Chapter 66
Kelly used the two hours to take a shower and change into a casual attire consisting of a white cashmere cardigan sweater, and new pear of blue jeans; Just the perfect cover for a drink at a college pub.
Exactly two hours later, Carl met Kelly in the hotel’s lobby. Kelly thought Carl was cold, estrange and arrogant as he stepped into the car.
“Okay, you need to wear this,” Carl demanded as he strapped on a microphone and small camera to Kelly’s jeans. “This will allow us to hear and see you. In the case of an emergency push this button and I will be able to track you.”
“That doesn’t sound very reassuring,” Kelly thought as he brushed sweat off his brow.
“I will be no more than five feet away,” Carl assured Kelly as he pulled back his sweater to reveal a Glock pistol shoved in his jeans.
“That’s reassuring,” Kelly uttered as the car stop in front of the tavern.
The tavern has been on the St. Paul catholic university campus for over a hundred years, serving starving student and drunken teachers alike.
Kelly nervously walked into the pub. The bar was full of scream student watching a soccer game between Canada and Manchester republic.
Carl took a seat at the long wooden bar and ordered a Guinness.
Except for the two lovers, that were oblivious to anyone else in the world except themselves, and the cheering students, the bar was empty. Kelly soon noticed, in the back of the bar, a pair of long, silky, sculptured legs with black lace stockings protruding from a booth.
Kelly hesitated for a moment when he heard the giggle of vibrant young women. Panic-stricken, Kelly quickly lost his nerve and walked back to the bar. Kelly stopped in his tracks when he heard the distinctive voice of his friend Robert Freeman. Perplexed, Kelly turned towards Carl for advice and support. Carl promptly redirected Kelly to reengage his mark. Kelly took a deep breath and vigilantly walked toward his old friend. Kelly noticed a young pretty woman snuggling against Robert Freeman. Startled, Kelly suspiciously turned and took a seat at a nearby table and asked the waitress for a pint.
Kelly hid behind a menu as the Robert and his lover embraced each other passionately. Even though it has been years since Kelly last saw his friend, he instantly recognized Robert Freeman. As Kelly gazed at his old friend from behind the menu, he noticed that the years have drastically changed Robert’s appearance. Once considered the strongest and bravest soldier in the platoon, Robert had become lethargic and feeble. He once rugged persona has dwindled, but he still had his charisma.
Kelly casually sipped his pint of Guinness beer as he gazed upon his old friend. The first day Kelly and Robert meet was at boot camp in late 1943. Those days were deeply ingrained in Kelly’s memories as one of the happiest moments in his life. An unsuspected tear trickled down Kelly’s face as he recalled the many times that Robert saved his life.
Robert was always a ladies’ man. The past forty years obvious didn’t diminish Mr. Freeman’s affection for gorgeous women.
There was something about his women that ate away at Kelly’s nerves. Kelly was feeling apprehensive about this mission. He turned back to Carl for some encouraging moral support. Carl’s face was vacant and unsympathetic as he stared back at Kelly. John diverted his gaze back towards Bob and the young lady and pondered were he saw her before. There was something formidable about the women; a strong resemblance that disturbed Kelly’s soul. “I know her,” Kelly whispered to himself. John yearn to run out of the pub as he turned back to Carl for some kind of reassurance.
Kelly summoned all his courage as he casually walked up to Bob’s booth. Kelly could clearly see Bob’s face as he approached the booth. The face of the beautiful women with Robert was obscured by her wide brimmed hat.
A jovial look quickly dashed across Robert’s face as he shook the hand of his old friend John Kelly.
“John Kelly my old friend,” Robert said in an astonished voice.
The mysterious women’s luscious blue eyes turned and looked upon Kelly’s surprised face. The mutual recognition was uncanny. It took Kelly a moment, and then it hit him. The beautiful women sitting next to Robert was the same woman that was with Todd Beacon the night he was murdered.
Unabashed, the beautiful women pushed herself away from Bob and swiftly stood up. The brazen assassin earnestly pulled out her Glock and pointed it at Bob’s chest. A thunderous roar detonated as the assassin’s discharged a 9 mm bullet from her Glock pistol into Robert Freeman’s chest. Kelly was petrified in fear as blood from Robert’s chest splattered onto his white cashmere sweater. The beautiful women assassin repositioned her Glock and carefully took aim at Bob’s head.
Two unexpected bullets blazed from the barrel of a colt 45 and whisked through the tavern. The force of the colt 45 bullets penetrated the assassin’s skull twice and spattered her blood over the walls of the tavern. Kelly stood there in shock as the assassin’s gorgeous body crumbled to the floor. Life slowly drained from the assassin’s soul as her blue eyes perished into cold, dark and lifeless orbs.
Kelly felt mortify, scared and bewildered as he gazed into the assassin’s barren face. The assassin’s once beautiful angel face was vague and her once glowing smile was now grim. Kelly regained his composure and realized that Todd Beacon’s murder was finally vindicated.
Carl rushed to Robert Freeman’s assistance. Robert split up blood as he gasped for air. “Where is the treasure?” Carl screamed into bob’s right ear.
Kelly quickly pushed Carl aside and kneeled alongside his old friend. “Kelly is that you?”
“Yes, Robert it’s me John Kelly, what happen?”
“I don’t know, I thought I was making it with this gorgeous woman when suddenly I saw you.”
“She’s an assassin. She killed Todd Beacon four days ago in Washington, D.C.”
Kelly smiled, held Robert’s hand and uttered, “Do you remember when we first met in Basic training?”
Blood protruded from Robert’s mouth as uttered in Kelly's’ ear, “Yeah those where the best of times.”
Kelly’s face was riddled with fear and anxiety as he whispered, “Did you reveal the platoon’s secret to anyone?”
Bob started to cried as he said, “Deloris is protecting the platoon’s secret now.” John was suddenly overwhelmed with sorrow as Robert died in his arms. Kelly pushed aside a tear as he mourned the murder of another friend.
“We got to go,” Carl screamed as he grabbed Kelly and hauled him away from Bob’s dead body. Kelly stopped in the doorway of the tavern and quickly turned to see Robert Freeman’s body strewn across the tavern floor.