Nothing Ordinary by M J Marlow (best ereader for academics txt) 📕

going to be mad now, girl. You should have stayed put.” He caught her wrists and dragged her back into the kitchen. “Look what I caught outside, Ma,” he said as he shoved Annie forward. Annie hit the table and felt the bruises she’d have. She was shoved down onto a chair and her wrists were bound again. “I’ll go nail some boards over the windows.” “You’re a very naughty child,” the woman snapped as she grabbed Annie by the hair and pulled her onto her feet. “Come help me put her on the hook first, Willy. Then you can board the windows.” “Sure, Ma,” Willy’s smile was deadly cold. He picked Annie up under his arm and she heard the woman unlocking the door. She was carried inside and her arms were lifted up over her head. When he let go, she was hanging from something, her feet dangling above the floor. “The old housekeeper used to hang sides of beef in here,” the woman told her. “You won’t fall.” She turned to her son. “Willy put up the shutters before you board over. I don’t want anyone glancing in the windows of this room and seeing our guest.” She smiled as he turned. “She can’t see anyway. The lack of light won’t be a handicap to her.” Annie heard Willy laughing as he left the room, closing the door behind him. The woman began to remove her clothing and Annie kicked and struggled every step of the way. The woman slapped her but Annie would not back down. Not now. She had too much to fight for. “I can see why Jed wanted you,” she laughed as she went across the floor. “He always liked his women with a bit of fight.” Annie heard a drawer opening and the woman returned. Then she felt something run down along her spine and she shuddered. “Since you’re pregnant,” the woman said, “I will not be harsh. Ten lashes should be plenty to show you I mean it when I say I won’t tolerate disobedience from you.” Annie heard the whistle of air as the whip flew and then pain across her backside. She bit her lip to keep from crying as blow followed blow. This woman was as mad as her son, Annie thought as her body was whipped. She lost count of how many blows fell as only the pain registered on her mind. Then the woman’s hand was on her chin, bruising her skin. “Next time, child,” the woman hissed at her. “It will be twenty. There won’t be a next time, will there?” “No, ma’am,” Annie whimpered. She heard the scrape of a chair and the sound of the woman getting on top of it. Then the rope was untied and she dropped down, her ankles protesting the sudden drop. She heard the woman leave and the sound of the lock turning and she put her clothing back on and went to the bed to lie on her side. “Baby,” she whispered as she laid her hand on her abdomen. “We’re in a lot of trouble.” 34 James was bathing his son and praying as always that one day his wife would be here to see how their boy had her eyes. He finished drying him and putting him into diapers and a sleeper and handed him over to Norma. Handling his son kept him close to Annie, he told her whenever she complained he was taking over her job. Norma set the boy on his feet and walked with him to the kitchen for his dinner. There was a knock at the front door and he went to answer it. “Major Owens?” a tall, silver-haired man in a windbreaker and jeans asked as he stood there next to a tiny silver-haired woman in a plain blue denim jumper over a flowered blouse. They both wore tennis shoes. “Yes, sir,” James nodded. “May I help you?” “You can tell us why you’re spreading all this slander about our son, Major,” the woman said coldly. “Our Thomas would never do what it is you’re saying he did.” “McManus is your son?” James choked. “His DD-214 says he was an orphan.” He saw the shock on their faces and stepped back. “Please come in, Mr. and Mrs. McManus.” They came into the house and he closed the door. “We’ll go in the kitchen,” he said as he heard his son wail from that room. “Karl is having a hard time with his mother gone,” he apologized as they entered the kitchen and saw Norma trying to feed the boy. “Monster,” James sighed as he took the seat Norma vacated. “You know it’s time for you to be a big boy. We want to make Mommy proud of us when she comes home, don’t we?” “Mommy?” Karl looked at the woman who had followed his father in and his face screwed up. “Want Mommy now!” he wailed. “I know, baby boy,” James said as he picked his son up in his arms. “I want Mommy, too.” He wasn’t ashamed to cry and he smiled as Karl reached up to wipe his tears away. “Oh Karl, my little man. I want Mommy, too.” He turned to Norma. “Give the McManus’ something to drink, Norma. I need to call my Dad.” General Owens arrived with Jeffrey and Marcy in hand. He took one look at his son’s face and asked the McManus’ to join him in the Study. Jeffrey joined him and James followed shortly after. “Marcy and Norma should be able to handle our little man between them,” James said as he went to the phone and called someone. “Agent Taylor? This is Major Owens. We need you to join us at Sterling.” He listened to the question. “Because Thomas McManus’ parents just showed up here demanding to know why their son’s name is being dragged through the mud. They assure me that their son is not capable of cold-blooded murder and kidnapping.” He hung up and turned to