The primary aim of the "Novel Excerpts" blog category is to showcase my creative writing, specifically from the novels I've written. Hopefully, these posts will provide a glimpse into my storytelling style, themes, and narrative skills. It's an opportunity to share my artistic expressions and the worlds I've created through my novels.
The Boaz Stenographer, written in 2018, is my fourth novel. I'll post a chapter a day over the next few weeks.
Book Blurb
Walt Shepherd, a 35 year veteran of the White House’s stenographic team, is fired by President Andrew Kane for refusing to lie.
Walt returns to his hometown of Boaz, Alabama and renews his relationship with Regina Gillan, his high school sweetheart, who he had ditched right before graduation to marry the daughter of a prominent local businessman. Regina has recently moved back to Boaz after forty years in Chicago working at the Tribune. She is now editor of the Sand Mountain Reporter, a local newspaper.
Walt and Regina’s relationship transforms into a once in life love at the same time they are being immersed in a growing local and national divide between Democrats and traditional Republicans, and extremist Republicans (known as Kanites) who are becoming more dogmatic about the revolution that began during President Kanes campaign.
Walt accepts two part-time jobs. One as a stenography instructor at Snead State Community College in Boaz, and one as an itinerant stenographer with Rains & Associates out of Birmingham.
Walt later learns the owner of Rains & Associates is also one of five men who created the Constitution Foundation and is involved in a sinister plot to destroy President Kane, but is using an unorthodox method to achieve its objective. The Foundation is doing everything it can to prevent President Kane from being reelected in 2020, and is scheming to initiate a civil war that will hopefully restore allegiance to the U.S. Constitution.
While Walt is writing a book, The Coming Civil War, he is, unwittingly, gathering key information for the Constitution Foundation.
Will Walt discover a connection between the Foundation and the deaths of three U.S. Congressmen in time to save his relationship with Regina, prevent President Kane from being reelected as the defacto head of a Christian theocracy, and the eruption of a civil war that could destroy the Nation ?
Chapter 71
Monday and Tuesday were the longest non-trial days I had had with Judge Broadside. No one seemed to know why the criminal motions docket was so bloated, taking a full two days instead of the usual one day or less. All I could figure out was a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that expanded defendant’s rights under the Fourth Amendment had spawned a wave of requests to suppress evidence, allegedly illegally seized.
Vann’s funeral wasn’t until Thursday afternoon because of a required autopsy for all deaths arising from a crime. I took off all day Wednesday and Thursday after Rains & Associates scheduled a substitute court-reporter. Regina and I had spent several hours Sunday afternoon with Deb, Vann’s wife, and his two children, Bailey and Vance. Bailey and her family from Dallas had arrived late Saturday afternoon. Vance didn’t show until late Sunday when we were just about to leave. Bailey and Vann were very close. The distance between Vann and Vance couldn’t be measured, something I never had been able to figure out since Vann refused to talk about it.
The funeral was held at First Baptist Church of Christ. Pastor Tillman led the ‘by the book’ service which reminded me once again why I hated funerals. Before the service and afterwards, all I heard was, ‘he is in a better place,’ and ‘God is mysterious and it’s hard to understand God’s plan, but God is good all the time.’ The best I could do was grow depressed thinking of Mother’s funeral and my swearing that I would never again be caught at such an insane event. Tommy Clanton, another high school classmate, and fellow teacher with Vann at Boaz High School for nearly forty years was, to me, the highlight of the funeral.
Before Pastor Tillman presented his celebratory remarks and evangelistic message, Tommy entertained us with story after story of why Vann was elected favorite teacher year after year. I was amazed at how creative he had been in bringing American History to life and connecting things that happened years and decades earlier to what was going on now in students’ lives. Even Pastor Tillman added a story as he got started with his message.
Deb had chosen not to have a public service at Hillcrest. Regina and I had earlier arranged to visit her house after the funeral. After an hour visiting Deb and her two children, I drove us to Regina’s house on the brow. The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences had completed all their field work yesterday afternoon giving Regina the okay to return. We arrived shortly after 4:00 p.m. but it seemed much later given the low clouds and fog that had lingered all day. Waiting for Regina to unlock the basement door I couldn’t help but believe there was some connection between Vann’s death and funeral, and the misty fog. As we entered the house I was again reminded, forcefully, that I was responsible for the death of the best friend I had ever had. Vann Elkins was dead, and I would never see or talk to him again. I knew I would never recover from such a loss.
