{"id":2446,"date":"2023-11-16T00:34:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-16T00:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/?p=2446"},"modified":"2023-10-05T13:38:18","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T13:38:18","slug":"chap-47-an-unholy-trinity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/?p=2446","title":{"rendered":"Chap. 47 – An Unholy Trinity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chapter 47<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Unholy Trinity<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

     By the time we reached Skip\u2019s sister\u2019s place, the weather had changed – for the better, mild and sunny.  \u201cThe Herbery\u201d is in the Appalachian foothills between Staunton and Lexington, Virginia, a little west of Interstate 81.  Skip\u2019s sister, Jancis (\u201ccall me Jan\u201d) showed us around \u2013 \u201cthat\u2019s Jump Mountain over there.  And just beyond that, White Sulphur Springs, where Sam Snead was the golf pro, and FDR used to sneak off to.\u201d  We admired Jan\u2019s gardens, herbs and plants, stretching over 30 acres, and then took a walk down to the pond, with a creek flowing into it, and tiny cascading waterfalls coming down a series of rocky ledges, like steps.  There, at a picnic table, we were greeted by Jan\u2019s husband, Pete, with a cooler, ice, limes, and a bottle of gin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cSkip says gin is the Rumpkins\u2019 consensus favorite, but there\u2019s beer and wine if you prefer.  Glad you made it.  Jan\u2019s been showing me trip highlights \u2013 some close calls, ehh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Steve was glad to see Jan seemed perfectly healthy, but made a note to himself to press Skip again about why he seemed so anxious and preoccupied, not like Skip at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Patty asked Jancis (what a pretty name, she said), \u201cTell us some stories growing up with your brother \u2013 should I turn the camera on?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cOh, Skip\u2019s such a good storyteller, I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve heard all this already,\u201d Jan replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cNo, tell more!\u201d  we all said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      So the afternoon was pleasantly spent learning the name of the family cat [Purry], the family dog [Leifka, Dutch for \u201cMy Love\u201d], the time that Skip ran away from home for one night, and so on towards dusk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Skip ended the time at the pond saying he was for calling it an early night, and told Jan and Pete we\u2019d all be leaving the next day \u2013 which sort of surprised some, but not all, of us. Patty and Sally, still unaware of the dangers lurking, prevailed upon Skip to spend another day at his sister’s. “This is a fabulous place,” Sally said, and Patty followed with “Your sister and Pete are some of the nicest people we’ve met on this whole trip.” Huck said, “Yeah Skip, we’re only a day or two away from New York City, and I’ve got plenty of time to get up to Westport and get things set for New Years Eve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     On Interstate 81 the following morning heading north towards Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Steve started telling us about this old girlfriend he had on the list.  Patty whispered to Sally, \u201cCan you believe all these old girlfriends these guys have?  And Skip, still such an enigma.  We sure didn\u2019t get much out of his sister.  I know he\u2019s had girlfriends, even for months, but never a steady that I know of.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \u201cDon\u2019t know if she\u2019s in Harrisburg or Philadelphia this week,\u201d Steve said, twitching his moustache, \u201cbut I just texted her.  Go north and we\u2019ll end up one place or the other.  If it\u2019s Harrisburg, that\u2019s the State Capitol \u2013 where she works \u2013 and we should have time to scout out the local Yang Gang.\u201d    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     When Skip didn\u2019t jump in with \u201cGreat idea,\u201d or something, and instead just let the remark pass, Steve made another mental note to get to the bottom of what was going on.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     At the first rest stop, Rocky took Skip aside saying, \u201cYou and I have been friends a long time.  I\u2019ve been doing some soul searching.  I can\u2019t go along with you on this.  Two things I need to know ASAP, like right now, or me and Max are out of the \u20181,000 percent thing.\u2019  First, why did that bomb at Dodger Stadium go off where it did – and who was in on the planning?  Second, what the heck is the plan for New York City \u2013 how is that going to be headed off?  Max says Lisa doesn\u2019t have a clue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cWell today is December 14 and we\u2019ve got sixteen – seventeen days, before the shit hits the fan.  I checked back with Susie and asked her if Dougherty and Furbush were still in town.  She hadn\u2019t seen either of them for several days.  I asked her if there was any chance Joey could be part of the terrorist thing.  \u2018No,\u2019 she told me.  \u2018Joey\u2019s a thousand percent with us on this,\u2019 her words, not mine.  Apparently, Joey decided his mom was in too deep and told her just to lay low and he was going to figure the god-damn thing out for her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cOkay, then what\u2019s the other fucking name?  Joey knows it.  Why hasn\u2019t he coughed it up?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cGood question.  I\u2019ll press Susie to get it.  Give me just two days to get you some answers, then if you jump ship, we\u2019re still buds and I don\u2019t give a rip what Ken thinks of me for turning him in,\u201d Skip said.  \u201cBut maybe Lisa would prefer we at least try to save Ken\u2019s ass first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

