A Lost Heart: Prologue

Boredom had set in sooner than expected. After five years with the Federal Bureau of Investigations and four years with his own company, Thompson Security Agency, the silence was about to drive Brian Elliott Thompson crazy. He was literally about to lose his mind. It was the twelfth day of his release from the hospital, after more than a month-long stay. His friends believed he needed more rest. He, however, believed it was time to return to work. Not to the pile of paperwork staring back at him from his desk, but to his real job, protecting the Attorney General of Virginia and his childhood friend, J.D. Harrison. That’s what he should be doing, not sitting around shifting through paperwork. He was so tempted to push the stacks of paper off the desk, but that would cause, his secretary more work.

Patiently waiting for a return call from JD, Brian stood and stared out of his office window. Below was the view of the very building he would be guarding once JD was elected Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Executive Mansion. A grin slowly appeared on his face as the memory of the day James Brooks, JD’s campaign manager, stood at that window and declared, he was setting him up in business to protect JD and his family once they moved into the Governor’s Mansion. James knew then that JD was heading in that direction. He wanted Brian to be free from the bureaucracy of the Bureau to conduct protection for JD and his family as he saw fit. It was an honor to be given such a detail, especially since the man he was protecting was one of his closest friends.

Shaking his head, Brian thought of their friendship. There were very few people he considered a friend and JD Harrison was one. The fact that he’d put that friendship in jeopardy, to this day cause him internal turmoil. Looking back on the situation, he had no one to blame but himself. Kissing a man’s wife was wrong, and even worse if you called that man a friend. 

As if on cue, the bruises on his back began to ache, but he refused to take any of the medication the doctors prescribed for the pain. It was over a month ago that a gang invaded JD’s home while his wife and two children slept in the bedrooms upstairs. Brian was able to get Tracy, JD’s wife and Jasmine, their two-month-old daughter out of the house. However, when he went back in to get JC, their three-year-old son, he was shot four times in the back. A man who stood six-three and was two-hundred ten pounds of solid muscle, was brought down with four bullets in his back, like a leaf falling from a tree. From what his friends and family had told him, for weeks no one was sure he would be here today. After a month in the hospital and a few weeks on house recovery, the pain let him know, he was still alive. The pain from the bullet wounds he could stand, the pain of possibly losing his friend was unbearable. Even though he and JD were not on speaking terms at the time of the shooting, there was no way he would have allowed harm to come to JD or his family. Primarily, it was his professional integrity and his personal pride that would not allow him to give less than one hundred percent to the job every day. Secondly, JD’s family was his family. He loved his friend’s children as if they were his own. And as for his wife, Tracy, well he loved her a little too much.  

The door opened and then slammed before Brian could turn towards the sound, his reflexes were slow. That was not a good sign.

 “What are you doing here?” the woman asked angrily.

Recognizing the angry face seething at him, Brian sat in the chair behind the desk, before Pearl could see evidence of the pain surging through him. Pearl Lassiter had become his champion since the shooting and seemed determine to make his life miserable by making sure he healed properly according to her rules.

“I own the place,” he mockingly replied.

“Really, do you have a will?”

Frowning, he looked up at her.

“I just want to make sure I get something out of caring about you one way or another,” Pearl snapped out the response.

 “Thanks for the confidence in my recovery. Do you want something this early in the morning?”

 “Imagine my surprise,” she began sarcastically as she walked towards him, “when I stopped by your place to make sure you’d had breakfast and had taken your meds, before I came to work, only to find you gone.”

 “I’m sure you were, but as you can see, I’m fine.”

She sighed, “Have you had breakfast?”

“No.”

She placed a McDonald’s bag in front of him, “Breakfast steak burrito. Have you taken your meds?”

Opening the bag and pulling out the contents he looked at her, “Thank you.”

 “I’ll take that as a no. I did not find them at your place, so I am going to assume you were at least smart enough to bring them with you.”

“Unlike other times, your assumption is correct,” Brian stated as he bit into the burrito and smiled.

She placed her arms across her breast. “Would you take them now while I’m here?”

