The Wooden Doors

By Adam Kugler

The fight for good and evil continues in the follow up to FEAR. In the chapters of the book named The Wooden Doors we see a pursuit to see if something is going to happen as we learn that there is another brother to the group. FEAR is still a part of the book, but we learn about his brother who is looking to help FEAR get rid of Jarvis. Is it going to be enough? Will there be someone there to help Jarvis when he needs it most? What is to become of the wooden doors? All of these questions are left hanging in the balance as the story goes on.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Adam Kugler
• Release date: Sep 29, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370401055

Adam Kugler

I am an unusual writer who is trying to write things that reach out to people and shows them things that they might not get to see in their life at any other time. I love to take the time to explore, with my characters, new and different things that are going on in my world, as well as the world around me. Although this story touches more on the supernatural and spiritual worlds, I know that there is more to life than that. Are we always going to be faced with spiritual challenges? No. And I am not the kind of writer who is always going to deal with that. I believe that we all face different conflicts in life and some of those can be hard for people to go through and understand. You are not alone in the world. I have grown up in a small town, and still live in a small town in rural Illinois. I like to study all sorts of things. I am not the kind that will sit down and think about one subject, I am always going through a whole host of things. I study history, politics, spiritual issues, and I try to grow from these studies. There are some people who would say that I am a tough person to get along with, but that is not always the case. I want, more than anything to be a person who is going to be a leader to the people around me, when I am called to be, and a follower when I am called to be that. I like to know that I can fit into those places when I am called to be there. I am not perfect, and many people do not know that. I don't even pretend to be. I have longed to put out words that will reach people and I am going to continue to write the things that I think people are going to relate to.

Book preview

PART I

THE FINDINGS

Todd

Opening my eyes I knew that there was no reason to ignore the fact that I was where I was. I had done the things that I had been accused of.

Maybe more.

It was hard to say.

I had been beaten pretty hard and I could barely remember the things that had happened the day before.

I thought that things would be easier here.

I thought it would be better.

A place with three square meals a day.

A place with air conditioning. (Something I grew up with out, believe me.)

Maybe a place I might be able to find some acceptance. (I had grown up without that as well.)

I could tell you all the sad stories in my life, but none of them would mean a thing to me. Here I was, at Leavenworth. The worst prison I could think of and I was not going to be the one accepted.

Hey, kid, what are you here for? one of the others asked.

I’m here ‘cause I killed my father. What’s it to you? I answered.

There was a serious look come over their face and I knew that this was the end of what was going to be peace. I had just thrown something back in their face.

They didn’t like it when that happened.

Especially the well seasoned people.

I knew that I was going to be the one who was out of the deal.

Who do you think you are talking to? the big guy asked.

Some big ogre that wants me to be afraid of him.

Maybe you should be, one of the short guys off to the side said.

I looked at him and just challenged his look. I was not going to let him intimidate me.

So you think that I should just let this go. No one shoots his mouth off to me and gets away with it.

That was the last I remember of that first day.

Jarvis

I sat at my desk when my phone rang. I knew what it was going to be. It was going to be about Todd. He was the one thing I had not heard about since I had gotten back to my office. I was sure that there were plenty of times that I had gotten this same call.

These kids, they went into prison thinking they were all big and bad, but in the end there was more to it.

I wanted to think that this kid was better than that—but I knew that was not the case.

No—he was just like the rest of them.

He was going to be in the Hole the first week he was there, and this was the call that was going to deliver me that news.

I had been working hard to keep things on the up and up with the kid, but I was beginning to see the light.

He was a murderer. There was nothing I could do to change that, but it was a high profile case and ever since the incident out at the monastery the whole world thought that I could solve their problems.

I could almost tell what the life of a prisoner was going to be like.

The first week they would shoot their mouth off.

The second week they would see their cell.

The third week they would get beat up.

The fourth week they would get beat up again.

The fifth week they would be back in the hole.

The sixth week they would remain in the hole—if they were lucky.

And so on and so forth.

I had memorized the call schedule from the prison and as I looked at the caller ID, there it was, the Federal Penitentiary calling to let me know what was going down at the prison.

Why I had chosen the profession of a defense attorney, well I am not sure I will ever know.

No, I was just going to have to keep going on.

I was going to have to keep being the person that I was.

Hello? I picked up the receiver of the phone.

Hello, Jarvis. How are you old friend?

I’m doing well, warden. What is the news from the pen today?

Well, you new boy got himself cornered last night. Three others beat him pretty good. The whole place is on lock down for the next week. Your boy is in the infirmary. I thought you might want to come visit him.

Yeah, I might do that.

Rumor is that he started the fight.

