grabbed four more beers and held one in his right hand and the other three with his arm against his chest. He picked up the last sandwich with his left hand. It was a bit awkward but he would manage.
Bruce staggered out of the vendor truck with the sandwich at his mouth taking a bite.
Someone yelled "Freeze."
He was startled and lost his balance. Bruce fell down the three steps. He hit the ground hard on his left shoulder and screamed. The beer bottles in his arms fell and shattered. A shard of glass flew and hit his cheek making a deep laceration. The bottles in his pants smashed under his weight and pieces of glass embedded in his left thigh.
Bruce looked up to find five guns in his face. Oh shit!
Officer Branson Kent flipped Nealy on his stomach and yanked his hands behind his back and cuffed him saying "Bruce Nealy you are under arrest."
Bruce squealed in pain as he slurred out "My shoulder, my shoulder. My face."
Kent pulled Bruce to a seated position on the ground and looked up to Ricky and said "Go tell the Captain we got him."
The four officers that remained looked at the drunken sot on the ground. Officer Brad Ward said "Suppose I should call EMS."
"Yeah or he's gonna be yelling police brutality or some shit like that" Branson Kent responded.
Adela's Coffee Shop
When Sam's stomach had roared rather loudly in the strategy room all discussion of who was paying ceased and Mark and Patrick agreed to split it. They then chose Adela's because it was the closest place. It could also accommodate the size of the group.
They arrived and tables were pushed together. Jules sat on Sam's left, Wordy on his right, Spike and the Boss were across from him. The rest were all mixed up around the table. Sam watched a moment and smiled. It was nice to see his family and Jules's family getting along.
Spike leaned forward and said "Hey I thought I'd let you to know. I called Cameo and asked him to run the search on Bruce. He had access to his full file and knows where and when he was stationed. He also will have access to any unsolved, you know, cases that are military based. He said he'd let me know if he gets something."
Jules said "Good idea."
Greg's phone rang and he answered. As he listened a smile grew on his face. He concluded the call "Thank you for calling Commander Maddox. That is great news. I'll let the team know. We'll see you in the morning for the competition."
He hung up and looked at Sam and Jules and happily said "They got him."
"Fantastic" Spike blurted out loudly drawing everyone's attention to him.
Greg turned to the table and reported "That was Maddox, they caught Nealy. He is in custody and they had to take him to the hospital. He was so intoxicated he fell down three steps and was cut by the glass of a shattered beer bottle he was carrying. Seems he hurt his shoulder in the fall too. They are worried about alcohol poisoning so are keeping him in the hospital overnight. They will be moving him to jail to await arraignment in the morning."
Ed smiled "Great news. Now we can get back to business and take first place in this competition."
It was a jubilant group that celebrated and enjoyed dinner and dessert that night. Sam opted for several orders of mashed potatoes and a huge bowl of broccoli cheese soup on Lisa's suggestion. He even had two pieces of chocolate silk pie.
Hotel – Sam and Jules Room
Sam lounged on the little couch in the room as Jules readied for bed. It was early but they decided to call it an early night with the competition coming up tomorrow.
Jules peeked out of the bathroom and took her toothbrush out "Sam you promised Bella you would call your mom."
Reaching for his phone Sam said "Thanks for the reminder. I also have to call my dad too. I need to talk to him about something. He should be up by the time I finish with Mom."
Jules nodded and went back to brushing her teeth.
Sam dialed and when it was answered he said "Hi Mom."
["Sam I'm so glad you called. How are you doing? Your dad told me what happened. I was worried but I knew if you needed me Jules or Sergeant Parker would have called" Yvonne said."]
"I'm good. Wasn't pleasant but Jules helped a lot. I'm good now" Sam answered.
Then he changed the subject "Talked to Bella about a scholarship award today. It still makes me feel happy every time an award is given out. I really wish that I knew who those anonymous donors were. Matt and Ripsaw got to see awards go out in their mother's names before they died. The woman Bella told me about reminds me a little of both their situations."
[Yvonne had talked to William and knew about his conversation with Sam. How William had shared secrets of the past with Sam. Maybe it was time to tell him the truth about the scholarships too.
She said softly "I know who donated."]
Sam sat up straighter "You do? Who?"
["Sara" Yvonne simply said.]
"Sara?" Sam asked. His mind was whirling. How could Sara … "Her trust fund. Sara's trust fund. How?"
["Your father and I did not know what to do with her trust fund. When Bella told me what you three wanted to do. Well, we couldn't think of a more perfect thing to do with her trust fund" Yvonne confessed.]
