Yes, you're reading your emails right. There are two brand new chapters! Obviously make sure you have read the previous chapter, the last fill-in chapter for a bit (I know Gmail will show one email for several chapters, so be careful). The action is starting to heat up and the end is near, I am regretting to say. While I enjoyed writing this story, I have to say how relieved I am that it is almost finished and the mystery almost solved. Hang in there, everyone! And many thanks to those who have supported me from the beginning. You know who you are. :)
As the bicyclists drove downtown through Tokyo, Hawkeye noticed how crowded the streets had gotten. It wasn't just civilians who were roaming the streets on the hot summer day, but also MP's with guns. And all of them seemed to have come from Korea and appeared not to be local, and they seemed to be looking especially for them, he noticed, as some of them pointed to their carriages. A long line of them even pushed the civilians off of the sidewalks and whipped out orders concerning the capture and arrest of some Army doctors, an orderly and a nurse. It went on for several blocks, but it was worse as they reached their hotel.
"Looks like we have a welcome committee already," Hawkeye said to Kellye as the driver slowed down. To the driver, he added, "Make it hasty. We don't want to keep the men waiting."
"Are you sure they're not Major Floyd's men?" Kellye asked as one the MP's spotted them and started issuing new orders to his men.
"I'm sure." Hawkeye raised his arms in greeting as he stood up to show himself off. "Hey, over here, you guys!"
"Hawk, are you insane?" BJ yelled from his carriage as he, too, stood up. "Get down from there!"
Klinger then stood up from the back carriage, blowing kisses and lifting up his dress to at least his knees. "Hey, all you wonderful people out there!"
Charles only put his head into his hands and shook it with shame. He was not shocked, to say the least, but agreed with BJ. They did not know that these people were on their side, but at the very least, they could have acted the part of compliant prisoners and talked later, when most people were out of earshot.
Hawkeye only nodded to the people (and especially the MP's) in the streets and stepped down from his carriage, nodding to Klinger to do the same. As the other complied, picking up their luggage and dropping his dress line down (as well as the tip to his driver), MP's surrounded them. Soon, more of them gathered around the three carriages that were soon upon the Lace Blossom Hotel. Charles, realizing what was happening, stood up with BJ and raised his hands in surrender. All the others did the same as the bicyclists stopped.
Kellye, the only one still sitting, whispered to Hawkeye, standing next to her. "Are you sure this is a good idea now?"
"Nonsense," Hawkeye replied, putting his hands down and walking over to the man obviously in charge. To him, he said, "Hi, there. I'm Captain Pierce. You must be the head of the welcome committee. I gotta say, though, you guys work pretty fast."
The man to whom Hawkeye was talking to came up closer to him. With sleek light brown hair and dark blue eyes that did not quite match the green Army uniform, the man did not look like he was on a mission to be ending injustice. Indeed, he looked more like he was acting the part of the man who had just captured so-called criminals. He was angry, to say the least, and looked so much so that he could only point to Hawkeye and eventually the others. Then, he snapped his fingers loudly.
In seconds, Hawkeye and the others were dragged from their positions and taken quickly behind the hotel without protest. There, a truck was parked, ready to take them back to Korea.
They were finally all under arrest. Whether it was for real or not, it was yet to be explained.
One by one (and quietly, Hawkeye noticed, even for Charles), they all climbed into the truck. Then, one by one, they were all handcuffed and then chained to the internal sides of the truck. Charles, Klinger and Kellye were on the left with Hawkeye and BJ on the right (their luggage disappearing somehow in the rush for arrest). There was room for one more person to sit on the right-handed side, but none of their guards camped out at the edge came for the honor. Instead, the man in charge appeared suddenly (and out of thin air, it seemed) and climbed on in. Sitting next to BJ, he then smiled and motioned to the guards to get the truck moving. Once it was moving and they were out of reach of the hotel, he spoke, allowing the severe look on his face to relax.
"Listen, we don't have much time before we get to the airport and then to Seoul," he started to explain sympathetically as the five leaned in to listen. "My name is Lieutenant Jay Anthony. I'm here on the orders of General Pyle, Seoul sector. We're just here for the show arrest. You five are not really going to be in the stockade."
Kellye was the only one breathing a sigh of relief. Charles smiled, seeming to plan something and trying to retort, but kept his mouth shut. BJ and Hawkeye exchanged a look. Klinger, however, was the only one who would speak.
"Lieutenant, what happened to the Klinger Collection?"
"The what?" Anthony asked incredulously.
"What he means is," Hawkeye interjected, "where is the luggage?"
"Oh, that," Anthony said more calmly. "It's following us in another vehicle, the one that is supposed to be making sure none of you jump ship. However, we have more pressing issues to talk about than mere things. I reassured you of your position, but now it's time to elucidate more of the situation."
