Cynthia was not much involved in the Rodo case itself but since she and Roselyn were best friends, Cynthia did enjoy having her friend's back and check out Cholly. Therefore she knew quite a bit about Cholly, his strong points, weak points and his specialties. Cynthia certainly liked the charming and smart Cholly but also understood that a man of such talents is cursed by his gifts and haunted by what makes him special. It was fun and entertaining to meet Cholly, to hear his modt unusual thoughts and perspectives, his profound insight, culture and learning, his wits, his unique views, his unconventional mind. Cynthia understood why he was a libertarian, why freedom meant so much for him and why he wanted to do his part to bring criminals to justice - it wa his way of defending liberty. However, always was also very aware of a looming darkness deep inside the man, and more than once she found herself wondering whether there is anything she could do to help Cholly. It was not a maternal instinct, had nothing to do with some kind of fling either but was the result of a bond between intelligent and cultured outsiders who operate on a higher level than most people can even imagine.

Naturally, Cynthia did enjoy Cholly's honest and respectful admiration, knowing it was an admiration towards her style and accomplishments and completely appropriate. Cholly was one of the last gentlemen around, and even her otherwise very protective husband liked Cholly and his manners towards Cynthia.

Unlike back then, now was different though and Cynthia understood, she indeed could and had to help Cholly. The Rodo case was not as over as it looked on the surface, and the aftermath got Cholly in the cross hairs of seriously dangerous people. People, whose powers were quite beyond what he could counter with wit and verve.

Cynthia had an interesting past of her own and as a contract lawyer she met people of various walks of life, some of which yielded significant influence. Since she excelled at what she did and there were those among these influential clients, who held her in high esteem. Cynthia's specific forte was drawing connections that nobody else would think of and thus find solutions, that allowed her to bring the most hostile parties together and make all of them win.

She once brought 3 sheiks and 2 godfathers together, all hating each other's guts, and after 2 hours they left all smiles and hugs. Instead of continuing to off one another they suddenly had a real incentive to even protect their enemies, that's how much money that particular alliance made them.

Ever since she was both revered and feared as the voodoo-lawyer-witch and to the day some of her cases and solutions were taught at law schools.

After 5 years of such feats she knew she had to retire and disappear, even the best surfer cannot ride a wave that high for long.

She had the right husband, one she could trust and whose loyalty was beyond doubt, and so she was gone out of the blue and nobody besides Roselyn knew where she went. Which was just 182 miles north and still overviewing Lake Michigan.

She exhauled sharply, getting her mind focused on the present, and dialled the number she never thought she'd ever dial again.

After two rings the line was open and she left her message "This is for John from Jane, at 773 and 995. Let rest what rests and live what lives."

She hung up.

Two minutes went by, then five, and then her phone rang twice, stopped ringing and after another minute it rang again twice and stopped after that once more. Her clue to call.

"So you remember, thank you!" Cynthia said.

"I never forget a debt" chuckled a somewhat distorted voice "So, what can I do?"

"Well, this one is dicey and goes far up the ladder. One in your midths is playing dirty and is about to take out a very useful asset. It would be not just a waste but also a grave injustice. The one to be protected will be a grateful negotiator to your cause, the one to be stopped is known as Doughan Patrick and linked to 5 names that will give you all the background you need:

Fullerton, James;

Hodgin, Robert Junior;

Stoltherer, Fred;

Clayburn, Terence;

Fourlet, Ben."

"I see. I'll look into it. Time frame as always."

And the click in the line indicated the conversation was over.

'Time frame as always' indicated 24 hours, and nothing else to do for Cynthia than to wait and be near the phone the next day.

At 02:35 in the night, however, Cynthia was woken by a strange humming sound, and sure enough, when she opened her sleepy eyes, an unknown light near her made her heart skip a beat - wide awake she turned on the lamp on her night stand. And there it was, the source of the sound and light flashing...a little cell phone, one she never saw but her mind drew the connections instantly and she picked it up and said "Unusual, but not boring, I'll give you that. A tad intrusive though" she said calmly.

"My apologies but circumstances changed. We are on a delicate time line now. Your request is valid, and I keep in your debt as you pointed out a rotten apple that could have spoiled the entire basket. that is my way of saying thank you. Now however, wake your spouse and waste no time. You two go on a well deserved vacation trip, your bags are packed and in your car. Go time."

Cynthia immediately got up and shook her husband's shoulder "Get up, don't ask questions, dress fast and meet me in the car. Now!" Chief Sullivan, a war veteran and instantly awake, jumped out of bed and did as told, understanding the seriousness of the situation right away. He was mentally prepared for something like that. Wordlessly, he did as told and 3 minutes later he looked at his wife on the passenger seat, started the car and only asked "Where to?" "Just drive, honey" she responded while searching around, looking around for instructions, and did indeed find another burner phone. She opened it and hit re-dial. "You haven't lost your edge, good! Keep going, don't go over the speed limit, zig zag a little and be at the Sheboygan police station before dawn. Thank you and goodbye."

