The Heritage Paper

Chapter 84



As much as the last two days seemed as long as centuries, the day after the election flew by at warp speed. The fallout to Zach’s appearance on the Baer Cave came with an equal swiftness.

Veronica spent the day at the hospital—it seemed like the safest place to hide out from the feeding frenzy. Youkelstein fell in and out of sleep, while Flavia continued to keep her bedside vigil.

Maggie and Jamie continued to act like kids. They played with blood pressure cuffs and stethoscopes. They laughed and fought, and then laughed again. It warmed Veronica’s heart.

The CIA was the first to react to Zach’s appearance on the Baer Cave, denying any involvement regarding Heinrich Müller, and pointing to previous inquiries and release of their documents on the subject. Veronica thought the haste of their response showed that they’d hit a nerve. Which meant she’d probably need to check her phone for bugs for the rest of her life.

The first arrest was Theodore Baer. And like the bully he was, the minute someone fought back against him he surrendered. He admitted to taking the bribe to lose the election, but denied any involvement in any bigger plot. He claimed to only have discussed the transaction over the phone with a man who called himself Otto. He agreed to testify against Sterling, hoping to save himself from being charged with treason and facing the death penalty. But conspiring to fix a presidential election wouldn’t come without a lot of years behind bars.

After authorities grilled Youkelstein for hours in his hospital room, a search warrant was served on Kingston’s estate. Eddie’s body was found loaded in a sailboat, prepared for a burial at sea before the authorities could find it. The NYPD credited Eddie with uncovering the diabolical plot as part of his job as the head of Kingston’s security team. The accepted theory was that Eddie was killed for what he’d discovered.

Sterling predictably denied that it was his voice on the tape, or that he was the mysterious man called Otto who’d paid off Baer. But according to news reports, when the FBI threatened to send him to Israel and let them interrogate him, he suddenly got very chatty and admitted his role in the Apostles and 9/11. He became the villain he always planned to be, just not the way he expected.

By mid-afternoon, Jim Kingston was missing and presumed on the run, which had to be a first in US election history. At three o’clock, Senator Langor held a press conference in his native Florida, to disassociate himself from any knowledge of Kingston and Sterling’s plot, and took himself out of any consideration of becoming president, effectively resigning.

But as Maggie pointed out, he really had no position to resign. The US presidential election was not a popular vote, as many believe—it is decided by the vote of the Electoral College, which wouldn’t cast their votes until December.

An emergency caucus was called. There were discussions of holding a “do-over” election, but nobody was sure if that was even constitutionally possible. It was a mess!

But there was some good news—while tensions were still high in the Middle East, it looked like war would be averted.



At four o’clock, Veronica’s stomach began to grumble. The only thing she’d consumed all day had been coffee.

Flavia joined her in the search for food. But even though the bad guys had been rounded up and hauled away, Veronica was still hesitant to leave Maggie and Jamie behind. They had finally crashed, now sleeping side-by-side on a cot, and she didn’t want to disturb them. Ben agreed to watch them. Veronica agreed, which would have seemed unfathomable just a day ago.

The two women found a secluded table in the hospital cafeteria and picked at pre-packaged salads in plastic containers and drank diet sodas.

Flavia eyed her intently. “Are you okay? You seem troubled by something.”

“I’m just worried about Maggie and Jamie. It’s not every day you learn your children are …”

“Hitler youth—like me?” Flavia said, matter of fact.

“I’m sorry, I forgot it also affected you. It must have been hard to learn that?”

She shrugged. “Not really. It’s not exactly something I’m going to brag about, but it’s not like I was diagnosed with a terminal disease.”

Veronica looked surprised. “With all due respect, how can it not bother you? When you see the things that man did and then look at the history of violence that followed him from Harry Jr. to Ellen’s other son to …”

Flavia looked annoyed. “Don’t even say Carsten. That was one fight that got out of hand and you know it. He didn’t invade Poland.”

Did everyone know about their fight? “But if you would have seen the look in his eyes. Like there was something inside of him, urging him to do it again.”

“I want to hit you right now, does that make me a bad person?”

“Thanks a lot.”

“What I’m trying to say is, we all have good inside us. But we’re also human, which means we’re flawed and full of temptation. In the end, we will be judged by our actions and each individual is responsible for their own actions. It doesn’t matter who your parents are, how much money you have, or if you were hugged enough as a child. It doesn’t matter what our beliefs are, or ideals, or genetics, or any of it. I’ve given in to my dark side too many times to discuss, but it had nothing to do with being the daughter of a spy, or the great-granddaughter of a mass murderer. We all do the best we can, but that usually isn’t good enough, so then we must ask for help.”

“Who do you ask?”

Flavia pointed to the hospital chapel in the distance. “I ask Her to lead me from temptation and deliver me from evil. Maybe you should try it sometime—but asking for help wouldn’t work with a narcissist like yourself.”

“A narcissist?” Veronica replied, annoyed.

“It’s all about you, Veronica. You really believe you are responsible for whether your children turn out good or bad. It might be noble to get them to do their homework and eat their vegetables, but in the end, they’re the only ones who will guide their path.”

“If trying to protect my children makes me a narcissist, then so be it.”

“What you’re trying to protect is your God complex, not your children. If it were true that life was predestined for them, then you wouldn’t be the master of their future. But lucky for you, the genetics angle is nothing but nonsense, so you can go on deceiving yourself.”

They quietly finished their lunch, as Flavia’s stinging words set in. When they returned to the room, Maggie and Jamie were alone.

“Where is Ben?” Flavia asked.

Maggie handed them a note. It read: I have so little time left in this world to fight for justice. I won’t waste one more moment in this hospital room. Thank you for all your help—I will never forget it. Ben.

“He just left?” Veronica asked.

“Just the way he rolls,” Maggie replied with a shrug.

Veronica shook her head in disbelief—he had more energy than the rest of them put together. She looked at her watch. “We better be getting home—you two have school tomorrow.”

Jamie did a dramatic sigh and fell on the bed. “Oh, Mom—you always ruin all the fun!”

“I don’t know what you are so worried about, Jamie, you’re suspended anyway,” his sister taunted him.

Veronica had forgotten about that. She wondered if Principal Sweetney would commute his sentence for saving the world.

Yeah right.

Jamie buried himself in the blanket. “Not Uncle Phil and Aunt Val!”

“You’re going to have to scrub the toilets,” Maggie piled on.

It might be as close to normal as things ever got.

As they left the room, they were met by a surprise visitor on his way in.

Veronica gave Zach a big hug. “You did it,” she said.

“We did—we all did it,” he replied humbly. “But I think you should lay low for a few days. The media will be going full force on this story trying to make connections to Ellen, and there already is a video out there of Maggie running with a gun on Kingston’s estate.”

“You could stay at the farm,” Flavia offered.

Veronica looked hesitant. One minute she was calling her names, the next she’s offering shelter.

Zach agreed. “I think it would be a good idea. I’m staying in the city for a couple days to tie up the loose ends on this story, so why don’t you take my car.” He tossed Veronica the keys.

“I promise—no more lectures,” Flavia said with a smile. It was the same as Jamie’s—the one that was impossible to turn down.

Maggie, now in her second childhood, agreed. “C’mon, Mom—it’ll be fun!”

Veronica wasn’t concerned about fun—safe was what she was going for. “I just need to stop home to pick up some things and feed Picasso. Then we can go.”

Maggie and Jamie jumped up and down with joy.