The Second Shot Heard Around the World - Part 9
Monica King
October 17, 2005
The days began to get cooler, the nights made it blanket weather, & all the leaves were turning their magnificent shade of autumn colors; the oranges, golds, reds, the flaming mixes New England foliage is famous for.
I had returned to Vermont, to yet another little farmhouse near the river dividing Vermont & New Hampshire. It always seemed I was led to perch on borders of States & watery tributaries.
When I say led, by now I hope you understand that this is this inner leading, this inner prompting I refer to as Spirit. Sometimes it is a strong sense of needing to follow an intuitive prompting, sometimes I actually hear specific, very specific instructions.
It takes practice. But it is a tuning IN to that guidance.
I returned, & began conversing with Daniel again on the telephone.
He started calling a few times a week, sounded friendly & chatty, & upbeat.
He was hoping I would be able to come down so we could transact some business we had concerning our shared land, Angels’ Landing. He had arranged, supposedly for a meeting with a land owner whom we needed a variance from to proceed with its development.
He was not as pressured or pushy about insisting that I speak with him or anything like he was before, & I was lulled into a false sense of security. I too wanted to move on & take the next steps that involved us both concerning the property. So I agreed. I would meet him in Milton.
It was a Tuesday. It was warm in the morning but definitely fall was in the air too. I quietly left my home & did not let my housemates know where I was heading. I struck out for Milton.
When I arrived at the farmhouse in town, I parked my car on the main street. There was a neighboring , across the way nice guy who owned an antique shop & I thought it would be good that my car was visible, “just in case”.
I had been reading a book that was fairly new on how to draw the line with verbal abuse, & it seemed a good idea to maintain some presence there where others could see me.
I got out of the car & walked to the house, but he was already bouncing out the door, to meet me. Full of enthusiasm, he wanted to show me a new traveling camper/truck he was proud of.
To show it off. You know the kind that is a truck in the front & a camper in the back, all in one.
I had a look at it, & admired it, congratulating him on his new acquisition. He said, want to take a drive in it? I asked where the party, the man was we were to be meeting for the paperwork we were going to transact. He told me he was already up at the home he had purchased, the one that was the home sitting at the gateway to our wooded path. He would be meeting us up there.
While this home is up on a country road, it was still in a spot where other neighbors were, it was sunny, he seemed to be in a good mood, & it seemed on the face of it, a reasonable request.
Part of me was simply blinded by the compassion I felt for Daniel. I knew the transition, the losses he had experienced were not easy & I did not want to be cold or unfeeling about that. I truly believed I was acquiescing to again extend an olive branch by demonstrating some faith & trust in him.
He wanted me to drive with him in his new camper. Which was, as all of his small shelters, clean & orderly. I hesitated a few moments, weighing the risks & the benefits of getting in with him. But this was my home town too at one time, it was really a beautiful & bright day, he had packed a small picnic he said, some “ ice cold gingerale”, & as I said, my own car was parked very visibly right in the center of town. I had good friends who lived next door, & if for some reason I was delayed I was sure someone would care enough to come looking for me.
Besides, Bill was meeting us where he lived, so it was yet another destination where others would be around.
I guess you could say I was on a amber alert...I felt cautious, but also second guessed my own self, in even feeling that way. After all, this was a man I knew intimately as he did me.
In writing about this now, during the nearly exact same time of the year, I realize that all these thoughts were being processed before I entered his vehicle, but in such rapid fashion, that it takes far more time to write them out than the speed with which these many critical thinking skills were being accessed.
Also, although Daniel was on his “best behavior”, his most social, happy appealing mask was on & he was acting the way I am sure he knew I was hoping to find him, the caution flag was there too as I had been working the past weeks as a supervisor in New Hampshire state county home that month, on the usual evening/ night schedule, & one weekend this month there had been a strange call coming in. My nursing staff had reported that a man called identifying himself as my husband & wanted to speak to me. But he had not left his name. It was a typical Daniel move.
He seemed hell bent to break through all security & safety barriers I ever had protecting me & my patients when I went to work; the ones through the agency where I worked & their policies about not giving out such information, & the facilities themselves. It is CONFIDENTIAL. Just because of things like this.
Since I had made it so clear there was no such relationship anymore, & it was over except for the paperwork, the fact that anyone called to say they were my spouse was, mainly at that point irritating to me.
I did not need a degree in rocket science to figure out it was Daniel. My new friend would not identify himself in that manner, nor attempt to stalk me anyway. He didn’t need to. I enjoyed his company. I CHOSE to be with him at that point in time.
What happened next however altered both our fates forever.
I am going to pause here from this tale. The next episode is so filled with horrible & abominable details that I am going to have to take a break from it for a time. I promise to return though... to finish the REST of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say on his radio broadcasts.
For journalists who are interested, the accounts are archived in the New Hampshire papers of record, as are the proceedings in court which which are public records as well.
I can say that, I was well supported & helped through it all by the incredible Strafford County prosecuting team, & that I have every confidence that all due process was followed in bringing Daniel to justice & accountability for his actions.
I am just not up to it right now to proceed here.
Peace Be With You, & thank you for reading my writings. I will return, as Spirit directs.