Sitting back in the chair he replied, “I’ll take them when I need them.”

Putting the back of her hand to her forehead in frustration Pearl sighed. “Brian, I don’t have time for this today. JD has to fly out in an hour, and I need to know you are okay before we leave.”

 “Where are we going?” He asked eagerly, thinking he might have something to do after all.

 “We are campaigning in Northern Virginia. Avery and Gwendolyn Brooks are hosting a fundraiser.”

 “I’ll give JD a call to see what time we are leaving.”

 “We? What are you going to do if you go? You can’t take anyone down if something were to hop off.” Seeing the look of denial in his eyes, she softened her words. “Look, I know you want to protect your friend, however, at the moment, you are physically unable to do that. Give your body the time it needs to heal, and you will be back on the job in no time. You’ll probably be better, if that’s possible.” She added that last statement to give him the compliment she felt he needed.

“Thanks for the moment of reality and the pep talk. It doesn’t help my boredom, but I hear you. Go meet with the posse. I’ll talk to you later.”

Pearl smiled, relieved. “I’ll go as soon as you take your meds.”

He looked at her as he pulled open the desk drawer, “Where is Dr. Kildare? Shouldn’t you be harassing him this time of morning?”

“His name is Dr. Theodore Prentice, and he has had his dose for the morning,” she replied flirtatiously, “You jealous?”

Glaring at her he laughed, “Been there, done it, had fun, we moved on.” He took the pain pills and swallowed them down with his coffee. “Satisfied?”

“Yes, I am.” She opened the door to leave. “I’ll call you later.”

“I don’t like him.”

She stopped and turned back to him. “You’re jealous.”

Taking a seat, he smiled, “Only when you wear those short skirts.”

Pearl shook her head. “Now I know you’re getting better. You’re flirting again.” She laughed and walked out of the door.

Sighing as the door closed, Brian checked the computer for security updates on his clients. Presently he had four VIP clients that had top government clearance. Each had different levels of coverage, but none as high as JD. It was a foregone conclusion that in a few years Jeffrey Daniel Harrison would be the Democratic candidate for President of the United States. Until that happens and Secret Services Units are assigned, it was Brian’s job to keep his friend and his friend’s family free from harm. Under normal circumstances, JD would not make a move without him by his side, but not now. Since he could not protect his friend, he’d made sure that his top man, Samuel Lassiter was heading up the detail. Anyone going after JD would have to go through Hurricane, as Brian called him, and that would not be an easy task. Samuel was fully capable and just as dedicated to protecting JD as he was, but it did not ease the disappointment of not being next to his friend. Then there were Tracy and the children. Magna Rivera, whom he was fortunate to get from the District of Columbia Gang Task Force, and Ryan Williams, whom he literally recruited from the streets, were handling the detail on them. To get through those two women, you had better bring an army fully armed with heavy artillery.

Yes, he had good men and women working for him, but it wasn’t him and that was the problem. Since high school, he was the protector of not only JD, but their other high school friends, Calvin Johnson and at times Douglas Hylton as well. It was hard being placed on the side-lines. Like it or not, there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it, for now.

…

JD sat at the desk in his home office looking out the window as his wife Tracy and their three-year-old son JC played tee-ball. As his son hit the plastic ball with the matching bat, he smiled at the child-like giggles that echoed into his office. The scene only fueled his anxiety over the situation at hand. Brian had a son that he doesn’t know about. He was missing out on not just seeing his son grow up, but on seeing his development as well. Promise or not, that was something JD could not be a party to. The question was, how he would let Brian know about his son without flat out telling him. The day he ran into Caitlyn Montgomery, Brian’s college girlfriend, replayed in his mind. The shock alone, threw him, but discovery of Brian’s son turned him upside down. A week had gone by, and JD was still at a loss as to how he would handle the situation. Replaying the scene in his mind, he tried to remember exactly what he had actually promised. 

He and Tracy were standing at the podium holding hands and waving to the crowd of over one thousand supporters that had showed up to hear him speak at their Founders Day Celebration. More than pleased with the turnout he whispered to Tracy, “I didn’t think Nickelsville had this many people living here and I’m more surprised to see a few of us here.”

