Top of The Edge - Orientation Part 2

John Smith retired in 1937 at the age of 38. Immediately thereafter the FBI recruited and moved him to their headquarters in D.C. He was taller than the average man, 5'11'', broad-shouldered and weighed about 220 lbs., none of which appeared to be fat.

Both Cherry and Robyn were having a hard time keeping up and processing all that was being said during the briefing. The notes helped some, but they were full of acronyms as well as unfamiliar verbiage. Their main objective was to gain a better understanding as to where they would be positioned. Neither of them were very familiar with Kiawah or Seabrook Islands and seeing them on the map wasn't helping nearly as much as they had hoped.

It was dark when they exited the bunker and began making their way back to Smith's car. The hunger pain in Cherry's stomach prompted her to look at her watch. It was 7:10. She leaned over to Robyn and whispering asked, "Are you hungry?"

"I'm starving,'' she replied, also whispering.

Smith was only a few feet in front and overhearing their conversation said, "I know a great little steak and seafood restaurant we can stop at in Mount Pleasant – my treat ladies."

Robyn was first to respond, "Mr. Smith we appreciate the offer, but we couldn't possibly..."

Then, a bit more brash, Cherry said, "We have plenty of snacks at our dorm room. We'll be alright."

Smith smiled and said, "I see". He paused briefly and then said, "This little restaurant I'm talking about has great food and it's hard for me to pass up, especially when I'm hungry. So, I'm going to stop, go in, sit down, order, and have a nice, relaxed meal. If you would like to join me that would be great – I'm treating. But if you would rather wait and eat your snacks, you can either wait in the car or do some window shopping around town while I eat."

The ride to the restaurant, Charlie's Steak and Seafood, was quiet. As Smith was parking his car, the aroma of steaks sizzling on the grill filled the car causing the hunger pains gnawing at Robyn's insides to prevail against their earlier resolve.

"We'll take you up on your kind offer Mr. Smith. Thank you."

At first, Cherry appeared shocked and dismayed at her friend's sudden change of heart. Then she just smiled at her and nodded in agreement.

It was nearly 9:00 PM when they were finally headed back over the Cooper River Bridge to the Charleston peninsula and with their hunger now fully satiated both Cherry and Robyn were beginning to nod off. By the time Smith parked his car within walking distance from the College of Charleston Residence Hall, both ladies were asleep.

"Okay ladies, just a short walk and we're back at your dorm," Smith said as he stepped out of the car and opened the left passenger door. "I'll walk you to your dorm." To Smith's surprise, no argument, only thanks. They were both pretty groggy and moving quite slowly as they climbed out of the car, but once the cool air hit their faces and they began walking, their pace picked up.

Robbery Attempt

Since it was a Friday night many of the other students had already left campus and headed home for the weekend. The place was dark and quiet, and there was a sense of eeriness as their heels clacked against the cobblestone street. Suddenly Smith stopped and motioned for Robyn and Cherry to do the same. Then he pointed to his ear indicating that he had heard something. Neither Cherry nor Robyn heard anything. Suddenly Robyn got a chill from her head to her toes. She didn't know how, she just knew, that someone was stalking them, and that someone was very close by. A voice came from the shadows as a tall thin scraggly man stepped into the light brandishing a rather large knife. "I'm not interested in hurting anyone", he said. He had a ladies nylon stocking pulled over his head and he sounded as though he was attempting to disguise his voice.

"You girls just put your purses on the ground and then put any jewelry you might be wearing in them... and that goes for you too old man. Put your wallet and anything of value in one of their purses. Then just walk away and nobody will get hurt."

Robyn nor Cherry put their purses down on the ground. Instead, they just stood there staring at their would-be assailant. Smith took off his hat and overcoat and handed them to Cherry as he was speaking to the thug, "You may want to rethink your options here son. If you will just walk away from here right now, you can avoid an ambulance ride to the hospital tonight and some jail time as well."

"You're pretty sure of yourself for an old man." Those words came from a second would be assailant that suddenly stepped out of the shadows on the opposite side. He was shorter than his partner but stockier. He also had a lady's nylon stocking pulled over his head, but instead of a knife, he was brandishing a baseball bat. He quickly stepped in close enough to swing the bat at Smith's head. He swung with such force that the momentum of the swing caused him to spin around when his bat failed to make contact with Smith's head.

Smith had ducked with ease and poise. Now he was in a position to wrap his arms around the assailant from behind. He had him in a bear-hug. Seeing his partner in trouble, the other assailant ran in lunging toward Smith's back with his knife.

Both Robyn and Cherry yelled out their warning. "Mr. Smith look out!" Smith spun around with the other thug still in his bear-hug just in time for his partner to thrust his knife into the bat-swinging thug's gut. The stabbed assailant simply fell to the ground as Smith released him. The other assailant still had hold of the knife, only now the blade was dripping red with his partner's blood. With his partner's body no longer shielding Smith, he lunged again at Smith's midsection. Smith's movements were smooth and fluid as he stepped to the side, grabbed the man's arm with both hands and brought it down across his knee like someone breaking kindling for a campfire. The sound of the man's bones breaking made both ladies grimace and shudder. His screams and cursing were surprisingly loud. Smith released the man's arm and planted an uppercut with his right fist to the man's chin sending him flying to the ground. Like his friend, he was now lying on the ground whimpering and writhing in pain.

Smith knelt down beside the thug with the knife wound. The knife appeared to have pierced his left side. He was clutching the wound with both hands groaning and pleading. "We need to get these guys some help", Smith said.

Robyn had already begun running to the phone booth less than a hundred meters away located at the corner of the administration building.

Cherry, still holding Smith's hat and coat answered, "Robyn is already on her way to make the call."

Speaking to the man that had been stabbed, Smith instructed, "Keep pressure on that wound. We've got help coming."

Before Robyn was back to where the incident had occurred, they could hear the sirens. An ambulance arrived first followed by the Charleston police.

While Smith and the ladies were being interviewed by one of the police officers, the ambulance EMTs scooped the man up with the knife wound and sounded their sirens again as they made their way to the emergency room. The other officer was helping the man with the broken arm to his feet and into the back seat of the police cruiser, one of the Charleston Police Department's newly purchased 1942 Plymouth Radio cars. In less than 15 minutes, the police officer conducting the interview, Officer David Fadden, had what he needed.

Once all the commotion was over, Smith retrieved his hat and coat from Cherry and the three of them resumed their walk to the girl's dormitory. As they approached the front door, Smith said, "I'll be here to pick you up in the morning, 7:00 sharp."

Cherry opened the door and turned to face Smith, "Thank you Mr. Smith... for everything. We are grateful."

Robyn reiterated, "Yes, we are very grateful, Mr. Smith."

Smith just smiled, nodded, and tipped his hat. He watched the ladies enter the building and made sure they were safe before walking back to his car.

Call to Mr. Tuttle

Back in his room Smith sat on the edge of his bed and searched through the phone book. He found the number for which he was searching and made a call. The phone rang twice on the other end before a man answered, "Hello."

"May I speak to Mr. Ben Tuttle, please?

"Bart?"

"Yeah, Ben, it's me."

"To what do I owe this pleasure?"