Sincerely & with all love & blessings for any who are suffering anywhere in the world, I am
Monica King, alive & kicking!
I had returned to Vermont, to yet another little farmhouse near the river dividing Vermont & New Hampshire. It always seemed I was led to perch on borders of States & watery tributaries.
When I say led, by now I hope you understand that this is this inner leading, this inner prompting I refer to as Spirit. Sometimes it is a strong sense of needing to follow an intuitive prompting, sometimes I actually hear specific, very specific instructions.
It takes practice. But it is a tuning IN to that guidance.
I returned, & began conversing with Daniel again on the telephone.
He started calling a few times a week, sounded friendly & chatty, & upbeat.
He was hoping I would be able to come down so we could transact some business we had concerning our shared land, Angels’ Landing. He had arranged, supposedly for a meeting with a land owner whom we needed a variance from to proceed with its development.
He was not as pressured or pushy about insisting that I speak with him or anything like he was before, & I was lulled into a false sense of security. I too wanted to move on & take the next steps that involved us both concerning the property. So I agreed. I would meet him in Milton.
It was a Tuesday. It was warm in the morning but definitely fall was in the air too. I quietly left my home & did not let my housemates know where I was heading. I struck out for Milton.
When I arrived at the farmhouse in town, I parked my car on the main street. There was a neighboring , across the way nice guy who owned an antique shop & I thought it would be good that my car was visible, “just in case”.
I had been reading a book that was fairly new on how to draw the line with verbal abuse, & it seemed a good idea to maintain some presence there where others could see me.
I got out of the car & walked to the house, but he was already bouncing out the door, to meet me. Full of enthusiasm, he wanted to show me a new traveling camper/truck he was proud of.
To show it off. You know the kind that is a truck in the front & a camper in the back, all in one.
I had a look at it, & admired it, congratulating him on his new acquisition. He said, want to take a drive in it? I asked where the party, the man was we were to be meeting for the paperwork we were going to transact. He told me he was already up at the home he had purchased, the one that was the home sitting at the gateway to our wooded path. He would be meeting us up there.
While this home is up on a country road, it was still in a spot where other neighbors were, it was sunny, he seemed to be in a good mood, & it seemed on the face of it, a reasonable request.
Part of me was simply blinded by the compassion I felt for Daniel. I knew the transition, the losses he had experienced were not easy & I did not want to be cold or unfeeling about that. I truly believed I was acquiescing to again extend an olive branch by demonstrating some faith & trust in him.
He wanted me to drive with him in his new camper. Which was, as all of his small shelters, clean & orderly. I hesitated a few moments, weighing the risks & the benefits of getting in with him. But this was my home town too at one time, it was really a beautiful & bright day, he had packed a small picnic he said, some “ ice cold gingerale”, & as I said, my own car was parked very visibly right in the center of town. I had good friends who lived next door, & if for some reason I was delayed I was sure someone would care enough to come looking for me.
Besides, Bill was meeting us where he lived, so it was yet another destination where others would be around.
I guess you could say I was on a amber alert...I felt cautious, but also second guessed my own self, in even feeling that way. After all, this was a man I knew intimately as he did me.
In writing about this now, during the nearly exact same time of the year, I realize that all these thoughts were being processed before I entered his vehicle, but in such rapid fashion, that it takes far more time to write them out than the speed with which these many critical thinking skills were being accessed.
Also, although Daniel was on his “best behavior”, his most social, happy appealing mask was on & he was acting the way I am sure he knew I was hoping to find him, the caution flag was there too as I had been working the past weeks as a supervisor in New Hampshire state county home that month, on the usual evening/ night schedule, & one weekend this month there had been a strange call coming in. My nursing staff had reported that a man called identifying himself as my husband & wanted to speak to me. But he had not left his name. It was a typical Daniel move.
He seemed hell bent to break through all security & safety barriers I ever had protecting me & my patients when I went to work; the ones through the agency where I worked & their policies about not giving out such information, & the facilities themselves. It is CONFIDENTIAL. Just because of things like this.
Since I had made it so clear there was no such relationship anymore, & it was over except for the paperwork, the fact that anyone called to say they were my spouse was, mainly at that point irritating to me.
I did not need a degree in rocket science to figure out it was Daniel. My new friend would not identify himself in that manner, nor attempt to stalk me anyway. He didn’t need to. I enjoyed his company. I CHOSE to be with him at that point in time.
What happened next however altered both our fates forever.
I am going to pause here from this tale. The next episode is so filled with horrible & abominable details that I am going to have to take a break from it for a time. I promise to return though... to finish the REST of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say on his radio broadcasts.
For journalists who are interested, the accounts are archived in the New Hampshire papers of record, as are the proceedings in court which which are public records as well.
I can say that, I was well supported & helped through it all by the incredible Strafford County prosecuting team, & that I have every confidence that all due process was followed in bringing Daniel to justice & accountability for his actions.
I am just not up to it right now to proceed here.
Peace Be With You, & thank you for reading my writings. I will return, as Spirit directs.
Sincerely & with all love & blessings for any who are suffering anywhere in the world, I am
Monica King, alive & kicking!
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