“At least you had heard of this town,” Tracy smiled. “Today when we stepped foot off the plane was the first time I had heard of this place. According to the history on the internet, this town had an interesting beginning. A wealthy family by the name of Nickels owned quite a bit of land along the borders of Virginia and Tennessee. It seems one of the Nickels sons fell in love with and married a black woman. During those times, that was a no-no. He and his wife were shunned from Tennessee. He moved his family to the far end of the family’s property line, which happened to be in Virginia. Over time the young couple had a number of daughters, but no sons. It’s said that by marrying a black woman he cursed the family’s name, for several generations no sons were born to carry on the name, only daughters. Years later, one of the daughters married a Becker. The town manager, Jacob Becker is a direct descendant from that family. Of course, over time, property was sold on both sides of the border allowing the development of the town we are in here, in Virginia, and the town across the street which, is now known as Nickelsville, Tennessee. If we go across the street on Main Street, we will be in Tennessee.”

JD looked at his wife. She always amazed him with her knowledge. “I guess we better stay on this side of the street then.” 

As they walked through the crowd shaking hands, a young boy approached him. Pulling on his pants leg the boy called out, “Mister, Mister” and looked up at JD with the most excited eyes.

JD looked down at the boy who appeared to be ten or eleven and smiled. He bent his six-two frame down to the boy to speak.

“Hello,” he shook the young boy’s hand. “What’s your name?”

“Elliott, what’s your name?”

The boy’s speech seemed young for his size. But JD dismissed the thought a moment later after considering the possibility that the education system in this rural part of the State might be lacking. “My name is JD.”

“That’s not your real name. My mommy says a name can say a lot about the man you are going to become.”

JD smiled, liking the boy immediately, “You’re right, my name is Jeffrey Daniel Harrison.”

Proud of himself the boy smiled and continued. “My mommy say’s you are going to be our new governor and then president.”

“Your mommy said that?” The boy nodded his head. “Where is your mommy?” JD asked standing. 

“Over behind the tree.”

JD stood and took the boy’s hand, “Let’s go find your mom so I can thank her for the kind words.”

Tracy smiled at her husband, “Looks like you have a new friend.”

“Yes, I do,” JD laughed, “He looks familiar to me for some strange reason. We’re going to find his mom.”

“Come on,” the young boy said. “I’ll show you where she is.”

JD and Tracy followed the boy through the crowd shaking hands along the way. As they reached the area, where the boy had indicated his mother would be, a woman stopped the young boy. She was very slender with blonde hair, beautiful blue eyes, and a welcoming smile.

“Elliott, are you bothering Attorney General Harrison?”

“No Ms. Margie. I’m taking him to meet my mommy.”

“Mr. Harrison, I can take him to his mom,” the woman with the southern accent offered.

“It’s no bother at all.” JD replied. “I would like to meet her. She has a wonderful son.”

“Well, if you are sure, it’s no problem, she is passing out buttons at the third tree over yonder.”

“Thank you,” JD replied with a smile as they continued on the short journey.

As they walked closer to the tree, Elliott called out to his mother, “Hey mommy look who I have.”

The woman turned to JD just as he was looking up from the boy and shock was a mild response to the look that appeared on his face. He looked down at Elliott who was smiling proudly at his mother and then his glaze returned to the woman.

“Caitlyn?”

The woman’s shocked expression was a less intense match to JD’s as she stammered, “Hello JD.”

If Caitlyn could have crawled under the tree stump, she was standing next to she would have. For the entire day, she had volunteered to work on the outskirts of the event just to keep this very thing from happening. Now she had to face her past. She extended her hand to Tracy who was watching the looks transpire between the two, wondering what was wrong with her husband.

“Hello, I’m Caitlyn, Elliott’s mother.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Tracy smiled then looked up at her husband.

“Caitlyn, what…” the words did not seem to form.

Sensing Jeffrey and this woman needed a moment Tracy took Elliott’s hand. “How about you show me where I can get some ice cream,” she said bending down.

