CHAPTER FIVE

Jan 1 to Jan 14, 2002

Dr. Cox, correction, Dr. Colby, loved California. He loved that he could go outside his yard and walk to an orchard where he could pick a few oranges. The town was small and the people rather friendly.

The Marshall's Office had bought him a house (it would not look good to rent one). It was four story with double attached garage, a dish in the back, a brick diamond patterned driveway, and a white metal fence with an alarm system. It contained other amenities, a built in dishwasher and dryer, a dining room to entertain at least twelve guests, a den, a basement with a pool table, a garden, wall to-wall carpeting, and a grand piano. The Marshalls even supplied books including the Classics as well as medical stuff, and a new HDTV ready television, stereo set with a 4 changer CD player. Anyone coming in the house knew that he was a well-paid doctor. Oh and he also had his own private office That much of the money used to pay for this extravaganza came from confiscations of Drug Dealer properties, Cox or Colby knew, and that did not worry him. He had never lived this well.

He had seen a few there who, like him, were out of place, the major inhabitants being former Okies and Mexican Americans. Colby suspected that this was a frequent landing place for several in the Witness Protection Program. After the initial shock and relief that Colby was not a member of their old gang, they greeted him with a street party faintly disguised as a New Year's Celebration, which seemed odd to someone who figured that the only good place to celebrate the New Years was in Times Square.

The next day, the Marshall interviewed Colby and the other adult male member in the household, trying to find how he fit in.

A couple of years ago, the Marshall explained, someone had started an Italian restaurant, and it was doing a thriving business. As for Gino, Cox had explained that he was visiting at the time when Lyle or Raines spoke of their evil plans, Liza being his daughter. So since, the Marshall's office included a Dr. Cox, wife, children, plus father-in-law in their Witness Protection program, and that his life would be in danger if he and his family were not offered the Witness Protection program as well, it would be good that Gino contribute to the community as well. However, Liza's age gave the Marshall some concern, and Cox would have been served with a "contributing to the delinquency of a minor," except Gino pretended to speak in a Kentuckian accent which gave the agents the idea that he came from a backwoods community. Oh and he was trying to learn Italian, got the accent down pat.

The Marshalls got Gino a job in the new Italian restaurant run by another member of the Witness Protection program. In fact there were so many in the town, it was beginning to look like My Blue Heaven.

Yes thought Cox, you figure to clean up the Italian crime community and what do you have left, the Columbians and the Russian Mafia who are ten timse worse.

This continued for two weeks until on the fourteenth, a tall man approached Colby just as he was about to enter the hospital.

"Hello there! You're the new obstetrician, aren't you?" he asked.

"Yes, Dr. Roger Colby, and you?"

"Nothing as important as that. Arthur Wyneth. Came here to enjoy a little boating and got this." He showed him a finger with a fish hook in it. "Hurts like the dickens. You wouldn't have something to fix it up?"

"I can't do anything about it right now. Emergency delivery." Colby pointed towards the reception area. "See the nurse there. She'll find someone to fix it up."

Arthur thanked him and left.

Cox made a mental note. The man is in his forties, much older than he. His name did not fit, and that accent he's hiding is giving him away.

However, he had other matters. He went into washroom adjoining the operating room, took off his jacket, put on his delivery gown, wash his hands up to the elbow, put on his operating gloves, had the nurse tie on his cap, and mask, and went to perform a caesarean section.

When it was over, he had a cup of tea with his fellow doctors and they all talked about their worst cases.

When his shift finished, Cox went to his new home, and heard from Liza. "There are others like us nearby."

"Pretenders, Dominants?"

"Yes."

He hoped none of them was from New England.