I had hoped to end this story with Chapter #31, but so many of you have written to say that you either did not want it to end or that the way that it ended was too abrupt. I admit that it was rather cut short. I had to do that as I was in the process of moving and had little time to polish it up. Now that I have had time to reflect, (and rest a bit) I have decided to continue the story.
As always, I hope you enjoy my work, and if you have any comments, or ideas that may inspire new work, please feel free to contact me at Joystick56@Hotmail.Com - all E-mails will be answered to the best of my ability.
I would like to thank Chris for his help in editing this chapter. It would not have been finished without his help. I would also like to thank all of you for the many letters you wrote (so far over 435) and for telling me how much you liked or hated the story so far. Keep the letters coming and send in a donation to the site you are reading this on.
This is a work of fiction, and as such the characters are not bound by the usual dictates of modern society. Unsafe sexual practices can be undertaken with impunity only in the world of fantasy. In reality, it is your obligation and your right to play safely, sanely and healthily.
The end of Chapter 31
And so the memorial service was held and went off like clockwork. A letter of sympathy was read from the President of the United States thanking Fazzi for his help and stating how much he would be missed. Everyone spoke and said such nice things about Fazzi that you would not have recognized who they were talking about. Afterwards at the house Joseph said to Rich when they were alone... "At last it is over and we can go back to living our lives." He pulled Rich to himself and kissed him and the two of them felt at ease for the first time since Joseph had started his undercover work.
"Yes --- it is done. It is over at last!"
Chapter #32
The ringing of Joseph's cell phone interrupted their kiss. "Damn these things, they always ring at the wrong times." Flipping open the cell, Joseph said, "Hello Sgt. Benson here. What can I do for you?"
"Hello Joseph. How have you been holding up? I wish I could have been there for you, but the boss thought it would be better not to have any agents there."
"I understand and I'm fine Bill," he said. "Rich has been here for the whole thing and I was just telling him that I was so glad that this finally is over with and that we can all get back to our normal lives."
"Over? Where did you get that idea? Who said anything about it being over? You better sit down my friend. It is not over, at least not yet!"
"What? What the fuck are you talking about???? The bastard is dead. That ends it!! Doesn't it?" Joseph screamed into the phone... "He is dead, isn't he??"
"Well, we are not one hundred percent sure. But even if he is dead it might not be over. In any event the president wants to see you. He has a few things he would like to discuss with you before we close out this business. He wants to meet with you and only you, alone and in secret, at his private residence in the White House A.S.A.P. I don't have to tell you that both Rich and you are under orders to keep this meeting quiet. Neither of you is to breath a word of this to anyone, not even to his father. Is that clear to the both of you?" Asked Bill. "I will be there to pick you up tomorrow at noon and the two of us will fly to D.C. Pack about two days clothes. Civilian stuff only."
"And if I choose not to go?"
"You have to be kidding. This is not a request! It is a direct order from your Commander-In-Chief. I have already cleared it with your Commanding Officer. You will be ready by 12 noon." Barns said emphasizing the word WILL.
"No you can't do this to me!"
"Sorry buddy. I not only can, but I must! I have my orders and as you know, orders are orders! Pack a small bag. DO IT! I will pick you up at noon tomorrow and you better be ready." The agent said as he hung up.
Joseph closed the cell phone and turned to Richard and said, "A direct order, what can I do?"
"You go! What else can you possibly do? As long as you are still in the army they have you by the short hairs until you are discharged. And I'll give you ten to one odds that you will jump even after that. You better get packed. Come, I'll give you a hand." Richard said as he led the way up to the master bedroom.
"I'll pack all right---we are leaving for Canada tonight. You go home and start packing we will have to use your car as mine is too well known to the FBI." Joseph said as he started to grab some clothes and shove them in a travel bag.
"Now that's really a grown up and well thought out course of action." Richard said as he sat down on the chair. "And I'm the one that is supposed to be the actor! At times you can be more theatrical than me. Cut the dramatics and the horseshit."
"What do you mean? What dramatics? What horseshit?"
"You actually think I can just leave? I can't just pull up stakes and leave. I have obligations to the play and to its investors. If I leave now, I may never get another opportunity like this. What producer would ever take the chance and hire me again? I wouldn't even get a part as a bit player, let alone as a lead actor. Hell, I would be lucky if I could get a job as the theater janitor. You can run to Canada if you want to, but not with me. No! Not now. Not at this time anyway. If you want I will join you later after the play has opened and run a while."
"That could take a year! I never thought you would let me down this way."
"Let you down-what about you letting me down? What about you letting the country down? Look, my love, we both know you are going to go D.C. You'll kick and scream, but you will go anyway! It's your duty! Besides, you love this undercover shit. You love being the Gung-Ho agent. Now don't deny it!" He said, emphatically shaking his finger under Joseph's nose. "You forget, I have seen you in action and you revel in it. It's time we both grew up and faced the fact that you are one of those DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY guys. I knew this from the first day we met and what's more-you always will be. Thank god you are. You will never change. It's one of the things that I love and admire about you. I'll even wager that you will re-enlist when the time comes."
"Bull shit! That's all bull shit and besides it's not true! Damn it! You always think you know me?" Joseph shouted. "If you think I'm not the only one who has been putting his job ahead of our relationship, then look at yourself! Didn't you just put 'Duty, Honor, PLAY' ahead of us?"
"Yes I did and maybe it's crunch time. Time for the both of us to realize that our jobs really mean more to each of us than we do to each other...." He said as his voice trailed off as the shock of what he had just admitted began to sink in. "Oh God, Joseph, I really did not mean that! It did not come out right. My god, I think we are having our first real fight."
"Sometimes in anger the truth comes out.. You did mean it! And, I guess we have reached that time and place."
"Joseph, please, I don't want to fight with you over this. It is not that important right now." Richard said trying somehow to defuse the situation.
"Are you serious? Not that important? What we are discussing here is our future life together, not something like-what are we going to do tonight or what to have to eat for supper." Joseph almost screamed. "We are down to basics here. It's 'Love Relationships Class 101', and I think we are both failing the class."
"What I meant was that this whole trip might just be a meeting whereby the President will thank you for what you did." Richard tried to explain. "Barns told you a while back that the President had told him that when this was over he wanted to meet and thank you in person, didn't he? Well maybe this is his way of doing it? I just think and I want you to wait and see what he has to say before you 'jump ship'."