Average Joe and the Extraordinaires (18 page)

Once Joe
was on stage, the governor welcomed him with a strong handshake and a pat on
the shoulders.  He spoke to Joe away from the mic.

Everstone:
“Nice to finally meet you.”

The
camera shutters snapped like mad.  The governor then patted Joe on the back, a
gesture signaling for him to face the audience.  Joe followed the governor’s
cue as the governor prepared to talk.  Governor Everstone was fairly short up
close.

Everstone:
“So here we are.  I want to properly introduce you all to our friend here,
Joseph Black.  Can we call you Joe?”

Joe nearly
froze again, but instead he offered:

Joe: “Yes
… my friends call me Joe.”

Everstone:
“That’s great, Joe, because I do want to be your friend, and I’ll bet that once
the people here get to know the real you, they will too.”

He again
turned to face the audience.

Everstone:
“Now, I want to clear up a few things about our pal Joe.  I’ve followed his
case from its beginning, being an avid Pickers fan myself, and took an
immediate interest in this young man’s story.  We all know he was originally
implicated and charged for the destruction inside the Pickers stadium, and we
as informed citizens know that those charges were dropped as well.  Most of you
sound like you’re not convinced of his innocence, however.  I recently looked
into this case and uncovered a few details that weren’t released to the public.”

Joe
became even more nervous.  He wasn’t ready for any questions related to the
stadium incident right now.  He suddenly couldn’t remember the story that
Liandra and Borland had made him rehearse for the police.

Everstone:
“What I know that many of you don’t is that this young man only stayed in that
stadium because he risked his life to save a young lady, narrowly making it out
himself from the resulting chaos.  As a survivor and a compassionate human
being, I think he perfectly represents this town.  Beyond all that, I think he
deserves an apology from all of us who doubted him and continue to doubt him. 
I, for one, want to thank him for setting an example of the goodness this town
has to offer.”

Silence
fell over the crowd.  Shortly after that came thunderous applause.  It was the
loudest by far.  It was strange to see people, who earlier might have torn him
to shreds, now cheering for him.  It was a great feeling of validation for
him.  He had set out only to do the right thing, and it felt good to be praised
for it.  He had an overwhelming urge to bow and to cast himself into the crowd
like a righteous rocker in a mosh-pit.  Now wasn’t the time for that however.

Something
caught his eye, or maybe it’d be more apt to say nothing caught his eye.  It
was the stillness amidst a sea of moving hands and bodies that gave him pause
and allowed him to see the danger.

Joe:
“HE’S GOT A GUN!”

Chapter
30

Of
Killers and Lizards

The
moment was surreal.  It seemed like no one was moving.  The crowd was still,
the governor was still; heck, even the air seemed at a standstill as everyone
held their collective breath.  Unfortunately, the governor’s security detail
was the most still, almost to the point of being catatonic.

It seemed
to Joe that only he and this gunman were the only ones in motion, and they were
directly competing.  Unfortunately for Joe, he was no good at competition.  His
early attempts at grade school sports were a testament to that.  He could only
hope against hope that he’d come out of this with his life.  His declaration of
danger had silenced the crowd, the deafening CRACK of the assassin’s gun had
sent them all into a frenzy.  They parted like the Red Sea and scattered away
from the scene as best they could.

Joe lay
on the ground in a daze.  He looked over to his left and saw the governor with
a horrorstruck look frozen upon his face.  That caused him to worry until he
saw the man start to move.  Joe hadn’t seen the face of the assassin, and if he
was quick and lucky enough he wouldn’t have to.

Joe:
“Come on, Governor, we have to go!”

The
governor quickly snapped out of his daze and got to his knees.  They both
ducked low behind the podium.

Everstone:
“Stay low.  We’ll go out the back.”

A loud
CRACK hissed through the air, followed by a hole in the middle part of the
podium.  Joe felt the bullet cut hotly through the air above him.  Splinters
fell atop his and Everstone’s heads.

Everstone:
“It’s now or never, kid, we got to go!”

Joe:
“Right!  Let’s go!”

Throwing
caution to the wind, they took off as fast as they could, making sure to keep
their heads as low as possible.  As they were running, Joe heard another
gunshot, this one softer-sounding, followed by another loud CRACK from whoever
was shooting before.  Neither bullet came anywhere near Joe or Governor
Everstone.  Once they were behind the curtains, Everstone yelled something
about his lax security and told Joe that they needed to keep moving.

They
continued running for what had to be two or three minutes.  When they finally
stopped they found themselves in a large tent surrounded by people.  They were
in the middle of some sort of reptile convention.  The people here were
unaffected by the drama that had occurred only down the road.  There was enough
noise from the people, announcers, and exhibits to drown out distant gunshots.

They
waited, trying as best they could to blend in with the reptile enthusiasts
around them.  They pretended to be preoccupied with the collector’s exhibits,
all the while glancing around for more signs of danger.  Joe found solace here
even amongst this deadly collection of the world’s most exotic reptiles, and
they stood around for what felt like ten or fifteen minutes before the governor
sent and received a text message.  He sighed and wiped his brow after he read
it.

Everstone:
“It’s over.”

The
governor wiped his brow and bought a dull little pocket knife from a nearby
vendor and handed it to Joe.

Everstone:
“This is yours hero.  It’s a souvenir.”

Chapter
31

Meet the
Press

Joe and
Governor John Everstone left the somewhat safe confines of the reptile
convention and walked all the way back towards the Courtyard.  The security
guards came to escort him, but Everstone shooed them away.

Everstone:
“You picked a damn fine time to try to be useful.  Get away from me!  The lot
of you are useless!  And fired!  Where’s Robert?”

One of
the confused-looking guards pointed straight ahead, and that’s when Joe saw
him.  Joe nearly screamed.

