Elly's Ghost (24 page)

“Are you ready?”
Pender asked.

“Ready for
what?”

Pender smiled
and said, “Follow me.” He led Jay right down the middle of the crowd. “Excuse
me, coming through.”

The people parted
reluctantly until they saw Jay. Their annoyed looks changed to confused joy,
then to applause and cheers.

“Excuse me. Pardon
me,” Pender said, maneuvering his way toward the stage.

It only took a
minute for Pender to get within fifty feet of the stage. He stopped as the
crowd became too thick to move any farther.

Jay stared at
Elly. She wasn’t holding anything back as she sang with such raw emotion. Everyone
in the band seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Jay suddenly
realized Pender had been circling him while telling people, “Stand back, I’ve
got Jason Tessier here, back up!”

Pender kept
circling to create a pocket of space which grew in size as people recognized
Jay. Pender was telling everyone to point at Jay, which they seemed to be happy
to do. A moment later, everyone in the perimeter of the growing circle was
pointing at him.

Jay felt awkward
as people distanced themselves from him. He kept his attention on Elly as the
song reached a massive crescendo and then ended. The cheering was loud as Elly
again thanked everyone. She looked out at the crowd and at the growing circle
with a puzzled expression.

“Jason, Jason,”
Pender started chanting, and crowd around him joined in.

Jay watched Elly
on stage and no longer cared about being the center of attention. In fact, the
whole crowd faded out of existence. All he knew is he wanted to wake up next to
her every morning for the rest of his life.

The drummer
stood and pointed a drumstick at Jay. Elly’s eyes searched the crowd, and her
mouth opened wide the moment she spotted him. She spoke into the microphone. “Jay,
is that you?”

The crowd’s
chant grew loud in a hurry. “Jason! Jason! Jason!”

Everyone cheered
as Elly climbed down off the stage and then jumped over the barricade into the crowd.

Jay watched the
crowd split as Elly ran to him and they flung their arms around each other.
They kissed to the sound of a roaring audience. Elly buried her head in his
chest as he held her.

“Hi,” Jay said.

Elly couldn’t
respond. She just held him as the crowd kept cheering.

She finally
looked up at him. “Hi. I was so worried.”

“I’m sorry I
made you worry.”

“They let you
go?”

“I’m a free man.
Thanks to you.”

Elly smiled
brightly as the crowd cheered and chanted Jason’s name. She hugged Jay one more
time. “Come on.” Elly grabbed Jay’s hand and led him back to the stage, where
the other band members helped them both up.

Elly grabbed a
microphone and pulled Jay to the middle of the stage. “Would you like to meet
the man who saved my life?”

The crowd roared
with delight as Elly motioned to Jay. “Do you want to say hello?” Elly said
into the microphone.

Alex handed Jay
a microphone.

Jay looked out
at the crowd, knowing he was miles away from his comfort zone. “Wow, thank you
so much. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“As you may have
guessed,” Elly said, “Jay is a free man. Thanks to all of you.”

Jay waved at the
crowd.

“SPEECH! SPEECH!”
the crowd yelled.

Jay held his
microphone and tried desperately to think of what to say. He glanced at Elly
and then said, “Your support means a lot. Thank you for coming here tonight.”
He looked back over at Elly for help.

Elly turned to
the crowd. “I’m sure all of you know how Jay and I met, but some of you may not
know that Jay has been serving as a Marine for five years and just got back
from Afghanistan.” The crowd erupted into applause. She waited for it to settle
and then said, “I just want to say how happy I am for the outpouring of support
for both Jay and me through all of this. Thank you so much.” She blew a kiss to
the crowd.

Jay waited for
the shouting of the crowd to once again die down. “I’m truly blessed to have
met Elly. Isn’t she amazing?” The crowd responded with cheering. Jay turned to
Elly, “Thank you for all of this.”

“Thank you for
saving my life.” Elly hugged him.

“Kiss him! Kiss
him! Kiss him!” Jeremy chanted into his microphone. The crowd quickly chanted
along.

Elly’s face turned
bright red, and then she faced Jay. Slowly she raised her eyes to his. The
chanting grew louder. “Kiss him! Kiss him! Kiss him!”

