When the Dead Speak

Chapter 36

Chapter 36

A normal day for Lincoln Thomas was twelve hours. From seven in the morning until seven at night. He always brought his lunch and ate at his desk.

Some evenings were filled with meetings with local organizations and new business owners who were building hotels or convention centers and might need the assistance of Thomas Associates.

Lincoln had picked his American name from two presidents-Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson. It wasn't that he lacked pride in his given name. After the war, he had stowed away on a ship to Seattle. He had been afraid he would be hunted down.

He could still hear them yelling, "You can't hide. We'll find you. And when we do, we'll cut your tongue out." He had run as fast and as far as he could that day. Never returned to the Base Commander.

The thought of them having a nationwide hunt for Ling Toy was his worst fear. So he had changed his name, found someone in the Korean underground to give him fake I.D.s, and hid himself deep in the Seattle Korean community.

He slept in a storage room above a bakery at night, helped with the baking between three and seven in the morning, then went to school. Melee, the bakery owner, was the biggest Korean woman he had ever seen. The Korean War had made her a widow. No children but enough friends and connections to help her open her own business in the States.

She never asked Lincoln about his nightmares, but would stay by him until he went back to sleep. She had a great business sense and within three years opened a small restaurant next door to her bakery.

Lincoln had been with her for seven years. He had no idea she had no living relatives. So it took him by complete surprise that she had willed him her businesses.

After a few years, Lincoln sold the businesses and headed south to California, to San Francisco. He had admired pictures of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge when he had seen the colorful postcards at the command post. Now he would see them for himself.

Lincoln knew he had been blessed finding Melee. She had always told him that if each person returned a favor given to him, the whole world would be a lot happier.

"Mister Thomas, this is the last of them." Sherita, a young black high school student who worked after school at Thomas Associates, placed a stack of newspapers on his desk.

"Thank you, Sherita."

Raymond, his son-in-law, passed Sherita in the doorway. Raymond was tall by Korean standards, at least six feet.

"Do you need help, Lincoln? Are you looking for something in particular?" Raymond flipped through some of the papers. "Chicago Tribune, Sun-Times. How was Sherita able to find all these back issues?" Raymond's slicked-back hair revealed a distinct widows peak.

"The hotel across the street usually keeps their leftovers. Saves them for the school paper drives." Lincoln carried the papers to an oblong conference table. "I believe there is a conference in Chicago I wanted to go to. I thought the paper might have an ad."

"I'll help you."

Lincoln placed his hand on the stack of papers, saying a little too quickly, "That's okay. Really. I need a diversion right now." He checked his watch. "Why don't you meet with Mister Hensen? And maybe you and Nina can plan on attending the museum reception tonight." Raymond gave a puzzled look as he retreated. There was rarely a benefit or meeting that Lincoln missed.

Lincoln remembered the article in his Korean paper stating Hap Wilson's body had been found in Chasen Heights, a suburb south of Chicago. Since none of the hotels or stores sold newspapers from Chasen Heights, he decided there had to be something in the papers in the largest city closest to the suburb.