Everstone:
“Robert!  Robert!”

Everstone
walked brusquely, so fast in fact that Joe nearly had to jog to keep pace. 
I
should be running the other way
, he told himself. I need to warn them all.

Joe:
“Governor … Governor Ever—”

They were
right in front of the man now.  His features were unmistakable.  His hair was
gray, nearly silver, and light enough that it was probably once blonde.  He
didn’t look old at all except for his hair.  His slacks matched his hair and
his tie matched his eyes, which were a pale blue color that sometimes looked
silver depending on how you looked at him.  His eyes were what Joe remembered
the most from their brief encounter at the stadium.  Now, though, the man’s
demeanor was totally different.

Joe:
“Grabas…”

Robert:
“Yes, that’s me.  How’d you know?  I usually stay behind the camera and let the
governor do all the talking.”

He smiled
and offered his hand to Joe.  Joe reluctantly shook it weakly.

Joe: “I…”

Robert:
“Thank you for saving the governor’s life.  He’s important to the future of
this great state, and even though he doesn’t know it yet, the world.  I can see
that now.”

He patted
Joe on the shoulder.

Everstone:
“Robert, that security was lousy.  I just fired them all.”

Robert:
“Yes, it was bizarre.  They all just stood there like they were petrified or
something.”

Everstone:
“We’ll need new security.  Don’t get them from the bargain bin this time.  My
supporters can spring for some top of the line security, and after today I want
the best.”

Robert:
“Well, sir, maybe we can just hire this young man here to protect you.  He did
such a great job today.”

He smiled
over towards Joe, who shuddered under his skin.

Everstone:
“I’m considering it.  He did much better than that slop you had guarding me.  I
should fire you right along with them.”

Robert:
“I’m glad you haven’t yet, and I do apologize from the bottom of my heart for
such a failure on my part.  My mistake was placing so much faith in our head of
security.  I thought he was up to the task.”

Everstone:
“He won’t have his job for much longer.”

Robert:
“I’ll get right on it, sir.”

Everstone:
“No!  I want to do that myself.  I’ll have the lot of them put under
investigation.”

Robert:
“Okay, sir.  The press is waiting for you.”

Everstone:
“They’ll have to wait longer.  I need to assess the damage.  Come on, Joe! 
Follow me.”

Joe: “I—um
… yes sir.”

Joe
followed behind the governor as the man walked over to a large gathering of
police officers.  Joe saw another familiar face, the man Borland called Carl. 
He had more gray hair than the last time Joe had seen him, and rings under his eyes. 
He looked like he desperately needed some sleep, but besides that he was
A-OK.   Joe was glad the man was still alive.  The last time he had seen him
was under a hail of bullets at the police station.

Carl:
“You can’t stay out of trouble, can you, kid?”

Both he
and Joe laughed.

Joe:
“It’s good to see you, sir.”

Carl:
“You mean alive, right?  I’m not dying that easily.”

Everstone:
“You get around, don’t you, Joe?”

Joe tried
to shrug as nonchalantly as he could.

Everstone:
“How bad is it, Lieutenant?”

Carl: “No
civvies were hurt, if that’s what you mean.  We’re still trying to piece
everything together.  We don’t have a clear motive yet, and so far it doesn’t
look like we’ll get one.  We’ll need Joe here to help us figure out what
happened, since he was the first one to notice the shooter.”

Joe
looked astonished.  He was already tired of all the attention.

Everstone:
“You guys get the culprit?”

Carl: “In
a manner of speaking, yes.  Though he won’t be giving any statements anytime
soon.”

Everstone:
“What happened?”

Carl: “A
former officer, Hank Borland, had to put the shooter down after he had you both
pinned down on stage.”

Everstone:
“I see.  Another good deed from a citizen.  Well, thank you, Lieutenant.  Now
let’s get these statements out of the way.”

Carl:
“Okay, follow me.”

They
followed him to a pair of younger detectives, who asked about the details
surrounding the shooting.  Joe’s mind was drawing a blank, but his mouth was
incredibly spitting out the details of it all flawlessly, details he was surprised
he even knew.

Detective:
“That’s all?”

Joe: “Yes,
sir.”

Detective:
“Well, kid, I may not be the first, and I definitely won’t be the last to say
this, but you’re a hero.  I’ll see you around.”

After
that the governor walked him over to a bench, where they sat for a while.  Joe
was still in a daze, not sure if everything around him was real.

Everstone:
“Robert, say hello to Joe the hero, the boy who saved my life haha.  That’s
what the papers are going to read.”

Robert
Grabas, the governor’s apparent aide, walked up lazily and offered a mocking
hand and smile, even though they had clearly met already a few minutes ago.

Robert:
“Hello, Joe the hero.  I have a young son that’s around your age.  You remind
me a lot of him.  I’d love for you to meet him one day.  Maybe some of your
greatness will rub off on him … if I’m lucky anyway.”

Did he
mean Jonathan?
Joe thought.  He had to.  It made sense. 
Jonathan had the same last name as him.  That connection was a little too close
to home for his liking.  Jonathan was a childhood friend, but they hadn’t
talked in a while, mainly because Jonathan was—well—dead.  The way Grabas was
acting didn’t make sense.  It was common knowledge in Orangetown that Jonathan
was dead. 
Why would he lie?
he wondered.  He shook Grabas’ hand, which
was a tough thing to do for Joe, considering that the man probably wanted both he
and the governor dead.  Heck, he may have even killed his son years ago.

Everstone:
“Now that we’re all friends, I have one more favor for you, Joe.  Let’s go and
tell all these wonderful cameras how much of a hero you are.  You don’t know it,
but you’re going to bring big things to this town.”

In a way
he already had.