She gave Jay a
shy smile. His eyes met hers, and they kissed each other as the crowd roared
with delight.

Elly’s face
still burned red as she turned to the crowd. “All right, who wants to hear
another song?”

Three weeks
after the “Free Jason” concert, Jay rode with Elly in the backseat of a limo
down the streets of Washington, DC. Elly had arranged the limo, but she
wouldn’t tell Jay where they were going.

Elly smiled.
“You look handsome in your uniform.”

Jay wore his
Class A uniform and held his Marine hat, or cover, as he’d told her, in his
hands. “Thanks.”

“I tried to
picture you in it when we were walking through the woods of Montana,” Elly
turned to face him, “but my imagination didn’t do it justice.”

“The same would
be true for my imagination.” Jay pointed at the elegant black dress Elly wore.

“When did you
try to picture me in a dress?” Elly asked with a smile.

“Probably about
the same time you tried to picture me in my uniform.” Jay smiled back at her.
“Or maybe it was while we were going for a swim. I don’t remember.”

Elly laughed and
hit him playfully. “Did you hear they nailed Victor Fines with a dozen
different charges?”

“I did.
Attempted kidnapping, conspiracy to commit murder—”

“He’ll be in
prison for a while.”

“Good riddance.”

Elly reached
into her purse. “I have something I want to give you. It’s not really a
present, but I know you’re going to like it.” She pulled out a small object
wrapped in tissue paper.

Jay took it,
removed the tissue, and found an empty prescription bottle. “Is this the same one?”

“Yes. I haven’t
had any since I finished those. I’m getting help,” Elly said. “I see a
counselor a few times a week, and I’ve been sober for a month, thanks to you.”

Jay took her
hand. He was thrilled she was doing something about her addiction.

“There’s one
more thing,” Elly said. “Do you remember how you told me about the little girl
in Afghanistan and what happened to her family?”

Jay nodded.

Elly pulled out
a sheet of paper. “Read it.”

Jay took it. It
was confirmation of a donation to the Children of Afghanistan Fund for $100,000
on behalf of Jason Tessier.

“Wow.” Jay read
it again. “That’s amazing. That was really kind of you.”

“I thought you’d
like it.”

“You’re full of
surprises today. Are you going to tell me where we’re headed?”

“No, that too is
a surprise.”

Jay laughed.

“Jay, do you
trust me?”

“I hear it takes
time to earn trust.”

“Well, we don’t
have a whole lot of time before we get there, so I guess you’ll just have to
deal with it.”

Jay spotted the
White House in the distance.

Jay pointed out
the window. “Are we—”

“What did I say
about trusting me?”

“Forgive me.”

The limo stopped
and the driver helped them both out of the car. They walked to the White House
gate, where Jay saluted the two Marine security guards. One asked for their
names and IDs while the other used a metal detector wand on both of them.

Once inside, Jay
and Elly followed an aide through a hallway and into a reception room.

“They’ll be with
you shortly,” the aide said before leaving.

Jay stood next
to Elly as they took in the huge room. A dining table was set with thirty
places on the left side of the room, and three rows of empty chairs faced the
center of the room, where an empty podium stood.

“Who’ll be with
us?” Jay asked.

“You’ll see.”

The doors on the
far end of the hall opened, and the president of the United States entered the
room. Jay snapped to attention with a perfect salute.

Behind the
president was General Nelson Earnshaw, Commandant of the United States Marine
Corps.

Jay felt the air
get sucked out of him as he watched his commander-in-chief and the four-star
general approach. They both paused to return his salute. As he stared at them
he was totally confused.

At the
president’s nod, a Secret Service agent opened another set of doors.

Jay stared
straight ahead at full attention, but he could see his niece Kelly, followed by
Sarah and her husband Jim. Pender was next, along with Elly’s band members,
then the first lady, Celeste, Nick, and finally Elly’s parents.

Jay’s eyes
remained forward.

Elly turned and
whispered into his ear, “Your friends and family are here, but that still isn’t
the surprise.”