Sam's face split into a huge grin and he didn't even care that it hurt. His words laced with deep gratitude Sam said "Thank you Mom. Thank you so very much."
His mind picked up an old memory and he said with suspicion "You changed the name on purpose didn't you."
[Yvonne's delighted laughter filled the line. When she quieted down she stated "You are a bright one Sammy. Yes I did. I thought it was fitting. It was Matt's initial idea for the scholarship so it was right to switch it up to his initials. I'm glad you never fought Bella to change the little purposeful mistake."]
Sam laughed "Mom do you know you have always been loved. I am so proud to be your son. You are the absolute best mom I know. I love you mom."
[Yvonne smiled and her eyes welled with happy tears "I love you too Sammy. Always have and always will. You have always made me proud."
She wiped her eyes and added "So have you and Jules set a date. You know Ann already has two grandbabies. I cannot wait to see the children you and Jules produce."]
Sam chuckled and looked into the bathroom. Jules was preoccupied so he quickly and quietly said "We haven't even talked about kids yet mom. As for the date I'll let you know when we figure something out."
["Well just so you know, I think you two will have beautiful children." Yvonne's phone beeped and she said "Natalie is calling. Do you mind if I take it? I missed her last two calls."]
"I don't mind. Love you mom. Talk to you soon. Say hi to Natalie for me."
["Love you Sammy. Bye" Yvonne said and answered the other call "Hello Natalie. How are you doing sweetheart?"]
Jules sauntered out of the bathroom brushing out her hair "How was your mom?"
"Good. We're gonna have to set a date. Or at least a date for a date" Sam chuckled.
Jules sat on the arm of the couch and grinned "I know. Sophie, Shel and even Winnie keep asking me."
Sam raised both eyebrows and smiled "So?" He winced.
Jules slid down in the seat next to him "So? We do this on our own time. I love them all but this is about us. I like being on the same team as you. If we marry soon then we will be split up sooner. I'm not quite ready for that."
Sam nodded "I'm with you on that. So we go at our own pace."
Jules nodded "Yes." She leaned over and kissed his cheek then said "Call your dad and then let's head off to bed. Today was exhausting and we need to be at our best tomorrow."
Sam dialed and watched Jules strip down for bed. It was distracting and alluring. God she was sexy. He closed his eyes to stop his wayward thoughts or else he would not get through his conversation with his dad.
When the General answered Sam shared with him everything that Vinson had shared with him. He saw Jules's face drop in astonishment. He pulled the phone away from his ear as his dad raged on the other side of the world. The General was raging so loud Sam could swear he could hear him without aid of a phone. When the General calmed down he committed to fully investigating the issues.
Sam said "Oh and one more thing Sir. They caught Nealy. So no more worries there."
[General Braddock was still boiling inside regarding the possibility that Matt and Haverlik may have been murdered by Plouffe and Murphy. Part of him wanted to dig up their graves and kill them again.
But he said "I've been in contact with Captain Black. Spike contacted Cameo to run some searches."]
"I know. Spike told me he asked Cameo. I assume that he found something" Sam said.
["Yes he did. Several unsolved cases may be relevant but only one with DNA evidence collected. It was an attempted rape. She scratched her attacker and they got the attacker's DNA from under her finger nails. There was never a match when they ran the DNA against the criminal databases. Whoever the attacker was had no criminal history. And we could not run it against the military DNA files because those records can only be used to identify soldiers that have died" General Braddock shared.]
"So you think Nealy might be connected to it?" Sam asked.
["It is a possibility. He was stationed there at the time and it occurred on base. So it is a possibility. They will be running Nealy's DNA and once they have it we will see if it matches. I'll let you know if I hear anything. I'll be handing that over to the military justice to follow up" the General stated.
He then changed subjects and said "So you can compete without further fear. I think I'll leave the soldiers in place until after he is arraigned and safely in jail."]
Sam nodded "Yeah that would be good. Speaking of competing I should be heading off to bed. We have the final competition tomorrow and Ed will not be pleased if I'm not at my best."
[William chuckled "Hard taskmaster but I like him. Okay son. Talk to you soon."]
"Later dad" Sam said and hung up.
Sam stood and stripped then crawled into bed next to Jules. He pulled her close, her back firmly against his chest and his arm wrapped snuggly around her. The top of her head was tucked just under his chin. He inhaled deeply. Sam loved the smell of Jules's hair.
He relaxed completely. Sam felt Jules relax completely in his embrace.
Sam closed his eyes, sighed and whispered "No place I'd rather be."
Jules closed her eyes with a smile on her face and softly sighed out "Copy that."
Both fell into a peaceful sleep secure in each other's arms.