Page 21 of The Women of Oak Ridge
“What did your job at Oak Ridge involve?” I glanced at Jonas. “Is it all right to ask that question, Detective?”
The corners of his mouth twitched before he gave in and grinned. It completely transformed his face.
“Yes, Miss Willett. I’m convinced you’re not here to steal national secrets.” He turned to his father. “Tucker’s wife went into labor last night, so I worked his shift. I’m going home to get cleaned up. Do you need anything before I leave?”
“Not a thing. We’ll enjoy a nice chat without you hovering and scaring Miss Willett with your sour face.” Elliot winked at me, making Jonas laugh. It was obvious the two had a healthy father-son relationship. “I’d like to show Laurel the town, but I’m laid up with this doggone ankle. Hey, I have an idea.” He glanced between Jonas and me, landing on Jonas again. “Since you have the rest of the day off, you can take our guest on a tour. You know all the interesting places as well as I do. Then you can have lunch at Big Ed’s and bring me a slice of pizza when you come back.” He seemed quite pleased with the plan.
Jonas, on the other hand, had a look of annoyance in his hazel eyes. Probably as annoyed as I’d be if my dad tried to force me to spend time with someone I’d just met. While a tour of the town by someone knowledgeable would be fantastic, I wouldn’t inflict myself on the detective.
“I can’t ask you to do that,” I said, giving him an out. “Especially if you’ve worked all night. I’m sure I can find things on my own.”
Just as Jonas seemed about to respond, Elliot scoffed. “Nonsense.You need a good guide, and he needs to stop playing nursemaid to his old man. My wife is out of town. Gone to Chicago to visit her sister for a couple weeks. She isn’t aware I sprained my ankle. Jonas is taking good care of me, but he needs a break.”
I stole a peek at Jonas.
After a moment, he put his hands up in surrender. “All right.” Facing me, he said, “It would be my pleasure to show you around town, Miss Willett. If you’re interested, that is. Don’t let my father bully you into doing anything you don’t want to do.”
Elliot let out a loud guffaw.
What a pair.
“If you’re sure,” I said, “I’d love to see the town through the eyes of someone who grew up here.”
It was decided I would stay and visit with Elliot while Jonas went home to freshen up. We bid him goodbye.
“He’s a good son.” Elliot’s eyes shone with parental pride. “A good cop, too. He’s one of the youngest to make detective.”
“I didn’t think detectives wore a uniform. At least, they usually don’t in the movies.”
“Our police department is modest,” he said, “so Jonas still does patrol work from time to time. If there’s an active investigation going on, he’ll wear street clothes. The uniform tends to make some people nervous.”
He told me about his daughter, Ashley, an elementary school teacher in Chattanooga. “She and her fella got engaged on New Year’s Eve. They’re planning a fall wedding. That’s why Charlotte went to Chicago. She and her sister are making Ashley’s wedding dress.”
“Did you meet Charlotte here in Oak Ridge?” I asked.
“Sure did. She was a cubicle operator, like Georgeanne. In fact, I met both of them at a dance in the rec center. Georgeanne was more outgoing, but I took a shine to Charlotte’s quiet nature.”
I smiled. “It sounds like you’ve had a good life here in Oak Ridge.”
“Yes, ma’am. After the war I was discharged from the Army, but I continued to work for the laboratory on the security force. The town opened to the public in 1949, and the population gradually decreased. Things became more normal. It was a great place to raise a family. Still is.”
“I’d like to ask some questions about your work as a military police officer,” I said, glad that Jonas wasn’t around for this part of the interview. “What was your day-to-day job like? What did you do?”
“I started out guarding the gates. There were seven main gates on the Reservation, plus some inside the fence that led to secure areas. Everyone who entered or exited was required to have a badge with their name and photograph, ID number, and color codes indicating what areas they were authorized to be in. We checked every badge on every person, coming and going, all day and all night.”
“I found Aunt Mae’s badge in a box of mementos.” I didn’t mention the badge belonging to the pretty blonde woman. It didn’t seem right to talk about things that Aunt Mae might not want known.
A sudden thought spilled through my mind.
Was this how it felt to live and work at Oak Ridge during the war? Keeping secrets about everything, all the time?
“Each vehicle that came through the gates had to be inspected,” Elliot continued. “Some guards patrolled on horseback, mostly down by the river. At times I was assigned to the rail yard where we had to search railroad cars. Some contained building supplies, and some had components used to build the equipment that produced the enriched uranium. Lots of them were loaded with coal. But every few weeks or so, a shipment of containers would arrive that were heavily guarded.”
“Did you know what was going on at the plants? Did you know uranium was being enriched?”
He looked pensive. “Not at first. But as time went by, things started to add up.”
“How so?”