Regina had been quiet all day. We had talked less than we ever had during this many hours together. I was anxious to see her reaction when she saw her bedroom and study. I also wondered whether she would be prompted to talk and maybe enlighten me some on what was missing, especially from the shoe boxes from her bedroom closet.
Before going up the stairs she noticed a cooler had been moved up high on the counter under the window. She walked over and inspected, concluding that either Vann or the murderer must have entered this way. We then walked upstairs, and she went straight for her study. It seemed pretty much like I had left it. The desk drawers open and the safe still on its side. Regina sat down in her swivel chair looking first at her desk and then at the safe and the gap created when it was removed from the bookcase.
“I’m not sure why I kept my journals in this rickety old safe. They were worthless, except to me. My whole life, well, my life since you dumped me the day before we graduated, was documented in those journals. I can’t imagine why someone would take them.”
“I doubt he, I’m assuming the murderer was a he, sat down and read them. He probably thought since they were locked up they had to contain something of importance. I don’t think I would read too much into the fact he took them. Question, and don’t take this wrong, but are you positive there isn’t something in them that could come back to haunt you?” I asked touching Regina’s shoulder as she continued to sit.
I detected the slightest confusion or perplexity in her face. It was like her left eyebrow rose just enough to lob a question mark into my mind. She didn’t answer me, directly.
“Let’s go to my bedroom.”
I followed her closely. As soon as we turned into the doorway she paused, nearly falling back into my arms. I then saw what she saw. The taped outline of where and how Vann’s body was found on the bedroom floor between the closet and the foot of Regina’s bed.
“Oh my. Walt, I’ll never be able to spend another night in this room.”
I stood beside her putting my left hand around her waist. “I understand fully. And, you won’t have to. Beginning tonight, you are staying with me, all the time.”
“Look at this mess.” Regina walked over and bent down in front of the closet and among several shoe boxes, some open and some still with the lids attached. She looked inside each box. “There’s two missing.”
“What was in them?” I asked.
“Mainly old photos, from over the years.” Regina said walking over and sitting on her bed. “Sit with me, please.”
I sat down beside her and took her right hand in my left. “You’re too quiet, too reserved. This isn’t like you. I feel you are holding back, wanting to tell me something but don’t know if you can.” I said.
She turned and looked at me. Our eyes connected and stayed locked together in between two worlds. One was our happy, loving, caring world. The other one was serious, sad, maybe dark. I had no idea how dark. “Walt, if I told you that I had done some things, some horrible things, over the years, do you think you could still love me?”
“Baby, I can’t imagine ever stopping loving you. I have this philosophy. I’ve had it ever since we started dating after we moved back to Boaz. I said then, even though we knew each other in high school, we were starting over. We each had our own separate lives for over four decades. But, now we were starting a new life. It was like I gave myself, maybe you too, a mental bath, just washed away all the past and let things happen anew.”
“That was beautiful. But, now you know I’ve done some things recently, after we have started over. Doesn’t my deception over the photo and Reyansh Johar change your mind? What I did, I did to myself but that necessarily involves you. I chose to put our relationship in jeopardy.” Regina said, now with eyes looking down on the floor as though she were peering down into hell itself.
“I guess it depends on what we want. I know what I want. I want you. I want you in my life forever. I want us, maybe soon, to be married. Regina, you are my world. I can’t imagine living without you.”
“I want the same thing. We both have had, still have other goals.
It seems mine have gotten in the way.”
“If we both want the same thing, each other, then if we commit to that being our top priority, then we can get through everything else.
Don’t you think?” I said.
“I hope so. I’m going to do everything I can to make things right.”
“I suggest we leave. Let’s get out of here and go home, to the place I think we both feel the most secure.” I said.
“Okay. On the way, I think I’m going to call Belinda and tell her to take mother home with her. I’m glad they decided to stay in Gulf Shores a few extra days. I sure don’t want them to see this place the way it is. I’m going to take off tomorrow and come back to straighten up. I think Mitzi will help me.”
“I’m sorry I cannot take off. It was nearly impossible to take off these two days.” I said.
We drove home sharing our feelings over the loss of Vann. As our words fell silent I thought of how I had purposely not pursued Regina’s past. It seemed she had offered to disclose what, to her, were some bad things, but I had gently stopped her. It was enough to me that she was willing. I had been honest. I didn’t care about the past. I cared about now. I loved Regina and nothing else mattered.
The Pencil Driven Life 