A Year to Forget (The Accidental Time Travellers Book 2) (22 page)

“It will work.”  Jacob countered.  “You are all Cuban’s, the religious people will listen to you.  There is no US involvement to be critical of.  I will not be out preaching, it will only be you.  The missiles will light up the sky as if it were a furnace.  The people will be frightened, you all know how powerful religion is!  This is the key to overthrowing Castro!  I know it will work!”

The Cubans looked a little more convinced.

“There is no downside to this plan, if people believe us and rise up then it will mean the end of Castro.  If that is not the case then we will do nothing, once the missiles are fired we will see.”

Chapter 57

Bobby entered Will’s apartment and could barely bring himself to look at the man he had once considered a friend.  Will led him through to the small living room and offered him a seat on the green couch.  Bobby felt the relief as he took the weight off his hip, Will sat down on the opposing couch.

“Are you here to fire me?”  Will asked.

Bobby shook his head, he still hadn’t decided how to treat him.  “I wish I was to tell you the truth, you disgust me.”

Will didn’t respond.

“The fact that you did it was awful enough but the fact you told him on the day she died is bordering on psychotic.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not me you should be apologising to, but for the record I don’t forgive you.”

“Why are you here?”

“I need you to do something.  I need you to tail David and report back on what he gets up to.”

“Why?”

“I don’t need to explain myself to you Will.  Just do what I say, find out what you can and I’ll either call you or drop by early morning, say 06:00.”

“Sure.”

“Good.”  Bobby rose to his feet and left hurriedly, he had no desire to spend any longer than necessary in Will’s company.

Once he was out on the street, he got into the black Lincoln he had borrowed from the Secret Service.  He drove the short distance to J Edgar Hoover’s address, 4936 Thirtieth Place.  When he arrived at the house he lit a cigarette and chose to smoke it in the car.  He looked at Hoover’s house and saw that in the driveway was his housekeeper’s car, she was a lovely woman.  Her name was Annie Fields, she had been his housekeeper for many years, Bobby had no idea how she tolerated him.  She was black which had surprised Bobby, he knew that Hoover held racist views but yet he was fine in a black lady making his meals and cleaning his house.

It was the same with Hoover’s chauffer, he was named James Crawford and he too had served Hoover for many years, despite being black.  Bobby had previously assumed that he treated them terribly but having spoken to them both, he got the impression that they liked him.  Bobby took a draw of his cigarette and continued staring at the house. 

From the car he could hear Edgar’s two cairn terriers, Cindy and G-Boy barking incessantly.  He took another pull on his cigarette.  As he thought of Hoover he realised that he still didn’t know what he thought of the man.  On some levels he was a disgusting human being, his racism was a particular flaw.  He really genuinely despised Martin Luther King and he had begged Abaddon on many occasions to allow him to begin recording King’s movements again.  It was odd given the people he employed.  He was obviously power hungry, as Bobby had learned during his attempts to stop the Kennedy assassination.  The only reason Hoover had got Bobby out of jail was because it allowed him to secure his position as Director of the FBI for life.  He was cheap, always using the government’s money to improve his home and always taking free meals, drinks and holidays.

But on the other hand, even though he knew he shouldn’t, Bobby trusted Hoover.  It wasn’t that he was particularly trustworthy, but he could always be relied on to do what was best for J Edgar Hoover.  At times he could even be a nice person, Bobby had learnt this whilst working with him and it must be the case considering the way his employees treat him and the way Clyde Tolson, his lover treated him.   He took another draw on his cigarette and noticed that the dogs were still barking, why weren’t Edgar or Annie calming them down?

Bobby decided to exit the car to make sure everything was alright.  As he approached the front door he noticed that it was slightly ajar.

“Edgar.”  He shouted.  There was no response.  He entered the house and walked through to the living room, there was no one around and nothing seemed to have been disturbed.  The barking was coming from upstairs.  He walked through the living room towards the staircase, there was clutter everywhere.  Hoover probably hadn’t paid for any of it, he thought.  When he reached the top of the stairs he saw that Hoover’s bedroom door was closed as usual.  He carried on a little further into the spare room.

“Oh my God!” 

He hobbled as quickly as he could to the bodies, the two cairn terriers still barking frantically.  Hoover was lying horizontally on top of Annie.  There seemed to be bits of a broken plate, or vase scattered around the carpet.  He moved Hoover onto his back away from Annie, and felt for a pulse, he wasn’t breathing.  He leant over to examine Annie, she was breathing, but she had a nasty cut on the back of her head.  She began to stir as Bobby felt for a pulse. 

When her eyes opened she began to scream at the sight of Bobby.

“It’s okay Annie, its Bobby!”  He tried to calm her down, she was petrified.  “Just stay here, I’m going to phone an ambulance.”

When he returned to the room, having phoned the ambulance, he saw that Annie was crying over Hoover’s body.

“Annie what happened?”

“Someone attacked me.”  She sobbed.

“Who attacked you Annie?”

“I didn’t see them.” 

“Did they do this to Edgar?”

“I don’t know, he wasn’t here when it happened.”

Bobby hobbled back over to Edgar’s lifeless body.  He began performing chest compressions, as Annie sobbed over her boss’s body. 

“Come on Edgar!” 

Bobby began pushing harder and harder, Edgar was gone. 

“Come on Edgar!” 