the confused couple. “It’s been over five months. Why did it take you this long to come forward?” “Maggie and I have been in Australia visiting our daughter and her family,” Thomas McManus Sr. replied. “All of this didn’t hit the news there until recently and it took us a while to get back here.” “It couldn’t be our Thomas,” Maggie insisted. “He was raised to be a God-fearing man; he would never hurt people, much less murder them.” She was in tears and then she glared at them. “It was the Army! That’s what turned him.” “Maggie!” “No, Thomas,” Maggie snapped. “He was a changed man after he went to Germany. Our boy used to writes us every week! Then he went to Germany and we never heard from him again. We got one letter from General…” She looked at Owens. “From you, as his commanding officer, telling us he was lost in Iraq.” “That’s how we knew it wasn’t Thomas, sir,” Thomas told him. “Our son was blind as a bat. He would never have qualified for sniper status. He could never have seen a target to hit it.” He saw the Owens men exchanging looks. “What is it, sir?” “The man who calls himself Thomas McManus,” Owens told him bluntly, “has changed identities twice that we are aware of. He abducted and murdered Captain Jonathan Cartwright so he could get close enough to my daughter-in-law to rape her. She lost her baby through miscarriage because of that brutal act. He then abducted Agent Nicholas Clark, knowing he was a friend of Annie’s, so that he could abduct her.” He paused, sorry for what he had to say. “If this man is not your son, Mr. and Mrs. McManus, then he murdered him five years ago so he could take his place.” “No!” Maggie cried and leaned against her husband. His arms went around her as she sobbed. “We need to know for certain, sir. Please tell us how we can do that.” “Agent Taylor is Nicholas Clark’s uncle,” James told her. “He and Nick have been working this case since Annie’s grandfather was murdered in April by this man. He will be here tomorrow morning. We can talk to him about it.” “We need to know where Thomas was before he went to Germany,” General Owens suggested. “If we could find out who his friends were, we might find a connection to this mad man.” He looked at the couple. “I’m truly sorry about your son, Mr. and Mrs. McManus. Can you stay a few days while we try to sort this out for all of us?” “You couldn’t get rid of us now if you tried,” Thomas said bluntly. “You can stay here with me,” James offered. “It will make it easier if you are close,” he said as they balked. “We have plenty of room here.” “Very well, Major,” Thomas nodded agreement. He helped Maggie to her feet. “If you could show us the room, Maggie will need to lie down.” “I’ll take them up, James,” Jeffrey offered. He opened the door and led them upstairs. “This man has been a step ahead of us the entire way,” Owens frowned when James closed the door again. “He has to have a confederate at Leavenworth at the very least. I’m going to have to ask Major Camden for some help in checking out that hunch.” “He’ll be glad of the inclusion,” James nodded. “Why not Jeffrey and Marcy, sir?” “Didn’t you know?” Owens smiled at his son. “Your brother married her this past weekend while our backs were turned.” James smiled briefly. “I already have one daughter who has been separated from her husband. I won’t put another in peril, if it can be avoided.” There was a thud outside and then a wail they were both familiar with. “That son of yours needs some discipline, James.” “I haven’t the heart to correct him, Dad,” James said guiltily. “He misses his Mom.” “We all miss Annie,” Owens replied, “but you don’t see us throwing temper tantrums.” He got to his feet and went to the kitchen. “Attention!” he bellowed and saw Marcy snap to. Karl stopped wailing and looked at his grandfather. “All right soldier. It’s time for you to buck up and behave yourself.” He turned to the women. “Ladies, you’re dismissed.” “I’d do it if I were you,” James laughed as he recognized the act. “He used to have to do this with James when he was a baby.” “You too, Mister,” Owens said to James without turning his head. “You and your brother were a pair of hooligans.” He picked up the spoon and handed it to Karl. “Pick up those pears, open that mouth of yours and eat, Karl. That’s an order.” Karl looked mutinous for a moment but then he did as he was told. The other adults looked on in disbelief as Owens got him to eat without any trouble. He picked his grandson up and carried him into the nursery. When he had him in bed, he saluted him. “That’s a good little soldier,” he smiled as Karl tried to mimic him. “You go to sleep now.” “Ni, General,” Karl murmured as he dropped off to sleep. “Good night, soldier,” Owens smiled and moved away. “Good night, little man,” James said as he kissed his son on the forehead and turned off the light. The phone rang and he froze and waved his father to an extension as he heard Annie’s voice. “Annie? Are you all right?” “McManus is dead, James,” Annie told him. “I’m being held…” “Your pretty wife is just fine, Major Owens,” a woman’s voice came over the line. “You’re going to be receiving an express package in the morning with details on how you can get her back. I suggest you hurry, if she gives us any more trouble, I will plant her with my son.” James