Out of the Fog

by J. Carl Goodman

Description Harvey England, a retiree age 74 who is widowed with no children, returns home from a good day meeting with and helping college students majoring in engineering. He feels very poorly and is just wondering if he should call someone when he collapses and remembers no more. Five months later he awakens, coming out of his fog (coma), in a full-service nursing care area of a large, upscale senior living community. Everyone is shocked because none of the healthcare professionals ever believed he would survive his bout with bacterial meningitis, and they were expecting his impending death. Harv works through his fog and is totally devoted to his full recuperation. Harv is a man who ran a half marathon less than a year ago, and as a decorated Vietnam Veteran of significant grit, he works on achieving his full health and strength. As he makes headway, he meets new and dear friends, Walt Schell, a formidable man who is also a Vietnam Vet like Harvey and Walt's neighbor in the Independent Living apartments of Wildstone, Tory Randall. She is a brilliant woman with a storied career as the Editor for the Boston Globe. Her wheelchair is no impediment to her prowess. Harvey then finds that his home, decorated with fine art and original Tiffany Lamps by his late wife Margaret; his 1965 Mustang convertible; his investment account which is quite sizeable due to the sale of his very successful Civil Engineering Firm; and his personal savings accounts are all gone. How did this happen to him? As he, Walt, and Tory, "The Team" as they call themselves, begin to understand what happened as they identify and focus on the primary culprits. They then use their investigative skills, courage, and persistence to determine what happened, why it occurred and by whom. They encounter danger and challenges as they seek together to restore Harvey's prior life. The culprits certainly do not want to lose their reputations, positions and serve significant jail time by being caught and will do what is necessary to prevent it. Using Tory's contacts, investigative reporters Ted Hame and J.B. James as well as Harv's friend, Nolan Wilburn, of the Illinois State Police, Division of Criminal Investigations Zone 5, they work to close this important case. After the success of their investigation and friendships as "The Team", they pause to consider Special Agent Wilburn's recommendation that they become Private Detectives and/or consultants to help with other such cases. Seniors and those who reside in senior living communities are fraught with abuse. The question is, once this is over, will they ever just want to live "retirement lives?"