"What are we going to be doing once we reach Seoul?" Kellye asked immediately.
"Once we all reach Seoul, reports will be sent to Major Floyd that you are all incarcerated, but you will be housed with the general's aides for the time being," Anthony explained. "Already, he ordered the men from Seoul to look for all of you instead of his less reliable Tokyo men. This will be the result of his decision. The better men for the job got the criminals and they were sent back to Korea in disgrace."
"What's the difference between the teams?" BJ then inquired.
"Nothing more than competition and some brains." Anthony smiled. "Now, any and all paperwork will be found on your persons and given to General Pyle. His nephew has mentioned that he suspected that there is something that showed up and was given to Captain Pierce here."
Hawkeye said nothing, wanting to keep the envelope given to him a secret still, even if it wasn't anymore. Even if he went along with the game, he also did not like the rules that it entailed.
Now," Anthony continued, "like I mentioned already, you'll be staying with the general's aides for a few days. It'll be enough time for everything to settle down. After Major Floyd has been arrested, with the evidence I'm sure we now have, then you all can go back to the camp and back to work for the US Army. Everybody will be exonerated and apologized to in a ceremony in Seoul at a later date. However, our main concern is capturing Major Floyd and getting him to admit to not only his treasonous actions, but his despicable ones as well. Crimes against the United States do not go lightly, especially to those who think they know better than the system."
"Tell me this then, Lieutenant," Charles then said sarcastically as he tried to fold his arms with the handcuffs and chains. "How did Major Floyd know so much better than your so-called 'system'? He only thought his father was innocent."
"It's possible that he was and that the other guy accused was the guilty party," Anthony conceded, "but there is also the possibility, as we are now accusing him, that he went too far in taking justice into his own hands. From what we've seen so far, Major Leon Floyd went insane with grief and planned his revenge smartly and almost without anyone detecting a thing. Well, the latter his lawyer will contest, but I doubt it. We've got the means to get him in Leavenworth for life. Pierce?"
Anthony held his hand out, waiting patiently for the envelope Hawkeye was holding. And while Hawkeye himself was reluctant to give it up (trust as he did in the plan), he slowly pulled the photos and documents in the envelope out and handed it to Anthony. Anthony himself smiled again and hid the proof of Floyd's guilt in his own jacket. It was almost as if it did not exist, the beaten paperwork disappeared so fast.
"Now, you five know where we're going, but here's the game here," Anthony said, to conclude his conversation. "You're still going to be prisoners. The tip-off was from one of my men. You've been captured before you checked into your hotel. The media will be all over it, even though your names will not be mentioned. You'll be housed with General Pyle in Seoul and wait there until Major Floyd is arrested, as the lines are moving again and Seoul is safer than Uijongbu now. Then, afterward, you'll be sent back to camp. Within some weeks, you would hear about a ceremony in Seoul or even the trial, if there is one for Major Floyd. It's up to all of you if you want to testify against Floyd."
"That's it?" Klinger scratched his head when he could reach. "Act like we're arrested and we get to go back to camp and maybe get Major Floyd in the klink?"
"That's it," Anthony confirmed.
"That seemed too easy," BJ chimed in. "How do we know you're not double-crossing us or handing us over personally to Major Floyd?"
"We're going to have to trust you, right?" Kellye asked.
"Yes, you'll have to trust us," Anthony replied to Kellye. Then, he looked at BJ. "Don't you think that Major Floyd would be here personally if we were working for him?"
"Not really," Charles had to say. "However, Lieutenant, carry on. If we need to do something for the sake of innocence, then prod us along. Otherwise, I am more than willing to stop falsifying paperwork and get back to work and then home at the end of this fetid war. Lady and gentlemen?"
Nods of consent came on all sides, even Hawkeye's. All he could do was feel some relief, although he was a little wary of Anthony. He had handed over the envelope of evidence to Anthony in the hopes that it would be handed over to the right people. He was on his way to Korea, anxious to get onto the next step of the plan and get everyone in the freed, especially Margaret. Most important of all, he was supposedly in the right hands.
Then, why did he feel so tired from the exercise? He should have been jumping up and down with excitement. Now, he was exhausted from the lack of sleep the past three days had given him and the sheer amount of adventure he had. He even felt responsibility slip from his shoulders even. A new man was now in charge of this investigation.
Feeling a cooler wind caress his hair, Hawkeye smiled himself and looked over at BJ's watch. He saw that it was almost fourteen hundred hours, about three hours after he talked with Sergeant Pyle over in Korea. They had spent an hour getting ready, another getting to the hotel and the last talking with Anthony. He had about three to four hours to go before Margaret was going to Seoul for her incarceration and trial for murder.
Hang in there, Margaret! We're almost there to free you and the camp!