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Jake hated to leave the solitude of the mountains again but he knew if he did not get back and start on the new adventure he would never be able to rest, so the young man was going to have his problem solved if Jake had any say in the matter. He figured he could come back and stay another time as his personal problems were still nagging in the back of his mind. .
He drove back to Lexington and turned in his rental and boarded the next flight out he could get on and on course he had to go in the opposite direction on the plane he wanted to but flying was what it was today. He flew to Cincinnati Ohio first and then flew back to Atlanta Georgia before actually getting on a plane headed for Fort Walton Beach, Florida, his now hometown. .
The Judge was waiting for him as he came into the luggage discharge area. Jake saw standing against a wall with a newspaper almost covering his face which was strange as the judge hated newspapers from his time as a judge in Illinois. Jake knew instantly there was something wrong with the way the judge was ignoring him until he noticed the judge pointing with one of his fingers holding the newspaper toward the men’s restroom close to where he was standing. .
Jake bypassed the luggage area and made his way straight to the restroom, went inside and waited for the judge to join him. The judge came in and before even walking up to Jake he went each area of the restroom to make sure they were alone. .
“Sorry Jake for behaving like this but we have a slight problem we may have to deal with and I knew you would want some heads up on what is going on before I take you home.” .
Since the judge was not one to get hysterical about anything Jake knew there was something going on he needed to know about. “OK judge tell me why we had to come into the restroom first and why you were pretending to read a newspaper.” .
There has been someone following my wife and I for the past few days and I finally got wind of why. I called on a few old ex-cops who retired down here to find out who was following me. They did a good job although they were a bit rough on the group that had been following me.” .
“Ok judge but why should anyone follow you we are not actively working on any cases at this time, surely they couldn’t be connected to the soldier I called you about day before yesterday.” .
“No no of course not Jake I have just barely started on his research. No these people are from one of this stupid reality shows on television today and it concerns Jackie and her friends.” .
“How could Jackie be involved with a TV show Judge?” .
“She’s not really but the show is called ghost chasers and somehow they got wind of Jackie and her friends from someone down here. They came from New York with all of their silly contraptions for detecting ghosts and are starting to make a nuisance of themselves around the beach area in the evenings and late at night.” .
Jake knew it was in some ways serious but he could not help but smile and wonder what Jackie would say when she found out what was going on. “Have you told Jackie yet?”
“No she has been up in North Carolina for a few days trying to help some ghost get rid of another ghost causing trouble with tourist there. She called yesterday and said she would be home today. She should be there by the time we get home.” < br>
“Well just in case would mind calling her and tell her not to go outside until we get home. I will get my bag while you are doing that and we will get home and try to sort out just what these people want.” < br>
Jake walked back of the restroom stopping at entrance to look around the large open area in front of him where the luggage carousels where located. He didn’t see anyone unusual and made his way to the luggage area and waited until his bag came around, picked it up and walked over to the where the judge was waiting and they made their way out of the airport and headed home in the old Rolls Royse Jake had been given from a case they had worked back in Kentucky. Jake never was one to fawn over a vehicle but since this one was a gift and he loved the way it drove and rode he made sure it was well maintained and ready to go at a moments notice. Of course any excuse the judge could find to drive the car he would be in it as he was as fond of the old Rolls as Jake was. Jake felt good as the big powerful engine got the heavy car up to speed on highway 98 headed for Santa Rose Island where he and the judge had homes close to each other. Both lived in very unique homes designed to be hurricane proof and Jake had lived through several hurricanes and could attest to the destruction proof home he lived in. The homes were actually a hindrance some times as they were built to resemble igloos with round sections that connected to make a home. Tourists would sometimes stop and ask about the houses and Jake tried to be courtesy but sometimes it was overwhelming. The locals still laughed at the houses which Jake and the Judge could not understand as they had sustained no damage in any of the hurricanes that had hit them while hundreds of regular buildings had been destroyed and yet people would continue to build them. Pulling into has driveway and noticed a large van parked just down the two lane road. The van was pointed in his direction and he could see some movement inside and wondered just how much trouble these people were going to be.
The judge noticed Jake looking at the van and knew what was going through his mind. He had spent a lot of time with Jake and looked upon his as the son he never had and of course Jake’s way of making a living worked right in the judge’s retirement years with nothing to look forward to but putting around the house with his wife and that was not he had lived for so long. Jake offered excitement of some sort everyday and if not excitement then a lot of exciting research projects that had brought back to life antiques and documents that had been thought lost forever.
“Jake they have been there for over a week during the day and at night they leave the vans with cameras and huge lights and walk the beach all night.”
“Judge why don’t you check both of our deeds and see if we own the beach behind our places or how much control we have over the beaches and then we will do something about these people, hopefully before Jackie finds out what they are doing.”
“Jake you know it would be a lot more fun just to let Jackie and her friends get rid of them.”
“I know it would be a lot of fun to watch judge but then there would just be more of them coming back and then where would we be.”
The judge grinned and said.” Yes but still it would be worth it just to see this bunch really see a ghost and what they really do.” Laughing he turned and walked to the front door of Jakes house waiting for Jake to catch up.
Walking into the house they knew instantly Jackie was home by the loud sound of the stereo sourround system Jackie had made Jake install with the new TV. They both looked at each other and laughed before walking into the large round sunken living room. They found Jackie laid back on a pile of pillows against the couch watching an old black and white movie with James Cagney. She was making her way through the world of movies from the very beginning black and white movies and would not move forward until all the older movies had been watched and then she said it would be time to move on to the newer color movies. Jake couldn’t wait until she started with Elvis or maybe some light porn.
Jake and the judge knew not to bother her at the present time as they had gone through that before and she went off on them big time with her redheaded temper. They knew once she got into a movie it was safer to leave her to it until the movie was finished.
Jake motioned for the judge to follow him into the kitchen. Jake got settled into making some fresh coffee while he talked to the judge about the young soldier he had ran into at the unknown soldiers grave.
“Judge have you got any work done on the research I called about last week?”
“Jake I got started on it but if the man you talked to was named Bill Hamilton then he gave a lot of wrong information about where he was at during the Civil war. The Bill Hamilton I found did come from Grundy, Virginia, and did join the confederate army at Richmond, Virginia, but from that point on the rest is pure BS.”
“Then where did the Bill Hamilton you came up with serve with the Confederate army and what did he do in the army.”
“It’s what he did not do that has me worried at this time. First he did not serve in the regiment you mentioned and he did not fight in any of the battles he told you about. What he did do up to certain period was to fight with Morgan’s Raiders until the time of Morgan’s last battle and death at Greenville Tenn. From that time on his name is not mentioned in any army roll. Now what I have been able to find out is that a man named Bill Hamilton was involved in several raids on the Union army payroll convoys that were moving throughout the northern states.
The problem is these raids never were sanctioned by the leaders of the Confederate armies or at least most of them weren’t. Now the real mystery is not only did the man not serve were he said he did but also there was not one piece of gold recovered after the war had ended. Supposedly the gold was taken somewhere in one of the southern states and used to buy arms and supplies from foreign countries but I can find not real evidence of that either.” After saying that he stopped talking and motioned for Jake to turn around and look at the doorway from the living room.