Elly turned and
walked over to join the others. She stood between Kelly and Celeste and gave
them hugs. Director Frank Holtz and Agents Treft, Beckholm, and West stood in
the back row.

Jay’s mind was
spinning. He still had no idea what was going on.

General Earnshaw
stepped forward and addressed the crowd. “Greetings. I am pleased to announce
it is with special trust and confidence in the fidelity and abilities of Jason Tessier
that I, General Nelson Earnshaw, appoint this Marine a sergeant in the United
States Marine Corps.”

The general
pinned the rank insignia onto Jay’s uniform, then saluted Jay, who returned the
gesture. The general moved back behind the president, who stepped forward and
spoke.

“Sergeant
Tessier, for your actions against terrorists in Operation Enduring Freedom and
for your bravery here on your home soil, on behalf of the United States Marine
Corps, it is my honor to present you with the Silver Star for gallantry in
action.”

The president
carefully removed the medal from its black velvet case, holding it up for all
to see, then pinned it onto Jay’s uniform. “Your selfless service to your
country is a great honor to all. We are forever indebted to you. I’m proud to
be in the presence of such a fine Marine.”

Both men saluted
him, and Jay quickly returned the gesture.

The president
smiled. “You’ve more than earned it. At ease, soldier.”

* * *

Jay pushed the
yoke of his brand-new floatplane forward and dove toward the lake. He gently rolled
the plane to the left and checked to make sure his landing area was clear, then
circled back to start his approach.

Elly sat in the
copilot seat next to him, wearing a headset and a smile. A year had passed
since meeting the president, and three days earlier Jay and Elly exchanged vows
at her lake home and were now Mr. and Mrs. Tessier. His present to her was that
she could choose anywhere in the world she wanted to go for their honeymoon.
She chose the woods of Montana. The floatplane had been her wedding present to
him.

“Good afternoon,
ladies and gentlemen,” Jay said into his microphone. “This is your captain
speaking. We are on approach for landing. Please return your tray tables to
their upright position, turn off all electronics, and stow all shotguns, small
children, and pop singers in the overhead compartment.”

Elly laughed and
playfully hit Jay on the arm.

“Are you ready
for a nice smooth landing?” Jay asked.

“I don’t know,”
Elly said. “Last time was more exciting, seeing as the plane was on fire and
the engine was dead. This is pretty lame.”

“I can kill the
engine if that’d make you feel better?”

“No, that’s
okay. I’ve had enough airplane excitement,” Elly said.

Jay smiled at
her. “Just wait until the tour starts.”

“I am getting
the super-deluxe tour package this time, right?” Elly asked.

“Yes, complete
with toilet paper.”

“Good.”

Jay eased the
plane down onto the water for a perfect landing. He taxied to a sandy beach and
killed the engine. It was the same beach they had camped near while on the run.
That morning it had been foggy, but now it was clear.

They tied up the
floatplane and pitched their tent nearby. The sun was shining brightly as they
ate lunch.

“Do you want to
hear something cool?” Elly asked.

“Sure.”

“My name is Elly
Tessier,” she said.

“Do you want to
hear something cool?” Jay asked.

“Sure.”

“My wife’s name
is Elly Tessier.”

Elly smiled as
she hugged him, then kissed him.

“Jay, are you up
for hiking today?”

“Always. Any
place in particular you want to go?”

“There’s one
place that’s been on my mind, but you can say no if you want.”

“Where?”

“Will you take
me to the place Ben died?”

Jay thought about
how, when he’d come home from Afghanistan a year ago, he wanted to go to the
spot where Ben had died. He remembered how he reacted when he and Elly had
stumbled upon the valley where it happened.

Jay stared out
at the lake. Though he often thought about Ben, it had been awhile since he’d
thought about the place Ben had died. He figured Elly was asking him to take
her there for his benefit so he could say good-bye.

“I’ll take you
there,” Jay said finally.

They left camp
and hiked for two hours before finding the valley where the elk had run across
Jay’s view. They stood on top of the massive, flat-topped rock, next to the
group of dead pine trees. The valley below was filled with yellow and purple
wildflowers beyond count, more than he’d ever seen.