“Okay, come on.” Elliott took her hand then turned to his mother. “Ya’ll coming Mr. Harrison and Mommy?”

“No Elliott, I’m going to stay and talk to your mom for a minute.” Waiting for the boy and Tracy to leave the area, his intense glaze fell on Caitlyn again. “How old is Elliott, Caitlyn?” He asked mindful of where he was and other people watching.

She stepped closer to him so they would not be overheard, “He is about to turn eight and to answer your next question, no, Brian does not know he has a son, JD. And you can’t tell him.”

“Mr. Harrison……Mr. Harrison.” Mrs. Gordon called out from the doorway.

At the sound of his housekeeper’s voice, JD’s attention returned to the present. “I’m sorry Mrs. Gordon, what did you say?”

“Mr. Thompson is on the line for you.”

“Thank you,” he sighed. Talk about timing. Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, he picked up the receiver and answered. “Hey Brian, what’s up?”

“I hear you are on your way out of town. Why you are leaving a brother behind man?”

“The four walls getting to you?” He smiled hearing his friend’s irritation.

“Man, you know I’m not used to staying still. If I don’t get some action soon, I swear I’m going to go crazy.”

JD thought for a moment. “You know,” he sat forward as the plan formed in his mind. “I could use your help on something.”

“Name it man, I’m game for damn near anything.”

“Well, it’s not a big deal, and there will be no action, but it would help.”

“Talk to me man.”

“I need an advance security check done on a location I plan to revisit. It’s a small town in southwest Virginia. I promised this little boy I would come back through for a visit with his family. The town is nice enough, but there may be some security issues due to its close proximity to Tennessee. You know the folks there don’t like me very much. It would be great if you could go there, be the advance man on this visit.”

“JD, I tell you I’m bored, and you want to send me to Hicksville, Virginia?”

Laughing JD pressed on. “It’s not that bad man. Tracy and I were there, and it was nice.”

“If you were just there, why are you going back?”

“I got a little attached to this boy and gave my word that I would come back to see him with Tracy and the children. It’s imperative that everything is in place. Look, I know this is not what you normally do, but I figure it will keep you out of trouble for at least a week.”

“A week? Doesn’t Calvin normally do this kind of stuff?”

“Yes, but he is wrapping up the Munford case and can’t get away. B, look, normally I wouldn’t ask you to do something like this, but I’m planning on taking my children with me. I need to know they will be safe.”

“Alright man, but you’re going to pay for this big time. I’m talking transportation, hotel, meals, and if there are any decent women around, you’re paying for them too.”

“You know I can’t pay for any woman, man. I’m a politician.”

“I’ll put it down as food for my soul. What’s the name of this God forsaken place?”

“Nickelsville, Virginia.” JD gave Brian all the pertinent information for the assignment. He was certain once Brian hit the town; there was no way he would not run into Caitlyn or Elliott. Looking up he said a silent prayer, asking the Lord to forgive his little indiscretion, but he had his friend’s best interest at heart.

Tracy was standing in the doorway of her husbands’ office waiting for him to complete his call. “So, you’re sending Brian to Nickelsville?”

JD turned to see the woman that had stolen his heart five years ago and she still looked like the nineteen-year-old college freshmen he’d met back then.

Shrugging his shoulders he looked a little perplexed, “I’m not sure what the outcome is going to be.”

Walking over to where he sat behind his desk, Tracy slid easily into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck to console him. “One or two things will happen. Brian will understand and be thankful you sent him in that direction or,” she hesitated, “he will beat you to a pulp for sending him there.”

“Thanks a lot,” they both smiled at each other.

“It will work itself out. You two are brothers in your hearts. The question is where Caitlyn Montgomery stands in all of this.”

Shaking his head JD thought back to the time during college when Brian had fallen in love with Caitlyn. “When we were in college, I thought Brian was going to marry Caitlyn, but then she disappeared. Since then, Brian hasn’t let any woman get close to him.”

“Maybe their coming together will bring closure for both of them.” “Maybe,” JD replied as he pulled his wife closer wondering if he had done the right thing.