No way of knowing then?

No, not even close to knowing.

What is going to happen after he gets out of the infirmary?

Not sure. That is why I wanted to have you come down and talk to the boy. Get his side of the story.

He not talking to you, warden?

He ain’t talking to anyone.

This was the last thing I needed was a prisoner who was willing to start a fight. It was not the kind of thing I liked.

I will be out later this afternoon, warden.

That sounds good. I have to admit I think it will take a few days of mending before he is better.

I’m sure the other boys gave him a good work over.

I know they did. He just needs to know that there is someone on his side.

The warden was right. So many of these men go to jail and they are just left there. They have no idea that there is someone still out there working to help them out. They are just like small children. They are scared when they come out of the infirmary because they have no clue who they are and where they are going to go.

Some go to the hole and that is where I thought Todd was headed, but the infirmary, that told me something right then and there.

Really, he had been beat up.

What the…?

I cursed under my breath.

The prison system was supposed to house these men, but at the same time it was supposed to protect them.

What was Leavenworth doing that was allowing other prisoners to just do what they wanted to the new guys?

I had questions for the justice system.

I wasn’t convinced that Todd had done what he had claimed to have done, so why in the world should someone shake him down based on his shoddy word.

I was sure the case was based on shaky ground, but I already had a few different things that I was looking at, things that might get Todd out of the Pen.

I had to see them through first.

***

Here I was in the Midwest. I had just wrapped up the case involving Todd. He’d been accused and convicted of killing his father.

I had been looking over the evidence and I was not seeing it.

I was seeing a lot of other stuff.

I am not sure that there wasn’t a lot of other stuff to see.

His mother was MIA.

His father was abusive.

His grandparents had died in a car accident several years before.

Todd had lived with his grandparents, who as far as I could tell had loved him and showed him how to love others.

He had gone to church.

He had confessed to be a Christian. He had made that profession of faith at the age of twelve.

There was a whole list of things that weren’t adding up. What was he trying to hide from? It was the only reason that I could think of that he would want to get into prison. Someone was after him, but I had no idea who or what it was.

He didn’t even use swear words.

Something just didn’t fit this kid. Something was wrong. Here I was, I was supposed to find it, but I am not sure that I was going to get it out of the kid.

Molly

As I sat in my apartment, waiting for Jarvis to get back from Leavenworth, I knew that things were not looking up for the kid. I wasn’t sure what he thought he was going to do.

If the kid didn’t want to tell the truth than I said to hell with the whole thing.

I was not like Jarvis.

I had seen the things that could destroy a family.

I had watched my mother as she faded off into another life. My father had walked away and I hadn’t heard from him since, and I wasn’t sure where my brother was either.

Sure, I had Jarvis.

Sure that made a lot of difference in my life, but that was a different matter.

I wanted to know if there was something out there that I could get figured out.

I had often wondered about whether this life was going to sap everything there was left of Jarvis or not. I could remember the man that had lots of energy. I could remember the things that seemed to be waiting.

It was like something was going to happen, it was just a matter of when.

Jarvis had taken me in.

He knew the story of my life, and the two of us, well, in many ways, had fallen in love.

I am not sure that love is the right word.

There was something between us.

Some would have called it chemistry.

I am not sure I would have gone that far. I just wanted someone big and tough to be in my life. I felt alone and afraid.

There was no evidence that the bad guys had been killed.

Jarvis had been trying to tell me that if they wanted us they would have gotten to us by now, but I was not the kind of person that really could have been.

I heard the sound of the door opening and closing.

I’m up here, Jarvis.

Okay, well, I am going to change and then we can go and get something to eat. Do you have any preferences?

I could go for a burger.

It was simple and I didn’t have to dress up.

That sounds wonderful.

I knew that he wouldn’t tell me about his day. In many cases it was against the law for him to tell me what he talked about, but I would ask him if things went well. That was the least I could do.

I wanted to be a part of his life.

I wanted him to be a part of my life, but I wasn’t sure either of us were ready for commitment.

I could tell that there was something there, but that was as far as it went.

Moriarty

He laid there like a stone in the bed. His eyes hadn’t opened since he had been found. It had been nearly six months and many of the staff were beginning to give up on the man. They were sure that he was going to be a vegetable for life.

After something like what he had been through, it was not uncommon for the brain to shut down.

The doctor that was to oversee Moriarty’s care had said that it was a vegetative state, but the rest of the people in the room were not willing to give up on him.

The doctor noticed that one wore a ring that tied him to the brotherhood of monks who lived in the mountain range in Southeast Washington. He had seen the ring before, but usually these men took care of their own.

He was concerned that one of these men might