However, she could not instantly feel comfortable in Olympia. She thought people would mock her, or would preach to her some fundamentalist Christianity, or wanted to hurt her because she was from “evil” Seattle. Yet, she knew it was better here. She could not decide if she belonged in New Washington, especially since she couldn’t feel comfortable in New Washington. She didn’t need permission to do things here. Everything was legal. There were so few police and soldiers around. People were making decisions for themselves.
Carol found this very hard. She had difficulty making decisions, even about little things. It was frustrating to make decisions. It seemed like too much work to make her own decisions. Then she would realize that making decisions was normal and having them made for you was not normal. She was slowly adjusting. Grant realized that his sister was suffering from what newly released prisoners often struggled with. They had had decisions made for them for so long that freedom was hard to adjust to.
Grant told Carol about the deal that got her out. A straight one-for-one swap of Carol for Grant was laughed at by the New Washington leadership. A war hero and head of the ReconComm for… a Spanish literature professor? The New Washington leadership never told Grant about the situation in case he did something stupid like turn himself in to Seattle to save his sister. Later, after he found out, Grant had to admit that he never would have done that. He barely knew his sister and she had made repeated choices to stay in Seattle. He didn’t want her in jail, but she chose to live in a place where people went to jail for no reason.
Just as the New Washington leadership suspected, Carol was the opening bid in a negotiation. When it was all over with, the Patriots and Limas traded prisoners. Equal numbers for equal numbers. The Patriots bent their own rules and counted Carol as a Lima prisoner to be swapped. So they got her out, but it only cost them a random Lima, not a prize like Grant’s capture.
As Carol settled into New Washington, she had to hide her identity because, as a family member of the chair of the ReconComm, she was a target for Lima attacks. She would also be a big target for a kidnapper because she could be used to get pardons from Grant. So New Washington issued her a new identity and she found a job working at a small bookstore. No one needed a Simon Bolivar-era Spanish literature professor anymore.
Chapter 327
Reconciliation Starts… Tomorrow
Grant was in Olympia for a few days between speaking engagements for the ReconComm. He still hadn’t heard from Lisa. He had written her off and had other things on his mind.
Grant needed to visit someone. The Team was enjoying some R&R in Olympia, so he arranged for a State Patrol EPU detail to take him where he needed to go.
“Sorry to trouble you guys,” he said to the EPU agents, “but I gotta have a political discussion. It’s all hush-hush.”
“No problem at all, Commissioner Matson,” the senior agent said. “It’s an honor to be on your detail.”
The younger agent, who was driving, asked, “Where to, sir?”
“Meconni’s,” Grant said, “You know, the sandwich shop.”
“You got it, sir,” the younger agent said.
When they got to the Meconni’s parking lot, Grant said, “Hey, guys, I’m trying to lay low in town here. Do you mind if I have someone in the car. It’s sensitive and we don’t want to be seen in the restaurant.”
“We’ll be outside the vehicle, sir,” the senior agent said. Maybe Commissioner Matson was meeting a girlfriend. He didn’t seem like that kind of guy, but maybe.
“Thanks, guys,” Grant said, “I appreciate it.” He added, “I’m very well armed so I can handle anything, unless of course, I can’t and that’s when you guys jump on in.”
“Roger that, sir,” the senior agent said as he and the younger agent took up positions in the Meconni’s parking lot.
Grant got into the driver’s seat and put the keys in the ignition. At exactly 2:00 p.m., a man came walking up to the parking lot. Grant rolled down the window to the unmarked State Patrol car.
“Hey, Jason, need a date?”
The man looked stunned and then recognized that it was Grant.
“Get in,” Grant said as he unlocked the passenger door.
The man got in.
“Okay,” Jason Wallace said, “to what do I owe the pleasure of this unusual rendezvous?”
“I need a favor, warden.”
Grant proceeded to make his request.
“I dunno,” Jason said after hearing it. “This is super illegal.”
“Oh,” Grant said. “I know. Not only is it illegal, but it destroys my credibility and the Governor’s — if I get caught.”
“You won’t get caught,” Jason said as he sat up straight, “I have total control over everything that happens at the old Olympia High School prison.” He was proud of that fact and he was going to prove it by doing Grant that favor. That hugely illegal and politically destructive favor. Because it was something Jason had wanted to do for a long time.
“Thanks, Jason,” Grant said. “I owe you, man.”
“No, you don’t,” Jason said, “Pardoning my cousin repaid me in full.”
“I would have recommended his pardon anyway, Jason.”
“I know,” Jason said, “but it makes it easier for me to justify what I’m about to do.”
Grant smiled.
He remembered the speech he gave at the Delphi Road overpass when they caught that teenage kid texting their position to the Limas. Instead of shooting the little bastard, like they were perfectly entitled to do, Grant told the 17th and the Delphi guards, “Reconciliation starts today,” and then he proceeded to merely hammer and tag the kid.
Well, Grant admitted to himself, given what he did today, reconciliation starts tomorrow. He was taking this day off from reconciliation and letting revenge have just one day. He owed it to all those poor souls under the Clover Park football field.
Chapter 328
New What?
“Vehicle approaching,” the CB radio said in the Forks City Hall, where Steve Briggs was sitting around talking to some other guys about how to fix a broken water heater.
“Lots of them approaching,” the scared voice on the CB said. Steve and the others grabbed their rifles and headed to the city gate.
Steve was terrified. Two pickup trucks with armed men and a small military fuel truck were parked right outside the city gate. It was probably a gang fuel run to supply Port Angeles that got lost. They’d fight to death to protect that treasure in their fuel truck. Then a larger bunch of that gang would come looking for what happened to their treasure and kill everyone in Forks. This was the exact nightmare scenario the Forks guards had been talking about for months and now it was coming true.
A military looking man got out of the first pick-up. Maybe this was a gang of AWOL soldiers, Steve thought. The military man put his arms out like he was hugging everyone. Great, they were high.
The man was smiling. Another man got out with a yellow Gadsen flag, but it had an evergreen tree on it. What?
“Welcome to New Washington,” the man exclaimed.
New what?
Steve went up to the man, wanting to get these stoned AWOL gangbangers back on the road and the hell away from Forks.