—————————————————————————————————————–<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Turns out Steve\u2019s ex-girlfriend, Phyllis, has an apartment in Harrisburg for when the legislature meets, but otherwise mostly lives in Philly, so Philadelphia is where we headed the Land Yacht.  Nobody spoke on behalf of a detour through Harrisburg to do some Rumpkin organizing.  In fact, no one was even talking about a next Rump Session.  And Patty had been doing zero blogging.  Weird, Steve thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Phyllis has been into local politics all her life, growing up in Germantown and eventually becoming an aide to a long-time state senator.  She said she had the week off, but wasn\u2019t sure where we could stay.  Huck then convinced us to take up a collection so he could rent a car and go off to visit his musician buddies, the New Year\u2019s Eve Party planners.  \u201cBesides, we\u2019ll need a car getting around New York City \u2013 the Land Yacht will find most streets impassable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Patty found a place in Philly calling up a friend she knew from the youth conference she’d been to, and got Sally invited along.  This left Steve, Skip, Rocky and Max to stay with Phyllis.  Phyllis said she could handle four of us, \u201cbut park that Land Yacht as far from my house as you can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     The next morning, Steve and Phyllis took off for the Rodin Museum, \u201cthe best museum in the world,\u201d according to Phyllis, \u201cbecause it\u2019s small enough to see everything in half a day,\u201d Skip, Rocky and Max had Phyllis\u2019 place to themselves.  It quickly became \u201camateur detective hour,\u201d as Rocky put it, adding \u201cWe\u2019ve also got to know more about the jihadi connection.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     We used Phyllis\u2019 sophisticated phone system to get Lisa on the line with all three of us, and then the four of us placed a call to Ken, basically to put the screws to him: \u201cHere are our questions.  Either answers today, or tomorrow we\u2019re not 100 percenters anymore.\u201d  All we got was his voice mail.  Rather than twiddling our thumbs, we put a list together for the FBI of everything we knew \u2013 or didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     When Ken called back, Lisa played the good cop role: \u201cLook Ken, I think I can keep Max, Skip and Rocky on board with your plan.  But I agree with them it\u2019s time to start planning your <\/em>safe way out of this mess, and to hell with the others.  So, what gives?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Ken said he hadn\u2019t slept much for the past three nights and appreciated our thinking of him first: \u201cSo yeah, I\u2019ve been thinking about the same things, and told Gordy, \u2018You may have been in the SLA, but I wasn\u2019t, and I\u2019m not joining now.\u2019  Told him if he went to the cops now with my Sacramento lawyer buddy, probably he could work a deal to turn state\u2019s evidence and be the hero.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Ken continued: \u201cBut Gordy said, \u2018We\u2019ve got to save Jane\u2019s ass as well \u2013 she\u2019s been on the good side for a while now \u2013 Jane\u2019s the one who made sure nobody got killed by the bomb going off at the Dodgers\u2019 game. In fact, Gordy told me it was Jane who actually brought the bomb to Dodger Stadium.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cJesus,\u201d Lisa said, \u201cgo on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Ken continued: \u201cIn fact, Gordy says he and Jane worked up that plan together \u2013 to just strike fear, not kill anybody, but he wanted to warn me off – just in case.  At any rate, Jane plans to stay tight with Rafferty, aka Dougherty, right up to the moment she has all the details about the next planned attack, and then Gordy has the plan to get Jane somewhere safe, just when we expose the whole operation.  Seems clear, Jane is looking at doing a stretch in prison for what she\u2019s already done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cOne more thing,\u201d Ken said.  \u201cWhile Jane and Rafferty\/Dougherty were doing some of their original scheming together, before any of the Syrians got involved, they started calling themselves \u2018Jihadi Jamie and Jane,\u2019 and came up with the genius idea to lay the blame for everything they did at the doorstep of the jihadis as a way to cover their own tracks.  Then, and get this<\/em>, the jihadis actually found them, <\/em>and having checked into their backgrounds, figured them to be true revolutionaries against the American way of life.  The birth of the Dodger stadium idea followed.  Jane says it was more like the jihadis recruited them<\/em>, to get them involved with their plots \u2013 and that\u2019s when she started getting cold feet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cWhat a friggin’ unholy trinity,\u201d Rocky said, \u201cthe SLA, the Proud Boys, and the Jihadis!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cDon\u2019t forget sex trafficking too,\u201d Lisa said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \u201cThis is front page all over the world,\u201d Max said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cWe\u2019ve got to get Steve involved, he\u2019ll know the lawyer angle for Jane,\u201d Skip said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chapter 47 An Unholy Trinity      By the time we reached Skip\u2019s sister\u2019s place, the weather had changed – for the better, mild and sunny.  \u201cThe Herbery\u201d is in the Appalachian foothills between Staunton and Lexington, Virginia, a little west … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2446"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2971,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446\/revisions\/2971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}