She passed on these instructions to Sullivan, who didn't show the slightest sign of wondering but simply nodded.

He took a few little detours, one would hardly expect, kept of the interstate for a while but went direction Sheboygan.

At 03:45, the burner rang and Cynthia picked up.

"Put me on speaker" asked the voice.

"Done"said Cynthia.

"How far out are you?"

"Less then 15, we approach the 43" answered the chief.

"Nice. Then slow down now and meet two friendlies at the parking lot of the Quality Inn at zero four"

"Understood"replied Sullivan.

And there they were, two police cars, flashing Sullivan a quick sign of recognition, which he answered the same way. The first car went in front of Sullivan, the second behind, and then the little convoy drove to the Police station, where Ratherberg and 10 officers awaited them, heavily armed and with bullet proof gear. The Sullivans were rushed in, covered by the officers. And then Rathenberg relaxed somewhat and greeted the two:

"Nice to see you again, Ma'am, what a pleasure. I apologize for the dramatics but I was under orders and when I hear it is the two of you that are in danger I wouldn't waste a second! Can I get you a little breakfast or something? I was told we would get word within the next few hours, so let's get comfortable, shall we?"

Rathenberg brought the Sullivans into the 'war room' where a little breakfast was layed out for them. Rathenberg apologized for the simplicity of it and was reliefed to see that Cynthia did indeed appreciate the gesture and clearly was grateful for his efforts.

Rathenberg asked "I don't mean to pray or anything but if there is anything you can tell me about what's going on, I'd be happy to hear whatever much or little you can tell me. I got a call from Washington two hours ago, all top priority and very hush hush and got orders to prepare for doomsday to keep you safe here and await further instructions. they flew some team down here, used our heli pad, but we never saw anyone, only received word and orders. Chilling."

The sheriff raised an eyebrow "Honestly, we don't know much either, just that Cholly somehow is in danger after having given some interview that never got published. I don't even know if him being in danger is even related to the interview. But I do know one thing, the shit that went down with Starlington back then, I want none of that here. Whatever I can do to keep us safe out here, you know."

"Yeah, I hear you, same here. Oh, man, you think it's related, the Starlington tragedy and this now?"

"Could be, I for one do think so. One way or another, you know. Not sure if we'll ever get to understand the full picture though. But the way I see it, the days were we can just lean back and enjoy the good air out here are long over, crime is connected, and whatever goes on somewhere else will somehow spread and reach even into the most remote corners - and that's why your and my job has gotten a lot harder"

"I'd love to make some snide comment on you being awefully philosophical but truth be told, I couldn't agree more. When we worked here with Cholly and that smart girl with the New York accent, it dawned on me that the good old days are over and that the way we gotta work has changed for good. No way back. As much as we still want to think that there's a city world and a countryside and that the two are like parallel universes, they are freaking not, that Rodo case was a wake up call."

The three sat there, at four thirty in the morning, looking in their coffee mugs and knew that they just admitted to a truth, that people prefer to blend out. A truth that is no fun to admit.

Like looking in the mirror and seeing wrinkles and grey hair.

"Do we even know which outfit is at work here?" asked Sullivan.

"Your guess is as good as mine. I was thinking homeland..."

"I thought so at first, too but they tend to be more obvious, with fancy black suburbans convoys and such. Well, I guess it doesn't matter anyways."

"More coffee?"

"Yes, please!" answered Cynthia, who so far kept silent. "Thank you so much, chief Rathenberg!" she added gratefully, lightening the mood in the room and making the two chiefs feel much better.

At five o'clock Rathenberg got word from a DC number that didn't bother to state a name or office. The voice on the line declared that the danger is over and that there are 4 casualties, two unidentified men got shot at the Sullivan's home, one near Cholly's trailer and one trying to escape from the evidence room of the sheriff department in Manitowoc. Rathenberg would get the paperwork but the bodies would be handled by the team that handled the operations and no further actions or questions would be necessary. Rathenberg knew what that meant and said "Yes, ma'am, I fully understand. No worries, glad to oblige and if I may add, I am happy to hear it all worked out. Thank you."

While Rathenberg spoke on the phone, Cynthia looked at a message she received on the burner:

NOT OVER YET BUT YOU ARE OK TO GO

Cynthia slowly exhauled, looked at her husband and gave him a slight nod and a smile.

THIS SHORT STORY IS A PART OF THE LAKE MICHIGAN INVESTIGATIONS PROJECT BY K.H. KAYSER & S.J. SLEGER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © RIPPLEDIP PUBLISHING LLC 2020. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF THE AUTHORS.