After a few minutes Bobby gave up.  As he looked down on Hoover he could not see any wounds, there was a little blood on his hand but it seemed to have been transferred from Annie’s head wound. 

It was another few minutes before the paramedics arrived.  Bobby rode in the ambulance alongside Annie and Hoover’s body.  All that Bobby could think was, who could save them now? 

Chapter 58

When Faraday arrived outside Hoover’s home he noticed that the maid’s car was in the driveway, he would need to kill both of them.  He parked the car a little further up the street and walked back to the house. 

He pulled the Smith & Wesson revolver from his holster, he had not killed a man in six years, and he had never killed a woman.  He approached the front door and decided to try the handle rather than knock, to his surprise it was open.  He crept silently into the house looking for the maid, he couldn’t see her.  As he entered the living room he spotted one of Hoover’s dogs lying on the couch, it didn’t seem to hear him come in.  He walked towards the staircase, he could hear someone singing.  It was a woman.

He walked up the stairs on his tip toes, struggling to control his breathing, the anxiety was kicking in, he could feel his hands shaking.  When he reached the top of the stairs, he poked his head around the corner and saw the maid in one of the bedrooms, she had her back to the door.  He poked his head around the corner again and saw a large vase on the hall table, maybe he didn’t need to kill her.

He holstered his gun and moved quickly and quietly around the corner, grabbing the vase as he went.  It was heavy but at least it contained no flowers.  He walked as slowly as he could behind the maid, his hands were shaking so much that he thought he was going to drop the vase.  He was beside her now, she was still oblivious, humming away.

“I’m sorry!”  He yelled as he smashed the vase over the woman’s head.  When she fell to the ground Faraday was paralysed by fear.

“What the fuck have I done?”  He was trying to stop himself from crying when he heard a voice downstairs and then the dogs barking. 

“Annie!”  Hoover yelled.

Faraday looked around the room for somewhere to hide, there was a sliding mirror wardrobe, he slid the door open and stepped inside before pulling it shut once more.  He could still see out of a small slit between the wall and the door.  He watched the woman closely, he couldn’t tell if she was breathing.

“Fuck, Fuck, Fuck!”  He repeated under his breath.

He could hear Hoover walking up the stairs and he saw two dogs enter the room.

“Oh Annie!”  Hoover rushed to the woman’s side.  “I’ll call an ambulance Annie.”  As Hoover went to stand up straight, Faraday opened the door.

“Edgar I’m sorry.”

Hoover screamed, Faraday had taken him by surprise.  Hoover put his right hand to his chest before collapsing on top of the woman.

“Oh my God!”  Faraday moved over to Hoover, he wasn’t breathing.  The dogs were going nuts beside Hoover. 

Faraday ran from the room and down the stairs, as he looked from the living room window he saw Bobby approaching the house.

“Oh my God!”  He turned and ran back up the stairs, he tried to open the other bedroom door but it was locked.  “Fuck!”  Faraday felt like his heart was about to explode with fear.  He ran back into the wardrobe and slid the door shut once more.

He tried to slow down his breathing, Bobby would hear him straight away.  It seemed to take an hour for Bobby to get into the room.  He heard him shout.  “Edgar.”

When he entered the room Faraday heard him shout.  “Oh my God!”

He tried to silence his breathing as Bobby hobbled over to the bodies, the two dogs were bouncing around Bobby.  Faraday prayed they wouldn’t give him away.  Bobby rolled Hoover onto his back, from on top of the woman.  Please don’t be breathing, Faraday begged.  He watched as Bobby turned his attention to the woman.

She was waking up, Faraday prayed that she hadn’t spotted him in the mirror.  The woman began screaming which made Faraday feel like he was going to faint.   

“It’s okay Annie, its Bobby!  Just stay here, I’m going to phone an ambulance.”

Faraday watched Bobby hobble from the room, as the woman began to sob over Hoover’s body.  Please don’t see me.  She seemed to look straight at him, but she carried on sobbing. 

“Annie what happened?”  Bobby asked when he returned into the room.

“Someone attacked me.”  She sobbed.  Please don’t have seen me.

“Who attacked you Annie?”  Bobby asked concerned.

“I didn’t see them.”  Thank you God. 

“Did they do this to Edgar?”

“I don’t know, he wasn’t here when it happened.”

Bobby began performing CPR on Edgar.  Faraday’s heart was in his mouth, if this worked his life was over.

“Come on Edgar!”  Bobby screamed.   

“Come on Edgar!”  He screamed again.

It felt like days before Bobby gave up trying the compressions.  When the paramedics arrived Faraday had never been so grateful. 

He watched them all leave the room and then waited a few minutes.  He knew the police would probably be on their way, he ran down the stairs once more, thankfully no one was around.  He walked quickly to the front door and as he tried the handle he discovered it was locked.

“Fuck!”  He yelled.

He turned and walked back through the house and entered the kitchen for the first time, he looked through the window into the garden.  It was surrounded by a wooden panelled fence, he tried the back door and thankfully it was open.

He decided to climb the fence and walk back to the car.

Chapter 59

David entered the Oval Office to find Howard Hughes, Abaddon Wolf and the President already deep in conversation.  He took his seat beside Abaddon, the conversation did not relent, nobody even acknowledged him.  Kennedy appeared to be a little agitated.

“This can’t be true!”